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__label__wiki	0.740488	0.740488	The AIIR Coaching Experience™ The Elevate Project Executive Assessment Coaching Mindset Index® AIIR Team Effectiveness® Survey AIIR Dynamics 360 Coaching Technology Coaching Zone Robyn Garrett Robyn Garrett is AIIR's Chief Customer Officer. She is dedicated to building amazing leaders, unlocking the creativity in everyone, and fostering excitement about the innovations of the future. Her focus at AIIR is helping organizations develop their leaders so that they can achieve outstanding results. Robyn is a data enthusiast and she believes that AI and technology will enrich our lives for years to come. She has won multiple awards for innovation, especially in the digital space. Robyn comes to AIIR after spending 10 years in the life sciences. During that time, she consulted for over 500 biopharma brands, particularly in the areas of immuno-oncology, psychiatry, women's health, orthopedics, ophthalmology, and craniomaxillofacial surgery. She worked on both the promotional side and in continuing medical education. She has also consulted as a strategist for several lifestyle brands, technology brands, and she was part the launch team for the PS4. A writer by trade, Robyn holds a BA in English from Muhlenberg College and a certificate in Marketing Strategy from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Robyn lives in the Philadelphia area and is mom to Sylvia, 6, and Jack, 4. She is an avid reader, longtime youth mentor, and serves on the Board of Trustees for the Ardmore Free Library. [Trend Report] Leadership 2021 by Robyn Garrett \| Jan 19, 2021 Five leadership skills that helped the most successful leaders adapt during the coronavirus crisis, and that will continue to be crucial in 2021 and beyond. AIIR Presents Dr. Terrence E. Maltbia with 2020 Coaching Leadership Award by AIIR Consulting \| Jan 6, 2021 AIIR was excited and honored to recently present Dr. Terrence E. Maltbia its 2020 AIIR Consulting Coaching Leadership Award. Presented to Dr. Maltbia at AIIR’s Jazz is in the AIIR virtual event, the award recognizes leaders in the coaching field who have delivered... Elevate 2020: How Our Clients and Coaches Worked to Empower Nonprofits by AIIR Consulting \| Dec 15, 2020 COVID-19 and its economic fallout have hit purpose-driven organizations and their leaders particularly hard. Despite these challenges, purpose-driven organizations around the world continue to support their communities. As they do, AIIR is proud to support these organizations and their leaders through its pro-bono initiative, The Elevate Project. More News & Insights AIIR Consulting is a global leadership development consultancy dedicated to increasing the effectiveness and performance of leaders and their organizations. Through the strategic integration of coaching and technology, AIIR Consulting brings agile leadership development to today’s connected leader. Organizational Effectiveness Let’s Discover What We Can Do For Your Organization Don’t Miss Leadership Tips, Emerging Trends, News, and Interviews with Experts © 2020 AIIR CONSULTING, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. \| Privacy Policy \| Terms of Use	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line422
__label__cc	0.690236	0.309764	Alana Sesow running outside the lanes Other Published Work March 9, 2018 Alana Sesow We RUN The World Heaps of snow melt into slush, only to be frozen days later. Washers and dryers flood with laundry. Students alternate between cramming for tests and cramming clothes into duffel bags. Spring break is almost upon us. Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll make my habitual three-and-a-half journey south–a long, lovely date with I-29–to my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. Unlike myself, many of my friends are traveling far to exciting, exotic places around the globe. I will be living vicariously through their Instagram posts. Nevertheless, the approaching break has led me to reminisce about the places I’ve traveled throughout my life and further, the runs I’ve completed in those places. Running is my favorite part of traveling; it gives me a break from being a tourist and allows me the opportunity to explore new places in new ways. Uncandidly looking out onto Lake Michigan after a beachside run in Chicago. So, today I asked my teammates the following question: if you could go for a run anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? Garden of the Gods–one of the beautiful places in which I was blessed to run when I chaperoned Nebraska Elite Track Club’s high school running camp in Colorado Springs. “I would choose Seattle or Portland because I love feeling so small while I’m surrounded by the trees and the mountains and the ocean.”–Elizabeth Yoder “Crested Butte, Colorado. That’s where my summer training camp was in high school. It’s the most beautiful place ever.”–Skylar DeJong Skylar smells the Crested Butte air (photo courtesy of Skylar DeJong). “Maroon Bells in Colorado. My high school coach ran there and says it’s beautiful. If you run in the spring, there are flowers. They’re the most photographed mountains in North America.”–Rachel Rairdon “I would go to Canada, specifically a place with lots of mountains and lakes. It’s beautiful and the mountains are amazing.”–Rebekah Rairdon “Alaska. I just think it would be really fun, and there’s lots of good scenery.”–JJ Orput “I would run in the old parts of Spain. The old clay buildings in Barcelona would be cool to see.”–Brian Bentzinger “New Zealand because I would make Peter Jackson run with me and point out all the places they filmed Lord of the Rings.”–Carly Rahn “I would just run across as many European countries as I could until I got tired. I think I could hit a lot of countries at once, and I’ve never been to Europe before.”–Claire Boersma “I would run across the ocean–on top of the water–to Hawaii. Hawaii is cool, and they have lots of fruit there.”–Sydney Mudgett “I used to always say I’d run in Norway, and now I’m actually going. So let’s go!”–Noah Hanson (with an enthusiastic fist pump) “That Nike track [in Oregon] with the trees in the middle. I would take a picture, put it on Instagram, and get a whole bunch of likes and follows.”–Evan Johnson “I would go to Greece. It would be cool to run in the location of the first actual marathon.”–Logan Burns “I would run on the Great Wall of China. It would be a good experience.”–Jesus Urtusuastegui “Seefeld, Austria. They have some of the best air quality in the whole world, and I ran there once and it was frickin’ beautiful.”–Ryley Nelson Seefeld, Austria (photo courtesy of Ryley Nelson) “New Zealand. I’ve always wanted to go there, and it’s really pretty.”–Morgan Parys “The Nike track in Oregon. I know a lot of professional runners have been there. Plus, to be on a track with trees surrounding you is beautiful.”–Leah Seivert “It would be really cool to run next to the Grand Canyon. I like the idea of feeling small compared to the grandeur of things next to me.”–Wyatt McLeod “I would run on a treadmill on one of those boats that goes through Venice. It has nothing to do with running. I just want to go to Venice.”–Henry Klitzke “I would go to London because it was really pretty, and I want to go back.”–Julia Megazzini “Lanesboro, Minnesota. I would go on a 12 mile out-and-back on the trails. We went there all the time in high school.”–Sean Heaton “Banff National Park. I really like looking at scenery when I run.”–Aaron Runge “I would run to every single country so I could see all of them.”–Courtney Hottovy “Anywhere I could run with [the team].”–Jackie Turner My teammates and I at our annual pre-season team camp in the Black Hills. Running–or crutching–through scenic western South Dakota with 38 of my best friends is always special. Published by Alana Sesow Spreading love one character at a time View all posts by Alana Sesow Previous NEDA Week: Spotlight On Body Image In The Running Community Next Footsteps to Follow Vacation Running: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (But Mostly The Good) – Alana Sesow says: […] running is personally one of my favorite parts of vacation, as I mentioned in an earlier post, and experiencing God’s creation in new areas is always a […]	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line423
__label__wiki	0.882918	0.882918	REPORT: New Nintendo Switch Hardware In The Works for 2... Nintendo Reveals Special Edition Diablo 3 Switch Bundle Super Mario Party Features One of The Most Disturbing... Mario + Rabbids: Kindom Battle Review Father Arrested For Using Daughter To Steal Nintendo Systems From Toy Machine While sitting amongst the excited crowd at Ubisoft’s E3 Press Conference earlier this summer, the visual of Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot sharing the stage with Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto to introduce Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle was something special to behold. Watching these two industry giants awkwardly express their joy for a new game born out of this collaboration brought a smile to my face. This would be a new direction for both franchises and a fresh experience that had me very excited. We have seen the Mario franchise appear across many different genres including platformers, racing games, fighting games and many more, but turn-based, tactical RPGs are relatively uncharted territory for Nintendo’s plumber. Well, I’m happy to report that Ubisoft has successfully transitioned the franchise into yet another genre, as Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle joins the list of excellent games on the Nintendo Switch. Mario + Rabbids is a deep and engaging game of turn-based tactics wrapped up in a wacky story. The Rabbids steal themselves an augmented reality helmet called the “SupaMerge”, which allows two random objects to be merged into one. The machine malfunctions and sends the Rabbids through a vortex to the Mushroom Kingdom. During the chaos the Mushroom Kingdom is torn apart and infused with items from the Rabbids universe. Mario finds himself separated from his friends and is forced to team up with the newly merged Rabbid Luigi and Rabbid Peach. The group is guided by a Roomba-like artificial intelligence device called Beep-O as they set out to find Mario’s friends and restore the Mushroom Kingdom. While the story is ridiculous, it adds something new and engaging to the standard Mario formula (in other words, it’s more ambitious than “Bowser kidnapped Princess Peach … again”). The selfie-loving Rabbids characters add some much-needed comedic elements and open up some interesting possibilities in both the story and gameplay departments. Believe it or not, the merging of the Mario and Rabbids worlds works surprisingly well. While it would be easy to write this game off as a more casual version of X-Com, I was pleasantly surprised at the level of depth and challenge provided throughout the game. Though the X-Com comparison is fitting, Mario + Rabbids also has roots in another turn-based tactics game developed by Ubisoft, the fantastic 3DS launch title Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars. The game is divided up into four worlds consisting of nine chapters each. Gameplay consists of an exploration phase and a combat phase. During the exploration phase, you use Beep-O to guide your squad of three characters (always Mario and two others) through the overworld collecting items, solving puzzles and searching for friends. The overworld does an excellent job of connecting the combat areas in a seamless transition and unlike X-Com’s disconnected maps, the combat areas feel like they’re part of the surrounding world. I found that leading the party through the overworld with precision could be difficult at times, which made some of the puzzles more difficult than intended. The combat phase is where the game really shines. It may seem easy at first but by the second world you’ll be planning your moves much more carefully. The game does a great job of slowly introducing new mechanics, weapons, and enemy types during its early stages. I rarely felt overwhelmed and always felt like I was ready for the next stage of the game. When I failed, I knew it was because of an error in my tactics, not because I wasn’t prepared. After entering the cordoned-off combat zones, the player uses a combination of movement, attacks and special abilities to defeat enemies and complete the level’s goal. The level goals feature some good variety including; defeating all enemies, escort missions, reaching a designated area or defeating a boss/mid boss. Mario + Rabbids has a good number of weapons and special attacks that keep the game from becoming stale, as each situation could be approached in several ways. The game could have done a better job of letting the player know how each attack and special ability will affect the enemy, as I found that there was a little bit of trial and error involved. The combat and movement feel intuitive and satisfying, although I did struggle with the camera from time to time. Thankfully, during the combat phase you can hit the X button either before or during a battle to zoom out and get an overview of the map and enemy locations. The combat places a heavy emphasis on character movement, allowing for some really interesting combinations of dash and jump attacks, chaining these moves together with the help of other characters is infinitely satisfying. Throughout the game you will collect power orbs in order to progress through each character’s skill tree. The skill tree does a decent job of differentiating the character abilities in your party, but it’s far from a class system. I appreciated the ability to reset your character’s skill tree and rebuild it to suit the situation. I found that the game does an excellent job of balancing the exploration and combat areas, and neither became tedious. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle’s campaign provides 20+ hours of content and provides some good incentive to revisit completed levels. After completing a world you can go back to search for the secret chapter, as well as attempt challenges, which usually consist of beating chapters under various conditions. Once a world is completed you also unlock the co-op campaign, which we were unable to test due to Ubisoft only providing one review copy. On the technical side of things, Mario + Rabbids runs in 900p, 30fps while in docked mode and 720p, 30 fps while in handheld mode. The game runs on Ubisoft’s Snowdrop engine, the same engine used to power Tom Clancy’s The Division. I noticed some minor framerate issues when there were multiple enemies in the frame but overall, the game looks beautiful and runs very well in both handheld and docked mode. I found that due to the way the game is broken up, it lended itself very well to quick 10-15min gaming sessions on the go. I also need to mention that the fantastic soundtrack was composed by BAFTA-nominated British composer, Grant Kirkhope, who was also responsible for some of gaming’s most iconic scores including Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and most recently, Yooka-Laylee. When Ubisoft’s collaborative project with Nintendo was leaked ahead of Ubisoft’s E3 press conference, many (including myself) wrote Mario + Rabbids off as another ill-conceived cash grab in the vein of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Instead, what we got was a deep and engaging turn-based tactics game set in a strange but entertaining universe. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle isn’t without it’s faults, but is a game that’s worth playing and an excellent addition to the Nintendo Switch library. + Deep and rewarding gameplay + Charming characters and universe + Beautiful graphics and excellent soundtrack - minor technical issues - Difficulty spikes Charliee Rogers is a freelance writer, father of two, and video game player! The Nintendo Switch Has Officially Surpassed The GameCube In Lifetime Sales REPORT: New Nintendo Switch Hardware In The Works for 2019 - All The Details Super Mario Party Features One of The Most Disturbing Moments In Franchise History	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line424
__label__wiki	0.710451	0.710451	First Look Review Brassin Ki-61 Upgrades by: Rowan Baylis [ MERLIN ] Eduard have released a couple of new Brassin upgrades for Tamiya’s recent Ki-61 since our last look. This time the focus is on the wheels and cowl guns. Both sets arrive in standard blister packs, which protect the parts well with plenty of soft foam backing. Inside each, you find a well-produced sheet of instructions, which in this case are pretty self-explanatory - if you've realised you want these upgrades, you probably also figured out how you're going to use them. Item #648 317 - Ki-61-1d Wheels The set comprises a pair of resin mainwheels, plus a new tailwheel cast integrally with its yoke and leg. The mainwheels are grey resin, while the tailwheel is white - whether this is a different density resin, I don’t know. To be honest, when I first looked at the mainwheels, I thought Eduard had simply filed flats on the kit parts to make them “weighted”. They wouldn’t do that, would they? Well, of course, no - they wouldn’t! When you look closer you realise just how much subtle new detail there is on the redesigned resin parts. On the tyres themselves, apart from being "weighted", there are now two tread grooves missing on the kit parts. Turning to the hubs, in the kit they are essentially blank on the front, but Eduard’s have tyre inflation valves and screw holes, while on the back there’s a tiny connection for the brake-line. The differences are subtle but certainly worthwhile. The tailwheel is harder to just in the photos, simply because it’s cast in white and not exactly camera-friendly. It's a different story under a magnifying glass and you can see that the tyre has a slightly different cross section, and the way it meets the hub is totally changed. A little spigot on the kit part has gone, and Eduard have opened up a hole in the axle. Finally, of course, there's no ejection pin mark to fill! The set also includes a small sheet of die-cut kabuki tape mainting masks and the instructions provide Gunze Sangyo colour matches. Price: 5.95 Euros Item #648 321 - Ki-61-1d Gun Barrels Until I examined them side by side with the Brassin barrels, I hadn’t realised just how basic Tamiya’s cowl guns are. The new parts feature perforations in the cooling jackets, and you just need to drill out the ends of the barrels carefully before installing them as direct replacements for the originals. If I have a disappointment, it’s only that Eduard haven’t gone one stage further and provided complete guns instead of just the barrels. That way you could remove the top of the cowling as Tamiya would have you do and actually have some guns to look at inside. Eduard’s latest Brassin sets for the Tamiya Ki-61 are faultlessly cast and will be simplicity itself to prepare and use. If you're new to using resin upgrades these will be an ideal introduction. Meanwhile, superdetailers looking to add that little bit extra to the kit will definitely appreciate the subtle refinements offered here. With some upgrade sets, you look at them and think "I could do that myself" - but it's the tiny details that make all the difference and these are just in a another league to what most of us mere mortals could hope to achieve. Highs: Faultlessly cast with fine details way beyond the standard kit parts. Lows: None that I noted. Verdict: These are beautifully produced resin upgrade parts that will be a cinch to use. Mfg. ID: See Text Suggested Retail: See Text NATIONALITY: Japan / 日本 Our Thanks to Eduard! About Rowan Baylis (Merlin) FROM: NO REGIONAL SELECTED, UNITED KINGDOM I've been modelling for about 40 years, on and off. While I'm happy to build anything, my interests lie primarily in 1/48 scale aircraft. I mostly concentrate on WW2 subjects, although I'm also interested in WW1, Golden Age aviation and the early Jet Age - and have even been known to build the occas... Copyright ©2021 text by Rowan Baylis [ MERLIN ]. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AeroScale. All rights reserved.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line429
__label__wiki	0.525616	0.525616	Apple opens OS X betas to consumers with Beta Seed Program In a substantial change to its operating policies, Apple has opened its OS X beta testing process to all Mac users with a newly minted Beta Seed Program. The Beta Seed Program allows consumers to join Mac developers in test-driving pre-release versions of the Mac operating system in exchange for "quality and usability feedback. The program was first spotted by The Loop. After signing up, users can install the latest beta version of Apple's upcoming OS X 10.9.3 Mavericks maintenance update on their Macs. The most recent beta — build 13D45a — was released on Monday. It appears Apple has been quietly working to implement the new open beta policy for at least a couple of months via a "Feedback Assistant" that turned up in build 13D38 OS X 10.9.3 earlier this month. At the time, the standalone app's purpose was unknown, though it is now believed to be part of the Beta Seed Program. From Apple's Beta Seed Program webpage: Join the OS X Beta Seed Program and accept the Beta Seed and Confidentiality Agreement. Apple will provide a Beta Access Utility for your Mac, which gives you access to pre-release versions of OS X in the Mac App Store Updates panel. As with any beta or pre-release software, the latest OS X Mavericks is not yet finished and may have unknown bugs or decreased functionality. Users should take this into consideration before installing the beta on a vital machine. How to uninstall Adobe Flash Player from your Mac Parallels 16 for Apple Silicon M1 Mac launches in beta - minus Intel OS support Experimental Windows XP theme aped Mac's Aqua user interface Amazon's Luna cloud gaming platform coming to iPhone, iPad, Mac How to use an NVMe drive to upgrade your Mac's SSD solipsismx Said: I received that app on my Mac with a previous beta a week or two ago. rogifan Said: Interesting that they're doing this with a rumored OSX redesign coming this year. My guess is after the redesign the left side of the image below will have a design language similar to the right side. [img]http://photos.appleinsidercdn.com/gallery/9031-488-140422-Feedback-l.png[/img] Now if only Apple could find time to update the dark gray nav bar on apple.com. It really looks out of place with the new design language they're using on their website. gatorguy Said: If you are a casual user it's probably not the best idea to install Beta software either. Of course AI has a lot of iPhone users who would not be described as "casual". :D command_f Said: I'm not convinced that this is a good idea. How many people know what 'Beta' really means, or understand that 'Beta test' means it's not even supposed to be free of bugs and loose ends (let alone actually not have many). MS has tried this with Windows Phone 8.1 and apparently the forthcoming update has been widely condemned for having bugs and omissions - many people there having forgotten that it's not finished yet. I think the idea that you have to be a "developer" to have the Betas (though anyone can actually be a developer) is a sound warning that Betas are not for normal users or use. markboard Said: Thank You Apple for your open mind it now is a better way to give feedback about any issue	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line444
__label__wiki	0.768991	0.768991	‘No need to delay Hate Crimes legislation’ ALLIANCE has questioned the need to further delay the introduction of Hate Crimes legislation to deal with racist attacks in Northern Ireland. Responding to the statement in today’s Joint Communique that the British Government intends to ‘announce the outcome of the consultation on racist and sectarian offences by September, and bring forward legislation in the next session of Parliament’, Alliance Party Justice Spokesperson, Dr Stephen Farry, stated: “Racist and sectarian crimes are far too prevalent in Northern Ireland at present. In particular, there has been a noticeable rise in racist attacks in South Belfast recently. “Stiffer sentences for racist crimes have existed in Great Britain since 1998. These were extended in 2001 to cover sectarian crime. However, Northern Ireland has been left behind. “The NIO finished a consultation exercise to extend these measures at the end of February. While welcoming today’s commitment to legislating for Northern Ireland, I must question the need to delay announcing the results of the consultation exercise and getting the legislation in place. “There may be difficulties in finding parliamentary time for new legislation, but a Criminal Justice Bill, which relates in part to Northern Ireland, is currently under consideration in Parliament. “Given the recent upsurge in racist attacks, the Government may have missed an opportunity to send a powerful message that such behaviour will not be tolerated.” Date Select Month October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 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__label__wiki	0.691101	0.691101	Priyanka holds LS campaign road show in Bijnor April 9, 2019 by shameen Bijnor: With just two days to go for the first phase of polling, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday held a road show here to seek votes for her party’s candidate for the Lok Sabha elections. Priyanka Gandhi arrived in Bijnor around 11.45 a.m. and kicked-off her road show in the city. Hundreds of Congress workers and supporters came out braving the heat to participate in her road show. The Congress workers also raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government at the Centre and in the state. On Monday, Priyanka’s joint rally, with her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi and the party’s western Uttar Pradesh in-charge Jyotiraditya Scindia, was cancelled due to bad weather. Later in the day, she will also hold a road show in Saharanpur in support of the Congress party’s candidate Imran Masood. After being appointed the party general secretary in January this year, Priyanka has tried to infuse new life into the party. Bijnor and Saharanpur will go to polls on April 11. The Congress, which could win only two seats – Rae Bareli and Amethi – in Uttar Pradesh, out of 80 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, is seeking its revival in the state. The Congress is contesting in 73 seats, as it has left seven seats for the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in the state. Before holding a road show in Bijnor, Priyanka Gandhi had held similar road shows in Ayodhya and Ghaziabad. The constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh going to the polls in the first phase are Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. [source_without_link]IANS[/source_without_link] Categories India Tags Bijnor, Campaign, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Post navigation Innovative 5-minute workout that reduces heart-attack risk, boosts sports performance Kanhaiya files nomination from Begusarai	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line449
__label__cc	0.659201	0.340799	Albert Ladd Colby Report on the Boston Molasses Tank Scope and Contents Total 10 volumes collection contains typescript reports of the test results, blue prints of the molasses tank and photographs of steel pieces from the tank that are tested. First 4 volumes of the collection, lacking the volumes fifth and sixth*, contain Albert Ladd Colby’s final general report to the defense team, Larkin & Perry Attorneys at Law. Additional 5 volumes are A. L. Colby’s private and confidential reports to Larkin & Perry and a summary of his testimony in the court. These... Allen J. Barthold Papers (1914-1984) Overview The collection includes papers from his undergraduate work at Lehigh as well as his graduate and professional work at Yale and Lehigh. The collection also includes photographs and memorabilia from his life as well as papers regarding his two year leave of absence to the Dominican Republic and his work involving the Richards Harding Davis Collection at Lehigh's Linderman Library. Asa Packer & Lehigh University Newspaper Clippings Overview This collection contains late 19th and early 20th century newspaper clippings detailing the life and accomplishments of Asa Packer. C.U.R.E., University Goals Committee Joint Commission on University Life: Lehigh and the Problem of Coeducation, 1968-1970 Overview Materials relating to "Coeducation at Lehigh", including student protest and university reform, particularly the decision to adopt coeducation. Also includes papers of the Committee of Undergraduates for Responsible Education (CURE), the University Goals Committee, and the Joint Commission on University Life. Edward Gallagher: Documents on Henry S. Drinker’s Presidency at Lehigh University Overview Articles, correspondence and biographical information on Henry S. Drinker and his presidency at Lehigh University. Collection is assembled by Prof. Edward J. Gallagher, Department of English at Lehigh University while he was teaching a course that required using primary sources at Special Collections. Prof. Gallagher based his research on the original letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Cecilia Beaux. General Lafayette’s Tour of the United States Overview This scrapbook contains newspaper clippings from the arrival of the Marquis de Lafayette in August 1884 at New York to his visit to Norfolk, Virginia in October 1824. Among the newspaper articles are five engravings depicting General Lafayette. Henry K. Wetherhold World War II Memoirs Overview Henry K. Wetherhold served in the 364th Bombardment Squadron, 305th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, from 1943-1945 as a pilot. He flew 30 missions in a B-17, all of which are described and documented in this album, including photos and newspaper clippings. Documentation of his army service, awards, etc. is included. There are also sketches, photos, notes, etc. of reunions with his group, and photos of his family, up to 1994. Papers of Arthur Murray Overview This collection contains the papers and belongings of Arthur F. Murray, Lehigh University class of 1905. It provides information on Murray’s work on engineering rifles during World War I, as well as his professional interests and time at Lehigh. The collection is composed of 20 items including textbooks, newspaper clippings, notebooks, ledgers, periodicals, and ephemera. Papers of Carl F. Strauch Professor of English, Lehigh University Overview This collection includes articles, manuscripts, and correspondence relating to his publications as well as syllabi, lecture notes and student papers from his teaching at Lehigh. Extensive material from his work on the following authors: Carlyle, Arnold, Hawthorne, Poe, James, Melville, Whitman, and Emerson. Material on other 19th century authors and on the Romantic period is also included. Subject: Clippings (information artifacts) X Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849 2 Allan, John, 1779-1834 1 Arnold, Matthew, 1822-1888 1 Barthold, Allen J., 1900-1985 1 Beaux, Cecilia 1 Berman Family 1 Berman, Muriel, 1914-2004 1 Berman, Philip Isaac, 1915-1997 1 Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Employees 1 Carlyle, Thomas, 1795-1881 1 Colby, Albert L. (Albert Ladd), 1860- 1 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882 1 Gallagher, Edward J. 1 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864 1 James, Henry, 1843-1916 1 Johannot, Antoine, 1803-1852 1 Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834 1 Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de—Journeys—United States 1 Larkin & Perry Attorneys at Law 1 Lehigh University. Committee of Undergraduates for Responsible Education 1 Lehigh University. Joint Commission on University Life 1 Lehigh University. Trustees 1 Melville, Herman, 1819-1891 1 Moreau, John Bostwick (1812-1886) 1 Murray, Arthur Frederic 1 Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919 1 Slutter, Roger G. 1 Smiley, E. Kenneth 1 Sopko, Richard N. 1 Stottard, George Dinsmore 1 Strauch, Carl F. (Carl Ferdinand), 1908-1989 1 Sutherland, Hale, 1884- 1 Tucker, R. H. (Richard Hawley), 1859-1952 1 U.S. Industrial Alcohol Company 1 Vogel, Robert M. 1 Wetherhold, Henry K. 1 Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 1 Worthington, William E. 1	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line451
__label__cc	0.643565	0.356435	Q&A with Debut Author A.J. Vrana! Hi there, Bookworms! I hope you’re keeping safe and hanging in there! It was a strange Victoria Day long weekend here in Ottawa. Normally, the first long weekend of the summer after a long Canadian winter means family BBQs, a trip to Tulip Fest, and fireworks…not this year. BUT the border finally opened between Quebec and Ontario, so I was able to visit my mom for the first time in two months!! Not to worry, we kept our distance, but just being able to see her face and chat in the driveway was very special. And I have more special for you today! I’m so excited to introduce you to my friend and fellow Canadian 2020debuts A.J. Vrana! You might remember we had a cover reveal for Alex back at the beginning of the year and I told you to stay tuned for our interview. Well, here it is! I hope you enjoy getting to know more about Alex and her wonderful novel The Hollow Gods! Thanks so much for dropping by, Alex, and congratulations on your fantastic debut! AK: Tell us a little about yourself. AJV: Oh jeez—what to say! Well, my name is Alex (the A. in the A. J. Vrana!), and I’m a Serbian-Canadian academic and author. I was born and raised in Toronto, though my parents frequently took me back to the motherland, so I have very deep cultural ties to former-Yugoslavia—so much so, that I wound up researching former-Yugoslavian literature and history! I am currently competing my doctoral research at the University of Toronto and working on a Master of Health Studies at Athabasca University. AK: What’s the premise of your book? AJV: The Hollow Gods is set in Black Hollow, an isolated, fictional town in Western Canada that’s surrounded by temperate rainforest. The town has this unusual folklore about an ominous figure known as the Dreamwalker, who is said to lure young women into the woods and possess them. However, the line between fact and fiction isn’t so clear, because every so often, women really do go missing, and when they return, they almost always end up dead. The story follows three narrators: Miya, a floundering college student who suspects she might be the Dreamwalker’s next victim; Kai, a brazen young man haunted by a sinister presence; and Mason, a big-city oncologist who runs away to Black Hollow to escape the trauma of losing a young Leukemia patient, only to find his very sense of reality tested by the town’s bizarre folklore. AK: What inspired you to write it? AJV: So, this might come as a total SHOCKER (sarcasm!), but I absolutely LOVE folklore. So much so, that it permeates both my academic and creative life. A huge part of my academic research on former-Yugoslavian and Japanese literature & history hones in on ethnography, collective memory, and the production of alternate histories through oral culture—specifically, storytelling and folklore. I am fascinated by how communities produce unconventional histories, and how there are typically multiple histories—sometimes complimentary, sometimes competing. In building the world of The Hollow Gods, I was especially drawn to South Slavic folklore, which loosely inspired the Dreamwalker and one of the main characters. The supernatural is always such a prominent part of folklore and oral traditions, but we sometimes mistakenly think this aspect of culture is some archaic thing from our pasts, and that it no longer plays a role in our modern lives. I wanted to write a story about a contemporary town that has very strong remnants of folk culture present in daily life. Then, I wanted to take a person who fancies themselves modern, rational, and scientific, and see what happens when they’re thrown into a place that feels out of time but is very much a part of our time. How do they respond? How do they reconcile the things that don’t fit their world view? Are they capable of adjusting? Basically, kill your darlings. AK: What are you most looking forward to this debut year? And conversely, what are you most nervous about? AJV: Oh man, what am I not looking forward to? Honestly, I think what I ‘m most looking forward to is the moment I get to hold a physical copy of my book between my greedy little paws. Conversely, I’m not looking forward to all the sleep I know I’ll lose from both excitement and skull-crushing anxiety. I am a worry-wart and a perfectionist, so I can totally picture myself going batty over every metaphorical hair out of place! AK: What authors do you admire and/or have influenced your development as a writer? Please feel free to add specific books, we love recommendations! AJV: Uff, so many. I think my horror aesthetic is deeply influenced by my time spent studying Japanese literature, folklore, and film. Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hell Screen and Sakaguchi Ango’s In the Forest Under the Cherry Blossom’s in Full Bloom are deliciously terrifying short stories that I recommend to everyone looking to read some classic Japanese horror. During my undergrad, I also fell in love with Murakami Haruki’s Kafka on the Shore. It was my first encounter with magical realism, and after reading Kafka on the Shore, I started drafting my first novel. It was a trash-fire that will never see the light of day, but it was also an important step on my way to publication. I adore magical realism because it gives us such a creative way to explore our characters’ problems, traumas, hang-ups—whatever it may be! The genre has always spoken to me, and so I suppose it’s no surprise that my debut novel is a blend of dark contemporary fantasy and magical realism! In terms of style, I adore V. E. Schwab’s way with words. Her writing in A Darker Shade of Magic is both beautiful and accessible, and that is precisely what I strive for in my own work. That all said, I feel like my kindred author-spirit is Katya de Becerra; we’re both Slavic immigrants, in academia, and we both happen to write twisty speculative fiction. I adore her work, and I feel so grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with her! AK: What are you working on now? AJV : Currently, I’m slogging through the sequel to The Hollow Gods and drafting two other novels. One of those is a companion novel to The Hollow Gods and focuses on two of my favourite side characters. The other is a supernatural horror novel. Release date: July 28, 2020 (Everywhere!) Black Hollow is a town with a dark secret. For centuries, residents have foretold the return of the Dreamwalker—an ominous figure from local folklore said to lure young women into the woods and possess them. Yet the boundary between fact and fable is blurred by a troubling statistic: occasionally, women do go missing. And after they return, they almost always end up dead. When Kai wakes up next to the lifeless body of a recently missing girl, his memory blank, he struggles to clear his already threadbare conscience. Miya, a floundering university student, experiences signs that she may be the Dreamwalker’s next victim. Can she trust Kai as their paths collide, or does he herald her demise? And after losing a young patient, crestfallen oncologist, Mason, embarks on a quest to debunk the town’s superstitions, only to find his sanity tested. A maelstrom of ancient grudges, forgotten traumas, and deadly secrets loom in the foggy forests of Black Hollow. Can three unlikely heroes put aside their fears and unite to confront a centuries-old evil? Will they uncover the truth behind the fable, or will the cycle repeat? Where To Get Your Copy: Parliament Press: http://www.parliamenthousepress.com/product-page/the-hollow-gods-by-a-j-vrana Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084YWY2Q9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Hollow+Gods+A.+J.+Vrana&qid=1582119474&sr=8-1 Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B084YWY2Q9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Hollow+Gods+AJ+Vrana&qid=1582120857&sr=8-1 Twitter: @AJVrana IG: @a.j.vrana Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AJVranaAuthor Website: http://thechaoscycle.com/ Publisher’s website: http://www.parliamenthousepress.com author, author chat, author interviews, author Q&A, Authors, blogging, blogs, Book, book reviews, books, Creativity, debut author, Guest post, Inspiration, literature, Motivation, Novel, Publishing, Reading, reviews, Toronto, Writing Secret Lives on Crazy For CanLit List! Women’s Fiction Day Q&A with Debut Author Rebecca Taylor	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line452
__label__wiki	0.654562	0.654562	We are a production company with love for sustainability and save energeticas. Leading Research We explore technologies with a focus for sustainability and green resources. Uncode Foundation We are currently funding projects in more than 40 communities in Africa. The Uncode Corporation showcases 100 of the most innovative solutions from every corner of the globe that are working to create a cleaner future and deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. By systematically working with the global sustainability community to uncover and assess innovative projects, Sustainia has, over the last ve years, built a comprehensive database of more than 4,500 sustainable solutions from all over the world. Our external advisory board, this year consisting of 24 experts from 20 leading global research organiza- tions, plays a crucial role in assisting us in vetting solutions to ensure that our ve evaluation criteria are upheld. Today, the global economy generates 85% more economic value with one metric ton of raw materials compared to the 1980s and the global middle class is projected to grow to 5 billion people by 2030, greener future on the Sustainable Development Goals. " About 2.6 billion people in developing countries face di culties accessing electricity, while about 800 million lack access to water. In many African countries, these infrastructure constraints reduce productivity by 40%. " — Carlton Sparks, Executive Officer Swedish property company Vasakronan issued the world’s rst corporate green bond, and is nancing investments to develop low-impact, climate-friendly building projects, issued the world’s first corporate green bond, raising $160 million. Hot water in many commercial facilities is normally supplied via central boilers powered by fossil fuels, while air cooling is supplied by electric chillers. By us- ing a self-contained water heat pump, Energy takes unused thermal energy from existing air-conditioning systems and transfers it to the boilers’ circuit. This new and efficient thermal energy can then be used in showers, pools, and kitchens. With an adaptive green approach, Uncode Corporation transformed one of America’s oldest market into energy. We are a production company with love for sustainability and save energeticas. Uncode Corporation partners with vendors all around the world and cities to build and operate local greenhouses that cut time, distance, and costs in the market supply chain. Today, the global economy generates 85% more economic value. Our external advisory board, this year consisting of 24 experts from 20 leading global research organiza- tions, plays a crucial role in assisting us in vetting solutions to ensure that our ve evaluation criteria are upheld. By us- ing a self-contained water heat pump, Energy takes unused thermal energy from existing air-conditioning systems and transfers it to the boilers’ circuit. This new and efficient thermal energy can then be used in showers, pools, and kitchens. " Man has gone out to explore other worlds and other civilizations without having explored his own labyrinth of dark passages and secret chambers, and without finding what lies behind doorways that he himself has sealed. " The annual Uncode publication showcases 100 of the most innovative solutions from every corner of the globe that are working to create a cleaner, greener future and deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. Intelligent Energy Management Green Bonds for Low-Impact Building Incentivizing Green Commutes for Employees Last year I wrote about why booking too far in advance can be dangerous for your business, and this concept of margin so eloquently captures what I had recognized had been my problem: I was so booked… Contact us for support, media, or general inquiries. Our administration office will be happy to contact you about advanced inquiries and to address you to our expert office:	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line457
__label__wiki	0.83614	0.83614	Hyundai To Integrate Siri 'Eyes Free' Mode Into Its Vehicles Hyundai is set to showcase some of its next-generation car infotainment concepts at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). And one of the highlights of its showcase is its support for Apple's Siri "Eyes Free" mode. While on Eyes Free mode, drivers of select Hyundai vehicles can instruct Siri on their iPhones to perform certain tasks. Of course, this is made possible while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. What's more, the voice-controlled Eyes Free mode enables drivers to interact with Siri with minimal distraction, since their iPhones are also kept unilluminated. Siri Eyes Free mode was introduced by Apple at last year's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). At the event, Apple announced that it had partnered with a number of car manufacturers to integrate Siri into their vehicles. Apple's initial partners were BMW, Mercedes, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, Honda, and General Motors. In particular, General Motors announced in November last year that it would be integrating Siri into its Chevrolet Spark and Sonic LTZ and RS car models. Now, Hyundai is following suit, although it hasn't specified which of its models will get Eyes Free mode soon. Hyundai is also set to showcase the Nuance-developed Dragon Drive, which enables drivers to speak naturally and conversationally with in-car systems. Source: Reuters Via: ZDNet Korea IDEO Founder David Kelley Talks About Longtime Friend Steve Jobs In '60 Minutes' How To Manage Calendar Events With Siri	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line460
__label__cc	0.661977	0.338023	Tag: Forest Nenets “Before the Snow” – A documentary about Siberian people published online On October 13, 2013 October 27, 2013 By Stephan DudeckIn All, Announcements, Indigenous Peoples, oral history, Russian North, Spirituality1 Comment The film by Christian Vagt features three important indigenous leaders and story tellers from the Khanty and Forest Nenets communities of Western Siberia – Josif Kechimov, Yuri Vella and Agrafena Pesikova. It is a short documentary filmed in 2007 in the West Siberian Taiga about indigenous concepts of their relationship with ghosts and the danger of inappropriate behaviour towards them. Josif Kechimov talks about the relationship to the dead and the tragic consequences of encounters with unburied deceased relatives. Against the background of oil development, forced resettlements and the spread of Christian missionizing among his people – and his feelings of danger for the forest live of Khanty reindeer herders and decline of traditions grow. Juri Vella tells a Forest Nenets tale about the encounter with a supernatural and threatening inhabitant of an abandoned human settlement. Hunter‘s stories have never a single message or meaning. Yuri Vella leaves it to the listeners to make their conclusions. What to do though if an understanding of the cultural context is missing? Agrafena Pesikova sends a clear message addressed to the people intruding into the life of the indigenous reindeer herders and hunters. The interests and interpretations of these people are based on their European and Christian preconceptions. They are not able to understand without careful and respectful interaction with local people. The lesson outsiders can learn from indigenous ghost stories is that distance, silence, and restraint from direct interaction should be part of respectful behaviour. Only if they are able to listen the right way though might they be able to grasp the message. The film confirms my hypothesis that the indigenous Khanty and Nenets ways of dealing with supernatural beings, the deceased, and animals shape the way of interaction with other strangers be it bureaucrats, anthropologists, oil companies or tourists. The behaviour that is expected from outsiders, the respectful distance needed to avoid conflict and the tragic consequences of inappropriate contact are similar. In the face of the experience of difference, ghost stories teach what respect and disrespect mean. A German version can be found here: In Memory of a Great Teacher On September 20, 2013 By Stephan DudeckIn All, Announcements, Extractive Industries, Indigenous Peoples, Russian North, Theoretical Issues3 Comments Yuri Vella left this world on the 12th of September 2013 Yuri Vella Almost exactly 20 years ago three German students of anthropology get off a helicopter in the middle of the Western Siberian forest tundra, over 100 km from the next settlement. They see a little wooden hut and a couple with two small kids is approaching them. Nobody told this people that they will have guests and the guests did not met the hosts before. In the village the students were told the day before that the poet and reindeer herder Yuri Vella lives far away and there is neither road nor transport to his campsite. They decided already to give up their plan to visit Yuri Vella when out of a sudden a helicopter appeared. I was one of these students. This was the moment when I met for the first time the men who should become my most influential teacher of anthropology and whose forest camp became for me a second home. Reflections of Yuri and me in his well. Recently a friend asked me what I learned from him in the first place and while thinking about an answer I discovered that it is really hard to say. The reason is that it reached from the most practical things like how to light a fire in the in the forest to the most theoretical ones like how to understand human-animal relationships. Yuri Vella was born at the 12th of March 1948 in the nomad camp of Kyli Aivaseda not far from the village of Varyogan. The village was the place the nomadic reindeer herders from the Agan river basin were supposed to settle down. Here he went to school, here he was appointed as the head of the village administration for a short period, and here he established the open air museum, where he saved traditional buildings and objects from the forest settlements destroyed by the oil industry. At his 60th Birthday The forest lifestyle of the Nenets and Khanty fishermen, hunters and reindeer herders, which was under thread by the ruthless oil-development became his most important issue from the perestroika times on. He worked himself as a hunter in the area his grandfather used to hunt on and later he decided to establish a reindeer herd and to live permanently on the territory where I met him in 1993. At the beginning of the 90ies he organised demonstrations of the local people against the ruthless actions of the oil companies that destroyed not only the settlements, the sacred places and cemeteries of the Khanty and Forest Nenets but poisoned the river and swamps with oil and contaminated the air with the gas they burned. At this time he also understood that there is more that get lost than just the environment. The language, the knowledge, the values of a lifestyle that is based on a respectful relationship between animals, people, and forces that are more powerful than humans started to disappear. He decided to make his own live and his own settlement in the forest a place where people could learn about these things. He made himself a living example, which could teach not only his family members and relatives but also all people interested, be it school children from the oil-town or foreign anthropologists. I think this congruence of words and deeds was the most impressive feature of Yuri Vella. False politeness and strategic submissiveness were completely foreign to him. I was impressed by the degree of autonomy he claimed not only in his thinking but also for his lifestyle. He seemed to be free from all the conventions of modern live and social prestige and decided himself about the values he accepted from the traditions of his Nenets ancestors and of European cultural heritage. I had the luck to be introduced by him to some of the elders that where still deeply rooted in the values and traditions of the forest life – Oleg Aivaseda, Valjoma Aivaseda, Oisia Iusi and Egor Kazamkin. Nowadays, when I work with Nenets elders I often feel that it is due to Yuri Vella that I learned to listen, to be patient, to provide the feeling that their knowledge will be in competent and respectful hands. Here I think I learned as well the most important theoretical lesson in a very practical way. While building the winter hut or the reindeer fence he would mix very practical teaching with reflections about spiritual forces and political circumstances. He told about the threat of the oil industry for the reindeer, about the spiritual landscape of ancestral tradition and about the ways how to orientate oneself without compass and map in the landscape in almost one sentence. My well build hierarchies of knowledge were tumbling down. I understood that there are no authorities the legitimacy of knowledge is based on. His mixture of pragmatism, firmness in principles, and personal experience skipped all hierarchies of scientific, empirical, indigenous, and spiritual knowledge. His writings and his poetry are a proof of his disregard towards established knowledge forms. They mix poetry and prose, science and the traditional spirituality with always a social and political agenda and are not afraid of very personal statements about love and human relationships. To write a poem, to build a wooden sledge or a block house, to organise a protest against an oil-company or to establish a forest school for reindeer herders children this were all not separated projects but rooted in one live that centred around the coexistence of men, forest and reindeer. I could tell what I learned about indigenous storytelling, about the role of reindeer in Nenets and Khanty culture, about indigenous spirituality, about gender relations and the differences between Nenets and Khanty people. To elaborate on it would go far beyond the frame of an internet blog and some of it, like the ways to deal with forces more powerful than men, I cannot share with an anonymous public. I will just tell a little bit what I learned about politics, about the possibility to influence the actions of much more powerful institutions and discourses that influence ones live. His political thinking developed in the conflict between indigenous people and oil companies. He saw its deeper historical roots in different relationships to the land and its resources between state bureaucrats, oil-workers and reindeer herders. His way of political engagement was again a very personal one. Instead of searching for a place in established political institutions he chooses to defend his own small ancestral territory from the destructive development by the oil company LUKOIL. He tried to be the David against Goliath and to use the weapons of the weak. He was very much aware of his lack of power in terms of economic weight. Oil companies were able within a growing nationalistic discourse to present their interest in profit at any cost as a national interest of Russia. The only chance in this situation was to use all means of symbolic politics, to make politics not with money and influence but with words, pictures, and art. Without building up broad alliances with media, scientists, social and ecological organisations even over cultural and political differences he would have not been able to fight this uneven struggle. It required certain skills to navigate between principles and compromises and often he was calling himself the “clever Nenets” if he again found a way out of what seemed to be a dead end. He refused to give up his reindeer pastures for payments by the oil companies and managed to stay uncorrupted in contrast to a lot of other indigenous politicians which could not stand the pressure of the oil-lobby or powerful political parties. He was able to keep his own sovereignty, the inner freedom. He gave me the certainty that if one builds up a respectful relationship with nature and other humans one can skip all social conventions and should be not afraid of power, politicians, oil companies or other somehow influential people. I learned from him the meaning of respect, the meaning of silence, what it means to see. Forest Nenets Fishing – report by Rudolf Havelka On February 3, 2012 October 15, 2012 By arcticcentreIn All, Extractive Industries, Fieldwork, Indigenous Peoples, Russian North Anthropology Research Team phD student Rudolf Havelka is a little bit more than half way through with his fieldwork among the Forest Nentsy in West Siberia. As Rudolf is an enthusiastic fisherman himself, it wasn’t hard for him to get in tune with this part of Forest Nenets life. Rudolf with a nice ice-fish harvest Consequently, after 5 months in the field a very nice popular article that he produced has a short but concise ethnography of fishing there in the various seasons and using various technologies. Particularly for those who can read Czech, it’s worth reading and illustrated with nice photographs. Rudolf is soon going to go back for another field season there and look at contemporary enactments of animist practices in a landscape rugged by oil extraction over the last four decades. More nice photos you can see at Bryan Alexander’s great home page here . Estonian-French anthropologist and linguist Eva Toulouse has worked a lot with Forest Nenets and is also very active in networking with them and popularising their cases, particular with the famous writer, activist and reindeer herder Yuri Vella, with whom Rudolf also stayed. Forest Nenets ‘sacred ecology’ fieldwork On July 27, 2011 July 13, 2015 By arcticcentreIn All, Extractive Industries, Indigenous Peoples, Russian North1 Comment PhD candidate Rudolf Havelka, member of the Anthropology team under the supervision of Florian Stammler sends greetings from the field! Rudolf has recently finished the first part of his field research among the Forest Nenets in Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets AO, in West Siberia, Russia. Rudolf with Yuri Vella close to Tiutei-Yakha, West Siberia Rudolf’s focus is the relationship between religious thinking, ritual practice and the environment of the Forest Nenets. During three months in the field, Rudolf has lived in the summer camp of the Forest Nenets poet, activist and reindeer herder Yuri Vella on Tuiti-yakha River. Yuri is a longstanding friend and great teacher of many anthropologists working in the West Siberian North. At various stages, scholars like Eva Toulouze, Liivo Niglas, Stephan Dudeck, Natalya Novikova, Florian Stammler and many others have learned a lot from Yuri about knowing the forest and reindeer, and about coping with the oil industry in West Siberia. Eva Toulouze maintains a website for Yuri, which we warmly recommend. After saying farewell to Yuri, Rudolf moved northwards to the Yamal-Nenets Okrug to spend some time with the Pjak-Netunta family on one of the tributaries of the Pur River. He has also established warm contacts with the employees of the Centre for National Cultures in Tarko- Sale. Rudolf is leaving back to field in the middle of September. We gratefully acknowledge the support for Rudolf´s research by the Lapland Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line465
__label__wiki	0.584677	0.584677	Barend De Wet ‘Black, White and Everything In-Between’ 2016. Installation view: SMAC Gallery, Cape Town Monochromatic polymorphism: Barend De Wet’s ‘Black, White and Everything In-Between’ A review by Isabella Kuijers & Lloyd Pollak on the 13th of June 2016. This should take you 5 minutes to read. SMAC Gallery, Cape Town Our attempt to write about Barend de Wet’s ‘Black, White and Everything In-Between’ was near-catastrophically derailed by musical dilly-dallying. We were doing field work at SMAC the day before the exhibition opening when Shona, the obliging gallerina, mentioned that one artwork Opera, White Bread and Methylated Spirits, which was to be displayed in a room all of its own, would be accompanied by an operatic soundtrack. We took this off-hand remark as an invitation, and bedded down on SMAC’S art-deco couches to jot down a shortlist of arias. This detour began with Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro but veered sharply into Erik Satie, Thelonious Monk and Ella Fitzgerald. De Wet graciously welcomed our participation and gave us carte blanche, and after a few hours of sheer delight we had devised a musical accompaniment to Opera, White Bread and Methylated Spirits and unintentionally found a sonic lexicon to enrich the work. Barend de Wet Opera, white bread and methylated spirits, 2016. Enamel on steel, UV-light, and sound installation Opera, White Bread and Methylated Spirits deals with the practice of pouring meths through white bread, thereby filtering the solvent and making it drinkable. It is an installation composed of an assortment of inedible steel loaves, rolls, baguettes, buns and boules that seemingly levitate; a vision that reminded us of protozoal creatures a-wash in the marine depths. These sculptures are displayed in a pitch-black room intermittently lit by ultra-violet spotlights which isolate the bread, and give it a deathly methylated violet glow that hints at danger and the supernatural. Despite its otherworldliness, the work alludes to a life-threatening street practice expressive of surrender and despair. Opera’s euphonic protestations and laments, Monk’s heart-stopping piano with its constant shifts in key, rhythm, pace and Ella’s brilliantly improvised skat all force the surreal emotionality, that is so rigidly suppressed in the sculptural ensemble, out into the open and endow it with a far more overt theatricality and romanticism. Our modest contribution epitomizes De Wet’s love of collaboration and the magic that chance and random interventions may bestow upon a work. In the past, little of De Wet’s opus possessed an explicitly political bent, and he often appeared more concerned with situating himself within a political landscape than commenting on it. Suddenly ‘Black White and Everything In-Between’ ushers in a new gravitas, and replaces Barend’s occasional self-indulgence and narcissism with deep social concern. Take the first artwork that you encounter on entering the gallery for example: a live female nude standing on a plinth, wearing a dress made only of geometric fragments held together by cable ties. The additional cable ties and fragments strewn on the floor were immediately seized upon by children who eagerly devised a train for her ‘dress’ which immediately recalled the absurd Dadaist outfits worn by Hugo Ball at the Cabaret Voltaire, at a time when all established values appeared to have collapsed, as is the case here and now. The imposing young woman – a piece of living sculpture in the Gilbert and George tradition – asserted an heraldic presence, and functioned as an allegorical representation of South Africa, our version of England personified as Britannia or the U.S.A. as the Statue of Liberty. However our motherland is seen in a state of disintegration as her sculpted couture is a mere flotsam and jetsam of smashed shards. This striptease act and lively audience participation ensured that, lickety-split, the entire show leapt into ebullient life. Behind her hung a fractured target of concentric circles in black and white that hark back to Kenneth Noland and Jasper Johns, but carry an entirely different meaning concerned with urban violence, self-protection, gang warfare, protest action, Marikana, guns, weapons and warfare. The titles of these target metal wall pieces all denote mundane, habitual actions: Walk the Dog and Milk the Cow, establishing violence as a part of normal daily life. The show concluded with another performance. A small fire was lit on the deck and into it Barend deposited tiny effigies of easels and paintings; a reference to the burning of artworks at UCT by Rhodes Must Fall and a burnt offering of minutiae designed to propitiate a monochromatic deity. The statement that even when art is destroyed, it is nevertheless made, is an affirmation of creative resilience. On the most literal level, the title ‘Black, White & Everything In-Between’, emphasizes the elimination of color which always imparted such a festive air to De Wet’s previous work. The exhibition booklet and fliers, executed in yellow, green, blue and violet, are red herrings. They imply joyous brightness, but the parson-like ascetic palette of black and white that De Wet relies on throughout the exhibition, is absolute and binary. The unfettered freedom and anarchic wildness of the artist’s imagination make themselves strongly felt, but one dimension is absent, and that absence results in extreme sensory deprivation. The absence of color creates a strangely unreal alternative world far more abstract, rarified, stark, sober and severe than anything De Wet has created hitherto. There is a sense of Lenten abstinence as he finally lays rainbowism to rest, and freely admits that our society is ideologically, racially and economically polarized, and that we are on the verge of revolution, or a slump into a lawless rentier state. Most of the sculptural reliefs on the walls remain abstract with jagged serrations that continually pick up on the themes of violence and aggression. Despite the calamitous overtones, De Wet’s waggishness remains, and the forms, although indefinable, seem defiantly alive and ticking. They suggest all sorts of mechanomorphic and zoomorphic parallels to Miro’s wriggly-squiggly carnival menageries. The artworks exist in a process of evolution rather than in their finished state. Essentially they are maquettes for far more ambitious creations that could extend to infinity were they not confined within the gallery. The paper scroll covered in thick black squiggles concludes in two huge spools of paper which could unravel forever. Growing organisms capable of rapid, invasive self-propagation seem to be the inspiration behind the Black is Black suite of modular sculptures which can be added onto ad infinitum so that – theoretically- they could cover the entire planet. Furthermore nothing is any one thing, everything performs double, or even triple duty. The sails of the boats – metaphoric ships of state- floundering as they lose all sense of direction, contract measles or turn into cacti, or a puff of smoke. The sinister trio of hooded Klu Klux Klan figures turn into variants of Siennese dugento rockscapes as do the strange jelly-fish-like black creatures in the hidden half of the main hall where the battle rages both on land and sea. An entire wall is devoted to posters advertising many of De Wet’s earlier exhibitions, and looking at them, and remembering what one saw, one not only feels the clutch of nostalgia, but also suddenly intuits how, despite its hectic multifariousness, De Wet’s oeuvre is essentially one. As the memories and ghosts of all the works, performances and interventions that we once beheld, come trouping back into the gallery from the past, we immediately understand how De Wet’s entire corpus evolved out of the student work that he did at Michaelis. A final practical note from the pedant: when working with chromatic absolutes, any small deviation causes the eye to snag and ultimately distracts from the conceptual weight of the work. A muddy paw print, an unpainted shard of wood or a lick of enamel that peels back to reveal a previous coat of paint occasionally ruin the immersion. These little oversights remind the viewer that they are not in a fantastical Lewis-Carolesque chessboard world. They prevent Barend’s fantasies from enacting themselves in all their glory and transcending the confines of the Gallery. Read more about Barend de Wet Gold mine or mine field? Jonah Sack’s ‘Obstruction’ A review by Lloyd Pollak [Working Title]	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line470
__label__wiki	0.93186	0.93186	ECOUST MILITARY CEMETERY, ECOUST-ST. MEIN Australian War Memorial record for Ecoust Military Cemetery. Source: Wikidata Find a Grave website listing for Ecoust Military Cemetery. Source: Wikidata ww1cemeteries.com record for ECOUST MILITARY CEMETERY, ECOUST-ST. MEIN. Online since 2005, ww1cemeteries.com contains comprehensive descriptive and photographic records of First World War cemeteries Private Ifor Jones 53859 Royal Welsh Fusiliers 05/07/1917 (aged 20) Serjeant James Greenhalgh 266981 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 03/05/1917 (aged 26) Private William Ambrose Camplin 241253 York and Lancaster Regiment 21/05/1917 (aged 22) Serjeant Standish 240770 York and Lancaster Regiment 21/05/1917 Private Adams 14458 Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) 29/11/1917 (aged 20) Gunner Cyril Barton Althorp 4129 Australian Field Artillery 22/04/1917 (aged 21) Lance Corporal Aspinall 65575 Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) 28/05/1917 (aged 32) Private Barron 201616 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 03/05/1917 Gunner Henry Leslie Beeson 18636 Australian Field Artillery 11/04/1917 (aged 33) Private Bond 28222 Manchester Regiment 06/07/1917 (aged 32) Private Walter Branker 267091 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 04/05/1917 (aged 29) Private Brodest 56127 Northumberland Fusiliers 07/04/1918 (aged 33) Lance Corporal Buckley 201751 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 02/09/1917 Private Burns 306633 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 16/04/1917 Private Cawood 300047 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 05/05/1917 (aged 27) Serjeant Chappell 240056 York and Lancaster Regiment 21/05/1917 Private Bertie James Coles 28761 Devonshire Regiment 16/06/1917 (aged 20) Private Collington S/3447 Gordon Highlanders 25/06/1917 (aged 29) Serjeant Cook 370544 London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) 16/06/1917 Private Craig S/18121 Gordon Highlanders 28/11/1917 (aged 30) Private Gilbert Currie S/12251 Gordon Highlanders 27/10/1917 (aged 26) Private Dolan 204023 London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 12/06/1917 Private John Elsby 31109 North Staffordshire Regiment 21/03/1918 (aged 21) Private Ewen S/43087 Gordon Highlanders 01/08/1917 Gunner Douglas Harold Rygate Ferguson 1662 Australian Field Artillery 23/04/1917 (aged 23) Rifleman Duncan Seth Ferguson 267038 West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) 05/04/1917 (aged 33) Private Fraser 40410 Gordon Highlanders 14/07/1917 (aged 25) Private Walter Owen Godber 306947 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 11/04/1917 (aged 20) Private John Golightly S/8237 Gordon Highlanders 31/07/1917 (aged 22) Rifleman George Grainger 265326 West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) 10/04/1917 (aged 27) Bombardier Grant 223 Australian Field Artillery 11/04/1917 Private Thomas Greenhalgh 202447 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 31/08/1917 (aged 38) Private Harrington 202459 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 31/08/1917 Private Hartley 202775 London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 31/05/1917 Private Harry Hemmingway 241733 York and Lancaster Regiment 21/05/1917 (aged 20) Private Henderson S/40251 Gordon Highlanders 12/07/1917 Private Hennelly 15263 Manchester Regiment 06/07/1917 (aged 28) Private Hunter 235433 Gordon Highlanders 27/10/1917 Private Cycil Clarence Jenner 202633 London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) 12/06/1917 (aged 22) Lieutenant Johnson Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 14/05/1917 Private Robert Johnson S/41255 Gordon Highlanders 27/10/1917 (aged 19) Private Kelly 16303 North Staffordshire Regiment 21/03/1918 Private Kelly S/7296 Gordon Highlanders 31/07/1917 Private Leonard Lee 32840 Manchester Regiment 06/07/1917 (aged 24) Lance Corporal Lewis 34826 Royal Welsh Fusiliers 21/10/1917 (aged 20) Gunner Neville Henry Lipscomb 33 Australian Field Artillery 23/04/1917 Private Mcculloch S/13416 Gordon Highlanders 30/11/1917 Private Mcgowan S/13820 Gordon Highlanders 31/07/1917 (aged 34) Gunner Archibald Mcintosh 1788 Australian Field Artillery 11/04/1917 (aged 25) Private Mackie S/40040 Gordon Highlanders 14/07/1917 Private Mackinnon 291507 Gordon Highlanders 27/10/1917 (aged 27) Private Mansell 25975 Manchester Regiment 08/07/1917 (aged 20) Private John Medlen 18435 Devonshire Regiment 16/06/1917 (aged 38) Gunner Stanley Roy Morgan 1546 Australian Field Artillery 11/04/1917 (aged 28) Private Moss 202454 North Staffordshire Regiment 21/03/1918 Corporal Parker 266461 West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) 03/05/1917 Private Perkins 203154 North Staffordshire Regiment 21/03/1918 (aged 21) Private John Rees 33509 Devonshire Regiment 15/06/1917 Private Reid 7823 Gordon Highlanders 16/06/1917 (aged 35) Corporal William Richardson 43635 West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) 13/04/1918 (aged 25) Private Riddoch 529 Gordon Highlanders 12/07/1917 (aged 27) Rifleman Robertshaw 305120 West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) 27/05/1917 Private Sidney Watkiss Ross 240872 North Staffordshire Regiment 21/03/1918 (aged 22) Private John Harold Royle 40324 Manchester Regiment 04/04/1917 (aged 38) Private Rushworth 202471 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 07/05/1917 (aged 41) Private Scott 32210 North Staffordshire Regiment 21/03/1918 Lieutenant Thomas Smith Shackleton Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 05/05/1917 (aged 26) Private Steel S/41547 Gordon Highlanders 15/11/1917 Private Storey 266736 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 03/05/1917 Gunner Thomas Cecil Sumner 11126 Australian Field Artillery 23/04/1917 (aged 21) Gunner Lionel Herbert Taggart 19147 Australian Field Artillery 11/04/1917 (aged 21) Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Bezley Houghton Thorne North Staffordshire Regiment 21/03/1918 (aged 44) Private Arthur Tugwell 15625 Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) 29/11/1917 (aged 20) Private Vickers 267172 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 04/05/1917 (aged 24) Private Thomas Walsh 306532 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 03/05/1917 (aged 32) Private Waterworth 268336 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 11/05/1917 Private Henry John Webb 241278 North Staffordshire Regiment 21/03/1918 (aged 21) Private Whyte S/41593 Gordon Highlanders 15/11/1917 Musketier Franz Dettmann German Army 23/03/1918 Gefreiter Johann Klesen German Army 22/03/1918 Musketier Newton Lorenzen German Army 21/03/1918 Musketier Martin Matuszczak German Army 25/03/1918 Musketier Paul Schulz German Army 21/03/1918 Krankentraeger Leonhard Spiess German Army 22/03/1918 Schuetze Paul Ziegler German Army 21/03/1918 Gordon Highlanders 18 Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) 16 North Staffordshire Regiment 8 Manchester Regiment 5 Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) 3 London Regiment (Post Office Rifles) 1 Wednesday 4 April 1917 1 1 0 Sunday 22 April 1917 1 2 0 Saturday 5 May 1917 2 2 0 Saturday 16 June 1917 4 4 0 Sunday 8 July 1917 1 1 0 Thursday 21 March 1918 11 8 0 Sunday 7 April 1918 1 1 0 Peterhead 2 2 0 Winshill East Staffordshire 1 1 0 Fetteresso 1 1 0 Kirkcaldy and Dysart 1 1 0 Marr Doncaster 1 1 0 Skipton Craven 1 1 0 Inverkeithing 1 0 0 Shobnall East Staffordshire 1 1 0 Cadder 1 1 0 Uphall 1 1 0 Saddleworth Oldham 1 1 0 Darwen Blackburn with Darwen 1 0 0 Inverness and Bona 1 1 0 Greenock 1 1 0 Burton East Staffordshire 1 1 0 Saline 1 1 0 Duloe Cornwall 1 1 0 Inverurie 1 1 0 Kilmonivaig 1 1 0 Paisley 1 1 0 Fordyce 1 1 0 Rhymney Caerphilly 1 1 0 Cheadle Staffordshire Moorlands 1 1 0 Aberdeen 1 1 0 Innerwick 1 1 0 Denholme Bradford 1 1 0 Alloa 1 1 0 Keith 1 1 0 Llanllyfni Gwynedd 1 1 1	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line475
__label__wiki	0.708586	0.708586	Romanian Patriarchate NewsHomiliesMessages and AddressesQuotesPhotosBiography Basilica.roNewsfeedContactRSSNewsletter » Homilies » ‘Let us not live selfishly! Let us open ourselves to God’s love and help our neighbours’, Patriarch urges ‘Let us not live selfishly! Let us open ourselves to God’s love and help our neighbours’, Patriarch urges Published by Aurelian Iftimiu The purpose of human earthly life is the preparation for heavenly life, Patriarch Daniel said Sunday in his homily delivered during the Divine Liturgy celebrated at the Romanian Saints Hall of the Patriarchal Residence. His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel reflected on the Bible readings, explaining that the Kingdom of Heaven is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). That is why we ought to change our lives, by opening ourselves to God’s love and by helping our neighbours, and not by living a selfish, exclusively biological live. The Gospel calls us to change, the patriarch said, because the Kingdom of Heaven means to remodel the way we think, we live and act. His Beatitude pointed to the fact that Christ the Lord combined the preaching of repentance with miraculous, healing and delivering acts. Thus, the patriarch noted, Jesus Christ was strengthening His words by performing merciful deeds. Christ teaches us to add charity deeds to the preaching of the Gospel, he said adding that since the first centuries the Church has been taking care of the sick, the poor, of travelers, and of every soul in need of help. The patriarch noted that especially the Saints fulfilled the apostolic ministry of preaching Christ’s Gospel in word and deed. Referring to the Saints, His Beatitude said that they carry Christ within them through prayer, and make Him manifest to the world through good deeds. In his homily, the Patriarch referred to the Synaxis of all Romanian Saints commemorated by the Romanian faithful on the second Sunday after Pentecost. Today we commemorate the Synaxis of all Romanian Saints known and unknown, Patriarch Daniel said, both those who were canonized and included in our calendar and those who have not been canonized yet by the Church. He went on to say that some of them are known only by God, who will make them manifest when and how He desires. At Christ’s second coming, he said, Saints will shine like the stars and that the holiness of their souls will be made manifest through their risen and glorified bodies. The Patriarch reflected on the Christianization of the Romanian people that was based on the preaching of Saint Andrew the Apostle and his disciples in the Southeast region of Romania (in today’s Dobrudja). Because it was not a formal, ordered Christianization, but from human to human, developed at the same time with the formation of our nation from Dacians and Romans, the patriarch said, Christianity has deep roots in the soul of the Romanian people. The Romanian nation, he said, has not lost its faith despite many trials. History shows us that it resisted during the invasions of the migratory peoples, during many later proselytizing pressures of other heterodox Christian confessions, and during the atheistic ideological pressure under the communist regime. His Beatitude ended his speech saying that the Romanian Saints are intercessors for the Romanian people before the throne of the Holy Trinity who pray for the preservation of the Orthodox faith, for its conveyance to younger generations, for the cultivation of the holiness of life and of the deeds of merciful love. Prior to the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, the Patriarch of Romania blessed 200 antimensia to be used in several chapels. Through the decision of the Holy Synod, the Romanian Orthodox Church ordained in 1992 that the Synaxis of All Romanian Saints be honoured on the Second Sunday after Pentecost. Credit: Lumina Newspaper homily, neighbours, Patriarch Daniel, selfish, Synaxis of All Romanian Saints, Subscribe to Basilica.ro newsletter Persecutions against Christians worsen during pandemic Published by Ștefana Totorcea More than 340 million Christians were severely persecuted in 2020 and the phenomenon worsened during the coronavirus pandemic, announced last week Portes Ouvertes, the Frech partner of Open Doors International. The numbers have gone up… Poll: The Church remains the most trusted institution in Romania A poll made by the Center for Urban and Regional Sociology – CURS between January 11-15 found that the Church remains the most trusted institution in Romania. The research report showed that 62% of the… The Week in Pictures: January 11 – 17, 2021 Winter’s cold and snow were not able to conquer the warm souls of the Orthodox faithful. Please see below our selection of photos taken between January 11 and 17, 2021. Last week’s most-liked Instagram post:… Messages and Addresses In his message on Romania’s National Culture Day, Patriarch Daniel referred to the connection between worship and culture but also stressed the liturgical and cultural value of cemeteries. “When religious worship bore fruit in culture,… Romania’s Timișoara, on The Independent’s list of Best Second Cities in Europe to Visit in 2021 Published by Iulian Dumitraşcu Timișoara, in western Romania, features on the list of the Best Second Cities in Europe to Visit in 2021 put together by the British newspaper The Independent. The list covers nine cities that can serve… Wednesday20January †) St. Euthymius the Great; Martyr Eusebius at Nicomedia; Martyrs Inna, Pinna and Rimma Table Tennis Cadet World Champion: I’ve always enjoyed going to church Subscribe to newsletter to receive the most important news from us. © 2021 Biserica Ortodoxă Română. All Rights Reserved. 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__label__cc	0.713657	0.286343	Smooth pursuit in infants: maturation and the influence of stimulation Christina Pieh1, Frank Proudlock2, Irene Gottlob2 1University Eye Hospital, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany 2Ophthalmology Group, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK Correspondence to Dr Christina Pieh, University Eye Hospital, University of Freiburg, Killianstraße 5, Freiburg 79106, Germany; christina.pieh{at}uniklinik-freiburg.de Purpose To investigate the development of smooth pursuit in infants and to assess the influence of different stimulus characteristics. Methods A total of 131 eye movement recordings were obtained from 71 infants between 1 and 18 months of age using infrared photo-oculography. Smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM) were stimulated using targets of different sizes (1.2° and 4.7° of visual angle) and velocities (7.5°/s, 15°/s and 30°/s). Results Smooth pursuit maturation peaked between 2 and 6 months of age with smooth pursuit gain showing a steep rise for all stimulus velocities and target sizes within this age range (p<0.0001). Higher stimulus velocities were associated with shorter durations of the longest smooth pursuit (p<0.0001) and higher saccadic frequencies (p<0.0001). A larger stimulus size led to an increased saccadic frequency (p=0.035). Tracking time was highest when the larger stimulus of 4.7° of visual angle was applied (p=0.022) and when it moved at a medium stimulus velocity of 15°/s (p=0.0002). The choice between a schematic face and a scrambled face did not influence the quality of the infants' smooth pursuit. Conclusion SPEM show an intensive maturation between 2 and 6 months of life. By 6 months of age SPEM have already reached an almost adult-like gain of 0.8 or higher. Further maturation is slow and still incomplete by the age of 18 months. Stimulus velocity and size have an important impact on the smooth pursuit quality, which should be considered in smooth pursuit testing in infants. Smooth pursuit oculomotor development embryology and development http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjo.2010.191726 Funding Supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (nr. 32-52503.97) and by the OPOS Foundation (no proprietary interests). Competing interests None to declare. Patient consent Obtained. Ethics approval This study was conducted with the approval of the Ethics Committee of Kantonsspital St Gallen. The research followed the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. © 2011, Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions. Highlights from this issue Harminder S Dua Arun D Singh British Journal of Ophthalmology 2011; 96 i-i Published Online First: 12 Dec 2011. doi: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2011-301329	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line488
__label__cc	0.630803	0.369197	Home > Opinion > It is now time for Scotland’s MP’s to declare Scotland’s Independence It is now time for Scotland’s MP’s to declare Scotland’s Independence Many Scots have increasingly become more aware, if they needed to be, that the 56 SNP MP’s elected to Westminster in May 2015 are wasting their time there, and wasting Scotland’s time. Scotland’s MP’s appear to have become more interested in process in the UK&EVEL parliament than in Scotland’s nationhood. Yet it matters little what the SNP x 56 do or say in Westminster, because the red and blue Tories will always conspire to vote against Scotland’s interests, and against the will of the Scottish people, Brexit being a case in point. Some commentators, like former UK Ambassador Craig Murray, Bella Caledonia’s Mike Small, and playwright George Gunn, have argued that Scotland’s MPs should now call it a day at Westminster, each proposing different strategies our MP’s could adopt. It is therefore worth considering the constitutional realities of Scottish independence being achieved in this way, what some might now call the ‘traditional’ accepted method, as opposed to the quite recent, rather neoliberal, and democratically fashionable, received political wisdom which points in the direction of a second referendum on independence as the only ‘proper’ way to proceed. Negotiations for the moment regarding Brexit are between the EU and the UK. However, there is an argument that Scotland could remain in the EU if it were to become independent prior to the ‘present UK’ announcing Art. 50 withdrawal. If Scotland declared independence now, the entity doing the withdrawing (from the EU) would not then be the UK, as we or the EU currently know it; upon Scotland’s independence, the UK as currently constituted would cease to exist. Once Scotland departs the UK parliamentary union, the UK parliament ceases to exist as far as Scotland is concerned, hence the UK parliament as currently constituted would also end. The key point here is that the UK as currently constituted ceases to exist whenever Scotland (or England) becomes independent (again); new states are born (or rather old states are re-born). Therefore, the entity that originally became an EU member (i.e. the present UK ‘state’) would no longer exist, only the successor states would exist. What this means is that England (post the end of the UK ‘state’) may take England out of the EU, but it cannot take Scotland out of the EU. In short, by declaring independence now, an independent Scotland would avoid being taken out of the EU. Also of importance, constitutionally, in this context, is the Claim of Right (recent and past versions) that declares the sovereignty of the Scottish people, not the sovereignty of any UK ‘joint’ Parliament. Scotland’s peoples’ right to assert Scotland’s nationhood does not, never has, and never could depend on the whim of almost 600 MP’s representing other nations; to believe so would be to completely disregard the sovereignty of the Scottish people, and the Claim of Right in that regard, and would also ignore the way in which the union of parliaments was originally constituted, by a simple majority of Scotland’s MP’s. The SNP x 56, holding as they do the sovereign will of the Scottish people, therefore have a material choice to make prior to any Art.50 EU withdrawal by the current UK ‘state’. The SNP x 56 not only hold the power to declare Scotland independent, now, today; they also hold the power to retain EU membership for Scotland, should they so wish. Scotland does not have to be ‘dragged over a Brexit cliff’ by the UK, more especially if the UK (as currently constituted) no longer exists. Unionists might argue that forcing independence onto Scots when around half (or a little more) don’t actually support it is not a good recipe for a stable successful country. But we might just as easily consider the situation at the beginning of the ‘union’, which was forced onto Scots when the overwhelming majority of people didn’t actually support it, and which likewise ‘is not a good recipe for a stable successful country’. And if proof of the latter were needed, here we are, almost 310 years later, still searching for the illusion of a ‘union dividend’, whilst pondering Scotland’s painfully diminished colonial status in the eyes of the nations of the rest of the world, most of whom have since moved on from colonial oppression (not least by the UK) and now live in their own independent countries. Until very recently, Westminster politicians of all parties have always acknowledged (and regularly taunted as much) that if the Scottish ‘nationalists’ ever secured a majority of Scotland’s Westminster seats then that would amount to de facto independence, i.e. independence is there for the taking. What is required thereafter, and to bring about de jure independence, is for that majority of Scotland’s elected MP’s to re-establish the independent Scottish Parliament, and to pass an Act ending the union of UK parliaments, at least as far as Scotland is concerned. That would essentially mirror the 1707 process in reverse, which created the UK parliament through a majority of Scottish MP’s voting for it, thereby making Scotland an independent state again. What England does is essentially a matter for England. If the sovereignty of the Scottish people, demonstrated by the actions of a majority of Scotland’s MP’s, is respected, then England should likewise pass an act to end the union of UK parliaments, again at least as far as Scotland is concerned. This would then mean that, just as an act in the English and the Scottish parliaments brought into force the union of parliaments in 1707, so an act in both parliaments brings the same union to a close. That seems right, fair, and constitutionally consistent. Some unionists may say that SNP MPs at Westminster do not hold any sovereign will. That they are there merely to represent their constituencies. That they cannot and will not be able to force any political ideology on the people of Scotland (unlike Scotland’s unelected Tory governments!). And that they sit as a minority party in the UK Parliament. Such views, however, all ignore the reality of the way the union of parliaments came about, how the UK parliament was and is constituted, and the specific constitutional reality of Scottish sovereignty. Scots have never been in any doubt that Scotland’s elected MP’s could end the ‘union’ in precisely the same way it began, i.e. through a majority decision of Scottish MP’s. Scotland does not need to wait to be ‘granted permission’ to hold a referendum on independence by a Westminster parliament dominated by representatives of other nations. Constitutionally, Scotland does not even need a referendum, and never has needed one to become an independent state again. An advisory referendum would still depend on the votes of all MP’s at Westminster, which in turn means that that route to Scotland’s independence would likewise depend on the votes of elected representatives from other nations, who may simply conspire to refuse (or seek to water down) Scotland’s right to independence. Moreover, the latter is unconstitutional because Scottish nationhood depends only on the sovereign will of the Scottish people; it does not and should not depend on elected representatives of other nations. No nation depends on seeking permission from another nation to become independent; nations assert their own independence. Scotland’s sovereignty is for the moment vested in Scotland’s MP’s to do as they think best, in the interests of Scotland. If these MP’s think it best for Scotland to become independent, prior to the UK’s Art.50 withdrawal from the EU, then constitutionally they have every right to make Scotland independent. To claim otherwise would be to call into question the very constitutional foundations of the present joint UK parliament, an arrangement constituted by a majority of Scotland’s MP’s. Thus, as the union of parliaments was initially began for Scotland, so it can and should be undone for Scotland in a like manner. The question arises as to Scotland’s future, more especially if the SNP x 56 fail to extend their present political advantage of already achieving de facto independence (despite the fact they do not appear to realise this) and to then declare and deliver de jure independence. With continued inaction on the part of Scotland’s MP’s, the political, social, economic, and national risks for Scotland are indeed dire, and such inaction also demonstrates a disregard for the sovereign will of Scotland’s people. For example: Scotland will be taken out of the EU, against the will of Scotland’s people; a further referendum on independence may be refused, against the will of Scotland’s people; the devolved yet power-neutered Holyrood Parliament could even be abolished, against the will of Scotland’s people; and, Scotland would continue to be controlled by and suffer from the policies of politicians in Westminster that our people do not vote for, i.e. against the will of Scotland’s people. Furthermore, even if a second referendum were permitted, any Yes result is never guaranteed to be respected by Westminster, and could be watered down to such an extent that it becomes meaningless, against the will of Scotland’s people. Scotland’s continued participation (or rather continued subjugation) within the UK parliamentary union is, therefore, only likely to work increasingly against the sovereign will of the Scottish people. In addition, there is a real risk that the UK parliamentary union will endeavour to reduce Scotland’s constitutional relevance further, possibly to the point that the nation is effectively dissolved, as some unionists already believe to be the case. Ultimately, the only certain, and constitutionally consistent way to re-establish Scotland’s nationhood is for a majority of Scotland’s MP’s to declare Scotland’s Independence. Now would be a good time to do so. By Alf Baird Published on 18th February 2017 Alan Crocket says: 18th February 2017 at 10:28 am This article is misconceived. Only two and a half short years ago, the people of Scotland rejected independence by a majority vote in an impeccably legal, constitutional, peaceful and democratic referendum. That process has set the standard, so that any attempt to overturn that decision by lesser means would be to disrespect the sovereignty of the people. The independence movement should put its whole focus on the holding of a fresh referendum, and its whole energy into winning victory in it. Anything else is a distraction. Paul Carline says: There are good grounds for questioning the outcome of the independence referendum. Does anyone imagine that vote rigging only happens in the US? The truth is that we cannot be sure that a majority of Scots voted against independence. And the media coverage of the issue in the runup to the vote was anything but fair and democratic – a ‘democratic’ vote implying that the voters have been given unbiased and honest information on the issue. ” The truth is that we cannot be sure that a majority of Scots voted against independence.” …and we cannot be sure a majority of voters in 56 constituencies voted for the SNP. GreenPhil says: Scotland’s IndyRef in 2014 was RIGGED Alot of londoners like to cry ‘conspiracy theory!’ at this, but the people here wont forget what we saw e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_8PnwQJhlU against feudalism says: The concerted might of the media, all other political parties, and ‘respected’ talking heads, lied and disseminated against the Independence movement – Too wee, Too poor etc. Had the TRUTH been told, with dignity and honesty, then people would not have been afraid to vote YES. We would likely be Independent today. If we really are dependent upon the ‘largess’ of England and Westminster, and ‘cost’ them so much – why are they holding on so tight ?? I will e-mail a link to this piece, to my MP Stuart Donaldson, just in case he has missed it 🙂 I am in favour. I would likely be Independent today and with an Scotland Republic, because feudalism, federalism, and Monarchism all is the same bullshit. Only in a Republic the citizen has a truly vote and had to be counted. But you need to feel the need of Independence, likewise the air you breast. Today I felt like Napoleon far from French without the hope to return to Scotlandservtubecause Scottish people seems to like servitude and demagogy Tarisgal says: Indeed. But that result was to remain in the UK of that time, not this one, outwith the EU. The UK back then was a very different place. And the ‘no’ people voted for THAT place, not the present one. Also… while I won’t go into the the possibilities of dishonest voting rigging because I cannot provide evidence this, I CAN prove that the Purdah period immediately before the election when politicians were SUPPOSED TO STOP canvassing for voted, was dishonestly broken by the ‘no’ side, when ‘the Vow’ miraculously appeared at a time when ‘the Vow’ promises should NOT have been allowed to be made. That was not within the election remits and there is NO DOUBT that that swayed some voters to vote ‘no’. That was never remarked on, nor brought to the attention of the Electeral Commission, where it should have been! That was totally wrong of ‘Better Together’ to do such a thing. So I say that the result of the Independence Referendum was at worst, dishonest and at best flawed. There is also the problem of many of those ‘Vow’ promises being broken. Not to mention ‘EVEL’ the day after the election. I’m sorry but, as I see it, there is absolutely no need to respect or even acknowledge the ‘no’ win, as no respect has been given to Scotland in regards to the promises made – and broken. Respect is a two way street, after all… Therefore, I am heartily in agreement with Alf Baird’s solution of the method of attaining Independence. If Scotland and her people are not going to be respected enough to be granted a Referendum, especially when the 2016 elections made it clear that Scotland wants SNP and other Indy parties to represent them, and thus another shot at Independence, then – Alf’s method will do me. Sorry – Electoral Commission. One or two typos there – sorry about that! Trying to do two jobs at once, thinking & typing! 😉 18th February 2017 at 10:29 pm Interesting comment thanks. Certainly what I think. BTW if anyone wants a laugh I recommend this funny piece on Alex Salmond thinking he can ‘smell an Englishman’ http://www.thesparkmagazine.co.uk/uk/alex-salmond-thinks-he-can-smell-an-englishman/ The referendum in 2014 was a complete sham. How can blinkered people like you not see that lies of scaremongering that we’re designed to put fear into the most vulnerable; the tactics of having the CEO’s of every major retailer summoned to Downing Street where the PM laid it on thick that they MUST tell the public about price hikes and the great increase in living costs, not to mention the promise of the only way to continue EU membership was with the union, only to announce a Brexit referendum in his victory speech!!!!! WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!!! John O'Dowd says: I’m with you Alf. I recently had this published in the Herald: So Michael Fallon says “No, forget it” to a second referendum on independence? The SNP government has “no mandate” to hold one – this from a minister appointed by a Prime Minister whose only ‘mandate’ is from the Tory MPs who themselves hold nothing like a majority in terms of a popular vote – and only one seat in Scotland. So be it. There need be no referendum. Your editorial outlines a range of options open to Ms Sturgeon, but omits the most obvious one. With 54 of 59 MPs (plus 2 nationalist ‘independents’) in Westminster, and the largest single party in Holyrood (plus independence-minded Greens), is it not perhaps time to revert to the original concept by which the SNP would gain our national independence? The SNP should recall its members from Westminster to reconvene in Holyrood, and proclaim de jure, what exists de facto: A democratic mandate for Scottish Independence – with immediate effect. The elephant in Alan Crocket’s room is that a majority of those born in Scotland voted for independence – and a large number of EU citizens who voted against had been convinced by lies that a YES would mean leaving the EU. Scotland is rarely governed by a Westminster government that we voted for – nor is England – in popular vote terms the present Tory Government has no mandate – and a Prime Minister ‘elected’ only by the parliamentary detritus of her own party. We are told that this is parliamentary democracy. That works both ways. Let us do what Ireland did – reconvene our Parliament in Edinburgh, and to coin a phrase “take our country back” Richard MacKinnon says: Alf, I know you find the sight of our 56 SNP MPs sitting on the green benches, taking part in the farce that is Westminster an embarrassment but unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about it. They like it down there. They play a big part in the pantomine. They turn up on time for make up. They have learnt their lines like an old pro and their delivery has impressed even those on the opposite benches, as they like to call them. Song and dance comes natural. Specialist routines, stand up, and especially impressionist acts are all there to behold. In fact considering how little time they have been down there it is impressive just how quickly they have ingratiated themselves with their unionist fellow members. interpolar says: Och, come on, Richard, you know that is simply not true. The SNP are the only true opposition in Westminster at the moment. Tories are Tories and Labour spend most of the time opposing themselves. Meanwhile, the Liberals are at best worth a footnote. I think 56 are standing their ground and calling the WM government to account on behalf of the people of Scotland – and so they should for as long as Scotland is part of the UK. As for the article, I can’t really buy into its premises. If a referendum is granted, then it is by far more the democratic route to independence, and it is this plebiscite that must be won. One might argue that it is the caucus of Scottish MPs who should decide when such a referendum can be called; however, in a bid to strengthen the essential Scottish Parliament, it should ultimately be the reprieve of Holyrood to make that decision, as it is where expression of the power and will of the Scottish people should ultimately lie. It is only if the Westminster government were to refuse the right to referendum that Alf Baird’s recommendations should be followed. interpolar, Exactly my point, as you say the SNP are now ‘Her Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition’. “Opposition”, yes, “loyal”, probably not. But what is important, they are being constructive, and they are giving Scotland a voice in Westminster, whereas Scotland had no voice in Labour, not even in Holyrood. Thanks to Alf Baird for presenting this article in such a thoughtful way. The ‘unwritten constitution’ of the United Kingdom, in the words of a former head of the Civil Service “allows us to make it up as we go along”. But this begs the question, “who are ‘us’ (we)?” I do not think that he meant the great majority of the electorate. The referendum, as a device, is a relatively recent feature in UK politics and has always been ‘advisory’ unless Parliament declared its result binding. In my recollection, UK-wide there have been only three – c1975 confirmation of access to the ‘Common Market’ (although UK had been a member since 1973), the rather risible PR one in c 2011, and the recent EU one in 2016. In addition, in Scotland we have had the 1979, 1998 and 2014 ones. There have been others in Northern Ireland and Wales. Many countries have referenda as part of the written constitution and in these circumstances the voters know that what they are voting for will be enacted. There are clear rules about when they are used and how they are called. But, in the UK the referendum is in practice a device, a ruse, a diversionary mechanism, a way of elected members seeking to fudge or delay decisions. It can indeed be a very useful way of validating decisions as, say, the 1998 referendum in Scotland was and as some were in NI to move the Peace Process forward. And, in NI, the ‘border poll’ is allowable and, in all probability, will be enacted sometime in the next 10 years. So, I am not decrying the referendum as a device, per se, but, it has to be within clear conditions, particularly with regard to how it can be ‘triggered’. With regard to ‘IndyRef2’ it is popularly being presented in the majority of the UK media, ‘if Mrs May decides to allow you to have one.’ So, it is right for Alf Baird to discuss other options than the referendum. He is right to indicate ‘the majority of Scottish MPs criterion for independence – it was Mrs Thatcher’s opinion. It is possible for the Westminster Parliament to discuss the composition of the UK and decide to dissolve the various union acts. Since SNP has a huge majority of Scottish MPs, then a Westminster which acted in a serious way, respectful of the composition of the elected members from a particular part of the UK, could consider a dissolution which was equitable, respectful and peaceful. Similarly, in Wales if PC and some other individual MPs formed a majority in the Senedd then discussions about the withdrawal by Wales should begin. If SF and other parties in NI were to gain a majority, a Border Poll could be called. And, if there were a majority, then withdrawal from the UK and incorporation into a united Ireland would begin. Well done, Alf Baird for setting out your thoughts. Michael Edwards says: Regarding: ” He is right to indicate ‘the majority of Scottish MPs criterion for independence – it was Mrs Thatcher’s opinion.” I have searched to find a reference to Thatcher saying this but can not find anything. Can anyone help out with supplying a reference? Socrates MacSporran says: An excellent article Alf, I concur with your analysis. Under the elective terms of the Holyrood parliament, a majority of the elected members favour Independence. Under the elective terms of the Westminster parliament, a majority of the elected Scottish members favour Independence. Therefore, since the United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy – the majority of Scottish parliamentarians favour an Independent Scotland. The UK is a union of two kingdoms, but, over time the wishes of one of these two kingdoms has routinely been ignored. Why then should not that ignored signatory to the union seek its dissolution? The “will” of the people. How do you determine that? The MPs elected to represent Scots at Westminster were not sent there on a ticket of withdrawing to Holyrood when it suited them. Should English MPs refuse to acknowledge our right to hold another independence referendum at a time of our choosing,then we may be in different territory but until then,our MPs have to continue to represent their constituents’ interests as best possible. I think we can all agree that the Westminster electoral system is far from representative of the democratic wishes of the people so not,in my opinion a valid test of the “will” of the people. Only another referendum on an unambiguous question whose outcome is legally binding will satisfy the requirement of representing the “will” of the people as seen both within our borders and by outside observers. I would also prefer a shortcut to independence but the democratic process must be observed and that takes time. Thanks Alf. My recollection is that it used to be SNP policy that the mandate for independence was that when we got 50% 0f MPs plus 1 then that was it, negotiation for independence to start the following day. When and why this changed I don’t know. It seems that Westminster and the Conservative party want it both ways. They have an absolute mandate to do anything because they have a majority of MPs (not a majority of the electorate). Yet we, the SNP, have a mandate for nothing at all despite having almost all the MPs in Scotland. When our First Minister went down to London with our 56 MPs she boldly declared (I paraphrase) that if Westminster thinks that they can carry on as if nothing happened then they’ve got another thing coming…. Well, not only have they carried on regardless they are even worse. It actually does not matter how clever and hard-working our 56 are (for avoidance of doubt they are all performing superbly within ridiculous parameters) the arithmetic will never add up. We can’t go on slogging through the rest of this Westminster term. It is pointless, debilitating and ultimately counter-productive. The ‘surge’ who elected the 56 won’t be so passionate the next time, they will quite rightly say ‘what’s the point’; and sink back into the endless despair of the disenfranchised, dispossessed and defeated. Why don’t we force 56 by-elections with one item on the manifesto – independence? If we win a majority of seats we start negotiations the following day, with independence declared one year after. We’ve got to try other strategies. We’ve got to be bold, while we still have the passion of the people on our side. c rober says: I think the resign and re elect has legs , but do we need to watch for what the loony fringe calls voter fraud in such a scenario? Its something that FPTP perhaps works for producing intent , unlike council and Holyrood elections. K.A.Mylchreest says: 21st February 2017 at 1:04 am It may have to come to this. Not an easy decision to make in a “heavy the head that wears the crown” sort of way. But above all, Timing is of the Essence. When to jump? He or she who hesitates may be lost, but we don’t want a premature leap into the dark either. Thank heavens I don’t have that responsibility. Peter: You have convinced me the, decision is , NO. says: Scotland voted no and now you looking for any excuse to have another referendum because the result was not what you wanted, sod democracy. The article is nonsense, each Scottish MP in Westminster has the same influence as any other MP it is not a Ignore Scottish MP’s parliament. There is 59 Scottish MP’s in parliament so they have 59 votes on policies. Also for the guy writing the Article, Scotland is NOT in the EU the UK IS in the EU and Scotland is a state in the UK and will need to apply for membership, as other countries have. These EU people making statements about Scotland and EU are not committing and are not in control, it is just anti Brexit campaigning. Where is the Fiscal plan , how would an independent Scotland manage with a £15bn 9.5% deficit (Scottish Government Figure) and the addition of our share of the UK debt est £9bn and the additional couple of £bn for infrastructure changes. To Start … How will an Independent Scotland manage, with such a deficit (cuts etc. … ) ? What is the government doing to boost the Scottish Economy ? What countries have we agreed will trade with us ? What pan global companies will be coming to Scotland ? What is the tax plan long term to encourage investment here , or not ? What is the stance on democracy, the article above seems to be against it. Helen Scott says: Commonweal are seeking to develop answers to these questions in their draft white paper for independence. Why not take a look, given your interest. I am sure they would appreciate any input you might have in trying to develop ideas re how the whole thing could work, and to the benefit of ordinary people living in Scotland. Thanks, is this the URL http://allofusfirst.org/ , checking just in case there is a different one. Josef O Luain says: When you are inured to your subjugation, as you clearly are, I guess that’s how you’ll view Scottish Independence. Try not to be so angry. I am not angry, i am disappointed that the same incorrect arguments are used by independence supporters over and over and over and over again and the important questions I am asking are not answered. Also , the tendency of the independence supporters, as you have done, you cannot answer the question so you resort to insult, all that does is show how weak the independence argument is. David Francis says: Got to hand it to you for sheer brass neck. You sound like a typical Brexiteer Unionist – and the Brexiteer “plan” for ANYTHING simply does not exist. You puerile little “list” can more appropriately be applied to the impending Brexit Disaster for the UK, driven by that bunch of Tory Dummies in Westminster – and there is not a single one on your list, they could answer. As for Scottish MPs “not being ignored” in WM – I take it you did not watch the ridiculous sight of every singe Amendment proposed by Scottish MPs (including Labour) to the SCOTLAND Bill, being completely voted down by the massed ranks of English MPs – the vast majority of whom did not even have the decency to take part in any of the related debates, preferring to prop-up the various bars in the Westminster Village and then shuffle back into the Chamber to cast their votes. They were completely and utterly disinterested in Scotland, but STILL had far greater influence over what went into that Bill, than did the Scottish MPs elected by and representing Scots themselves. Unionist like you might find that farce acceptable, but most Scots do not. As for the favourite Unionist diatribe about the “black hole” which an Independent Scotland cannot possibly recover from – Firstly, GERS figures are ONLY a reflection of Scotland WITHIN THE UNION and it is perfectly evident to most rational Scots that it is primarily the membership of that skewed, unequal, unbalanced and unfit UNION, which led to that deficit. All you really need to do is look at other Northern European Countries of a similar size to Scotland – but with nowhere near Scotland’s natural resources – to see how much better they have managed to govern themselves as Independent Nations, in comparison to Scotland within the UK, where, even now, the vast majority of major fiscal/financial levers, control of which those other Countries take for granted, are still Reserved to Westminster. Even accepting the GERS figures/deficit as completely accurate – Scotland’s deficit now is still LESS THAN the UK’s 10.5% Deficit of only 7 years ago. The UK’s Black Hole, only those few years ago, was NEVER described as being as “catastrophic” as Scotland’s is now – even although it was substantially larger……… and the UK recovered from that set-back, just as Scotland will. When, as is looking increasingly likely now, Scotland becomes Independent, there will have to be a division of UK ASSETS as well as our share of UK debt. The final settlement will probably have scant relationship to that 9.5% figure in any case. As I stated earlier, it is the UK Government which has the much larger problem after Scottish Independence. Scotland, without a shred of a doubt, will be a Member State of the EU and will be part of the largest trading bloc on the planet – with all the existing trade deals/arrangements and security that brings – whereas the rUK will, at the time of leaving, have NO trade deals with anyone and may have to fall back on WTO Rules, since new trade deals can take a decade or more to set up from scratch – and that would, indeed, be catastrophic for the rUK. The enormous problems which Brexit will bring might indeed result in the rUK having a far, far more precarious economy than an Independent Scotland within the Single Market. And that is without even mentioning May’s crazy plan to “walk away” from any EU Deal, if she cannot get what she wants, or Hammond’s cretinous idea for a Tax-Haven UK. If that happens, the rUK NHS systems are finished, as are the vast majority of their Social Services. All in all, it is NOT Scotland which is facing overwhelming problems in the near future, it is Brexit rUK. Finally, I think the bigger picture is now beginning to dawn on most Scots. If the Brexit Vote and subsequent Supreme Court case did nothing else, they pointed out the bleeding obvious. They pointed out that, on any future major Constitutional/Major matter for these Islands – EVEN IF 100% of voters in Scotland, Wales and N Ireland ALL cast their ballots for/against something, it will only take a mere 60% of voters in England to choose the opposite option, to win the day. In other words, the TOTAL of ALL voters in Scotland, Wales and N Ireland will count for absolutely NOTHING. That is the nature of the British Political Union – Biggest wins every time and the rest just do not matter. Not good enough any more. James Coleman says: Excellent reply. Hyperborean says: It always interests me that it is the pro Indy writers who provide the most detailed, and analytical comments with logical through-lines, whereas it is the anti/Brexit types who tend to use the ‘what about the … ‘ formula of simple-minded taunting, seeming to imagine this to be a form of argument. This difference alone is almost enough to confirm me in my pro-Indy anti-Brexit beliefs. If it is nearly always the apparently most informed and most able to offer a detailed logical argument who support independence (and oppose Brexit) then I’d think myself a fool to cling to any other view, or join those singing “What about the … ,” (insert here any tired, long-debunked anti-independence notion you like) and then “La, la, la, la, we can’t hear you, la, la.” whenever a solid defence of independence is offered. I believe ‘La La Land’ is a hit film at the moment. It seems to me that most anti-independence types have been living in La la la la land for years, refusing to look squarely at the evidence and logic, and delivering fewer and fewer hits of any substance. “the same incorrect arguments are used by independence supporters over and over and over and over again ” Ah… but those “incorrect” arguments as you call them are merely the opinions formed in your little brain. You have absolutely NO evidence that what you say is right. You are opining without fact just like most of the YOONS in the MSM and elsewhere. And the deficits that you write about are deficits as a result of the current connection to a nearly failed state, ie the UK. Daisley , Daisley , give me your…. I am replying all the ranters ,,,, You get irate and insulting because someone makes factual statements that are backed up by government documents, you don’t like so you cannot prove they are wrong so you dive into insults. Here is my evidence. First of all membership of the EU , Scotland is not a member of the EU https://www.parliament.scot/S4_EuropeanandExternalRelationsCommittee/Inquiries/Letter_from_Viviane_Reding_Vice_President_of_the_European_Commission_dated_20_March_2014__pdf.pdf quote “When part of the territory of a Member State ceases to be a part of that State, e.g. because that territory becomes an independent state, the treaties will no longer apply to that territory. In other words, a new independent region would, by the fact of its independence, become a third country with respect to the Union and the Treaties would, from the day of its independence, not apply anymore on its territory.” Transfer of UK Debt https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270643/uk_debt_and_the_Scotland_independence_referendum.pdf Quote “In the event of Scottish independence from the United Kingdom (UK), the continuing UK Government would in all circumstances honour the contractual terms of the debt issued by the UK Government. An independent Scottish state would become responsible for a fair and proportionate share of the UK’s current liabilities, but a share of the outstanding stock of debt instruments that have been issued by the UK would not be transferred to Scotland. For example, there would be no change in counterparty for holders of UK gilts. Instead, an independent Scotland would need to raise funds in order to reimburse the continuing UK for this share.” The £9bn, was an estimate as i said (est), estimates ranged from 23 to 100 bn i though 9 was more sensible a figure, we won’t know untill the SG get an agreement in place prior to another ref. Deficit in Scottish Economy Report March 2016 , the defict is the last at the bottom 14.9 http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/03/3692 The infrastructure costs won’t be known until the SG actually work out what needs to be done, hence i said a couple of bn, which was a mid point in the estimates i found. So you think I have a little brain for basing my figures on Government evidence. And I have little brain for saying that Scottish mp’s have the same right to vote as any other MP in the UK, hmmm odd. On Brexit, yes there is a risk hence May is out there selling trade with the UK and getting agreements in place, this is a plus. We have continued using the £ and great, we will not have to dump our currency on exit, which reduces risk a lot. May is talking about a tax haven in the UK, so come to the UK, pay lower taxes and trade with the EU and the rest of the world with no fee’s. There is a risk, but we managed to become one of the most economically powerful countries prior to joining the EU, we still have the commonwealth to trade with and it will be great to dump the EU rules and regulations and to have control on who can get into out country as most other nations do. You fall at the first fence. Scotland is not and never has been “part of the territory of a Member State”. We are part of no territory but our own. We merely share a Parliament with a neighbouring country. As a nation we have never signed up — or, more accurately, been signed up against our popular will — to be part of a joint State. That’s where the constitutional importance of the sovereign will of the Scottish people is of such over-riding importance, and why its principle needs to be applied now. En passant, you do, indeed, appear to me to be very angry indeed. I think we are all entitled to form that opinion (if we do) from what you write, and to draw whatever further conclusions we wish from it. If many of us form the opinion that you are, in fact, extremely angry, and further conclude from this (as we may) that you are angry because you find yourself on the losing side of every argument, unable either successfully to defend your own case or cause really wounding attacks to others, you shouldn’t be so surprised. Your unfortunate situation does tend to make people a bit cross. ROFL, that quote is from the Document on the Scottish Parliament Site., that was issued by the EU, the link is in the post, so you are saying Scottish Parliament and the EU don’t have a clue about Scotlands position in the EU. So asking loads of serious questions on subjects that need to be addressed, means I am angry ROFL. aladair galloway says: you repeat WM policy that “”In the event of Scottish independence from the United Kingdom (UK), the continuing UK Government would in all circumstances honour the contractual terms of the debt issued by the UK Government. An independent Scottish state would become responsible for a fair and proportionate share of the UK’s current liabilities, but a share of the outstanding stock of debt instruments that have been issued by the UK would not be transferred to Scotland. For example, there would be no change in counterparty for holders of UK gilts. Instead, an independent Scotland would need to raise funds in order to reimburse the continuing UK for this share.” This seemingly reasonable statement actually raises more difficulties than could easily be managed. For instance what do they mean by “proportionate”? Proportionate to what? Perhaps population? That though is a matter that would be determined by the negotiations which would follow a Yes vote and for which there is absolutely no certainty – or much less than WM typically presumes that their view would prevail. One example of the difficulties that WM got itself into last time was that it claimed in its Scotland Analysis paper on international law, to be the continuator state, in rather the same way that Russia became the continuator state to the USSR. Being the continuator state is important to WM for it is through that device that it would inherit the Security Council seat at the UN (my own view is tht they are welcome to that) and, rather ironically, the EU membership of the UK. Basically their argument was that following a Yes vote then WM would be the UK just now, just minus a bit called Scotland. The problem with that position – and rather sadly its in a footnote in that same paper – is that if you take on the assets of the former state, you get the debts as well. Having realised this, the UK govt then made clear their “reasonable” view that ok, if Scotland took on its fair and proportionate share of the debt then they would share the assets as well. Then in the very next sentence started a list of assets that would not be part of this deal – for instance the BBC was a core UK institution (so it is, but it has an asset value – I wonder what its back catalogue of programmes is worth?) Scotland could not “cherry pick” defence assets according to Hammond (so presumably we would take what we were given, lucky wee Jocks that we are). What that sort of position omits is that at the end of this there would have to be an agreement (ie a statement of debt allocation and of the distribution of mobile UK assets) to which both sides assented. If not, and if the UK continued to make its continuator state claim then WM would be landed with all the debt As for infrastructure costs, it is interesting that you admit that these wont be known – I would prefer hard to quantify – until we know what needs to be done. This is a vast improvement on the 250 billion suggested by HM Treasury, but even then I am a little astonished with your figure of 9 billion without clarifying that there are ongoing infrastructure costs for the UK govt if we remain part of the UK – new systems (eg for Universal Credit) or renewal/ maintenance costs, or that administration in Scotland would be much more simple being much smaller scale than in the UK as Dunleavy made clear. These costs mean that our share should be put against the new set up costs. Its when you get to the end of your rant that you verge on the delusional. For instance we can still trade with the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth had to make its own arrangements after 1973 – do you really imagine they are going to come running back? As for dumping all EU regulations, do you intend not to sell to Europe any more, for if you do the UK will still have to meet these product and service regulations. The fact the UK is no longer a member does not give it carte blanche to do what it likes with regard to what we sell them. Your reply about rants and answers , here’s the rebuttal to what is in effect disinformtaion In you first paragraph you misquote to prove something , and are actually disproving yourself. With respect you says Scotland isn’t in the EU , providing a quote from ScotGov , and where the quote states it WONT BE , not isn’t. The fact. IN effect it is saying after BREXIT there will be no EU membership (as part of a former member state) after that state leaves. There is no argument on this , Holyrood , the SNP , Westminster and all involved have stated as much. The Fact II. You though are perhaps wrongly stating it currently isn’t , setting up the argument for fake news , disinformation. FAKE FACT. You are perhaps arguing , yet giving the answer that therefore that independence is the only way to RETAIN that membership of the EU. But with this comes more disinformation to muddy the waters from the yoon project sphere. Directing the traffic , pre baiting the trap , will in no doubt be your next step to…. IE Spanish veto. EU says no. Which are arguments already trumped – so will shoot those down first. Where the EU has said , special deal for Scotland , Westminster has not. Where as long as Scotland remains part of the UK the EU can only PUBLICLY deal with its parliament – So until BREXIT happens to be declared , with the protest vote in Holyrood already concluded to REMAIN in the EU , as Scotland’s ELECTED Parliament , sets the door open once MAY lights the touchpaper. You do realise this was the reason for that vote in Holyrood so ridiculed in the MSM as being tokenism , dont you? IT was instead a parachute regiment behind enemy lines. Scotland through already meeting the criteria , as a current member , and where an independence referendum pre Brexit will mean instant membership. As a result Spain has no veto , saving its face for the time being with Catalan and Basque until SPAIN decides to leave the EU , and thus setting the same precedent… A double bluff if you will at the card table , TO agree for Scotland REMAINING or leave the EU themselves thus setting in motion exactly the same. But then again no one is crying for GIB , that rock of total Britishness , cast into Spains hands , the sacrificial lamb. If only they were obvious and hidden assets for Westminster. In the second paragraph you have highlighted the “fair share of UK created Debt” , which is fair enough , but also in doing so the threat that there would also be no asset transfer. Again your probably doing worse than making your point – and of course showing Westminster intent/threat , of subterfuge and secret warfare. But this isnt the sort of thing you were arguing about , for. You were arguing about deficit. The deficit is CONTROLLED and created by Westminster , NOT HOLRYOOD , NOT THE EU. A deficit , which since post Nulabour , when the Tories took power at Westminster , along with their Libdem lackies , then declared austerity has increased – and not on Nulabours , or as a result of Scotland . Westmister has created this debt – on protecting the banks , cutting taxes , and where the WEALTHY have doubled their wealth since the financial crisis. These are the same wealthy that wanted to remain in the EU , the likes of London , and will once again have their income protected by a special deal to keep it – on the backs of taxpayers , including also Scottish ones.Austerity paid for it before , subsidy will now , the perversion of socialising debt and profit. Of course we can avoid the other deficit creating elephants in the room , like Hs2 , Lizzies hoose , Trident and so on , even 12b on Westminster repairs , that just like the quote you mentioned where “proportional share” is applied TO PAY FOR IT. SO though admitting there is a deficit to start off with in Scotland , but that once again the treasury is issuing a threat not to release the assets in a similar proportional share also. What it also fails to say is that SCOTLAND’s deficit is less than 10 percent of Scottish GDP , AND THE UK DEBT TO GDP IS…. Drumroll ….. 90 percent!!! Unless my maths are as bad as my grammar – then a little under 10 percent is ACTUALLY lower than 90 percent , and with the added benefit of no hands tied , all taxes returned. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/government-debt-to-gdp As for the 3 percent debt to gdp ratio often touted in the yoon media , that Scotland would have to have…. This is also a pile of the steaming stuff. The GDP to debt ratio of the EU , as a combined state is higher than the current UK one. http://www.debtclocks.eu/public-debt-and-budget-deficits-comparison-of-the-eu-member-states.html Infrastructure costs. By which your mean what , the employment increase of creating an Army , Navy , Airforce , Tax offices etc? These are not liabilities , these are investments , normal running costs. The jobs for MIL supply can be on the Clyde , or in buying cheaper from the Likes of Norwegian yards? Like moving out of the family home once your grown up , or leave an abusive partner , the independence house costs money to buy or rent , to heat ,to insure. These arent liabilities , these are normalcy , and importantly decided by you not for you compared to how it is currently. But with independence that normalcy is no longer dictated and controlled by your parents or partner in their interest = or for parasitic profit. Perhaps you mean like setting up state propaganda agency media , like a new BBC? You know the biased media corporation , which like Scotland itself is a cash Generator , and a model of GERS accountancy via the Licence fee for parasitic drain from Scotland – less than 40 percent returned for program creation , and a percentage of that as “shifting” for non BBC via English domiciled private companies. Or do you mean setting up the radio spectrum into Scottish hands , you know like the auctions of 3g , 4g , where not a penny was returned to Scotland from those sales done by Westminster? SUPER MAY and how she is “making Britain Great again” , well Trump is saying the same. She is taking us out of trade markets , trying to define the biased trade model of “we will export to you in a larger way than you can in reverse”. This isnt a model the world will accept any-more of colonial Britain. China , India have long memories , as does all the former empire. Well Scottish WW exports are routed through English ports , subsidising English jobs , and making the per unit cost higher for Scottish exporters as a result , and by increasing taxation through higher wages and transit costs. Eire has just like Scotland a forced scenario along those lines too. For exports through English ports , and a biased trade weighted in UK favour. Scottish trade with the RUK as internal exports argument hardly works , if you highlight also UK imports being more than 50 percent larger , and where some is classed as UK exports as resale , not direct defeating proportional tex returns to Scotland. Westminster has Scottish Trade , corporation tax , as a reserved power. This is not a carrot , its not even a stick – it is a leash.Compare that to the EU of common interest and not one single member a cash cow for the largest partner. SO trade is biased , controlled , and of course once again more elephants in the room the threats that come with it , of hard borders , of tarrifs – its 1706 all over again. Scottish MP’s have the same power in Westminster , or the right to vote , there is a MAJOR difference.Westminster is a closed shop , of supply for the larger constituent partner coming first. Where was Scotland’s power in Westminster on EU brexit amendments? Where was Scotlands power for 40 years of industrialisation being removed? Where was it in rejecting the poll tax – yet England once installed there different outcome. IF there was equality in being a member of a union in its parliament , then there would be no reserved matters for Westminster to hold on to at all. May is talking about a tax haven , as the rest of the World removes them. Do you really understand how tax haves work , they are wealth creators and protectors for those THAT DONT PAY TAX! Thus have no benefit to the rest of the population other than the bankers and wealthy investor. The pound , that little piece of toliet paper turned into a beer token – that cant buy a beer anymore. You mean the same pound used as a threat in indy 1 for project fear , later admitted that there could be no prevention of its use by both Darling , who originally said it , and the governor of the BOE at the time whom didnt? Are you not forgetting currency reserves also? The same pound used by British protectorates , like the CI , Falklands , IOM et al ? IE those with autonomy and all powers devolved? Or the same pound heading southward in the currency baskets , that means post brexit worth halve of what it was vs the euro before the referendum? Or the same declining pound that means wage erosion on imports , meaning less food in the cupboard , higher gas prices and so on? You last paragraph , once again your doing the work for indy , not union. “There is a risk, but we managed to become one of the most economically powerful countries prior to joining the EU, we still have the commonwealth to trade with and it will be great to dump the EU rules and regulations and to have control on who can get into out country as most other nations do. “ Pointing to pro tory , ukip and perhaps darker leanings like BNP and EDL. Not one of of which is pro indy for Scotland , but is anti everything non England and non white anglo saxon protestant. You know the kind of people stupid enough to hoist a George cross , and not see the itony at anti immigration that even their flag has immigration all over it. You are of course refferring to a time of RULE Britania , of raping countries of their resources , of slavery , of murder , of installing depsots , or a now partial commonwealth that GAINED their independence. Somewhat ironic considering then that Scotland is perhaps the last in the colonial queue scared to cast its shackles , and one still being raped of those resources , thus slaves to its Westminster masters whom have form. Immigration for Scotland is ideal not undesired , as is the EU itself. EU It offers a line of protection of biased trade , of shared markets , of free movement for people and trade legislation. NORWAY ? But of course thats another elephant in the room – a successful small independent country , which unfortunately never had its benevolent masters to protect it from by stealing its oil.One that still has industry , one gearing for post carbon and the EU eco energy shared grid. EU free trade means a market of 500 million , instead of 50. AS well as no prevention from Westminster for trading with the commonwealth itself with independence , the EU dont prevent its members , or do hidden tarrifs , or have one states port jobs subsidised – unlike in the UK. But you are right in some ways there is a similarity , leaving a union means more power retained by Sovereignty – its not by Scotland leaving the the EU though , its by leaving the UK.Scotland will have powers devolved directly to WESTMINSTER as a result of leavin , more veins for the parasitic to drain. It is the Union of the UK that has the most power unelected over Scotland , with reserved powers – not the EU with shared goals. If you argue that RISK is bad for an independent Scotland , then should the same RISK you are championing by MAY , by Westminster , By BREXIT , not be in effect exactly the same as INDY. Thus in conclusion , I offer that you PETER UNDECIDED , were indeed already decided. Leaving aside the terribly obvious BT strategy of asking questions which cannot possibly be answered by anyone, when you write “Scotland is NOT in the EU the UK IS in the EU and Scotland is a state in the UK and will need to apply for membership, as other countries have” you really are so far into the territory of sophistry that you may not be seen again. The key here is to treat Scotland as a state just now. The fact is that the UK’s legal advice paper (the one by Crawford and Boyle) denied that Scotland is a state – in fact they contend that “Scotland was extinguished in 1707”. However, there remains a region of the UK, which is described even by the UK govt as Scotland, which has a defined territory – for instance those parts of the UK where Scots law operates, or the territory where Act specifically intended for Scotland operate. That region voted by a substantial (after all if 52/48 is significant, where does that leave 62/38) to remain in the EU. So Scotland might not be a state but it is an identifiable region of the UK, and if that region exercises its international rights of self determination to become an independent state, then it might be argued that if the newly independent state of Scotland were to remain in the EU then all that is happening is an adjustment to the boundaries of the UK such that Scotland remains part of the EU while the remainder of the UK is lost to the EU. irrelevent what happened in 1707 , with respect to membership of the EU , Scotland is not a member of the EU This is a letter from the EU to the Scottish government This is a quote from the letter “When part of the territory Scotland is not a member of the EU Well I suppose ignoring the argument is one way of dealing with it. If we start from the Crawford and Boyle paper then Scotland was “extinguished” in 1707 – their, and by implication the UK govt argument – but try reading my post again. I actually agree with you that Scotland is not a member of the EU. Scotland right now is not a sovereign state, so it cant be. But that is not the basis of my argument, which is that Scotland, a region in the UK, is an identifiable territory, and thus if, before the UK leaves the EU it becomes a sovereign state by asserting its internationally guaranteed rights of self determination, then when rUK leaves the EU, then the EU borders can merely be adjusted so that rUK is no longer part of the territory of the EU, but Scotland is. Moreover, lets assume you are right and I am wrong – and given the novelty of this situation, there is no certainty either way – your argument is that Scotland would be out of the EU and that this would be a major problem for we would have ‘join the queue for membership’. God help us if we are behind Turkey eh? But that country points to the fallacy in the “queue” analogy. There is no queue. Turkey has been a candidate member of the EU forever and during that time numerous countries have become members of the EU, and they have done that by becoming compliant with the EU acquis, which Scotland already is. Given this, as Mme Minor pointed out – though for some reason this was seldom reported in the msm – “There are a number of official candidate countries – Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, [but] they are still quite some way away from meeting the criteria for membership. And obviously were Scotland to become independent, they would join that list. Now, it might be easier for an independent Scotland to meet those criteria. The fact that all your legislation has to be in alignment with existing European rules would presumably not be too difficult for Scotland, compared with, say, Montenegro. And that might enable them to move faster than others.” Sounds like we agree, i don’t see joining of the EU as a addition to a queue, but we will have to join and go through the process. But, we have a 10% deficit , EU has a 3% limit on countries joining the EU, they may flex to 4 or 5% but up to 10% seems unlikely. So why is the SG not looking into this, why is their no plan for getting rid of the Deficit , this is my issue, the economy is the major factor in and independent Scotland, but the SG don’t seem to be interested in sorting it out. The process is instant as long as the EU agree to it.Which they will , even Spain cannot veto. So your taking notice its a 10 percent deficit , when the UK one for D2GDP ratio is 90 percent. WIth having a STATE BANK – Scotland at that very inception point with a ratio of 1/10 th that of the UK , and without State Bank. You are also avoiding that the EU as a union has a combined 91 percent debt to gdp ratio. The 3 percent often qouted in the yoon media – well have a look at the wiki page here , a site that bans the Express and Mail. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-to-GDP_ratio , or http://www.debtclocks.eu/public-debt-and-budget-deficits-comparison-of-the-eu-member-states.html , where not one single member seems to be anywhere near that fabled figure of 2 percent. I agree to a point , more so in indy 1 with the questions unaswered , but is MAY not doing exactly the same with brext means brxit and 160 word papers? There is more to it than just bringing out the cheque book for an independent nation. Deficits at 10 percent are believe it or not an amazing place to start , and where the case for every other qualifying criteria is already met and in place as a CURRENT member. But like you I would like to see more answers , more on a sovereign state bank or banks along the lines of Germany;s investment ones and other state owned of the like , definately not getting into bed with private central banks – like the BOE , US FED , and the Rothschilds. More on currency. More on the taxation. More on Using councils as banks and mortgage holders , as well as private low cost developers – as England gears for private enterprise renting through corporates and returns of 12 percent. More on NsandI. I dont want to see a straight swap on indy to the systems and devices of old Westminster to empower and enrich the many , all , of Scotland in the NEW Holyrood – I want to see new ones. the fiscal consolidation pact, which requires no larger deficit than 3% of GDP, applies only if a member state is part of the Eurozone – were it otherwise the UK would have been in the shit long ago! James Mills says: Peter : You have convinced me , the decision is YES ! Your circular arguments and studied myopia have convinced me that I must be in the right camp if I am opposing you . aladair galloway Actually its a misconception portrayed in the media – the 3 percent number is RELLY for USING the EURO! The other more important criteria is the DEBT TO GDP RATIO , and as I have mentioned Scotland currently , with the MSM and both Governments admitting that it is 10 percent of current GDP. So in the intermediate term , the time frame from declaration to Joining , then the pound still being used , like many have done using their states currency until adoption would happen as NORMALCY , would mean therefore no need to do anything about the 3 percent qouted for the ERM. In fact many within the EU currently still dont use the ERM , and THE UK is one of them. These are the knowns – its the unknowns I mentioned earlier that worry me more , not the lies about not being able to “remain” as a current parallel member , or as instant ascendency for the same reason – ie already meeting the criteria anyway. to C Rober Actually you are wrong – its a condition of being in the Eurozone though countries can sign up to the pact voluntarily – Denmark has done this but retains its own currency. However, if a country were to use the Euro informally (because like the pound its convertible) rather as Puerto Rica uses the dollar, then the pact would not be relevant. As for the 10% of GDP argument, that depends on how much debt an independent Scotland would take on. I get seriously fed up with ex cathedra statements on this by Unionists who know perfectly well that there would either have to be an agreement between the two parties about distributing debt and assets, which might be they get all the mobile assets and we get none of the debt. In any event the amount of debt we would take on should be treated as a known unknown. If Scotland needs to re apply them so to does the restUK as UK wont exist anymore. Absolute tripe. It was a union not a surrender, a union like a contract can be terminated. You’ll get over uour Stockholm Syndrome some day! Bob Mack says: I agree with you for many reasons. Time has created an ever greater imbalance between the authority of the two countries involved in the Union. Emphasis has gone with the majority of population rather than with individual “National” interests of each of the signatories to the Union. We have become the kept relative in the eyes of many down south, who only survives due to their enduring generosity. Both Conservatives and Labour who bear the Scottish moniker ,seem unable to prioritise Scottish interests above those of their national party objectives. Policy is created in Westminster and not Holyrood for these entities. Like the author, I fear we will be methodically and systematically neutered in an effert to stop our nation ever again seeking our freedom. The time to decide is upon us. If Westminster is so unfair , then how does Holyrood stack up? With its Murdos , unlected 5 times in a trot. With its party leaders like Dugdale able to govern a party on said head office mandate being shunned by the electorate she now repesents as leader. Scotland isnt perfect , its far from it. But is it at its own hands , that is the larger question? And that answer is actually in the form of another question….. Its not Are You Yes YET , its can you afford not to be yes yet. Alf commentary reflects what so many of feel. Fifty six out of fifty nine MPs count for absolutely nothing. Democracy is a total and utter sham and the holocaust of foreign rule continues unabated whilst living standards and social protection plummet. But maybe the English are right. Maybe the Scots are, in political terms, something you wipe off your shoes. Certainly seems so because nothing is changing. Time these boys and girls withdrew. Almannysbunnet says: Watching our MP’s being disrespected in Westminster is painful to watch but it is not a waste of time. Everytime some Tory yelps like a dog, filibusters an SNP motion or the deputy speaker tell them to shutup, no voters move to yes. They should get a bloody medal for putting up with it. We’re all champing at the bit for independence but once we have it these few years since 2014 will look like a little blip in history. The way I am viewing it now is that 300 odd years the sleeping monster has been laid quiet , but its stirring is becoming more frequent – the gaps in between becoming longer , alongisde closer and closer together. Since 1919 that monster was subdued by voting Labour , offered as the only solution , back when its mandate was home rule , now conveniently only rolled out on tea towels come donation time like taxes for the war chest. Since 1979 and the rise of Thatcher working class Scotland continued that voting form , in the belief that it made a difference… after strikes , blackouts , winter of discontent , the English electorate got sick of unions and that meant Labour. So thats 60 years of no effect at this point. And About 5 years after McCrone was buried if memory serves , by Tory then Labour…. where the latter still likes us to believe in Scotland in a BIASED , Bullying , THIEVING union is good for it. But in this they forget they are elected for Local and national as representatives , and not for the rest of the UK by Scottish voters , they are in effect a perfect example of why Scottish votes then dont work or matter , in that we are electing them to represent therefore England. So is that the reason then why Scottish Labour aided and abetted the theft of NSO , not once but twice , in that it is FAIR for Scotland? BTW the theft is 3x , if the truth on the Fracking and oil under the Clyde is real – and given Scottish Labours history of shovel politics , of lying and theft on the Scottish people I fear it might be. Then after 17 years Labour got elected , but only by ironically becoming the Tories in England – ie a mandate of preserving much of what they were elected on in Scotland to defeat and remove. Elected on promises of empowering the worker of Scotland , of rebuilding , re industrialization. Of after shunning devolution by accountancy , wealth creation by theft aiding and abetting for the few paraded as solidarity and socialism , then supplying a parliament in Scotland , a chocolate teapot with a voting system it never introduced into Westminster- as a way of supplying further jobs only as another form of politics without power. Since the inception of Holyrood has came the rise of the SNP , so its not been all that bad , we have instead began to weed out the chaff – as seen by this very topic of discussion , those sent to Westminster , reflecting that sentiment that Nulabour , Slabour are “doooooomed” – said in best remembered BBC Scots ala Dads Army…. the very idea of what kind of sentiment perhaps led us to a no in 14. But since 14 things have changed drastically , that dooooom has shifted. Scotland is seeing 1979 all over again , its seeing 1974 also in the theft from it , its even seeing 1706 in tolls and trade threats.Its seeing the Tory rise in Scotland , as well as the extinction of Labour aligned and aiding them. Project FEAR is now real – but hardly in the manner in 14 , pandoras box is open , the fears are now not of the perceived , promoted and offered unknowns , or of now known lies like the vow , the fears NOW are of the knowns. Switches on Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting rant mode… Those knowns are of Sewell being moot , of free trade lost with the EU , of democracy only works for England and being dragged along for the ride , of a plunging pound for English exports and higher food price imports alongside gas , of doctored GERS , of NHS privatization , of pension ages beyond the Glasgow effect , of flat pack housing as private corporate rented with 12 percent returns , of an ever increasing deficit at Westminster hand and a decade of austerity , of bank protection after deregulation paid for on the tax payer , of threats that the Scottish parliament is temporary , of wages today heading towards that of 1979 in real terms , of Trident remaining on the Clyde to protect England from attack preventing a Clyde oil and gas boom , of removing subsidy for eco energy North of the Border , of deals for NI , Wales , London and not for Scotland , of farming returning to Westminster as a reserved matter , of preventing using the pound , of subsidising port jobs in England for Scottish Exports thus increased costs , and the removal of ECHR along with EU membership for Scotland from a fairer more democratic system more equal than the Union with England ever has been john young says: I read somewhere that of over 100 countries gaining independence only 3 ever held referendums,there is/was/never will be anything honest/democratic about them,we were lied to we were cheated so now is the time to declare independence.Its a bit rich that these parliamentarians quote % for or against when most of thee elected governments are in a minority,I say go for it. So the option then , ban non Scots owned and UK public service media interference in Indy II , a media purdah or purge? Or just like the majority of those countries simply just declaring indy ? The media is the control mechanism today compared to when those countries gained independence , even then that media there was controlled by the wealthy , or world service broadcasting – but the radical found ways around them…. sometimes the kind that seen them as committing treason , or removal to another that too eventually found independence , Australia. What you forget here perhaps is that many of them were British colonies , some faught for that independence , others with no material wealth to rape left were cast aside like a used tampon. Ruling out the BBC and SSBC , Murdoch , Daily Mail , Express in a single shot can be done by action by Holyrood using its power in the courts as radicalism. Two of these actually are doing some of the work for us albeit without their knowledge , stoking the barnett scrounger fires , just like the EU and immigration did for brexit. Then we have RT , AJ , the enemy of western democracy that were highlighting their competitors bias – so banning would perhaps prevent bias being exposed. Just how is that achievable though , with internet – with fake news the new syphilis , Russian hacks , Scottish Labour and buying Facebook likes. WE learned a lot in round 1 , and i think there is less power there for THEIR next round , no Darling and Brown , no vow bribery – and where many are now coming in from the cold , even Brown to a fairer deal as perhaps the VOW II. Just how much weight that would add given the failures and sell out since I dont know. I agree Alf – but I fear the long grass is the mandate now , and political employment. I find little argument in the withdrawal part , but I do see the logic of wait and see , but also with that offering that procrastination rarely works. With wait and see there is no change , but there is hope for increasing the political number on victim hood and cries of I told you so.Hindsight is 2020. As for referendums , there is perhaps a reason why they are , or should be , only advisory – brexit is the case in point , the uneducated kneejerk of the voter , and finger pointing by the media and politicians backfiring that gave them the dodgy knee in the first place. This is perhaps why we supposedly elect those to represent us , those free from the smears and lies can rise above them , so then able to make those sorts of decisions on our behalf free from such constraints and bias – But as we see this is , or can be , far from the truth , ie the party line overrules the electorates…. so blindfolds instead of blinkers. One has to ask does the end voter know the full picture in such divisive referendums , thus able to make such an important decision? It is plain to me that in the case of brexit many just dont have the intellect to vote on real reasons . We cant expect everyone to be lawyers , accountants , economics experts , or look at the rear view mirror – So again the reasoning for electing MPS , backed up by data , civil servants and “experts” stands to reinforce your argument over a referendum one. I dont think for one moment that the rise of the SNP at Westminster in 2015 wasnt for one moment though an educated electorate seeing the failure and lies from indy , seeing the SNP as protectors of Scotland . It was the same kneejerk reaction that led to brexit , however it is also because of the same culprits that had been blaming the EU for Westminster failures. But fear perhaps could be the enemy , in that such a retreat to Holyrood would render them unemployed via a new general election being called as a result , and prevented somehow by those remaining in Westminster. Knowing how the polls are lying today it doesn’t just mean Scottish MPS , but NI , English and Welsh ones themselves having to repeat it. As you know Alf I ofter state along similar lines as your offering that Scotland’s voters perhaps need to see power and fight from their politicians in order to back them. So perhaps this is such a thing that could give that , and considering the lack of devolved legislation being used to fight oppression in Scotland , on biased BBC , or the media lies in print and online by Holyrood felxing its muscle , then this can offer such pride , such proof , as to engage the electorate. Things have changed , and perhaps I can offer that the rope is not yet quite long enough – the gallows are built though. 1.The declaration that Holyrood is a whim , post vow and Sewell , and therefore powerless , only granted and enabled by Westminster , and can be removed in its entirety by a single nation in the Union voting to remove it. 2.Brext means Engxit – deals for leave regions , deals for NI , Deals for London. Smell yer maw for Scotland. 3.The lies of the vow , and its watering down. And the betrayals that resulted. 4.The lie of remaining in the EU was only through remaining in the UK. 5.The biased trade deals , that Scotland needs the UK market more than the UK needs the Scottish one – again like GERS tallied up without the real data to appear too poor , too wee. 5.And of course nearly every lie during the Brexit ref that paled in comparison to those in indy. So while Tories and Labour in England are concentrating on securing “best deals” for their own , in order to appease their pitchforked mobs locally , they have taken the ball off the indy ref but still singing the songs on the terracing – SO is the reason why they are preventing it , or any discussion , through the media and mouthpiece citing ” no mandate”. As everyone knows History tells us it is hard to fight a war on two fronts. Brexit and Indy being those fronts.But as we know Tory , Slab , Lab , Lib dem are the allies – so that means we by default are the common enemy. So perhaps then there is such scope for an immediate withdrawal until a referendum is granted , remove the troops from the battle – then at least without a voice in Westminster , just like the ears , then it could very well force their hand – the one we are threatened we should not to bite that feeds us. So what then is stopping it , is it that the numbers arent there yet , is it as I suggested job protection , or is it just as simple as the May council elections? Politics is warfare , so perhaps MAY is the ammunition – If you believe in the spiritual and of signs , then a leader called MAY , and council elections in May , then it MAY well be the political interpretation of planet alignments…. or the second coming. Which brings me to what I often offer as the solution – In May then all the SNP has to do is run the party on one mandate to see that referendum happen. That one mandate is of course for another INDY ref – or of course they could just stand on declaring indy at Westminster – defeating the need for a ref altogether. Doubting Thomas says: Utter drivel!! Rory Winter says: Would yoy care to expand on that?? It is utter drivel and fantasy. No electoral mandate, no legal mandate, bring on the referendum. It will never happen she is too feart!! Cos she knows she knows she will lose. Coolheads Prevail says: You’re GWC2 and I claim my €5. Is there a mid-way here? What would be really great would be if Scotland’s representatives – its 56 MPs and its parliament – could “temporarily” take the powers of independence that would enable them to deal and negotiate with the EU as a sovereign, independent nation. That would enable us to forge our own way, for ourselves, not being spoken for by Theresa May and Boris Johnson. Could that be done, on the understanding that 2 or 3 years down the line, when we see where both we and rUK respectively are with Brexit, another referendum will be held to ratify where we now are? I strongly suspect that if people in Scotland were asked to ratify something that’s already happened is now a certainty rather than a choice between two uncertainties, they’d be far more likely to choose independence as the obvious option – keep what we have now, rather than give it up and go back to non-independence. Cath when you get into the bones of it then the EU is our normalcy NOW , brexit isnt. If the EU has , had , so much control over the UK then why the different outcome regionally? was it perception , or portrayal? So a nation of bravehearts that voted to keep that normalcy in 2014 , then again in 2016 , somehow fears the unkown , while its neighbor took the other option. Are they then not bravehearts , but fearthearts? Something I forgot to add in my reply to ALFS piece , and suggest not withdrawing the troops , but being the resistance , and instead offer ENGLAND another referendum on remaining in the UK. If the fashion is foot shooting , of burning bridges – then lets hear more about this Barnett formula today , and its removal , importnanly before talk of Scottish indy II. Scotland voted to stay in the UK , in a once in a generation referendum , based on promises that were broken or never materialized , so expects the same with brexit. Scotland is not alone in that betrayal , regions of England with a similar treatment meted on them from the south for the last 40 years have been deflected that the problem all along was not Westminster and those they elected , but instead the EU and immigrants. The people of England have a right to inspect those same promises of leaving the EU. In asking about the 350 million , in job protections for some over others , of investment and subsidy which will have to be supplied by cuts on others… it is time that they opened their eyes as well. As I mentioned in my post earlier – the time is now , battles cannot be won on two fronts , more so when the electorate are fighting amongst themselves. It truly is the old empire in action – to divide is to conquer. Internal Labour conflict , Tory too , all play into the hands of freedom and autonomy for Scotland. Craig P says: In English political theory, English MPs have sovereignty. In Scottish political theory, the people of Scotland have sovereignty. (Which they voted to give to English MPs). Scottish MPs are not relevant in either of these approaches. Not unless they resign en-masse and stand again on a platform of independence. Then we’ll be getting somewhere… And before they do table a motion for a referendum for the English to once again be English…. then like fireworks retreat to a safe place as the Tories and Labour shoot it down , and UKIP rise one again in their true colours – the EDL. IAB says: I preferred the EDL – they, at least, were honest and obvious. But they did “stand on a platform of independence”: can there possibly be a single voter who put their cross on a ballot paper who were not aware that the SNP has independence as one of its main policies? It might be less clear that those voting SNP laid the same emphasis on independence in casting their vote as the party does, voting for them for other reasons. But it’s not the voter intentions, whatever they may have been, that lie at the root of any justification for our MPs electing to enact independence. That root is their responsibility to enact the will of the Scottish people, and the Scottish people want to remain part of the EU, they said so clearly. (That recent polls suggest they now, narrowly, also support indepen is not the issue here.) So if the only way to enact the popular will to remain in Europe is to declare independence while we are still a member, then they should do so. That, in short, is the argument proofed here. The argument is sound as far as logic is concerned. Whether, all things being considered, such a move would be wise is another matter. Part of me wants to yell, “Go for it! It’s our only chance!” as if we were in some thriller movie and breaking out of jail our only chance of freedom, and also because I’m old and tired and want to live long enough to see independence. But part of me, still in thriller movie mode wants to say, “No, wait! It’s a trap!” and old, tired, jaded me wants to ask, “In how many ways could this go wrong? How could the Unionists use this against us?”, mindful of the financial bribery, threats of tolls and actual bans on trade that forced the hands of even those who were not a greedy, shady, parcel of rogues 300 years ago, enough to virtually enforce the Union in the first place. So, what’d the answer? Damned if I know. Not right now. Except that the threat of constitutionally legitimate UDI is a powerful weapon to place on the negotiating table, but perhaps one not best fired except in an emergency. So, what would an emergency look like? Is this one? Damned if I know. Not right now. Fortunately it’s no up to me — or any one of us — to know. We just have to trust Oor Nicola to continue to be the wily, tough yet supple negotiator she has been up to now, and to believe that she will play whatever hand she is dealt with skill, eyes ever on the main prize: independence, sooner or later, one way or another. Her responsibity to choose the means, and to make it stick. But, though I’m old enough to have more sense, something in me still likes the idea of a wild, whooping, guns-metaphorically-blazing, dramatic breakout via UDI. Yet, equally, I’m old enough to know that’s unlikely, and that, in reality, the best way will probably be via negotiation and maybe a degree of compromise over the details. Still, maybe I’m wrong. And with even the prospect of UDI we can at least give the opposition a good fright first! Sorry: my iPad spell wrecker screwed up some bits and I didn’t spot any of its perennial evil machinations to make me look a right numpty until too late. We need to be able to edit our posts, Editor! Alf, I would so like to think that you are right, and in what follows I am not suggesting that I think you are necessarily wrong. I just think there are a couple of complexities that you might have missed out. The first one is that in 2014 we went down the referendum option and lost. That is the most recent precedent, and I dont think we can just say now that we have changed our minds. That said it does not make irrelevant the point that you make. Secondly – and perhaps a bit more critically – how many times did Nicola Sturgeon say during the 2015 election campaign that this election was not about independence. that we had had that vote the previous year etc etc. This opens up the possibility that some of the electorate who voted SNP did so not to secure independence but to put into Westminster someone who would better represent them and Scotland generally than the Unionists who were being replaced. That said, it was none other than Thatcher who argued much as you have just done, during the 1980s, so your argument has traction. But one last point – if WM does not go along with this and agree independence, then it might put EU membership at risk because the Spanish will almost certainly strongly object for their great fear is the Catalans (with others looking on) declaring independence. But an interesting and well constructed read which makes some interesting points – not least the opposition of the people in the street to the Union in the first place. No doubt that sort of objection will be described as “utter drivel” by Doubting Thomas who I think I might have encountered on the Herald website – he says much the same to me. Is it irony that a nation can elect a pro indy party to represent them in Westminster , yet shun independence , or is it clever voting , or the proof positive that Holyrood was nobbled in proportional representation? If the tories can be the Governing party in the UK with 35 percent of the vote , yet in Scotland the SNP cannot with 45 percent , then why not? When Labour set up Holyrood , it was this thinking that would supposedly prevent a single part majority that impacts Scotland via Westminster – but Nulabour in its tenure never did the same at Westminster. One rule for them – where rule is the operative word – and one rule for us. However well-intentioned or thoughtful they may be, the views expressed in the article and in many of the comments contemplate the imposition of our will on the people. What we in the independence movement tend not to appreciate, and certainly did not make nearly enough of in the 2014 referendum, was the effect a No vote would have in giving a democratic seal of approval to the union. Never before in our history had the people, every single one of us, been given our own personal choice on the issue. That is a precious thing. We cannot now cancel that choice just because it didn’t suit us. It’s a moral issue, quite apart from the practical danger of giving ammunition to our opponents. I might be the most brainy, enlightened, well-informed, articulate and saintly separatist so-and-so in Scotland, but my will counts not a jot more than that of the most dumb, benighted, malicious, knuckle-dragging, brachycephalic, UK-worshipping troglodyte to be found anywhere between Muckle Flagga and the Mull of Galloway, and neither of us have to justify our position to the other. That is democracy. I want independence for Scotland, but I want us to be able to look ourselves in the mirror the day after we achieve it. Which is when the other question comes to the table – Home Rule , aka FFA , in other words a proper union with clarity instead of creative accountancy and threats. You know the same sort of thing that the EU represents – but isnt good enough for the rest of the older union. Colin Dunn says: Wouldn’t work. SNP MPs have no mandate. They’d need to return to Holyrood, and Sturgeon would need to call snap general election on basis of majority of MSPs for Indy before mandate provided. Otherwise could lead to violence and riots. Mibbe Ruth could bring her tank to George Sq to quell it mr j r geddes. says: The Scottish members of parliament have a mandate they are the Scottish executive. I would like to point out also English votes for English laws: automatically returns the English parliament. fermerfaefife says: It is an interesting article – but I feel it only comes into play if Westminster blocks a second referendum – in that case I think that our MP’s have the right to withdraw from UK and either fight a countrywide Scottish by-election on the premise that 50%+1 MP’s is a mandate for dissolution of Union or declare UDI ratified by the people in a referendum mandated by Scotlands MP’s. To go down this route if a referendum is allowed like last time would be folly as the precedent has been set the last time. Scotland would need their fermers , I am assuming here you are one , or were , perhaps the reasoning for Holyrood empowerment in farm reform – but that cant help those that have lost theirs , tenants or land owners. With the EU subs , and then the power reserved to Westminster possibly from brexit , then whom can the Scottish farmers trust? After all they are being threatened , through removal of EU cheap labour , on hard borders , on taxes and tarrifs , and subsidising English ports jobs for exports meaning less competitiveness. If the fishing fleet are the fermers of the sea , then Westminster has history on how they are treated , and leaving the EU we are told wont make any difference to catches – which are ironically mostly exported to the EU. Its time the Farming belt wise up instead of voting in Tories , they are not protectionists of land owners Noth of the Border – unless you count trickle supply , nor are they protectors of jobs as seen with industrialisation , nor are they anti Montsanto and all that stands for in Seed and toxic weedkiller. They are though promoters of farmers and debt to survive , on supermarkets and milk pricing destroying them. We need to empower farmers , more so in Scotland 2.0 , where things like eco energy on land they own should mean they can use it as such , achieving rentals driving down debt and lowering costs , perhaps even as hydrogen farms? The future is bright for Scottish Farmers post indy , or just not as bright as the farms are bought up for a song under Westminster rule – by the wealthy and corporate elite as factory farming , then given subsidy soon afterwards denied of tenant and owner farmers. This is how the system works – its the same as housing protection , destruction of social housing , now as we see corporate flat pack imported housing , the system is rigged, the workers view of democracy is realy to vote in corporate enablers. Heidstaethefire says: This is a completely wrong headed post. The candidates in 2015 did not, unlike the M.S.Ps in 2011, go to the electorate explicitly saying that a majority of S.N.P.s would be regarded as a mandate to declare U.D.I. We still haven’t convinced c half of the electorate. Any attempt to go down this route would be seen by many of the electorate as an arrempt to railroad them into independence, and is far more likely to cost us support than to generate more. Then withdraw , resign , and stand on that mandate in all of the by elections- like the russian rat says , simples. We still only have c 50% of the electorate for the moment, and we’re asking the voters to take a big step in leaving a union we’ve been in for 300 years to join a union in which a fair number of faults exist. The likely effect of your strategy will be to force all the union supporting voters into one camp – probably the tories. We don’t have an absolute majority of voters in every seat, which in turn implies fewer S.N.P. members returned, thus weakening the case. We go when we have the numbers, knowing that Brexit has not yet kicked in Gaga Glasgow says: If there is support in Scotland for a unilateral Declaration of Independence, then there ought to be support for another referendum; and, of course, support enough to win it. I think everything Alf says here makes good sense. But I disagree with the timing. If Westminster attempts to block a second referendum, or attempts to renege on the outcome, then that would be the time to declare independence; and let the chips fall where they may. This isn’t the time. I think there are signs that Europe, the Tories, and the SNP are looking at ideas behind the scenes. We might not need a referendum. There’s a lot of room for creative minds. Concentric circles: Scottish Independence in Europe and the UK? Easy to dismiss but what if the UK was redefined and restructured as a free trade zone which an independent Scotland was a member of? What if, at the same time, Scotland retained the UK seat in The EU after England’s withdrawal? I’m cynical about anything that resembles federalism within the UK, we all know how they lie and cheat with such things, but if the only commonality between England and Scotland amounted to a shared free trade area it would potentially satisfy everyone and save a lot of work. All those financial and insurance exporters in England could continue to export tarrif free to Europe — provided they put brass plates in Scotland. We would be able to remain in Europe and be largely independent of England with whom we could trade freely with on a border free basis. And Europe’s integrity would be maintained, without the grief a hard Brexit by England might entail. For us the UK means a sort of vassal enslavement right now. We all get that. But what if it was simply a reference to a free trade zone, with an independent Scotland on one hand and rUK on the other? The brass plate argument , or the wealth shift north , as we have seen is prevented at every turn – the amendment shot down by Westminster – and will also be shot down by the EU unless NI sets precendent , which I can tell you is where the will go to prevent said wealth shift North to prove the indy Economic argument. C Rober, It isn’t simply the brass plate argument. There’s nothing to stop an independent Scotland being in the EU whilst also having a free trade agreement with England and what remains of the UK. If there is anything to prevent that, I would guess that it could be negotiated away. And if it sounds unrealistic, it’s pretty close to what the SNP have been suggesting for the last 10 years. The only difference is that England would be outside the EU. The National just two days ago suggested that negotiations were going on behind the scenes with the EU, UK, and SNP. Apparently there was some sort of leaked document that pointed to that. Probably all crap. But if you think about it, an independent Scotland in the EU and in a UK free trade area makes a lot of sense and kills about 50 birds with one stone. The SNP always envisaged some sort of free trade and movement arrangement with the rest of the UK after independence anyway. It would solve the border problem between Scotland and England. It would allow us to freely trade and move about as we do now in the British isles. It would allow Europe and England to deal freely with each other on economics and trade, via Scotland. It would soften the blow to dyed in the wool Unionists in Scotland who would be able to keep their UK passports if they wanted to or apply for a new Scottish/EU one. It would give us full sovereign control over our affairs, taxation, etc., in full to the extent that other EU member states have. It would make the currency issue easier to deal with since England would have an interest in cooperating rather than trying to ride roughshod over us. In this scenario, England might lose its ability to plunder us but they would gain access to the EU for their financial and insurance sectors which account for 52% of their total exports. The potential alternative is that they lose us anyway and don’t have free access for their exports or any agreement on the other stuff. Anyway, it seems like it would potentially save a lot of arguing and shouting and provide a much needed incentive to cooperate. The alternative is years and possibly decades of negotiations and all sorts of instability. GAGA cant find fault at all , you offer the argument and the outcomes far better than I ever could. I have at times tried to play devils advocate , with a heavy hand at times , but the reply given is the sort of information or suggesting that the wider movement needs to adopt – highlighting the common benefit , without one side being parasitic. Perhaps then this is the reasoning for NI being that Free Trade zone for brass plagues , and with it the level of control it would lose with an independent Scotland…. and consequently the parasitic drain. Caoimhín McGlás says: Oh aye, Bella banned UDI’ers for saying this very thing, we are wasting our time with Westsinister, especially after the rigged referendum. The Brexit vote was rigged the Scottish side too! Blank Balklots in Dundee, Barcodes in Broxburn, same all over Scotland. Independence is independence and the only way you are going to get Scotland to vote to remain in the EU is if it is rigged, and guess what, what this space_______________! #AyeUDI When did we ban UDI’ers? I started up the UDI movement, you banned me and many other members, or are we all liars now? Great article Alf. I wrote a similar, but much shorter post, on much the same proposition a week or so ago. The one flaw, in this action, as others have noted is the SNP’s wrong headed strategy at the General Election to not fight it on Independence, but a reformist Westminster whitebread manifesto of ‘let’s not support the Tories’. This effectively torpedoed the contention of Scottish sovereignty being free to be acted upon subsequently in the straightforward manner that both you and I would like. As I noted before…the focus on Hollyrood has been a major error…perplexing to many…as a source of Scottish sovereignty. As has been confirmed by the English and English only ‘Supreme’ Court ( with its two Scottish lackeys), Hollyrood is a subordinate talking shop. Unfortunately, our MPs instead of creating a real shitstorm on the back of this Constitutional brick wall facing them decide to sing and whistle ‘ode to Joy’ instead of walking out and forming a convention of msps and civic Scotland in order to begin the dissolution of the Act of Union. Unfortunately, because of the wrong route over the past 6 years of our SNP MPs ignoring our Sovereignty in Westminster as such…i.e conditional on the Scottish people’s interests above all other considerations…the ludicrous Sewel motion became the means to a de facto dimunition of that sovereignty. We should never have had to ask permission from Westminster for a Referendum. The outrageous interference and gerrymandering ( see postal votes investigation in Argyll with ‘world record’ turnouts) proved that our people’s sovereignty could never be tested properly without interference by our UK ‘Partner’. This distortion of our equal existence allowed the loathsome Mundell to claim that Scotland had actually ceased to exist in 1707. Therefore, we need to walk away from Westminster, but we need to form a convention of all significant representatives political and civic to establish a declaration to dissolve the Act of Union. Unfortunately, for the reasons I have pointed out, a plebiscite will be required. However, it should be run by Scotland, with no interference by the media or the BBC other than strictly factual information by Independence and anti-Independence organisations. No more Gordon Brown, Murphy or lying 3:1 ‘debates’. if this happened, a large section of the Scottish population would learn, for the first time, the truth of our situation under the yoke of Westminster. If we had an informed and truthful exposition of the real facts, I reckon we’d achieve a large majority ratifying that Declaration dissolving the 300 year old chains of Imperialism,. And there lies the battle , in assuming that the playing field is level. All but a blind and deaf man cant deny the lies , the bias of indy – and as mentioned when anyone questions the voting by post well they are measured for a tin foil top hat. The other option , harder to nobble , is instead to offer English INDY , given the reading on the same polls in our Daily Heil and Express you would think the support for that would be higher than even brexit. I am indebted to all those commenting on my article and to Bella Caledonia for publishing it. Much as I would like to respond to each comment, I think it best to keep any further comments on my part fairly brief and to the point. There are some who think another referendum, assuming we are permitted one, is the democratic way to proceed, or even a ‘precedent’. Many others highlight why a referendum may not be democratic, examples being excessive control of the mainstream media by the No side, dubious postal voting, the Vow coming during purdah, broken promises etc etc. The further point I make is that, assuming a referendum is even permitted, then in the event of a Yes vote the final decision to ratify or not that decision rests with Westminster. So, nearly 600 MP’s, none of whom are representative of the Scottish nation, and almost all of whom we can assume are anti-Scottish independence, get to make the final decision on whether Scotland can become independent, and perhaps more importantly what that form of independence might look like. Where is the sovereignty of the Scottish people in that? Moreover, can any of us imagine what an ‘Independence Scotland Bill’ would look like after passing through the House of Commons, that is assuming such a bill was presented, or even got through? Or what it might look like after the House of Lords have had their turn to rip it to shreds? Can any of us here in Scotland imagine what ‘their’ Westminster version of an independent Scotland might look like, irrespective of a Yes vote initially? They, i.e. our present legislators, most of whom despise the idea of Scottish independence to its very core, get to ‘design’ an independent Scotland? So, to restate, where is this idea of democracy in leaving the very final ultimate decisions on Scotland’s constitutional future, and the nature and form of our independence, to representatives of other nations, virtually all of whom are anti-Scottish independence? So, yes, we can (perhaps) have another wee ‘democratic’ vote in a referendum. But that is only the beginning of that process, much as we see with Brexit. But we should not consider the Brexit and Scottish independence referendums as the same sort of ‘animals’, for they are quite different, politically and geographically and more. The reason Westminster ‘respects’ the Brexit result is because a majority of voters in England wanted it. But just because a majority of voters in Scotland vote for independence, this does not necessarily mean that we will receive the same level of respect; we are after all only 8% of the UK population, and we are all located north of Hadrian’s Wall, and we no longer vote for ‘their’ kind of political parties. They can therefore do with Scotland much as they please, as they do now, and for sure they will, and usually with rather passive and polite (naïve?) reactions on our part; but only if we let them get away with it! An independence referendum is really no more than another Westminster constitutional trick, for the form of ‘independence’ Scotland would end up with (assuming the process even got that far) would not be decided by Scots. And this is where the important matter of the sovereignty of the Scottish people is completely ignored. A second key aspect to consider here is what form and process/actions any declaration of Scotland’s independence should take, assuming that option is taken, as I and others strongly advocate for? I mention others who have proposed different possibilities in this regard, such as Craig Murray, George Gunn, and Mike Small, and there is also John O’Dowd’s views on this, and I would urge everyone who has an interest to look closely into the different options proposed. And there will be others who can suggest different approaches, and Scotland needs to consider these options carefully, though time is short. So if I do have another suggestion to make it is that someone might rapidly put these options together in a paper so that they can be discussed and debated further. So, my main contention remains that a referendum on Scotland’s independence could never lead to a democratic outcome as things stand, and as that process would inevitably disregard the sovereignty of the Scottish people, it cannot be constitutionally acceptable either. That leaves the only course of action being for Scotland’s MP’s to withdraw from Westminster and to conclude the union of parliaments in much the same way as it began, though with some further democratic advantages this time around in that: most of the population at least had the opportunity to vote for an MP this time; the % majority of Scotland’s MP’s taking us out of the union of parliaments would be far greater than took us in; an nae siller’s chynged haunds tae! Alf, support for the SNP and independence has not yet crossed the 50% mark in any consistent way, in elections or polls. You can argue about the reasons for that, and you can assume corruption in the media and with postal votes all you like, but, without the support of at least half the country, what you are advocating here isn’t independence; you’re proposing a coup of sorts. Now I may or may not be in favour of such a coup, but have the maturity to at least acknowledge that nobody has given a mandate for what you are proposing and no party or politician has ever asked for such a mandate. With all that considered, I don’t think you could rule out a really bad reaction to what you are proposing. The truth is you couldn’t predict the reaction, it would possibly take us into the sort of territory that no peace-loving person would want to contemplate. The SNP approach, whilst not exactly swashbuckling, is grounded in maintaining stability and proceeding in a way that nobody could possibly have any basis for refuting or negating at a later date. Sometimes the means are as important as the end itself. The journey and how we get there is as important as the destination. Everything is aligning in our favour right now, Brexit was like a gift from God to us, and it would be foolish of us not to take the path of least resistance now when that pathway has never looked so certain and clear. Your proposal, if it went badly, has the potential to destroy the independence movement forever. But a modified one , of resigning the lions , forcing multiple by elections , standing on one mandate? But would the now employed and comfortable in Westminster accept it , taking one for the team? I fear then that it would trigger a GE in response – putting brexit in even more turmoil also. That is the bigger Question. I fear your over analyzing now Alf , not a bad thing , cos you can stand back and look and see the wider picture as a result. The doubts , the fears , the prize , the method being less than clear than simply polar decision making. Indy – post yes. It would be fool hardy for Westminster to nobble , or decide anything for Scotland post indy , or offer any sort of remit for INDY with reserved powers at Westminster – thats not independence , thats federal , or thats perhaps a protectorate your talking about. Ironic considering that many of those protectorate have more power than Scotland has – especially the pound use. In fact it would leave them vulnerable on the international scale for as such – including attempting post indy tarrifs , borders they would have to pay for we arent Mexico , import restrictions or any hand at the tiller in its parliament or laws. They couldn’t even “order” down the line for future ref as a secession deal – That sovereignty you are asking for is whole , not partial. The only negotiation will be on assets and liabilities , and as we know the pound is out , and pensions are protected from round 1 , so that leaves us with debt and military only and UK without NSO. In a post INDY Scotland everything is devolved , England has its sovereignty , or as part of RUK as a new union. A new union , which I tell you the other members will also insist on new terms as a result and negotiate – As much as you were arguing to strike while the iron is hot , in removing our lions , then declaring , the same goes for using the scale of the negotiation war with the EU , with a new constitution being drawn with RUK members among themselves to our benefit. Think about this for a second , this is the same kind of threats from inside the EU from populist parties , that the UK media is portraying as the end of the EU itself. So what you are perhaps forgetting here is that Independence gives Scotland far more protections from Westminster than the union currently does , or even being in the EU – it puts Scotland on the international map , and with it protections and actions as a result…. the sort of actions that has led to embargoes on Russia. I’m afraid I still regard this as off the rails. It begs the very question at the heart of the independence movement, namely: whether there is a majority for independence, while blithely assuming that there is, and in the face of the 2014 result. What is proposed is no less than the engineering – the fixing – of a result which Alf Baird and all the rest of us want. If there is in fact no majority, that would be fraudulent. The course of action proposed is anti-democratic. By voting No two years ago, Scotland subjugated itself in practical terms to England, but we did not relinquish our sovereignty, in the sense that our right of self-determination persists, can be exercised any time we choose, and cannot be frustrated by Westminster. So, given the mandate of the Scottish Government, a referendum should go ahead. Personally, I cannot envisage London withholding consent, but if it did, although that would entail some strict legal and constitutional difficulty, the referendum would still be perfectly legitimate, an important distinction in getting the rest of the world to accept it. The limitation which we placed on ourselves by our democratic No vote in 2014 was simply that any future decision to change that vote would have to be no less democratic. The reason for this is that no one – and that means no one, including our own dear selves in the independence movement – has the right to set aside a democratic decision of the people of Scotland. The rehash of complaints about the process of the 2014 referendum are pointless. It is universally acknowledged, even by the courts, that election balloting is flawed, especially in postal votes. But if all the complaints which are even halfway serious had been attended to, it would not have affected the outcome, and all such complaints are now well past their sell-by date anyway. Complaints about dirty campaign tactics by the No side, while doubtless mostly correct, cannot justify calling the result into question, because that would be to interpret to our own advantage what was going on in the minds of No voters, in order to devalue their votes, which is blatantly undemocratic. You cannot say to someone who voted differently from you “Ah, but you were misled, so your vote doesn’t really count, and we’re now going to try a different approach”. A good idea to safeguard against such things in the next referendum would be to have international scrutineers oversee both campaign and process, as suggested by Craig Murray. And if none of the above washes with you, and you are still tempted, remember that the best measure of the folly of any proposal is how much gratification it would provide to union strategists. Remember the Scottish parliament passed into Scottish constitutional law The claim of rights. Which gives the Scottish people the sole right to decide what kind of self government they want that’s binding constitutional law today. Westminster does not have reserved rights to the constitution of Scotland either. Teribus says: Nobody quite like us Scots for “dancing on the head of a pin”. For me no self respecting person would want their affairs dictated by another. It should be as true in politics as it is in life. I have supported Independance from the day and hour I began to take an interest in Scottish history. Getting on for 60 years now, I can conceive of no circumstance that would make me think otherwise. The rest, the political argument, is simply “smoke and mirrors”, one either has confidence in ones own ability, and this, in my view, applies as well to countries as to the individual or one does not. I cannot, for the life of me, understand any other argument. SleepingDog says: Perhaps the building of an independent nation needs a better story, even if it takes a long journey on hard roads? Can you call a foundation built on opportunism or procedural adventurism “the settled will of the Scottish people”? I appreciate that large-scale events are causing concern and participation in the Houses of Parliament might seem like our shackles to a corpse, but if all Scottish MPs hurled themselves into root-and-branch escalating critique and reconstruction of Westminster perhaps there is long-term benefit to forcing a constitutional reformation in the UK first, which might: a) remove procedural stumbling blocks, establish the rights of constituent nations and peoples b) improve relations with the people of other UK nations through constructive dialogue c) reform and recast the role of the media, culture and social commentators d) open archives, enforce transparency and allow fabricated official histories to be robustly challenged e) reduce the chance and impact of manufactured crises f) expose clandestine operations and corruption by rebalancing the relation between the intelligence and military arms of government with the people they are supposed to serve and new official transparency legislation (an independent Scotland governed by foreign agents is not entirely without precedent; it may be best to clean out the UK government first to avoid what in practical terms could be a puppet or hostage government) g) conform to international standards of appropriate secessionist behaviour, possibly forming a model for kindred nations. The impatient would want to see progress, but perhaps a conversion could be achieved by winning a relatively short series of important arguments with successive reforms gradually levelling the playing field, replacing the crooked referees, disarming the casuals and oiling the turnstiles (terrible metaphor, but). If the Scottish Independence movement feels it cannot take the risk of a reformed UK adding to Unionist attraction, then I suspect it does not really have the support it needs. SleepingDog, you seem to be suggesting that we devote ourselves to transforming Westminster rather than getting out of its grasp. That’s a ridiculously unrealistic suggestion which you will find little if any support for. You might as well suggest that we devote ourselves to democratising hell. No, I was suggesting that Scottish MPs agitate within the system and with any allies to expose and ridicule its flaws and demand reform. Do you think it would be defensible to the public under sustained scrutiny? It could be win-win for the Independence movement if reforms were either adopted (establishing a direction of travel to modernisation with Scottish MPs taking the lead) or resisted, with the UK government falling into greater disrepute. I suspect the SNP MPs have little intention of doing so for various reasons, including maintaining a favourable comparison with Holyrood and fear of losing first-past-the-post elections, but if you analyse the weak points in strategies of the Unionist parties, such engagement across a broad progressive front may be something they fear. Fixing each mechanism may result in unexpected and uncontainable progress, which is one reason such change is fiercely resisted. For example, the passing of legislation outlawing the British transatlantic slave trade was only achieved after Parliamentary reform, and the enfranchisement of women was achieved in a series of engagements, and after each small concession momentum and pressure grew rather than lessened. Reform can lead to a hunger for more. You don’t seem to understand the sense of urgency. We don’t have time for a 50 year campaign that addresses all the flaws of the system. That actually sounds like an incredibly boring hobby to me, on a par with stamp collecting. We want out of the UK now. I am not advocating dropping other campaigning or means. Like the Scottish Wars of Independence, lasting victory was not achieved on one battlefield, but by a series of campaigns each containing multiple battles. If you think that a small, procedural victory in clawing back some Royal Prerogative powers to Parliament, allowing a vote which prevented the Prime Minister unilaterally declaring war on the Syrian people is boring, then I guess we have different views on politics. Real, current threats include climate change and nuclear war, both of which need to be addressed on a global level, but both have lacked a properly-informed public debate. Forcing this debate at the UK Parliament level now seems to me, on balance, to be useful when dealing with a nuclear-armed power like the UK, which not incidentally has a monarchical command-and-control system. Consider the implications of pursuing the criticisms in this article in respect of holding the UK to account under international law and revealing more secret nuclear blundering: https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/ian-sinclair/dangerous-omissions-and-intellectual-obfuscation-left-wing-case-for-trident Tyranny lurks in the trappings of tradition: hard, effective questioning of some of those taboo topics should shake loose plenty of uncomfortable truths from under the secretive skirts of monarchy and its Parliament. If public respect for such authority turns to disgust and outrage, the way to Independence is paved. Gordon McShean says: When I was a volunteer teenage “message boy” for the SNP Glasgow office in the 1950s (and a close friend of the party’s National Secretary, Robert Curran, who ran the party’s Glasgow regional affairs), I was convinced that Scotland had the right (and the capability) to successfully obtain independence within a very few years. Scots were great at talking about how we’d get independence; I delivered the Scots Independent and participated in various initiatives to spread the Home Rule message. But after a “volunteer” escapade that Robert had engineered went sour (some of you may have read about it my memoir (RETIRED TERRORIST, Trafford, 2011) Robert and I – separately- escaped abroad in order, we thought, to avoid possible arrest and embarrassing the SNP. I was innocent enough to believe that the SNP might recognize the sacrifices we had made and somehow act as our friends – perhaps even assist in clearing our reputations (after all, the venture had been acknowledged as having peaceful motives – we’d obtained and buried guns that might have been used against nationalist demonstrators in the region). Well, I’m 80 now; I’ve lived and worked in 3 sympathetic countries and stayed in tune with Scots’ endless discussions and declarations of belief in their rights. What a wordy bunch of no hopers! No wonder English comedy artists mock us. The discussions here are, as always, impressive. But I’ve now realized (as must the English) that Scots’ rants are all bullshit – most Scots have even even failed to consider they might be better as refugees! The English have been laughing at us for 300 years. I’d like to think that some of the ideas in this correspondence might result in a determination to do something more than talk! Yes Gordon we are good at talking and it is getting us nowhere. Save for a few exceptions, this particular organ is a very well intenioned example. The Tories and their totally unwanted rule in Scotland certainly reinforces that. Maybe, like in Ireland and so many other British colonies, the gun is the only way for change. Sadly I hope not ever, but the UK security services are tooled up for it, and we should make no mistake that the UK would use force if ever the democracy charade fails. They ha e a track record in it. Why would UK security forces bother fighting Scottish paramilitaries? If the Irish example is any guide, they’d be running them. Remember when British politicians used to insult people’s intelligence by repeating the nonsense that one bomb going off would derail the popular Irish peace process? Whose hand was on the trigger? Thinking back to the Scottish Wars of Independence, I recall that virtue was more easily scrutinised on a mediaeval battlefield. Who ran, who fought, who the traitors were that gave false intelligence or fled to the other side. My view: the Independence struggle should be conducted in the daylight, with the ideals, explanations and behaviours of the debating individuals and groups closely examined. Mungo says: When in the history of the independence movement have we been this close to achieving our aim? So frustrating as all this talk is, it’s got us on the brink. We’re nearly there Gordon, let’s not lose our heads now. Poor article and one which ignores the political reality that a majority of people in Scotland do not support independence. In essence this is an article against democracy and shows a complete lack of respect – which is ultimately counterproductive, to the people who voted no. Moreover, it fails to understand that the 2014 referendum established a precedent which is politically difficult to argue against – namely that independence will be settled via a referendum. I also don’t understand why referendums are ‘neoliberal’ as the author suggests. I do understand the frustrations with the SNP at Westminster. For example, they have failed to make any impact, partly through design but also because the quality of their MPs are poor. I can name only a handful out of the 56 who have made any impact and in particular, I don’t understand why the ineffectual Angus Robertson was chosen as the Westminster leader. Yet, articles like this reflect a sense of desperation within certain sections of the movement whereby romanticism and adventurism become a substitute for serious political strategy. That you can “only name a handful” of SNP MPs is hardly a charge of poor quality against them, especially since their activity is rarely covered in the Anglo-centric media. I have to strain to name even a handful of ordinary backbench MPs from either of the largest two parties. As for the LibDems: I think their leader is called Tim Something? (And I used to be a member!) Their actual quality can only be judged by their work, and if the rest of them have managed to pack in as much sheer hard work as our MP where I live then I’d say we were all being very well served indeed. I think you missed the general point I was attempting to make, namely that the article holds democracy in contempt. Yet, the comments about the MPs – and I would add MSPs shouldn’t be dismissed either. The lack of quality amongst the elected representatives is a major strategic weakness for the SNP, especially at Holyrood. It reflects a general trend for politicians to act as administrators hence the reason why ‘managerialism’ is frequently discussed in relation to politics. Incidentally, the leader of the Lib Dems is Tim Farron and as my much as I dislike the Lid Dems he is one of the few politicians to have made an impact post-Brexit. Sleeping Dog…your contention would have had some substance a generation ago. But obviously, you have not been studying the reality of what constitutes the facade of democracy masquerading as a Parliament at Westminster. Reform is not ever going to be on the cards in the Palace of lies. Frank…. the majority of people in Scotland did vote to stay wedded to the Union in 2014…since then they have voted in a majority of Independence supporting Msps and MPs. Democracy is not static in its direction. The Referendum does not ‘settle’ anything permanently…and certainly not in perpetuity. To describe the SNP MPs as ‘poor’ takes a particularly partisan mindset to conclude this. Particularly when you contrast and compare the divided and ineffectual Labour party and the lying and deceitful tories with their Brexit agenda which almost none of the leaders of which agreed with, but are now executing because of their fear of UKIP not their concern for the wellbeing of the people in the whole UK. ‘Romanticism’?…no hard reality. We..the Scottish people are being treated with disdain and with anti-democratic mechanisms, such as the illegal Supreme Court, the unelected House of Lords and Royal Prerogatives that do not belong in a civilised democratic society. We are in a Union with England which was imposed via treachery and bribery by a small unelected elite. We are entitled to utilise the mechanism of dissolution of this perfidious union. The only way is to ensure its legitimacy in the eyes of the world, by running our own scrupulously fair plebiscite, with no RUK interference. @Lochside, I may have failed to state my point clearly. Reform is not simply an objective, but a process that would uncover the motivations of the people and groups who oppose it. For example, when the minor Royal Prerogative reform led to Parliament voted against bombing Syria, the government had to sneakily do it by the underhand means of supplying RAF personnel to other nations. This was then exposed. I agree there is a façade, I am suggesting tearing it down from within. Sorry but this is nonsense. The SNP fought the 2015 election on an anti-austerity platform (even though they are not an anti-austerity party) but the wider point is this – their is no mandate for UDI and to propose it as a political strategy is bad (and naïve) politics. It is a gift to our political opponents hence the reason I’m suspicious of anyone who calls for it – as Lenin once said, ‘extreme zeal is often a cloak of treachery’. With regards to the poor quality of the SNP MSPs/MPs; if something happened to Nicola Sturgeon tomorrow (heaven forbid), name me the MSP who could replace her and lead Scotland to independence? As I said in a previous post, the lack of quality MSPs is a serious strategic weakness for the yes movement and the reason I didn’t mention the other parties is because my first priority is independence. UDI weakens the democratic case for independence and creates the impression that the movement is filled with zealots and demagogues. It belongs up their with the ‘Freedom Square’ rallies, Tommy Sheridan, ‘we are the 45’, ‘Wings over Scotland’, ‘are you yes yet’, and so forth, and an example of how not to do politics – it’s ‘bammer territory’ as one of my SNP friends describes it. Sorry that comment was aimed at Lochside and not Sleeping Dog. Robbie Carroll says: I have no fine words to express my feelings for Scotlands hope of independence ,only a feeling in my heart and soul of how proud I am of Scotland and yes we Can make it as a nation among our friends in the rest of europe If the SNP MPs are resolved to show demonstrate that the UK Parliament falls short of international democratic best practice, why don’t they invite observers from anywhere round the globe where good practice may be obtained? These observers, in their traditional tribal or national dress, should be clearly visible in public galleries and at committee tables. After examining the system and practice and publishing reports (which I am sure will be a source of many good suggestions for improvement and useful insights), I am sure that Bella Caledonia would welcome the opportunity to publish their blog summaries of findings and anecdotes of their culture shocks. Defenders of the ‘mother of all parliaments’ can hardly complain, since they would expect those observers to learn many useful things about democracy that they could take back home. One thing defines referendums for me , Boaty McBoatface , in that is its counterproductive when it has no real meaning. Lets remember here , just like many Blue Peter and BBC polls and competitions , the result can be a forgone conclusion – like the HMS Attenburgh. Or by only offering the thing for voting from in a polar matter , just like indy 1 or brexit…. yes or no , not another option. Many have suggested that a third question on either would have meant an entirely different outcome for both. I have long argued that a proper parliament represents everyone , and in todays digital age it should in theory lead to not politicians doing the decision making , but for the electorate themselves. However this has a glaring problem , in that do we expect the voter to be kneejerking , taking in all the data in the minutia? Ie Turkeys voting for both XMAS and thanksgiving off sounds nice. I am not an economics , legal expert , nor one on taxes and local – nor like the many do I get the information on such things without seeking out “perhaps self serving” experts , and with that comes partisan personalities or a common goal…. good or bad. OR of course where there is a lack of interest in seeking out the information – choosing to turn on the tv instead , and thats where MSM lurks. For that reason , and how critical I can be of Scottish politicians , I offer that we elect them , and have done for a long time , as those with the ability to make the decisions on our best interests as OUR PROXY. They have the contacts and staff to supply the best solution , based on what is at hand , and importantly what may be , and will in theory read the data – but I also add that 4 levels of Government are frankly too much , more so when one of them isnt elected but hereditary. But for that proper empowerment it may mean the use of the likes of UNIVERSITIES as data pools , as independent think tanks , supplying the impartial data in a condensed form to specific questions as the 2nd level of Government as a service. With that comes peer consideration of data , and scrutiny. And why not , these supposedly are teaching the next generation to use the data in employment , and of course politicians themselves. Currently things like fiscal can be done by banks going over the books , that decide on the creditworthiness of the nation – enforcing the state of it , and its outlook , by its own credit rating backing up those findings , and where today Scotlands is AAA. If maths is a pure science , then all banks should in theory come to the same fiscal conclusion…. Scotland is not too wee nor too poor. Open data is certainly of benefit to informed debate in democracy, I agree. Other functions of Parliament are to expose the hidden and hold people to account. Before giving up Parliamentary roles, these should be considered. Two main threats to democracy and people in the UK are official secrets and corporate power. Parliamentary privilege allows MPs to say things on the floor of the Commons that would be illegal outside, which is a most effective way (if carefully used) of exposing state secrets of public interest. They might also follow senator Elizabeth Warren’s much-admired example when she started reading out Loretta King’s letter in senate, was prevented under house rules, and continued reading it outside on social media. This drew a stinging condemnation of the ‘arcane rules’ from the Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/08/warren-violates-arcane-rule-coretta-scott-king-quote-sparking/ Parliamentary committees can call the most powerful corporate leaders in for a grilling (such as Fred Goodwin and Rupert Murdoch), which are now televised, and few corporate honchos come out of that experience smiling. I have not stopped laughing! This shows the desperation of the indy2 mob. What is most startling is that basically the message is “we don’t care if the democratic majority is in favour of staying in the UK. It disnae really matter cos we know better.” The realisation that Sturgeon probably won’t be able to deliver seems to be dawning. Absolute nonsense! I agree UDI as perhaps counter productive , for the reasoning that it may back fire. So then the offer of resign is still on the cards , forcing by elections , with one clear mandate – That A vote for the SNP is not a vote for INDY ref – but a vote FOR UDI and independence . But then again will they risk it? It also prevents triple locks , of moving goalposts , considering the previous of Wesminster in those sort of situations. As I often mention , the electorate can be empowered by its politicians , this is that sort of fight that may produce that number needed…. through action rather than blame and inaction. Its basically what many think , thought , that the brexit ref would be – but as a bargaining chip rather than actual brexit. And with the irony that the EU would in effect realise the instant membership , through direct talks with Holyrood prevented during Brexit – and thus not have the 3 percent mandate for adopting the ERM until the dropping of the pound. Actually, doubting Thomas, if you look at the responses, I’d say most people don’t want to go down the UDI road precisely because it looks like Sturgeon is going to deliver. If Westminster attempts to block indyref2, feelings may very well change. Support for independence would sky rocket and manifest in many ways, of that I am certain. This article is a complete joke. UDI’ers were banned from Bellas group for saying the very same thing. When did this happen? * * It didn’t Every time a UDI-er mentioned our rights as sovereign Scots, every time we mentioned the rigged referendum and the fake Vow and that the 56 seats in Westsinister were useless. You disagreed with us every step of the way. We said we want a democratic UDI and you said not a chance. And here you are saying it doesn’t matter about the majority of No voters, even though they is no majority No voters. So UDI will cause civil war, but you want to just leave regardless of numbers now. You are hypocrites! “The SNP x 56, holding as they do the sovereign will of the Scottish people….” Ohhhh, I think you’re playing dangerous games there Alf with the “sovereign will” thingy. I have previously heard Salmond say that in Scotland “the people are sovereign”. That’s a different statement altogether, is it not? And, whether we like it or not, “the people” voted against independence in 2014. Material changes or otherwise, that is the most recent result on the matter and if a change of heart has indeed occurred we must surely need to know that it’s happened. The only way to determine that is to ask them again at the right time. Like Gaga, I don’t think it is yet the right time. Further, I’m thinking of the outrage – and public disorder – that would surely follow in Scotland if the SNP simply declared UDI in the way you suggest. I’m not going to argue over the validity of the SNP’s mandate to do this (although I’d question it) but would focus, rather, on the fact that on this occasion “the people of Scotland” would be left out of the decision process. I don’t think that would go down well. Not at all well. Despite your own lack of enthusiasm for seeing SNP MPs participating in proceedings in the Commons I think they have, for the most part, conducted themselves in a manner which made me proud of them as they engaged in a civil manner (unlike many on the Tory and Labour benches). While they were “reprimanded” for applauding because it’s “not the done thing” in the Commons it must be said that they do not bay, jeer, drown out or insult their opponents there. They also, remember, have engaged superbly in many Commons debates and left many of their opponents standing. (Mhairi Black’s work on the horrendous impact of the changes in pension legislation for women of a certain age has been magnificent and has won praise throughout the UK.) I wasn’t entirely happy with Craig Murray’s view of the SNP MPs settling in at WM or the implication that they’re now thinking, “To hell with this independence lark, we’re quite comfy here and on a good number.” I don’t think it’s like that for any of them. I believe they’re genuinely engaging in debate and proving to many others who the real wreckers are in the Commons. Democracy – is the election of national representatives, reflecting the sovereign will of the people. Constitutionally – a majority of Scotland’s elected MP’s, representing the sovereign will of the Scottish people, can end the union of parliaments in the same way it began. Referendum – is neither democratic nor constitutional if its initial permission and final ratification (including any subsequent Act defining Scotland’s independence) depends on the decisions of elected representatives from other nations, and not the sovereign will of the Scottish people. @ Alf As you will. If the SNP go for it I think they will regret doing so. Well said Alf. And then when, not if, a YES referendum result is challenged by some Home Counties bampot in the Supreme Court, what do we think that court will make of an ‘advisory’ referendum that was only operational in a small northern portion of Greater England? I think we know the answer to that. A sovereign people need no-one’s permission to gain freedom over their national territory – least of all from the imperial power that occupies it. It should neither be sought nor relied upon. If a duly elected majority of its parliamentarians exercise sovereignty on behalf of the people, it will gain international recognition. That is all that matters. It could happen tomorrow. Craigs bit about comfy chairs , I get it , if nothing else he is saying what in essence could be a liability due to perception , or MSM portrayal. Just think about it , all it takes is some pics , a few words , making out the SNP are cosy with X , conviction by association or juxtaposition. The media is capable and proven in such scenarios , of Nic and the SUN , or other papers putting her and Salmond to the interior pages next to articles on rape , murder and so on. How many sit and watch Parliament every day , even in the INDY mob? So unless one watches it live , what is left , edited highlights or nothing? And as we know the beeb do like their highlights , and of course is there legislation on non repeat of parliament after 24 hrs? Why do you think that little bit of legislation is there – its the ultimate edit and control. Its a bit like the better together website , unless you know how to use time machine , many would not know that the people in its pics and vid clips , shown as people like us , were in fact Councillors or wannabe ones already aligned to party mandates. That one for me is mi5 style puppetry – so again proof of how the campaign was run as hidden warfare. Frank says: ‘my first priority is independence’…so how do you achieve that Frank?…you have no faith in the SNP, as you seem to believe absolutely no-one is capable in the party of leading it. You accuse me of ‘bammery’…I think you’re more in that category than me Frankie boy…..a concern troll who talks of UDI. UDI is unilateral. A strange analysis of a proposal to dissolve a Union of equals. Is a divorce unilateral?..it may be acrimonious, but it is legal.It cannot be stopped if one partner has the grounds to end it. We, the Scottish nation have a right legally (and internationally recognised by the EU and the UN) to the right to dissolve the Union. We need permission from our people, not England, our ‘partner’ and not the rest of RUK, who don’t count in this decision. Even a plebiscite is not legally required, but is to my mind, preferable. No, you describe our movement as full of ‘zealots’ and ‘demagoges’…. a typical Unionist slur..from your ‘SNP friend’….yeah right!….what party you with Frank the ‘Independence but only in the fullness of time’ mob?….away and eat yer cereal man. After doing some reading – on strategy useful for UDI , using the by election legislation and timetables. May is the council elections. And May can mean also by-elections , thats if the SNP resign at Westminster within the 3 months before.(typical timeframe for B.E) So if there was serious thought , about by passing a referendum , preventing more project fear , of vows and bribes , of mi5 postal ballots , then those we have elected as our proxy in Westminster would need to resign around about now. Then stand on one mandate UDI in those elections.IT is then a referendum regardless using normal electoral means. The stumbling block for my other argument of using council elections though is that it is not FPTP – so in effect preventative of such things , with its transferable vote , just like Holyrood with its PR and regional lists. Though Westminster is FPTP , and with it ripe for a “go hard or go hame” , “balls out”, single mandate of a vote for UDI. What is to stop it , is it wait and see? Unless there is a proper rabbit out of the hat for Scotland remaining in the EU from WM , for a trade zone say , then I see nothing other than the SNP happy to be in jobs and increasing their numbers. More so with the talk of an upper chamber. So I cant be the only one feeling this way that is pro indy , and as it may be evident I dont follow the yoon criteria. This is therefore capital for much of the SNP electorate where apathy will EVENTUALLY REDUCE numbers – ie if Indy is no longer the core of the SNP , but is still for the electorate , then are they not in effect just perhaps pushing voters on to somewhere else , just like SLAB and their Tory rats sensing a dodgy ship? Whether we like it or not being the Establishment is counter productive over the longer term to indy and the SNP. It will mean the shift to other pro indy parties at least at the voting level in elections by ignoring the pro indy , reducing those for the SNP as a result with D Hondt and or transferable votes.Hell if Labour went pro indy tomorrow they would in effect double their votes at the cost of the SNP. The popularity at the polls may in effect become a liability , where those that wish indy will indeed see the SNP as enablers and Governors of/for those they are elected to fight , more even than as their defenders. Much like those generationally voting for Scottish Labour did expecting the same. The only counter to this RISING opinion is the fighting of the WM sham democracy lie “of a fair and equal Union” , and when that fight is as shown unfair , through the sheer mass of the larger partner territory that likes to remind us of such , well it is only by using radical means. Sitting on the benches isnt working , figuratively and literally. Perhaps then that mass resignation is a perfect display of such radicalism , of solidarity , more so by creating a by election tsunami delivered on a UDI mandate? For me it would show fight from our elected proxy , and many more will get behind it as a result, but then thats probably the reason for rolling out “Glasgow becoming the Belfast of old” , “blood on the streets” , “troops and terrorism” warnings of our Yoon sphere MSM. The power of threat only works on the fearful , that power has diminished since indy 1 , and are currently distracted on top with brexit. I fear then that the UDI , if not a back burner project waiting on its moment , proves the intent of keeping the status qou for the SNP . Its convenient , comfortable , where the SNP in Westminster is over ruled , ignored , and able to sling blame back in Holyrood as a deliberate willing partner , ie to portray victimhood without ACTUALLY fighting back , and as proven increase the numbers…. but that only lasts so long. Its the kicking of the dog until it bites in order to confirm its a dangerous dog politics , but eventually there is no more dog , just instead kicking air and looking silly. So perhaps this is also the case for the SNP , no more blame hound = no increase in support , and instead increased accountability? This is the exact same victimhood that ironically the opposition partners are stoking in Holyrood , while their national parties do the opposite , or even worse still define the very policy and purse strings and create that which perversely the SNP have to operate from in the first place. They then both complain about it , still elected regardless – a never ending cycle of blame without accountability called political ping pong. If we want accountability , a fairer Scotland , with less if not no maisters – then Indy is that only option , but now its how we get there that is less clear. So would it not also be the same interest for the SNP , to strike when the iron is hot , roll out an indy ref ii with the knowledge of their tactics learned from the first , or is it wait and see if WM and ROTUK has a reticle aimed at the other foot? Known Knowns , known unknowns , or not known? Regardless of the outcome on what route to take , the SNP continue to increase their number. But there is nowhere upward from an apex , other than changing the legislation on voting and elections to create another – Say by creating an upper house as has been touted for a while now. If this is the modus operandi for the future , then does this not confirm the suggested mandate of job creation for more of them , that inaction is the wanted action , for ultimately empowering themselves rather than for independence itself , thus argued being the new number one mandate? Just how many years have the likes of Labour , and the SNP , been decrying to remove the unelected chamber at WM , and if Labour then became part of the system rather than its removal , losing the socialist credibility kerd , then the SNP need to learn that lesson , not repeat it. Then perhaps just like the origins of the Labour party itself , of home rule , then the SNP have also moved on from a single party on one mandate? Which will mean just like SLAB does itself , and where the SNP roll out of a T towel every so often for the election war fund , happy in the knowledge of the independence “neverending story” keeps the faithful kneeling before Zod , and them in employment , independence supplied but only from wet dishes. JaceF says: 21st February 2017 at 1:10 pm The question is at which point am I no longer an EU citizen? When article 50 is triggered? When the UK’s BREXIT is concluded? If Scotland votes for Independence? As far as I can tell I will only lose my EU citizenship at the point that the UK concludes BREXIT. If Scotland votes for independence prior to the UK leaving the EU but remains within the UK until BREXIT concludes then I can see an argument for Scotland applying for EU membership. BUT, if Scotland is independent from the UK prior to it concluding BREXIT then how can I have lost my EU citizenship? Take that to it’s logical conclusion and you arrive at the only viable scenario for declaring UDI, that being a Second Independence referendum returns a majority Yes vote and declaring UDI the next day to take Scotland out of the UK securing EU citizenship for existing EU citizens who have not legally concluded the UK’s BREXIT. Convention by Act of Parliament ( that is not currently the case ) says: EU Citizenship is an EU issue – not Westminster. On account EU States Inc UK signed up to the Human rights convention (UN/EU) I cannot see EU nullifying a Human right. Even with Brexit in 2 years ( not certain in Law ) UK will have to extricate itself from HR Convention and MSPs says: 22nd February 2017 at 12:15 am Big Question who are the Representatives of the Peoples of Scotland under LAW SCOTS? ( who have the right to pass Scots Legislation)I would like a Crowd fund action to determine that .The relevant jurisdiction is Scotland . There can be only 3 outcomes- All WMPs/ All Scots WMPs / All Scots WMPs and MSPs ( divided powers) . If the judgement is All WMPs ( based on Union Act 1706/7 Scotland/ England) then clearly there instantly creates a causal point in Law – Human Rights. Under HR peoples have an absolute right to Identity and due representation. Therefore there is a clear breach of HR Convention (UN/EU) insofar Peoples of Scotland can NEVER achieve their HR to MEANINGFUL Representation because of the population sizes of the UKs 4 jurisdictions. If a judgement rules ONLY Scots WMPs or WMPs+ MSPs can make Scots Law then there’s no problem!!!! Henry Holland says: 22nd February 2017 at 12:04 pm In fact huge problems remain, whichever answer we may get to the narrowly defined, legalistic question as posed directly above. Alf Baird’s original argument rests on, “The SNP x 56, holding … the sovereign will of the Scottish people”. How can Alf Baird justify his assertion the 56 hold that “will”, when their status is based on getting not more than 50% of the vote at the 2015 general election? Never has a concept of political philosophy been so abused by power-seekers as “the people’s sovereign will”. What is the philosophical – not the political – argument for asserting that if this sovereign will exists at all – to me, it smacks of voluntarism – that it is singular, and not, instead, a plurality of sovereign WILLS? The UDI agenda is redolent of a long history of republican and leftist snobistic disdain for democratic process, carries the revolting “we are the people” subtext with it, and appears disinterested in those who would be caught in the crossfire if it were enacted. Achieving a 55% majority for independence at a 2nd referendum – the size of majority that would facilitate unproblematic international recognition – will be a tedious and thankless task; but preferable to enacting UDI, and thereby providing the ammunition in advance to the millions, also inside Scotland, who would never accept a unilateral declaration of independence. 22nd February 2017 at 6:34 pm SO have the whip resign them , causing a by election , and stand them on one mandate – UDI. But then that may risk the deflation of the Snp in Westminster…. and as many are commenting , they arent lions , but kittens cosied up on warm Westminster benches. I have proposed this action in several posts, Go for it!! Throughout this entire debate I have yet to see any rational argument as to why the Scots should not leave the union and become independent should they decide to do so. Also does the UK Govt have the power legally to veto such a move? Pingback: ULTRA-NICHE AND ÜBER-COOL WHITE HOT INNOVATION \| yesdayscotland Pingback: THIS IS HOW SCOTLAND CAN BECOME AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY \| yesdayscotland Ian McCubbin says: I totally agree and feel they should have called it days ago. We are now way beyond a referendum. The only solution is declare independence tell international community and negotiate time scale with Theresa May. It is that simple, yet hard.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line511
__label__wiki	0.972976	0.972976	Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is protecting his Man Utd players too much, believes Patrice Evra Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were beaten by Crystal Palace on Saturday night (Picture: Getty Images) Manchester United suffered a demoralising 3-1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday night and former Red Devils star Patrice Evra feels Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is protecting his players too much. Solskjaer’s side fell behind early to an Andros Townsend goal before Wilfried Zaha doubled the lead for the visitors. Donny Van de Beek came off the bench to score on his debut, but a second Zaha strike finished the scoring. There were question marks over Solskjaer’s team selection, with Dan James starting ahead of Mason Greenwood and Timothy Fosu-Mensah playing at right-back instead of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. However, it was Van de Beek’s omission from the starting line-up which Evra feels was a mistake and Solskjaer should have been more willing to take a risk on the new arrival. The match was the Eagles’ second of the Premier League season, while it was United’s first, which was one reason for the difference in intensity, but Evra feels that is nowhere near a good enough excuse for his former team. ‘Crystal Palace have an advantage, they’ve played more games, but it’s not an excuse for a big club like Man Utd,’ Evra told Sky Sports. ‘That won’t work for the fans, especially with what’s happening with the transfer window and negativity around the club. ‘The United fans are really down today and really worried about what’s coming next.’ Evra recalled his own Manchester United debut, which saw him substituted at half-time against Manchester City in a 3-1 defeat. ‘We don’t know why Van de Beek doesn’t start the game,’ continued the Frenchman. ‘I remember when I joined United, I trained for three days and played the derby game against Manchester City, but it was a disaster. But actually [Sir Alex] Ferguson didn’t get the blame to start me. Solskjaer chose to leave Van de Beek out of the starting XI (Picture: Getty Images) ‘I feel like Ole is sometimes protecting his players too much. He thinks, “Van de Beek just arrive so I know everyone is excited.” Play him! ‘If he plays bad, at least people will criticise Van de Beek and not Ole, but now they’ll ask why he didn’t start him. ‘Sometimes you shouldn’t protect your players.’ Solskjaer explained the decision to leave the Dutchman on the bench before the match, in which he fielded Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay in midfield. ‘Paul [Pogba] has been training really well since he came back and Donny, it’s his first game. Of course we want him to play as much as he can, but he’s getting into the groove and that’s the decision today,’ he said. Tags: Evra on OleMan United News Kai Havertz ‘didn’t seem to care’ on ‘strange’ Chelsea debut, reckons Paul Merson Mikel Arteta provides Kieran Tierney injury update after Arsenal left-back missed West Ham win	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line515
__label__wiki	0.860243	0.860243	Explore the angst and beauty in famous works of art Marie Mustel The “Mona Lisa” is probably the most famous painting in art history. But what’s the second most famous? It could very well be “The Scream” by Edvard Munch. The image has withstood the test of time to become a modern icon, inspiring the famous ‘90s horror film series and even an emoji you may have used on occasion. In time for Munch’s birthday on Dec. 12, Google Arts & Culture invited YouTube Music rising star Girl in Red to give us her take on the howling cultural icon. It’s the latest in our Art Zoom video series, where pop musicians bring their storytelling lens to masterpieces from art history. And who better than Marie Ulven (aka Girl in Red), who sings about a “pretty face with pretty bad dreams,” to take us through “The Scream’s” hidden details? Follow her and get down to brushstroke level, zooming in and out of the image thanks to our Art Camera’s high-resolution capabilities. On a slightly less angsty note, we asked Lolo Zouai, a newcomer on the international R&B scene, to take us on a cheeky tour of Botticcelli’s “Birth of Venus.” If you’ve ever wondered about the story behind the beautiful woman in the giant shell, now you can just click to learn all about about the Uffizi Gallery’s most famous painting. Give us a shout (or a scream) if you’d like to see more of these collaborations, and join the conversation on #artzoom. Still Dreaming: A tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. By Adu Adu By Freya Murray Learn more about the first circumnavigation of the globe By Monica Lanaro Magic visits the Natural History Museum in London By Natasha David Enjoy a special visit to the Palace Museum The Palace Museum is one of the world’s most renowned cultural heritage sites. As the largest and the best-preserved wooden imperial arch... By Pierre Caessa	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line523
__label__wiki	0.983177	0.983177	Micachu Oliver Coates signs to RVNG Intl., shares new video for track “Charlev,” anticipates Thom Yorke as his lovable curmudgeon roomie Author: Mike Reid / Source: Tiny Mix Tapes Video game fans: rejoice in having just found your Solid Snake of the music world — because Oliver Coates has somehow managed to remain relatively stealthy while simultaneously sabotaging Metal Gear and contributing to all sorts of acclaimed musical projects over the past few years. More Jonny Greenwood Micachu RVNG Intl. Share (finance) Thom Yorke video ‘La La Land’ leads the pack with 12 nominations for Critics’ Choice Awards Author: Libby Hill / Source: chicagotribune.com Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in a scene from “La La Land.” The film scored 12 nominations for Critics’ Choice Awards. (Dale Robinette / Lionsgate/Associated Press) The Broadcast Film Critics Assn. announced its film nominees for the 22nd Critics’ Choice Awards on Thursday, with whimsical Los Angeles love story “La La Land” landing 12 nominations. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone both garnered nominations for their performances in the film, as did Damien Chazelle for director and screenplay. “Arrival” and “Moonlight” scored a hefty 10 nominations each, including nods for picture and director. Due to the inclusion of genre-specific categories, several actors managed multiple nominations, some for the exact same role. Andrew Garfield, for example, is up for two acting awards for “Hacksaw Ridge” (actor and also actor in an action movie), as is Ryan Reynolds for “Deadpool” (actor in a comedy and actor in an action movie), Lucas Hedges for “Manchester by the Sea” (supporting actor and young actor/actress) and Hailee Steinfeld for “The Edge of Seventeen” (actress in a comedy and young actor/actress). Others receiving multiple nominations include Denzel Washington, for acting in and directing “Fences,” and Gosling, who in addition to “La La Land” was nominated for actor in a comedy for “The Nice Guys.” Kenneth Lonergan (“Manchester by the Sea”) and Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”), like Chazelle, each received nominations for director and screenplay of their respective films. TV nominations for the Critics’ Choice Awards were previously announced on Nov. 14, with FX’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson” topping the nominations with six. The winners for both the TV and film categories will be revealed Dec. 11 at the Critics’ Choice Awards gala, broadcast on A&E and hosted by actor and comedian T.J. Miller. And the film nominees are … Joel Edgerton – “Loving” Andrew Garfield – “Hacksaw Ridge” Ryan Gosling – “La La Land” Tom Hanks – “Sully” Denzel Washington – “Fences” Amy Adams – “Arrival” Annette Bening – “20th Century Women” Isabelle Huppert – “Elle” Ruth Negga – “Loving” Natalie Portman – “Jackie” Emma Stone – “La La Land” SUPPORTING ACTOR Mahershala Ali – “Moonlight” Jeff Bridges – “Hell or High Water” Ben Foster – “Hell or High Water” 10 Cloverfield Lane Andrew Garfield Broadcast Film Critics Association Damien Chazelle Emma Stone Entertainment Hugh Grant Mahershala Ali Micachu Ryan Gosling Ryan Reynolds	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line533
__label__cc	0.702098	0.297902	Montana castle doctrine This shooting story got a lot of controversy. The NY Times reports: KALISPELL, Mont. — The last mistake Dan Fredenberg made was getting killed in another man’s garage. It was Sept. 22, and Mr. Fredenberg, 40, was upset. He strode up the driveway of a quiet subdivision here to confront Brice Harper, a 24-year-old romantically involved with Mr. Fredenberg’s young wife. But as he walked through Mr. Harper’s open garage door, Mr. Fredenberg was doing more than stepping uninvited onto someone else’s property. He was unwittingly walking onto a legal landscape reshaped by laws that have given homeowners new leeway to use force inside their own homes. Proponents say the laws strengthen people’s right to defend their homes. To others, they are a license to kill. That night, in a doorway at the back of his garage, Mr. Harper aimed a gun at the unarmed Mr. Fredenberg, fired and struck him three times. Mr. Fredenberg crumpled to the garage floor, a few feet from Mr. Harper. He was dead before morning. Had Mr. Fredenberg been shot on the street or sidewalk, the legal outcome might have been different. But on Oct. 9, the Flathead County attorney decided not to prosecute, saying that Montana’s “castle doctrine” law, which maintains that a man’s home is his castle, protected Mr. Harper’s rights to vigorously defend himself there. The county attorney determined that Mr. Harper had the right to fetch his gun from his bedroom, confront Mr. Fredenberg in the garage and, fearing for his safety, shoot him. Fredenberg went to Harper's house with reason to believe his wife was there. She had been there, and refused to say when her husband asked if she were there. The Montana castle doctrine says: A person is justified in the use of force or threat to use force against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the use of force is necessary to prevent or terminate the other person’s unlawful entry into ... an occupied structure (residence). Okay, but the entry has to be "unlawful" for that to apply. Doesn't a man have a right to enter another house to retrieve his wife? If so, then the castle doctrine does not apply. It seems possible to me that the wife and the lover set up Fredenberg to get shot. Posted by Roger at 8:00 AM Super Tax Genius said... To retrieve his wife? Only if she's been kidnapped, otherwise the shooter has additional motivation to defend his castle, and a woman who is there willingly and doesn't desire to leave from a man there to "get" her. Why physicians lie to us Hormones influence voting President has math phobia How European colors evolved Suing the Boy Scouts Sandusky accuser promotes his book Chocolate raises intelligence Armstrong is accused again McQueary sues Penn State Liberals do not understand conservatism	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line534
__label__wiki	0.746021	0.746021	Need Some Help? (Contact Us) Register Login Sign up for our newsletter Find out the latest indie author news. For FREE. Search Booklife Projects by Category, Age, Title or Author. Find by Title Find by Author General Fiction (including literary and historical) Health, Diet & Parenting Business & Personal Finance Literary Essays, Critiques & Biographies Other Nonfiction Spirituality/Inspirational Children / Young Adult Finding Amanda: inspirational suspense by Robin Patchen Chef and popular blogger Amanda Johnson hopes publishing her memoir will provide healing and justice. Her estranged husband, contractor and veteran soldier Mark Johnson, tries to talk her out of it, fearing the psychiatrist who seduced her when she was a teen might return to silence her. But Amanda doesn’t need advice, certainly not from her judgmental soon-to-be ex-husband. Her overconfidence makes her vulnerable when she travels out of town and runs into the abuser from her past. A kind s... more by James Force Christian Roberts is a phone clerk for Maco Commodities. When the firm is entangled in an illegal trading scheme involving high level politicians and offshore hedge funds, he becomes their next target. His pursuers won’t quit until he is dead–or they are exposed. Christian’s determination takes him on a suspenseful, action-packed journey through the interconnected worlds of high finance and politics. As Christian fights to get his life back, he enlists the help of a special team of mercena... more He Can See Heaven: The Hierophant by J.B. Keats A cascading adventure of discovery, intrigue, and romance, He Can See Heaven tells the tale of Ellen Shea, an intrepid graduate student on a perilous search through exotic locales for a trove of lost scrolls. Penned by Saint Papias and known to history as the Logia, the scrolls are the first record of Jesus, eyewitness accounts older and truer than the New Testament. They unveil a new perspective of the man-god and predict the coming of a doomsday prophet, the Hierophant, the one who can see hea... more Lucifer's Game: You're Playing It--Whether You Know It or Not! by Will Schneider Lucifer's Game is an exciting new book written as a novel-like parable about the complex nature of human consciousness and the inner conflict we mortals face between the Light and the Shadow—the two forces that battle for control of the psyche. This thoroughly engaging tale reads like a cross between a metaphysical thriller, a touching romance, and a self-help bestseller. Think Celestine Prophecy sits down at My Dinner with Andre and converses with Debbie Ford's The Dark Side of the Light Chaser... more The Bridgeman by Catherine Astolfo Some secrets can come back to haunt you… Principal Emily Taylor feels safe in the friendly little town of Burchill—until she finds a body in her school. The murder of caretaker Nathaniel Ryeburn brings back memories she'd rather forget and plunges Emily into a mystery that involves a secret diary, an illegal puppy mill and a murderer innocently disguised as an ordinary citizen. As fear rips through the traumatized town, Emily's investigation inadvertently leads the police to her door, and ... more Surly Bonds by Michael Byars Lewis When you're solo, no one can hear you scream. Jason Conrad is an Air Force student pilot, struggling to graduate pilot training. Rebuilding his personal life, he quickly finds the friends he relies on have bigger secrets than his own. On the other side of the world, a former KGB leader is plotting to overthrow the Russian government. While the 'Cold War' is believed to be over, a renegade group of Russian officers launch a plan that could possibly ignite World War Three... more Rise Of The Demons by Louisa Brown Trapped in the Twilight Underworld, Joanna and Lucy are attempting to escape the demons of the dark - still searching for missing Lexa. However, they are unaware that they’ve unleashed thousands - no, millions - of deadly demons to the surface: Earth. All with one mission in mind. Mutate. Possess. Kill. They will rip and tear the warm flesh off humans and mutate them into blood sucking, flesh eating demons of the night. Joanna and Lucy must put an end to the uprising of the demon... more The Great Apocalypse (Sparlock of the Multiverse Book 1) by Daniel Thompson Thomas Adams is a talented editor for a major New York book publisher. He lived quietly until a beautiful forensic psychologist came into his life. When she disappears under mysterious circumstances, he becomes obsessed with unraveling a "story" that unites the Bible, a lost masterpiece by Hieronymus Bosch, Jewish legends, apocryphal literature, fairy tales, forgotten Gnostic heresies, end time predictions of nineteenth century apocalyptic sects, and even a religious propaganda film for children... more by John Triptych Beneath the gleaming new economies of South-East Asia there exists an underworld of transgression, vice and rampant corruption. Abandoning a recession-plagued America for the easy money of Asia's lucrative but highly illegal boiler room industry, Don Rouse must navigate through a sordid world of drug addicts, deviants, prostitutes and professional conmen in order to achieve his lifelong dream of making it big. But his world is suddenly turned upside down as the police show up and his boss goe... more by Barbara DeShong Suicide doesn’t happen in good families. Never when both parents are mental health professionals. But it did. Convinced the suicide was her fault, psychologist Jessica LeFave is immobilized with guilt. And now her best friend, the one who asked to speak with her last night and Jessica put off, is found murdered, her body on an altar to Santa Muerte. While the police insist her death is one more drug-trafficking casualty, Jessica believes the murder is connected to Camilla’s emotional instability... more We Grew Up Anyway by Beau Merrick Life in the suburbs of the typical Midwestern city of Saint Louis seemed to follow the benign stories which were read in schools and the Norman Rockwell paintings which lined the quaint, boring walls and hallways of homes everywhere. America in the Cold War era of the early 1960’s was laid-back and content, with social struggles all but gone from the landscape. At least, that was the way it seemed on the surface. But, just out of reach, just past the corner of our eye, lurking in the shadows ... more The Farber Legacy by George Encizo A gritty suspense novel and psychological thriller. When a prominent attorney and a respected sheriff each take on cases involving heinous crimes, they uncover dark secrets and horrible deeds aching to be brought to justice. Pretty Little Creatures by vince milam Ebola, ISIS, Drug Cartels. A dark force driving events. A beautiful CIA assassin in pursuit, joined by three dissimilar individuals committed to finding answers. Stolen Memories by mary miley \tA brutal attack along the banks of the Seine in 1928 leaves a young Englishwoman close to death in a Paris hospital, without a memory in her head. She soon comes up against a vengeful husband who accuses her of the theft of priceless art, the French gendarmes who have linked her to a murder on the Riviera, and a scorned lover who is trying to kill her. The husband, believing his wife’s amnesia is faked, spirits her away to an ancient chateau in the French province of Champagne, where prehist... more by BV Lawson A mysterious music puzzle. A murdered coed. Sinister secrets. Three years ago, Scott Drayco left the FBI after an incident involving his partner, Mark "Sarg" Sargosian. Now a freelance crime consultant, Drayco often helps law enforcement on cases, but he never imagined his estranged former partner would turn up on his doorstep, pleading for Drayco's help. A co-ed at an elite Washington, D.C., private college has been murdered, and the victim's friend -... more Requiem for Innocence Crime consultant Scott Drayco is in the middle of a thorny case in Washington, D.C. involving murder victims who were all wheelchair-bound. Then, out of the blue, he gets a worried call from a friend on Virginia's Eastern Shore about an attack on an innocent disabled girl. Working once again with Sheriff Sailor and Deputy Nelia Tyler, Drayco discovers almost everyone believes the girl's attack was an accident. But he begins to suspect otherwise when he crosses paths with a badly... more Retail & Libraries PR & Reviews Social & Online Licensing & Legal Agents & Industry PW SELECT ABOUT PRIZE © by Booklife LLC and PWxyz LLC. All rights reserved. Site Engineered by Mediapolis; Designed by Sonya Balchandani Subscribe me to the Booklife Newsletter	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line541
__label__cc	0.741037	0.258963	Digium Announces Location of AstriCon to be Held October 21-23, 2014 Posted by James Chapman \| Feb 4, 2014 \| Manufacturers \| 0 \| The Longest-running Event Devoted to “All Things Asterisk” Brings Together Software Developers, IT Professionals, and Integrators in Las Vegas Digium, Inc., the Asterisk® Company, has kicked off planning for AstriCon 2014, the annual Asterisk Open Source Conference and Exhibition. The event, now in its 11th year, will be held in Las Vegas, Nev., from October 21-23 at the Green Valley Ranch Resort. Digium is the creator and maintainer of Asterisk, the most widely adopted open source communications software. With nearly 2 million downloads per year, millions of deployments and a community of more than 80,000 members, the acceptance and growth of Asterisk has created an ecosystem spanning more than 170 countries. AstriCon gives all members of the Asterisk community – including telephony enthusiasts, developers and businesses – a forum to learn about the technology. Asterisk integrators and business users can expect to hear the latest Asterisk news and project updates, gain access to in-depth technical sessions, participate in networking opportunities, meet potential collaborators and review and discuss detailed case studies of Asterisk projects. The exhibition space will consist of more than 50 vendors and communications solution and service providers. Asterisk is an open source software framework that transforms an ordinary computer into a powerful communications server enabling developers and integrators to quickly and easily build communication applications including business phone systems (PBX), call centers, VoIP gateways, voicemail systems and conference servers. The open source software is frequently used to power Unified Communications (UC) products and other custom communications solutions. Asterisk forms the basis for Digium’s award-winning Switchvox UC solution, which offers the most advanced business phone system features in a cost-effective, easy-to-use solution that scales as companies grow. We’re pleased to have finalized the details for AstriCon 2014 so early in the year,” said David Duffett, worldwide community director for the Asterisk open source project. “As the must attend Asterisk event of the year, community members can plan for AstriCon in October, and prepare the great presentations and sessions that AstriCon is known for. This truly is an event by the Asterisk community, for the Asterisk community. PreviousYealink SIP-T48G Video Review and Unboxing – VoIP TV NextOpenVox Releases An Upgraded SOHOs IPPBX ICallDroid Spot Grandstream announces Beta Test of New IP PBX for $1 Yealink Updates IP Phone Portfolio for Metaswitch Networks Platform Sonus Announces General Availability of the SBC 7000 Session Border Controller Grandstream Hybrid VoIP Deployments	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line546
__label__wiki	0.806295	0.806295	Tag: Logan Lerman DVDs for December December 2, 2013 December 3, 2013 - Ann Leave a comment The Wolverine– Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen Summoned to Japan by an old friend, Wolverine becomes involved in a conflict that will force him to confront his own demons. There, adamantium claws will clash with samurai steel as Logan confronts a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle that will change him forever. Rated PG-13 The Mortal Instruments – City of Bones – Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower Clary Fray, a seemingly ordinary teenager, discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother, Clary joins forces with a group of Shadowhunters who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York City called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures. Rated PG-13 Smurfs 2 – Hank Azaria, Neil Patrick Harris. The evil wizard Gargamel creates a couple of mischievous Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties. But when he discovers that only a real Smurf can give him what he wants, and only a secret spell that Smurfette knows can turn the Naughties into real Smurfs, Gargamel kidnaps Smurfette and brings her to Paris. It’s up to Papa, Clumsy, Grouchy, and Vanity to return to our world, reunite with their human friends Patrick and Grace Winslow, and rescue her. Rated PG Battle of the Year – Josh Holloway, Laz Alonso Los Angeles hip-hop mogul and former B-Boy Dante wants to put the country that started the sport back on top. He enlists his hard-luck friend Blake to coach his team. Blake must use every tactic he knows to get twelve talented individuals to unite as a team if they’re going to bring the trophy back to America.Rated PG-13 Lone Ranger – Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer A thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice – taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption. Rated PG-13 2 Guns – Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington DEA agent Bobby Trench and U.S. naval intelligence officer Marcus Stigman are working undercover for a narcotics business. After a distorted attempt to infiltrate the drug cartel, they soon learn the secret of their dubious affiliation. Rated R Elysium – Matt Damon, Jody Foster In the year 2154, two groups of people remain: the extremely wealthy, who reside on an immaculate man-made space station named Elysium, and the rest, who occupy an overpopulated, destroyed Earth. Max decides to embark on a mission that could bring equality to the opposed worlds. Rated R Percy Jackson – Sea of Monsters – Logan Lerman, Sean Beam Based on the publishing phenomenon, Percy Jackson and other young demigods continue to fight, but this time in the sea, to fulfill their destinies. To save their world, Percy and his friends must find the fabled and magical Golden Fleece. Embarking on a treacherous odyssey into the uncharted waters of the Sea of Monsters (known to humans as the Bermuda Triangle), they battle terrifying creatures, an army of zombies, and the ultimate Evil. Rated PG Prisoners – Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal Keller Dover is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki arrests its driver but a lack of evidence forces his release. As the police pursue multiple leads, Dover knows his child’s life is at stake and decides he must take matters into his own hands. How far will he go to protect his family? Rated R. Family – Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer A mafia boss and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the witness protection program after snitching on the mob. Despite Agent Stansfield’s best efforts to keep them in line, Fred Blake and his family can’t help resorting to old habits by handling their problems the ‘family’ way. Chaos ensues as their former Mafia cronies try to track them down, and scores are settled in the unlikeliest of settings. Rated R. Jobs – Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney A riveting story of a true American visionary, a man who let nothing stand in the way of greatness. It chronicles the iconic innovator and entrepreneur’s early days. He was a college dropout who co-founded Apple Computer Inc. and was then forced to leave. More than a decade later, Jobs returns and single-handedly sets a course that will turn the once-tiny startup into one of the world’s most valuable companies. His epic journey blazes a trail that changes technology-and the world-forever. Rated PG-13. Insidious Chapter 2 – Rose Byrne, Patrick Wilson The haunted Lambert family seeks to uncover the mysterious childhood secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. Rated PG-13 Don Jon – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson Jon is handsome, good old-fashioned guy. His buddies call him Don Jon due to his ability to ‘pull’ a different woman every weekend, but nothing compares to the bliss he finds alone watching porn. Barbara is a beautiful, good old-fashioned girl. Raised on romantic Hollywood movies, she’s determined to find her Prince Charming. Wrestling with good old-fashioned expectations of the opposite sex, Jon and Barbara struggle against a media culture full of false fantasies to try and find true intimacy. Rated R Posted in DVDs - Tagged - Ashton Kutcher, Armie Hammer, Denzel Washington, Dermot Mulroney, Famke Janssen, Hank Azaria, Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Campbell Bower, Jody Foster, Johnny Depp, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Holloway, Laz Alonso, Lily Collins, Logan Lerman, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Neil Patrick Harris, Nick Frost, Patrick Wilson, Robert DeNiro, Rose Byrne, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Beam, Simon Pegg DVDs for February February 1, 2013 February 21, 2013 - Ann Leave a comment Hit & Run – Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell A nice guy with a questionable past, Charlie Bronson, risks everything when he busts out of a witness protection program to drive his girlfriend to Los Angeles for the job opportunity of a lifetime. Their road trip grows awkwardly complicated, however, when they’re chased by an inept fed and Charlie’s ex-pal, a vengeance-crazed criminal he helped put behind bars. Rated R Celeste and Jesse Forever – Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg Celeste and Jesse have been best friends since they can remember. High school sweethearts, they eventually got married–and now they’re getting divorced. While their friends don’t think the couple can stay friends after the divorce, Celeste and Jesse are determined to prove them wrong. But when Jesse begins dating again, Celeste finds it harder to move on than she thought it would be. Rated R Alex Cross – Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox Follows the young homicide detective/psychologist as he meets his match in a serial killer. The two face off in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, but when the mission gets personal, Cross is pushed to the edge of his moral and psychological limits in this taut and exciting action thriller. Rated PG-13 Flight – Denzel Washington (Lead Actor Nominee for Oscars 2013) A seasoned airline pilot miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on the plane. Rated R A Late Quartet – Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken A powerful story that blends raw emotion with fiery passion to form an unforgettable cinematic masterpiece. After 25 years together, the members of a world-renowned string quartet learn that their beloved cellist may soon be forced to retire. But the news stirs up equally painful challenges when competing egos, harbored resentment, and irrepressible lust threaten to derail the group as they struggle to maintain harmony in their music, and their lives. Rated R Perks of Being a Wallflower – Emma Watson, Logan Lerman The Perks of Being a Wallflower is based on the wildly popular novel by Stephen Chbosky about a freshman named Charlie who is always watching from the sidelines until a pair of charismatic seniors takes him under their wing. Beautiful, free-spirited Sam and her fearless stepbrother Patrick shepherd Charlie through new friendships, first love, burgeoning sexuality, bacchanalian parties, midnight screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the quest for the perfect song. Rated PG -13 Robot & Frank – Frank Langella, Peter Sarsgaard Frank is an aging ex-jewel thief, and his two grown children are worried that he can no longer care for himself. In deciding what to do with Frank, the most likely option appears to be putting him in a nursing home. But Frank’s son comes up with another option: buy Frank a walking, talking robot programmed to look after him and improve his physical and mental health. Frank resists the robot at first, but he warms to it after realizing that it could be the perfect heist companion. Rated PG-13. This is a character-driven documentary following five kids and families over the course of a school year. Offering insight into different facets of America’s bullying crisis, the stories include two families who have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14-year-old daughter, who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. Documentary provides an intimate and often shocking glimpse into homes, classrooms, cafeterias and principals’ offices. Rated PG-13 The Sessions – John Hawkes, Helen Hunt (Supporting Actress Nominee for Oscars 2013) Paralyzed and confined to an iron lung since childhood, poet-journalist Mark O’Brien has overcome adversity time and time again. But now, at age 38, he faces his toughest challenge yet: losing his virginity. With the help of a beautiful therapist, a sympathetic priest, and his own unbridled sense of optimism and humor, Mark embarks on an extraordinary personal journey to discover the wondrous pleasures that make life worth living. Rated R. End of Watch – Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop. Rated R Argo (Best Picture Nominee 2013 Oscars) – Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin (Supporting Actor Nominee 2013 Oscars) On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured dozens of American hostages, sparking a 444-day ordeal. There’s a little-known footnote to the crisis: six Americans escaped and a midlevel agent named Antonio Mendez devised an ingenious yet incredibly risky plan to rescue them. Rated R The Master – Joaquin Phoenix (Lead Actor Nominee 2013 Oscars) Philip Seymour Hoffman (Supporting Actor Nominee 2013 Oscars), Amy Adams (Supporting Actress Nominee 2013 Oscars) A striking portrait of drifters and seekers in post-World War II America, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master unfolds the journey of a naval veteran who arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future, until he is tantalized by The Cause and its charismatic leader. Rated R. Posted in DVDs - Tagged Alan Arkin, Amy Adams, Andy Samberg, Ben Affleck, Chritopher Walken, Dax Shepard, Denzel Washington, Emma Watson, Frank Langella, Helen Hunt, Jake Gyllenthaal, joaquin Phoenix, John Hawkes, Kristen Bell, Logan Lerman, Matthew Fox, Michael Pena, Philip Seymour, Rashida Jones, Tyler Perry	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line548
__label__wiki	0.904977	0.904977	Medieval lives: Working women in English society, 1300–1500 Our stories, People & professions: Until the late 20th century, the important role played by medieval women in the peasant household was largely ignored by historians. Women changing the world, part three: Physical autonomy Arts & literature, Our stories, Politics, Social life & customs: In the third and final part of our exploration of works by women that have changed our world, we focus on women’s reproductive rights. A darkroom on wheels Cities & towns, Such was life: An itinerant immigrant from Scotland took some fascinating photos of the Western District in the 1850s. State Library Victoria calls on public to save Australia’s greatest news pictures State Library Victoria today launched a public appeal to raise $75,000 to make the extensive archive of award-winning photographer Bruce Postle available to the public. Elizabeth Batman’s doll Social life & customs, Such was life: Elizabeth Batman’s doll is a fascinating relic from the earliest days of Melbourne. Women changing the world, part two: political equality Campaigns to secure the right to vote for women helped progress women’s political equality. Discover the ground-breaking women leading the charge through the rare books in this ‘World of the book’ display. State Library Victoria scores the Ashes Urn Exhibitions, News: The iconic Ashes Urn is leaving Lord’s Cricket Ground for only the third time in its 137-year history to feature in State Library Victoria’s brand new exhibition, ‘Velvet, Iron, Ashes’. Buildings & streets, Our stories, Social life & customs: Melbourne and shopping have been hand in glove since the 1880s, and at its peak the city flaunted more than a dozen department stores. Precious correspondence from Australian feminist, writer and poet Mary Fullerton Arts & literature, Our stories: Within the papers of a Victorian farmer from Beaconsfield, are a series of letters from his aunt, Mary Fullerton, an Australian author and a vocal member of the women’s suffrage movement. Women changing the world, part one: intellectual equality Explore the history of the struggle for women’s equality – intellectual, political, and physical – in this three-part series.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line550
__label__cc	0.730677	0.269323	Board in the Stacks: The Legend of the Wendigo July 30, 2017 August 1, 2017 by John Pappas, posted in Reviews The Legend of the Wendigo is a werewolf-styled social deduction game for 2-6 children aged 6+ from Iello Games. In this “lighter” themed version, the Chipmunk Scouts are out telling stories around the campfire and, unbeknownst to anyone, the legendary Wendigo is lurking in the shadows. Each night the Wendigo returns to camp and steals away with another camper and then hides in their midst, camouflaged as an innocent camper. To be fair, the theme isn’t really much lighter than Werewolf. But the artwork sets the mood and is not particularly frightening despite children being dragged into the night by a creature that then returns in their skins to carry away another. Think of it as Goosebumps level spooky. The components consist of 64 round tiles. 32 are camper tiles pictures of campers on both sides and 32 are Wendigo Tiles with an matching camper on one side and a (kinda adorable) Wendigo on the other. One player is chosen to be the Wendigo. The rest of the players are campers trying to suss the Wendigo out. I had some concerns about a “one against many” game for younger children. To keep the game even I recommend a total of four players — one Wendigo and three campers for the most balanced game. Too many campers and the Wendigo will be discovered quickly. Too few and the Wendigo will likely succeed easily. Rotate the Wendigo between players and you’ve got an even game for everyone. The game is split — werewolf style — into two phases: Night Phase and Day Phase. Night Phase: The Wendigo player shuffles their tiles and chooses one randomly. They then locate the matching Scout tile from the 32 on the table. Once the scout tile is located, Team Camper has to turn around and close their eyes (or leave the room, etc.) while the Wendigo replaces the scout tile with the Wendigo tile. When the switch is complete, Team Camper can return to the room (or turn around or open their eyes) and a sand timer is flipped. They have about one minute to memorize as much as they can about the layout of the tiles. Once the timer runs out, Team Camper turns around and closes their eyes. The Wendigo then removes a Scout tile and places their Wendigo tile into the same space, leaving the space empty where the Wendigo used to be. Once this is done we move to the Day Phase. Day Phase: During the Day Phase, Team Camper examines the table to determine what changed during the night. They discuss which tile they believe to be the Wendigo and when agreed on a single tile, they flip it over! If the Wendigo is on the back of the tile, they successfully sniffed out the Wendigo and won. If not, the tile remains on the table and the players get ready for another round and they continue with another Night Phase. The game continues until the Wendigo snatches five tiles or is discovered. For a simplified hybrid of Werewolf and Scotland Yard, The Legend of the Wendigo has kept several groups of children engaged at my library. There is a small social deduction element with Team Camper trying to read the Wendigo player for any tells as they search for the correct tile. The game lacks hidden roles and bluffing. These elements are generally standard for this type of game but they can be challenging for younger children. The integrity of the experience was surprising coherent with such a simple ruleset. Pattern recognition and memory games can be grueling and dull at times but Iello has consistently pulled it off. Players will try to recognize and recall earlier patterns (each iteration of the children are similar with slight variations). This will sound similar if you played another of Iello’s games “Baba Yaga” where the tiles have subtle differences while seeming similar at first glance. Unfortunately, this need to make all the tiles similar with slight variations led to camp composed entirely of white kids. I think steps could have been taken to better provide minority representation without negatively affecting gameplay. A concern is the amount of experience required to take on the Wendigo role. A consistent failing of one-against is the difficulty an inexperienced player will have in the “one” role. In Letters from Whitechapel or Scotland Yard, generally it is recommended that the most experienced player take the role of Mr. X or Jack. However, The Legend of the Wendigo does provide an experience where anyone can walk into the role of the Wendigo and generally succeed without undue stress. An issue playing social deduction games with children is that the game hinges upon bluffing and deception. This is a shame since elements of these games are large player counts, simple rules, and minimal components of social deduction games seem to make them the perfect game for children. Here is where The Legend of the Wendigo is spot on. It allows for deception aimed at the arrangement of the tiles rather than about a deceit over a hidden role. The Wendigo player is known to everyone from the start. One particular element of the game I enjoyed is decision making between the children on Team Camper. Eventually, the will figure out that the easiest way to find the Wendigo is if each player takes and area of the board to examine intently rather than having everyone try to memorize everything. This technique will make the game much harder for the Wendigo. However, I still love this with new groups of children at the library. The components are sturdy and set up is simple enough. Bottom Line: If you are looking for a twist on the traditional memory game that hinges on pattern recognition then The Legend of the Wendigo is an easy grab. It provides a delightfully tense albeit light-hearted atmosphere and will certainly generate some cheers when the Wendigo is finally revealed. It plays quickly for repeated play but experienced campers will eventually be able to snag the Wendigo in a few rounds. Representation is an issue with all the campers portrayed as white. Tagged children's games, Iello, Memory, Reviews, Social DeductionLeave a comment	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line554
__label__cc	0.558487	0.441513	Tag: Wasteland Express Delivery Service First Looks: Wasteland Express Delivery Service from Pandasaurus Games August 10, 2017 August 10, 2017 by John Pappas, posted in Reviews Designers:Jonathan Gilmour, Ben Pinchback, Matt Riddle Publisher: Pandasaurus Games Age: 12+ (reviewers recommendation) Playing time: 120 minutes In Wasteland Express Delivery Service, civilization has finally crashed and sank into a post-nuclear fashion oblivion — everything is all blood, sweat, tape, and spandex. You need to move water, food, and weapons in order to pick up enough scrap to keep your rig roadworthy and knee-deep in eyeliner. Upgrade weapons, storage space and other variable sundries in order to keep up with the competition. Attack and pillage raiders moving across the Wastelands or send them head first into another rig. The bulk of your time, however, will be moving materials for three different factions, picking up other contracts, and dealing with various catastrophic events. The player who first completes three objectives, wins…and then takes a bath. Unless you are actually living in a post-apocalyptic fallout shelter (give it another year), you have heard of Wasteland Express Delivery Service. Draped in an aggressively busy post-apocalyptic setting and featuring an intensity of artwork that would make Tank Girl blush and Mad Max finally go home and change his pants, WEDS is a delightfully chunky mess of a game with a solid pick-up-and-deliver frame. The box is big, the inserts are sponge-worthy (reference), and the rules and set-up requires two advance degrees and a crow-bar to get through. However, once you get this game rolling along, it just keeps on trucking into blissful oblivion. So. Much. Tape. I haven’t had much time to really dive into this game so take everything with a grain of salt. I did have some quick thoughts and wanted to comment whether it is a good fit for a library setting (it is if you are experienced). Despite all the chrome, miniatures, and all the extra bits, this, in essence, is a simple Pick Up and Delivery game with an obscene amount of customization added. The basic mechanisms of the game are already there for you: Move, Pick Up, Move, Deliver, Make Money, Pillage. To their credit, Gilmore, Pinchback, and Riddle (the law offices of…) have designed a wonderfully engaging and exciting game around that notoriously dull mechanism and Pandasaurus Games developed it into a gorgeous piece of sexy shelf candy. Similar to Scythe (advance warning, I’m going to compare WEDS to Scythe often), the art direction does not correlate directly to the player experience. If you are expecting plenty of Road Road style action between players and factions, you will be disappointed. There is very little direct player interaction although quite a bit indirect interaction (moving Raiders around the board, messing with the commodities market, racing to fulfill a contract). However, unlike Scythe, where the beginning of the game is on rails and basically predetermined, WEDS provides a wide variety of actions and movement across the board. Specifically, the concept of movement momentum was novel where you can move up in gears during your turn (sacrificing other actions) to move further and faster during later turns and burn across the board. In Scythe you have a vast field to explore but will barely move past your starting hexes (just like the lonely peasant you are). In WEDS you get to move all over the board. The bulk of the gameplay is very Euro, BUT, it is Euro with tons of trashy chrome to liven it up. Ordinarily, I’m not a fan of chrome. The over-the-top components and miniatures don’t appeal to me. But WEDS offers a solid foundation with some mechanical chrome and it makes it sexy af. On top of the basic delivery framework you have a veritable chasm of customization to drive your rig into. It allows for a level of tinkering and strategy that flows nicely with the simple core. Meanwhile Scythe feels like a bunch of mechanisms bundled together with spit and twine that works but doesn’t necessarily move or hold together well. In WEDS, the mechanical chrome is slick and adds to the gameplay. Oddly enough, it ends up feeling like a tactical game but you’ll be planning out 4-5 moves in advance in order to fulfill a contract…if you are lucky that is. The economic system provides just enough interaction to keep the competition on their toes without blowing them up completely. As you complete deliveries you need to make important peripheral decisions on how you upgrade your truck. More space? More guns? Nukes? Turbos? Armor? The action selection (which provides the darling little momentum movement mechanism) is not overwhelming by focusing on “micro-actions” which provide a limited amount of smaller actions to take. It limits AP and keeps the game flowing at a quicker pace without allowing players horde one action and build an engine. The game makes you move and keeps you moving. It is practically a race to the end from the moment you begin. This emphasis on quick decisions, movement, and a focus on completing three contracts to win rather than some sort of totaling (money, points, etc.) makes the Euro feel so much more trashy and fast paced and I love it. The pacing is perfect. No engines to build. No dominant strategy to develop. Just you, your rig, and some assholes temporarily in your way. Quick aside: I love the terrain tiles. The modular game board with the intermixed terrain hex-tiles and the square location tiles come together nicely. I’m not sure why this is the one thing I find so oddly satisfying but I do. When prototypes and images began to leak out during the development of WEDS, it really stuck with me. Theme aside, I wanted to see how that terrain setup would work. The game trays are also one of the shinier bits in the game. WEDS has something like 600+ bits included and the trays are mandatory. In fact, they should now raise the bar for all large strategy games. If I’m dropping $80 on a bulky beast I want these trays included to ease set-up, teaching, and storage. Everything is game trays forever. Thanks, Pandasaurus! With so many objectives included in the game, plus the double-sided terrain hexes and the variable location set-up, plus the focus on customization and variable player bonuses, WEDS has the potential for lots of variability. Additionally, it includes a campaign narrative arc that is played over 10 sessions plus randomly generated single session scenarios which taps into the immersive narrative popular with storytelling games like Tales of the Arabian Nights; legacy games; and euro/storytelling hybrids such as Above and Below and Near and Far. I am not sure how successful WEDS is in the tricky world of immersive narrative play as I haven’t attempted any of these variants yet but I certainly appreciate their existence and would like to snuggle up with three other people and test them out. “Wasteland Express Delivery Service is big, beautiful, daunting, and sexy af with a straightforward gameplay core and bursting at the seams with mechanical chrome. It is a game where players race to the end while throwing obstacles at each other to be the first to complete a variable set of contracts. The artwork and design is evocative of the theme and setting and the presentation courtesy of Pandasaurus is next to flawless (I’m practically salivating for Dinosaur Island now). WEDS won’t make it into a circulating collection due to the size and amount of components but it will be the center piece of your game-night. Your rig may be cobbled together but Wasteland Express Delivery Service is smooth as silk. Witness me! Tagged featured, First Looks, Pandasaurus, Pick Up and Deliver, Wasteland Express Delivery Service2 Comments	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line555
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__label__cc	0.666574	0.333426	By Carrie on October 14, 2020 • ( Leave a comment ) Saving Kimi by Brooke Stanton blitz with giveaway Saving Kimi Brooke Stanton (Forbidden Romance, #4) Genres: Adult, Historical Romance, Western From a RWA award-winning and #1 bestselling author comes a scorching new historical romance! Scandal is second nature to outcast Kimimela Wallace…and so are the passions she can’t deny. Fleeing a forbidden desire in the small Oklahoma town where her white father raised her, Kimi escapes to the Cheraksaw Reservation to be with her mother—and quickly finds herself in the arms of her childhood friend, Soaring Falcon. But no sooner does she arrive than her mother forces her out to make it on her own. The only thing to do is to take work she doesn’t want…as a governess for hard-hearted widower, Alex Randall. But the rumors and the reputation Kimi fled in town follow her there. And so does her curiosity as Mr. Randall stirs new desires in her when she discovers his shocking secret. Then tragedy strikes, and Kimi must risk everything to save both men. But deciding who will win her heart may mean stripping away the one thing she values most—her freedom. Can she give up one love for another, or will passion and forbidden desires lead to more than she thought possible? “You’re a good man, Alex.” Kimi’s gaze was steady, urging him to meet it. Finally, he spoke. “Have you ever been in love?” Kimi was startled by the question. “I . . . I don’t know. Love is confusing.” He turned to her. Their hands still touched. “Love is the simplest thing in the world.” Kimi’s gaze fell beyond Alex. “Not for me.” “Because you were promised to Chayton and he chose another?” Kimi snapped her attention back. “I was never attached to him, and I do not yearn for his love.” “It’s not a bad thing. Being in love is wonderful.” His chin dropped and he pinched his brow. “When the person loves you back. Chayton would be a good match for you. He obviously cares for you.” “You cannot comprehend, Alex. For men like you, life is uncomplicated. You’ve never had the likes of Mrs. Johns throwing aspersions at you since you first understood what an insult was. It muddles everything. Even love.” Their gazes locked. Pain was in his eyes, and for a moment Kimi wondered if he thought of his dead wife. Since he’d been injured, all she’s wanted to do is relieve him of his hurts, and so she did something quite shocking. On an impulse, she rocked forward and kissed him squarely on the mouth. The pads of his lips were soft, but unmoving. Kimi released him, but kept her gaze steady, unapologetic. “Why did you do that?” he asked. He exhaled, long and slow. “You’re mixed up in the life and death of this unusual situation.” “Don’t tell me my mind.” Kimi prickled. “I make my own choices.” And to prove her point, she tucked her knees and folded forward, pressing her lips solidly to his again, her hands on either side of his face. No sooner had she enjoyed this delicious connection than Alex pushed her gently but firmly from him. “Kimi, we can’t. You’re too young. Barely nineteen. Will would have my hide. I’d have my hide.” “Most women I know are married by my age,” Kimi protested. “I don’t mean you’re too young to be with a man—I mean you’re too young for me. You should be with someone like Chayton. Young, vibrant. Not old and damaged.” “I’m not talking about marriage.” Alex’s eyes widened. “Kimi, you sometimes are very shocking.” “Am I wrong that something passed between us when you found that photograph in my room? I saw it in your eyes. I see it now.” Alex shifted away. “It’s unseemly to discuss this. I told you I didn’t mean to have those photographs. I’m horrified you found them. Oh god. I’ve ruined you. Men and women . . . they don’t, er, it’s not like what you saw in the picture. I mean, if they’re married, perhaps. But—” “Indian women lie with Indian men when they’re not married.” At least that had been the way before the settlers came. Kimi wasn’t sure how often it happened now. But if she looked at Chayton as an example, it was still something that was done. Alex rubbed his hand over his face, exasperated. “You weren’t raised like that. You were raised in society.” “You’re wrong. My mother has always been a great influence. I feel the blood of my ancestors strong in me. And I don’t see what’s wrong with these cravings. A kiss never hurt anyone.” Alex scooted to the other side of the room, and sat near the supplies. Kimi crossed her arms over her chest, annoyed. “Do you desire me? Or do you not like the native blood in me?” “Stop.” Alex sharpened his gaze. “My rejection has nothing to do with that. We shouldn’t even be speaking of these things. It isn’t proper. This is all highly disturbing. If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were hysterical.” “What if I am? Nobody would fault you for taking me.” “I’m not ‘taking you.’” Alex winced, gripping his injured arm. The makeshift bandage on his bicep seeped blood. “Come here,” Kimi said. “I think it’s best if I stay where I am.” “Your bandage needs changing.” Kimi unrolled a fresh bandage and opened a jar of antiseptic. Reluctantly, Alex sat beside her, his back ramrod straight. Kimi unrolled the soiled cloth from his forearm, cleaned his wound the best she could, then wrapped it with the fresh bandage. When she was done, she sat back, but he stayed at the edge of the mat, rigid. Kimi fiddled with the edge of her ripped hide skirt, which ended several inches above her knee. Alex scanned his gaze up her thighs and then took the edges of the blanket and folded it over her legs, covering her naked skin. He tucked his good arm under his head and spread his long body on the wood floor, beside the mat. “Let’s rest. I think that bump may be having an odd effect on your sensibility.” After her own misadventures in New York City, LA, and London, Brooke Stanton now lives in Dallas, Texas. She’s the bestselling and award winning author of the Bloom Sisters and Forbidden Romance series. Visit her website brookestantonbooks.com. Get a FREE copy of the prequel, IGNITE, here: http://ilovemyfans.info/ignite-download/ Feeding my addiction… First Date by Sue Watson #bookreview #thriller	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line568
__label__wiki	0.780198	0.780198	Abu Dhabi’s TII sets sights on strengthening cyber-security for the age of quantum computers BREAKING: Congress certifies Electoral College vote; Trump agrees to ‘orderly transition’ of presidential power Barry Gibb: Greenfields – Gibb Brothers’ Songbook Vol 1 review \| Alexis Petridis’s album of the week Congress certifies Joe Biden as president hours after storming of Capitol Can You Get the COVID-19 Vaccine If You Have Cosmetic Fillers? BuzzyPost America's Latest Breaking News & Trending Stories Karon Hylton’s death during a police chase sparks protests in D.C. October 28, 2020 admin 0 Comments Last Friday, a Black 20-year-old was killed in Washington, D.C., after police chased him for allegedly riding an electric moped on the sidewalk without a helmet. Karon Hylton was a D.C. native, and a new father to a three-month-old baby girl. Hylton’s girlfriend, Amaala Jones-Bey, told local CBS affiliate WUSA9 that Hylton was on his way to a friend’s house to pick up his car keys. Officers say they saw Hylton riding a moped without a helmet, turned on their emergency lights, and chased Hylton in attempt to make a traffic stop. Police say that during the chase, Hylton suffered fatal injuries after he crashed the moped into a car. But Hylton’s friends and family dispute that claim, saying that one of the officers involved in the incident was notorious for harassing the neighborhood’s Black residents. In a video posted to Twitter by journalist Chuck Modi, an unidentified friend of Hylton’s offers his own account, saying, “They harassed him. They chased him and they followed him all the way before the incident, before he pulled off.” Hylton’s mother joined a small crowd of protesters outside of the D.C. police precinct building demanding to speak to officers, hoping to get clarity on what led to her son’s death. Her requests were ignored, and as evening fell, more members from the community joined her side. By nightfall, the protests intensified with D.C. police reportedly using mace and other crowd dispersal tactics. In a statement from police released Tuesday, they alleged that Hylton accidentally collided with a passenger vehicle and suffered injuries. Officers say they performed CPR on Hylton until he was transferred to the hospital and later pronounced dead. Hylton’s family has requested the release of all video footage related to the chase and protesters outside of the D.C. police department echo that same call. According to the department’s own Police Chief Peter Newsham, officers in D.C. are actually not permitted to chase vehicles for traffic violations, as reported by The Washington Post. While the details of the incident remain unclear, the officers’ decision to pursue Hylton for simply not wearing a helmet appears to go against department policy — and one that had been in place for years. Similar to the NYPD’s ban on chokeholds, which was enacted years before the chokehold that killed Eric Garner, D.C. police seem to have ignored their own policies, leading to the death of Karon Hylton. The department’s hedging on releasing the footage of the incident is also a point of contention. The family’s request for the release of body cam or dashcam footage echoes similar calls across the country any time the public discovers police were involved in the death of yet another Black person. In this instance though, the request is happening amid the D.C. police union’s fight over legislation that would make it mandatory to release body camera footage within five days of an incident that involves the use of deadly or serious force. The union sued the city of D.C. over the policy. As the examples of “police-involved” deaths continue to stack up, police departments — often led by their unions — often resort to digging in their heels, refusing to accept new policy reforms, or, apparently, even adhere to existing ones. Intent on maintaining impunity in all matters, police officers often seem more interested in preserving their power than in actually protecting the communities they serve. ← How Unpredictable Could This Election Be? Five Lessons From the Florida Recount We Have A Lot Of New Polls But There’s Little Sign Of The Presidential Race Tightening → Antitrust hearing with Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai indefinitely postponed July 26, 2020 admin 0 Manchester’s Royal Exchange theatre says 65% of roles could be made redundant July 2, 2020 admin 0 GOP dread over possible Kobach nomination in Kansas August 2, 2020 admin 0 BuzzyPost.com Your source for US breaking news interesting stories, entertainment news, celebrities, gossips, and sport Check out the hottest fashion trends, latest photos, movies and TV shows! Copyright © 2020 BuzzyPost. All rights reserved. Designed by beON.qa . Powered by WordPress	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line569
__label__cc	0.609532	0.390468	CNSOPB NS15-1 Parcels Data & Environment Seismic interpretation, information on source rocks, play types and exploration history of the parcels. Well reports, seismic program maps, environment information and GIS files. Call for Bids procedures, terms and conditions of resulting licences, and forms associated with the Call. Bid submission format, process and deadline to submit bids. Opportunity for public input, specific to the areas included in the Call. Photo Credit: Encana Corporation Call for Bids NS16-1 Two industry-nominated and four Board-posted parcels. Three parcels located on the shallow water Scotian Shelf within the Sable Subbasin and close to existing infrastructure. Parcel 1 on the shelf includes the Eagle gas discovery with an estimated 1.3 trillion cubic feet (mean) of gas in place. Three parcels located on the Scotian Slope downdip from the Sable Delta in an area with proven gas charge in Cretaceous turbidite sands at the Annapolis G-24 well. The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) is the independent joint agency of the Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia responsible for the regulation of petroleum activities in the Nova Scotia Offshore Area. It was established in 1990 pursuant to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Accord Implementation Acts (Accord Acts). Refer to www.cnsopb.ns.ca for more information regarding Offshore Activity, Health & Safety, Environment, Canada-Nova Scotia Benefits, Lands Management, Geoscience and other reference materials. The Call for Bids Managing and administering offshore petroleum rights begins with rights issuance. Through an established Call for Bids process that is open and transparent, the CNSOPB issues exploration rights for approved parcels of Crown Reserve Lands in the form of Exploration Licences. A Call for Bids is a formal announcement by the CNSOPB that a licence is available to be awarded through a competitive bidding process. The land (parcel) in which the licence is available for bidding has been nominated by industry or posted by the Board. The making of a Call for Bids and the issuance of an Exploration Licence are "fundamental decisions" within the Accord Acts, and as such are subject to review by the Minister of Natural Resources for Canada and the Minister of Energy for Nova Scotia. At the close of the Call for Bids, if no bids are received on a particular parcel or parcels, those lands remain as Crown Reserve Lands. The CNSOPB has conducted a geological and geophysical assessment of the Parcels using all available data. To access this information, follow this link: NS16-1 Parcels. Seismic and well data for the parcels is available, free of charge, in digital format from the CNSOPB's Data Management Centre. Bids must be received by 4:00 p.m. Atlantic Time, October 27, 2016. The CNSOPB has provided an opportunity for public input, specific to the areas included in Call for Bids NS16-1, through the submission of written comments. Comments were due 4:00 p.m. Atlantic Time, July 4, 2016. Please refer to the written comments section here. Please refer to the Links page for a list of government links, including the Nova Scotia Department of Energy's Oil and Gas Exploration Economic Model (Scoping Tool).	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line575
__label__cc	0.694422	0.305578	Joy Presents Jaga Jazzist Monday 12 th April 2021 // 7:00 PM Jaga Jazzist return with new album "Pyramid", their debut release on Brainfeeder. Jaga Jazzist have crafted a suitably cosmic sound to match their new label home, all the while nodding to forebears spanning from 80s jazz band Out To Lunch and Norwegian synth guru Ståle Storløkken, to contemporaries Tame Impala, Todd Terje and Jon Hopkins.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line585
__label__cc	0.711871	0.288129	Solar Panels and Safeguards: Rising Tensions in the Global Trading System In January 2018, President Donald Trump announced steep tariffs on solar imports, at once plunging the US solar industry into uncertainty and deeply angering vital trade partners such as China, South Korea, and the European Union. The tariffs were in response to a complaint made by two bankrupt solar companies seeking protection against cheap solar imports. The companies invoked a rarely used provision of the 1974 United States Trade Act, Section 201 (safeguards), and argued that antidumping and countervailing duties imposed on China in 2012 had done little to stem the flow of solar products because Chinese producers had simply moved production to countries such as Malaysia and South Korea, where the duties did not apply. Five years after enduring a series of bruising trade battles, the global solar industry was once again in the eye of a rapidly escalating trade storm. Amid an unprecedented number of trade disputes at the WTO, the role of safeguards had suddenly taken center stage. Yet, the application of safeguards in the global trading system had been historically rife with problems. This case is designed to be taught in follow up to HKS Case 1992.0: Shaping the Future of Solar Power: Climate Change, Industrial Policy and Free Trade. The case traces the history of safeguards from the GATT to the WTO, against the backdrop of a global solar industry shaped as much by falling prices as geopolitical currents. Students follow the next chapter in the solar trade war saga to gain an in-depth understanding of the role of safeguards in trade agreements, while exploring how application of safeguards has been problematic. In unpacking the trade-offs associated with safeguards, students also gain a deeper understanding of factors such as trade diversion, fair vs. unfair trade, etc. Robert Z. Lawrence United States and China Upwardly Global: Building a Model for Assisting Immigrant Professionals $3.95 Add To Cart Oxfam America: Becoming a Global Campaigning Organization $3.95 Add To Cart ICANN: Experiment in Global Self-Governance $3.95 Add To Cart XPORT: A Public Sector Trading Company $3.95 Add To Cart XPORT: A Public Sector Trading Company (Epilogue) $2.45 Add To Cart	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line588
__label__cc	0.670432	0.329568	caucus99percent free-range politics, organic community Ocasio-Cortez de-listed from board of Justice Democrats after controversy Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 3:46pm Tootsie isn’t quite the brain trust people make her out to be. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., reportedly has been de-listed from the board of left-wing activist group Justice Democrats, following legal and ethical questions about her affiliation with the group. The Daily Caller reported that Ocasio-Cortez, along with chief of staff and former campaign chair Saikat Chakrabarti, have been removed from the board of the political action committee after previously holding “legal control over the entity" in late 2017 and early 2018 The Caller reports that Ocasio-Cortez and Chakrabarti took control of Justice Democrats in December 2017, until Ocasio-Cortez was removed from the board in June 2018 -- though she was kept on as an “entity governor” until last week. Both Ocasio-Cortez and Chakrabarti were only officially removed from the board on March 15, according to documents obtained by the outlet, almost eight months after attorneys had said she was removed. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj99LO2go_hAhWH... Ocasio-Cortez, chief of staff illegally moved $885G in campaign contributions 'off the books,' FEC complaint alleges New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Saikat Chakrabarti, the progressive firebrand's multimillionaire chief of staff, apparently violated campaign finance law by funneling nearly $1 million in contributions from political action committees Chakrabarti established to private companies that he also controlled, according to an explosive complaint filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and obtained by Fox News. The Daily Caller News Foundation's review of archived copies of the Justice Democrats PAC's website and relevant campaign documents indicated that Ocasio-Cortez and Chakrabarti "obtained majority control of Justice Democrats PAC in December 2017" -- and yet allegedly failed to disclose afterward to the FEC the fact that the PAC was supporting her candidacy. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ocasio-cortezs-millionaire-chief-of-sta... The Daily Caller reported that Ocasio-Cortez, along with chief of staff and former campaign chair Saikat Chakrabarti, have been removed from the board of the political action committee after previously holding “legal control over the entity" in late 2017 and early 2018. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ocasio-cortez-de-listed-from-board-of-j... This little tootsie is the PERFECT face for today’s Dims. caucus99percent blog Submitted by bobswern on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 5:23pm Maybe you could include... ...quotes from some other media outlets, aside from the Daily Caller and Fox News (both outlets have done little more than attack AOC from day one)? Here's the story from that well-known Progressive bastion (snark), Bloomberg News (via Yahoo!), for instance... Ocasio-Cortez’s Campaign Finance Has Critics Crying Hypocrisy Bill Allison (Bloomberg) -- Democratic firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rode into office railing against the influence of big money and hidden donors in U.S. elections. Yet the political operation that helped elect her to Congress was itself less than transparent -- exposing her to attacks from conservative foes. The New York congresswoman raised a hefty $2 million for her 2018 election while refusing to take money from business-related political action committees. Of that, 61 percent came from individuals giving less than $200 -- the highest rate of small-dollar funding among current U.S. House members. At the same time, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign committee and two PACs paid almost $900,000 to a consulting company for campaign services, providing few details on what the money was for or who ultimately received it. The unorthodox arrangement -- she sat on the board of one of the PACs, both of which were co-founded by the person who is now her chief-of-staff, who also ran the consulting company -- appears to have taken advantage of gaps in the law, including the low level of detail that campaigns and PACs are required to provide about their spending. The intricate ties and the lack of transparency have opened her to charges of hypocrisy and prompted complaints to the Federal Election Commission by conservative groups, though the allegations may amount to little more than paperwork violations. Ocasio-Cortez, in a tweet, called the complaints "bogus," and said "This is how the misinformation machine works, folks..." Did AOC game the system? Yeah, it looks like it. But, did she do anything illegal that "...may amount to little more than paperwork violations." (Contrary to the "reporting" from Fox News and The Daily Caller.) Probably not, per Bloomberg. Should her voters be disappointed, and expect behavior (much) better than this, going forward, from the, supposedly, "truly Progressive" wing of the Democratic Party? Hell, yes! If I lived in her congressional district, would I vote for her when she ran for a second term, if this is the worst thing she does in office during her first two years? Hell, yeah! "Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson Ah, so even though what I posted was TRUE @bobswern you’re going to complain about ‘sources’. Too bad I don’t care what you think about where the material comes from. I just go for the story. And I use everything and everybody. If it wasn’t for right wing sources like Fox and Judicial Watch The Clinton Creature might have been able to slip that Dossier on through as evidence of ‘collusion’. YOUR ‘sources’ have been lying their asses off for over 2 years. And if it wasn’t for the ‘sources’ you’re complaining about, we wouldn’t have known the truth about the illegal wiretaps and ‘unmasking’ before the election to who PAID for Steele’s handiwork. This woman is nothing but a joke. I passed up the story where she hired her boyfriend to work on her PAC. She thinks she knows what she’s doing and is ready to play poker with the big kids, but it’s obvious she dealing from a deck of all jokers. How about next time you post some actual INFORMATION in an OP I write instead of trying to deflect from what I posted with a hissy fit? I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa I'd respond to your comment... @Amanda Matthews ...but there's really no need to do that, given the content of it, to which I'm "responding," right now. Submitted by UntimelyRippd on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 5:55pm The entirety of your post, other than the snide jibe about "Tootsie" (????), was a pair of quotes taken directly from media sources. bobswern's response contained another quote taken directly from a different media source -- a quote that elaborated on the details of the story, beyond what was contained in your two quotes -- and a small bit of commentary by bobswern himself. since your response implies quite strongly -- unambiguously, i will assert preemptively, lest you claim "you never said ..." -- that bobswern's comment contained no "actual INFORMATION", i assume you will agree that your original post also contained no "actual INFORMATION". alternatively, of course, you could back off on your response to bobswern's comment, agree that it did in fact contain information, and possibly even agree that it was a useful addition to what you had originally posted. your indignation notwithstanding, he did not attack you for using those two sources, he only suggested that adding in one or two with a different editorial perspective might be valuable. i happen to agree, to the extent that i care very much at all. The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere. The Nazis killed millions of Jews. On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon. AGCC is happening. If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions. Well then,would you also like me to let @UntimelyRippd you read it for approval first? Those stories were in my newsfeed that I get and I posted them. I used what I was reading. And no, he provided nothing new. Just info what I posted in the first place and they made some excuses for her. They always do. Like when it was discovered she didn’t really live in the area she was running in. Or her ‘meagre beginnings’. There are women who were elected that deserve attention. This one is just sucking all the air out of the room. if i thought you gave a flying fuck about what i (or anybody else around here) would like, i might bother to take issue with your bogus characterization of what i might like. be as rude, snippy, ill-tempered, and irrationally defensive (all of which i think are fair characterizations of your response to bobswern here) as it pleases you to be. eventually i imagine that you will get what you presumably want, which is for your opinions and postings to go unchallenged by anybody, ever. have fun with that. #1.1.2 Submitted by WaterLily on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 5:55pm The worst thing she does ... @bobswern In my personal and professional experience, actions like these tend to betray an overall lack of integrity. And those who look the other way ultimately end up encouraging--if not outright rewarding--more of the same. People with integrity don't "game the system." They don't intentionally engage in what "may" or may not amount to "nothing more than paper violations." I guess it's okay, though, when the person engaged in such behavior is somehow viewed as being "on your side" or "on the right team." Me, I don't see how "expecting more" of such people, yet being willing to vote for them regardless, holds them accountable for anything. And the dysfunctional political beat goes on. You said it! I always have to laugh when @WaterLily people start making excuses why some people are filthy swine for gaming the system, but there’s ALWAYS excuses for someone they support. #1 In my personal and professional experience, actions like these tend to betray an overall lack of integrity. And those who look the other way ultimately end up encouraging--if not outright rewarding--more of the same. First and foremost... ...I don't want to assume you're familiar with what it takes to run against someone like Queens Dem Party honcho Joe Crowley--never mind run to win--but it's not pretty. By definition, U.S. big city politics isn't for the faint of heart. Generally speaking, it's an ugly business for ALL involved. (And, for that matter, in most closely-contested campaigns in major U.S. cities, it's even uglier.) But, no, it's DEFINITELY NOT "okay...when the person engaged in such behavior is somehow viewed as being 'on your side' or 'on the right team.'" And, I never said it was. (It's rather insulting to project that others in this blogging community even think at that superficial of a level.) Please do NOT put words in my mouth nor thoughts in my head that do NOT exist. Thankyouverymuch. Submitted by WaterLily on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 7:19am What does one have to to with the other? @bobswern Did AOC win a huge upset against Crowley? Yes. Does that have anything to do with the topic of this essay, or the point I made about her integrity? No. Submitted by bobswern on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 2:54pm @WaterLily @WaterLily Actually, it has everything to do with the topic of this essay. In the U.S., most/many highly competitive, big city elections aren't for the "faint of heart," as I've already noted in this thread. I'd say (based upon personal experiece), realistically, perhaps only 10%-15% of the dirty tricks, "shortcuts," circumvention/gaming of legal guidelines, and questionable behavior of major players (i.e.: candidates and their closest confidantes), in general, actually even makes its way into the media/public space. The balance of the--for lack of a better word--poor behavior that transpires in any particular, closely-contested, big city poliitical race is rarely ever mentioned, at all. (Even within a given campaign staff, there might only be one, two or three people that are even aware of the "the nasty sht" that's going down. And, quite often, the candidate is kept out of the loop to maintain "plausible deniability." THAT, is the inconvenient truth of the political campaign business in America, now; and it has been that way for a very, very long time.) It's a very, very ugly business "at the top." And, it's getting uglier with every passing year, it seems! Just look at matters like: Citizens United, absurdly weak campaign finance laws, lackadaisical regulation of lobbying/lobbyists' efforts, members of congress being legally enabled to participate in insider stock trading, etc., etc. (The "list" of ways to play the system is boundless, with new scams created virtually every damn day!) And, that's just what's "legal," and "what the public knows." Is the public so naive as to think that what are now considered commonplace "bad behaviors" within our country's politic sphere represent the entirety of our politicians' bad behaviors and misdeeds? (This basic fact of U.S. political life applies to those in office as well as those seeking it; and, those even considering seeking elected office.) The goal of most/many U.S. pols is to build greater power/influence and personal wealth as they serve. It's baked into the crony capitalist system! Most of the political ugliness of which the general public becomes aware, nowadays, belies the greater dastardly deeds that still happen behind the scenes. "You can take THAT to the bank!" #1.2.2 Did AOC win a huge upset against Crowley? Yes. Submitted by arendt on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 3:33pm Ok. I read what you wrote I still dont get the point you are making re AOC. Are you saying she had to cheat to win? That she had no idea what her staff was doing? That she won without cheating? What exactly is your point? #1.2.2.1 #1.2.2.1 First of all, saying she had "to cheat to win"... @arendt ...would appear to be inaccurate. Then again, maybe not. (This has to play out for a bit for the public to get a clearer picture.) Did she exploit a loophole in the law to obtain some degree of equal financial footing agsinst Crowley in her primary campaign? It would appear so. #1.2.2.1.1 Submitted by arendt on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 10:12pm IMHO, she is a neophyte. She is at the mercy of her handlers. One of them just thought it was "business as usual" and pulled some usual, sleazy stuff. Now that AOC is under a microscope, this Chakrabarti guy got caught - and AOC is taking the heat for it. Your reply surprised me, because I thought your earlier post was saying that politics is so dirty that no one can remain clean. Your opinion seems to be that someone is going to take a hit for this. I think it will be entertaining to see who that person will be. #1.2.2.1.1.1 Submitted by bobswern on Thu, 03/21/2019 - 8:32am Well, what I stated earlier... ...certainly does allude/imply that (in many instances, especially in larger cities) "...politics is so dirty that no one can remain clean..." Long story short: That reality, and what I posted, just up above, certainly, are not mutually exclusive. #1.2.2.1.1.1.1 Submitted by Wally on Thu, 03/21/2019 - 8:45am Just because some right wingers filed a complaint . . . doesn't mean that anybody will really be facing any legal ramifications. I'd guess that the majority of such complaints don't even get adjudicated. But of course there's a big bruhaha because the point is to throw mud at AOC while big GOP donors bundle big cash contributions every which way and get away with it. #1.2.2.1.1.1.1.1 Political mudslinging 101... @Wally ...it's how things roll in our country, these days. Then again, if both major parties didn't do it, that would mean Fox and CNN (and MSNBC, etc., etc.) would actually have to report on other subjects, like feudalistic income inequality, racism, climate change, etc., etc. Then where would we be? #1.2.2.1.1.1.1.1.1 Submitted by Wally on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 5:05pm Tootsie? Really? This is parody, no? Submitted by dance you monster on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 5:25pm Part of the Never-a-Dem voting (or non-voting) bloc . . . . . . around here customarily disparages any Dem, but especially any who is perceived by others as more lefty than usual. This bloc regards all such as sheepdogs for a system that is broken and needs to be replaced altogether. Any mention by this bloc of such leftier-than-usual Dem politicians very frequently includes the creation of snide nicknames. Kinda pointless and . . . well, I'll leave it at that . . . but folks here are nursing a lot of wounds from the American political system, so there's that. In real life one can spit when a person's name is raised; on the Intertoobz it's drier and meaner. Wisely stated, DYM! Good on you! n/t @dance you monster Maybe a broken clock? @dance you monster Daily News, Daily Blues from the Daily Caller: https://dailycaller.com/2019/03/18/russia-misinformation-putin/ Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 6:04pm Not sure what your point is on pointing to this article as Amanda stated the websites that people think are reliable have been pushing the fake Russian propaganda nonsense for two years straight. MSDNC is one of the worst with Rachel breathlessly reporting outright lies. Many of us here have started using sites like Fox, the daily caller and many others because they are the ones reporting what we believe to be the truth. #2.1 Daily News, Daily Blues from the Daily Caller: “Restoring the soul of this nation” is just MAGA with more words Twitter is like a game of telephone So you agree with Putin's new legislation? @snoopydawg I agree with you, I think, about the excesses of NATO, the ridiculousness of blaming Russia for Hillary's loss, etc etc etc.. I'm not going to ignore, though, that Trump is getting more and more like Putin and vice versa in terms of impeding democracy. Why would I have to agree with Putin's legislation or any other country's leader? This doesn't affect me at all and it's just more Putin bashing while countries like Saudi Arabia do much worse things to their citizens that the media neglects to talk about. Do you know how many journalists MBS and his predecessors have locked up or killed? Not many people do because our media doesn't cover it. The Saudis continue to flog people for stepping out of the line the leaders create. This country has been trying to extradite Julian Assange for many years and when they got Chelsea in front of the grand jury to help them make their case and she refused to play along they threw her back in prison. So no I have nothing to say about what actions Vlad takes. I'd say that Trump is getting more like the dictators that we prop up. Vlad is trying to do something about poverty in his country. Donald is trying to make ours worse. #2.1.2.1 I agree with you, I think, about the excesses of NATO, the ridiculousness of blaming Russia for Hillary's loss, etc etc etc.. Why bring up the Saudis then? @snoopydawg @snoopydawg What the Saudis do doesn't affect you if you stick to your line of reasoning. What exactly has Putin done to bring up income levels in his country? Success? Why bring it up if it doesn't affect you? It seems we agree about the Kagens. They scare the bejebuss out of me. It seems you've done a considerable amount of research into them. I would love if it you put together an essay about them. Finally, it comes to a point where I wish you'd consider that there's always blowback. I'm wondering if such a hard line on AOC and oh, let's say the 15 other people who signed the letter opposing military intervention in Venezuela including Omar (I know the letter had drawbacks) might be pushing folks away from the Greens or another possible third party if Bernie doesn't pull it off. And then we'll be stuck with Biden-Abrams and war galore. And the Kagens will still be with us. Submitted by lizzyh7 on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 12:46pm Ah yes, Pussy Riot. @Wally You might want to check out The Saker to read the actual details of that whole thing. It was the Russian Orthodox church who filed charges against PR, not the evil Putin on his own. While I'm sure there's more than enough to question the church actions, in a rather conservative country that is now legally able to practice religion should the Russian government have simply ignored their charges because it was a church making them? I wish I had a link on that as I'm sure that will be the next accusation for me even bringing this up but I do not at this time have a link. Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur Submitted by MrWebster on Thu, 03/21/2019 - 2:25pm Russian law moves closer to EU laws @Wally EU countries have a number of laws where people can be put into prison over speech. These are acts of speech which would be allowed and protected by the US 1st Amendment. Seems what is different in the Russian case is that it protects government officials from criticism. But I would say that what Russians have done is not alignment with Trump, but more with the French and Germans in terms of criminalizing certain speech. (Isn't New Zealand trying to prosecute citizens who show pictures of the mosque mass killing?) In a oblique way, I would say what the Russians did with their new law is more closer to what Obama did when he prosecuted whistle blowers. Whistle blowing is an act of critiquing the corruption within government. While Putin might be protecting certain individuals, what Obama did was jail critics of entire government institutions. In either case, hands off government. Submitted by Shahryar on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 11:38pm Yes, CNN and MSNBC @snoopydawg Are sad pathetic DNC outlets and should be called out. And there are plenty of others that are also Dem propaganda sites. But don't forget that the Repub counterparts are just as vile. If fox reports something I'm confident there's a lie there even if it's just the angle they're pushing. Just like CNN or whatever. Don't you think that after what happened during the last primar that people have a right to be distrustful about this voting stuff? From people being kicked off the voting rolls and having their party affiliations changed to not counting the California votes to the Nevada caucuses to Bernie now blaming Russia for Trump's win to...all the ways the GOP makes it harder for people to vote and the democrats not giving two shts about it. Yeah I'd say that there is good reason to not voting. I'll throw in what happened in Utah. We voted for medical marijuana and the legislature totally rewrote what we voted for with help from the Mormon church. We voted to expand Medicaid to everyone who can't afford to buy insurance and the legislature totally rewrote it with help from the Mormon church. It's so f'cked up now that if the Trump administration doesn't allow what was written then Utah will not expand it for anyone. This is just two examples of what happened here. So why should I vote in a system that is rigged against anyone changing it? The DNC has admitted that they do not have to follow their own bylaws and they can choose whomever they want to be the candidate. So let's say that Bernie or Tulsi wins this primary. No one thinks that there is a good chance that they won't be nominated at the convention? Sure would be interesting if they just decide to put Killary in don't you think? I'm not the only one who is thinking that this is their plan. Then there's that saying: if voting changed anything it'd be illegal. I am not discouraging anyone not to vote. I personally just don't see the point. Especially in Utah where I know my state will go to the republican. Oh, good grief. I thought I had walked that delicate line here, acknowledging that there are different camps here -- pro-voting, anti-voting, pro-Dem, anti-Dem -- in a response to Wally, who's clearly not in your camp exactly. So you insist on my thought about this? Fine, I don't care whether someone votes or not. I do hope that no one will vote for Trump, but that's about the highest my bar goes. I personally will probably vote in some races, maybe not the big ones, maybe not the Dem, maybe something wholly ridiculous, just because I don't like the thought of giving up any weapon (and voting is a weapon, albeit seldom a significant one) in the battles of life. Do others have legitimate motives to choose what they choose? Decidedly so. I have stated many times here that I think we all need to be doing things outside the explicitly political theater of elections. That does not mean one can't also vote. The one big thing that does bother me? Disparaging the choices of others here. It's their choices. It's Big Al's choice to do what he chooses, yours to do what you choose, Wally's to do what Wally chooses, and Amanda's to do what she chooses. We all, if we are doing anything at all, are pushing a pawn forward on the board, hoping that no one is going to swoop down on it with a knight we didn't see. That act of pushing the pawn, that courage, in whatever form it takes, I applaud. And I hate it when someone else goes after them for it, especially with shaming, or with mischaracterizing another's motives, and that holds true toward those who choose to withhold votes, too. The little thing that bothers me here? The impulse, let's call it, to demean with trite nicknames. I don't think I really need to explain why that is uncomfortable. We're adults. Wally pushed his pawn forward on that little point (because it's symptomatic of a larger one), and I responded to let him know his action, his courage, was worth a reasonable response. I didn't think I was attacking anyone's decisions, but just providing a context for one. Don't assume my comments are more than they say. I didn't mean for it to look like I was doing this So you insist on my thought about this? I apologize that it looks like I was. I too was just adding a context for why I no longer vote. Submitted by SnappleBC on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 6:43pm I wish people didn't need to be so black and white about it. For me personally, I believe the Democratic party is too corrupt to save. But I wish the absolute best for those trying to save it because if they win I win. In point of fact, I think those trying to reform from within form a nice synergy with those of us who prefer a new party. I think of myself as helping to provide the pressure that puts the bullets in the gun of reformers. I'm also the "vote to be won" in the event they manage reform... at least reform in my awful congressional district. Insofar as AOC being a sheepdog, that's what Beto is in my mind. Beto fits that mold flawlessly. If someone has managed that with AOC too then I'm impressed as hell because it's a MUCH better cover story than either Obama or Beto. In the end, I don't really trust any politicians. So just like with Bernie, AOC needs to be watched carefully and where she makes mistakes, that needs to be dealt with. If she is actively working for the neolibs, that'll come out at some point because it has to. If her cover is so fucking good that it NEVER gets broken then hey, she fought on my side anyway laughs. A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers. -- lotlizard Submitted by Mark from Queens on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 5:50pm "Fox News Debuts Premium Channel For 24-Hour Coverage Of AOC" Murdoch's on it: “For an extra $8.99 per month, you’ll have an all-access pass to the AOC Zone, which features wall-to-wall coverage of every word Ocasio-Cortez utters, as well as in-depth analysis of her wardrobe and any videos we’re able to dig up from her college days,” said Fox spokesperson Avery Mattison, adding that the new channel will include uninterrupted live footage of the 29-year-old representative every time she appears in public, along with nonstop commentary from a 12-person panel of experts. “We know our viewers will come to depend on this outlet for 24-hour coverage of AOC, which is why her tweets, Instagram posts, and her latest wacky policy proposals will appear in a ticker at the bottom of the screen. We’re particularly excited for the premiere of the channel’s flagship program, AOC Tonight With Tucker Carlson.” Minutes after AOC Zone began broadcasting, sources confirmed its ratings had already surpassed those of Fox News. Ocasio-Cortez leaves parade in 17 mpg minivan — blocks from the subway https://t.co/ICLxblA6Ps pic.twitter.com/7YeXyqgUhk — New York Post (@nypost) March 3, 2019 I need to admit something to you all. Frankly, I don’t know how my environmental reputation can recover. I wrote in a book... made out of PAPER. Apparently using present technology means I can’t fight for new jobs, investing in infrastructure, & renewable energy. pic.twitter.com/LbV3hkIlfn — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 4, 2019 I also fly & use A/C Living in the world as it is isn’t an argument against working towards a better future. The Green New Deal is about putting a LOT of people to work in developing new technologies, building new infrastructure, and getting us to 100% renewable energy. https://t.co/DZGE1WwLbn "If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC" Awesome comment! Thank you! @Mark from Queens Murdoch's freakin' out of bounds. Now, something like that should be paid for by a PAC, not a "news station." Submitted by arendt on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 9:34am This is completely consistent with my take on AOC TPTB are trying to set her up as THE "socialist" spokesperson. And what makes people support someone? That your enemies are attacking that someone. Bill Clinton ran this con for 8 years, with the GOP attacks on his (actually vile) personal life giving him cover to repeal welfare, cut corporate regulation, increase prison populations, etc. After the last few years of increasing climate disasters, it has become impossible to continue the "nothing's happening" corporate party line. After ignoring a managable problem for 25 years, it has now become an unmanagable problem. That's the kind of problem that spells a lot of profit for corporations, even if they fail. So, people are "woke" about climate change. And corps realize they have to do something, because all the hurricane, drought, flood damage is starting to impact the bottom line. So, presto, here is this overnight corporate media star claiming to be for the environment. And she instantly gets attacked by the rightwing. So, we should all rally round whatever proposal she makes, and not look into the details - which happen to be extremely corporate friendly. Rupert Murdoch is merely playing a predicatable role in this Kabuki theater. Keep the focus on AOC while the details of yet another fake left screwing are ignored. Submitted by Battle of Blair... on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 11:16pm Are they? @arendt @arendt extremely corporate friendly? Cuz I keep hearing that claim but I cant find any evidence of it. I find that the GND is vague on specifics. It is more a guideline than a detailed plan. Submitted by Nastarana on Thu, 03/21/2019 - 9:37am Her wardrobe?? @Mark from Queens For what it might be worth, I think the attire the Congresswoman wears in public is almost exemplary for a professional woman, chic, appropriate and well made. I suspect she uses a dressmaker (or several). If the Murdoch Press is coming after her, that tells me she is doing something right. As for the action taken by Justice Democrats, Hmm. I would like to know a bit more about just who that org is and, especially, who finances it? I don't doubt Amanda's reporting, but the accusations seem rather mild compared to the usual standard in NY politics. Nastarana Submitted by smiley7 on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 7:12pm Heads-up, both links go to the same place. Submitted by wendy davis on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 7:48am and may i offer a hearty 'LOL'? first i'd seen of this finagling was at RT by way of some folks on twitter in whose districts aoc is their congresswoman. and yeah, they ride her hard, including the fact that she took her bows as having 'defeated amazon' cuz she'd done a selfie with herself chalking No Amazon on the sidewalk, while the truth was it was a massive group effort that seemed to have done the trick. on edit: i'd forgotten that she then stepped on her Big Brand again...and bought $40k worth of supplies for her congressional office from...wait for it: Amazon! given that it's time for me to make some dinner, i hope you'll forgive me for dropping the links and leaving, at least for now. ‘AOC’s top aide accused of ‘stashing’ $900k in campaign contributions,’ RTcom, March 5, 2019 but then she fooled ryan grim, who writes for the intercept, not HuffPo, now. ; ) ‘AOC’s chief of staff ran $1M slush fund by diverting campaign cash to his own companies’, by Alana Goodman, washington examiner, March 04, 2019 key outtake to me: "Chakrabarti's companies appear to have been set up for the sole purpose of obscuring how the political donations were used." yeah, the reporting requirements a bit over $5 grand ain't that bigga deal, but the other stuff is. still, i dunno why the justice dems are de-listing ocasio, as i'd assumed they were okay with it. on edit: (i'd seen her open secrets page on twitter) but sure, we'll see if the complaints to the FEC grow any legs. but for me, she's been by way of a manufactured con all along (including her GND), so yeppers: i'm biased as all giddy-up. Is this a pet peeve diary? i have one. If you wish to post opinion, please do and say so. If you wish to post news: verify the sources of the information best you can. i thank you for letting me share my pet peeve. Submitted by arendt on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 7:41pm I really am conflicted here. Y'all know that I think AOC is a fake. But I also value the peacefulness of c99p. Unfortunately, AOC is possibly THE most polarizing topic on this board. Before I weigh in on the particular topic of disucssion, does anyone else feel that simply escalating the insults is NOT the way to go here? Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 8:49pm Hand raised. "We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us." E.M.Foster The difficulty here is not about polarized opinion, much less about AOC. Submitted by arendt on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 10:33pm Please elaborate. I'm not following this that closely. Is this some interpersonal thing? Honestly, I don't know what you are referring to. Submitted by janis b on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 12:02am Do you think ego has anything to do with it ... Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 1:46pm How would ‘ego’ have anything to do with it? @janis b It’s about someone disapproving the ‘sourse’ I used. Submitted by dervish on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 5:37am What harm does one congressional voice really do? @arendt She's one out of 435 for crying out loud. If people want to complain about someone, complain about Louie Gohmert or Jim Jordan. "Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it." You make it sound like corporate media is "one man one vote" @dervish One man with a gun can control 100 without one. AOC is not merely 1 out of 435. Count up the national airtime she gets. She probably is getting more coverage than 75% of Congress. How much coverage (on a daily, ongoing basis) do Gohmert and Jordan get. Almost zilch. OTOH, AOC has a media machine gun. #7 She's one out of 435 for crying out loud. Submitted by dervish on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 2:46pm That just tells me that the rest @arendt @arendt are slackers. Corporate media attention means nothing these days, the impact is largely limited to nursing homes. AOC's real gravitas is on the internet and social media, and she's tearing it up because few others are willing or able. Submitted by arendt on Thu, 03/21/2019 - 2:38pm I will save that quote for later Corporate media attention means nothing these days, Because I guarantee you that you will quote the corporate media praising her at some point in the future. But I have to give you points for orignality. After months of people (not you, AFAICR) telling me how important it is that AOC has "broken through" into the mainstream, you cover the other side by telling me how that isn't really important. Will you tell all the people praising AOC's media (TV, print media) skills the same thing? #7.3.1 #7.3.1 are slackers. Submitted by dkmich on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 8:30pm It's must be a shitty day. "Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon Submitted by Centaurea on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 10:34pm For some people @dkmich every day is a shitty day. Everything is always about them, everything is a personal attack, to which they respond with sword drawn and swinging. It's almost impossible to engage in a discussion with such people. Generally speaking, I try to avoid it. "Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep." ~Rumi "If you want revolution, be it." ~Caitlin Johnstone Thanks for the intermission @dkmich I will use any source I feel like using if what they say is true. And that includes Fox and any other media outlet that I find. That’s ALL anyone here should be concerned with. I will be concerned with whatever gives me concern, @Amanda Matthews @Amanda Matthews regardless of your dictates. Ah, finally it becomes clear. This is a fight about sourcing. OK. You two duke it out. I pointed that out in the first place. It’s about ‘Sources’. AOC is a fraud and the only thing she’s accomplishing is making the biggest problem facing us today, climate change, impossible to deal with. She thinks you can roll climate change and economics in a big ball and start handing out money left and right and problem solved. That’s NOT how it works and anyone who listens to her knows she hasn’t clue one. Combining these issues with reparations and a guaranteed living wage for everyone, including people who ‘don’t want to work’ (that was another thing she’s lied about saying) makes makes any progress on battling climate change IMPOSSIBLE. And the issue is just going to get worse: China No Longer Wants Your Trash. Here's Why That's Potentially Disastrous. On Jan. 1, China made good on its promise to close its borders to several types of imported waste. By the next day, panic had already taken hold in countries across Europe and North America as trash began piling up by the ton, with no one having a clue where to now dispose of it all. Mere weeks after the ban took effect, waste management facilities in several countries, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Germany, are groaning under the weight of trash that no one seems to know what to do with. There’s “a mad scramble for alternative destinations or solutions” for all the waste that’s piling up, said Von Hernandez, global coordinator for the nonprofit Break Free From Plastic, speaking to HuffPost from the Philippines on Wednesday. The U.S. currently exports about one-third of all its recycling, and almost 50 percent of that has been going to China, according to NPR. In 2016, China imported a total of 45 million tons (or about $18 billion worth) of scrap metal, waste paper and plastic from countries across the globe. https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5a684285e4b0dc59... Whales keep eating plastic and dying. This one’s stomach had 88 pounds of calcifying trash. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiWsPmQ8Y_hAhVM... Economic justice is one thing we desperately need but climate change is destroying life on Earth. When the planet is gone a ‘guaranteed living wage’ won’t matter. There have been five mass extinctions in Earth’s history. Now we’re facing a sixth. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/02/11/there-have-been-f... And as for AOC doing a Clinton and laundering PAC money, what’s funny about that is when Clinton did it everyone wanted her head. If this wretch does it, it’s only a little ‘paper mistake’. Years before most people on TOP got wise to Obama I got silenced because I came out and said he was a fraud. That was during the time period when he had doctors and nurses arrested for trying to speak at the hearing. He was an obvious fraud, and so is AOC. She’s already kissed Pelosi’s ring, which was a betrayal of the people who put her in office. But she has also said she’ll help primary other Dims who don’t toe her ‘line’. She might be in for a big surprise herself. P.S. While she’s got everyone’s eyes on her antics the Orange Menace is packing the courts. ALL our Dim reps are letting it happen. And people wonder why others have become ‘never Dem’. Submitted by dkmich on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 8:07am My 2 cents for little it is worth. I think you took Bob's comment as a personal affront when you shouldn't have. He even prefaced it with a little joke about how his source wasn't that far from your source. Of course you can use whatever sources you want. Of course, he can added to them or whatever reason including to round them out. It wasn't a criticism, a complaint, or a command. It was simply another opinion. You and Bob are both highly valued members of this group. We want to hear from both of you. Submitted by Snode on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 9:19am I agree with this @dkmich Maybe it's getting flogged over at TOP that sets us up to hear things too loud. It's tough, people work hard to work up things to post and put yourself out there. It takes passion and passion is a pretty strong thing. Submitted by Tall Bald and Ugly on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 10:07pm And yet some people still gotta wonder Why I Smoke so much (good)Pot. put smiley face Blazin’here. Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . . Explain Bldg #7. . . Submitted by dystopian on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 10:48pm @Tall Bald and Ugly can you pass the popcorn please bro... Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. both - Albert Einstein Submitted by bobswern on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 10:21pm Now yer talkin'.... Submitted by The Aspie Corner on Tue, 03/19/2019 - 10:45pm They're all working to reanimate the corpse of capitalism. Idiots, all of them. Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs. Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital. While procrastinating to organise myself for four days away I end up here, oy. Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 12:50am She's become an embarrassment. Good on the Justice Dems for creating some distance. The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box? Submitted by Shahryar on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 1:34am Justice Democrats so upset with her.. https://www.justicedemocrats.com/home That they feature her all over their website and facebook page. Submitted by Battle of Blair... on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 3:15am So the insects are dying off The bees are dying off. The amphibians are dying off. The fish are dying off. and you guys are arguing about whether corporate controlled media organization A is more trusthworthy than corporate controlled media organization B? Last I checked AOC was the driving force behind the Green New Deal which, while totallly nothing more at the moment than a skeleton, is at least SOMETHING. Nobody else is doing ANYTHING. So who the FUCK cares about her paper work. I don't give a shit if her chief of staff emblezzled the fucking money. I DON"T FUCKING CARE. If she's the ONLY person that even fucking MIGHT try to save the planet, she can go on a fucking killing spree and I'll cheer her on. The Fuck with you people? Honest question @Battle of Blair Mountain How, in any realistic way, can AOC single-handedly save the planet as a junior senator? IMO, we have to stop hoping politicians will save us. It's not gonna happen, and we ain't got time for this shit. Submitted by Wally on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 7:46am Who's suggesting she can do it single-handedly? @WaterLily She came about because of a mass movement that constitutes the closest thing we've had to a critical mass in my lifetime. Good luck with whatever critical mass you want to organize as an alternative before those 12 years wind down and that clock moves up two minutes. Don't follow leaders. watch the parking meters: #16 How, in any realistic way, can AOC single-handedly save the planet as a junior senator? She is. Ok, maybe not. But I too am tired of people idolizing their candidates and buying whatever song and dance happens to make them happy. Besides, the dispute in the middle of this had nothing to do with AOC. Yet, here people go making everything about her and/or them whether it is or not. I think I'm going to change my signature line to "if the shoe doesn't fit, don't fucking wear it". #16.1 She came about because of a mass movement that constitutes the closest thing we've had to a critical mass in my lifetime. Good luck with whatever critical mass you want to organize as an alternative before those 12 years wind down and that clock moves up two minutes. Submitted by Centaurea on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 9:57pm @Wally I know I'm late with this comment, but I wanted to say that this is an excellent point. You've put into words what I've been thinking about AOC, as well as Bernie Sanders. She came about because of a mass movement that constitutes the closest thing we've had to a critical mass in my lifetime. For the umpteenth time... @Battle of Blair Mountain Corporations are the force behind the corporate friendly (public private partnerships with dictatorial authority) fake GND. AOC isn't "doing something". The 24/7 corporate media coverage of her is doing something. It is trying to hijack genuine environmentalism and replace it with corporate environmentalism. Is the corporate media giving 24/7 coverage to LEFT wing opposition to her ideas? Giving 24/7 coverage to the Green Party, the people who created the GND ten years ago? No. Only giving coverage to RIGHT wing opposition to "socialism". And, if the rightwing opposes her, she must be a "socialist". Right. Sure. Would you like to buy the Bill Clinton "I feel your pain." Bridge? How about the Obama "Hope and Change" Bridge? I hear they're both in AOC's district in Brooklyn. You can also visit the site where they dynamited the Bernie Sanders Bridge into the river because it was letting the wrong kind of people into Manhattan. How many times do people have to get played by the corporate media before they wake up? They are still hating on Bernie. They won't give the Green Party any airtime at all. But, somehow, this neophyte gets blanket coverage for her half-baked version of the GND. Gee, what is that smell? You're forgetting the Biden-Abrams IdPol Brdge @arendt Coz that's the one we're gonna have shoved down our throatsif Bernie and Our Revolution can't pull it off. And how's that gonna pan out for Russia and China? AOC, if anything, is the MSM's attempt to divert folks' attention away from the critical mass supportive of Bernie. If she doesn't support Bernie when the critical historical juncture arrives, a coupla months before the NYS primary, I'll be done with her, not before then. Submitted by arendt on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 10:04am Thanks for extending the bridge analogy Its just too good to pass up, with her district being in Brooklyn. If I believed in elections doing anything anymore, I would support Bernie. He is the only genuine class-oriented person in a sea of IdPol divisiveness. I understand you hope that AOC is the real deal. I assume the "Abrams" is Stacey, the Georgia IdPol politician. I really think that the Biden balloon will pop instantly. Cockburn has a great recital of his disgusting, racist career. The nerve of the man to pose as a friend to all the folks he screwed. #16.2 Coz that's the one we're gonna have shoved down our throatsif Bernie and Our Revolution can't pull it off. Submitted by Wally on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 10:13am Watch the poll numbers @arendt @arendt We'll see ol' chum. I'm seeing a lot of hacks inching towards the exits on their sinking ships. #16.2.1 Submitted by WaterLily on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 10:32am It may be me, but ... @Wally I believe that's all part of the plan. Flood the primary with dozens of Dems and their uncle's dogs, 99.9 percent of whom don't stand a chance of winning, to create an illusion of "choice." Not that we had a "choice" in 2016, but the "strategists" (talk about hacks) have to at least pretend to care about assuaging the anger over what happened last time. Eventually, the hacks you refer to will lose momentum and/or drop out, leaving us with ... whomever the DNC wants us to be left with. Smarter people than I have commented on how the convention might play out. It won't be in our, or the climate's, favor. #16.2.1.1 #16.2.1.1 Of course it's part of their plan I will do whatever I can to upset their plan. And the best way to do that at this historical juncture is to align myself with the critical mass supportive of Bernie, not malign it. Coz unless Bernie and Our Revolution upsets their applecart, it's gonna be Biden-Abrams or good lord knows even Oprah. Wouldn't that take the cake? It's sure as hell not gonna be some white guy from Virginia like it was with Her. In any event absent a Bernie miracle, bye-bye Trump, hello Kagens, and so much for Russia counterbalancing US political and economy hegemony. #16.2.1.1.1 I believe that's all part of the plan. You get it. @Wally @Wally stop denigrating the forces for change. Even if the faces of those forces aren't unicorns. AOC may be a wagging dog. I still need more than claims, however, that the GND is corporate friendly. Quote sections from the written draft or shut up. That last part not directed at you Wally. #16.2.1.1.1.1 Submitted by Centaurea on Thu, 03/21/2019 - 12:14am That's it, exactly. stop denigrating the forces for change. Even if the faces of those forces aren't unicorns. That's it, exactly. I don't care what the forces of change are calling themselves. Democrat, Independent, Green, or Martian. (For the record, I've always considered myself an Independent.) Think about Bernie Sanders' modus operandi. Bernie has always been marginalized, an outsider who's operated within the system to get things done. The analogy I keep coming up with us, it's like being a "secret agent" operating behind enemy lines. I think that's the context in which he conducted the 2016 campaign, as well as what's he done during the past 3 years. Am I personally happy with all of Bernie's decisions and actions? No. Would I prefer that we have an actual democracy with multiple parties that actually work for the people? You bet. But a movement crystallized around Bernie. Not just a movement of people, but of energy, the force of change and evolution. That's what I am supporting, no matter what label people think they need to give to it. #16.2.1.1.1.1.1 #16.2.1.1.1.1.1 stop denigrating the forces for change. Even if the faces of those forces aren't unicorns. You make assumptions and advocate "lesser evilism" You keep automatically assumming this corporate created persona is a genuine "force for (socialist) change". I keep putting facts in front of people that question that narrative. But true believers never stop falling for the savior of the week. After all the stuff she has pulled, from praising McCain to bashing the New Deal, the worst you have to say about her is she's "not a unicorn"? That, sir, is lesser evilism. Submitted by wendy davis on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 4:34pm how about another candidate? a café denizen just sent me this, and i love it: 'Mike Gravel is going to make the 2020 primary rock; Finally, an 88-year-old presidential candidate that can out-insult Trump on Twitter, cockburn, the spectator; some outtakes: "Gravel’s announcement was an unorthodox one: he created a Twitter account late last night, alerting everyone to his intentions and linking to his website, which at that point was not live. ‘I am considering running in the 2020 Democratic primary,’ he tweeted. ‘The goal will not be to win, but to bring a critique of American imperialism to the Democratic debate stage. The website (http://mikegravel.org) is under construction. Official announcement will be in the coming days." "Another tweet reads: ‘.@CoryBooker melodramatically declared releasing inconsequential files on Brett Kavanaugh his “Spartacus moment.” This is me, in 1971, reading the Pentagon Papers into the record for hours on end, risking expulsion from the Senate. That’s real courage, Cory.’" "What about the front-runners, you ask? ‘i sure do hope the faucets at @JoeBiden’s house are strong, with the amount of Iraqi blood on his hands #Gravel2020 #GravelGang’." "While Gravel says he has no chance of winning and simply wants to get to the debates, he also seems eager to borrow some of Andrew Yang’s meme magic. ‘Hmm…#GravelGang. I like the sound of that,’ he tweeted at 1 a.m." yes, often candidates are clear that they run not to win, but order to make their marks on the issues; i hope he runs. iirc, he's the only candidate i ever gave money to. ; ) One good thing about Mike Gravel is @wendy davis next to him, Bernie Sanders looks like a spring chicken. Submitted by wendy davis on Thu, 03/21/2019 - 8:26am gosh, i think he @Centaurea looks younger than the bern, myself. but then, as he says, he ain't in it to win, just widen the window of political discussion to include extreme anti-imperialism, direct democracy, end the war on drugs, and so on. i may tick up a post about it soon. #16.2.1.1.1.1.2 Submitted by wendy davis on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 10:25am Interesting what happens when you take out the prettifying language: "Providing ... capital ... through ... public financing ... to ... businesses." pic.twitter.com/HaaMpa8q9H — Club des Cordeliers (@cordeliers) February 7, 2019 any potential bill offered (after 2020, of course) will be a gift to capital. Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 12:28pm AOC : GND as BHO : ACA @Not Henry Kissinger possibly. As of right @Not Henry Kissinger possibly. As of right now there is no proof of that however. Just empty claims. Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Thu, 03/21/2019 - 1:08am 'No proof' Right, because it's all just one big happy coincidence that the people who wrote AOC's GND legislation just happen to be long time Obama hands. No connection whatsoever I'm sure. #16.3 possibly. As of right now there is no proof of that however. Just empty claims. great link, thanks. @Not Henry Kissinger ‘Leading the Public into Emergency Mode: A New Strategy for the Climate Movement’, the climate psychologist “With unique skills as a psychologist, social anthropologist and community organizer, Margaret Klein Salamon has ripped the cover of denial and inaction — no more incremental steps. We are in an emergency — the climate crisis has us headed towards catastrophe and we must now recognize that emergency mode is our only hope. But why haven’t we been? Read this and know the WWII mobilization that is growing exponentially and is required to pull us back from the brink. Thank you Margaret for this brilliantly conceived, urgent call to arms. In this paper, I will introduce the concept of “emergency mode” which is how individuals and groups function optimally during an existential or moral crisis — often achieving great feats through intensely focused motivation. I will argue that the goal of the climate movement must be to lead the public out of “normal” mode and into emergency mode. This has huge implications for the climate movement’s communication style, advocacy, and strategy. Because emergency mode is contagious, the best strategy is for climate activists and organizations to go into emergency mode themselves, and communicate about the climate emergency, the need for emergency mobilization, and the fact that they are in emergency mode, as clearly and emphatically as possible." it kinda reminded me of this part of aoc's GND (green capitalism) 'proposal'. “Whereas, climate change constitutes a direct threat to the national security of the United States— (1) by impacting the economic, environmental, and social stability of countries and communities around the world; and (2) by acting as a threat multiplier” Submitted by Amanda Matthews on Fri, 03/22/2019 - 5:59pm You cut to the chase very effectively. Thanks! Submitted by Nastarana on Wed, 03/20/2019 - 10:49am It is for Representative Cortez's constituents to decide just how offended they want to be about this. Try to remember that Americans historically have always had a fairly high tolerance for chicanery. That is a national characteristic which is not likely to change just because of some lefties liking for purity. Politics is known to be a dirty business and voters tend to not much care for a Stevenson or McGovern "above all that", which voters tend to see as an officeholder not willing to exert him or her self on their constituents' behalf. I see Representative Cortez as a change agent and gadfly, and, BTW, a lot better at that than the sainted drama clown Kucinich ever has been. While she is getting headlines other newly elected congresspersons are quietly getting to work in the new political spaces she has opened up for them. What I would like to know about Rep. Cortez is did she promise to always vote however Sen. Schemer tells her to, and did she take the free trip to Israel? Open Thread WE 20 JAN 21 By: QMS The Evening Blues - 1-19-21 By: joe shikspack HA! Jonathon Pie is hilarious From: Open Thread WE 20 JAN 21 morning (here) lotlizzy Hey mimi My understanding... From: Bingo Card - Final Twelve Hours By: Lookout Here's one that comes to mind... From: A YouTube Serenade for the outgoing President 28 min 5 sec ago Good morning JS and c99 From: The Evening Blues - 1-19-21 Good morning... “Wikipedia: the overlooked monopoly” (Michael Olenick via YS@NC) By: lotlizard they will eventually hide their shameful true identities again From: The Weekly Watch By: jbob One of our favorite songs to sing. All those towns in that By: Dawn's Meta 3 hours 6 min ago Just wanted to see if I can still post a comment here By: mimi the trump plane was likely leased. By: humphrey Keep your mom laughing By: janis b If you can laugh at 90 By: Pricknick weed and wine By: thanatokephaloides Enjoy than! Laughing lots ; ))) That can't be for real ; ! Thank you Pricknick, A YouTube Serenade for the outgoing President Bingo Card - Final Twelve Hours By: Marie In Your Face Racist Authoritarianism - Tucker Carlson w/Jason Whitlock on the Military Occupation of D.C. By: Blue Republic Outside the Asylum--Propaganda Fatigue Edition By: Cant Stop the M... wise words from black socialist Ajamu Baraka* By: wendy davis By: Linda Wood Monday OT: 01/18/21 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day By: enhydra lutris Effectiveness of vaccines to stop Covid-19 By: ScienceTeacher Bogeymen and Fnords The Weekly Watch Vatican Finances Now Controlled by the Company Men By: Betty Clermont The Parable of the Ozone (Got a site you want listed: Contact Admin) The Progressive Wing The Stars Hollow Gazette Docudharma Cassiodorus r/WayOfTheBern r/WayOfTheAloha r/Kossacks for Sanders The Paragraph Viva LaFeminista Hot Air News Roundup Non Political Snoopydawg Photography michelewin: Fine Art America Now the Path Forward Commondreams Salon The Intercept Shadowproof Counterpunch Propublica McClatchy DC Reader Supported News Black Agenda Report Electronic Frontier Foundation Sunlight Foundation Center for Constitutional Rights Orchestrated Pulse The Brad Blog r/jillstein Very Smart Brothas Latino Rebels John Pilger Flowers for Socrates libcom r/American Progressive Party NewsBud Consortium News Jesse's Cafe Americain Caitlin Johnstone Political/Video Chris Hedges: On Contact The Sane Progressive Jimmy Dore H. A. Goodman Abby Martin: Empire Files The Real News Network Naked Capitalism Wall Street on Parade Bill Mitchell – billy blog Evonomics Democracy at Work (Richard Wolff) Climate/Green Climate Central DeSmogBlog Wunderground: Jeff Masters Inside Climate News Real Climate Arctic Sea Ice Forum Center for Biological Diversity Science Daily Radio/Music WVBR KXCI Radio/Politics WCPT Chicago's Progressive Talk This site is People Powered -- Of the 99, by the 99, for the 99. Copyright © 2015 - 2021 caucus99percent.com	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line591
__label__wiki	0.613256	0.613256	Net Talk - Search by Drakea83 Forum: Country Topic: Women In Country Music Women In Country Music After an on-air discussion about women in country music that’s popped up over the last couple of days, Bryan/College Station’s KVMK-FM Maverick 100.9 will be going all women for the entire 9A hour tomorrow morning. “I’ve always been a fan of great female country artists,” says Adam Drake, PD/Morning... Topic: Am I the Only one who doesn't get Bobby Bones??? Re: Am I the Only one who doesn't get Bobby Bones??? Bobby's show is what it is. He does a good job with it. My problem with him and the show is that neither he nor the music he's playing is country. It's just more of the same pop country stuff. Forum: Net Talk Topic: Hot Songs Countdown Re: Hot Songs Countdown We sure do. 983korafm.com We don't do the classic Top 40 country format. My rotation for the Hot songs are only once every 4 hours. Once a shift. I also stay away from the too pop, too rap sounding country. We play a lot more Indy/Texas/Red Dirt artists which is why we came up with this feature to give these artists a spotli... Topic: Local countdown show Local countdown show I recently started a Hot 6 at 6 request type countdown. This is the first time I've done a segment like this, can anyone give me any advice? Since it's the hot songs, they are still coming up in their regular slots throughout the day, but to me, it'd sound weird if we played one of the songs at 5, w... Hot Songs Countdown Topic: Have you checked out new artist Justine Blazer Re: Have you checked out new artist Justine Blazer donabrian I think we could be best friends hahaha At least she has a steel guitar in this song: http://youtu.be/BLBZkWl6RF0 Not bad, but there's better out there. Topic: Splitting up Country Music into seperate genres Re: Splitting up Country Music into seperate genres I listened to Top 40 and rock in the mid-late 90's because of Shania and Faith Hill. By that time it had already started getting more crossover, but there was still a segment of real country music at that time. I believe that there are still people out there who want to hear country music and not ju... Thu Jun 06, 2013 11:05 am Splitting up Country Music into seperate genres I think after last night's CMT Awards is a great time to bring up the discussion of creating a new branch of country music. All of this pop/rap/country that's become increasingly popular (because it's basically just pop music) needs to be its own genre. 85% of what was on that show last night didn't...	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line596
__label__wiki	0.534053	0.534053	Image denoising by sparse 3D transform-domain collaborative filtering by Kostadin Dabov, Alessandro Foi, Vladimir Katkovnik, Karen Egiazarian - IEEE TRANS. IMAGE PROCESS , 2007 "... We propose a novel image denoising strategy based on an enhanced sparse representation in transform domain. The enhancement of the sparsity is achieved by grouping similar 2-D image fragments (e.g., blocks) into 3-D data arrays which we call “groups.” Collaborative filtering is a special procedure d ..." different estimates which need to be combined. Aggregation is a particular averaging procedure which is exploited to take advantage of this redundancy. A significant improvement is obtained by a specially developed collaborative Wiener filtering. An algorithm based on this novel denoising strategy and its The HP AutoRAID hierarchical storage system by John Wilkes, Richard Golding, Carl Staelin, Tim Sullivan - ACM Transactions on Computer Systems , 1995 "... Configuring redundant disk arrays is a black art. To configure an array properly, a system administrator must understand the details of both the array and the workload it will support. Incorrect understanding of either, or changes in the workload over time, can lead to poor performance. We present a ..." a solution to this problem: a two-level storage hierarchy implemented inside a single diskarray controller. In the upper level of this hierarchy, two copies of active data are stored to provide full redundancy and excellent performance. In the lower level, RAID 5 parity protection is used to provide Transient Fault Detection via Simultaneous Multithreading by Steven K. Reinhardt, Shubhendu S. Mukherjee - IN PROCEEDINGS OF THE 27TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE , 2000 "... Smaller feature sizes, reduced voltage levels, higher transistor counts, and reduced noise margins make future generations of microprocessors increasingly prone to transient hardware faults. Most commercial fault-tolerant computers use fully replicated hardware components to detect microprocessor fa ..." faults. The components are lockstepped (cycle-by-cycle synchronized) to ensure that, in each cycle, they perform the same operation on the same inputs, producing the same outputs in the absence of faults. Unfortunately, for a given hardware budget, full replication reduces performance by statically Difference Engine: Harnessing Memory Redundancy in Virtual Machines by Diwaker Gupta, Sangmin Lee, Michael Vrable, Stefan Savage, Alex C. Snoeren, George Varghese, Geoffrey M. Voelker, Amin Vahdat "... Virtual machine monitors (VMMs) are a popular platform for Internet hosting centers and cloud-based compute services. By multiplexing hardware resources among virtual machines (VMs) running commodity operating systems, VMMs decrease both the capital outlay and management overhead of hosting centers. ..." Difference Engine, an extension to the Xen virtual machine monitor, to support each of these—in addition to standard copy-on-write full page sharing—and demonstrate substantial savings not only between VMs running similar applications and operating systems (up to 90%), but even across VMs running disparate Differentiated Surveillance for Sensor Networks by Ting Yan, Tian He, John A. Stankovic , 2003 "... For many sensor network applications such as military surveillance, it is necessary to provide full sensing coverage to a security-sensitive area while at the same time minimize energy consumption and extend system life by leveraging the redundant deployment of sensor nodes. It is also preferable ..." For many sensor network applications such as military surveillance, it is necessary to provide full sensing coverage to a security-sensitive area while at the same time minimize energy consumption and extend system life by leveraging the redundant deployment of sensor nodes. It is also preferable Industrial redundancies. by Greco Lidia, How To Cite, Lidia Greco "... Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a l ..." Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a Skewed Redundancy by Gordon B. Bell, Mikko H. Lipasti "... Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, ..." Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise Slipstream processors: improving both performance and fault tolerance by Karthik Sundaramoorthy, Zach Purser, Eric Rotenberg - In Proceedings of the ninth international conference on Architectural "... Processors execute the full dynamic instruction stream to arrive at the final output of a program, yet there exist shorter instruction streams that produce the same overall effect. We propose creating a shorter but otherwise equivalent version of the original program by removing ineffectual computat ..." . Detailed simulations of an example implementation show an average improvement of 7 % for the SPEC95 integer benchmarks. 2) Fault tolerance. The shorter program is a subset of the full program and this partial-redundancy is transparently leveraged for detecting and recovering from transient hardware faults AFRAID - A Frequently Redundant Array of Independent Disks by Stefan Savage, John Wilkes , 1996 "... Disk arrays are commonly designed to ensure that stored data will always be able to withstand a disk failure, but meeting this goal comes at a significant cost in performance. We show that this is unnecessary. By trading away a fraction of the enormous reliability provided by disk arrays, it is poss ..." quiet period between bursts of client activity. That is, AFRAID makes sure that the array is frequently redundant, even if it isn't always so. By regulating the parity update policy, AFRAID allows a smooth trade-off between performance and availability. Under real-life workloads, the AFRAID Redundancy in Genotyping Arrays by Scott Smemo, Justin O. Borevitz "... Despite their unprecedented density, current SNP genotyping arrays contain large amounts of redundancy, with up to 40 oligonucleotide features used to query each SNP. By using publicly available reference genotype data from the International HapMap, we show that 93.6 % sensitivity at,5 % false posit ..." positive rate can be obtained with only four probes per SNP, compared with 98.3 % with the full data set. Removal of this redundancy will allow for more comprehensive whole-genome association studies with increased SNP density and larger sample sizes.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line602
__label__cc	0.547035	0.452965	‘The Trial of Socrates’ by Alan Steinle Rhyming Riddle Contest Winners Announced Culture, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Riddles Essay: 'Frog-Marched Into the Prison of Poetry' Culture, Essays, Humor, Poetry 10 Greatest Novels Ever Written Classical Literature, Culture, Essays, For Educators, Poetry By Evan Mantyk From The Iliad, Beowulf, and Shakespearean literature in the West to the Chinese Classic of Poetry, the Indian Ramayana, and the Middle Eastern Epic of Gilgamesh, classical poetry is the foundation of literature in almost every culture historically. Today, if you can understand, appreciate, and write a sophisticated classical poem, certainly you can do so for a sophisticated essay or novel. Indeed, half of the books on this list are books written entirely or half in poetry. The classical poem is a highly condensed and powerful nexus of ideas and language. Thus, by grasping this foundation of literature—classical poetry—we can naturally command other literary genres and, in this case, determine the 10 greatest novels ever written. This is what I have intended to do here. By novels, I do not mean novels in the strict sense but rather something closer to what today are sometimes called “class novels,” or books that one might be given to read in middle school, high school, and, to a lesser extent, college. The reason is that the majority of people only read great novels when forced to do so by their teachers. The books on this list are books you should be forced to read. (The down side here is that this target audience is primarily pre-college and thus excludes some of the more philosophical but excellent texts such as John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy.) These are books that everyone, English major or not, college education or not, should pick up and read at some point in their lives. They will enrich you immensely. Of course within this framework, there is plenty of room for disagreement. Please feel free to list your picks below in the Comments section. 10. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Tolstoy’s historical fiction novel follows a handful of upper-class Russian families during the era of Napoleon Bonaparte—that French conqueror who might be compared to George Washington or less affectionately to Adolf Hitler. Tolstoy accurately portrays historical events of the Napoleonic era in Russia (1805-1820) and gives us characters who are deep and complex. His genius comes in the way he shows how the individual’s very real experience is connected with the sweeping force of history. For example, in the first words of the book, an aristocratic woman close to the empress of Russia speaks to another aristocrat just arriving at her soiree: Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca [Italian states] are now just family estates of the Bonapartes. But I warn you, if you don’t tell me that this means war, if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist—I really believe he is Antichrist—I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend, no longer my ‘faithful slave,’ as you call yourself! But how do you do? I see I have frightened you—sit down and tell me all the news. (Book I, Chapter I) As the first chapter plays out, we realize that the man on the receiving end of these words, Prince Vasili, in fact has little interest in politics. He is far more interested in pleasing the powerful speaker, Anna Pavlovna, and securing a high position for his spendthrift son or at least a favorable marriage. Of course, these circumstances are not random. Napoleon, whom she calls “the antichrist,” precisely represents a modern world where such backdoor dealings in high positions and favorable marriages would, in theory, not exist. People would rise on merit and achievement, as Napoleon himself did, and have a greater degree of individual choice and freedom. It is in these juxtapositions of history and intimate character-driven scenes where Tolstoy succeeds. Tolstoy also succeeds in his visceral spiritual ponderings that run through situations and characters’ dialogues. For instance, when one of our main characters, Pierre, tries to steer his friend Prince Andrew away from his atheistic impulses, he states: There is no truth, all is false and evil; but in the universe, in the whole universe there is a kingdom of truth, and we who are now the children of earth are—eternally—children of the whole universe. Don’t I feel in my soul that I am part of this vast harmonious whole? Don’t I feel that I form one link, one step, between the lower and higher beings, in this vast harmonious multitude of beings in whom the Deity—the Supreme Power if you prefer the term—is manifest? If I see, clearly see, that ladder leading from plant to man, why should I suppose it breaks off at me and does not go farther and farther? I feel that I cannot vanish, since nothing vanishes in this world, but that I shall always exist and always have existed. I feel that beyond me and above me there are spirits, and that in this world there is truth. (Book V, Chapter XII) There is this kind of profound insight hidden in the pages of War and Peace. And I do mean hidden, for the book is a behemoth. Unabridged print versions can easily reach over 1,400 pages—even abridged versions are over 700 pages. For that reason, it is the only book on this list that is not readily digested in its entirety in an ordinary classroom setting. Nonetheless, excerpts may be real options. The Louise and Aylmer Maude translation, from which my quotes are taken, can be accessed in the public domain on Gutenberg.org. There is also a good version edited and abridged by the Russian princess Alexandra Kropotkin. 9. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1812–1870) Dickens’s Great Expectations follows the coming-of-age story of an orphaned boy named Pip, who begins as a blacksmith’s apprentice but rises to become a wealthy gentleman through mysterious circumstances. Dickens weaves a tale that successfully straddles both a humorous children’s fairytale and a real-world drama. For example, Pip’s miserable childhood is painted in ordinary ways, through tombstones, a dreary setting, and an abusive parent, but it also comes to life fantastically through his imagination. When Pip is forced to commit a bad deed, through no real fault of his own, even the cattle seem to accuse him: The cattle came upon me with like suddenness, staring out of their eyes, and steaming out of their nostrils, “Halloa, young thief!” One black ox, with a white cravat on,—who even had to my awakened conscience something of a clerical air,—fixed me so obstinately with his eyes, and moved his blunt head round in such an accusatory manner as I moved round, that I blubbered out to him, “I couldn’t help it, sir! It wasn’t for myself I took it!” (Chapter III) Additionally, at a time when the Industrial Revolution was in high gear, Dickens boldly put forward a Romantic theme about the high value of keeping the simplicity and innocence engendered by country living, childhood, and lack of education. This theme is found throughout the book, but perhaps never so vividly and humorously as when Pip’s old pal and father-figure “Joe the blacksmith” comes to visit him in London. Pip, now an educated and cultured gentleman, sits across from Joe, who is dressed very uncomfortably in formal clothing and can’t eat his food in a formal manner. Joe gives this monologue before escaping: Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one man’s a blacksmith, and one’s a whitesmith, and one’s a goldsmith, and one’s a coppersmith. Diwisions among such must come, and must be met as they come. If there’s been any fault at all today, it’s mine. You and me is not two figures to be together in London; nor yet anywheres else but what is private, and beknown, and understood among friends. It ain’t that I am proud, but that I want to be right, as you shall never see me no more in these clothes. I’m wrong in these clothes … I’m awful dull, but I hope I’ve beat out something nigh the rights of this at last. And so GOD bless you, dear old Pip, old chap, GOD bless you! The illusory distinctions melt away and Pip suddenly sees Joe with clarity. Pip narrates: I had not been mistaken in my fancy that there was a simple dignity in him. The fashion of his dress could no more come in its way when he spoke these words than it could come in its way in Heaven. He touched me gently on the forehead, and went out. As soon as I could recover myself sufficiently, I hurried out after him and looked for him in the neighboring streets; but he was gone. (Chapter XXVII) Here and throughout the book, the beauty of simplicity and innocence is made clear through Dickens’s attention to detail. This includes his authentic use of language; for example, “divisions” becomes “diwisions” and God gets all capital letters, giving us a subtle but clear feeling for Joe’s uneducated, God-fearing character. Dickens also makes this beauty elusive by having Joe disappear down the street, which aptly captures the elusiveness of beauty in modern life. In fact, Dickens’s depiction of beauty’s elusiveness was so pronounced that the somewhat sad ending he originally wrote was criticized and he created a second happier one. This results in an unsatisfying feeling when you finish the book and are unsure of what Dickens really intended—though perhaps this unsatisfying feeling itself is his ultimate depiction of modern life. Great Expectations can be accessed through the public domain on Gutenberg.org. There are a number of good abridged versions as well. 8. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) Dumas’s page-turning saga follows the life of Edmond Dantès as he goes from a young man with his bright future ahead of him—a beautiful fiancée, a new promotion, and a pocket full of money—to a hopeless prisoner victimized by three jealous and conniving men. While imprisoned, Dantès acquires knowledge of an enormous treasure hidden on the small island of Monte Cristo. He then escapes, finds the treasure, and reinvents himself as the Count of Monte Cristo in order to carefully orchestrate a complex plan of vengeance. The great beauty of Dumas’s writing is not in the revenge plot itself, but in a setting of refined French culture—the ballet, the opera, beautiful art, poetry, and gentlemanly behavior are common features—and in undercurrents of a profound spirituality. For example, Dumas’s narration preaches about the imprisoned Dantès: Pride gave way to entreaty, yet it was not to God that he prayed to, for that is the last resource, but man. The wretched and miserable should turn to their Savior first, yet they do not hope in Him until all other hope is exhausted. (Chapter XII) There is a palpable sense that Heaven or a divine realm is never far and exists just beneath the surface: “For an hour he slept thus, and was awakened by the roar of a tremendous clap of thunder. A flash of lightning that seemed to open the heavens to the very throne of God.” (Chapter XVII). This spirituality is also intensified by the fact that, in order to carry out his plans, Dantès carries on for much of the novel as an abbot, speaking lines that both a real monk and the real Dantès might sincerely say, such as, “There are times when God’s justice tarries for a while and it appears to us that we are forgotten by Him, but the time always comes when we find it is not so, and here is the proof.” (Chapter XXII). Through the refined culture and spirituality, Dumas brings the eternal law of retribution, “what goes around comes around” or “you reap what you sow,” to the very peak of human aspiration. He then takes it one step further in the latter stages of the novel, when he realizes that he must rise above his own revenge and submit to the will of a power that is higher than himself. This inner awakening climaxes when his old love, Mercédès, asks the Count of Monte Cristo (Dantès) to spare her son from the revenge that has driven his life for the last 20 years and to give his own life away in a duel. It is the son too of the man who so vilely conspired against Dantès: “Have you seen your father die in your absence?” cried Monte Cristo, thrusting his hands into his hair. “Have you seen the woman you loved give her hand to your rival while you were pining away in the depths of a dungeon? …” “No, but I have seen him who I loved about to become my son’s murderer!” Mercédès said these words with such infinite sadness and in such tones of despair that they wrung a sob from the Count’s throat. The lion was tamed, the avenger was overcome! “What do you ask of me?” he said “Your son’s life? Well then, he shall live!” Mercédès uttered a cry which forced two tears into Monte Cristo’s eyes, but they disappeared again immediately; doubtless God had sent some angel to collect them, for they were far more precious than the richest pearls of Guzerat or Ophir. (Chapter LVII) Thus, giving up everything, the Count of Monte Cristo accepts a higher truth about the impotence of human hatred in the grander scope of the universe and the greater power of compassion. Although this book is almost too long for any class to tackle at 1,200 pages or so, abridged versions do an acceptable job, without too many confusing gaps—although, there definitely are some. The quotes I use are from the nearly 600-page abridged version produced by Tor, which I recommend. An unabridged English translation is also available on Gutenberg.org. 7. The Odyssey by Homer (circa 8th century B.C.?) Homer’s epic poem tells of the Trojan War veteran Odysseus (also known as Ulysses) trying to get home and reclaim his palace from the suitors who have set their sights on marrying his beautiful wife, Penelope. Standing in his seafaring way are Cyclopes, giants, sea monsters, a sorceress, a sea nymph, sirens, intoxicating lotus fruit, ghosts in hell (Hades), and the sea god Poseidon himself—yet those are just his external foes. His own internal issues are perhaps even greater: pride, paranoia, hunger, lust, and sleepiness. In a word, The Odyssey is the ultimate adventure. The eternal theme of perseverance plays out grandly since Odysseus spends 10 years trying to get home after 10 years already at war. His family, unsure if he is even still alive, must persevere too. His son, Telemachus, must quickly mature and seek out his father despite an assassination attempt by his mother’s suitors. His mother, Penelope, keeps the suitors at bay herself with the now immortalized method of endlessly weaving and then secretly unweaving a shroud that she says she must finish before picking a new husband. Although the narration and dialogue can be long and daunting, some leeway must be given for the fact that it was all originally written as ancient Greek poetry that had a particular rhythm. Alexander Pope’s 18th-century poetic translation catches some of this enchanting beauty, as can be seen in this description of the sorceress Circe’s lair: A palace in a woody vale we found Brown with dark forests, and with shades around. Access we sought, nor was access denied: Radiant she came: the portals opened wide: The goddess mild invites the guests to stay: They blindly follow where she leads the way. I only wait behind of all the train: I waited long, and eyed the doors in vain: The rest are vanished, none repassed the gate, And not a man appears to tell their fate. (Book 10) The bouncing rhythm of the iambic pentameter and rhymes echoes their foot steps through the forest and the narrator’s nervous heartbeats, giving movement to what is otherwise relatively static prose. Yet, greater than all of this genius is Homer’s perspective or paradigm itself. Every moment of his epic is pervaded by a sense of hierarchical yet accessible divinity. The gods are usually superior in physique, superior in powers, and superior in morality to the humans depicted in the epic (though we certainly might find some of the gods’ deeds questionable today). It is one thing to ponder, “Perhaps there is a god or gods out there who look down on us as we look down upon children,” but Homer vividly paints what this might really look like in sublime and profound colors. For example, the father of the gods, Zeus, comments: “It’s disgraceful how these humans blame the gods. They say their tribulations come from us, when they themselves, through their own foolishness, bring hardships which are not decreed by fate.” (Book 1). In a few lines, Homer has covered what might be done in many volumes of philosophies and carefully nuanced stories. And that’s just in The Odyssey’s first 100 lines! Finally, a comment on translations: There are countless translations of Homer’s works. The newer translations tend to have more accessible language, which is good and necessary for first time readers, but they also unnecessarily insert a lot of sexual language and swearing. The older translations by Pope and Samuel Butler are free in the public domain and are much cleaner and closer to the original in my view, with Pope’s having the added benefit of being consummately poetic. I also helped produce an adaptation that provides a clean and clear modern translation suitable for middle school students and up, and also includes 10 lines of Pope’s poetic version at the beginning of each chapter. The quotes in this piece are all from this adaptation. 6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1775–1817) Austen’s quintessential comedy of manners follows the Bennet family and its five daughters who face gloomy prospects in life if favorable marriage partners are not secured. The story begins with two potential wealthy suitors materializing, including the prideful—as well as tall, dark, and handsome—Mr. Darcy. He and his ego must face the prejudice of the sharp-witted and beautiful-eyed Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest daughter. Austen’s genius is in her ability to bring to life characters who strike the difficult balance between being conservative, prudent, and proper on the one hand and charming, quirky, and humorous on the other hand. For instance, in this dialogue, Mr. Darcy writes a letter to his sister, Miss Darcy, while Miss Bingley vies unsuccessfully to gain his interest: “How delighted Miss Darcy will be to receive such a letter!” He made no answer. “You write uncommonly fast.” “You are mistaken. I write rather slowly.” “How many letters you must have occasion to write in the course of a year! Letters of business, too! How odious I should think them!” “It is fortunate, then, that they fall to my lot instead of yours.” “Pray tell your sister that I long to see her.” “I have already told her so once, by your desire.” “I am afraid you do not like your pen. Let me mend it for you. I mend pens remarkably well.” “Thank you—but I always mend my own.” “How can you contrive to write so even?” He was silent. (Chapter 10) These two aristocratic characters are strangely enthralling with their proper language, like “by your desire” and “I am afraid,” and their idiosyncrasies, like Miss Bingley’s obsession with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Darcy’s insisting that he mend his own pen. There are a number of other unforgettable characters too like the hilariously smarmy Mr. Collins and the shockingly pompous Lady Catherine. Building on such brilliant characterizations, Austen then takes her story to a loftier level by clearly showing the inner transformation of Elizabeth Bennet. After pointing the finger outward for much of the book, Elizabeth realizes her own deep and disturbing flaw. While she had thought Mr. Darcy excessively prideful, prejudiced toward those beneath his class, and wickedly conniving, she later finds out that reality was not what it seemed and that it was she herself who was prejudiced against him: “How despicably I have acted!” she cried; “I, who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued myself on my abilities! who have often disdained the generous candor of my sister, and gratified my vanity in useless or blameable mistrust! How humiliating is this discovery! Yet, how just a humiliation! Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind! But vanity, not love, has been my folly. Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment I never knew myself. (Chapter 36) It is this moral lesson about the mechanics of human pride and prejudice that truly elevates the novel to a work of greatness. Pride and Prejudice is available in the public domain on Gutenberg.org. As a final note, Pride and Prejudice and other Austen works share striking similarities to one of the four great novels of China, Dream of the Red Chamber (Hong Lou Meng), by Cao Xueqin. Both Austen’s works and Cao’s work revolve around the arranging of marriages and provide detailed and realistic depictions of the culture of upper class families in the same era—indeed Austen penned her first work in 1790 (23 years before Pride and Prejudice), only a year before Cao’s work was published. Both present moral lessons on propriety and etiquette. From this, we see the universal appeal and genius that Austen has harnessed. 5. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1660–1731) If Homer’s Odyssey is the ultimate adventure, as I have called it, then Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is the most exciting adventure. The novel’s stranded-on-a-deserted-island plot has been so influential that it created an entire genre that includes the classic 1812 children’s story The Swiss Family Robinson, the 1960s TV show Gilligan’s Island, and now the Survivor reality TV show that is still being made today. Also, Defoe uses diary-like first person narrative and shrewd attention to detail to keep the illusion of reality vividly alive at every turn of the page in Robinson Crusoe. This approach to fiction writing proved so effective that countless later novels, from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (1851) to Yann Martel’s Life of Pi (2001), have used it. In this passage from Robinson Crusoe, for example, our titular protagonist faces the reality of a devastating storm that has stranded his boat and forced him and his shipmates to gamble on taking a smaller boat to land: As to making sail, we had none, nor if we had could we have done anything with it; so we worked at the oar towards the land, though with heavy hearts, like men going to execution; for we all knew that when the boat came near the shore she would be dashed in a thousand pieces by the breach of the sea. However, we committed our souls to God in the most earnest manner; and the wind driving us towards the shore, we hastened our destruction with our own hands, pulling as well as we could towards land. (Chapter III) Do they make it? You have to read on. Such exciting tangles with death are sprinkled, not too much and not too little, to create the right flavor of excitement throughout the story, making it feel perfectly real, engaging, and uncontrived. Such scenes are also balanced by delightfully detailed descriptions of island life: “I saw here abundance of cocoa trees, orange, and lemon, and citron trees; but all wild, and very few bearing any fruit, at least not then. However, the green limes that I gathered were not only pleasant to eat, but very wholesome; and I mixed their juice afterwards with water, which made it very wholesome, and very cool and refreshing.” (Chapter VII). The whole adventure runs parallel to a plot of moral and spiritual awakening. This is clear from the narration at the beginning, when Crusoe disobeys his father multiple times by running away to seek fortune on the high seas and refusing to return after his failure. When he ends up tasting success through a tobacco plantation, he is still unsatisfied and is drawn into seeking slaves to further increase his wealth. Then, when he ends up frightfully sick on the desert island, he dreams he saw “a man descend from a great black cloud, in a bright flame.” The man tells him, “Seeing all these things have not brought thee to repentance, now thou shalt die.” (Chapter VI). He does not die, but thereafter deeply reflects and slowly gains “divine knowledge,” realizing that he was being punished for his bad deeds, or sins, all along. Through this process, his inner being is stripped down as bare as his outer circumstances on the deserted island. He realizes that he should be hoping to be rescued not from the island, but from his own wrongdoing and evilness. From these realizations he ultimately arrives at peace and happiness: “I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condition, and less upon the dark side, and to consider what I enjoyed rather than what I wanted; and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts, that I cannot express them; and which I take notice of here, to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God has given them, because they see and covet something that He has not given them. All our discontents about what we want appeared to me to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have.” (Chapter IX) Thus, the deserted island and Robinson Crusoe’s adventure are both physical and spiritual. This is Defoe’s greatest achievement. Robinson Crusoe is available in the public domain on Gutenberg.org. 4. The Iliad by Homer (circa 8th century B.C.?) For any civilization in human history, there is no escaping war. In an age when nuclear weapons have prohibited any conflicts between major world powers, war seems distant. But, we must remember that for millennia people could not escape it and in fact desired it. As the American World War II General George Patton said, “Magnificent! Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance. God help me, I do love it so!” This reality of war is brought to life in all of its sprawling effects and magical glory like nowhere else as in Homer’s Iliad. The epic poem details a few weeks in the war between the ancient Greeks, or Achaeans, and the Trojans. It focuses on the anger of the Greek Achilles toward Agamemnon, who is his commander and the king of the Greeks, as well as on the saga of the Trojan hero Hector. (One might use the term “warrior” here, but the original Greek term for the warriors on both sides is literally “hero,” or “hērōs,” and that really captures the proper romance of the epic much better.) There are many other characters and subplots as well. In The Iliad as in The Odyssey, the story can feel tedious at times, but out of this arises the beauty too. In particular, there are the epic similes that provide what seems a plain enough comparison at first, but then just seem to keep going, holding the moment in a state of sublime creativity that literature today generally does not achieve: Ajax struck him in the chest, by the right nipple. The bronze spear went clean through his shoulder. He collapsed in the dust, like a poplar tree, one growing in a large well-watered meadow, from whose smooth trunk the branches grow up to the top, until a chariot builder’s bright axe topples it, bends the wood, to make wheel rims for a splendid chariot, letting the wood season by the riverbank. (Chapter 4) Although this is a violent and gruesome scene, the epic simile gives us a whole new perspective on the beauty of the killed man’s death and the good, the “splendid chariot,” that may come forth from this death. Of Homer’s two great works, his Iliad is distinguished by the moral lessons it imparts more explicitly. The central problem the Greeks face is that Agamemnon has stolen the woman with whom Achilles is in love. This situation mirrors the war’s cause: Paris of Troy stole Helen, the wife of Agamemnon’s brother. The lesson is that if the Greeks can show themselves morally superior to the Trojans by overcoming this internal conflict (woman stealing) within their own ranks, then they have met the threshold to emerge victorious. The entire plot is the resulting misery of Agamemnon and Achilles while the Trojans triumph until finally Achilles abandons his hubris and apologizes: Fewer Achaeans would have sunk their teeth into this wide earth at enemy hands, if I’d not been so angry. That’s really helped lord Hector and his Trojans… Still, though it hurts, we should let all this pass, repressing hearts within our chests—we must do that. (Chapter 19) And, in all of this fighting over women, it is not the word “war” or “love” that appears most, but “god”—by far. Dovetailing with this divine focus is a sense of celestial balance and order that is pervasive. Relatable heroes and gods are on both sides and either army may pull ahead at any moment depending on the gods’ designs. We are left, too, with the sense that balance and order are among the higher principles and powers that the Greek gods themselves must adhere to, as in this scene: Father Zeus raised his golden scales, setting there two fatal lots for death’s long sorrow, one for Achilles, one for horse-taming Hector. Seizing it in the middle, Zeus raised his balance. Hector’s fatal day sank, moving down to Hades. At once Phoebus Apollo abandoned him. (Chapter 22) Here it seems that the golden scales, not Zeus (at least directly), decide and that the sun god Apollo has no choice but to obey. This rich insight into the order of the universe, human civilization, and war make The Iliad truly epic. Recommended translations by Alexander Pope and Samuel Butler are free in the public domain. There is also an adapted version that provides a clean and clear modern translation suitable for middle school students and up, and also includes ten lines of Pope’s poetic version at the beginning of each chapter. The quotes in this piece are all from this adaptation. 3. Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1564–1616) The nation, controlled by your worst enemy, is against you. Your own mother, who is all the family you have left in the world, also seems to plot against you. Even reality itself, which is supposed to be distinct from ghosts and imagined foes, seems unreliable, threatening your life and possibly worse, your sanity, at every turn. This is the position in which Prince Hamlet finds himself when he returns home to Denmark from college in Germany. The immense and soul-tempering nature of this struggle is what has turned Hamlet into a time-honored classic and many of its lines into famous quotes. What Hamlet goes through colors and adds depth to the rest of the play. When Polonius tells his son, Laertes, “this above all—to thine own self be true,” we realize that these words are really about Hamlet and the lesson we are supposed to take away from the play. When Hamlet strongly suspects that his father, the king, was killed by his own brother in order to take the throne and marry Hamlet’s mother, he could ignore his suspicions, play it safe, and be smart. But this would be denying his own conscience, honor, and dignity. He would not be true to himself. From Hamlet’s predicament also arises Shakespeare’s most famous soliloquy, beginning: To be, or not to be—that is the question— Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? (Act III, Scene I) It is debated whether this refers to Hamlet’s contemplating committing suicide or killing his villainous uncle. (I would argue a bit of both, but especially the latter.) Yet, in either case, it is a perennial contemplation of the human condition, of the need to take action, and of the aspiration to a nobler state of being. His actions themselves demonstrate throughout the rest of the play that human beings must follow their consciences, seek justice, and aspire to have a noble spirit. In a moment of truth, Hamlet chooses the tough but right path. There are also profound insights into the workings of human beings and society as a whole. For instance, there are the lines: “Till then sit still, my soul: foul deeds will rise, / Though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes.” (Act I, Scene II). In a world that may be ruled by corruption and people fighting to make profits, it is nonetheless inevitable that any bad deed committed will sooner or later be duly repaid. These rhyming lines also highlight the beautiful poetic nature of the play, which is composed almost entirely in a poetic meter, or rhythm, called iambic pentameter. Yet, Shakespeare does not stop there. Although he shows that Hamlet is doing the right thing by following his conscience and being true to himself, he also shows that there are higher powers and principles. He does this with a subplot about the prince of Norway, Fortinbras, whose father was previously killed by Hamlet’s father. Shakespeare subtly suggests that Hamlet’s home, Denmark, should in fact belong to Fortinbras. In the end, Denmark indeed ends up in Fortinbras’s hands. Thus, despite Hamlet’s pained struggle to bring justice to his kingdom, it was all the while fated for his kingdom to collapse. From this perspective, hypothetically speaking, if Hamlet had had insight this profound and had he already relinquished his fear of death, we might say that had he not taken any action against his conniving uncle and not sought anything, then that would have been even nobler than what he did. This is perhaps the ultimate revelation that the play offers. “To be or not to be” really is a question without a specific answer. The answer depends on an individual’s state of mind at any particular moment and under the circumstances of that moment in history. Whichever answer will advance his or her particular path upward toward a greater and profounder nobility, or state of being, is the correct one. Hamlet is available in the public domain on Gutenberg.org. As a final note, Hamlet’s position as the greatest of Shakespeare’s plays has in recent years been supplanted by Macbeth. This trend is idiotic. Macbeth is an interesting play with many good aspects but it is far behind Hamlet, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Richard III, and many other plays by Shakespeare. Whereas the general premise of Hamlet is moving and profound, the central premise of Macbeth is flawed at best and ridiculously sloppy at worst. Since there is no deeper motives, other than greed and hunger for power, for Macbeth’s killing his own king, Macbeth strangely shifts from a valiant wartime hero loyal to his king and country into a lowlife murderer who seems to have not a single shred of integrity. Such a character is bizarrely contrived, unrealistic, and, like the recent trend, idiotic since conception. 2. Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en (1501–1582) Up to this point in our journey through great literature, every story has had an ordinary sort of focus that forms the plot of the story. For instance, protecting the nation, moving up the social ladder, finding love, returning home, seeking revenge or justice, and basic survival. Of course, they have deeper and richer spiritual themes that are universal, but they are grounded in these very common secular goals. Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en is quite different. The main focus is the history of the real seventh-century Buddhist monk Xuanzang (pronounced “shwen-zahng”) who traveled from China to India in order to bring back Buddhist scriptures. The grounding of the story then is chiefly spiritual and altruistic. Wu successfully takes this spiritual grounding and turns the story into an ordinary adventure with action and exciting characters that compare with other stories on the list. For example, Xuanzang’s fellow Buddhist priest, the magical Monkey King, is never far from a fight. He is known for lines such as “Stand your ground, and eat old Monkey’s fist!” When they come across six roadside robbers, he simply kills them all, leaving Xuanzang distraught. Xuanzang says, “One has no right to kill robbers, however violent and wicked they may be …You have behaved with a cruelty that ill becomes one of your sacred calling.” (Chapter XIV). What Xuanzang doesn’t realize is that these robbers were no ordinary robbers; their names translate to “Eye that Sees and Delights,” “Ear that Hears and is Angry,” “Nose that Smells and Covets,” “Tongue that Tastes and Desires,” and “Mind that Conceives and Lusts,” which hints that they represent attachments to be relinquished in one’s quest for enlightenment. Further, with an allegorical spiritual grounding, the action and adventure need not obey human laws and can be like a fairy tale and even a cartoon—basically, whatever one can imagine goes. This model is not unlike Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, or John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, but Wu takes it to unparalleled heights of fantasy and brilliance. For instance, at one point, the Monkey King enters into a wager with the Buddha as to whether he can fly off Buddha’s enormous hand. The Monkey King then flies to the end of the universe, where he finds five pillars that he marks with both his name and his urine. The Buddha says, “You stinking ape, you’ve been on the palm of my hand all the time.” “Monkey peered down with his fiery, steely eyes, and there at the base of the middle finger of Buddha’s hand he saw written [his name] and from the fork between the thumb and first finger came a smell of monkey’s urine.” (Chapter VII). Somewhere between sacred and hilarious, it’s a weird balance but Wu makes it work. His greatest achievement is this ability to take spiritual, altruistic, and idealistic goals and make them seem doable, fun, and immediate. There are also strong themes of perseverance over a long journey, as one would expect, and of the hidden order and meaning behind the seemingly random events of human life. Strangely in line with the latter theme, while reading Journey to the West, I found that a long episode in the book uncannily mirrors Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Stranger still, I found that both were published in the 1590s. Both stories begin with the ghost of the king visiting and explaining that he was improperly murdered by a brother while in a garden and that the current king is that brother. Both revolve around the prince of the kingdom trying to unseat the murderous king currently on the throne. Both also end with the murderous king’s removal and a sublime twist the puts all of the events into a different light. If nothing else, this demonstrates that, while there is an abundance of magical powers and cartoonish animal people in Journey to the West, its main events and realistic plot developments are ultimately as profound, or arguably more profound, than those we might find in the realism of Shakespeare. As a digression, you may be wondering where exactly the similarities in story lines came from. If you are an average sort of scholar, you may troll the internet for some kind of scientific explanation. You might conclude that both Hamlet and Journey to the West possibly drew on earlier stories and perhaps have some ancient progenitor. (There are similar Cinderella fairy tales in both cultures as well.) However, the precise similarities in the plot and times of publication are too uncanny to make that a rational explanation. In fact, ancient Chinese wisdom suggests that changes in human society unfold according to specific celestial arrangements. The human body, human society, and the universe are all connected. Such arrangements naturally control both Eastern and Western civilizations and have also been observed by 19th-century German historians. They noted that Buddha Siddhartha in India, Lao-zi and Confucius in China, and Socrates and Plato in Greece had profound effects on civilizations and all appeared around the same time, leading these historians to call that period the Axial Age. My particular take on the similarities between the two 1590s works is that, firstly, they were wistful for the great but dead kings of the past—the most renowned being Tang Taizong (who appears in Journey to the West) and King Arthur (who, if real, likely lived around the same time as Tang Taizong). Secondly, they were both prophetically anticipating the great kings and cultural icons who were just about to arrive on earth—Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) of China’s Qing Dynasty and King Louis XIV (1638-1715) of France … Or perhaps this entire analysis itself is just a fairy tale! Finally, I note that the recommended version of Journey to the West is an adaptation by Arthur Waley from 1910, called Monkey. The quotes above are taken from it. Waley removes about two-thirds of the adventures, but he does a good job of capturing the essence of the work in under 350 pages. He also wisely takes out most of the poetry, which loses its feeling in English and threatens to bog the story down too much for English readers. For a full unabridged translation, Anthony Yu’s 2012 version is recommended. 1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (14th-century author unknown) There are certain parts of our collective cultural consciousness that we cannot escape and do not seem to want to escape. In the literary realm, chief among these is King Arthur. From fragments of Dark Ages poetry to a myriad of books, poems, operas, TV shows, and movies (yet another of which is slated to come out next year), the influence of King Arthur is inescapable. Other literary icons, like Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote and Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, also owe their legacies to the medieval romances of which Arthurian tales are the greatest. Yet, wherein lies the true essence of King Arthur? Nowhere do the charm, mystery, and grandeur of Arthurian legend come to life better than in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the medieval novella-length poem whose author remains unknown. The words seem to dance off the page since they are written in alliterative verse (that is, similar beginning sounds are repeated in each line) and each paragraph ends in a “bob and wheel” (the “bob” being a couple of words and the “wheel” being a poem of four short rhyming lines), as seen here in this description of a Christmas feast at Camelot: Delicious dishes were rushed in, fine delicacies fresh and plentiful, piled so high on so many platters they had problems finding places to set down their silver bowls of steaming soup: no spot ________was clear. ____Each lord dug in with pleasure, ____and grabbed at what lay near: ____twelve platters piled past measure, ____bright wine, and foaming beer. (Stanza 6) The merry mood changes when a supernatural knight and horse who are utterly green from head to toe enter the hall. The Green Knight challenges someone in Arthur’s court to enter into a bizarre wager with him. First the unlucky person is supposed to take one free swing at the Green Knight’s bare, but green, neck with an axe; and then, assuming that the Green Knight lives, he gets one swing at that person in a year and a day. When all are too frightened to come forward and King Arthur himself sees no choice but to do it himself, Sir Gawain steps up and puts his own life in the hands of a higher power. The unpredictable yet realistic plot of Sir Gawain is intriguing and the descriptions and poetry are lush. Building on these, the greatest achievement is the poem’s ability to so clearly and convincingly portray pure goodness. This is done in a number of ways. Firstly, it is through the character of Sir Gawain, who is pure and good, yet convincingly fallible and human. For example, when he jumps up to stand in the place of his king, he shows a self-deprecating humility: “Of all your men of war I am the weakest and least wise, / and my life little enough to lose, if you look at it clearly. / My only honor is that you are my uncle; / my only boast is that my body carries your blood.” (Stanza 16). This is someone with whom, century after century, readers can identify. Secondly, Sir Gawain is not simply a tough-guy protagonist. He engenders a complete philosophy that gives depth and proportion to the tough guy—whom we might alternatively name the proverbial manly man or protector. The symbol that he bears and cherishes is the five-pointed star-shaped pentangle, and each point is rich with meaning that is spiritual, sensory, and, most notably, moral: “And a fifth five was found in Gawain: / bounty and brotherhood above all else; / courtesy and a clean heart (these were never crooked) / and the finest point, compassion—these five virtues” (Stanza 28). I note that “bounty” can also be translated from Middle English as generosity; “brotherhood” as fellowship or fraternity; “clean heart” as cleanness or sexual purity; and “compassion” as piety or pity. These are all virtues that Sir Gawain displays through his actions in one way or another throughout the story. For example, he painstakingly seeks out the Green Knight even though it almost certainly means his own death and even though the Green Knight lives far away and is not easy to find. This demonstrates an incredible adherence to his word and reinforces the virtue of brotherhood. He also persistently resists the temptations of a seductive and powerful lady, reinforcing the virtue of a clean heart. Such instances as these, in which a good guy demonstrating good virtues is connected with being presented in a good light, in the grandest and most interesting manner, are invaluable and potent. They reinforce foundational morals generation after generation. The potency of such virtues is also seen in how similar these virtues are to the five Confucian virtues that were revered for thousands of years in China and kept Chinese civilization strong: Rén (仁, benevolence, humaneness); Yì (義/义, righteousness or justice); Lǐ (禮/礼, proper rite); Zhì (智, knowledge); and Xìn (信, integrity). We can draw correlations in various ways between this list of five virtues and Sir Gawain’s five, but their general goodness and universal morality is what is overriding. The greatest human wisdom that secular literature can impart is this ability to overcome the moral pitfalls inherent in the human condition and create thriving civilizations. The quotes above are all taken from a publicly available online version by Paul Deane, which does a good job of preserving the poetry and using understandable language. J.R.R. Tolkien of Lord of the Rings fame also created a good translation. I also created a short student skit adaptation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for public use. Edited by Connie Phillips Tod Benjamin January 1, 2017 I have enjoyed reading Evan’s selected written works – as he states, not all novels – and agree totally with their listing as great works. They are all books that I would consider essential reading for literature students, and fascinating reading for anyone. As a top ten, however, I cannot conceive of a list that does not include what, for me, is the greatest novel ever written, Dostoievsky’s ‘Crime and Punishment’, nor the sublime poetry of John Donne. What to leave out? Now, there’s a question! Cynthia Thornton Herrera January 1, 2017 This is an impressive list. I have a genuine appreciation for ‘The Canterbury Tales’ by Geoffrey Chaucer. I just completed a graduate course about the ‘Tales.’ Chaucer composed a clever and diverse collection of stories in this work that most certainly carry important moral messages that even today should be examined. Although the jury is still out on whether or not this pilgrimage happened, it makes no consequence to the outcome of the collection. It was written almost entirely in metered rhyming poetry except for the last installment, which rounds out the reason for the collection as a whole. I had been exposed to Chaucer when I took British Lit many years ago, but I did not realize how potent this piece is. It literally teaches and exemplifies the Seven Deadly Sins. While the list of Seven Deadly Sins are of Roman Catholic origin, certainly, anyone regardless of religious affiliation can appreciate the characterizations and examples of people of the Middle Ages demonstrating sinfulness. The course was a good workout for me as far as determining what morals each story-poem described, and surprisingly, I now examine human behavior as comparing folks to these entertaining stories. In modern times, we can observe people to see their goodness and badness, for lack of better words. I have learned that, we all display behavior at times that can be determined as good or bad. The wisdom is acknowledging when we go astray with our fellowman and try to lean to the good and have kindness for each other. Evan January 1, 2017 Dear Cynthia, I was very close to including Canterbury Tales and I do purposely reference it for that reason in #2. Thank you for adding it! Elizabeth Henry January 2, 2017 Fabulous article…. Courtney January 3, 2017 what about “A Brave New World”, or “The Color Purple”? Evan Mantyk January 3, 2017 For “The Color Purple” I can only say that the list was not long enough. For “A Brave New World,” I read it myself in high school and subsequently grew somewhat obsessed with Huxley. I read every Huxley book I could get my hands on. I even intended to travel to the desert and ingest peyote as he had done… at any rate, now I am somewhat disillusioned with the extreme messages he conveyed, and which painted ideas in such drastic terms. In fact, I think he himself was quite dissatisfied with the way that particular book ended. Now, that being said, I think there are good lessons in there to take, so I invite you to construct your own list and reach your own conclusions. Thank you for bringing these up, Courtney. Thanks for the reply! I have to admit, after I read ABNW, I was wanting more Huxley, and read Ape and Essence. Boy, did he go in a different direction, with that one! Such a dark future. I hope we aren’t headed in that direction. As drastic as his visions of the future were, I can’t help feeling like he, and writers like Jules Verne, were ahead of their time and saw where we were heading as a species. It’s incredible what they saw as our future, and how close we come to their predictions. I really do think The Color Purple should be read in high school. I never read ABNW in high school. It wasn’t part of our curriculum. A friend recommended it to me, and I was hooked the minute I started. Color Purple, I read in 4th grade, when I visited the library to pick a new read. I liked the color, had no idea what the book was about, and my eyes were opened wide up. It won’t make any lists, but I really wish more people would read A Nazi Officer’s Wife, by Edith Han Berr. Its an incredible story. For all the education we received, on the Holocaust in school, reading that book was like learning about it for the first time. Bruce Dale Wise January 3, 2017 Although I must admit that I would never in my own mind think about making a list of the top novels, I thought, after I read Mr. Mantyk’s wildly Romantic list of the “10 Greatest Novels Ever Written,” I should have a go at it as well…but in a different way: I would list the 10 novels that most carried me away; and I would limit my choices to prose narratives, not supposing for a moment that my choices were the greatest novels ever written, nor even the best of a particular author’s works. I notice also that these works vary as to when they most moved me, in my teenage years, my twenties, thirties, etc. In addition to exluding poetic epics (like Homer’s unequalled masterpieces “Iliad” and “Odyssey”) and poetic dramas (like William Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” “Romeo and Juliet,” or “The Merchant of Venice”), I have excluded poetic novels, like Murasaki Shikibu’s “The Tale of Genji,” Alexander Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” or Vladimir Nabokov’s “Pale Fire,” which nevertheless would not have reached my top ten. Needless to say, I am very much impressed with Mr. Mantyk’s selections and discussion. His reading is wide and deep. There is not one book that he has listed that I have not read and admired, and, not surprisingly, I share some of his choices. I could be wrong (and I am sure many would love to tell me so) but I do believe that the novel, like opera, poetic epic, and poetic drama, has had its day; but like anything priceless, it does not easily go away. Here, for what it’s worth, are my top ten novels; which are certainly not the top ten greatest novels ever written. 1. Don Quixote-Cervantes 2. Gulliver’s Travels-Jonathan Swift 3. War and Peace-Leo Tolstoy 4. The Glass Bead Game-Hermann Hesse 5. The Count of Monte Cristo-Alexandre Dumas 6. Moby Dick-Herman Melville 7. To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee 8. 1984-George Orwell 9. The Brothers Karamazov-Dostoyevsky 10. The American-Henry James Of Mr. Mantyk’s brilliant choices, I would point out that in some ways “Macbeth” is a play that matches “Hamlet.” I think, in “Macbeth,” the shorter play, Shakespeare contrasts the ambitious, active pair of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, drawn to the evil that destroys them, with the indecisive, passive pair of Hamlet and Ophelia, destroyed by the evil that surrounds them. There is incredible poetry in each of the plays, as in so many other Shakespeare plays as well. I was happy to find in Mr. Mantyk’s list “Robinson Crusoe,” which I do consider the first novel in English, though many do not; and I included in my list the satire “Gulliver’s Travels,” which from some vantage points, is not a novel at all. Though “Pride and Prejudice” is frequently considered Austen’s best work; I have always liked “Sense and Sensibility” more, because of its dichotomy of reason and romance. Dickens’ work, as a whole is remarkable, not least his brilliant depiction of character, but of all of his works “Great Expectations,” like Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” takes a look at the World through the eyes of youth. In conclusion, I want to thank Mr. Mantyk for his polemical stand, and his continued work for poetry and literary criticism. We are lucky to have his unique voice at the Society of Classical Poets. Thank you, Bruce. Someone mentioned The Color Purple and my mind immediately went to To Kill a Mocking Bird. Gulliver’s Travels was also close to making my list. One point of clarification. Are your books listed from greatest greatest to least greatest or is there no particular order? I can’t call my list 10 greatest novels or anything like that. More like the 10 most powerful or memorable books, that I’ve read. 1) The Color Purple 2) A Raisin in the Sun 3) A Brave New World 4) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 5) Great Expectations 6) The Nazi Officer’s Wife 7) Unbroken 8) Moby Dick (except for the 200 pages of just…whales) 9) Delores Claiborne (book is way better than the movie, of course) 10) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (whole series) This list is fluid and will obviously shift, as I read different books. Since this is arts, and not sciences, I cheated with #10, because that series was really good. Damian Robin January 6, 2017 off-the-rocker for an older dogg’reled man wanting rest on bum and laurel in half-p’jarma’ed- on my rocking chair for I do want to read and take the info in. Will I succeed within the daily din? Phaps at breakfast I’ll digest a small portion of you feast, for lunch and supper have the rest books on table toast in hand crumbs on vest nothing planned like the fresher that I am in the wider air of true po-em. Evan, There is “no particular order” to the list of novels that moved me; and if I were to make a list of what I consider the ten greatest novels literarily I think I would fall into an abyss from which I never could escape. Many of the novels that I chose would not make that list. What is so impressive about your list is your willingness to list from “greatest greatest to least greatest,” and your reasons are breathtaking for the breadth of your literary knowledge. Who truly cares about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? I know no modern poet whose vision of the Arthurian legend is as profound as yours, which is reminiscent of the ghosts of Tennyson or Robinson. I find fascinating that your “bob and wheel” quote hangs at the ballad form: “Each lord dug in with pleasure, and grabbed at what lay near: twelve platters piled past measure, bright wine and foaming beer.” And who, but you could place “Journey at the West” by Wu Cheng’en at number 2? Other than the appearance of that Chinese novel in a docupoem of mine this year, yours is the only serious mention of that novel on a poetry site I have seen this last year. Their Journey to the West by Wu “Sacred Bee” Li Colonialist Chinese, in their journey to the West, explore the Dragon Blue Hole in their underwater quest, like as the Monkey King, who stole the gold-band iron rod, they sent depth-sensored VideoRay Pro 4 on their pod. These searchers in the Paracels discovered it was steep, the roughly circular sink hole, 300 metres deep. The Monkey King storms into hell; he claims this hole is his. The grand Celestial Emperor asks Buddha for his wiz. The Buddha has the Monkey King escort Monk Xuan Zang, but will he ever get the Sutras to the Falun Gong? As you know from my discussion, I had excluded “Hamlet” as a novel; and I place Shakespeare’s poetic dramas in the company of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. Now that is one place I can make a value judgment: Shakespeare’s English is the best; and you are one of the few 21st century poets who acknowledges his greatness. As you know, his work inspired the following poem of mine from last year. Composed Upon the 400th Anniversary of His Death: April 23, 2016 by Wilude Scabere Shall I compare his language to a grave? It is more lively and more flowery. His rough-shook words refuse to be death’s slave. No tomb’s as showy or so showery. A sepulchre, though hard as rock, erodes, and shrines do often lose their lustre’s prime, while monuments, though nice, make poor abodes, and sadly catacombs decay in time. But Shakespeare’s language will not go away. Unceasingly, his lines play in the mind. They pop up even on a summer’s day. Unlike a crypt, they will not stay behind. Alas, poor Oracle, his song goes on, despite all efforts of oblivion. I could not place Homer’s “Iliad” alongside novels, as both his “Iliad” and “Odyssey” are the best poetic epics of all time; and I think only Vergil in his “Aeneid” approaches Homer. In English, Milton’s has accomplished the best English epic in “Paradise Lost.” Milton changed our language forever. As for Homer, I can’t get through a year without thinking of his works. Among the poems, I have written in relation to Homer this year, is the following short poem. The Mariner by Acwiles Berude He was an ancient mariner, akin to Odysseus, in sailor stripes and pearl strings, this worshipper of Zeus. He bore his chalice through the fallacies of palace guards, and held his cup up to the bards, this bearer of the gods. He firmly held his bearded head up to the force of fate, and could withstand the fire-fury of Achilles’ hate. He gave his all to all who gave as much as these could give. He was a mighty mariner who truly longed to live. He did his best to keep his curved and floating boat on course, through turbulent, uncharted seas to distant, twice-kissed shores. As for the other novels that you chose, I find it interesting that we share two. So you too were carried away by the captivating French novel by Alexandre Dumas: “The Count of Monte Cristo”. Even Mark Twain’s satire of it in “Hucklebrry Finn” cannot dilute its power for me, even though I know that literarily it lacks the grand vision of Hugo’s “Les Misérables,” Balzac’s “La Comédie Humaine,” or Proust’s “À la recherche du temps perdu.” Despite that I like it better; its tale is spectacular. And I remember to this day the human wisdom of “attendre et espérer.” As I have been swept away by Golden and Silver Russian poets and novelists, it is not surprising that we both share a great admiration for Tolstoy’s “War and Piece.” I remember in my youth, when I lived in Russian House at the University of Washington that I adopted the name Andrei from that novel. One novel I almost listed, because it thrilled me almost as much was Pasternak’s “Doctor Zhivago,” from which I “semi-translated” the following poem “Hamlet” this year. Гамлет Гул затих. Я вышел на подмостки. Прислонясь к дверному косяку, Я ловлю в далеком оттолоке, что случится на моем веку. На меня наставлен сумпак ночи тысячью биноклей на оси. Если только можно, Абба Отче, чашу ету мимо пронеси. Я люблю твой замысел упрямый и играть согласен ету роль. Но сейчас идет другая драма, и на єтот раз меня уволъ. Но продуман распорпядок действий, И неотвратим конец пути. Я один, все тонет в фариисействе. Жизнъ прожитъ—не поле перейти. by Alecsei Durbew The noise subsides. I walk onto the stage. While leaning on the lining of the door, I try to, in a far-off echo, gauge what will, within my life and age, occur. Ay me, I’m pinned by night’s eternal show; a thousand op’ra glasses point at me. If you are able, Abba Father, o, please take this cup I do not want to drink. I love your hard, unwavering design; and I’m content to play my given role. But now another play unfolds in time, and just this once, I beg, release my soul. But this predestined plot proceeds undone; and I can’t change the course that I am on. I’m all alone, sunk in oblivion. Life’s not a walk across a field with dawn. Bruce, such a beautiful translation! Thank you for your kind words. James Poulter January 9, 2017 Dear Evan Mantyk, Thank you so much for your hardworking in compiling this list! I am amazed how much our opinions converge. So I am committed to reading the books you recommend which I haven’t yet read, starting with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. But I have gone on Amazon and can’t find any that are simply “anonymous” as you state in your article. The closest I can find is by “anonymous and Richard Morris”. What do you recommend? Thank you. Dear Evan, please forgive my ignorance, I have just looked once more at your article and realised you do specifically state a few good translations. I am going to go for the JR Tolkein one 🙂 No problem, enjoy, James! Reid McGrath January 10, 2017 Neil Gaiman said: “Picking your five favorite books is like picking the five body parts you’d most like not to lose.” Hemingway said: “There is no order for great writers.” Likewise, he also said that every American novel “came through” HUCKLEBERRY FINN. He called it the first American novel. For years I would read four books every spring, when the winter snows were melting and the crocuses were blooming. My reading at the time was somewhat WASPish and chauvinistic. I was sometimes heckled about this, which was entertaining, and yet I was an eighteen to a twenty-four year old kid trying to read everything in the world. I aspired to conquer the Library quite like how I went about playing “RISK:” I would vanquish the world strategically and logically. I would start locally and at home. I would commence in North America. The four books I would read every spring were: HUCKLEBERRY FINN, THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, WINESBURG, OHIO, and THE SUN ALSO RISES. I sometimes read books simply for their style. I also came up with a figurative baseball lineup based on my favorite authors: Twain would play first base, because “everybody came through him.” Crane would play catcher, because he didn’t have a long lifespan. Hemingway would play second, as his play was straightforward and succinct, with Fitzgerald at short-stop, as his style was more ornate and grandiose; but who interacted a lot with Ernest. Steinbeck would play center, as he was talented and could throw far but was looked down upon for not going to Europe when the rest of the ex-pats did, or for writing propaganda; and Salinger would man third, as he was a good defender and didn’t make many mistakes. Faulkner and Henry James were in left and right field, eccentric misfits who liked to watch the game go on around them, with James grumpy and ornery as he wanted to be traded to the English All-Star Team in lieu of the American one; and with Sherwood Anderson as the pinch-hitter, occasionally subbing for Salinger or Steinbeck or Faulkner or James. The two primary pitchers were Thoreau or Melville, as they both could throw an array of pitches as they do sentences, straightforward and terse ones as well as curvaceous and complex ones. Melville could last for eight innings. Kerouac was the closer, because, like many closers, he was insane. So I’ll list my top ten favorite American Novels (WALDEN is a novel as much as Robinson Crusoe is) thus: THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE, by Stephen Crane. THE SUN ALSO RISES, by Ernest Hemingway. WINESBURG, OHIO, by Sherwood Anderson. HUCKLEBERRY FINN, by Mark Twain. WALDEN POND, by Henry David Thoreau. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, by Salinger. THE GREAT GATSBY, by Fitzgerald. THE BEAR (within GO DOWN, MOSES), by Faulkner. MOBY DICK, by Melville. GRAPES OF WRATH, by Steinbeck. I’d really like to add PORTRAIT OF A LADY, by Henry James, and yet he is rather too English for this category, although, compared to English writers, he seems American. I would also like to add Thomas Merton’s SEVEN STORY MOUNTAIN (as it may be in the running for my favorite book ever written) and yet I think Merton was more of a universal man than an American one, and the book is an autobiography. I believe that THE SUN ALSO RISES and MOBY DICK have the best beginnings (BOVARY is also up there and yet not American). I memorized the whole first chapter of TSAR on a dare and memorized the first paragraph of MD just because I like reciting it to myself. “Call me Ishmael.” Outside of American Literature, my top-ten favorite novels are: THE PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN, by James Joyce. MADAME BOVARY, by Flaubert. DON QUIXOTE, by Cervantes. WAR AND PEACE or ANNA KARENINA, by Tolstoy. JANE EYRE, by Charlotte Bronte (which I think puts P & P to shame, Evan ;). THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV, by Dostoevsky. FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, by Hardy. THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE, by Hardy. THE SORROWS OF YOUNG WERTHER, by Goethe. DARKNESS AT NOON, by Arthur Koestler. The novels of Hesse, Turgenev, Graham Greene also belong on this list, and yet as their individual oeuvres somewhat blend together in my mind, I have left them off or out, whereas I would have had them on or in if we were simply talking about ten greatest authors. Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD to me is superior to Orwell’s 1984, and yet I think Orwell’s essays and short novels are immaculately written and entertaining to read. I left BRAVE NEW WORLD off because I think if he never wrote BRAVE NEW WORLD REVISITED I wouldn’t like the novel as much. I read it a second time with my wife, and, like Evan, I find the end dissatisfying. It starts off on a tear and then somewhat piddles out. I think as a work of art it is somewhat incomplete. I am definitely forgetting a plethora of novelists and great novels. I also haven’t read everything yet. But what how exciting books are. I could do this all day. Like Hugo said in LES MIS: “Books are cold but are sure friends.” Evan Mantyk January 10, 2017 Thank you, Reid. You have highlighted an American deficiency in my list. I am waiting to add The American Poet by Reid McGrath, 2018. J.L.S January 18, 2017 For Americana, I think Nathaniel Hawthorne also deserves consideration. He was completely absent from my grammar school education and I think that was an unforgivable admission. John Smith December 21, 2019 In the American category, don’t forget John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces and Nathaneal West’s The Day of the Locust. Winesburg, Ohio and Walden do not qualify as novels. Worldwide, add The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Lew Icarus Bede February 5, 2017 Reid McGrath, I’m sorry for this belated reply, but it is inspiring to hear your voice again. I had forgotten how strongly novelistic your vision is. What tactics—playing Risk strategically and logically, and starting locally in North America. And then your baseball team. Of course, my line-up would differ, but your team might still beat mine. But how could I argue with whom you put in right field. Henry James definitely deserves that place for the reason you gave. His brother William would have been a more pragmatic choice; but I understand this is a list of novels, not philosophical tracts. The two novels of your American top ten that I would most vigourously defend are Twain’s Huck Finn, for its marvelous balance of brutality and farce and Melville’s Moby-Dick for its expansive, albeit hostile, view. And both of those writers wrote other very remarkable works as well. Twain may be America’s greatest humourist. One of the qualities I admire in your character, Reid, is your breathtaking pertinacity; so, to be blunt, I dislike disagreeing with someone who is so inspiring to me personally. Still…I would never call Walden a novel. For me, it is an unendurably long, self-involved essay; however, I do find it a remarkable work for several reasons, not least of which is, the plain-speaking quality Thoreau evinces on existence, and his willingness to take on Homer. In my mind, Thoreau was an utter failure in the latter; but he has gone farther than any American writer in that respect; so he retains my respect. I also admire Faulkner’s novella The Bear, but the novels he wrote that have most impressed me are The Sound and the Fury, the compressed As I Lay Dying, and the over(t)ly extreme Absolom, Absolom! Here is an imperfect sonnet, that was published in a Southern review, that I wrote on a single paragraph from one Faulkner’s short stories. The Antepenultimate Paragraph of Faulkner’s Barn Burning by Cause Bewilder He ran on, his blood and his breath roaring, unable to hear the galloping mare almost upon him, in wild grief soaring to hurl himself through th’ early summer air into the weed-choked, roadside ditch, the horse thundering past and on, for an instance in furious silhouette against the stars— the fierce rider! before vanishing, and then springing up into the road, running again, knowing it was too late, hearing the shots, crying out loud, “Pap! Pap!” stumbling, the glare of the fire at his back, searing, running among the invisible trees, panting, sobbing, “Father! Father!” bent knees. As for Hemingway, I am most impressed with his understated style, especially in some of his early short stories. Here is an unpublished sonnet of mine on the novel you chose that I tried to reread this last summer. Hemingway may have been hard on Stein and Fitzgerald, as a literary friend of mine once told me, but others can be hard on him as well—it comes with the territory. On Ernest Hemingway by Wilbur Dee Case Ernest Hemingway sure knew how to write depressing novels, if that is what one desires. The Sun Also Rises is right there at the top, a tale of depression. There’s Jake, an American journalist [surprise, surprise], ex-fiancée Brett, her semi-fiance Mike, and the rest, writers Robert and Bill [oh, to forget]. These lost-generation expatriates take an extended vacation to Spain to watch bull-fights, drink hard [like idiots], and find contentment only in the vain. How could it really be any surprise then, that he would receive the Nobel Prize? I have to admit I am unfamiliar with Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain; though I do remember reading some of his poetry. As for all of your choices, I must defer to your sincerity, which is superior to mine. Reid McGrath February 9, 2017 Dear JLS, Nathaniel Hawthorne definitely deserves consideration. I was hoping to catch your attention. I’ve always felt the opposite emotion while reading Hemingway: not depressed, but uplifted. In striving to be a writer myself, I used to believe that there was a vulnerability to writing which made it endearing, if for the sole fact that it was not indomitable, or, to appease Orwell and expurgate the double negative, because it was reproducible or even able to be surpassed. To put it bluntly, when I was younger I loved reading Hemingway because I thought I could write as simply and as lucidly as him. But I was wrong. Nobody could or should try to write like him again (despite the fact that so many have tried). Everyone has their own opinions, but to me he was a major artistic talent. PS. I concede that Walden is not a novel. As of now I am still inspired by it though. As I am Crevecoeur’s LETTERS OF AN AMERICAN FARMER. Epictetus February 24, 2017 I accept that this list is compiled by you but still your non inclusion of Anna Karenina leads me to believe that either you have not read it or you didn’t understand it. I can guarantee you that even the most hard-hitting critic of Anna Karenina cannot exclude it from his/her top 10 list. But to each his own. P.S I read great expectations after Anna Karenina but it felt like a stale experience for me. I advise you to read Anna and fall in love with her. Evan August 2, 2017 Dear Epictetus, I’m curious how you would compare War and Peace to Anna Karenina (the latter of which I have not read all of, but have enjoyed a number of movie adaptations of) Epictetus August 2, 2017 Your greatest folly is that you think Anna Karenina can be captured in movies, no the very artificial nature of adaptations and the time they can devote, at best renders them a pale shadow of Anna. The novel only pretends to be a story of individuals, what is shows truly is the nature of humans (hypocritical). As to your query about Anna Karenina and War and Peace, I prefer not to compare them, War and Peace by its sheer volume and complexity lets us see life in general, while Anna Karenina shows passion and burden, which stems from the unchangeable circumstances one finds himself/herself in, i.e What is, is. Dear Epictetus, I didn’t say “capture” because I think almost anyone who has experienced both agrees that a book is better than a movie adaptation as a sort of general unwritten rule. “A pale shadow” is your own excellent rendering of this subordinate relationship. If you are interested in writing an analysis of the merits of Anna Karenina, you may submit it to submissions@classicalpoets.org for publication consideration. I look forward to reading it! Joan Carol Fullmore March 15, 2017 Catch 22 – changed the way I looked at life and how not to judge others by their appearances Sultana Raza April 25, 2017 This is a very interesting discussion. I agree that most of the books in Evan’s first list deserve to be placed there, even if I would change the order just a bit, and I’d try to add Virginia Woolf there as well. Going at a different tangent, I’d like to mention the fact that the fantasy genre is being taken more seriously than it was in the past. Some interesting fantasy novel writers include Tolkien, of course. David Mitchell has an interesting world view, and his deft layering of stories, time periods, cultures, and societies make for an interesting mixture. While ‘Ghostwritten’ covers a lot of countries and place, ‘Cloud Atlas’ goes beyond to different time periods, which makes for fascinating character studies, and social commentary on present times. While Rick Riordan may be a ‘children’s writer,’ his research into myths is very impressive, and he manages to inject a lot of fun and humour into new mythological fabrications. For anyone who loves myths, his books tend to make one smile, besides providing a lot of information about certain obscure mythological characters. From George R. R. Martin, one can learn to create innumerable plot twists. He spends years creating vast universes, in which he leaves ample room to hide lots of clues and false trails, which his readers love to puzzle over. Switching to science fiction, there’re a lot of philosophical questions to be pondered over in Asimov’s works, for example… I’d like to see a top ten list of fantasy novels from Ms. Raza, that would be interesting. Bruce E. Wren January 7, 2018 Nice article, and interesting choices. I balked a little at the author’s definition of “novel”, but to each his own. However, I must say that even using the author’s sense of “novel”, any best 10 list would have to include “Don Quixote” by Cervantes. Besides being the first novel, it is arguably the greatest of all. The response by Reid McGrath was very well thought out, I think, and I would also include Dostoyevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov” in the top 10. Finally, the greatest American Novel ever written is “Moby Dick” by Melville, and I don’t know how one could put “Robinson Crusoe” before it. Still, Evan wrote the article, and kudos to him for an eye-opening list of his favorites. James A. Tweedie January 20, 2018 Sorry to be so late in joining the conversation. Let me begin by saying I am in agreement that any list of American novels must include either Moby Dick or Huckleberry Finn at its head followed by something of Hemingway (depressing as he may be), Fitzgerald (Gatsby, probably) and Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath. As regards English lit I am surprised no one proffered Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress as one of the most seminal influences on both culture and language alongside (yet admitedly below) Shakespeare and the King James version of the Bible. For over 200 years it was second only to the Bible in copies printed each year. I would be so bold as to say that one would be hard pressed to understand18th and 19th century English/American literature without having first come to terms with Christian’s spiritual/moral journey to the Celestial City. When Thackery gave his 1847 novel the title Vanity Fair there would have been few in the English speaking world who would not have immediately understood the allusion and been tempted to read the new work with the same interest that drew Christian to the original locale. Twain went so far as to cheekily subtitle Innocents Abroad “The New Pilgrim’s Progress” and C.S. Lewis’ first attempt at Christian apologetics was an imitative allegory entitled Pilgrim’s Regress. As far as Dickens is concerned, we can be grateful that his social/moral commentary brought both shame and reform to England (which desparately needed to address the injustices imposed by the lethal combination of unbridaled capitalism, the Industrial revolution and the dehumanizing social, economic, and institutionalized legalism which the upper, privileged classes used to oppress their self-pronounced inferiors). We must not forget, however, that Dickens was often paid by the word and added as many of them as he could to pad his manuscripts with enough verbiage to lower their (undisputed) literary greatness by at least one notch. I might also add that his contemporary, George McDonald, not only sold more books than Dickens but found the time to create the fantasy genre with his 1858 novel, Phantastes. Even so, Dickens is his superior, and although I am fond of the Dicken’s novels previously cited I am personally partial to A Tale of Two Cities and would include it on my list if I were to make one. I would also add Tolkien’s Ring Trilogy to the conversation as being first-rate literature on so many levels as to virtually qualify itself as a unique literary genre. As far as non-English Western literature is concerned, Don Quixote, hands down. Sally Cook January 23, 2018 What about “The Idiot”, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky? Aren’t all true poets “Idiots” in this sense ! Anyone who has not read it, should; Written in the 1860s, it is not a difficult read, and still resonates, as all great books do. Dabotap March 16, 2018 Am a literati en I wanna learn how to write, interpret poems and songs. Caleb Hathcock April 7, 2018 I find it strange that The Lord of the Rings was not listed… Such a novel deserves the respect of being in the pantheon of novels, correct? What other author has devised such a deep and remarkable tale than J.R.R. Tolkien? And for that matter, the Silmarillion should be placed at it’s side as well. Nichael Cramer May 31, 2018 If I might plug two other translations of Homer: Probably the two standard modern (i.e. 20th century) translations are those by Richard Lattimore and Robert Fitzgerald. They each have their own strengths. Lattimore –working as the poet he was– tried very hard to maintain, as nearly as possible, something resembling the dactylic hexameter of the original. On the other hand, Fitzgerald’s translation tends more toward a “literal” translation, while still having its own lyric quality. (My ideal recommendation –assuming you had the time and energy– would be to read the two in parallel.) Acwiles Berude June 12, 2018 Although I don’t believe that Homer is responsible for all of the Iliad and Odyssey (unlike Vergil in his “Aeneid” or Milton in his “Paradise Lost”), his genius is profoundly all over them—but really only in the Greek. Translations, as fine as they are, never touch the poetry which oozes through the hexametres, like honey in a hive, a strange miracle of life. Yours Truly March 20, 2019 No 50 Shades of Grey? agamemnon April 3, 2019 A plausible list cannot exclude the Divine Comedy, the Aeneid, the Chanson de Geste, the Occitan literature, Petrarch etc… Leave a Reply to Damian Robin Cancel Reply	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line604
__label__cc	0.736589	0.263411	Psalms for the High Country, by Peter Bridges Rhyming Riddle Contest Poetry Contests, Riddles Classical Book Review: The Icelandic Sagas: Tales of Kings and Heroes (Folio) Joshua Philipp Classical Literature, Essays, Poetry, Reviews "Cathédrale de Notre-Dame de Chartres," photo by the poet. ‘Notre-Dame de Chartres’ by James A. Tweedie (Last Part in the Favorite Places Sonnet Series) Enrobed in blue—enthroned and crowned—her Son, __With proffered blessing, safely in her hands— __The Queen of Heaven reigns on high as one __Who holds in love all those whom she commands. Her palace is the church which bears her name, __Her holy veil secure within its walls, __Where pilgrim choirs process to her acclaim __And Stabat Maters echo through the halls. The Western Rose her signet’s royal seal; __Her walls adorned with tapestries of glass. __With tears she joins her subjects as they kneel __To worship and receive her Son at Mass. And all the while, above each sculpted door, The unmatched spires of Chartres Cathedral, soar. James A. Tweedie is a recently retired pastor living in Long Beach, Washington. He likes to walk on the beach with his wife. He has written and self-published four novels and a collection of short stories. He has several hundred unpublished poems tucked away in drawers. Peter Hartley July 21, 2020 James – I once did a 66 mile walk on pilgrimage from Notre-Dame Dame in Paris to Notre-Dame in Chartres (over two-and-a-half days, nothing very arduous) but I remember we could see Chartres from a long way off and it felt like coming home and partly because it had demanded some effort it became in my mind the finest Gothic immensity I had ever seen. I don’t know how the seating capacity compares with some football stadia but they had to take ‘em all out. Standing room only. Breathing the atmosphere in that Cathedral tells you better than anything there must be a God somewhere. James A. Tweedie July 21, 2020 I can’t say that I’ve ever walked to Chartres—I’ve driven a car or taken the train. But I do have a treasured photo I took in 1973 looking across a wheat field with nothing on the horizon but the cathedral and its spires ascending as if to heaven. No doubt the exact same view that inspired peasants and kings back in the Middle Ages. The recent controversial restoration which has re-covered the interior with what is believed to have been its original white plaster brightens the place wonderfully, but steals some of the mystery from its previous time-worn darkness. Fortunately, the lighter color on the walls does not appear to have made the ethereal beauty of the windows any less spectacular. My latest visit allowed me time to explore the old city all the way down to the river. After the rain stopped and the sun came out it was very pleasant to view the cathedral from many different angles. If you haven’t read it, you must savor Henry Adams’ classic book, Mount San Michel and Chartres—a book that has inspired and guided me since my high school days. And what you say about God and Chartres is spot on—although, as my poem points out, the church was specifically built to honor Our Lady and enshrine her holy relic. By the way, capturing the flowered bee in the photograph was serendipitous insofar as 1. It landed on the flower as I focused the shot and I did not even know it was there until after I took the picture, and 2. The honeybee is, coincidently, one of the iconic symbols for the Virgin Mary, which made its sudden, unexpected appearance even more remarkable. James – I’m sure that white plaster wasn’t always white plaster and that your “time-worn darkness” will have featured frequently over the years. I think the thickness and density or opacity of a chancel or rood screen is a good thermometer of the ardour of a particular age too. At periods when a great sense of mystery was probably invoked the screen was so dense you could scarcely see what was going on at the altar, and in more enlightened (in every sense) times they would even go to the makeshift extent of chopping the stiles out under the tracery and hacking holes (squints) through the wainscot. I can’t help thinking that on appearances alone Chartres looks better with the mystery and a basilica perhaps better without. Julian D. Woodruff July 21, 2020 Thank you, Mr. Tweedie I think this is the best of your place sonnets I have seen. Mr. Hartley has aptly mentioned the breathtaking sight of the church rising over the wheat fields as one approaches it from the direction of Paris. On my first visit, in the thickest fog, I could see nothing of it until it loomed in its immensity, thirty feet or so from me. Those impressions, along with the windows, the sculpture, and the erosion of the floor from the procession of penitents, all on their knees, are my strongest memories. But I’m uncertain today’s world has the will to guard it, to say nothing to bend back towards the world of faith that created this wonder … Because of foresight, Notre Dame de Chartres retained its priceless glass against the attack of storming troops arrived from foreign parts. (Too bad of such precaution there was lack when it came to that church’s treasury.) Do there exist today the troops that would make of this place a distant memory, for lack of due resistance, if they could? Thank you, Julian, for your kind words and for your trenchant verse, which asks an interesting question. Margaret Coats July 21, 2020 James, I can’t think of an adjective superlative enough for this sonnet. Like Peter Hartley, I’ve been on the Pentecost Pilgrimage, once as a walker with the Orange County, California, contingent, and once taking prayer hours at a Versailles church to support the walkers that parish had sent. Unlike Peter, I found the trek arduous, and I was greatly impressed with Europeans twenty years older than myself keeping up the pace while having enough breath to explain to young pilgrims the value of traditional practices. The sonnet’s words and images speak of so many memories, above all the strength of her to whom the cathedral is dedicated, and who kept me going to arrive at the pilgrimage Mass, along with that glorious marching column of thousands of others–itself an unforgettable sight as it moves from the woods into open fields. Your photos, James, complement your poem superbly. Julian, I appreciate your lines and question as well. I heard that it was Dwight David Eisenhower himself who preserved Chartres Cathedral in World War II. Allied forces were taking fire, and he was urged to take out enemy lookouts presumed to be in the spires. He refused; all honor to him. Wow, what a story, Ms Coats! What general or president would respond similarly today? Or dare to? I’m reviewing the ranks of US politicians speculatively. (I don’t know enough about military personnel to do so with them.) R M Moore July 22, 2020 Thank you so much for that great poem. It is always refreshing to read uplifting things about our Queen of Heaven. C.B. Anderson July 22, 2020 There are no sentiments in these comments I wouldn’t second, but, to nitpick, the last comma in the poem is not only unnecessary, but is also misplaced. No comma ever needs to come between a subject and its predicate. C.B. You are absolutely correct. I discovered the error after the poem was posted and had corrected it on my computer even before I read your comment. Thanks for sharing your eagle-eye. Susan Jarvis Bryant July 23, 2020 James, I love the sonnet and the pictures – I adore that symbolic bee! I only have one complaint. Those horrible words: “Last Part in the Favorite Places Sonnet Series”. Surely, but surely, a well-travelled man with the ability to write spot-on sonnets has many more places to share with his captive audience. More please, Sir!	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line605
__label__wiki	0.99677	0.99677	University of Minnesota Duluth Press Release (1966-07-21) University of Minnesota, Duluth News Service (University of Minnesota, Duluth, 1966) UMD Press Release (1966-07-21-Five).pdf (590.4Kb application/pdf) University of Minnesota, Duluth News Service Press Releases [4238] University of Minnesota, Duluth News Service. (1966). Press Release (1966-07-21). University of Minnesota, Duluth. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, http://hdl.handle.net/11299/196907. Kathryn A. Martin Library 416 Library Drive	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line611
__label__cc	0.561902	0.438098	1914 1918 Menu Maps & Photos Able Seaman George Archibald Docherty Collingwood Battalion Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 'D' Company, 2nd Platoon Service No: Clyde Z/1969 Click here for a frameable A4 print Son of Robert (13/06/1861-1936) and Elizabeth Archibald Docherty (25/02/1865-1901) of 5 Coats St then 285 Dundyvan Rd, Coatbridge. Georges' younger brother Private William Docherty of the 16th Battalion Highland Light Infantry Died of Wounds on the 21/06/1918. George had 2 other brothers also serving. From the 1901 Census - Address - 7 Coats St, Coatbridge - Robert Docherty aged 39, Elizabeth Docherty aged 36, Janet Archibald Docherty aged 14 (1887-1917), Robert Docherty aged 12 (1889-1929), George A Docherty aged 9, William J A Docherty aged 5, Edward Docherty aged 1. George and his brother William's Pension was awarded to his father Robert of 5 Coats St, Coatbridge. Born / Resided Coatbridge / c/o 1g Barrowfield St, Coatbridge when he enlisted. Killed in Action 04/06/1915 wounds to the back at the Dardanelles Tube Worker in the Union Tube Works. 24 / DOB - 31/05/1891 Buried / Remembered Helles Memorial (Panel 8 to 16), Turkey. Cemetery / Memorial Information The eight month campaign in Gallipoli was fought by Commonwealth and French forces in an attempt to force Turkey out of the war, to relieve the deadlock of the Western Front in France and Belgium, and to open a supply route to Russia through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea. The Allies landed on the peninsula on 25-26 April 1915; the 29th Division at Cape Helles in the south and the Australian and New Zealand Corps north of Gaba Tepe on the west coast, an area soon known as Anzac. On 6 August, further landings were made at Suvla, just north of Anzac, and the climax of the campaign came in early August when simultaneous assaults were launched on all three fronts. However, the difficult terrain and stiff Turkish resistance soon led to the stalemate of trench warfare. The Helles Memorial serves the dual function of Commonwealth battle memorial for the whole Gallipoli campaign and place of commemoration for many of those Commonwealth servicemen who died there and have no known grave. The United Kingdom and Indian forces named on the memorial died in operations throughout the peninsula, the Australians at Helles. There are also panels for those who were lost at sea, in one of the troopships sunk off Gallipoli. Over 20,000 names are commemorated on this memorial. > Able Seaman J Toogood formerly of the Collingwood Battalion then Anson stated that AB Docherty was killed on the 04/06/1915 and that his body was lying in front of the trench before retirement. It was not possible to recover the body. His own words - "During the retirement on June 4th I saw Docherty lying on his face between Turkish and our own trenches. It seemed as though he was hit in the back for the back of his tunic was covered in blood. He appeared to me to be nearly dead. I never say him again". AB Toogood was killed on the 13/11/1916. See Directory for George's younger brother Private William Docherty's page. Also remembered on the East United Free Church and Maxwell Parish Churches' Rolls of Honour (see photos). See photos for George's Newspaper clippings x 2, his Naval Casualties Record, his Naval Medal and Award Rolls, his CWGC Grave Registration, his name on the Helles Memorial Panel List, the Collingwood Battalion Shoulder Title and George and his brother William's Pension Records x 3. We have made this information and the images available under a Creative Commons BY-NC license. This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement: © coatbridgeandthegreatwar.com There are no comments yet for Able Seaman George Archibald Docherty. Be the first to leave one. Do you have any information about or memories of Able Seaman George Archibald Docherty that you would like to share? 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Online links to photos (Optional - please put each link on a separate line) By clicking this checkbox you accept our terms & conditions and acknowledge that any links you provide to photos are your copyright or are out of copyright Photos and research supplied by John McCann Website design © 2018-2021 Steven Buick Medal Index Card Coatbridge Express 27/01/1915 East United Free Church Roll of Honour Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser 26/06/1915 Coatbridge Express 23/06/1915 Remembered at home Maxwell Parish Church Roll of Honour George's Naval Medal and Award Rolls George's Naval Casualties Record George's CWGC Grave Registration Cap Badge Georges name on the Helles Memorial Panel List George and his brother William's Pension Record (1) Cookie Policy for coatbridgeandthegreatwar.com website. 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__label__cc	0.683079	0.316921	NEWS, WEIRD Thai man found lying naked by Chonburi beach, tells police it was to make ex-girlfriend regret leaving him By Coconuts Bangkok Nov 8, 2018 \| 5:26pm Bangkok time Photo: Sanook This morning, a middle-aged Thai man was found lying naked on the sidewalk by Chonburi’s Na Jomtien beach with a crushed rose bouquet by his body. When police approached the man, identified as 42-year-old Tongbai Soiprom from Loei province, he simply said that he was stressed and felt heartbroken because he had just been abandoned by his girlfriend. Police said he smelled like liquor, Amarin TV reported. Tongbai said that after the breakup, he started drinking by the beach and at some point, decided to remove all of his clothes in order to “show off his body,” so his girlfriend would “regret leaving him.” After the conversation, officials offered him clothes but Tongbai refused to be detained by the police and ran into the sea. In the end, he was captured and taken to the Na Jomtien police station and charged with public obscenity. The punishment for the charge is a fine of THB500 (US$15). CITY: BANGKOKCATEGORY: NEWSSUB-CATEGORIES: WEIRD	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line618
__label__wiki	0.815953	0.815953	Yozza Triumphs in Sweden August 27, 2015 Simon Allen News 0 Jamie Hughes - three titles in 2015. Jamie Hughes shot himself back up to BDO World Number Four at the weekend when he cruised to victory in the 46th Swedish Open. Jamie overcame eight opponents on the way to his second Scandinavian final this year, after being runner-up at the Denmark Masters in May. A Place at the Top Table When we interviewed Jamie earlier in the year, he spoke about his desire to remain in the BDO’s top sixteen so he could keep playing the major tournaments. So far he’s doing pretty well on that front – he’s won the Romanian Classic and was semi-finalist in the Hal Masters, German Masters and Denmark Open in 2015. The Latter Rounds Yozza with his spoils. Image courtesy of Jamie Hughes Jamie saw off Steve Pearce 4-1 in the final of Group 9, before taking on Stefaan de Prez in the last 16. Yozza had onky beaten Stefaan once in their five or six previous encounters, but this time he whitewashed the Belgian 4-0 to move into a quater-final with Martin Atkins. Jamie beat Atkins 5-2 before breezing past Mark McGeeney 5-1 in the semi-final. The Dutchman Ryan de Vreede awaited Yozza in the final. Ryan had beaten Darryl Fitton, Scott Mitchell and Willem Mandigers in the three rounds leading to the final, so was certainly in some great form. Maybe it was because those three matches all went to deciders that Ryan felt jaded in the final – Jamie romped home 6-1 to seal the Swedish Open title. “It was only really when I looked at the names on the trophy that I realised how prestigious this tournament is – van Barneveld, Bristow and Bob Anderson – all world champions, so I’m delighted to have won it.” Jamie Hughes, after winning the Swedish Open 2015 Swedish Open Champion 2015 We caught up with Jamie after final to find out how he was feeling and how the day had gone… “I pretty much won comfortably all day, apart from a match in the earlier rounds that went to the deciding leg. “I was over the moon with beating my bogey player, Stefaan de Prez, as well. I think before yesterday I’d beaten him once in five or six matches.” Scott Mitchell – Quarter-Finalist “I’m pleased with my performance in the tournament as a whole. There are plenty of positives and I’m gaining good solid ranking points” Scott Mitchell, after his Swedish Open 2015 quarter-final exit After his quarter-final exit at the hands of Ryan de Vreede, we also took the opportunity to see how Scott Mitchell’s day had gone… “I played well all day, but a quarter-final is the wrong game to have a couple of iffy legs! I lost one leg after missing five darts at a double, but redeemed myself with a 140 shot out in another leg when Ryan was on 56. “I missed bull in the last leg only to watch him [de Vreede] shoot out with 80 with his third dart in another last leg decider. In the two rounds prior to the quarter-final, Scott had beaten both Martin Lober and Michel van der Horst 4-1. BDO Mens Invitation Top Ten (after the Swedish Open) 356 Glen Durrant (England) 304 Martin Adams (England) 286 Scott Mitchell (England) 276 Jamie Hughes (England) 274 Geert de Vos (Belgium) 274 Wesley Harms (Netherlands) 273 Jeffrey de Graaf (Netherlands) 260 Darryl Fitton (England) 242 Martin Phillips (Wales) 225 Pip Blackwell (England) Were you at the Swedish Open 2015? Maybe you’d like to share your experience there with us below… Please take some time to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Martin Lober Michel van der Horst Ryan de Vreede Steven Pearce Swedish Open Yozza	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line621
__label__wiki	0.55051	0.55051	Teachers Beneath The Trees Fiona Wood: Inventor of spray-on skin Wednesday Weeks series Zeroes and Ones The Cosmic Adventures of Alice and Bob Hashimoto Monsters / Takeshita Demons Speaking: online, virtual, e and real life Cristy Burne Tag Archives: CSIRO by cristyburne Leave a comment Shout-out to Australia’s first astronomers on International Astronomy Day On this International Astronomy Day, let’s have a shout-out for our First Peoples, and all those incredible Aboriginal astronomers who passed down knowledge over tens of thousands of years. Early Aboriginal astronomers could identify thousands of stars by name. They used this knowledge of the sky to predict changing seasons, tides, and navigate country. Several Aboriginal cultures recorded comets and meteors, or had accurate theories about solar and lunar eclipses. Some researchers believe their astronomical observations might pre-date Egypt’s pyramids and England’s Stonehenge. “There’s lots of depth and complexity in Aboriginal cultures, lots of great intellectual achievements,” says CSIRO astrophysicist Ray Norris, who studies Aboriginal astronomy. “We have a lot to learn from the Aboriginal people.” “Many of these stories have been lost,” he says, “but let’s try and make sure we record what there is.” The Emu in the Sky Next time you’re in the bush during autumn or winter, wait till night falls, then stare up at the twinkling stars of the Milky Way. Now look between the stars, into the dark spaces… Can you see the Emu in the Sky? It’s a massive emu-shaped patch of darkness known to Aboriginal people all across Australia. “It’s the most amazing sight,” says Ray. “It’s enormous, and completely different from the European constellations.” We now know the Emu in the Sky exists because of molecule clouds floating through the galaxy, blocking the star light. “Those dark spaces are where stars are being born,” says Ray. The Wurdi Youang stones The Wathaurung people built the Wurdi Youang stone ring in what is now Victoria, perhaps thousands of years ago. They carefully arranged around 100 stones into a 50-metre-long egg shape, oriented almost exactly East-West. The stones mark the position on the horizon where the Sun sets on equinoxes and solstices. Equinox or solstice? Twice a year, the Earth’s equator aligns with the centre of the Sun, making the day is exactly as long as the night. Modern astronomers call these two days the equinoxes. The solstices are the longest and shortest days of the year. Orion and the 7 Sisters Can you find Orion, the hunter, in the sky? Aboriginal stories often link the constellation of Orion with a male hunter or fisherman, just like European stories. What about Pleiades’ seven sisters? In most Aboriginal cultures, the stars of Pleiades are female, just like European stories. And Aboriginal and European stories both mention seven sisters, which is strange. You might see four, six, or even eight sister stars, but never seven. “You get these same stories, right throughout the world,” says Ray. “Why should Orion be male and the Seven Sisters be female? The stories all say there are seven sisters, and there aren’t.” So why are these stories so similar? Ray believes the answer may be that the stories were first told more than 100,000 years ago, before the first humans left Africa. Want more Aboriginal astronomy? This story originally appeared in CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine, (c) CSIRO. For more on Aboriginal astronomy check out www.emudreaming.com. Tags: CSIRO, Indigenous science, science writing \| Permalink. International ‘Ask A Question’ Day The world is full of questions at the moment, more so than ever. Thank goodness we have science and creativity to help answer them. Ever heard of International ‘Ask A Question’ Day? Science is all about asking questions and finding answers, and there are so many questions to choose from. For CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine, I asked some of Australia’s top scientists about the questions they’d most like to see answered… Fiona Wood: “Can we think ourselves whole?” Professor Fiona Wood is Director of the Burns Service of Western Australia and has worked for 20 years as a burns surgeon and researcher. She invented spray-on skin for treating burns, was 2005 Australian of the Year, and is an Australian Living Treasure. “There is so much information all around us but how do we know what is right, true, useful and how do we craft that knowledge into a solution? “I have so many unknowns that keep driving me forward. Why do we scar and not regenerate tissues to the original form and function? Why does a burn injury have a lifelong impact? “Where do I find the answers? Working across disciplines bringing many minds to solve the problem is key. “I want to understand the role of the nervous system, the brain and all the nerves, in controlling self-organisation of tissue to drive a regenerative pattern. Ultimately – can we think ourselves whole???” Brian Schmidt: “Is there life on other planets?” Professor Brian P. Schmidt won a 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering that our universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. He’s an astrophysicist (and Vice Chancellor) at the Australian National University. “I would like to find out if there is life on other planets, and if so, how many planets have life. “Life on Earth is amazing, but trying to imagine what life might be across the Universe is even more amazing. “Over the coming 10 to 20 years, we will, with the next generation of telescopes, be able to look at many exo-planet atmospheres, and see the tell-take signs of life, if it exists. “Who knows what we will find?” Mary-Anne Williams: “Will we ever understand consciousness?” Professor Mary-Anne Williams is Director of the Innovation and Enterprise Research Laboratory (AKA the Magic Lab) at University of Technology Sydney. She’s an expert on disruptive innovation, loves to turn science fiction into reality, and is one of Robohub’s Top 25 Women in Robotics. “There are millions of questions about consciousness that don’t have an answer. “Imagine being a cat for a day. What would it feel like to wiggle ears on the top of your head and to have retractable claws instead of fingers? “I wonder how our mind and body work together to create human experiences. How do they make us feel happy, sad, anxious and excited? How do they create perceptions of reality that feel so real? “For example, pain is not real, it’s a perception created by our minds, so how does feel so hurtful? How do the neurons in our brain create our thoughts, likes, dislikes, desires and imagination? I build robots to try to find out.” What’s your big question this International ‘Ask A Question’ Day? Tags: CSIRO, science writing \| Permalink. Love Your Pet Day: They’re not just cute, they’re good for you Happy Love Your Pet Day! Make sure you give your pet an extra cuddle today. That’s because they’re not just cute, they’re also good for you. Research shows spending just ten minutes a day patting a dog can make you feel more relaxed and happy. “Having pets, and being around animals, can make you less depressed, less anxious, and less stressed,” says anthrozoologist Dr Pauleen Bennet. Researchers have also found people with pets tend to have higher self-esteem and better physical fitness. Plus pet owners are seen as more friendly, approachable and attractive (just sayin’). Don’t like cats or dogs? Pauleen says humans are hardwired to be social, so living with any type of pet can improve your mood. “Guinea pigs, rabbits, snakes… But don’t rush out and get a pet. Think about what you’re doing, get a pet that fits your lifestyle.” Inside dog, outside dog The more time you spend with your pet, the more benefit you’ll get from it. “What’s important is not whether you own a pet, but your relationship with it,” Pauleen says. “If you have a dog and put in the yard and never spend time with it, or you have a cat and it’s out wandering the neighbourhood, you don’t get the same benefits.” Pauleen’s research shows that people who think their dog is cute have a better relationship with that dog. Want to excel at school? “School-based studies show kids concentrate better and perform better if they have a dog around them,” Pauleen says. “Things like following instructions, remembering things, solving problems…kids were better at doing it when there was a dog in the room.” Don’t forget: pets need love too. “You have to think about the welfare of the animal as well as the welfare of the people,” Pauline says. “Class pets are really good, but someone has to look after them after hours and on holidays.” It’s a cave dog’s life Why do we respond so well to pets? It could be evolution. “This is all speculative, but there’s good reason to believe that early people who lived with dogs survived better,” Pauleen says. “Dogs could warn when other tribes approached, they helped hunt and track things to eat, and they cleaned up rubbish, so there was less disease.” What’s anthrozoology? Anthro: people Zoo: animals Pauleen is an anthrozoologist. “I have the best job on earth,” she says. If you like the sound of anthrozoology, Pauleen suggests you get started right away: “Read everything you can about animals and people, do volunteer work with animals, and work really, really hard. Make sure you work at something you love.” I originally penned this article for CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine. Hope you enjoyed it 🙂 And happy Love Your Pet Day! Flossed in translation Feeling fuzzy? Go brush! That sweater-mouth feeling is plaque, a layer of soft white gunk coating your teeth. And don’t forget floss, especially since today is Flossing Day. (Happy Flossing Day everyone!) And guess what? You can even use the same piece of floss as last time. Don’t believe me? Ask your dentist. I did, for CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine…. If you look at unbrushed teeth using a microscope, you’ll see hungry colonies of bacteria munching sugary leftovers from between your teeth. These bacteria release acids that dissolve the protective enamel on the outside of your teeth, and cause cavities. “Brushing your teeth removes these bacteria, so they can’t sit on the surface of your tooth for too long,” explains dentist Dr Peter Klages. “But if you’re snacking throughout the day, the bacteria have a constant supply of sugar to work with, so you’re increasing your decay rate.” Peter says it’s fine to brush right after a sugary snack, like dried fruit or lollies, but wait half an hour before brushing after an acidic drink, like juice or soda. This gives your saliva a chance to neutralise the acids and protect your enamel. And what about re-using floss? Well, you reuse your toothbrush all the time, so… “There’s no harm in reusing floss, provided it’s still intact enough to clean between your teeth,” says dentist Dr Peter Klages. “Flossing once a day maintains healthy gums, and helps avoid decay where the brush can’t reach.” Lost in the jungle without a toothbrush? No excuse. “It doesn’t matter what you use, as long as you’re cleaning thoroughly,” says Peter. “Some cultures use cloth, others use a stick that has been feathered at the end.” It’s best to brush twice a day: after breakfast and before bed. Peter also recommends drinking water after a meal, to wash away food particles and acid. Mouth party Dark, warm, moist and stuffed with food, your mouth is home to more than 400 species of bacteria, but not all of them cause decay. The main culprit is Streptococcus mutans, a bacterium that combines with proteins in your saliva to grow into plaque. The new drill Has your dentist spotted signs of early decay? A University of Sydney study suggests early decay can actually be reversed, with up to 50 per cent of fillings avoided if you: Ask your dentist to coat the trouble spot with fluoride varnish Clean the spot super-well every time you brush Cut back on sugary snacks and drinks Visit your dentist regularly Peter says a two-minute brush is the minimum: “Brushing faster isn’t going to clean any better…You have to take time to get into those all the nooks and crannies, to clean really well.” How do RFID microchips work? Happy International Veterinary Medicine Day! My best friend is a vet, and she spends her days looking after our pets. One of the things she does is inject microchips, to help us identify and find lost pets. In Australia today, most dogs and cats carry a tiny microchip – about the size of a grain of rice – under the skin between their shoulder blades. Your pet can’t feel its chip, but this mini device helps many furry friends to find their way home. Lost and found: family pet Vets like my friend use a special needle to inject a microchip under your pet’s skin. This is quick and only stings for a second, much like a vaccination. Once injected, the chip stays with your pet for life. Each chip is coded with a 15-digit identification (ID) number. This number is listed in a database, matched with your pet’s name, address and owner details. Your pet’s microchip is passive, which means for the most part, it does nothing. “Basically it’s a glass tube with a copper coil inside it. It has no battery or anything like that,” says Bruce Knight, of Micro Products Australia. But if you lose your pet, or find a lost pet, a vet can scan its microchip to reveal its ID number. “Just like scanning groceries at the supermarket,” says Bruce. Radio frequency identification: Power up! To communicate your pet’s ID number, the chip needs a source of energy. Providing this energy is the job of a microchip scanner. Microchip scanners broadcast a low frequency radio wave of 135 kHz, or 135,000 vibrations per second. This wave is invisible, a very slow version of the same radio waves you tune into when you listen to music on the radio. “All pet microchips must operate on that frequency,” says Bruce. “No matter where you go in the world, they will have a scanner that can read your microchip.” When this low frequency radio wave bumps into your pet’s microchip, it sends a tiny electrical current whirling around the chip’s copper coil. Like a key winds a clock, the current provides just enough energy to power the microchip. Once powered, the microchip can emit its own unique radio wave. The scanner captures this radio wave and decodes it, displaying your pet’s ID on its screen. The scanner must be held close to the microchip, because the radio wave has so little energy. This use of radio waves to send coded information through the air is called radio frequency identification (RFID). Did you know? Some microchips include a thermometer: when you scan the chip, it sends back your pet’s temperature as well as their ID. From libraries to polar bears RFID chips are everywhere: they’re used by libraries to manage books, shops to prevent shoplifting, and farmers to track the farm their animals grew up on, and the vaccinations they’ve had. Researchers use RFID chips to track rhinos in Namibia and polar bears in the Arctic. You’ll also find RFID used in automatic toll booths, car immobilisers, electronic passports, smart travel cards and contactless card payments. I originally wrote this article for CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine. Happy International Veterinary Medicine Day! Happy International Sloth Day (zzzz) How cool are sloths? It’s time to celebrate! On this International Sloth Day, let’s celebrate sleep! Sloths in the wild sleep around 10 hours a day. Two hours is enough for a fruit fly, but cats sleep need 15 hours a day, cows sleep just four hours, and humans? Well…how long do you need to sleep? When you’re asleep, your brain produces characteristic brain waves. We graph these brain waves by measuring electrical activity inside your head. We know that humans sleep in repeating cycles, each around 90 minutes long. Each sleep cycle includes different types of sleep: Transition: You are drifting between being asleep and awake. You can be easily woken. Slow-wave sleep (SWS or non-REM): You are deeply asleep. Your eyes don’t move. Your body temperature drops. Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep: You’re still asleep, but your eyes are darting around, your heart is pumping fast, your brain is working hard… If you sleep for ten hours a night, you’ll spend around two hours in REM sleep. We think REM sleep helps you learn and create memories. Most dreams happen during this time. Gilles Laurent studied the brain waves of Australian bearded dragons. He found their sleep also cycled through REM and non-REM sleep, but much faster than humans: one cycle every 80 seconds, around 350 times a night. This shared pattern of REM and non-REM sleep means the way we sleep and form memories may have evolved more than 300 million years’ ago. “It suggests that these features existed also in dinosaurs, which are the reptilian ancestors of birds,” Gilles says. Does this mean lizards dream? “It depends a lot on how one defines dreaming,” says Gilles. “If one defines dreaming simply as off-line replay of previous activity…then I’d venture to say that pet lizards do dream.” Animalzzzz All animals need to sleep, but there are different ways to catch zeds. Some animals—like dolphins and ducks—sleep with only half their brain, so the other half can stay alert and awake. Many large herbivores—like elephants, cows and horses—can sleep standing up, but must lie down for REM sleep. Newborn kittens and puppies only have REM sleep, suggesting this type of sleep is important to early brain development. As they get older, they have less REM sleep. The platypus enjoys more REM sleep than any other mammal. Platypus have been seen ‘swimming’ or munching imaginary food while they’re asleep. Even insects sleep. Fire ant workers nap for about a minute, 250 times a day; their fire ant queens sleep for six minutes, 90 times a day. Sleep your way to success Getting enough sleep is linked to improved creativity, concentration and memory, even in animals. Tired fruit flies, for example, make more mistakes and struggle to remember important things. Sleeping can also help animals make healthier choices. Mice who don’t get enough REM sleep are more likely to eat fatty and sugary foods. Are you human? Aged 6–12 years? Aim for 9–12 hours of sleep every day. Help! My hamster’s dead! Limp and floppy? Don’t panic. Your beloved pet may simply be hibernating. Hibernating animals seem to ‘sleep’ away the winter, but we can tell from their brain waves that they’re still awake. When an animal ‘wakes’ from hibernation, it hasn’t actually slept, so it needs lots of proper naps to recover. Squirrels, frogs, mice, bats and even hamsters hibernate. This article originally appeared in CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine. Going batty on International Bat Day Ever seen 10 million bats? Would you like to? How amazing would it be to see the fruit bat migration in Zambia’s Kasanka National Park?!!? Five to ten million straw-coloured fruit bats migrate every year through Zambia’s Kasanka National Park. When the bats feast on fruits in the national park’s swamp forest, they’re hard to miss. But after they leave, they can fly on journeys of thousands of kilometres. Tracking them has never been easier, thanks to GPS. Dr Martin Wikelski, director of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, tags the bats with mini high-resolution global positioning systems (GPS). “The [tracking] devices can be downloaded from afar,” Martin says. “Also, they record 3D-acceleration, so we can reconstruct the behaviour of the bats while on the move.” We can use this tracking data to answer many batty questions: How do bats interact with humans and wildlife? What foods do they eat? How do bats help the environment with services like spreading seeds? We can also combine this bat data with data from other tracked species and from environmental sensors to help understand what’s happening in the broader ecosystem. A version of this article first appeared in CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine… Bats do give me a bit of the creeps, but I also think they’re beautiful. Anyone keen to head to Zambia for the next migration? Happy International Bat Day! Celebrating sawfish on Shark Awareness Day Did you know sawfish are related to sharks? When I took on this story for CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine I didn’t know much about sawfish at all. Now I know they’re a type of ray. I know they use their saws to detect the heartbeats of their prey, and also to stun fish and defend against predators. And I know they used to live around the world, but are now endangered. How cool is it to be a science writer and learn all these things as part of my job!!! Fishing up a huge surprise It started out as just another fishing trip. Lisa Smiler was using a handline in Wattie Creek, 900 kilometres south-west of Darwin, in the Northern Territory, when she felt that unmistakeable feeling: a bite on the end of her line! “I thought it was a barramundi, or a catfish, or something,” Lisa says. Whatever it was, it was big. “I was pulling the line, then my sister helped pull the line, and her partner pulled the line, all the way up to the edge of the river,” Lisa describes. “All of a sudden, my sister pulled up the nose part, and I said, ‘Oh no, I don’t want this fish, it’s freaky.’” At 2.7 metres long, the fish weighed more than Lisa did. When she posted its picture on social media, Lisa set the scientific world alight. Record-breaking fish? According to Western science, Lisa’s sawfish is the first ever observed swimming so far inland—nearly 500 kilometres from the ocean! But Indigenous knowledge says differently. Local rock art of a sawfish, or kunpulu, suggests Lisa’s ancestors had seen the fish already. Ursula Chubb, a Gurindji ranger, monitors the rock art site. “When we go out on country trips with Elders, they talk about it, and I listen to them telling us stories,” she says. “It’s a very important fish from long ago, when our ancestors were living in this country.” Lisa says she never dreamed she’d see a live kunpulu. “I’d just heard about the sawfish in the rock painting … I wasn’t thinking I would catch one.” Tracking language ‘Kunpulu’ means ‘sawfish’ in Gurindji, and in other Indigenous languages too, even those spoken hundreds of kilometres from Gurindji country. Dr Felicity Meakins has studied Indigenous languages for over 20 years. She says different words tell their own stories, and she uses these stories to learn about changes over time. “You can use different languages to trace the path of the fish,” says Felicity. “I would guess at some point this fish has appeared, and people have said, ‘This is a stranger in our country. What’s this?’ And they’ve asked more northern people…and that’s how that word kunpulu has been passed along.” Solving the mystery We don’t know when Gurindji people first saw sawfish, but with ochre samples from the rock art, we hope to be able to solve the mystery. Scientists have also taken DNA samples from Lisa’s sawfish, to help work out how many sawfish are in the river. “We’re using Indigenous ecological knowledge and western knowledge to build up a picture of what’s happened with the sawfish,” Felicity says. Endangered wonders Sawfish once lived around the world but are now endangered. Baby sawfish are born in the ocean, at the mouth of rivers like the Northern Territory’s Victoria River or Western Australia’s Fitzroy River. The pups swim upstream, spending years growing in the river before swimming out to the ocean. Adults can reach up to seven metres long. My article was first published in CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine. How to tickle a rat: serious news on International Joke Day It’s International Joke Day, but let’s get serious. Evidence suggests a good laugh is great for our health. But what if you just don’t feel funny? Can tickling help? That’s where research comes in. Dr Shimpei Ishiyama is studying tickling and laughter in rats. It turns out, anyone can learn to tickle a rat, he says. “It is very easy…though there are some techniques, such as flipping them and tickling the belly, which you may need to practice a bit.” Shimpei is studying the way rats’ brains react to a good tickling. He hopes to learn more about how our own brains work. “Our results suggest that ticklishness has been conserved through evolution, and is related to playfulness. We speculate ticklishness is perhaps a brain’s trick to make us play with others, and have fun,” he says. Ready, set, tickle Shimpei and his team of ticklers have even noticed differences in rat personalities. Shy rats tend to laugh less, while playful rats laugh more. Shimpei loved being tickled as a kid, but now he hates it. “It is also the same for rats. Young rats enjoy being tickled, while adult rats are annoyed,” he says. Top tickler’s tip: Before you attempt to tickle your rat, take a deep breath. It’s important that you’re feeling relaxed and friendly. “Rats…can sense the stress hormone in sweat on my palm, which could potentially make them nervous,” says Shimpei. Is your rat missing its sense of humour? Worried that your rats are too serious? Don’t worry. It’s normal to feel this way. And it could be your rats are having a super time, you just don’t realise. Rats laugh at ultrasonic frequencies, so the human ear cannot hear their giggles. I originally wrote this article for CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine 🙂 How to spot (and help) platypuses I’m lucky enough to be heading to the Whitsundays Voices Festival a couple of weeks early. Why? For some sun and beaches, but also some forests and hiking… I’m also hoping to see a small, furry critter I’ve adored from afar but never actually laid eyes on: The platypus. On a scale of one to weird… On a scale of one to weird, platypuses score super-high. They’re venomous, lay eggs, make milk, breathe air and live in fresh water. How cool is that!?!?! “It doesn’t get much weirder,” says Josh Griffiths, a senior ecologist with 10+ years’ experience working with platypuses. “They’re the most unusual creature on the planet. There’s still so much we don’t know about them, so any time I go out or do research, I’m going to see something new.” What do we already know about platypuses? Well, we know platypuses are amazing. Bill: Their super-sensitive bill can detect underwater electrical pulses made by tasty beetles, insect larvae and yabbies. This means platypuses hunt with their eyes, ears and nostrils closed. Limbs: Their short limbs are webbed (great for paddling) and clawed (great for digging). Spur: Males have venomous spurs on their ankles. “The venom causes excruciating pain and massive swelling in humans,” says Josh. Platypus venom is so odd, we’re hoping it can be used to treat diabetes. Coat: Their thick waterproof fur is perfect for staying warm and dry. Tail: Flat and wide like a paddle, their tail is great for swimming. It’s also filled with fat, for energy reserves. Size: 1–3 kilograms. “Like a small rabbit,” says Josh, “but they’re a very strange shape, because they’re long and streamlined.” Think 40–50 cm from tip of tail to tip of bill. Eggs: The female lays her eggs in a 25-30-metre-long burrow that she’s dug into the riverbank. “It’s quite an effort for a one-kilogram animal,” says Josh. “The eggs around about the size of a 5-cent piece when they’re laid.” After just ten days, the eggs hatch. Jellybean babies: “When platypus hatch, they’re the size of a little pink jellybean,” says Josh. “They’re basically a mouth, with not much else. Mum stays with them almost constantly for the first few weeks.” During this time, she feeds her bean babies with milk. Milk: A CSIRO team led by Janet Newman has found a curly protein in platypus milk is great at killing bacteria. “Platypus are such weird animals that it would make sense for them to have weird biochemistry,” says Janet. Where to see platypuses Platypuses live across eastern and southern Australia. They’re mostly nocturnal, live alone, and are super-shy. “We don’t see them easily, so we don’t know whether they’re disappearing or not,” says Josh. However, fingers crossed, they’re relatively easy to spot in the Eungella National Park, which is where I’ll be heading before the Whitsundays Voices Festival. Wish me luck! Join the platypus party Next time you go platypus-spotting, be a citizen scientist and record your success (or failure) on platypusSPOT. “You can see where other people have seen platypus and try your luck in those hot spots,” says Josh. Even better, your information helps us learn more about where platypus live. Platypus can drown in yabby traps What you can do to help platypuses today There are two big ways we can all help platypuses: Save water. “Every time we take a shower or turn on the tap, we’re using water from a platypus’ home,” says Josh. Pick up litter: “It’s easy for a platypus to get tangled rubber bands or hair ties or bits of string,” says Josh. Platypuses also drown in yabby traps. Injured platypus? Who you gunna call? If you find an injured or sick platypus, don’t pick it up. “You could get put in hospital for your trouble,” says Josh. Platypus venom isn’t fun! Instead, call your local wildlife rescue operation. Platypuses are one of only five living species of egg-laying mammals, called monotremes. The other four are all echidna species. Monotremes only live in Australia and New Guinea. This post is adapted from an article written by me that first appeared in CSIRO’s Double Helix magazine. (c) CSIRO Enter your email to be the first to know... I'd like to join Beneath the Trees launch! January 18, 2021 Acrostic poem for Aussie Nobel Laureate who cracked the DNA secret of youth November 26, 2020 Welcome to Boola Bardip, your new (and fabulous) WA Museum November 21, 2020 Kyrielle poem for Marie Curie…More fun with science poetry November 7, 2020 Double dactyl for Economic Science Laureate November 2, 2020 Beneath the Trees launch! Blending STEM, literacy and creativity to enthuse, engage and empower 8 cool myths about dogs, and why the inugami dog-god didn't make it How we hiked the Cape to Cape track - our 6-day itinerary It's here! But how do you pronounce "Takeshita"? 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__label__cc	0.69989	0.30011	Functional proteomics establishes the interaction of SIRT7 with chromatin remodeling complexes and expands its role in regulation of RNA polymerase I transcription Yuan Chin Tsai, Todd M. Greco, Apaporn Boonmee, Yana Miteva, Ileana M. Cristea Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics Among mammalian sirtuins, SIRT7 is the only enzyme residing in nucleoli where ribosomal DNA is transcribed. Recent reports established that SIRT7 associates with RNA Pol I machinery and is required for rDNA transcription. Although defined by its homology to the yeast histone deacetylase Sir2, current knowledge suggests that SIRT7 itself has little to no deacetylase activity. Because only two SIRT7 interactions have been thus far described: RNA Pol I and upstream binding factor, identification of proteins and complexes associating with SIRT7 is critical to understanding its functions. Here, we present the first characterization of SIRT7 interaction networks. We have systematically investigated protein interactions of three EGFP-tagged SIRT7 constructs: wild type, a point mutation affecting rDNA transcription, and a deletion mutant lacking the predicted coiled-coil domain. A combinatorial proteomics and bioinformatics approach was used to integrate gene ontology classifications, functional protein networks, and normalized abundances of proteins coisolated with SIRT7. The resulting refined proteomic data set confirmed SIRT7 interactions with RNA Pol I and upstream binding factor and highlighted association with factors involved in RNA Pol I- and II-dependent transcriptional processes and several nucleolus-localized chromatin remodeling complexes. Particularly enriched were members of the B-WICH complex, such as Mybbp1a, WSTF, and SNF2h. Prominent interactions were validated by a selected reaction monitoring-like approach using metabolic labeling with stable isotopes, confocal microscopy, reciprocal immunoaffinity precipitation, and co-isolation with endogenous SIRT7. To extend the current knowledge of mechanisms involved in SIRT7-dependent regulation of rDNA transcription, we showed that small interfering RNA-mediated SIRT7 knockdown leads to reduced levels of RNA Pol I protein, but not messenger RNA, which was confirmed in diverse cell types. The down-regulation of RNA Pol I protein levels placed in the context of SIRT7 interaction networks led us to propose that SIRT7 plays a crucial role in connecting the function of chromatin remodeling complexes to RNA Pol I machinery during transcription. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics https://doi.org/10.1074/mcp.M111.015156 10.1074/mcp.M111.015156 Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Functional proteomics establishes the interaction of SIRT7 with chromatin remodeling complexes and expands its role in regulation of RNA polymerase I transcription'. Together they form a unique fingerprint. RNA Polymerase I Chemical Compounds Proteomics Chemical Compounds Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly Medicine & Life Sciences Transcription Chemical Compounds Chromatin Chemical Compounds Ribosomal DNA Medicine & Life Sciences RNA Chemical Compounds transcription factor UBF Medicine & Life Sciences Tsai, Y. C., Greco, T. M., Boonmee, A., Miteva, Y., & Cristea, I. M. (2012). Functional proteomics establishes the interaction of SIRT7 with chromatin remodeling complexes and expands its role in regulation of RNA polymerase I transcription. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.1074/mcp.M111.015156 Tsai, Yuan Chin ; Greco, Todd M. ; Boonmee, Apaporn ; Miteva, Yana ; Cristea, Ileana M. / Functional proteomics establishes the interaction of SIRT7 with chromatin remodeling complexes and expands its role in regulation of RNA polymerase I transcription. In: Molecular and Cellular Proteomics. 2012 ; Vol. 11, No. 2. @article{37787dfbc0f449aeab7bb4f4e54ee20c, title = "Functional proteomics establishes the interaction of SIRT7 with chromatin remodeling complexes and expands its role in regulation of RNA polymerase I transcription", abstract = "Among mammalian sirtuins, SIRT7 is the only enzyme residing in nucleoli where ribosomal DNA is transcribed. Recent reports established that SIRT7 associates with RNA Pol I machinery and is required for rDNA transcription. Although defined by its homology to the yeast histone deacetylase Sir2, current knowledge suggests that SIRT7 itself has little to no deacetylase activity. Because only two SIRT7 interactions have been thus far described: RNA Pol I and upstream binding factor, identification of proteins and complexes associating with SIRT7 is critical to understanding its functions. Here, we present the first characterization of SIRT7 interaction networks. We have systematically investigated protein interactions of three EGFP-tagged SIRT7 constructs: wild type, a point mutation affecting rDNA transcription, and a deletion mutant lacking the predicted coiled-coil domain. A combinatorial proteomics and bioinformatics approach was used to integrate gene ontology classifications, functional protein networks, and normalized abundances of proteins coisolated with SIRT7. The resulting refined proteomic data set confirmed SIRT7 interactions with RNA Pol I and upstream binding factor and highlighted association with factors involved in RNA Pol I- and II-dependent transcriptional processes and several nucleolus-localized chromatin remodeling complexes. Particularly enriched were members of the B-WICH complex, such as Mybbp1a, WSTF, and SNF2h. Prominent interactions were validated by a selected reaction monitoring-like approach using metabolic labeling with stable isotopes, confocal microscopy, reciprocal immunoaffinity precipitation, and co-isolation with endogenous SIRT7. To extend the current knowledge of mechanisms involved in SIRT7-dependent regulation of rDNA transcription, we showed that small interfering RNA-mediated SIRT7 knockdown leads to reduced levels of RNA Pol I protein, but not messenger RNA, which was confirmed in diverse cell types. The down-regulation of RNA Pol I protein levels placed in the context of SIRT7 interaction networks led us to propose that SIRT7 plays a crucial role in connecting the function of chromatin remodeling complexes to RNA Pol I machinery during transcription.", author = "Tsai, {Yuan Chin} and Greco, {Todd M.} and Apaporn Boonmee and Yana Miteva and Cristea, {Ileana M.}", doi = "10.1074/mcp.M111.015156", journal = "Molecular and Cellular Proteomics", publisher = "American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Inc.", Tsai, YC, Greco, TM, Boonmee, A, Miteva, Y & Cristea, IM 2012, 'Functional proteomics establishes the interaction of SIRT7 with chromatin remodeling complexes and expands its role in regulation of RNA polymerase I transcription', Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, vol. 11, no. 2. https://doi.org/10.1074/mcp.M111.015156 Functional proteomics establishes the interaction of SIRT7 with chromatin remodeling complexes and expands its role in regulation of RNA polymerase I transcription. / Tsai, Yuan Chin; Greco, Todd M.; Boonmee, Apaporn; Miteva, Yana; Cristea, Ileana M. In: Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, Vol. 11, No. 2, 02.2012. T1 - Functional proteomics establishes the interaction of SIRT7 with chromatin remodeling complexes and expands its role in regulation of RNA polymerase I transcription AU - Tsai, Yuan Chin AU - Greco, Todd M. AU - Boonmee, Apaporn AU - Miteva, Yana AU - Cristea, Ileana M. N2 - Among mammalian sirtuins, SIRT7 is the only enzyme residing in nucleoli where ribosomal DNA is transcribed. Recent reports established that SIRT7 associates with RNA Pol I machinery and is required for rDNA transcription. Although defined by its homology to the yeast histone deacetylase Sir2, current knowledge suggests that SIRT7 itself has little to no deacetylase activity. Because only two SIRT7 interactions have been thus far described: RNA Pol I and upstream binding factor, identification of proteins and complexes associating with SIRT7 is critical to understanding its functions. Here, we present the first characterization of SIRT7 interaction networks. We have systematically investigated protein interactions of three EGFP-tagged SIRT7 constructs: wild type, a point mutation affecting rDNA transcription, and a deletion mutant lacking the predicted coiled-coil domain. A combinatorial proteomics and bioinformatics approach was used to integrate gene ontology classifications, functional protein networks, and normalized abundances of proteins coisolated with SIRT7. The resulting refined proteomic data set confirmed SIRT7 interactions with RNA Pol I and upstream binding factor and highlighted association with factors involved in RNA Pol I- and II-dependent transcriptional processes and several nucleolus-localized chromatin remodeling complexes. Particularly enriched were members of the B-WICH complex, such as Mybbp1a, WSTF, and SNF2h. Prominent interactions were validated by a selected reaction monitoring-like approach using metabolic labeling with stable isotopes, confocal microscopy, reciprocal immunoaffinity precipitation, and co-isolation with endogenous SIRT7. To extend the current knowledge of mechanisms involved in SIRT7-dependent regulation of rDNA transcription, we showed that small interfering RNA-mediated SIRT7 knockdown leads to reduced levels of RNA Pol I protein, but not messenger RNA, which was confirmed in diverse cell types. The down-regulation of RNA Pol I protein levels placed in the context of SIRT7 interaction networks led us to propose that SIRT7 plays a crucial role in connecting the function of chromatin remodeling complexes to RNA Pol I machinery during transcription. AB - Among mammalian sirtuins, SIRT7 is the only enzyme residing in nucleoli where ribosomal DNA is transcribed. Recent reports established that SIRT7 associates with RNA Pol I machinery and is required for rDNA transcription. Although defined by its homology to the yeast histone deacetylase Sir2, current knowledge suggests that SIRT7 itself has little to no deacetylase activity. Because only two SIRT7 interactions have been thus far described: RNA Pol I and upstream binding factor, identification of proteins and complexes associating with SIRT7 is critical to understanding its functions. Here, we present the first characterization of SIRT7 interaction networks. We have systematically investigated protein interactions of three EGFP-tagged SIRT7 constructs: wild type, a point mutation affecting rDNA transcription, and a deletion mutant lacking the predicted coiled-coil domain. A combinatorial proteomics and bioinformatics approach was used to integrate gene ontology classifications, functional protein networks, and normalized abundances of proteins coisolated with SIRT7. The resulting refined proteomic data set confirmed SIRT7 interactions with RNA Pol I and upstream binding factor and highlighted association with factors involved in RNA Pol I- and II-dependent transcriptional processes and several nucleolus-localized chromatin remodeling complexes. Particularly enriched were members of the B-WICH complex, such as Mybbp1a, WSTF, and SNF2h. Prominent interactions were validated by a selected reaction monitoring-like approach using metabolic labeling with stable isotopes, confocal microscopy, reciprocal immunoaffinity precipitation, and co-isolation with endogenous SIRT7. To extend the current knowledge of mechanisms involved in SIRT7-dependent regulation of rDNA transcription, we showed that small interfering RNA-mediated SIRT7 knockdown leads to reduced levels of RNA Pol I protein, but not messenger RNA, which was confirmed in diverse cell types. The down-regulation of RNA Pol I protein levels placed in the context of SIRT7 interaction networks led us to propose that SIRT7 plays a crucial role in connecting the function of chromatin remodeling complexes to RNA Pol I machinery during transcription. U2 - 10.1074/mcp.M111.015156 DO - 10.1074/mcp.M111.015156 JO - Molecular and Cellular Proteomics JF - Molecular and Cellular Proteomics Tsai YC, Greco TM, Boonmee A, Miteva Y, Cristea IM. Functional proteomics establishes the interaction of SIRT7 with chromatin remodeling complexes and expands its role in regulation of RNA polymerase I transcription. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics. 2012 Feb;11(2). https://doi.org/10.1074/mcp.M111.015156	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line630
__label__cc	0.677714	0.322286	Nightmares of the Omnicidal Juggernaut Posted by xraymike79 in Capitalism, Climate Change, Consumerism, Corporate State, Ecological Overshoot, Environmental Degradation, Inequality, Pollution 6th Mass Extinction, Annalee Newitz, Capitalism, Charles Bukowski, Climate Change, Collapse of Industrial Civilization, Consumer Culture, Corporate State, Dr. Paul Willis, Eco-Apocalypse, Ecological Overshoot, Extinction of Man, Financial Elite, General Electric, Gross Inequality, Inverted Totalitarianism, Omar N. Bradley, Overpopulation, Privatization of Science, Security and Surveillance State, Singularity Network, Social Unrest, Techno-Optimists, Technocapitalism, Technotopia, The Elite 1%, Transhumanists, unwashed public, Zdzislaw Beksiński, Zygmunt Bauman What had been designed to be our servants became our masters, then our owners and gods, and finally our destroyer…. Some days I wake up and despise the monotony and pettiness of this culture and its followers: its celebrity worship, its staged news reporting, its chameleon politicians, its conniving marketers of consumerism, its cookie-cutter neighborhoods, its push-button surveillance state, and its clueless masses all working together to create the illusion of normalcy. Everyone goes along with this mindless program like obedient slaves, afraid of the social stigma attached to questioning any radical deviation from what constitutes normal. God forbid anyone openly discusses the cliff we are fast approaching, its sheer drop-off and craggy rocks below coming more clearly into view. One last scramble for the last bit of habitable land at the poles will be the inevitable end game as atmospheric warming catches up to the glacial melt and sea level rise humans have set into motion. In light of all the scientific evidence accumulated over decades, mankind has known for some time that a radical reconfiguration of our socio-economic system was the only way to avoid collapse, as described beautifully back in 2008 by a longtime blogger who has been writing for nearly a decade: There can be no “soft-landing” for a species adding another million of itself every 4 and a half days to consume and convert into more and more human flesh what little remains of the planet’s tattered web of life. Worshiping paper symbols of wealth as the only measurement of social and environmental worth, our species has monetized and misunderstood nature, ignoring its true incalculable value. Surely something is amiss when the financial interests of the insecticide industry trump the health of humans and the survival of pollinators. Examining the root cause of such corrosive effects in our economic system, i.e. capitalism, is nearly as taboo as mentioning the collapse of modern civilization. The culturally Pavlovian responses to any such criticism directed at capitalism or the unsustainability of industrial civilization is to argue for the rehabilitation of capitalism into something less destructive and tout humanity’s unfailing ability to adapt to any situation. Reinforced by past successes such as the Green Revolution, robotic exploration of distant planets, and Moore’s Law of technological advancement, the marriage of capitalism and technology has created a mindset which takes for granted the belief that the marketplace will create a hi-tech fix to any and all problems. Little green aliens, paranormal experiences, and techno-utopian futures seem to be more socially acceptable subjects for discussion rather than the collapse of a way-of-life that requires several more Earths if everyone were to live like Americans. Perhaps that is why we get technotopian books like this one: The myth of progress is central to corporate ideologies of materialism, modernism, and technocapitalism. The mythical quality of technological progress was expressed most succinctly in GE’s slogan from the 1950’s: “Progress is our most important product.” The newly revealed cover-up of GE’s PCB contamination of the Hudson River is just the latest in a not-so-stellar record of “bringing good things to life.” There are reportedly hundreds of Transhumanist-affiliated groups(life extensionists, techno-optimists, Singularitarians, biohackers, roboticists, AI proponents, and futurists) in the world with the largest, the Singularity Network, claiming 10,000 members. Few in our society can imagine this planet exhausted of its resources, inhospitable to agriculture, and devoid of all its keystone species, but such a world is fast becoming reality as industrial civilization steamrolls the planet under the direction of technocapitalism. Millions of factories continue to spit out products by the ton to be shipped to every corner of the globe. The ravenous hordes struggling for a higher standard of living never think twice about the energy and eco-social damage tied to these consumer products that magically appear on store shelves. “A transhuman future is a day-dream and we are rapidly running out of the luxury of being able to do nothing about the very real problems that face us now. A transhuman future is a nightmare of the electric sheep.” ~ Dr. Paul Willis The boundaries of a finite planet have been temporarily extended by technology, giving mankind a false sense of power over his environment, but technological complexity is not immune to the law of diminishing returns; the problems are overwhelming the solutions: “…Technology cannot bring back a concentrated resource deposit like soil, phosphates and fossil fuels that have been dispersed and converted so completely that no amount of energy can get them back. The links in the technological evolutionary chain have been successful so far, but all it takes is a single broken link that will drop us into the waste heap of failed evolution. The next link of the chain always exists in the imaginations of men, technological wonders to carry us forward, but malignant growth, the kind sponsored by corporate, banking and Wall St. entities, will guarantee the current technological link is our last one…” For a culture that lives for today and ignores the consequences of tomorrow, the show must go on even as cracks and weaknesses in this false façade become more evident day by day. Omar N. Bradley may have been thinking about weapons of mass destruction when he made an observation about mankind’s tools of self-destruction, but he could not have been more prescient in the broader sense of technology’s reach into our lives when he said, “If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.” As in previous fallen civilizations, today’s elite are more out of touch with our precarious position than most realize, and they will try to cling to their wealth and social status despite how much blood flows in the streets as the masses bear the brunt of collapse first –poverty, disease, war, starvation, etc., but ultimately no one can run from the death of the Earth’s oceans, the spread of novel diseases, and the die-off of trees. Those now deciding how our technologic scalpels will be wielded are not institutions looking out for the greater good of humanity, but by the ultra wealthy for their own personal financial enrichment and narcissistic interests: “For better or worse,” said Steven A. Edwards, a policy analyst at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “the practice of science in the 21st century is becoming shaped less by national priorities or by peer-review groups and more by the particular preferences of individuals with huge amounts of money… …that personal setting of priorities is precisely what troubles some in the science establishment. Many of the patrons, they say, are ignoring basic research — the kind that investigates the riddles of nature and has produced centuries of breakthroughs, even whole industries — for a jumble of popular, feel-good fields like environmental studies and space exploration… ..the rise of science philanthropy may simply help “rich fields, universities and individuals to get richer.” The new patrons are responsible for one of the most striking trends on these campuses: the rise of privately financed institutes, the new temples of science philanthropy. This privatization of science is just one more aspect of capitalism’s usurpation and corruption of the body politic. The art in this blog post is from Polish artist Zdzislaw Beksiński whose intricately detailed paintings of apocalyptic landscapes, mutated and deformed humans, and surreal images were said to be inspired from his nightmares. He never gave titles to his paintings and signed them on the back. It is said he would often wake up in the middle of night to paint his dark visions. In 2005 he was found dead lying on the floor of his Warsaw flat in a pool of blood, stabbed 17 times. Perhaps the greatest nightmare of modern man is the fact that he is at the mercy of an ever-expanding industrial civilization running on autopilot, as Zygmunt Bauman described, with no realistic way to stop its onslaught of toxic waste, greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and numerous other ecocidal features. I can see this horror when I look at much of Beksiński’s work, but I also see nature reclaiming the battlefield after man has defeated himself. To a great degree, humans are their own worst enemy, prisoners of their flawed cerebral wiring with its neuroses, blind spots, and cognitive biases, but the real enemy is the omnicidal juggernaut our numbers have created; its base urges can’t be contained. About xraymike79 I’m a social critic, political/cultural commentator and artist. The modern industrial world is sleepwalking towards the cliff of economic and ecological ruin. Most are oblivious to the paradigm shift that is occurring, but some are starting to awaken to the false stories our culture has told itself. My objective is to highlight important news stories and essays to find the hidden truth behind what Joe Bageant called the American Hologram. www.collapseofindustrialcivilization.com View all posts by xraymike79 » 136 thoughts on “Nightmares of the Omnicidal Juggernaut” Kevin Moore said: Damn it! There must be something to say but I can’t think of anything, since we’ve been over it all a thousand times, and nothing in the mainstream culture changes……. other than to become more idiotic and more destructive. There is probably quite a lot of potential future that can be sacrificed to maintain present levels of lunacy. xraymike79 said: This recurring nightmare has no cure except, as you’ve said yourself, death. buz painter said: Sorry Mike– It was somewhat rude of me to go down thread and babble without commenting upon your article. I’m amazed at how many ways there are to tell us we are toast. I also love the art. I noticed the other day while looking at my unfinished collage that there were not only no people in it but no life of any kind – only rocks, water, mountains and cracked dirt. Damn! Can it be that this is how I see our world? So… in order to change my collage what do I add? a couple of mummies, what else? Detritus of modern civilization— old tires, plastic cups, ruins of buildings, the skeleton of a car, a few skulls? Right you are… plenty of those. Perhaps some golden arches just poking up through the sand. Jacob Horner said: “What is known is that Leviathan, the great artifice, single and world-embracing for the first time in His-story, is decomposing. “From the day when battery-run voices began broadcasting old speeches to battery-run listeners, the beast has been talking to itself. Having swallowed everyone and everything outside itself, the beast becomes its own sole frame of reference. It entertains itself, exploits itself and wars on itself. It has reached the end of its Progress, for there is nothing left for it to progress against except itself. “Leviathan is turning into Narcissus, admiring its own synthetic image in its own synthetic pond, enraptured by its spectacle of itself. “It is a good time for people to let go of its sanity, its masks and armors, and go mad, for they are already being ejected from its pretty polis.” Fredy Perlman…Against His-story, Against Leviathan! 1983 Pingback from FireDogLake: And definitely read the article on elitist Bill Gates to know how the masses will be treated discarded. Apneaman said: It’s a small consultation, but Gates and most of the other elites will eventually be discarded too. When the system has failed the strong men will take over. Military men will be the leaders once again. F.Tnioli said: Possible, i’d say, even likely, yes. Note though, that “military men” you are talking about – will not nesessarily be same men who serve in t he military within the current system. In the current system, military folks are quite darn soft folks. Most of them anyhows – exceptions exist, of course, like some of truly tough special ops units. Those are relatively few though. The bulk of armed forces in so-called “developed” countries, as well as in most “developing” ones – are people who are most busy doing some silly things. Many soldiers and officers are in fact not soldiers – they don’t ever do what soldier is expected to do (i.e. war, i.e. killing people professionally), but instead, for the most or even whole duration of their service, they are – construction workers, building some generals’ houses and “military” buildings; – technical specialists and operators, operating some sophisticated modern military equipment such as missile systems – yet operating those without ever actually using them to kill anybody; – social unrest control forces – rods, rubber bullets, flash bangs, tear gas and water throwers is all such “military” men will ever have at their disposal; – border control forces. Perhaps the closest to real military among so far mentioned, vast majority of those folks are not yet much military, despite having some military weaponry and equipment; most of them did not see any combat during whole time of their service, nor they are actually prepared and ready to do actual combat (despite declaring otherwise). I am quite affraid that people who may end up “on top” after the system collapses – they’ll possibly _become_ military, but they are not military men right now (before the collapse) – i’m affraid it’ll be most cruel, heartless and evil people from present-days criminal world. Those are folks who even now have most important features which allowed “military lords” of the past to prevail and reign by-force: namely, ability to kill, and to kill without second thought. Tested, proven, and known by their peers ability, even now. During old times, military men – at least, many of them, – had honor. Criminals often don’t have any. And it takes centuries of relatively stable civilized existance for military-like honor codex to develop (should i say, re-appear). If you’d research in some detail about past civilization shutdowns, you’d notice that often – if not always, – quite lengthy “dark ages” period is involved after such a shutdown, and one of most significant features or such “dark ages” – is barbarianism. But who are barbarians? Barbarians are, in fact, military men without honor codex (and without much discipline nor any much high command, too). In other words, criminals with good guns (axes, clubs, etc), so to say. I’m affraid this is how it’ll be this time as well. Especially considering the scale of the shutdown expected… I would rather live in a so called barbarian society than ours. If your understanding of barbarians comes from the Romans and their latter day admirers you have been greatly misinformed. “Neighbour’s grass is always greener”, though. I doubt you’d prefer barbarianism if you’d actually have a chance to live in it for a while. No, my understanding of barbarians mainly comes not from ones who torn apart Roman empire. It’s too long ago. My primary understanding – however little it might be, – comes from a number of much more recent incidents, few of which are: – russian civil war after so-called great october revolution of 1917. For years after, vast territories were ravaged by all sorts of military units (“red”, “white”, “green”, anarchists), as well as gangs; there was “golodomor” (wikipedia it if you’re not familiar, perhaps), too; – disintegration of regimes in most poor countries, mainly in Africa, and barbaric practicies becoming widely spred as a result, see, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Macho-Violence_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_Congo#Rape ; – inability of so-called “civilized” people to avoid barbaric behaviour when in life-threatening situations (whether real or only suspected as life-threatening), see, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Andes_flight_disaster#Anthropophagy for the former (real), and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Katrina_in_New_Orleans#Gretna_controversy for the latter (suspected). Don’t you mean Holodomor: Grappling With Holodomor Thoughts On Timothy Snyder’s The Bloodlands JAN 3 2014, 4:44 PM ET A few days ago, I listened to a chapter in Timothy Snyder’s The Bloodlands on famine in Ukraine during the 1930s. The famine was man-made–the result of Stalin making war against his own citizens in Ukraine. I listened (I have the book in MP3 format) to about 90 percent of the chapter before I just had to cut it off. I generally have a strong stomach when it come to reading about evil, but this was too much: … ebos depew (@onebigaroony) said: FT: to be clear–you’re talking about murder by police following Katrina, correct? there were hysteric media accounts of bestial acts by stranded, starving citizens on the streets and similarly within the Superdome, which were found to have been unfounded and grossly overstated. ultimately this hysteria served to justify (in the minds of the authorities) martial law policies and the illegitimate use of deadly force. that is: cops shooting unarmed people in the back. don’t forget also that some wealthy communities during that storm had their own private security–Triple Canopy and the like. not only will the poorz be unprotected by the State, but the private ‘justice’ of the rich will be on display as well. cf Iraq (or elsewhere) for comparison. I am familiar with the Holodomor. My grand parents, Baba and Dido, got out of Ukraine just in time and came to Canada. They would never speak of it, but my aunt told me they both lost most of their families. So I guess I did too by extension. No one ever came for a visit and they never went back. I had the wrong link in the essay to Zdzislaw Beksiński’s amazing art –now corrected: http://belvederegallery.com/Beksinski-Zdzislaw-/acrylic-paintings/ http://art.vniz.net/en/beksinski/ http://sevasevol.blogspot.com/2012/02/zdzislaw-beksinski.html http://zdzislaw-beksinski.blogspot.com/p/paintings_7738.html BeezleyBub said: Ever since the 1970s, I loved doomer art, stuff like Heavy Metal magazine when it first came out. Back then it was the post nuclear thang. The techno life after death thing is featured in an upcoming movie called Transcendence. It’s pretty much the same bullshit we get from regular religion. But, what really pisses me off is the solar-wind-biofuel salvation thing being shoved down our throats, along with the electric car thing. It seriously fucking steams me when I think of all the non-thinking, suckling intellectual babes in the woods slurping this shit up, along with the never ending slacktivist revolution that’s always coming, but never gets here. But, I gotta say, the artwork on this site inspires. Agreed! The disingenuity of green posers (and their weird inattentional blindness to the issue of Energy Return on Energy Invested) is galling. That humans are driving around in Toyota Priuses and similar imagining themselves to be somehow benefiting the environment is beyond laughable. Tom said: http://robinwestenra.blogspot.co.nz/2014/03/geopolitics-and-oil.html Geopolitics and Oil Why ExxonMobil’s Partnerships With Russia’s Rosneft Challenge the Narrative of U.S. Exports As Energy Weapon [quote from article] In Steve Coll’s book “Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power,” he documents that Lee Raymond — former CEO of ExxonMobil from 1993-2005 — was asked if his company would build more U.S. refineries to fend off gasoline shortages. Raymond’s reply: “I’m not a U.S. company and I don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the U.S.” Bundeswehr Peak Oil Study 2011: “Already today, Russsia’s foreign policy calculus, for example, includes energy aspects and the option to use them in order to enforce Russian interests. At the strategic level, this is re flected in Moscow’s Foreign Policy Concept of July 2008. In practice, Russia’s gas disputes with Ukraine are an indication of a political instrumentalisation of its energy riches. A similar connection between an offensive foreign policy and energy richness can be observed for Venezuela.” The National Razor (@National_Razor) said: Great article! Truth is rarely popular and usually uncomfortable, which is why it has so few fans. It’s taken a long time for me to learn that a significant plurality–perhaps even a majority–prefer to believe a comfortable fantasy over an uncomfortable reality, even if it means their own doom. On the other hand, we’ve only been on this planet for the blink of an eye compared with, say, the dinosaurs, so perhaps this is all probationary. Compared with other species, humans have a relatively low infant mortality rate, combined with an overactive procreative instinct that isn’t limited to estrus. The faster the population explodes, the more quickly it will become unsustainable. Evolution is slow but inexorable. Not to get too Zen about it, but perhaps the things we find so objectionable about ourselves–such as war, inhumanity and the gluttonous exploitation of natural resources–are simply a part of the natural selection process. We’ve been given a lot of rope to hang ourselves with. It is apparent from a variety of phenomena, such as rising greenhouse gases, the commercial depletion of ocean fisheries, and the massive, gyrating accretions of garbage and chemical sludge known as the Great Pacific and Atlantic Garbage Patches, that human industrialization has had a deleterious impact on the natural environment. Nevertheless, there are those who will argue the vanity of presuming too much about the permanence of man’s impact on the planet, and that eons after the brief efflorescence of human civilization has crumbled to atoms, the Earth will still be spinning through space, unmindful we ever existed. It’s a grim and humbling prospect, and it may even be true. But if life is as rare and precious as we presume it to be, and we’re all going to die anyway–insects, dinoflagellates and humans, all fellow passengers to the grave–where are the moral or spiritual consequences, if any, of having caused the extirpation of so many of our fellow creatures during the infinitesimal blip of human existence on the Universal timeline? It’s almost enough to make one hope that there is some sort of transcendent spirit or supreme intelligence out there–call it God, or call it Michael Rennie from “The Day the Earth Stood Still”–waiting to set things aright. Because we’ve damned well made a mess of things. I expect the next Permian extinction will erase the ignominy. Thanks for the brilliant comment. You touched on something that gnaws at anyone truly concerned about the environment — “where are the moral or spiritual consequences?” Humans have failed miserably in that respect and really have no moral high ground when it comes any sort of theoretical judgment day that may come for our conduct as the “most sentient and intelligent species on Earth” entrusted with the responsibility of caretakers of the planet. The unprecedented scope of the unfolding tragedy does beg these questions. Certainly I have felt compelled to go on a spiritual journey. I find Terence McKenna’s talk of eschaton intriguing but it doesn’t really ring true for me. You want to feel that there’s some purpose to it all though – that all of this horror and destruction serves some greater purpose… I do, at least. Are these infernal fires we’re lighting the crucible for some transformation of consciousness? Adyashanti and Eckhart Tolle have brought me a great deal of comfort, here talking about extinction/collapse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4XxMVH9hmk And I really like Paul Chefurka’s thermodynamic critique of the human situation because it allows for the possibility that we are simply sticking to life’s script and that all of this is meant to be – or at least no less ‘meant to be’ than any other natural event: https://www.facebook.com/notes/bodhi-paul-chefurka/a-thermodynamic-critique-of-the-human-situation/10152292323202589 Oh, for sure, our sapience does not cancel other features we humans (vast majority of us anyways) are packed with. We still have lots of things happening – including most of things which deteriorate our environment, – happening because those things were made to happen by “primitive” human intincts, desires and fears. In other words – yes, mankind, collectively, still act much like “apekind” size of 7 billions would. There is an excellent – in its wisdom – proverb: “lazyness is the engine of technical progress”. Indeed, i see natural people’s lazyness being one of primary reasons – or sometimes the only reason, – for people to pollute and destruct more than otherwise expected. Simple example of the above which i like quite much – is nearly any person with a car: instead of walking half a mile, – most of those folks will _drive_ half a mile. Even when they have time to walk it, and air is good enough for the walk to be good for one’s health, – they’d still drive. Why? Because they are lazy. What’s “lazy” is? It’s the natural intinct, present in most of us, aimed to reduce the body’s energy spending whenever possible. A natural “energy saving” circuit in our brains, so to say. Other natural intincts and needs, – such as need to keep eating food and drink (clean enough) water, need to have a warm shelter, need to sleep, intinct to care and provide for one’s children, and even high feelings such as love and compassion (by some people), and also as low as greed and jealousy (by some other people), – all those being quite natural things if you’d ask me, heck, even experiments with apes detect most of those clearly present in apes, you know? – all those things together, manifestating themselves through (now) billions of people – is the primary reason for much (if not most) of existing industrial infrastructure to be present. “I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention – invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.” ~ Agatha Christie, An Autobiography, 1977 Oh, invention sure does arise from idleness, i agree. But invention and widespread implementation of previously invented solutions – are different things. The latter is, i guess, mainly a result of necessities and/or greed. I may be mistaken here, though. Lidia17 said: I came across this excellent article yesterday: http://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-03-19/how-to-be-trapped-an-interview-with-david-korowicz For all sorts of reasons the possibility of a controlled orchestrated de-growth to some viable steady-state position is probably deluded in the extreme. I’ll just point to one thing, such a view tends to embody the confusion that because the globalised economy is human-made it is therefore designed, understandable and controllable – humans can do this in niches, but the emergent structure of multiple niches interacting on many scales over time is not. This mirrors the sort of argument made famous by William Paley in his Natural Theology who said that the existence of living organisms proved the existence of a divine creator/ designer by analogy with how the finding of a watch would lead one to believe in the existence of an intelligent watchmaker. Half a century later Darwin and then his followers showed that natural selection could do emergent design without a controller- the ‘blind’ watchmaker in Richard Dawkins words. But as believers in Man’s progress we seem to have taken on the role that Paley once ascribed to god- that is, as the creators of the complex globalised economy it is therefore designable and controllable and potentially perfectible if only the right people and ideas were in the cockpit. We find all sorts of confusion arising from this when attempts are made to take linguistic dominion over the economy by confusing complex interdependent emergence with intentional design (as in, the economy is capitalist/ neoliberal/ socialist, or, we need to change ‘the monetary architecture’). So even without getting into details about irreversibility in complex systems or the myriad practical problems with a controllable de-growth, the power of the belief in its possibility seems, to me at least, to represent Titanic hubris… ….The broad point here is that growth and collapse is a much more fundamental process than capitalism, the debt-based monetary system or technological change, as the history of collapsed civilizations and extinct species can attest. It’s part of us, part of life. Oh yeah. We talked about that further down this thread… 🙂 ulvfugl said: Hi Lidia, hope your hospital thing went ok, Part of life ? Sure, huge ancient trees 2000 years old crash down in the rain forest, they are LIKE whole civilisations, but we are supposed to be smarter than yeast… I don’t see him as one of the bad guys, just think it’s a crap analysis, and he’s playing to the corporate gallery and the Transition people, and it’s the same old stuff that’ll help everyone ‘come to terms’ with ‘our predicament’ because it isn’t anybody’s fault we can’t help being what we are, blablahblah. I don’t agree. Everybody could choose to do something ELSE tomorrow. Hah! The hospital.. This time it was my husband, and likely another “maximum waste” event. Long story. I will wait to see how it ends before I write it up. As for Paul’s stuff, a.) he is not the only proponent of this thermodynamic jazz, and b.) you’ve accused me of conventional thinking—here you are with your very conventional and boring human protagonism again…Why must we be smarter than yeast? Who says? It’s been proven in various ways that bacteria can drive our behavior, so who is the master? Please do keep up with the latest discoveries! 😉 I can’t speak for Paul’s reasoning but mine certainly does not come from a place of political correctness or emotional pandering. On the contrary, it comes from trying to remove the cloud of emotion from what are otherwise extremely conspicuous phenomena. “Remove” is not really the right word because, looking back, I never felt invested in the human race as the greatest thing since sliced bread and had a hard time understanding why anyone did. At the age of about 12, I decided that there was “no such thing as progress”. I couldn’t tell you why—that’s just how I felt. ANyway, I’m not winning friends by any means, am I?,in my perception of what is, at root, a very simple and logical process. I don’t know about the “corporate gallery” but the Transition Town people are going to be extremely resistant, if not impervious, to this explanation, because it takes away their idea of Agency. People want stories where they are the stars of the show, whether fierce like you or fuzzy like artleads. I’m not looking for Stories to compete with your Stories; that’s not how it works for me. If you would like a visual analogy, it’s like someone is working on a jigsaw puzzle, and I see a piece that fits-zack! Meanwhile, you’ve written a million complex and elaborate pages tying yourself into knots over the same thing. You seem to be coming around, on the information=entropy front. You’re just one step away from Ac and Paul and the other determinists, it would seem to me, once you reach that point… There go those dollars again: Shame they seem to have missed the time frame by about 75 years. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/climate-change-leaked-draft-of-un-ipcc-report-predicts-global-warming-will-cause-violent-conflict-displace-millions-of-people-and-wipe-trillions-of-dollars-off-the-global-economy-9198171.html It’s just one more message which in fact is aimed to pacify societies, via “yeah it’s big problem but it’s not a big problem now nor in near future – so keep going business as usual; folks some 50+ years later will have to deal with it, but not you, not today”. I can see it all over the message presented: – They say: the report predicts that by the end of the century “hundreds of millions of people will be affected by coastal flooding and displaced due to land loss”. , I say: how about millions of people who are displaced – and quite many of them simply dead, see http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14084670 – in Africa? Why talk “end of the century”, when poorest countries of the world already have it going (as usual, poorest suffer 1st)? – They say: “The report forecasts that climate change will reduce median yields by up to 2 per cent per decade for the rest of the century”. , I say: oh, really? “For the rest of the century”, -2% every decade – is quite like saying “we’ll have industrial agriculture going, with minor losses, for at least 86 more years”. Any sane, aware and capable scientist today who paid attention to the matter – knows that this is highly unlikely to happen; – They say: “A global mean temperature increase of 2.5C above pre-industrial levels may lead to global aggregate economic losses of between 0.2 and 2.0 per cent, the report warns” , I say: +2.5C above pre-industrial will result in PDSI (drought index) to drop below Great Dust Bowl levels for more than a half of present agriculture lands on the planet (as evident from professor Dai analysis for expected PDSI changes in the warming world, particularly his excellent maps for it). This nearly certainly means that the world will lose more than a half of its food output – much more than a half, since on lands which will still be cultivable, yields will be greatly decreased, as mentioned above. This one consequence alone will result in much more than 0.2…2% economic loss. But who cares! 0.2…2% loss – is an excellent example of “nothing to REALLY worry about – manageable” figure, eh? – They say: “climate change by 2050 would increase the number of undernourished children under the age of five by 20-25 million globally, or by 17-22 per cent” , I say: by 2050, many times more children will be dead because of climate change, but since dead do not count as “undernourished”, those do not count, eh? Let ’em people think this is about “some more hungry kids in Africa, nothing to really worry about, besides, it’s about 2050, not about now” – this is what they are saying, eh. – They say: “For example, it indirectly increases the risks from violent conflict in the form of civil war, inter-group violence and violent protests by exacerbating well-established drivers of these conflicts such as poverty and economic shocks” , I say: risks? Risk – is a thing which is about “may happen, or may not happen”. Violent conflicts because of climate change – are not “risks”. Not even “inevitability”. Violent conflicts because of climate change – is a REALITY, here and now. See about the role of food prices in violent conflicts in Egypt and some other middle east countries, see about food riots in Africa, see about people in USA who don’t get food stamps anymore – and how they are quite literally enslaved by some US farm businesses to work much like slaves, and how few of them are simply killed for disobedience. Unconvinient truth is – it ain’t a risk, it’s a process already happening, and it’ll get much more widespred as warming goes on. – They say: “Terrestrial and freshwater species will also face an increased extinction risk under projected climate change during and beyond the 21st century.” , i say: same thing – not a risk; already happening, we have hundreds (by some estimates, thousands) times faster die-out rate of species even now. It’ll accelerate further. Talking about “increased extinction risk” of species now – is much like talking about “increased risk for one’s table to burn” when nearly 30% of one’s house is already burned down, and much of the remainder of it – is already on fire. Silly, eh? But no, ain’t silly, if the goal is to keep people cool. The phraze “during and beyond 21st century” is especially good at it – it makes many people to subconsiously (if wrongly) assume that much/most of species will still be around past 2100. While in fact, we’d be lucky if some 20% will still be present in at least some small numbers. – They say: “Machair, a grassy coastal habitat found only in north-west Scotland and the west coast of Ireland, is one of the several elements of the UK’s “cultural heritage” that is at risk from climate change”. , I say: oh, what a “nice” way to conclude the message! Why, suuure, we are MOST concerned about the loss of some cultural heritage, that’s the most important thing about climate change consequences out there, isn’t it? Sigh. Again, not a “risk” – it’s coastal, so it’ll be under the sea, there is no “whether” about it – it’s only a matter of “when”. Not a risk – but a certainty. Saying “risk” again and again instead of explaining why and how we know we’ll lose those things, – is a good way to keep people passive about it (for now). And then, what a brilliant way to conclude the message itself – instead of summary of any sort, they talk about a thing nearly noone cares about any much – “grassy coastal habitat” in the middle of north-west Scotland. Efficient conclusion of an efficient message, eh. IPCC reports – late drafts and parts as well as the whole AR4, – are to calm down the public, minor figures and amateurs who don’t see much of the big picture. The IPCC quite likely issues much different – and much closer to the grim reality, – version of their reports, one which is classified, and is not for public eyes. Their public works are not ones i’d recommend to base one’s decisions on, be it personal or professional decisions. But “messages” like this one, discussing “leaks” – are even worse. Carefully crafted to seemingly present the problem, while in fact doing quite well to mask the problem, – i.e. the opposite, – such message are among things i dislike the most. qscwsxesz said: Excellent analysis, I fully agree with what you said. The point is that it’s an incredibly ‘difficult’ situation, to say it very lightly. I am sure that the ‘important’ people, the big fish, etc do have a pretty clear picture of what’s to come: the great human population bottleneck & dieoff, the 6th massive extinction of biosphere, all the coming droughts floods storms sea level rise etc etc etc we all know are already here and with each passing year will substantially worsen because of feedbacks tipping points etc. My point is… how can the puppet masters communicate this to the ignorant brainwashed enslaved zombies they call the ‘people’ without starting a mass crazyness chaos anarchy unrest and all the rest of it…? On one side they obviously have all the position privilege money resources etc so keeping BAU for as long as possible is what they do, but in the other hand they are NOT so stupid as most of us think they are and so consequently they also probably know and understand NTE and all the rest of it… what can governments do? can you imagine some president or PM communicating the population the REALITY? Dear citizens, relatively soon we are all going to die because of the dozens of civilization kiilling genies we have released (AGW, CC, oceand acidfication desertification drought mass extinction of most higher life forms, etc etc etc) ??? all people would go crazy if they could see the truth… not gonna happen… BAU will continue until it simply cant… as for IPCC yeah its allways been a joke… arctic sea ice gone by 2060 anyone??? but yeah, probably they have a real IPCC with the ‘real deal’ which is obviously classified so as not to scare the sheeps moving to slaughter. That’s why I’m so gratefull to have access to THE TRUTH in sites like this one and similar ones… the 0,001% of human population aware/awaken/with little dirt in the eyes knows what’s coming… really interesting times… Greetings to xraymike, tom, kevin, ulvfugl, brutus, frinoli, and the rest of this great community. Keep up the excellent work xraymike! Realistic interpretation of the current state of the world, Tnioli and I agree that the message is about “buying time,” the most precious part of reality, to continue the façade as long as possible so the few can enjoy a few more moments of manufactured pleasure. i’m desperately trying to convince my wife to let go and let’s do something else for our remaining years. She says “You’ve been saying this for forty years, Tom.” I explain that more and more people saw it coming and that now it’s HERE. She continues to work in a corporate job that she dislikes and wants me to work full-time at something menial – bank teller, substitute teacher, and the like. In my mid-60’s i’m not into it any longer and really don’t care if I live in a tent on the side of the road somewhere. No matter what we do, it’ll all end badly. Why not try something else? Not yet, not today. The years drag on and after while you start running out of energy for bullshit and can’t continue to function in industrial society and start backing away – what I’ve been doing. There’s no “winning” here – it’s all just a giant waste of time to me. I comply and do what i’m told, but realistically i’m in my last 10 “good” years and while I still have the energy and perfect health I want to change some things. I have to wait for my love (and the rest of my family) to catch on. By then, of course, they’ll regret their delay. Me too. Tom, reading your comment I thought of an old Kunstlercast I just listened to, featuring Steve from Virginia. His waste-based economy exhortions are succinct and compelling. Even I had still labored under the notion that some things were “worth doing.” But no, really they’re not, as it turns out… it’s all loss-making from A to Z. [audio src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/kunstlercast/Kunstlercast_249.mp3" /] Maybe your wife would agree to take a listen. It is tough, though, to admit that what you’ve spent your whole life doing has been a waste. The psyche is always gonna try and protect itself. Pingback from Occuworld: TR said: “..obviously it’s my programming.” Climate Trump Card Exciting as the energy geopolitics stand-off is to follow from afar, the climate disruption implications of it serve as the ultimate trump card. “Sadly, few seem to care about diminishing the threat posed by climate change, since it has become increasingly clear that LNG would make things worse,” wrote ClimateProgress Editor Joe Romm in a March 12 article. “First, natural gas is mostly methane, (CH4), a super-potent greenhouse gas, which traps 86 times as much heat as CO2 over a 20-year period. So even small leaks in the natural gas production and delivery system can have a large climate impact.” It appears the U.S. push to export LNG has trumped climate change concerns, with export facilities in Freeport, Texas; Elba Island, Georgia; and Lusby, Maryland all barreling ahead through the permitting process. So even if the U.S. (and/or ExxonMobil) comes out ahead in this energy-centric geopolitical brouhaha, we still all end up losing in the end. [conclusion to above article @ 4:37 am] Funny how Exxon and the other majors have had such a free hand largely due to the tax payer funded military, yet can claim “I’m not a U.S. company and I don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the U.S.” I wonder where these companies would be if the Navy decided to stop protecting certain shipping lanes. Lloyds would probably cancel their insurance to begin with. The very fact that a CEO can speak like that in public indicates the government has no real authority and most people are clueless as to how their taxes have paid for the strong military presence that has enabled many US companies to dominate. Junkies will put up with all sorts of abuses and humiliations as long as their getting their fix. John Perkins(Confessions of an Economic Hit Man) was the first to really enlighten me on the nature of multinational corporations who “have no allegiance to any particular nation-state or people.” Perhaps we should extend that to “no allegiance to any particular habitable planet” as well. I was glad when Perkins came out, but even he thinks that capitalism just needs tweaking and accountability and then we will be alright. Until my mid twenties, I believed in the Gene Roddenberry future, then in techno fixes for 10 years. Every year for the last dozen years I have progressively lost any and now all faith in civilization. Although, I still like many people. PMB said: Perkins book came out in 2004. The year before the film and book of The Corporation came out. I literally dragged and paid for 20 people to see this movie which I believed would be the way towards opening their eyes to what was happening and provoke them into action. Didn’t work out so well. It was through this film that I first learned about Smedley Butler, his book, and the use of military to aid the corporate intrusion in South America and the attempted overthrow of Roosevelt in 1933. His book, War is a Racket should be required reading. I was stunned that at no point in all my years of schooling was this gentleman ever mentioned. Any time I brought up Butler to those more educated (Columbia, Harvard, Wharton, etc, etc) I was met with disdain and arrogance; not the slightest bit of interest. I couldn’t have been any more isolated than had I been an island. 20 people, eh. I estimated somewhere else that people who would actually able to both understand complex issues, and also act accordingly to their new knowledge – are, at best, about 0.1% of the population. If this estimate is true, then chances for you to get lucky and find just one such person out of group of 20 – is 0.1%20 = 2%. I.e., repeat the act and drag 20 more folks to see the movie, then do so 48 more times – and then you’ll have fairly decent chances (in fact, ~63.5% if my probability theory is not too rusty yet) to find a SINGLE person who’d be provoked into action. Sorry, but it seems we need much more refined, precise and intelligent methods to find out who’s those few who actually needs to see such movies. This is why I believe fast collapse is in the offing – maybe just to start things off the roller coaster of chaos. As soon as some, possibly insignificant, trigger is pulled (maybe it’s one that silently creeps up on us like methane and sea level rise) environmentally, but similarly on the food chain and certainly along social lines – the whole structure will likely unravel rather quickly, then maybe plateau off for some random length of time and zoom, down we go again, momentum building along the destruction vector, from food shortages, bank runs, panic of all kinds, desperation washing over civilization (not confined to former ‘third world’ countries as when capitalism was running things) to standard services evaporating. Once the electrical goes out there are no water, sewage, fire/emergency, medical, financial systems and the craziness begins. What difference will morality and ethics make? In a nation awash in guns and pharmaceuticals the scenarios one can imagine make The Road a bedtime story in your now lived dystopian reality. There’s going to be so much death and mayhem, with no one to clean up, that it practically guarantees that diseases of all kinds emerge to further the rate of decay. The stench alone will be enough to kill, as it indicates enormous levels of hydrogen sulfide, which will cause massive fires and explosions to continue for quite some time. Add to that the baked-in radiation increases as the world’s nuke plants and storage sites set off the largest slow atomic bomb of all. With nothing to eat that will sustain anyone for long, what kind of decisions is one more likely to make? Ultimately, the question becomes “Survive, for what?” It’s likely to bEcom@ hardRRRR to keeeeeepp one’s sAn ity. Tom– I said goodbye to my sanity long since. Was it Krishnamurti who said, ” It is no measure of health to be adapted to a profoundly sick society”? I have been wondering myself of late what further there is to say. I am beginning to think that perhaps, instead of focusing on all of the symptoms of collapse which manifest all around us, we should begin to seek out those practical things which can mitigate or at least ameliorate our condition. It already is apparent that many of us see music as our refuge. I used to (in the old days) walk around with a sketch book and a guitar. I was prepared for what life threw at me. I have a collage scattered around on my drawing table waiting for me to have the time in which to assemble it. That time never comes because I have rearranged my priorities such that it has always seemed trivial to think about art. Slowly it is dawning on me that my priorities are misplaced and mistaken. What else is there if we do not create in our mental/conscious environment that which profoundly announces our humanity? The trees are dying all around me. Since I can do nothing to stop the carnage what better meditation than to use the wood to create a sculpture honoring the life of the tree? Our technological world is collapsing because of human action. Perhaps it is time to stop. I have often wondered at the thought process behind the construction of the great pyramid at Giza. If that pile of stone did nothing else it definitely announced to us in the future, “We were here.” Is that enough? …that we were here? That’s a great question buz. It reminded of a Guy McPherson talk where after shocking the audience with some realities of how much damage we have done and suggesting the possibility of NTE he says “at least you got to live”. That made me ponder if I would rather not have been born. What disturbs me most is that, try as i might, I do not think I can protect the people I love. Not in any significant way. Powerlessness in the face of their suffering is my big fear. If I had no family it would be easy to just take that last walk in the woods when the time is right. buz: yes, I too do what I can now – grow my own veggies (try), take care of what’s in front of me, backing out of society a little at a time and waiting for my wife to change her mind about working her remaining years away. I used to spend a lot of time in the political anti-fracking campaign, but the snails pace of change was not for me so I just stick to local concerns now – trying to build community (it’s not working because of politics too) and connecting on-line, bearing witness. We’re running out of time but nobody seems concerned. Most are satisfied with the plastic existence of industrial civilization with its job-slavery and all its devil’s-bargain perks like unaffordable health care, foods that kill, legal cancer-causing and health-ruining industries (nuclear energy, tobacco and liquor to name a few), and a military and security state that keeps us all in prison all the time – and we’re not supposed to notice. Apneaman: that’s one of my concerns too – there’s no plan when nobody even wants to talk about the mere possibility that anything is wrong. Makes for some fitful sleep at times. Paul W said: Buz, per your thoughts on meditation and the pyramids, what about mankind building a monument to our folly on the moon? I know this is entirely impractical, but take it as a thought experiment. I say the moon because it is geologically inactive. You could build a few monuments to ensure redundancy in the case of an errant meteor strike. The point would be to leave a warning. If higher life forms reinhabit the earth and intelligence appears again, we could warn them of our folly and the lure of the fossil fuel energy gradient. That could be our legacy. It doesn’t have to be the moon. The goal would be to create something lasting millions of years that could communicate our warning and apology. It’s probably totally impossible to create such a monument, but that’s the kind of thoughts my mind wanders to when it seems like there’s no way to change the present. Too much truth in this little masterpiece of horror you’ve written, and with BAU it will most assuredly come to pass. The psychological effects are already well underway (previously posted here): Americans’ Mental Health is Latest Victim of Changing Climate (Op-Ed) Thanks Mike, but I gotta tell you – your site is inspirational! The artwork and your writing and contributors’ too – you’re expressing our group emotions, striking a chord so to speak, and our responses are the reverberations, harmonics. Helps to be baked too . . . . . . . . HA-HAAA! Good one Apneaman! I wish I could miss what’s happening. It’s extremely hard to live “a productive life” or make “plans for the future” when you see there isn’t much longer to go and it’s getting worse all the time. I muddle on though. Missed this article from 3-8-14 in which we are mentioned… A Gift from the Collapseniks Kevin Moore was just quoted in the San Diego Free Press: Putting Our Financial Well Being Above Our Children’s Ability to Survive a Warming Planet How about a theme song for our NTHE club? This was mentioned above, and i gave argumented reply above, stating that this is in fact a kind of message to pacify the society – not to motivate it. Sadly. Quite betrayal’ish of IPCC to do so, but then, may be not, – who said IPCC was for “us people” in the 1st place? AFAIK, it never was. http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/theres-a-coal-base-in-china-the-size-of-la China Is Building a “Coal Base” the Size of LA China, faced with ever-worsening pollution in its major cities—a recent report deemed Beijing “barely suitable for living”—is doing what so many industrializing nations have done before it: banishing its titanic smog spewers to poor or rural areas so everyone else can breathe easier. But China isn’t just relegating its dirty coal-fired power plants to the outskirts of society; for years, it’s been building 16 unprecedentedly massive, brand new “coal bases” in rural parts of the country. There, they won’t stifle China’s megacities; they’ll churn out enough pollution to help smother the entire world. The biggest of those bases, the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base, spans nearly 400 square miles, about the size of LA. It’s already operational, and seemingly always expanding. It’s operated by Shenhua, one of the biggest coal companies in the world. China hopes to uses these coal bases not just to host some of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants, but to use super-energy intensive technology to convert the coal into a fuel called syngas and use it to make plastics and other materials. Syngas is healthier to breathe when burned than typical coal—but as Motherboard has noted before, synthesizing the stuff emits nearly twice the carbon pollution. That’s why when Inside Climate News, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative environmental outfit, traveled to China to investigate the operation, they, and a number of climate experts concluded it would “doom the climate.” [and, further down] It’s projected to finally be finished by the end of the decade, when it will produce a jaw-dropping 30,000 MW of power, sucking down 100 million tons of coal every year in the process. And it’s just one of over a dozen such sprawling operations. As such, Ningdong does a fairly good job of epitomizing China’s grave threat to the global climate system. A recent paper in Nature Climate Change noted that if all of the coal-to-gas plants get built, they’d produce 21 billion tons of CO2 alone. The Washington Post’s Brad Plumer puts that in context: “The entire nation of China produced 7.7 billion tons of carbon-dioxide in 2011.” Put simply, China’s on a path to produce an unholy amount of carbon pollution. [concludes] China’s giant coal bases, then, may very well be the largest looming threat to a stable global climate. [“So, then what’s Fukushima, chopped liva?”] So much for the theory of the Asians being smarter than us. well at least they’re honest and up front about it, as in: YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH! Virtual stress relief: Now you’re talking. If I don’t at least kick a rock my day is wasted. I face a knee replacement which will sideline me for the duration. That is more depressing than a nuclear war for me. I can hear the water… very nice – how do you do that? Treemystic said: Reblogged this on Gaia will prevail. Land of the serfs, home of the subservient… Yes, as I have often pointed out (not the only person, of course, but perhaps more frequently and more vocally than many), war has been declared on young people, those who are generally least able to defend themselves. New Zealand’s child poverty rate began to surge in the early 2000s, and is rising rapidly. Nobody in power cares. I guess it’s all part of the plan. As I said to NPDC last year, most of councillors and senior officers are worse than the Nazis who ran the death camps because those Nazis did love their own children and did much to protect them. The mob in power around here (and their ‘brothers in arms’ elsewhere) won’t lift a finger to protect the next generation, and most of the time actively work to destroy the next generation (in its entirety). Younger members of staff actively promote their own destruction. I discussed the fall in oil consumption in most ‘developed nations’ over recent years with the newly appointed NPDC Policy and Strategy Manager today, and pointed out that when you have 25% general rate of unemployment and 60% youth unemployment (Spain, Greece, Italy etc.) oil consumption falls because people stop driving to work, stop taking holidays, stop doing anything much. One of the biggest problems at the moment is the high Kiwi dollar (currently around 86 cents US compared to 42 cents 15 years ago) because NZ is losing the race for the bottom; that creates the illusion that oil and other imports are cheap, and spurs continued over-consumption and maintenance of the various delusions associated with industrial living. Relatively rich migrants pouring into Auckland are fuelling a rampant housing market and raising the general poverty rate. Waiting for the crash, but the worse it gets overseas, the more attractive NZ becomes to those with lots of digits in computer systems. Kevin: I just came across this article. Care to comment? http://robinwestenra.blogspot.co.nz/2014/03/nz-pm-drops-dollar.html NZ PM drops the dollar? “Woa, this is big!!!. John Key as a Wall street banker signed a deal with the Chinese to deal directly with them and not via the global currency the US dollar?????” —Travellerev Wall Street Banker NZ Prime Minister John Key Drops the US Dollar? New Zealand has become one of the first countries in the world to be allowed direct currency trading with Chinese, a move aimed at reducing the cost of business in the economic superpower. Prime Minister John Key announced the deal after a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last night (NZ time), the first day of his state visit this week. The deal would “make doing business with China easier by reducing the costs of converting between the two currencies, and will stimulate trade and investment”, Key said. The announcement was a sign of “how close the relationship is growing”. Since he became prime minister, exports had quadrupled to $10 billion, he said. “You can sort of pick any metric you like but it’s a remarkable relationship and one gets the feeling we’re only part way through it in terms of the potential for New Zealand.” Work to allow the direct trade began in April last year, shortly after an announcement that Australia had been granted a similar deal. While China is emerging as a global economic superpower, its currency remains tightly controlled by Beijing, with the exchange rate allowed to rise in value only slowly and trade allowed only through approved currencies. This means currency trading has generally had to be conducted indirectly, usually through US dollars, even though New Zealand’s exports, of $10b in 2013, exceed that of Australia. New Zealand is only the sixth currency in the world to be granted direct convertibility with China. Australian-owned Westpac has been granted the licence to operate as a market maker between the kiwi and China’s renminbi. [there’s a little more and it’s unrelated to the topic] Russia is giving up their dollars and China probably doesn’t want them any more, now here’s NZ! This could be a HUGE development in that it could cause the dollar (already on shaky ground) to collapse! You can imagine the effect on the global banking system. Like most western nations, NZ has lost most of its economic diversity (deliberate government policy over many decades whichever party or coalition was in power) and is now largely dependent on agricultural exports and tourism (pus borrowing) to pay for imports of energy, consumer products, machinery and construction materials, 40 years ago most imports came from Britain or the USA, with a fair portion coming from Australia. Almost nothing came from China. And almost the only Chinese living in NZ were those descended from those who had come to NZ in the gold-rush days of the nineteenth century. Now a huge portion of goods, everything from greeting cards and clothing to refrigerators and cars, comes from China. And there are huge ‘ghettos’ of Chinese in Auckland where English is the second language. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with Chinese people; when living in Auckland I found many of be quite delightful; indeed, many aspects of culture would vanish without the money and energy injected by Chinese. But ultimately it’s all a short-term numbers game.. Like practically all other politicians, John key is totally untrustworthy and will say anything publicly to remain in power whilst privately working on his agenda of self-promotion and personal acquisition. Sabotage of NZ is a major component of his government’s economic strategy, just as has been the case ever since I came here (1974). NZ should be one of the richest countries per capita in the world but never will be because a huge portion of wealth is continually siphoned off and delivered to the ‘owners’ (founders of The New Zealand Company) and various components of the global Rothschild empire etc. . In the short term, which country offers the best opportunities for self-aggrandisement, looting of the commons and perpetuation of Ponzi schemes? History of Man: http://robinwestenra.blogspot.co.nz/2014/03/the-end.html Mike: I have an idea/title to a future post Everything’s Under Control! [when of course it clearly isn’t] http://enenews.com/crisis-underway-fukushima-plant-amid-worker-shortage-alcoholism-rampant-tepco-base-sells-whiskey-workers-spray-hose-full-radioactive-waste-water-video NYTimes: Crisis underway at Fukushima plant, worker shortage — “Alcoholism is rampant” — Tepco base is selling the whiskey — Help wanted ad seeks employees “able to carry out a conversation” — Workers spray hose full of radioactive waste on themselves and others (VIDEO) WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Excerpt from How to be Trapped …cannot we just switch to green growth? DK: First of all, if it is growth, it will still be energy and resource consuming. Secondly, the starting point will still be path dependent and thus constrained. Thirdly, technology cannot make energy, only help to find, process and distribute what is already there. And what’s potentially left, renewable or not, is less economy-adaptive, is of lower quality and lower energy return than what it’s replacing. So there is no magic way around our central predicament. Anyway, what do we mean by ‘switch’? It suggests a level of insight and control of the globalised economy that we do not have. It implies a rapid transformation that in reality is inherently rate limited (energy revolutions have happened over many decades), and dependent upon the continuing coherence of the globalised economy and its constituent critical systems. In addition problem solving in a complex society suffers from declining marginal returns. New solutions require more and more scientific, economic and social efforts and economies of scale and resources. They don’t live in a vacuum, they live in this interdependent system- the globalised economy. For example, the smallest particle, the electron, discovered in the 1890’s was done by Thompson on a lab bench; now it takes 10,000 PhD’s and a 27km high tech ring, and the coherence of our modern globalized economy to reveal the newest particle, the Higgs Boson. The discovery of penicillin in the 1920’s in today’s money cost almost nothing and had a revolutionary impact; now we are spending €100’s of millions to make minor improvements on niche drugs. To ‘solve’ the problems of growth with green growth still requires the rising cost of complex problem solving- and that requires rising energy and resource flows- which themselves are suffering from declining marginal returns (Energy-Return-On-Energy-Invested). In the end though, we’ve run out of time. The implications of crossing the limits to growth are the complex globalised systems (financial, monetary, adaptive social behaviors, supply-chains, critical infrastructures, factories, resource access and processing, R&D etc) needed to invent, manufacture, and deploy at scale begin to stress, lose resilience and finally break down. In such a case our green growth aspirations will fall away from our grasp as the socio-economic ground collapses beneath our feet. Mike, I hadn’t read down all the way before I posted a different excerpt from this same article above. What made me think of it was your talking about what sorts of human morality come into play in our situation; Ac’s argument is that this is all baked into the cake and it makes no sense to hand out blame. Maybe all managed ? In the final segment of a March 3 broadcast of her show, [Abby] Martin lashed out at the invasion: “I can’t stress how strongly I am against any state intervention in any sovereign nation’s affairs. What Russia did is wrong… I will not sit here and defend military aggression.” http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/03/links-31914.html#comment-1925231 I’ll hold off judgment for a while longer before I unleash. Zdzislaw Beksiński definitely had a dark sense of humor… The excellent David Korowicz is here interviewed on the subject of collapse. As with Paul Chefurka’s thermodynamic paradigm, he allows for a perspective which precludes any need for handwringing or apportioning of blame: http://www.feasta.org/2014/03/17/how-to-be-trapped/ I quoted from it(what I found most useful) a few comments above, yet there are most assuredly those to blame, and there are evil people, and there are solutions, albeit radical. Korowics acknowledges that these broad brush strokes of evolutionary behavior he paints are not entirely deterministic: “People can be uncomfortable with such evolutionary explanations. However, they’re not mechanistically deterministic, but statistical, people and small groups will always surprise more than very large human groups. After all coming across a convent of celibates is not a sign that human sex is dead! Nor do such arguments rigidly define behavior.” So the “handwringing” and “pointing of blame” is most certainly justified by the abused, exploited, and disenfranchised. We should hold to account those who deliberately lie and mislead society for their own short-term gain or in order to prop up dysfunctional and destructive systems.. And personally find it utterly appalling that local government officers continuously lie to the community in order to promote bizarre schemes and dysfunctional systems. I have recently examined the NPDC ‘draft plan’ for the district I live in. It contains much of the nonsense that has been copied and pasted year after year and which has been repeatedly demonstrated to be utterly false. In other words, the plan is to keep lying for as long as possible. As with last year’s ‘plan’ and the one before the most common statement in this year’s ‘plan’ is: ‘There are no significant negative effects from this activity’, which is an absolute lie. In one of his talks on free will, Sam Harris more or less said that even though we do not have it we all need to act as if we do. There is no excuse for the behaviors of many of the powerful and so called successful people. In most instances they could have still made a tidy profit, but caused much less damage to many people and the environment. They chose otherwise because they wanted it ALL at any cost. These are not crimes of passion. Cold blooded crimes. http://guymcpherson.com/forum/index.php?topic=591.msg44047#new Brutus said: The interview with David Korowicz is quite excellent and gets so many things right, but at one point he says (or writes): such a view [proposing a mythical steady-state economy] tends to embody the confusion that because the globalised economy is human-made it is therefore designed, understandable and controllable — humans can do this in niches, but the emergent structure of multiple niches interacting on many scales over time is not. So our categorical confusion stems from language and labels. Whoda thunk? I’ve been beating the metaphor drum for a while now, including the reduction into arbitrariness distinctions between natural, artificial, and man-made. Korowicz gets that much of how we understand the world is flawed because we cannot conceive of our own handiwork as being something other than an outcome of natural processes when placed in a cosmic context, but in fact, if everything is “natural,” then nothing can ever be “unnatural.” It’s another linguistic escape hatch. “Um, uh, well, we did it, all of it, and the results are catastrophic. Everything and everyone died. But hey, we’re just part of the pageant of life, right? No harm, no foul, and we get to keep all our goodies.” If we can understand and control the niches to some degree but not the overall sweep of history or indeed complex, emergent systems (culture can’t be steered), then we can sure as hell take some responsibility and/or assess some blame over those behaviors that are not the results of aggregation and demographics (abstractions with teeth, perhaps) but instead stem from straight-up bad faith and poor character, which has very real human agency (mostly lunatic and pathological) behind it. Yes, we’re trapped in cycle upon cycle of that shit. Some of us rise above it. Hmmm, I think the whole ‘We got language 50,000 years ago abstract thought’ thing is nonsense… no evidence, just a made up evo story. I think he mentions Pinker, who is a neoliberal shill for the Empire, because it’ll get him some corporate consulting work, I think the whole thesis is ‘We are just poor helpless locusts doing what locusts do, so we’ll eat the planet, nobody’s fault’, as evasion of guilt, remorse, responsibility, etc, so nobody needs to do anything, shrug’… naah Oops, here’s this article again… Mike, I think it looks that way, but over larger time-frames oppressors can easily find themselves oppressed and vice versa. It’s really only the era of energy slaves that eclipsed the era of real slavery, with the real slavery coming back into fashion. @u, it’s not a question of what “needs” doing—nothing “needs” doing—it’s a question of what is, and who we are. Everyone here will agree, I wager, that humans are deluded as to the degree of power we have: in the universe, in politics, in our own lives. You’re asking people to stop eating, and stop moving about except on foot, and stop heating their homes, and stop reproducing, immediately, cold turkey. (And even that would not be enough, as you well know.) We are master exploiters of our surroundings: that’s what we do. We turn matter and energy into human flesh, as Mike put it so trenchantly. The rest is just decoration: justification for various strategies of executing the above function more effectively. Ac is just stating the obvious, but with a clarity I’ve rarely seen in such a short communication. “Needs” doing… sheesh. I forgot which commenter said “we need answers”, to which I replied that we’ve plenty of answers, we just don’t like them because they happen to be “no”. Ulvfugl, I’m surprised to see you use the construction “just* locusts”, as though there’s something wrong with locusts. Locusts are not helpless —who knows how many of “us” they have starved, hm? They are a very old creature, about 300 million years old; we will not match their track record. (Because we are even more successful than they, don’t you see?) It seems as though you understand some of the rules of the game, but don’t want the game to ever have an end. That’s wishful thinking, where elsewhere you make calls to science and rationality. @ Lidia, either I have expressed myself very badly, or you have misunderstood what I was trying to say, or both, nevermind, I am busy elsewhere, and, um, I know what there is to know about locusts, or some of it, having spent a year in a very small room with 80,000 of them… 🙂 To build nuclear power stations is a policy decision. Somebody signs a piece of paper, I see that as a choice, option, free will, humans have, locust not. Ulvfugl, I agree: we have options and choices of our own making that most other species do not. The fact that we can zoom out far enough to recognize that we’re merely creatures inhabiting a water planet spinning around a sun and hurtling along the edge of a galaxy or some other wide-angle lens (e.g., energy gradients) does nothing to absolve us of our decisions and actions that have brought about cataclysm. It would appear we’ve lost the fight to reframe the issue more narrowly in human terms, as there are now several others boasting of our powerlessness to do anything constructive with our knowledge except to continue consuming and destroying. @ Lidia Oh dear, no, that’s a total misunderstanding of how I see things @ Brutus Well, I do believe we are locked in to the mass extinction event, but I do not believe that it HAD to be this way… And, yes, I do think it is worthwhile fighting for justice and retribution and taking a moral stand, and that there is such a thing as human dignity and responsibility and integrity and so on, that gives existence meaning. Perhaps you missed the Epicurus quote, which I formatted poorly. The last part reads: “…an unquenchable thirst for life keeps us always on the grasp.” Nuclear power promised energy too cheap to meter. We don’t have the free will to deny ourselves the energy needed to turn other matter into human flesh, if it seems there for the taking. Or rather, as Ac points out, using the analogy of the existence of nunneries not having wiped out sexual relations, most of us don’t. There will always be outliers. Everything’s under control (example), Relax, the gentech industry has it all covered.”: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/03/rootworm-resistance-bt-corn/ Voracious Worm Evolves to Eat Biotech Corn Engineered to Kill It One of agricultural biotechnology’s great success stories may become a cautionary tale of how short-sighted mismanagement can squander the benefits of genetic modification. After years of predicting it would happen — and after years of having their suggestions largely ignored by companies, farmers and regulators — scientists have documented the rapid evolution of corn rootworms that are resistant to Bt corn. [read the rest] I can hear Rod Serling’s clipped voice in the background, “File under hubris, as we continue our journey . . . . through the Twilight Zone . . . “ Tom, I feel like I am living in the Twilight Zone, and your comment is another example. A while ago I had a conversation with Robert Atak (of oilcrash) and mentioned Hemmingway’s baby shoes story. The next time I turned on my computer(a few hours later) and came to CoIC Mike had posted a new essay with that title! Not long after that I made a comment about lies being like a hydra, and the next link I read had the same analogy! This morning I woke early and watched a DVD of …… The Twilight Zone! I turned on my computer, looked at a few items then came to your link and comment, I know it is all pure coincidence and has no meaning whatsoever. Nevertheless, it is definitely TZ. It will soon be time to got out and face the walking, talking mannequins who think they are people. Glitch in the matrix? B9K9 said: Couple of comments: Kevin, I think you misunderstand the nature of why the PTB continue pursuing policies that, in your opinion, could prove harmful to their own flesh & blood. On the contrary, what if they believe in the principles articulated by Comte, mainly: “The history of the human species is comprised of one word, of struggles which have arisen from the desire to seize all physical enjoyments of the entire species and to impose upon all others the pain of the same kind.” In other words, it’s not merely sufficient to ‘win’; no, you must also deny your adversaries any comfort/solace as well. Since this is the core objective driving all class struggles, what strategies and tactics should be employed to increase the odds of success of those pursuing these endeavors? Well, this is where it begins to get interesting; what if, just say, you’re able to run the system into the wall at maximum full speed, all the while preparing your own safe haven? Now, wouldn’t the impact cause such shock to possible competition that it could, in all probability, render them incapable of any defense and thus create easy marks to be picked off at leisure? If P. Chefurka created a church, I’d probably be one of his first disciples. I mean, his theory of dissipative energy driving the behavior of both living and non-living energy sinks is so intuitive, it really resonates with those who fall into the mechanistic camp. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Nat’l Razor was essentially addressing these same themes in his excellent comment upstream. If H Sapiens is just another (mal)adaptive species that has now reached the end of its fitness regime with regard to the global environment, then why should anyone shed any tears? So, along these lines, I have to wonder why people get emotionally upset about what is occurring. It is what it is, so the only thing left to do is dance. Now, for those who are into playing games, the intriguing notion is how are the PTB are going to play their hand(s)? This is the direction where I see state-of-the-art doomerism heading. Really, how many times must the obvious vis-a-vis the 3 E’s be stated? Doesn’t anyone get bored around here? But the great mystery, the untold story, are the machinations of the entire cast – PTB, intelligentsia and sheep – that will take place as the truth eventually begins to reach larger audiences. At the least, doesn’t anyone want to pull up a seat and start placing some bets? Think about how much time & effort some put into the things like sports betting – studying the stats, considering the options, point spread, injury reports, etc. Now here, we have a global life game taking place right in front of us. Personally, I find it fascinating, and I’d surprised if I’m the only one who thinks this way. I find it fascinating too. Horrifying and fascinating. I’m a fan of Chefurka as well, but is it not possible to be in more than one camp? Part of me thinks that our self induced collapse and probably our extinction were unavoidable. On the other hand, I feel a lot of suffering could be avoided if even some of TPTB chose to make an effort. I know power never gives it self up (except for Cincinnatus) but they could, amongst themselves, make concessions and still be wealthy and powerful. I guess there is no benevolence in our time. TPTB are human so they will have different motivations for their actions, but I bet many do get off on denying comfort. Who are their adversaries though? The common man? I always thought they hated each other the most and were largely indifferent to the plebs as long as we remain useful. The 3 E’s will be discuses till we die. With reference to other senior council officers, today I asked the NPDC Regulatory Manager: “What part of the brain is missing from all the council officers who promote the destruction of their own children’s futures, or if they are young their own future?” Maybe someone here can provide an explanation because all I got back was that I was too intelligent/too well informed/ operating at too high a level. Apparently one has to descend to 12-year-old level to communicate with PTB. Yes Apneaman, we should be working towards reducing future suffering, not trying to intensify it. I guess concept is too rational for most people to cope with. The sapient part of their brain is obviously not working properly. Apneaman, to invoke Korowicz’s interview with Ac once again: Ac cited Epicurus: So long as the object of our craving is unattained it seems more precious than anything besides. Once it is ours we crave for something else. So an unquenchable thirst for life keeps us always on the grasp. For the super-rich whose wealth is only conceivable in large numbers, it’s just the number that counts: the status, the means of keeping score. Don’t think you’re immune to the status bug. After downsizing my life considerably, I still act as though I belong among a certain type of cohort of folks in the small town I moved to: the educated professional class. It’s clear they don’t all hold the same opinion of me. I’m having to get used to being thought of as lesser (less wealthy, less intelligent, less competent) because of my cheap house and thrift-store furniture. It’s hard to remain undamaged by it—human and animal studies both show deleterious effects caused by low-status stress, I believe. Yes I know. It happened to me. I was a well paid union tradesmen with many perks (food, accommodation, travel expenses, 12% holiday pay, pension, full dental, etc) for a dozen years and had to leave it due to injury. For a long time the status loss got to me more than the money. I have never been obsessed with the money. Useful and necessary. In addition, I will admit that at least a part of my life long quest of never ending curiosity and learning is motivated by wishing to appear “wicked smart”. I also started out with never-ending curiosity as a child, driven in part by an erroneous belief in the perfectibility of things. Adulthood, cynicism, and misanthropy disposed of that belief long ago, but I’m still remarkably curious to know and understand without any particular aim toward application, which often enough leads down the road of unintended consequences. Sharing is enough. I also note that appearing wicked smart is different from being wicked smart. Neither is particularly high status, which is typically reserved for things like youth, beauty, talent, charisma, and of course, power and wealth. Most of those are heritable, and only a few get them. Those heroes… um, Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, Pierre Omidyar… “In 2003, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar purchased an 11-acre lot on the edge of Seven Hills and began building a massive estate. In 2006, he completed his 48,000-square-foot, 33 bedroom, 36 bath mansion that is assessed at more than $23 million.” “In March, 2007, Omidyar invested $10M in Maui Land and Pineapple. Steve Case invested $5M. The following year it was revealed that ML&P was a target of the nation’s biggest human trafficking prosecution….” http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/8247/Pierre-Omidyar-The-Secret-Empire-of-a-Resort-Developer.aspx Nice summation of a lot of material concerning the collapse of past civilizations and the recent Nasa article on our own. If you actually read it all and take everything in, your head will explode: Climate change and human civilization: Nasa-funded study warns of ‘collapse of civilisation’ in coming decades ‘The government was very happy to promote New Zealand as a low-wage/insecure work destination for multi-national companies, but did nothing to keep decent jobs in sectors such as food manufacturing, he said.’ http://news.msn.co.nz/nationalnews/8817286/cerebos-greggs-auckland-factory-to-close Food, sauce and coffee maker Cerebos Gregg’s says it will close its south Auckland factory just before Christmas with the loss of 125 jobs. The East Tamaki factory had become too costly and inefficient to run, so food production will move to Sydney and coffee production will go to Dunedin, the company said on Thursday. “This is a truly sad day for everyone involved,” chief executive Terry Svenson said in a statement. “Our East Tamaki factory now needs major capital investment. But we can’t justify continuing to invest money in this ageing plant when we already have more modern manufacturing facilities capable of increased volumes.” The East Tamaki factory will close on December 19. The staff would have their jobs up until that date and the company would in the meantime help them find work elsewhere. The Service and Food Workers Union says Cerebos Gregg’s has spent $10 million upgrading its Dunedin factory but that won’t create more jobs. It will be difficult for the workers as none of the big food factories nearby are hiring, says union spokesman Chas Muir. Around half of them had given Cerebos loyal service for more than 10 years, he said. “Although the work is not highly paid, it is well above the minimum wage, with stable hours of work,” he said. The union blames government policies for the job losses. “Government’s lack of support for manufacturing is hitting areas like food processing hard,” Mr Muir said. “That flows on to families and communities.” The government was very happy to promote New Zealand as a low-wage/insecure work destination for multi-national companies, but did nothing to keep decent jobs in sectors such as food manufacturing, he said. Cerebos Gregg’s is the only New Zealand manufacturer producing instant coffee. It employs around 450 people in New Zealand and 500 in Australia. I’m taking a fondness for reporter Dahr Jamail these days since he seems to be really connecting the dots. I’ve been following him for a few years now and a while back he wrote an essay entitled “Are We Sustainable?“… I think he knows the answer now. Reporting on a World of Environmental Catastrophes – All in Just One Month By Dahr Jamail Monday, 17 March 2014 09:40 I was just looking at the artwork of one of my favorite artists, Richard Corben, who works in the comic book genre. I love the cover he did below. Click to enlarge it and read what is etched into the rubble of a memorial that a couple visiting aliens find on what is left of Earth… Oh man, Mike: I fondly remember a cover of this very comic, way back – around the time of Three Mile Island – that had a view from a kitchen where the cooling tower of the nuke plant was visible, mom serving a glowing dinner to her glowing family and one of them remarks “I feel funny.” Priceless. LOL… Way back to 1979 Click and Click to enlarge. THAT’S IT!! According to Zero Hedge the music has ended in China and the scramble is on. We have heard similar stories before, but since we all know the various Ponzi schemes are well overblown and there has been much talk of Chinese companies defaulting on bond payments it would be unwise to ignore this report: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-19/music-just-ended-wealthy-chinese-are-liquidating-offshore-luxury-homes-scramble-cash Cash-strapped Chinese are scrambling to sell their luxury homes in Hong Kong, and some are knocking up to a fifth off the price for a quick sale, as a liquidity crunch looms on the mainland. Said otherwise, what goes up is now rapidly coming down. Wealthy Chinese were blamed for pushing up property prices in the former British territory, where they accounted for 43 percent of new luxury home sales in the third quarter of 2012, before a tax hike on foreign buyers was announced. The rush to sell coincides with a forecast 10 percent drop in property prices this year as the tax increase and rising borrowing costs cool demand. At the same time, credit conditions in China have tightened. Earlier this week, the looming bankruptcy of a Chinese property developer owing 3.5 billion yuan ($565.25 million) heightened concerns that financial risk was spreading. Here’s a sensible explanation for the Ukraine take-over by Russia from Robert S.: https://robertscribbler.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/the-monsters-of-our-growth-shock-arise-to-harry-us-conflict-in-the-ukraine-global-food-crisis-and-spending-500-billion-dollars-to-permanently-wreck-the-worlds-climate/ [quick quote so you get the gist] Ukraine — The Breadbasket of Europe Perhaps the irony is lost on Russia that the very fuels — oil, gas and coal — that it views as an economic strength are also the source of its increasingly marginal food security and the ongoing and growing devastation of its lands. But Russia, its strongman, and its corporate oligarchs likely haven’t overlooked the fact that Ukraine is one of the world’s largest food producers. In a world where food is becoming increasingly costly and scarce, this particular commodity may well be more important than even oil, gas, or coal. Ukraine possesses 30% of the world’s remaining richest black soil. It regularly ranks within the top ten producers of both wheat and corn. It is the world’s top producer of sunflower oil. The reach of its agricultural exports extends to the UK, Europe, Japan, China and into Russia itself. If Russia has a food crisis, it will be to the Ukraine that it turns to first. Moreover, the current Russian dictator must see an imperative not to rely overmuch on the US or its other economic rivals for food. So it is in this context — a one in which climate change is causing Russia to flood and burn, in which climate change is now beginning to take down global agricultural productivity, and in which the Ukraine could well be seen as the Iraq of world food production (one of the only countries with the ability to radically increase production) — that we must also view both the Ukrainian revolution for independence and the Russian armed invasion as a response. Russia Already Taking Hold of Some of Ukraine’s Most Productive Farmland One more nightmare to add for now – how our pollution (especially nuclear now) is moving up the food chain and into our water supplies: http://m.ctpost.com/local/article/Uranium-found-in-Stamford-well-water-5329586.php Uranium found in Stamford well water Stamford — Health officials are urging homeowners to test their drinking water after 70 percent of five dozen private wells sampled since the beginning of the year tested positive for uranium contamination. Uranium is a naturally occurring element that can seep into drinking wells through nearby bedrock. People who are exposed to high levels of uranium for a sustained period of time are susceptible to kidney problems, said state Department of Public Health Epidemiologist Brian Toal. “The primary health risk for uranium is potential damage to the kidney,” Toal said. “It’s really not a radioactive hazard, even though it’s a radioactive element. Therefore, it’s not considered a large cancer risk.” Stamford, which has offered subsidized well-water testing for carcinogenic pesticides since March 2012, recently added heavy metals contaminants to the list. The Health Department has tested 60 private wells for arsenic and uranium so far this year; 42 samples contained uranium. Fourteen wells, or about 23 percent of the five dozen tested, contained uranium contamination in concentrations at or above the recommended federal health limit of 30 micrograms per liter. “In Stamford, the percentage of wells that have been found over the (federal health) standard are quite high,” Toal said. “At the levels we’re seeing in well water, we would not expect to see people with overt kidney damage or problems. But if someone has a very high level, it’s a good recommendation for them to go see a doctor.” Toal characterized “very high” uranium concentrations as 100 to 300 micrograms per liter. Several years ago, a private well in Newtown tested positive for uranium at levels exceeding 900 micrograms per liter. The family of six had their kidney functions tested and one child demonstrated a “slight abnormality,” which went away after several months of drinking clean water, Toal said. “In most instances (uranium poisoning) is reversible,” he said. “There’s a fairly simple test that can be done to check your kidney function. But for most people, we’d say just stop drinking the water and you’ll be fine.” It’s not clear how widespread uranium contamination is statewide, Toal said. The state health department is coordinating water testing across 30 to 40 towns and expects to complete the study this fall. “We get calls for isolated reports all over the state,” he said. “We think it occurs in pockets, and that it’s higher in some places than others, but we don’t have a complete picture yet.” The Stamford Health Department has been sampling private drinking wells for two years, but only began offering arsenic and uranium testing Jan. 1. “Even if you tested before for pesticides and volatile organic compounds, you need to test again,” said Director Anne Fountain. “You don’t know what you’re going to find until you test.” So far arsenic, which was detected in the drinking water of 81 Weston homes last year, has only been found in one Stamford well, Health Laboratory Director Jim Federici said. note the blasé tone of the article – everything’s fine, nothing to see here, move along Uranium poisoning is reversible, so don’t worry, drink up! oh, okay – here’s one that popped up today (happened yesterday, i’m SURE you saw it on the msm news): http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/71239 Sunoco oil pipeline leaks in Ohio nature preserve A major oil pipeline owned by Sunoco Logistics Partners LP leaked thousands of gallons of crude oil into a nature preserve in southwest Ohio late on Monday. Between 7,000 and 10,000 gallons (26,000-38,000 liters) of sweet crude leaked into the Oak Glen Nature Preserve about a quarter of a mile from the Great Miami River, according to early estimates from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The leak, which occurred on a line operated by Mid-Valley Pipeline Co, a division of Sunoco, was discovered at 8:20 p.m. EDT on Monday (0020 GMT Tuesday). The company shut the line, which helped reduce the pressure of the leaking oil, an EPA spokeswoman said, but it was unclear if oil was still spewing from the pipe. Some oil reached a wetland a mile away and on Tuesday, clean-up crews were preparing to vacuum the wetland, located 20 miles north of Cincinnati. The oil did not appear to have reached the Great Miami River, though tests were still being completed, the EPA said. “The extent of impact to the resource is currently unknown,” said a statement from the Great Parks of Hamilton County, which oversees the Oak Glen preserve. “The EPA is assessing the situation to determine appropriate action.” Sunoco was not immediately available for comment. The pipeline is part of Sunoco’s mid-west system that runs about 1,000 miles from Longview, Texas to Samaria, Michigan, providing crude oil to a number of refineries, primarily in the U.S. Midwest. Flows along the Mid-Valley pipeline decreased overnight to around 163,000 barrels per day from an estimated 229,000 bpd, according to data provider Genscape. The pipeline has a capacity of 280,000 bpd, Genscape said. The loss of a key supply route from the south hit physical crude oil prices in Texas, already pressured by ample supplies. West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery at Midland, Texas, fell $2.50 a barrel on Tuesday to $15 below U.S. oil futures. West Texas Sour fell $4. The King of the world: http://stevecutts.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/the-king/ Mike, this is just one of the types of evidence that would seem to prove the thermodynamic explanations shared by Paul C. Whenever something makes me scratch my head, like “why did my mom’s hospice company ship meds—even common ones like an OTC laxative—15 pills at a time FedEx from New Jersey via Atlanta to Vermont? A whole FedEx pack for a bottle of 15 pills that would cost $0.75 from the local pharmacy?” When I plug in the possible solution: because it creates the most waste possible… Bingo! What used to not make any sense at all now makes perfect sense! So, of course right in the midst of a decade or two of “green awareness” we decided that all coffee needs to generate extra plastic waste all of a sudden. Why? Because of the hidden imperative to create as much waste as possible as quickly as possible. I bought a Nikon CoolPix camera in Europe, and it came in a box about 8x10x4″. When I dropped the camera and broke it, I bought a new one in the US. It came in an identical 8x10x4″ box, which was then encased in a huge rigid molded plastic thing about 11″x17″. Why? Because! It creates more waste! This is the Prime Directive. Not sure where I saw a link to a TED talk about Peak Sand by some Frenchman. The kicker at the end was the revelation that they take the bottles we throw away (instead of refilling) and grind them up to make “new” sand which they then put back on the beaches! Why? Because it uses the most energy conceivable, would seem a reasonable answer. Even on these threads, which I’ve been following for a couple of years, all of a sudden the comments went from text, to text and embedded pictures, and now every third post has embedded video. I didn’t even realize this had become a “thing” out in the larger world and had attributed it to a few rude posters who were causing my computer to gag on their bandwidth and give me the repeated “YouTube embed” script errors which often crash my browser. I see four, five, and six “comments” in a row which are nothing but duelling videos. Already the Internet takes up 8% of US electricity supply, they say… and now this. We obviously cannot help ourselves. Lidia, I think you find that the imperative of most companies in the public arena is not to waste as much energy and resource as possible but is to minimise costs, particularly wage costs, and to appeal to public misconceptions. Milk used to be sold in glass bottle. Someone had the bright idea that it was cheaper to sell milk in lined cardboard cartons. The cost of producing the cartons was lower than the cost of producing bottles and cleaning them. The environmental cost of landfills was externalised. Then the price of internationally traded oil was manipulated downwards, making plastic bottles cheaper than cardboard. Since then general rises in energy costs have maintained the incentive to use plastic containers, despite oil prices having quadrupled. Some locations pay lip service to recycling because proper energy accounting is never done. It’s all financial. And if no one can make a buck out of recycling it comes to a stop. most recycling is dependent on clean, relatively homogenous materials being carefully segregated at source and kept segregated; that is almost never the case in the real world. The other aspect is the herd behaviour of most humans. If buying a coffee in an-expanded-polystyrene cup is seen to be fashionable, people will pay $3 for coffee in an expanded-polystyrene cup, especially if the cup has the right logo on it. Another aspect that drives this insane culture is the idea that ‘time is money’ and that everyone has to rush around frantically, spending practically every minute of the day doing business -the ‘on the run’ culture. Crappy food served up in wasteful packaging serves that culture. And another aspect is the perception aspect. I occasionally buy muesli bars; noting the amount of space in the boxes I experimented and found that I could pack 12 bars into a 6-bar box. The packaging is clearly to create the perception of greater value than actually exists. As food prices rise the bars get smaller. But the boxes remain the same size. The increase in truck size over recent decades has reduced the per-item cost of transport, and has facilitated massive increases in wastage of materials. Paul Cherfurka has some good ideas but they get pushed beyond reason. Yes, organisms do whatever they can to conserve energy when possible for themselves. If humans can sit while a hundred energy slaves do their bidding, that’s an offer they cannot refuse. Novelty plays a huge role in consumerism and companies know this. Consumers are easily bored and our craving for novelty keeps increasing. Whoever satisfies these cravings profits. Only lack of income or availability will stop it. Kevin, with all respect that’s a superficial reading. See my response to B9K9 below. The Archdruid says that history matters, and in a way it does. Nothing new under the sun, right? http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/ I left this comment. I doubt it will be “accepted” as it runs counter to the Archdruid’s anti-apocolyptic stance which could unsettle his adoring flock. Once cancer begins and metastasizes, it’s difficult to eliminate. The previous civilizations you allude to were just tiny tumors that resolved because of local insufficiency of metabolic needs. However, many humans capable of reestablishing the cancer created new foci of growth. The discovery of fossil fuels and the tools necessary to use them has accelerated the growth of the malignancy and ability to derive “natural” foodstuffs from the ecosystem body. Now cachexia begins, but the cancer envisions geoengineering to maintain the near-corpse in a sufficient state for further consumption. What will death of the ecosystem mean from a human perspective? A loss of concentrated energy gradients such as fossil fuels, loss of soils and monocrops, loss of schooling ocean fish that could be hauled out in nets with high EROEI, loss of large herbivores that sustained us early on. There is no reason to believe that remaining humans will not still be growth-oriented, feeding upon any resource providing an EROEI high enough to justify the tools, information and behavior necessary to capture it. Eventually nothing remains but diffuse life too small or too sparsely distributed to justify human existence. Anything that can provide net energy will be utilized. Things are different this time, that exogenous source of juicier and tastier than oxblood oil has enabled cancerous growth that would have previously broken down for lack of net energy. Great comment! No, he won’t like it one bit. Glad you posted it here, too. I never bother with the crap Archdruid churns out but did quickly scan the item you linked. Missing: the fact that geochemical change is occurring at around ten times the rate that occurred in previous mass extinction events. Yes, the wizard is very controlling. Reminds me of Saruman The Archdruid accepted the comment and this is his reply: “James, it’s always easy to blame “human nature,” that inkblot pattern onto which so many ideologies have been projected, for our current situation. At the end of the day, though, it’s just one more excuse for inaction, and so doesn’t interest me.” Any organism of size could have become cancerous if a confluence of key traits had evolved. Our predicament is clearly one of “human nature” and the nature of complex adaptive systems. I havn’t worked with inkblots but the NASA photos of city lights at night are very instructive. I have no ideology, only a whole gamut of observations that implicate mankind and civilization as an “escaped” and evolving malignant growth. Not only observations, but direct evidence from molecular and cellular biology. If malignant cells could only talk they would tell you how special they are, how growth is good, how they can’t help themselves, how much they intend to grow in the coming year, how the damnable natural killer cells (environmentalists) are always getting in the way of a good thing. All the while, the body from which the cancer escaped for its temporary growth binge is growing weaker and weaker as the tumor burden gets larger and larger. I wish there could be something magically special about man and his civilizations, it’s not all bad being a cancer, while it lasts. You can pat yourself on the back and tell each other how superior and special you are, for a while. Then the truth comes home to roost (black swans) and the goose gets cooked. Farther south, a disappointing water year continued, with warm, dry weather quickly negating the benefits of the precipitation from February and early March across California and the Great Basin. Most notably, Extreme Drought (D3) returned to coastal areas north of San Francisco as well as the Sierra Nevada; over the past two weeks, precipitation deficits in these areas have averaged two inches or more. Water-year (Since October 1, 2013) precipitation has averaged less than half of normal over most of California, and locally less than 30 percent of normal in the state’s D4 (Exceptional Drought) area. Severe Drought (D2) expanded across southern Nevada, where water-year precipitation has averaged 40 to 60 percent of normal. In the Four Corners region, changes to this week’s drought depiction were confined to western portions of the region. Across western Arizona, Severe Drought (D2) expanded as water-year precipitation totals continued to drop well below half of normal (locally less than 30 percent of normal). In northern Arizona, precipitation over the past 90 days has averaged less than 25 percent of normal. Meanwhile, SNOTEL data from southwestern Utah indicated the Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) is currently in the 12th percentile or lower, with water-year precipitation totals averaging 25 to 40 percent of normal; this data was used to depict the newly-expanded D2 in the southwestern quarter of the state. http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ Lidia is correct when she surmises that expanding net energy consumption is the base-line imperative of all living creatures. The reason it appears to conflict with typical core production objectives of achieving subsequent lower input costs is due to ignoring the net benefits derived by both producers and consumers by increasing waste. OK, let’s step back a little and examine this statement a little closer. If living creatures are motivated, no, compelled to search, acquire & consume (SAC) energy tokens, then they would naturally be constantly looking not only for new sources, but also the means to differentiate their SAC cycle to thereby gain an advantage vis-a-vis their competition. So, our star player, the living consumer, is constantly on the search for new sources of inputs. But long before he was human, he was a fish; and as anyone who fishes can attest, fish cannot resist certain lures that mimic their primary food source(s). Fast forward 500 million year or so, and the same instinctive reaction to potentially new sources of food/energy, delivered at a net lower cost of acquisition, still prove irresistible to H Sapiens. Thus, the K-cup. However, in order to actually deliver these kinds of expanded waste products, producers need to be able to achieve a net gain on investment. That’s why, while they may focus on driving direct cost inputs lower, it’s only to the extent that surplus profits can be generated via price mechanisms to the consumer. In summary, consumers are compelled to react to new packaging that fools the core drivers. They are willing to spend increased marginal tokens of wealth if the net cost is actually lower – in real energy dissipated terms. Likewise, producers will design, package and market goods that appeal to these instincts, and will incur additional costs to the point that they can be recovered through higher prices. For those who think there are certain individuals, industries and organizations who are brainwashing people against their will, and are thus to blame for our global calamity, I would suggest perhaps studying human nature a little closer. While it may appear they are initiating the development of superfluous goods, they are in actuality reacting to hard-wired imperatives. U is right that someone had to sign the papers authorizing the construction of nuke facilities. What he’s ignoring, or refusing to consider, is that there are thousands, no, make that millions, that would gladly sign those papers for any who objected, all in order to achieve their own personal comfort delivered via the promise of a “good paying job”. And why does the job exist? Because people – everyone, you, me & the great unwashed – want to have a hot dinner, a cold beer and some entertainment, whether it’s a TV or a light to read a book. Indeed, B9.. the fact that a complex society has the capacity to abstract away energy costs and pollution costs so cleverly paves the way for increased consumption and waste. (A small tribe in a localized area would never fall for the “K-cup”.) This is why—to ulvfugl’s dismay—I see the explanatory value of the theories of self-organizing systems, referenced by Meadows but still continuing to be explored. I think he understands these well enough, but his human pride and self-regard drives him to object. Looking at monetary incentives for the situations I described only serves to reinforce my point… invoking the perfect fool’s bargain, because money does not represent wealth, instead its opposite: debt. And this is environmental debt, as all debts are. If something “makes money” for an entity, all it does is increase that entity’s debt vis à vis our natural system/environment. Here’s a simple conceptual model: assume 1 electrical power plant and an absolutely set, fixed population and consumption profile Question: how long would it take to consume the earth’s primary energy resources (coal, oil, gas & uranium) to fuel the electrical needs of the people? Answer: who knows, but it’s definitely less than infinity. The point is, even under maximum efficiency and -0- growth, resource depletion would still be experienced given a long enough time frame. Hence, the ZH tag, “on a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.” But, to make things a little more interesting, how about we enter a simple 1% population growth rate factor, along with a (initially, tiny) marginal increase in net consumption per capita. You know, sort of like, “60 degrees is nice, but no one will notice if I set the thermostat to 61”. (Yes, womankind, I’m looking at you. LOL) Well, everyone here is more than well versed in Bartlett, so we all know where this eventually leads: population overshoot, resource depletion and environmental degradation. And so it goes. However, for some reason, perhaps as a manifestation of past personal experiences, we have a certain cadre that seems to be convinced that some kind of cabal of privateers is manipulating poor, innocent clueless proles in order to achieve their own, selfish nefarious ends. Aye carumba! To that, I say, get a haircut, put on some decent clothes, and go mix & associate with your fellow man. What you’ll find is an insecure, worried individual simply trying to put food on his family’s table and keep a roof over their heads. No one is going to step away from this trajectory – it simply does NOT resonate on any meaningful basis to our core drivers. To place or deflect blame against some supposed boogie men is no different than ancient people creating a anthology of mythical creatures to help explain unknown phenomena. We were launched on our current path at the inception of the Big bang. We’re unique only in that we get to experience the terminus. Big whoop. Doesn’t make us special, just places us in the right (wrong) place at the right (wrong) time ‘However, for some reason, perhaps as a manifestation of past personal experiences, we have a certain cadre that seems to be convinced that some kind of cabal of privateers is manipulating poor, innocent clueless proles in order to achieve their own, selfish nefarious ends. I have to disagree completely. In fact I’d go as far as saying that’s a load of bollocks. New Zealand was specifically established as colony of Britain, with the specific objective of looting the place and transferring the proceeds into the hands of a very tiny minority. The same applied to the USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa etc. The government of NZ now acts on behalf of global corporations, money-lenders and opportunists, and attacks to commons incessantly in order to deliver bounty to the aforementioned. The local council (NPDC) is a law unto itself and does not comply with central government regulations. I was speaking with one of the few honest councillors we have about this very topic jut a couple of hours ago. The CEO, Barbara McKerrow, (on about $350,000 a year -what a struggle she must have putting food on the table!) is in constant breach of the Local Government Acts 2002 and 2012, but the local MP, Jonathan Young, will do nothing about it because the is part of the same cabal of ‘criminals’ who are running the show and are obtaining short-term benefits from status quo arrangements. He has placed both the CEO and a senior council officer ‘on notice’ for lying and deceiving, but in practice is powerless because TPTB behind the curtain will always close ranks to protect their chosen looting and polluting agents (unless they step seriously out of line). NPDC has recently released its so-called plan for the future, and as always been the case, it is akin to a tourism brochure with a few unsubstantiated and unsubstantiatable items of mumbo jumbo in it, and primarily consists of a pack of lies geared to maintaining current rorts. There is no ‘victim of history’, ‘victim of genetic programming’, ‘victim of the system’ about it. The CEO and her cohort deliberately lie to and manipulate the genral populace in order to maintain short-term benefits for themselves and their ‘masters’, and will not countenance anything remotely connected with reality. By the way, my suspicions about the sudden departure 18 months ago of an honest council offer were confirmed today. At the top it’s all corruption and lies. Yesterday it was Today it’s “What you’ll find is an insecure, worried individual simply trying to put food on his family’s table and keep a roof over their heads.” Theoretical arguments about energy gradients and energy/resource dissipation run into severe problems in the real world. Take peacocks, for instance; the males of the species pea need to find extraordinary quantities of additional food above that required to build a basic body in order to produce outlandishly large feathers, just to impress females and obtain mating opportunities……. the real imperative of all organisms which reproduce sexually, of course. Apart form the increase in energy consumption growing, operating and dragging around a massive tail, the encumbered male is vulnerable to predation and parasite attack. Pheasants are similar. All birds spend a lot of time looking for food and eating because they have to maintain a high body temperature. Human females are encumbered with ‘useless’ permanent breasts for most of their lives, something to waste energy maintaining and carrying around. Indeed, oversized permanent breasts are a distinguishing feature of humans. losing hair was a ‘ridiculous’ evolutionary trend unless we consider than humans went through a semi-aquatic stage and needed to move quickly through water. (Other features support the aquatic theory.) Contrast those energy wasters with a barnacle, for instance, which sits on a rock and waits for its food to arrive, spreads it gametes and zygotes via currents, and never attempts to raise or lower its temperature (and is incapable of ever doing so). And there are bacteria that operate at close to zero Celsius, not wasting a scrap of energy. What I find interesting is that humans naturally tend to conserve energy and resources -as exemplified by the thrifty societies that prevailed prior to Bernays. his ‘great achievement was to persuade the masses to abandon their instinctive behaviours. As we [here] know, the manipulation of the masses by corporations and their spin-doctors was purely in order to stimulate consumption, something which went against the grain and had to be changed! And now we have mindless consumers spread across the world. One of the most interesting documentaries I have seen with respect to all this is the Light Bulb Conspiracy, which documents how the life of light bulbs was progressively shortened in order to maintain consumption. Whereas manufacturers spent much time and effort developing long-lasting bulbs, the cartel that evolved in the early 1900s required manufacturers to develop bulbs with much shorter lives. In eastern Europe after WW2 the paradigm was completely opposite of that in the west. Consumer products were required to have as long a life as possible, i.e. minimise resource and energy inputs, because there was collective thinking, rather than the individualistic, exploitative thinking that predominates in much of the USA. “some kind of cabal of privateers is manipulating poor, innocent clueless proles in order to achieve their own, selfish nefarious ends.” Well, that too. One does not preclude the other. @ Lidia, B9K9, others, Thanks for thoughts, but no, you are all wrong, stuck in old outdated stuff, but I don’t have time to correct your mistakes here now, I am TOO BUSY, so you will have to wait 🙂 Trump's last two betrayals January 20, 2021 Dear Care and Feeding: Should I Tell My Daughter She’s the Result of an Affair? Unsanitized: The American Rescue Plan January 18, 2021 10 things you need to know before the opening bell January 20, 2021 Trump pardoned ex-Google engineer Anthony Levandowski, who faced 18 months in prison for stealing trade secrets before working for Uber January 20, 2021 Theresa May blasts her successor Boris Johnson for abandoning the UK's 'global moral leadership' January 20, 2021 Authors of a Trump report pushing for 'patriotic education' and downplaying slavery appear to have copied sections from an old op-ed January 20, 2021 Netflix stock jumps 13% after the entertainment titan says it will end its borrowing binge and explore stock buybacks January 20, 2021 Elon Musk's 'Not-A-Flamethrower' has been turning up in drug busts and weapon seizures January 20, 2021 The 22-year-old accused of stealing Pelosi's laptop and planning to sell it to Russia has been given new charges that could see her jailed for 20 years January 20, 2021 CARTOON: The Presidential Transition January 20, 2021 Canadian Reporter Says FHRITP Harassment 'Needs To Stop' January 19, 2021 National COVID-19 Memorial With President-Elect Biden And VP-Elect Harris January 19, 2021 Chuck Todd: Biden's Presidency 'Will Have Failed' If He Doesn't Deliver 100 Million Doses In 100 Days January 19, 2021 Cartoon: The MAGA Matrix - Reality is fake news January 14, 2021 Screen Actors Guild may discipline, expel Donald Trump January 20, 2021 McConnell, Schumer fail to cut power-sharing deal amid filibuster snag January 20, 2021 On Night Before Inauguration, Biden Leads Mourning for Virus Victims January 20, 2021 Biden's Historic Task Is To Reverse Reagan's- and Trump's- Reckless Radicalism January 20, 2021 Tim Ryan: We must come together to keep our republic January 20, 2021 In a Polarized World, Independent News Is Essential: Become a Member of Global Research January 19, 2021 British Medical Journal: Pfizer and Moderna’s “95% Effective” Vaccines—Let’s be Cautious and First See the Full Data January 19, 2021 Aufruf zum notwendigen Kampf des persönlichen Gewissens gegen die Masse January 19, 2021 How the QAnon Cult Stormed the Capitol January 19, 2021 The No-Show Option: Trump Could Sit Out The Senate Trial And Still Prevail January 18, 2021 Tuesday assorted links January 19, 2021	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line631
__label__cc	0.736662	0.263338	New Doctor Aphra comic brings back old Marvel villain Thread: New Doctor Aphra comic brings back old Marvel villain https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Domina_Tagge Although the central bad guy is her nephew Rennen, Domina and her family-relatives of the Death Star general who perceived the Rebellion as a threat in the briefing room scene-were recurring antagonists in the original Marvel series, which had the Tagges basically being an elite galactic family. I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up in some later issues. This isn't the first time old Marvel canon has been reintroduced by Disney-the Cloud Riders from SOLO were inspired by a group in the comics; and the bounty hunter Valance has also been reintroduced. Also, the Darth Vader comics revealed that General Tagge did not die on the Death Star (He's not really seen late in the film like Motti and Tarkin are) and that he was the commander of the Executor before Vader. Vader kills him at the end of the series.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line637
__label__wiki	0.59258	0.59258	Support CAM Inspire Individuals Discover Diversity Welcome to Culture, Arts, & Music During a lively performance using this native Trinidad percussion instrument, we witnessed how the once-unfamiliar sounds could energize people, opening them up to new adventures. Culture, Arts & Music was founded by Matthew Potts, Christina Guerrero, and Anthony Jay Houston. As CAM president and an accomplished musician, Matthew conceived the idea based on personal experiences. While growing up in the northwest suburbs of Illinois in Crystal Lake, he discovered the steelpan. His passion for it only grew as he and his friends performed at college, where curious audience members asked them about these strange instruments. People wanted to learn the behind-the-music stories and Matt became inspired when educating them on Trinidad’s robust culture. The playful rhythm of the steeplan; the powerful spark of curiosity. Fast forward to today. Capturing the same enthusiasm from those college performances, the CAM staff coordinates community concerts, drum circles, festivals, and more. Residents of suburban Crystal Lake, Illinois and the surrounding area crave opportunities to experience diversity firsthand. Unfortunately, they are few and far between in the beautiful bubble of suburbia. CAM creates community events and programs that champion different cultures, exposing people to world heritages. Entertainment and education go hand-in-hand. In addition to engaging the local community, CAM aims to work with youth to pick up where many schools leave off by designing immersive activities. Enabling children to experience diversity at a young age sets them up to be responsible, knowledgeable, and compassionate global citizens. What started as an idea is now transforming into a movement. We believe culture, arts, and music are pathways to the soul of the world. By leveraging all five senses, they have the ability to instantly transport people to different countries. It’s not just a concert or festival — it’s a walk through Trinidad. And Brazil. And South Africa. The list will grow with our community and supporters. Understanding and Appreciating Culture, Arts & Music envisions a world where all people understand and appreciate each other’s unique heritages. Every country has its own lively personality reflected in its people, steeped in rich history and tradition: The vibrant reverberation of a steelpan from Trinidad. The lightning-quick beat in the steps of the Brazilian Samba dance. The hearty and distinctly spicy taste of wat — an Ethopian stew. Cultural-Awareness Activities Experiencing the cultures of different countries usually requires a passport, but not everyone has the means or ability to travel. By coordinating a range of cultural-awareness activities including musical performances and festivals, Culture, Arts & Music immerses the local community in the souls of other countries. Deep Understanding of Diversity Culture, Arts & Music was founded with a deep understanding that diversity makes the world the beautiful tapestry that it is. Learning about other cultures is not only enriching, but it is also vital in an increasingly global society where people of all nations must work together to solve pressing challenges. Unfortunately, it’s something that schools alone cannot achieve; it requires more learning opportunities integrated into everyday life. The Culture, Arts & Music philosophy is to blend education with entertainment, providing people of all ages with fun opportunities to soak up the unique styles, flavors, and heritages of the world. We bring people together around the activities that make us most appreciate being human — Culture, Arts & Music — to create a more connected global community. Scroll right to view more Culture, Arts & Music thanks you for your consideration in supporting our organization and helping to bring extra culture, art and music to the Chicagoland area. Your support helps to provide facilities, instruments, music, equipment and so much more for CAM’s various and ever expanding endeavors. Culture, Arts & Music is recognized for exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contribution made to Culture, Arts & Music are tax deductible by the donor. Currently, Culture, Arts & Music is welcoming sponsorships to help support our general operating costs of a term. Finding sponsors for these costs allow us to offer our classes for free to our students. Please consider becoming a Forte: $5,000 + Forte donors will receive a note head on the music wall, a dedicated public performance, and 32 tickets to CAM events. Mezzo Forte: $1,000 – $4,999 Mezzo Forte donors will receive a note head on the music wall, a special thank you at a public performance and 16 tickets to CAM events. Mezzo Piano: $250 – $999 8 tickets to CAM events. Piano: $100 – $249 Our featured project right now is funding for our Potts & Pans Earth Community Steelband. This band is provided free of charge to the students. The cost per semester to run this program is $3,858. For more information on general donations to Culture, Arts & Music, please contact us at donations@cultureartsmusic.com or call Matt at 815-575-8587. Find it on a map; Experience it live through Culture, Arts & Music. info@cultureartsmusic.com • 815-575-8587 Culture, Arts & Music is located at 1039 Wanda Lane Matt Potts mpotts@cultureartsmusic.com Christina Guerrero cguerrero@cultureartsmusic.com Anthony Jay Houston ahouston@cultureartsmusic.com Culture Arts & MusicFollow Culture Arts & Music@CAM_Chicago· Lightning Strikes Tonight at 8 - https://mailchi.mp/cultureartsmusic.com/lightning-strikes-tonight-at-8 The one and only Clyde “Lightning” George popped in to our Potts & Pans Earth Community Steelband rehearsal tonight! Make sure to come out to his concert on the first Friday of February at Stage Left Cafe! @ Culture,… https://www.instagram.com/p/B7Un0pijcan/?igshid=4bravnju5qfj Our Amazing 2020 Resolution - FREE #STEELPAN! - https://mailchi.mp/cultureartsmusic.com/our-amazing-2020-resolution-free-pan Have You Reserved Your Seat? - https://mailchi.mp/cultureartsmusic.com/the-african-childrens-choir-is-coming-577575 #concert #africanchildrenchoir #steelpan The African Children's Choir Is Coming! - https://mailchi.mp/cultureartsmusic.com/the-african-childrens-choir-is-coming #drumming #workshop #concert #makeadifference © Culture, Arts & Music 2019	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line647
__label__cc	0.641786	0.358214	December 23, 2020, 8:47 pm 91.4k Views The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen for conducting what the regulator alleged to be a $1.3 billion unregistered securities sale. Since the new broke XRP is now down 35%. A bad swing for those that rode it down but a great ride for those that shorted the market on platforms like, ByBit. The complaint “alleges that Ripple raised funds, beginning in 2013, through the sale of digital assets known as XRP in an unregistered securities offering to investors in the U.S. and worldwide. Ripple also allegedly distributed billions of XRP in exchange for non-cash consideration, such as labor and market-making services. The complaint also makes mention that lawyers made contact around 2012 giving warning that Ripple:now XRP, could be considered an security. The legal documents sent in 2012 warned that there was some risk that XRP would be considered an “investment contract”/security under their federal securities laws. They mentioned things such as, how Ripple promoted & marketed XRP to purchasers, the purchaser’s motivation, and other activities of Ripple’s and XRP. If Ripple employees promoted XRP as potentially increasing in price, and If buyers purchased XRP “to engage in speculative investment trading.” “We allege that Ripple, Larsen, and Garlinghouse failed to register their ongoing offer and sale of billions of XRP to retail investors, which deprived potential purchasers of adequate disclosures about XRP and Ripple’s business and other important long-standing protections that are fundamental to our robust public market system,” Stephanie Avakian, Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, said in a statement. Garlinghouse said Ripple plans to fight the case in a series of Twitter comments yesterday. Similar EOS $24 Million Penalty The SEC did something similar to EOS is September of 2019 and ordered the blockchain company to pay a $24 million penalty. The announcement stated: ” According to the SEC’s order, Block.one, which has operations in Virginia and Hong Kong, conducted an ICO between June 2017 and June 2018. The order finds that Block.one stated it would use the capital raised in the ICO for general expenses, and also to develop software and promote blockchains based on that software. Block.one’s offer and sale of 900 million tokens began shortly before the SEC released the DAO Report of Investigation and continued for nearly a year after the report’s publication, eventually raising several billion dollars worth of digital assets globally, including a portion from US investors. Block.one did not register its ICO as a securities offering pursuant to the federal securities laws, nor did it qualify for or seek an exemption from the registration requirements. “A number of US investors participated in Block.one’s ICO,” said Stephanie Avakian, Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “Companies that offer or sell securities to US investors must comply with the securities laws, irrespective of the industry they operate in or the labels they place on the investment products they offer.” Kin $5 Million Fine Also on Oct. 21, 2020 The SEC also Obtained a final judgement against “Kik” of whom was ordered to pay a $5 million dollar fine. That announcement similarly stated: “The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on June 4, 2019, alleged that Kik sold digital asset securities to U.S. investors without registering their offer and sale as required by the U.S. securities laws. The court granted the SEC’s motion for summary judgment on September 30, 2020, finding that undisputed facts established that Kik’s sales of “Kin” tokens were sales of investment contracts, and therefore of securities, and that Kik violated the federal securities laws when it conducted an unregistered offering of securities that did not qualify for any exemption from registration requirements. The court further found that Kik’s private and public token sales were a single integrated offering. “Issuers seeking to use the public markets to capitalize their businesses may not evade the registration requirements of the federal securities laws,” said Kristina Littman, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit. “The court’s decision recognized that Kik was engaged in a single, illegal offering of securities.” The final judgment permanently enjoins Kik from violating the registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933. Kik is further required, for the next three years, to provide notice to the Commission before engaging in enumerated future issuances, offers, sales, and transfers of digital assets. Kik will also pay a $5 million penalty. Ripple and XRP will likely recover. The only way it will every realistically go to zero is if the entire world deems it useless, which it quite literally isn’t. Additionally, this lawsuit doesn’t stop others around the world from using XRP. How long will it take seemingly depends on how fast this lawsuit can be resolved. The coin won’t disappear tomorrow, but it will have some recovering to do, especially given the amount of new investors in the market and thus a lot of “weak hands.” LegalRippleXRP Previous article Cardano is Moving Towards Interoperability with Ethereum Next article Coinbase Inappropriately Holding User’s Funds an Not Responding to Complaints Federal Reserve Announces NEW 24x7x365 Instant Payment interbank Settlement Service The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced details of the FedNow℠ Service, a new 24x7x365 interbank settlement service with clearing functionality to support instant/real-time payments in the United States. More Forbes recently published the second edition of its Blockchain 50. The list aims to capture the billion dollar companies most active in blockchain. To be included in the Blockchain 50, a company must have a valuation above $1 billion. More 7 Shares102k Views US Congressman Introduces “Discussion Draft” of Cryptocurrency Act of 2020 According to reports, On March 9, Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) introduced the “Crypto-Currency Act of 2020,” a bill that looks to choreograph a wide range of digital assets to answer to the appropriate regulator. More Ripple Proposes Account Deletion Feature by Signature Ripple may introduce a new feature that would allow XRP Ledger users to delete their accounts, according to an announcement from CTO David Schwartz. More More From: ALL News Cardano’s blockchain could be used for Twitter’s “Bleu Sky” project, as IOHK’s Charles Hoskinson offers the Cardano blockchain as the ultimate blockchain and social media solution. More Cardano (ADA) keeps its inevitable momentum going surging upwards by over 25% in less than 48 hours, and claiming the number 6 spot in the coin ranking. Cardano is currently trading at $0.162899 and has slightly retraced by 1.5 percent in the past hour. Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) the blockchain development company behind […] More Coinbase has become one of the largest gatekeepers for cryptocurrency purchases in the United States, but at the same time they are known for falling short on offering acceptable customer service, charging users extremely high and/or mystifying fees, and they now have changed their “terms” to vaguely state that they can hold customer’s funds without any real reas More Cardano is making strides towards interoperability, and will soon be compatible with coding language, Solidity. Solidity is used for implementing smart contracts on various blockchain platforms, most notably, Ethereum (ETH). More US Treasury and the Trump administration could destroy financial sovereignty and the true nature of blockchain by going after self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets. More Paypal recently released an update to their press release that all eligible PayPal accountholders in the U.S. can now buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency directly with PayPal. Download the PayPal app or log in to your account to learn more. More Elrond (eGold) Is Now Available on Ledger, Though Still no Staking Per Elrond’s official blog release today. We’re excited to announce that the Elrond app is now officially available from Ledger, enabling you to safely store your eGold on your Ledger hardware wallet! More September 30, 2020, 9:53 am XRP holders To Get Free 1:1 Airdrop of Spark (FLARE) for Each XRP they Hold As the crypto market shows signs of stability XRP (XRP) holders can prepare for claiming the Spark (Flare) token, the native token of the Flare Network. As we previously reported, the Flare Network is about to be launched, but an exact start date of the “utility fork” has not been announced yet. More TronLink Google Chrome Extension: How to Install? Here is a simply explanation of how you can easily install the Tronlink wallet extension on your computer’s google chrome browser. You can then use DApps like “Bankroll Credits” and such. More Binance: Stellar Lumens Withdrawals (XLM) Suspended 3 Days and Counting One of the more popular cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance has suspended withdrawals of the Stellar Lumens cryptocurrency since at least November 22, 2018 citing, "Network congestion." Over the days various users have tweeted Binance and discussion is increasing amongst the cryptocurrency community, however Binance and/or it's CEO has still failed to respond on the matter. [...] The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen for conducting what the regulator alleged to be a $1.3 billion unregistered securities sale. Since the new broke XRP is now down 35%. A bad swing for those that rode it down but a great ride for […] More Elrond to Swap from ERC20 Token to “eGLD” Coin with 1:1000 Swap Ratio, 1000x Price increase, and 99% Supply Reduction Scalable blockchain Elrond has made the leap onto its mainnet and drastically reduced the token supply in the process. As a result the price must also be recalculated and the price of the new coin will be increased by 1000x, making Elrond a $20 coin at present pricing. More Bitcoin Crypto List 24H (%) cDAI (CDAI) Kava.io (KAVA) UTRUST (UTK) Telcoin (TEL) Gas (GAS) Bluzelle (BLZ) Sell Crypto Tweets by @curatedcoinnews	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line648
__label__cc	0.592021	0.407979	Volatiles associated with Formosan subterranean termites and related methods development Paul McLaughlin, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical CollegeFollow An investigation was conducted to identify volatiles associated with active Formosan termites. Using a combined technique of short path thermal desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPTD-GC/MS), qualitative comparisons were made between compounds detected in treatments containing active Formosan termites versus those detected in controls without Formosan termites. Except for dimethyl disulfide, none of the compounds were consistently detected in the treatments but not the controls for the four termite groups tested. However, in each of the three groups that dimethyl disulfide was detected, dead termites that were decomposing along with active termites were present. Therefore, none of the compounds could be classified as volatiles associated with active Formosan termites. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons were made between compounds detected in treatments that contained carton nests with active Formosan termites and controls that contained neither Formosan termites nor carton nests. Two methods were used, one using unwashed Nalgene 550 platinum-cured silicone tubing and the other using unwashed fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) teflon tubing in the experimental set-up. Qualitative analysis for both methods indicated that none of the compounds could be consistently detected in treatments but not the controls. Quantitative analysis for both methods indicated that the concentrations of naphthalene, and butylated hydroxytoluene and nine unknown volatiles were not significantly different between the treatments and controls at the 0.01 level as determined by the paired t-test. Therefore, using the methods described herein, none of the analyzed compounds could be classified as volatiles associated with active Formosan termites. However, changes in the methods may enable the detection of volatiles associated with active Formosan termites. The concentrations of three suspect reporter molecules, which include naphthalene and two unknown compounds, were significantly lower using fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) teflon tubing than using unwashed Nalgene 550 platinum-cured silicone tubing in the experimental set-up as determined by 95% confidence intervals. This suggested that a source of these volatiles was unwashed silicone tubing, which was relevant to this study because it aided in the determining whether the volatiles are associated with active Formosan termites. McLaughlin, Paul, "Volatiles associated with Formosan subterranean termites and related methods development" (2004). LSU Master's Theses. 2457. Gregg Henderson Entomology Commons	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line657
__label__wiki	0.644573	0.644573	Wysocki Hits Stride In First Win Of 2018 Gurthie hangs on to second, Montgomery and Oakley surprise April 8, 2018 by Christopher Wiklund in Recap with 0 comments Ricky Wysocki returned to form in Jonesboro. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen – DGPT After a weekend of wild weather at the Jonesboro Open, Ricky Wysocki got his first win of the season while successfully defending his title at this Disc Golf Pro Tour stop. Wysocki shot a 1062-rated 10-under par 52 finishing at 32-under par 192 overall. Wysocki took a five-stroke lead over Garrett Gurthie into the final round and never looked back, finishing four strokes ahead of Gurthie, and five ahead of both Colten Montgomery and Eric Oakley. “I knew I was in the driver’s seat,” Wysocki said, reflecting on his confident mindset heading into the final round. “I know I’m one of if not the best player in the world when I’m playing with a lead.” When asked if he had a personal highlight shot for the weekend he said, “that putt on hole 1 in the second round. I feel like I’m back to what I do best…I’m back to where I need to be.” His uphill make from nearly 50 feet was indeed reminiscent of peak 2017 Wysocki: The defending world champ was 93-percent from inside circle 1 over the three-round event and hit 77-percent of his fairways off the tee. Those marks were in large part responsible for his ranking first overall in reaching circle 1 in regulation and birdie percentage on his way to a repeat win at the Disc Side of Heaven Championship Course. Wysocki slammed the door on his competition on the back nine yesterday, where he was six-under par to close things out, including an eagle on the 855-foot par 5 16th. Montgomery and Oakley also nabbed eagles on 16 but weren’t able to match Wysocki’s pace throughout the day. Gurthie came the closest and would have matched Wysocki had he been able to replicate his course record-setting first round magic on the final day. The second place finish is a new high for Gurthie since he has returned to full time touring in 2018. Montgomery and Oakley Bring The Noise Colten Montgomery and Eric Oakley aren’t chumps by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s unlikely the oddsmakers had them finishing inside the top five heading into the event. Montgomery’s best previous finish at a DGPT event was 18th at last season’s Idlewild Open, while Oakley’s was 9th at the 2017 Utah Open. Both players are expected to continue competing at all the DGPT stops this season where they’ll look to make some more noise. Movement on the Scoreboard Day three saw some big moves in both directions. Joel Freeman leaped up 14 spots finishing in a tie for ninth place thanks to an 11-under par 53 while hitting 100-percent of his circle 1 putts. On the flip side, A.J. Risley had a tough run on the back nine, finishing the day at even-par, which caused him to slide back 11 spots from ninth to a tie with Seppo Paju in 20th. Paul McBeth and Will Schusterick both improved on their second-round performances. McBeth got his putter working again, hitting 94-percent of his circle 1 putts on his way to a 6-under par 58, finishing at 17-under par for the event. Schusterick played a very solid, 1032- rated final round, parking four holes for birdie — a statistic in which he ranked second in the field — finishing tied with McBeth. Schusterick averaged well above his current rating at the Jonesboro Open. Photo: Alyssa Van Lanen – DGPT Dickerson’s Streak Ends Chris Dickerson entered the Jonesboro Open having won each of the last 12 tournaments he entered going back to November of 2017. His streak came to an end this weekend, despite putting together three solid rounds en route to an 11th place finish. The Prodigy sponsored pro has tournaments lined up in Kentucky and his home state of Tennessee before the Glass Blown Open at the end of April. Sockibombs Away “I feel like my fire is lit,” Wysocki said after his first win of the season. If Jonesboro is a sign of things to come, and if you can take his word for it, the two-time defending world champion is hitting his stride just in time for the summer stretch that ends in Vermont. Christopher Wiklund Chris is a contributor at Ultiworld Disc Golf. He lives and works on Cape Cod in Massachusetts where he plays as much disc golf as he can, and reminds people he lives on Cape Cod. He likes spending time outside when he isn't playing video games and watching TV. TAGGED: Disc Golf Pro Tour (DGPT), 2018 Disc Golf Pro Tour, 2018 Jonesboro Open, Colten Montgomery, Disc Side Of Heaven, Eric Oakley, Garrett Gurthie, Ricky Wysocki More from Ultiworld 2021 Player Sponsorship Tracker DGPT Championship: Jones Earns Major Payday 2018 Men’s Performance Of The Year: Paul McBeth G-G-Gurthie And The Rest Amid Hiring Spree, DGPT Adds Upshot’s Jamie Thomas to Full-Time Role Comments on "Wysocki Hits Stride In First Win Of 2018"	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line659
__label__wiki	0.717658	0.717658	Ninjen @NinjenShikkaku Vice President Mike Pence is not expected to attend Wednesday morning’s farewell ceremony for President Trump at Joint Base Andrews, a source familiar with the vice president’s schedule confirms to Fox News. Pence, had better find a deep hole to spend the rest of his life hiding in, because as of this month, most of America has Just Cause to send him off to the Promised Land. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., placed blame on President Trump for the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6 that left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer. McConnel had better not show his face, ANYWHERE ever again, because the next James Hodgkinson will know how to shoot and will have Justice on His Side. President-elect Joe Biden's daughter Ashley Biden said Tuesday it is "unfortunate" that first lady Melania Trump had not initiated a White House tour for her mother, incoming first lady Jill Biden. I think it's unfortunate that Joe Biden molested her in the shower and it was only in Rehab that she could bring herself to tell anybody about it. Acting secretary of defense says no intel of insider threat to inauguration \| Fox News Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller said that the department is "leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital," noting that all National Guardsmen deployed to Washington, D.C. will be vetted. They need 25,000 Soldiers to protect them from their constituency and now they are afraid of the Soldiers. This is what a Guilty Conscience looks like. They need 25,000 Soldiers to protect them from their constituency and now they are afraid of the Soldiers. This is what a Guilty Conscience looks like. Trump impeachment intended to keep him from seeking presidency again, Dems acknowledge \| Fox News While some members of Congress have claimed that President Trump's impeachment and swift conviction are necessary to keep him from serving out the final days of his term, others have acknowledged that they are focused on keeping him from ever running again. There won't be a 2024 election and they know it. They destroyed Elections as a key institution to the Republic. America is dead and the parasites that killed it, have good reason to be afraid of revenge. This is why they are hiding from the American people, behind 25,000 soldiers. There won't be a 2024 election and they know it. They destroyed Elections as a key institution to the Republic. America is dead and the parasites that killed it, have good reason to be afraid of revenge. This is why they are hiding from the American people, behind 25,000 soldiers. LIVE UPDATES: What to know as DC locks down for Biden's inauguration \| Fox News Follow for the latest updates on Biden's inauguration and the Capitol riots. A Guilty Conscience is a Real Bitch is it not? These politicians are so terrified to show their face among the people they claim elected them, they need 25,000 troops to protect them from their own constituents. Now they are even afraid that the soldiers who guard them. will make them pay for what they have done. A Guilty Conscience is a Real Bitch is it not? These politicians are so terrified to show their face among the people they claim elected them, they need 25,000 troops to protect them from their own constituents. Now they are even afraid that the soldiers who guard them. will make them pay for what they have done. Judge dismisses 39 cases against 28 Black Lives Matter protesters in Detroit \| Fox News Some believe the cases are tied to a civil rights complaint filed against the city. And these are the people who want Trump Supporters shipped to Gitmo. New York lawmaker seeks to ban bulletproof vests for law-abiding citizens \| Fox News A New York lawmaker is attempting to pass legislation that would ban law-abiding citizens from possessing bulletproof vests. Make sure Politicians aren't exempt. Fuck New Yorkers, it's Open Season on All you Assholes Make sure Politicians aren't exempt. Fuck New Yorkers, it's Open Season on All you Assholes Arkansas man seen beating cop with flagpole during Capitol riot arrested \| Fox News Peter Francis Stager has been charged with obstructing, impeding, or interfering with a law enforcement officer after hitting a uniformed Metropolitan Police officer guarding the entrance to the Capitol with a flagpole during last week's riot, according to a criminal complaint. AntiFa and BLM spent the last ten years burning, looting and murdering Americans with no response. But the state will spare no expense to lock up right wing if they protest. AntiFa and BLM spent the last ten years burning, looting and murdering Americans with no response. But the state will spare no expense to lock up right wing if they protest. Hear Arnold Schwarzenegger's message on Capitol riots - CNN Video In a video message, Schwarzenegger warned of the dangers of fascism, at one point brandishing his sword from the movie "Conan the Barbarian" to make his point. Well, here is another good reason to Kill Schwarzenegger. Load more comments.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line661
__label__cc	0.656961	0.343039	Tag Archives: Chevron Chevron pollution in Ecuadorean Amazon Posted on August 15, 2016 by petrel41 The Empire Files: Chevron vs. the Amazon – Inside the Killzone A U.S. court just handed another victory to the oil giant Chevron Texaco, in its decades-long battle to avoid paying damages it owes in one of the worst environmental disasters in history. In the Ecuadorean Amazon, the most biodiverse area of the world, the energy titan deliberately poisoned 5 million acres of pristine habitat and subjected tens of thousands of indigenous peoples to destruction of their health and culture. In Part 1 of ‘Chevron vs. the Amazon,’ Abby Martin takes The Empire Files inside Chevron Texaco’s Amazon killzone to see the areas deemed “remediated” by Chevron, and spoke with the people living in the aftermath. Ecuador’s fight against Chevron’s impunity, 13 Nov 2016: here. Indigenous Tribes Just Lost the ‘Biggest Environmental Case in the World’ ‘Justice Denied’ as Court Sides with Chevron in Amazon Pollution Case Chevron oil blast kills workers Dutch company defrauds Ecuadorian taxpayers Posted in Economic, Environment, Human rights \| Tagged Chevron, Ecuador \| 20 Replies Chevron oil corporation against human rights, environment Posted on May 22, 2016 by petrel41 Marking International Day of Action Against Chevron, anti-Chevron protesters around the world are demanding justice for the company’s human rights violations and environmental damage. Is the U.S. State Department Understating Human Rights Abuses? Groups urge Trudeau to cancel Saudi arms deal Rain forest advocates hang banner from Queens Pepsi sign to protest palm oil use Bahraini human rights violations continue Indonesians cite MIFEE project at UN meeting on corporate abuses Bahrain dictatorship oppressing, 2011 Bahrain human rights violations investigation Posted in Environment, Human rights \| Tagged Chevron, oil \| 11 Replies Brazil, coup and Chevron oil Wikileaks: Brazil‘s New Foreign Minister Promised to Help Chevron Jose Serra, the new foreign minister of the Senate-imposed interim government, is mentioned in the Wikileaks cables offering to help the U.S. oil giant Chevron. Why The Campaign Against Brazil’s First Female President Is An Attack Against All Women: here. This video from the USA says about itself: Noam Chomsky: Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff “Impeached by a Gang of Thieves” As protests continue in Brazil over the Legislature’s vote to suspend President Dilma Rousseff and put her on trial, Noam Chomsky notes that “we have the one leading politician who hasn’t stolen to enrich herself, who’s being impeached by a gang of thieves, who have done so. That does count as a kind of soft coup.” Rousseff’s replacement, Brazil’s former vice president, Michel Temer, is a member of the opposition PMDB party who is implicated in Brazil’s massive corruption scandal involving state-owned oil company Petrobras, and has now appointed an all-white male Cabinet charged with implementing corporate-friendly policies. Countries Against the Coup in Brazil Ten countries throughout the world have rejected the Senate-imposed interim government led by Michel Temer. The Man Who Wants to Impeach Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff Named in Panama Papers Glenn Greenwald: Is It A Coup? What Is Happening in Brazil is Much Worse Than Donald Trump Is the U.S. Backing Rousseff’s Ouster in Brazil? Opposition Holds Talks in D.C. as Obama Stays Quiet Posted in Economic, Human rights \| Tagged Brazil, Chevron, Noam Chomsky \| 13 Replies Chevron polluted, bribed judge to lie in Ecuador Posted on October 30, 2015 by petrel41 Donny Rico & Chevron make it a crime to defend the environment Amazon Watch teams up with Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Fiore once again! [Watch the entire Donny Rico series here] To draw attention to Chevron‘s threat to open society and freedom of speech Amazon Watch presents “Donny Rico”. The satirical look at Chevron’s actions highlights the serious threat to all environmental and human rights activism if the tactics Chevron has employed are replicated by other corporate actors. A grassroots campaign has already been launched by the Sierra Club and Amazon Watch asking members of the US Senate to investigate and put a stop to Chevron‘s vilification of the environmental and human rights community. Chevron‘s tactics to avoid responsibility for its admitted acts of environmental destruction in the Ecuadorian Amazon have been unprecedented. Despite losing a 20 year legal battle and receiving a $9.5 billion judgment against it, Chevron says it will never pay. Not satisfied with role as corporate criminal on the run, Chevron launched an extraordinary racketeering and extortion lawsuit against the Ecuadorian and U.S. attorneys, and various consultants alleging they were all lying about Chevron’s pollution and that the entire case was “sham litigation.” Chevron‘s actions set a dangerous precedent and represent a growing and serious threat to the ability of civil society to hold corporations accountable for their misdeeds around the world. Now a wide cross-section of U.S.-based environmental and corporate governance groups have condemned Chevron‘s most recent retaliatory attacks to intimidate the Ecuadorian indigenous peoples and farmers who have been harmed by the oil giant’s massive contamination of their ancestral lands. By Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch Blog: New Evidence Shows Main Chevron Witness Lied In $9.5 Billion Ecuador Lawsuit A key witness has admitted under oath that he lied on behalf of Chevron, the California oil multinational, when the company sued to overturn a $9.5 billion verdict for pollution of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Between 1964 and 1990, a New York company named Texaco drilled for oil in the Amazon and dumped more than 16 billion gallons of toxic waste into rivers and streams. In 1993, 47 Amazonian farmers, representing 30,000 Ecuadorian farmers and indigenous tribal peoples, sued the company in a U.S. federal court in New York. Texaco, which was later acquired by Chevron, convinced the U.S. courts to move the case to Ecuador. Unfortunately for the company, almost two decades after the case was filed, Ecuadorian Judge Nicolas Zambrano ruled that Chevron should pay to clean up the toxic mess. Instead the company counter-sued in New York claiming that the verdict was obtained by fraud and coercion. Last year, Lewis Kaplan, a U.S. federal judge, issued a 500 page ruling that concluded that he had found “clear and convincing evidence” that environmental activists and lawyers helped Zambrano write the verdict in return for money. Now it turns out that the opposite was true. In his ruling Kaplan relied heavily on the testimony of Alberto Guerra, a former Ecuadorian judge, who claimed that Stephen Donziger, the lawyer for the villagers, had helped Zambrano write the verdict. Kaplan dismissed the fact that Guerra was being paid $12,000 a month by Chevron as well as being supplied with a personal lawyer and a car under the company ‘witness-protection program.’ Separately, in 2009, Chevron had brought an international arbitration case against the Ecuadorian government which is still ongoing. At an arbitration hearing in Washington DC earlier this year, Guerra retracted his statements to Kaplan, according to a 776 page transcript obtained by Vice News and Courthouse News. “And among the ways you tried to leverage your position was to falsely tell the Chevron representatives that the Plaintiffs had offered you $300,000; isn’t that right?” asked Eric Bloom, a lawyer for the government of Ecuador. “Yes, sir. I lied there. I recognize it. I wasn’t truthful. That statement was never made by the representatives of the Plaintiffs.” Guerra: “Sincerely, if that situation ensued, I was hoping to obtain a financial benefit of some sort myself.” Bloom: “A bribe?” Guerra: “It pains me to say it. I recognize it: A bribe.” He described in detail how Chevron showed him $20,000 in cash from a safe, and offered to increase it if he could provide them with electronic proof of any collusion between Zambrano and the activists. However, Christopher Racich, a computer forensic expert, testified to the courts that an exhaustive analysis of the verdict showed that it was written by Zambrano and resaved hundreds of times on his personal computer. By contrast, Chevron has failed to produce any evidence of a conspiracy between Zambrano and the activists even after winning lawsuits to get their personal correspondence. “The company spent millions to concoct its cover story,” writes Paul Paz y Miño of Amazon Watch on the NGO’s website. “There was only one big problem: it all hinges upon the testimony of a completely non-credible witness who has now admitted on the stand that he lied about it in exchange for payments from Chevron.” Chevron continues to maintain that it is not responsible for any of the pollution in Ecuador, and that Texaco had cleaned up whatever spills it was responsible for prior to the merger of the two companies. The company claims that whatever pollution remains in the rainforest was caused by Ecuador’s national oil company, Petroecuador, which took over oil production in the area after Texaco left in 1992. The Ecuadorians maintain that Texaco designed, installed, and operated all of the cost-cutting and polluting oil production facilities that were then given to Petroecuador. Now that the company’s witness has admitted that he lied, the activists say that the U.S. Department of Justice should intervene. “Chevron and their lawyers should be investigated and brought up on charges,” says Paz y Miño. “They have intimidated judges in Ecuador, bribed others, falsified evidence, and coached Guerra to submit false testimony in U.S. Federal Court and made a complete mockery of our judicial system.” The latest news also has major implications for a lawsuit that the Ecuadorian villagers have brought in Canada against Chevron to seize assets held by the oil company’s subsidiaries in order to enforce the Ecuadorian ruling. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that foreign judgments like the Ecuador ruling are enforceable in Canada if there is a “real and substantive connection” between the foreign jurisdiction and the subject matter of the claim. Naive, Incompetent or Corrupt? .. Buy VW? Former peanut company exec sentenced to 28 years for salmonella outbreak Dutch insurance corporations help selling weapons to dictators Nader Backs Laws Aimed at Ending ‘Corporate Carnage’ NSA spying, corporations collaborating United States war profiteer corporations, Mark Fiore animated cartoon Upr: Examining Human Rights in the United States We Need Regulations to Prevent Corporations From Fleeing Overseas Buying America: The Many Astounding Ways You Can Express Your Values with Your Pocket Book Posted in Crime, Economic, Environment, Human rights \| Tagged Chevron, Ecuador, oil \| 10 Replies Chevron Ecuadorean Amazon pollution court case Amazon Jungle, Ecuador, Cuyabeno National Park Cuyabeno National Park, located deep withing the Amazon jungle of NE Ecuador, is unique in that it is an inundated jungle. Huge trees with giant winged trunks protrude from the black waters of the Laguna Grande (Grand Lagoon), home to steely-jawed piranhas. Hundreds of species of exotic birds like the Hoatzin and Russet-backed Oropendola wing overhead, while an incredible variety of primates fly through the trees or scramble across branches. Even the ground teems with activity as leaf-cutter ants tote loads ten times their size. I stayed at Cuyabeno Lodge on the Grand Lagoon, an incredible lodge that is also eco-friendly. From daily The Morning Star in Britain: Texaco pollution villagers take case to Canada court Lawyers for a group of Ecuadorian villagers asked Canada’s High Court on Thursday to grant their clients access to enforce a £6 billion Ecuadorian judgement against oil giant Chevron for rainforest damage. Lawyers have quarrelled for several years in several countries over who’s responsible for pollution in the rain forest. The villagers’ lawyers are arguing that the case should be heard in Canadian courts because Chevron has a Canadian subsidiary. In February 2011, an Ecuadorian judge issued an £11.5bn judgement against Chevron in a lawsuit brought on behalf of 30,000 villagers. It was for environmental damage caused by Texaco during its operation of an oil consortium from 1972 to 1990. Ecuador’s highest court last year upheld the verdict but reduced the amount to about £6bn. Chevron, which now has no assets in Ecuador, has simply shrugged off the case. The company is being sued because it bought Texaco. But it insists that a 1998 agreement Texaco signed with Ecuador absolves it of liability. Chevron … argued procedurally that allowing the action to proceed would violate a principle known as the “corporate veil,” which says that subsidiaries are separate entities from their corporate parents and are not liable for actions of the parents — a convenient legal fiction which allows widespread impunity. Ecuadorian Chevron oil pollution case goes before Canadian high court Rainforest Sustainability: Two Things We Can Do Human Impact on the Amazon Rainforest It’s Not Just the NSA! Judge Rules That Chevron Can Collect Private Info of People Suing Them Of jaguars and loggers: new film to showcase one of the least-known regions in the deep Amazon Meet the Top Five Worst Polluters Posted in Animals, Economic, Environment \| Tagged Amazon, Canada, Chevron, Ecuador, oil \| 6 Replies Chevron Suing The Victims Of Their Own Toxic Dumping Posted on November 7, 2013 by petrel41 This video is called The True Story of Chevron’s Ecuador Disaster. From the USA. Not the first time there are Chevron issues … Chevon’s penalty for pollution in Ecuador is cut to $8.8 billion by the country’s highest court: here. An operator, who was also a 49-year-old grandmother, was killed in an explosion early on Friday at one of Chevron’s largest oil refineries: here. Indigenous Groups Win Right to Seize Chevron’s Canadian Assets over $18 Billion in Amazon Pollution: here. No More Impunity! Communities Worldwide Protest ‘Gangster Corporation’ Chevron: here. Report faults Chevron in deadly gas well fire: here. From Ecuador to Romania, Chevron Continues to Evade Justice (gas2.org) Chevron Sues Rainforest Communities It Contaminated (ecowatch.com) Actor Danny Glover to Visit Contaminated Areas in the Ecuadorian Rainforest Where Chevron Operated (prweb.com) Activists Protest Tuesday as Trial Opens in Chevron RICO Lawsuit Against Ecuadorian Pollution Victims & Their US Advocates (sparrowmedia.net) Will Chevron’s Ecuadorian Victims Find Justice in Canadian Courts? (rinf.com) ‘Step Closer to Justice’ Canadian Courts Rule Ecuadorian Lawsuit Against Chevron Can Proceed (commondreams.org) REGION: Ecuador’s Correa says he will resign if Chevron proves interference (insidecostarica.com) Prominent Organizations Publicly Condemn Chevron’s Actions (yubanet.com) Ecuadorians can seek Chevron damages (bbc.co.uk) Chevron Attacks Ecuador in “Smear Campaign” (hispanicallyspeakingnews.com) Posted in Economic, Environment, Medicine, health \| Tagged Chevron, Ecuador, oil \| 9 Replies US Republicans’ Saudi royal money Posted on November 30, 2012 by petrel41 This video is called Torture of Kenyans In Saudi Arabia. From The Nation in the USA: Saudi-Led Oil Lobby Group Financed 2012 Dark Money Attack Ads Lee Fang on November 29, 2012 – 5:10 PM ET The “American” in American Petroleum Institute, the country’s largest oil lobby group, is a misnomer. As I reported for The Nation in August, the group has changed over the years, and is now led by men like Tofiq Al-Gabsani, a Saudi Arabian national who heads a Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) subsidiary, the state-run oil company that also helps finance the American Petroleum Institute. Al-Gabsani is also a registered foreign agent for the Saudi government. New disclosures retrieved today, showing some of API’s spending over the course of last year, reveal that API used its membership dues (from the world’s largest oil companies like Chevron and Aramco) to finance several dark money groups airing attack ads in the most recent election cycle. Last year, API gave nearly half a million to the following dark money groups running political ads against Democrats and in support of Republicans: • $50,000 to Americans for Prosperity’s 501(c)(4) group, which ran ads against President Obama and congressional Democrats. • $412,969 to Coalition for American Jobs’ 501(c)(6) group, a front set up by API lobbyists to air ads for industry-friendly politicians, including former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA). • $25,000 to the Sixty Plus Association’s 501(c)(4), which ran ads against congressional Democrats. Jack Gerard, the president of API, was a close ally to the Mitt Romney campaign. Like the US Chamber of Commerce, API is one of several large trade associations that has spent heavily in support of Republican candidates. The disclosures also show that in 2011, API spent over $68 million for public relations/advertising with the firm Edelman, $5.4 million on “coalition building” with the firm Advocates Inc, and $4 million with DDC Advocacy for “advocacy.” DDC is the firm led by Sara Fagen, the former Bush White House aide ensnared in the DOJ purges scandal. DDC now works with corporations to help them communicate with workers on how to vote. API’s Saudi leadership is perhaps one of the most salient examples of how the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision has opened the door to foreign influence. For many years, trade associations like API courted foreign businesses to forge industry-wide lobbying coalitions. But because of a court decision in 1990 (Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce), trade associations could participate in elections only by spinning off regulated political action committees, subject to strict disclosure and contribution limits. The foreign leadership of trade associations had a clear firewall against interfering in American elections. Justice John Roberts and the conservative court changed that. The court’s decisions in 2007 (in a case called Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC) and 2010 (Citizens United v. FEC) to deregulate soft money allowed trade associations to behave akin to campaign committees, funneling corporate cash to attack ad and electioneering efforts—except without the disclosure requirements. That cleared the way for a substantial loophole. A foreign national cannot administer a Super PAC or candidate committee, but they can run a trade association like API that can now run candidate ads or finance third party campaign efforts. The foreign corporate money given to a trade association, from a Saudi oil firm or a French chemical company, for example, can now find its way into an attack ad. The lobbyists and companies, and perhaps many of the politicians, know where the money for the ads is coming from—but the American people have no clue. Editorial intern Nicholas Myers assisted with the research for this post. For more on API’s cash game, check out Lee Fang’s August report. Never Mind Super PACs: How Big Business Is Buying the Election Renewable Fuels Groups Attack Api’s Saudi Interests Survival Is the Saudi Key Word Saudi Arabia feels insecure Don’t Worry About Super PACs – Worry About Big Business (prosebeforehos.com) Saudi Arabian king ‘clinically dead’ (tribune.com.ng) Discounted Saudi Crude Shaped Refiners’ Political Contributions, Paper Finds (blogs.wsj.com) How British companies pour cash into the American elections (guardian.co.uk) CIA, Qatari, Saudi Conspiracy To Violate United Nations Mandates and International Treaties (therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com) Activists: Saudi forces detain protesters (edition.cnn.com) Posted in Crime, Economic, Human rights \| Tagged Chevron, Kenya, oil, Republican party, Romney, Saudi Arabia \| 5 Replies Shell, Chevron pay Nigerian violent gangs This clip “Tell the world” by Milieudefensie tries to rise awareness about Shell’s oil pollution in Nigeria. Related website is: worsethanbad.org. Original high resolution files for download are available via: http://vimeo.com/41351278. From Platform London in Britain: Oil companies gave cash and contracts to militants and warlords in Nigeria. Aug 26, 2012 • 10:04 pm • by ben Shell and Chevron have funded armed militant groups in the volatile Niger Delta region of Nigeria since at least 2003, according to oil-industry sources and US embassy cables. Both oil companies have also paid ‘protection’ money to other hostile groups for decades. Platform’s new briefing, as reported in today’s Daily Mail, is called Fuelling the Violence: Oil Companies and Armed Militancy in Nigeria. It details how oil company payments have had a serious impact on human rights and stability in the region, where an estimated 1,000 people died annually in the conflict.[1] The revelations follow Platform’s 2011 report, Counting the Cost, which showed how Shell’s reliance on government forces in Nigeria and its routine payments to armed militant groups had exacerbated specific cases of human rights abuse. It builds on Platform’s 2012 briefing, Dirty Work, which exposed the vast scale of Shell’s security spending and its devastating impact on human rights. Key findings include: A Shell manager admits giving ‘special surveillance’ contracts to militant groups in 2011, in an attempt to incorporate them into the company security arrangements. These contracts have effectively rewarded violence. Chevron developed a close working relationship with Government Tompolo, commander of MEND, one of the main militant groups in the Delta. Chevron rented houseboats from Tompolo’s company, and routinely made calls and sent text messages to Tompolo’s army of MEND militants. Shell and Chevron have provided funding for militant groups in the Delta. Both companies reportedly paid $300 per month to individual armed militants in Warri in 2003, enough to provide weapons and supplies for several weeks. An estimated 500 people were subsequently killed in the Warri conflict. UK government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act suggest that despite repeated promises, Shell continued making harmful payments to pacify armed groups. In 2004, Shell inadvertently informed the Foreign Office that it had made very little progress in implementing its policies on “no cash payments” and “no ghost workers”. These corporate practices have fuelled conflict and had a devastating impact on human rights. Leaked Shell data suggests that in 2009 alone, the company spent $75 million on ‘Other’ unexplained security expenditures – a vast infusion of cash into the Delta conflict. According to independent analysts, the distribution of cash and contracts by oil companies has contributed to “the killing and displacement of thousands of local people” in communal and ethnic conflicts. Chevron fined $17.5 million over oil spill in Brazil: here. Nigeria’s agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it: here. Shell pollution in Nigeria, petition (dearkitty1.wordpress.com) STEADY POWER SUPPLY: Nigerians to wait longer – Investigation (vanguardngr.com) People Power vs Big Oil (point4counterpoint.wordpress.com) Jonathan repudiates 2015 campaign posters (newsray.wordpress.com) Shell to face litigation over oil spills in Nigeria – Amnesty In’tl (vanguardngr.com) Posted in Crime, Economic, Environment, Human rights, Peace and war \| Tagged Chevron, Nigeria, oil, Shell \| 38 Replies Chevron oil fire in California, USA Posted on August 7, 2012 by petrel41 This video from the USA is called Chevron Oil Refinery Fire, in Richmond, California. From the Sierra Club in the USA: Sierra Club Statement on Chevron Refinery Fire Washington, DC – Yesterday at 6:15 PT explosions and a massive fire at Chevron’s Richmond, CA, oil refinery released a plume of black smoke over the region. Sierra Club Director, Environmental Justice and Community Partnerships Director Leslie Fields Released the Following Statement in Response: “Yesterday residents of four California cities—Richmond, North Richmond, San Pablo and El Cerrito—were told by emergency officials to shelter-in-place, close doors and seal windows to avoid toxic smoke from the massive Chevron refinery fire. Fortunately, there were only minor injuries at the site. However, area hospitals reported at least 350 visits for respiratory problems and vomiting. “No one should have to live downwind of a dangerous oil refinery. Our thoughts are with the families living near the Chevron facility who must now contend with the aftermath and long-term health consequences of breathing in smoke filled with dangerous particulate matter, soot and cancer-causing toxins like sulfur compounds. These explosions and the massive toxic cloud hanging over their community and homes are only a part of the pattern of operation at Chevron’s Richmond facility, and Chevron should be held to account.” For the fourth time in the past 18 years, Chevron’s Richmond, California refinery has caught on fire, blanketing thousands of homes in toxic smoke: here. Chevron faces heat over refinery blaze: here. Chevron, the second largest oil and energy company in the United States, was fined $963,200 by Cal/OSHA (the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health) for state safety standard violations related to the August 6, 2012, fire at its Richmond, California, refinery: here. Refinery fire highlights pollution concerns: here. 10 of the most dangerous chemical plants in the U.S.: here. Chevron and the Ecuador rainforest: here, Large #Summerheat Action Takes on Chevron Refinery Chevron fined nearly $1M for Calif. refinery fire (sacbee.com) $10 Million to Injured Workers from Chevron Payout (earthfirstnews.wordpress.com) Chevron Fined Nearly $1 Million For California Refinery Fire (huffingtonpost.com) State Fines Chevron $1 Million For Richmond Refinery Fire (sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com) Chevron fire: State seeks nearly $1M fine (sfgate.com) Chevron Says It Has Paid $10M In Richmond Refinery Claims (sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com) Exxon, Chevron Made $71 Billion Profit in 2012 As Consumers Paid Record Gas Prices (readersupportednews.org) Chevron Finally Punished For Massive Richmond Refinery Fire (huffingtonpost.com) Chevron profit up on asset exchange, refineries (miamiherald.com) Posted in Disasters, Economic, Environment, Medicine, health \| Tagged California, Chevron, oil \| 8 Replies Nigerian feminist against Chevron pollution Posted on June 10, 2012 by petrel41 This video, recorded in New York City in the USA, says about itself: This talk was filmed at an event on March 27th, 2011 at Bluestockings, called “Independent Media, Technology, and Self-Determination Struggles in Nigeria.” Emem Okon (bio follows) of Kebetkache, a women’s organization in the Niger Delta, speaks to the role of communications technology in struggles against political corruption and oil exploitation in Nigeria. She also discusses the participation of Niger Delta women in the Indymedia Convergence in Dakar, February 2011. Introduction by Nicole Hummel from Deep Dish TV. Ms Emem J. Okon is the founder and Executive Director of Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre. She is a women’s rights activist and advocate from the oil impacted Niger Delta region of Nigeria. She is a trainer, researcher and campaigner against all forms of violence directed at women and the environment. She is currently undertaking a research into impact of militarism on women in the Niger Delta, a component of the Strengthening Women’s Activism against Conflict and Militarism in the West African sub-region. She has coordinated many networks and coalitions including Gender and Constitution Reform Network (GECORN) south-south zone; National Coalition on Affirmative Action (NCAA) Rivers (2004-2010) among others. By Antonia Juhasz, Ms. Magazine in the USA [with non-working links corrected by me, and links added, here; petrel41]: Speaking Truth to Chevron: An Interview With Nigerian Eco-Feminist Emem Okon Last week, leaders of communities harmed by oil giant Chevron descended upon the company’s annual shareholder meeting in San Ramon, California to demand environmental justice and human rights. Participants from as far away as Angola, Ecuador, and Brazil joined with the True Cost of Chevron network (of which I am a part) and some 150 local protesters to decry Chevron’s abuses both around the globe and here in the U.S., from California to Texas to Washington, D.C. One of the most prominent voices was Emem Okon, founder and executive director of Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre of Nigeria. A community organizer and women’s rights activist from the Niger Delta, Okon is leading a thriving Nigerian ecofeminist movement. She has coordinated several local women’s networks and coalitions, including Women Against Climate Change (WACC), International Network on Women and Environment, Niger Delta Women for Justice and Niger Delta Women’s Movement. I interviewed Okon shortly after the protests to learn how the women of the U.S. can emulate the women of Nigeria in standing up to one of the world’s most powerful–and dangerous–corporations. Antonia Juhasz: Why did you travel from Nigeria to California to join the protests at Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting on May 30? Emem Okon: For well over 50 years, Chevron has been a dominant oil producer in Nigeria, both on land and offshore, generating riches that have flowed to Chevron. Chevron’s operations in the Niger Delta have economically marginalized local villagers while giving them virtually no control over their own livelihood, land or resources. The people and communities living nearest to the oil have become poorer and more dispirited, and are living shorter lives. I came to California to tell Chevron that it must listen to the women of the Niger Delta and change its operations. How are women’s lives in the Delta impacted by Chevron and the oil industry? Abusing the Niger Delta environment translates to abusing the women of the Delta. These women are predominantly farmers and fisher-folks. Their lives are built around the environment. Their farming includes planting and processing cassava, yam, plantain, banana, vegetables and other related produce, as well as processing palm fruits into palm oil and palm kernel. Women also get resources from the forest. Their lives and income are also intimately linked to the water, including the Atlantic ocean, the rivers, streams and creeks. In the Niger Delta, the greatest damage to this environment is caused by the oil and gas industry. Through oil spills and gas flaring, exploration and exploitation activities have resulted in pollution of rivers, streams and creeks, making the water unsafe for aquatic life and leading to a loss of fishing income. Chevron spills oil into soil and farmlands, making them unfit for crops. Women, who are the majority of the informal [economic] sector, are negatively impacted as the oil halts their economic activities and increases their poverty. There is also a social dimension to the impact of the extractive industry on women in the Niger Delta region. The oil politics have generated various forms of violent conflict in the Niger Delta, including communal clashes, youth armed gangsterism, chieftaincy tussle, political violence, militarism and militarization. These have subjected women to sexual violence, sexual slavery, rape and teenage pregnancy, as well as increasing child motherhood, sex work, HIV infection rates and trauma symptoms. Gas flaring has also contributed to a high rate of maternal and child mortality [by causing] reproductive health issues such as infertility, miscarriages, stillbirths, cancers and respiratory problems. How do the women of the Niger Delta respond to Chevron’s activities? In the Niger Delta, women do not sit idle while such damage is done. We stand up and take action. The landmark achievement in women’s organizing was the Occupation of Chevron Oil Tank Farm in Escravos, Warri South West Local Government by Ugborodo women in July 2002. They succeeded in stopping work for 11 days, until Chevron’s management finally agreed to meet their demands. In so doing, Ugborodo women achieved in 11 days what the men could not achieve in decades. Chevron came down to talk with the women, which opened up the space for chiefs, youth leaders and government representatives to engage in the negotiation process. How can women in the United States support your work on behalf of women in the Niger Delta? International solidarity is key to achieving environmental justice and women’s rights in the Niger. The True Cost of Chevron network has been critical. Our greatest ally is the California-based non-profit Justice In Nigeria Now (JINN), which has led campaigns in the U.S. and mobilized other advocacy groups to support the Niger Delta women. I call on our supporters worldwide to join JINN on their website or their Facebook page. Shell is accused of complicity in torture and killings of Nigerian environmentalists in the Kiobel vs. Shell case, which the U.S. Supreme Court will re-hear in the fall: here. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS NIGERIAN TORTURE PRACTICES “Nigeria’s police and military routinely torture women, men and children as young as 12 with beatings, shootings, rape, electric shocks and pliers used to pull out teeth and nails, Amnesty International charged Thursday. Most of those detained are denied access to the outside world and even to visits from family or lawyers, said the new report collated from hundreds of testimonies over 10 years.” [AP] Fighting for Indigenous Rights Over Corporate Greed in the Niger Delta Chevron Has 5 Activists Arrested and Bars Entry to Global Victims of Its Practices at Annual Shareholders’ Meeting Chevron’s Leading Critics From Brazil to Ecuador Expose Oil Giant’s Abuses Shell pollution in Nigeria, petition Beneath the Ukraine Crisis: Shale Gas Behind the dirty war in Nigeria Nigerian Shell oil spill survivors reject ‘derisory’ compensation offer David Cameron helps Shell polluters of Nigeria Profit over Safety: BP Faces Billions in Fines for “Grossly Negligent” Role in 2010 Gulf Oil Spill Shell’s Wildly Inaccurate Reporting of Niger Delta Oil Spill Exposed Posted in Crime, Economic, Environment, Human rights, Medicine, health, Peace and war, Women's issues \| Tagged Chevron, Nigeria, oil, Shell \| 15 Replies 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__label__wiki	0.685658	0.685658	Road test: 2006 Cadillac STS-V Road test: 2009 BMW M3 Road test: 2009 Hyundai Genesis by David Booth \| August 10, 2011 2006 Cadillac STS-V At the first corner of my road test, not 10 feet out of General Motors’ parking lot, the rear end is already slewing sideways like a drunken sailor. And I hardly even mashed the throttle. Every single corner thereafter — traffic light, on-ramp or slight kink in the road — sees the revs climb, the rear end step out and the rear tires spin like the Liberal Party after the recent “beer and popcorn” fiasco. So what kind of car was it? Corvette? Porsche Turbo? A Ferrari so bright red it looks like a speeding bullet standing still? Maybe another of those 612-horsepower, AMG-tuned Mercedes rockets? How about a Cadillac — a big one at that? The new STS is GM’s topline four-door sedan. Only this one has a little V tacked on to its moniker. This, by itself, isn’t a guarantee of excitement, but since the car also comes with a “supercharged” badge adorning its flanks, the source of all that tire spinning doesn’t remain a mystery for long. Following in the footsteps of the enormously successful CTS-V, which convinced many that Cadillac could run with the big dogs — namely BMW and Mercedes — GM has taken the wrapper off its hot-rodded STS. Unlike its lesser sibling, which saw Caddy engineers stuff a Corvette motor into the CTS’s engine bay, this STS takes a different, more sophisticated approach. Under its hood lies Cadillac’s Northstar V8 — the DOHC V8 that stands as the pinnacle of GM engineering — to which the General has added not only a belt-driven supercharger but also an intercooler that cools all that superheated air into a cooler, denser, more power-packed intake charge. And, in an extreme rarity for the automotive business, the STS-V’s 4.4-litre engine actually puts out more horsepower than what Cadillac originally boasted. When the prototype was originally unveiled in 2005, GM claimed 440 horsepower, a significant figure but a few stallions short of its Mercedes and BMW competition. Perusing the production version’s spec sheet, however, reveals 469 hp, the very same as Mercedes’ AMG-tuned E55. Surprisingly, the Cadillac engine is more sophisticated. While the Mercedes V8 makes do with a single camshaft for each bank of cylinders, the Caddy has two. The Merc has a total of 24 valves (two intakes and single exhaust per cylinder), while the Caddy has 32 (two intakes, two exhaust). On a power-to-displacement basis, this makes the Cadillac more efficient. Though both engines have the same peak horsepower, the Mercedes needs 5.5 litres of displacement to achieve its numbers; the Cadillac needs only 4.4L. Conversely, the Mercedes gets slightly better fuel economy, with the Caddy sucking 17.4 litres per 100 kilometres in the city versus 16.6 for the Merc and 10.7 litres on the highway compared with 10.3. To be fair, the numbers are roughly even as is the two cars’ claimed acceleration. Cadillac claims a sub-five-second time to 100 km/h, about the same as the E55. Certainly, the STS-V is every bit as potent as the E55. But Caddy’s V8 feels more sophisticated. In a complete switch, it’s the AMG-tuned Merc that sounds like a big American V8 while Caddy’s Northstar feels more European. There’s also less noise, vibration and harshness coming from the STS-V’s engine bay with less valvetrain noise than the E55 when the revs are elevated. The STS-V’s transmission isn’t quite as civilized. The good news is that it’s GM’s new six-speed automatic transmission. The bad news is that it’s the first use of the new tranny and GM may still be figuring out the calibration. In its defence, the Hydra-Matic 6L80 incorporates a host of advanced driving enhancement features including Performance Algorithm Shifting (PAS) and Driver Shift Control (DSC). The PAS lets the electronic transmission controller override the automatic gear selection during speedy cornering. Driver Shift Control allows the driver to sequentially shift gears manually via the gearshift lever. Unfortunately, there’s no steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, a faux pas that is sure to cause some STS-V owners consternation. As well, gear changes can be harsh when the engine is pushed. Mash the throttle and it’s so eager to downshift that the actual gear change is abrupt. It should be noted this happens only occasionally and that you’re usually so invigorated by the goings-on from the engine that you hardly notice the tranny’s miscue. Nonetheless, an engine this good deserves a transmission equal to its performance. Which brings me back to the part about the STS-V slithering around every time I punched the gas. Though I was initially confused by all the wheelspin since the stability control system appeared to be activated (which should have all but eliminated any sideways action), it turns out that Cadillac has calibrated the STS-V’s traction nanny with a Competition Mode similar to the Corvette system. This means it will allow much more aggressive oversteer than comparable mechanisms. Assuming that STS-V owners are the sporting types Cadillac envisages for its top sports sedan, the addition will be much appreciated. Besides, more conservative drivers can always switch the stability control to its standard setting, which virtually eliminates wheelspin. Sadly, I can’t comment too much on the STS-V’s handling. The sedan’s Pirelli Eufori@ run-flat tires, though excellent in warm weather (both wet and dry), are out of their element on Toronto’s cold and somewhat snow-covered roads. Skidding sideways is always fun, but it doesn’t give you much of an impression of road-holding. The STS-V is obviously suspended more firmly than the base STS, but its springing is a little softer than the E55 and BMW’s M5. The tires are wide — P255/45R18s at the front, P275/40R19s in the rear — with serious grip, but my guess is that the Caddy won’t be quite able to keep up with an M5 in the corners. That may not be a bad thing for many drivers since: a) few will ever use such cornering prowess, and b) the Cadillac has a better ride. Nonetheless, I’ll have to wait for warmer climes to make an evaluation of the STS-V’s ultimate abilities. Not so the interior, which is Cadillac’s best effort yet. To the STS’s already well-equipped cabin the V adds hand-wrapped leather throughout the cabin, suede seat inserts (presumably so you don’t slide when you hit the powerful four-piston brakes) and olive ash burl wood trim along with some tastefully polished aluminum accents. The seats are, of course, heated and, like in most sporty sedans, well bolstered. But unlike many Asian and European cars’ sport seats, the Caddy’s are, shall we say, generous in their proportions for the McDonald’s generation. So are the front doors, which, when they swing out, make it a reach to get at the door handles. But, no matter how large the passengers get, ingress/egress will always be easy. The STS-V comes with a full complement of amenities including dual-zone air conditioning and a touch screen- controlled navigation system. The LCD screen is large and easily read, but it can be a little complicated when trying to set radio stations. Thankfully, unlike German manufacturers, Cadillac has provided a convenient rotary knob to manually control the radio. One could, however, criticize the STS-V’s interior for its lack of one specific defining luxury tidbit — such as a Bulgari clock, knurled aluminum shift lever or even a truck-load of carbon fibre inlays. After all, the car costs $97,995, a figure sure to shock some customers used to Cadillacs being incredible bargains. Cadillac will argue that the STS-V is still significantly less expensive than the E55. And it would be right — the AMG sedan costs $117,745. Nonetheless, I’d like to see the faces of the first few customers who are told that the price for the shiny new Caddy they covet is almost 100 Large. Hopefully, the salesperson can get them to drive it so they understand that it just might be worth the money. Automotive Engines Bulgari SpA Cadillac Northstar Ferrari SpA General Motors Corporation Pirelli and C. SpA The Cadillac Escalade and Land Rover Defender are two SUV icons, done two ways One of the largest collections of GM muscle cars is heading to auction GM unveils electric cars and a flying taxi at the Consumer Electronics Show Our Northern Correspondent's most memorable moments of 2020 Cadillac CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing set to debut February 1 Amped Up: GM reportedly may assemble electric crossovers for Honda, Acura	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line667
__label__cc	0.51587	0.48413	On the Road at the Victoria Whisky Festival (Episode 750: January 18, 2019)20190119001516 On the Road at the Victoria Whisky Festival (Episode 750: January 18, 2019) Mark GillespieJanuary 19, 2019@MarkhamWhisky, @mythplaced, accident, Alumni Series, BC Liquor Stores, BCLDB, Berry Bros. & Rudd, Bill Ashburn, border, Brexit, British Columbia, Brussels, Canada, Canadian Whisky Awards, cannabis, CEO, Chapel Gate Whiskey, chemical engineering, Competition Bureau, Corby, craft distilling, Customs, Dan Jago, David Eby, death, defeat, Dennis Layman, Dewar's, Dianne Berglund, distilling, Don Livermore, engineering, EU, European Union, executive, exports, fall, Fet's, Flintlock, Forty Creek, Gary Gillman, Glenmore., Global TV, Gooderham & Worts, graduate school, Graeme Littlejohn, Gritty, Guy LaFleur, hard border, Hiram Walker Distillery, hockey, imports, investigation, Ireland, Irish Whiskey Association, John Hall, Kentucky, Kris Berglund, label approval, Lanny McDonald, Lansing, LCBO, Leila Wright, Leon Webb, Lizzy Rudd, Louise McGuane, Mark Reynier, mascot, Michigan, Michigan State University, Ministry of the Attorney General, Monfort, NHL, NHL Alumni Association, Nicole Shriner, Ninety Nine Proof, Northern Ireland, Ontario, Ottawa, Owensboro, Parliament, PhD, Philadelphia Flyers, Portwood, pound, Prime Minister, province, provincial, Red Cedar Spirits, Sazerac, Scotch Whisky Association, Shelter Point, shutdown, single malt, SMWS, students, SWA, Sweden, tariffs, terroir, Theresa May, Toronto, tourism, trade, TTB, Two Brewers, University of Luleå, unmalted barley, Victoria, Victoria Whisky Festival, visitors centers, walkway, Waterford Distillery, Wayne Gretzky, Wayne Gretzky Estates, Wendel Clark, whiskey, whisky, Whitehorse, William Lavelle, Windsor, Yukon0 comments This is the first of our two episodes from the 14th annual Victoria Whisky Festival in Victoria, British Columbia. One of the highlights of the festiv... Irish Whiskey’s Ups and Downs in 2018 (Episode 744: December 9, 2018)20181209123051 Irish Whiskey’s Ups and Downs in 2018 (Episode 744: December 9, 2018) Mark GillespieDecember 9, 2018@BDP514AM, @BourbonScript, @whiskeycat1324, Alaska, Allison Parc, Allison Patel, Anchorage, artist, assets, Augusta, Balcones, banks, Bardstown, Basil Hayden's, Beam Suntory, BenRiach, Bernard Walsh, Bill Ashburn, Bill Newlands, Billy Leighton, blending, Bobby Parnell, Bond & Lillard, Boo, border, Bottled in Bond, Bourbon, Brenne Whiskey, Brexit, Brian Belmore, Brooklyn, Brown-Forman, Bruichladdich, Buffalo Trace, Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, Campari, Canada, Canadian Whisky, cancer, Cask Masters, Catoctin Creek Distillery, CEO, cognac, competition, Constellation Brands, consulting, contest, contract, councils, court, craft distilling, Cutty Sark, Damian Riley-Smith, Dave Sweet, David Marra, definition, design, Diageo, Dingle Distillery, distilling, divorce, Dr. George Moore, Dundalk, earthquake, Eddie Russell, Edrington, Enda Kenny, ennis, events, executive, extradition, Facebook, festivals, Forsyths, Forty Creek, Forty Creek Whisky Weekend, France, fraud, French, Gareth Moore, geographical indicator, George Washington's Distillery, Georgia, GI, Glenlivet, Glenmorangie, Great Britain, Great Northern Brewery, Great Northern Distillery, Grimsby, Guess the Distillery, Hall of Fame, health warnings, Heaven's Door, heritage grains, Hibernia, Ian Curle, India, Ireland, Irish Distillers, Irish Whiskey, Irish Whiskey Association, John Teeling, Journey Cask Collection, Ken Grier, Kentucky, Keri Scruggs, Kingfisher Airlines, La Martiniquaise, Label 5, Label of 5 World Tour, Laphroaig, Lawrenceburg, Lawson Whiting, Lebanon, Leo Varadkar, Lifetime Achievement Award, Lisa Wicker, Lovingston, money laundering, Mongolian Oak, Mount Vernon, New Brunswick, New York, Northern Ireland, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, NPRM, Oban, Old Charter Oak, Old Ripy, Ontario, Pappy Van Winkle, Paragraph Publishing, Paul Varga, Peterson Farms, politics, producer, prosecutors, public comment, Public Health Bill (Alcohol), quote, Rachel Barrie, Rami Mouallem, regulations, reporter, retirement, Rob Sands, Robert Polson II, Samson & Surrey, Scott Harris, Scott McCroskie, single malt, slow-motion, spirit safe, stumped, Taghta, Talisker, Taoiseach, Tax & Trade Bureau, Tennessee, The Drinks Business, The Macallan, TTB, U.S. Treasury Department, United Spirits, Unity, Victoria Caledonian, Vijay Mallya, vintage, Virginia, Virginia Distillery Company, W.B. Saffell, Walsh Whiskey Company, warehouse, Washington Post, whiskey, Whiskey & Barrel Nite, Whiskey Barons, whisky, Whisky Live, Whisky Magazine, Whyte & Mackay, Widow Jane, Wild Turkey, winner, Writers Tears, Zach McCabe0 comments Irish Whiskey continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments of the whisky business around the world, but the distilleries in Ireland and Norther... Whiskey & Music with Three Chord Bourbon’s Neil Giraldo (Episode 742: December 2, 2018)20181202200139 Whiskey & Music with Three Chord Bourbon’s Neil Giraldo (Episode 742: December 2, 2018) Mark GillespieDecember 2, 2018@jotterface, 1926, Alaska, Allied Domecq, Anchorage, Anchorage Daily News, aqua vitae, Ari Sussman, auction, avian influenza, Beam, benefit, Bernheim, bidding, Blackened American Whiskey, Bladnoch, Bob Dylan, Bonhams, botanicals, Bottled in Bond, Bourbon, Brian Canning, Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila, Cardhu, Cask 88, CEO, Charles Whitfield, Charlie Whitfield, Chris Hennessy, Chris Swonger, Christie's, Cleveland, Clonakilty Distillery, Clynelish, collecting, collectors, Cork, Cutty Sark, Danny Winbourne, Dave Pickerell, Diageo, DISCUS, Distilled Spirits Council, Distillery Series, Dry Fly Distilling, Dylan Whiskey Bar, earthquake, Edrington, eggs, Elixir Distillers, FAAR, Fionnán O'Connor, Fired Oak, Fortnum & Mason, Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, Game of Thrones, genever, gin, Glen Flagler, Glen Moray, Glenturret, Graham Coull, grappa, Heaven's Door, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, HIAS, Highland Park, Impex, Iowa, Ireland, Islay, John Waite, Johnnie Walker, Karuizawa, Keith Sanders, Kenny Loggins, Kentucky, Kilkenny, KTUU, La Martiniquaise, Level 5, London, Los Angeles, Mackmyra, Metallica, Michael Dillon, monks, music, musician, Neil Giraldo, New York City, Old Rip Van Winkle, Orphan Barrel, Pacific Rim, Pat Benatar, performer, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Whiskey Friends, Plastic Oceans International, Port Askaig, producer, Prohibition, Quarter Cask, raffle, recipe, Red Book of Ossory, reporter, Rhetoric, Rick Springfield, rock, screenplay, Seven Seas Export, shooting, Smiths Group, South Korea, Speyside, Spokane, Stitzel-Weller, Sweden, television, Templeton Rye, The Famous Grouse Experience, The Macallan, The Macallan Genesis, The Scorpions, Three Chord Bourbon, Tim Matthews, Tree of Life Synagogue, United Distillers, Usquaebach, Valerio Adami, vibration, victims, Washington, whiskey, whisky, whisky.auction, White Walker, Winter is Coming, Woodford Reserve0 comments Neil Giraldo is one of music’s “hit makers.” As a musician and producer, he’s worked with some of rock music’s legendary... On the Road at The Great American Whiskey Fair (Episode 733: October 18, 2018)20181018232648 On the Road at The Great American Whiskey Fair (Episode 733: October 18, 2018) Mark GillespieOctober 18, 2018100% Islay, agriculture, airplane bottles, Alasdair Day, Allied Domecq, Antique Collection, Bailey's Irish Cream, bar, Barley, Beach Polo, Beam, Beam Suntory, beer, Bill Newlands, Bourbon, Buffalo Trace, Campbell Brown, Canadian Club, Canadian Whisky, Catoctin Creek, CEO, Charleston, Chivas Brothers, Chivas Regal, Chris Swonger, Chronicles, climate change, Columbia, Constellation Brands, construction, Crouch Distilling, Diageo, DISCUS, Distilled Spirits Council, distillery, distilling, Dublin, Dungourney, emissions, environment, event, executive, farmers, Festival, fossil fuels, Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility, Fox & Geese, George Garvin Brown, global warming, grain, Grain of Truth, Great American Whiskey Fair, Greenville, High West, High Wire Distilling, IDV, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, investment, Irish Distillers, Irish Whiskey, Islay, Jackie Zykan, James Espey, Jessica Crouch, Jimmy Red, John Walker Masters' Edition, Johnnie Walker, Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Johnnie Walker Oldest, journal, Kentucky, Kilbeggan, Kilchoman, Kraig Naasz, Kristian Niemi, lobbyist, Louisville, Michter's, Midleton Distillery, miniature bottles, Nathan Mueller, Nature, obituary, Old Forester Distillery, Pam Heilmann, Pernod Ricard, Phil Crouch, Piedmont, Polo Collection, Ralph Blackman, Rob Sands, Royal Salute, Russ Fain, Rye, Sam Slaughter, science, Scotch Whisky, Seagram's, single grain, single malt, Six and Twenty Distillery, Smiths Group, South Carolina, The Last Drop Distillers, The President's Choice, The Tweedale Blend, Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye, Tom Jago, United Distillers, United Nations, University of California Irvine, Utah, whiskey, whisky0 comments This time around, we’re in Columbia, South Carolina for The Great American Whiskey Fair. We’ll talk with local distillers creating unique ... The “Godfather of Rye Whiskey” (Episode 730: October 7, 2018)20181007162602 The “Godfather of Rye Whiskey” (Episode 730: October 7, 2018) Mark GillespieOctober 7, 2018@Chris_F74, @irishwhiskeybc, @luvthemstillers, Albert Baladi, aluminum, American Select Oak, Amrut, angel's share, Angostura, Ardbeg, artist, Ashok Chokalingham, auction, Baccarat, Bangalore, Barrel Proof, Beam Global, Beam Suntory, bidding, Bonhams, bootleggers, Bourbon, Brian Nation, Brian Treacy, Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, Canada, Cannes, Cardhu, CEO, Chivas, Chris Farrell, Christie's, Cincinnati, CL Financial, Clynelish, cognac, collecting, Congress, Dail, Dalwhinnie, David Whitmer, Dekantā, distilling, Don Livermore, Donald Trump, Dubai Duty Free, Eagle Rare 17, Edinburgh, expansion, Fine & Rare Collection, football, Fortnum & Mason, Fortune Brands, France, Game of Thrones, George Remus, George Ross, Gibson's, Glendullan, Gordon & MacPhail, Greedy Angels, Guinness World Records, HBO, Health Minister, health warnings, Hong Kong, House Lannister, India, Indiana, induction, Intermediate Sherry Cask, Ireland, Irish Distillers, Irish Whiskey, Irish Whiskey Barry, Jim McEwan, Jimmy Russell, Joe Hyman, Johnnie Walker, Kadhambam, Kavalan, Ken Lewis, Kentucky, Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, labels, Lagavulin, Larry Ebersold, Lawrenceburg, LDI, legislature, Leo Varadkar, London, Longmorn, Louisville, Manchester United, Masters Collection, Matt Shattock, Mexico, MGP Ingredients, Michael Dillon, Midleton Very Rare, minimum pricing, molecules, NAFTA, New Riff, New York City, Newport, Nobel Prize, North American Free Trade Act, Oat Grain Edition, Oban, Parliament, Pernod Ricard, Portonova, Private Collection, Public Health Bill (Alcohol), Repeal Reserve, Richard Urquhart, Rob, Rossville, Royal Lochnagar, Rye, Sagamore Spirit, Scotch Whisky, Scott Ritenbaugh, Seagram's, Seanad, Sir Peter Blake, Skinner, soccer, Solist, Sotheby's, sponsorship, sports, steel, Stuart Urquhart, Suntory, Talisker, Taoiseach, tariffs, television, The Macallan, Tom Flocco, trade, travel retail, Trinidad & Tobago, Trump Administration, Twenty-Something, Twentysomething, Twitter, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, USMCA, Valerio Adami, value, Vinho Barrique, vintage, W9 Summit, warehouse, Westeros, whiskey, Whiskey Summit, whisky, White Walker, Winter is Coming, Woodford Reserve, world record0 comments The largest single distiller of Rye Whiskey isn’t in Kentucky, but just along the other side of the Ohio River in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. For nea... Beam Suntory CEO Matt Shattock to Step Down20181005121055 Beam Suntory CEO Matt Shattock to Step Down Mark GillespieOctober 5, 2018Albert Baladi, Beam Global, Beam Suntory, Bourbon, Brown-Forman, CEO, chairman, Chicago, Clermont, Cooley, Deerfield, Fortune Brands, Illinois, Jim Beam, Jim Beam Stillhouse, Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse, Kentucky, Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, Loretto, Louisville, Maker's Mark, Matt Shattock, Paul Varga, Suntory Holdings, Tom Flocco, whiskey, whisky0 comments October 4, 2018 – Beam Suntory Chairman & CEO Matt Shattock will step down next April after ten years on the job leading what became the wor... Speed Rack: Women Shaking Cocktails for a Cause (Episode 707: June 17, 2018)20180617131923 Speed Rack: Women Shaking Cocktails for a Cause (Episode 707: June 17, 2018) Mark GillespieJune 17, 2018@neubiee, @snapsguy, #metoo, accident, agriculture, airport, Alabama, appeal, Arkansas, astronomer, Australia, Balcones, Barnabé Fillion, Bartender of the Year, bartending, Beam Suntory, Ben Nevis, Birmingham, blending, Bourbon, Brasil, Brazil, Breakthru, breast cancer, Bruichladdich, bulk, Bunnahabhain, Canada, Castle & Key, CEO, charity, Chicago, China, Chivas Brothers, Civil War, Clarkson Hine, Clint Sample, Col. E.H. Taylor, commute, competition, Copenhagen, Customs, definition, Deirdre Mahlan, Denmark, Diageo, Dirk Rybinski, Distilled Spirits Council, Donald Trump, Dufry, duty free, Einar, European Court of Justice, exports, fair use, Fawn Weaver, Finland, Fireball, Flask Collection, Fr. Oak, French Oak, Georgia, Germany, gin, Glen Breton, Glen Buchenbach, Hamburg, Harald, Heaven Hill, Highland Park, highway, Historic Royal Palaces, Hven, infringement, interim, Interstate 40, Islay, Ivy Mix, Jack Daniel's, Japan, Japanese Whisky, Jim Clerkin, Jouni Ritola, judge, Kalle Valkonen, Kentucky, Kew Palace, Kraig Naasz, Kyrö, Laura Newman, lawsuit, Liquor.com, London, loophole, Lynette Marrero, Lynn House, Marcus Christensson, mislead, Möet Hennessy USA, Nathan "Nearest"Green, Natu Nobilis, Nikka, Old Taylor Distillery, perfume, Peristyle, Pernod Ricard, podcast, Port Charlotte, President, Puerto Rico, Queen's Park, Rio de Janeiro, Royal Salute, Sandy Hyslop, Sazerac, Scotch Whisky, Scotch Whisky Association, Scotch Whisky Law, Scotland, Sea Island, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, slave, Speed Rack, spill, Suntory, Svein, Swabia, Sweden, tariffs, technology, Tennessee, Texas, trade, trade war, trademark, travel retail, trucks, Trump Administration, Tycho Brahe, Tycho's Star, Uncle Nearest, USBG, Waco, Waldhirn Distillery, Wesly Murry, whiskey, whisky, Will Arvin, women, World Class0 comments There are plenty of cocktail competitions for bartenders, but Speed Rack was one of the first to highlight women working behind the bar. Lynette Marre... Whisky By the Generations (Episode 704: June 7, 2018)20180607191540 Whisky By the Generations (Episode 704: June 7, 2018) Mark GillespieJune 7, 2018agriculture, allocation, aluminum, annual report, BenRiach, Bourbon, Brexit, Brown-Forman, Bunnahabhain, Cahir, Canada, CEO, David Stewart, development, distributor, Donald Trump, Douglas Laing & Co., earnings, EU, European Union, export, G7 Summit, geographical indicator, George Eustice, Gordon Motion, Great Britain, Great Northern Distillery, Honeoye Falls Distillery, Idaho, import, Ireland, Irish Times, Irish Whiskey, Irish Whiskey Association, Jack Daniel's, Jennifer Nickerson, John Ramsay, John Teeling, John's, Jura, Kevin Baker, King of Kentucky, Knockmealdowns, Lawson Whiting, Liam Ahearn, Lorne Cousin, Louth, M8, maturation warehouse, Mayvore, Mexico, Minister, New York, Newfoundland, Northern Ireland, planning approval, President, Prohibition, Provenance Coastal Collection, Quebec, Red Saw Rye, retailer, Rochester, Rod Dzebiak, Rod Robbins, Scotch Whisky, Scotland, Scott James Turner-Preece, St, steel, Stuart Nickerson, tariffs, The Balvenie, The Glenrothes, three-tier system, Tipperary Distillery, trade, trade war, Trump Administration, Tun 1509, Watershed, Westmeath, whiskey, whisky, wholesaler, William Lavelle, Woodford Reserve, zoning0 comments With Father’s Day coming up, we’ll meet a Scottish woman following her father into the whiskey business. That’s right…whiskey.... Whiskey Trade Barriers Going Up as Trade Dispute Escalates20180606173311 Whiskey Trade Barriers Going Up as Trade Dispute Escalates Mark GillespieJune 6, 2018aluminum, Bourbon, Brown-Forman, Brussels, Canada, Cecilia Malmström, CEO, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, DISCUS, Distilled Spirits Council, Donald Trump, DSC, EU, European Commission, European Union, exports, G7 Summit, importer, imports, Jack Daniel's, Jane Morreau, Japan, KDA, Kentucky Distillers Association, Lawson Whiting, Mexico, NAFTA, North American Free Trade Agreement, Paul Varga, Quebec, sanctions, steel, tariffs, Tennessee Whiskey, trade, Trump Administration, whiskey, whisky, Woodford Reserve0 comments June 6, 2018 – This weekend’s G7 Summit in Quebec with heads of state from the world’s largest industrialized nations is likely to b... Becoming a Bourbon Badass (Episode 702: May 31, 2018)20180531220856 Becoming a Bourbon Badass (Episode 702: May 31, 2018) Mark GillespieMay 31, 2018@bulldoghobbit, @ButlerB, @scotch-scones, @urs16875, #Drams4Fams, 72, 75, airport, aluminum, April Fool's, Australia, author, badass, bar, Benromach, bird poo, blending, Bonded, bonded warehouse, book, Bottled in Bond, Bottled in Bond Act of 1897, bottling, Bourbon, Brown-Forman, Cairmgorms National Park, Canada, CEO, charity, Chris Leggat, Chris Morris, comics, Craggan, David DeFazio, decanter, distilling seasons, distribution, Donald Trump, Douglas Laing & Co., Edmonton Scotch Club, EU, European Union, exports, food bank, Fred Laing, George Dickel, Gordon & MacPhail, Grantown-on-Spey, Greg Butler, hammer, Hazelburn, Highland Park, Highlands Council, hunger, imports, incentives, Indiana, Inferno, Ireland, Irish Whiskey Association, Ken Grier, Kentucky, Knob Creek, Knob Creek Rye, Lalique, Lawson Whiting, Linda Ruffenach, Lord of the Rings, Louisville, Marvel, Melbourne, Mexico, Mjølner, Mortlach, moth balls, movies, New Albany, Orkney, Paul Varga, planning, police, prop, retirement, Sazerac, Scotch Test Dummies, Speymalt, Springbank, Steamboat, steel, Steve Hawley, Straight Malt, Tabasco, Tammy Spencer, tariffs, taxes, The Balvenie, The Light, The Macallan, theft, Thor, Tim Wilson, trade, Travis Watt, Trump Administration, Urquhart, Ursula Mueller, Westland, whiskey, whisky, Whisky Chicks, William Lavelle, women, Woodford Reserve, Woodford Reserve Masters Collection, Wyoming Whiskey, YouTube0 comments Bourbon scares some people away…at first. Often, those who approach Bourbon gingerly develop a true passion for it, and become what Linda Ruffen...	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line676
__label__cc	0.630048	0.369952	Home » wd 40 What to do when a Lionel train suddenly can’t pull as many cars as it could before Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 14, 2012 December 27, 2015 christmas, hardware store, lionel, lionel train, Quantum Hot Sauce, WD, wd 40 Last night, the Lionel train under our Christmas tree–a low-budget special, of course–started struggling. It had been able to pull five cars before, but suddenly could only pull four. Here’s how I fixed it. How to fix old Marx locomotives Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 16, 2010 January 11, 2020 conductivity, Lucas Red, marx, marx trains, PTFE, radio shack, tin, WD, wd 40 I’ve been noticing that a post I made several years ago about my experiments fixing a Marx 490 train locomotive has been getting a disconcerting number of hits. Disconcerting, because I repeated some advice on how to fix old Marx locomotives from another web site that I later found, by experience, wasn’t all that good. Here’s how I go about doing simple repairs on Marx trains today, now that I’ve done a few. Fixing a Marx 490 O27 toy locomotive Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 9, 2004 December 2, 2015 lionel, Marvel Mystery Oil, marx, marx trains, o27, old trains, tenax, WD, wd 40 Note: Please don’t do what I did in this post. Chances are you’ll make things worse in the long run. If you’re looking for information on fixing a Marx train that won’t run, go here for instructions on how to do that. I fixed my Marx 490 locomotive this weekend. I used the tips in The All Gauge Model Railroading Marx Trains guide. Scroll down to the heading titled, “The Marx motor.” I was skeptical because these instructions call for WD-40, and it seems I’ve read a hundred other places never to use WD-40 on any model train. But my Marx 490 wasn’t running well, and it would cost more to have it professionally repaired than it’s worth.But before I continue, let me interject something. If you’re here from Google because you just found a box of old trains that say “Mar” on them, the company is Marx, not Mar. And the trains look a lot like Lionel, but they’re not Lionel. In a few rare instances, Marx trains are very valuable. But in most cases, a Marx isn’t worth as much as the box a Lionel came in. Which is why I said it would cost more to repair my Marx than it was worth. I just had two Lionels repaired for $25 each, plus parts. You can usually get a Marx 490 with some cars on eBay for $25. But that’s not to say Marxes don’t have charm. They certainly do. There. I feel better now. Back to the story. Where was I? Oh yeah. WD-40. I didn’t use WD-40 on my Marx. I used Gunk Liquid Wrench instead. Two reasons: The main purpose behind WD-40 and similar oils is to clean, rather than lubricate. They leave a little bit of lubricant behind, but not a lot. Gunk Liquid Wrench, like WD-40, is primarily a solvent. But it has synthetic oil in it, whereas WD-40 has kerosene in it. In my mind, this makes Liquid Wrench a better choice for this purpose because what little lubricant it leaves behind when the solvent evaporates will be of higher quality and last longer than WD-40’s lubricant. But there was a second reason. Liquid Wrench was on sale, so it was cheaper. I also thought long and hard about Marvel Mystery Oil in a spray can–it works in cars and airplanes something wonderful–but opted for Liquid Wrench because the instructions called for a penetrating lubricant, and I didn’t know if the Marvel would exhibit the same kinds of properties. I’m a journalist-turned-computer tech by trade, not a chemist. But first, I tried omitting the WD-40 step and just cleaned it with Goo Gone and TV tuner cleaner. Like I said, every time I turn around I read somewhere that you shouldn’t go near a model train with WD-40. Between the TV tuner cleaner and the Goo Gone, the train looked brand new very quickly. I was impressed. It ran very nicely too, but the next day it didn’t run at all. Figuring that now I had nothing to lose, I broke out the Liquid Wrench. After a spraydown with Liquid Wrench, it ran too well–it flew off the track and fell 4 feet to my concrete floor. Ouch. That left a mark. One corner of the cab busted off, and it took me a good 15 minutes to find it. After I’d let the locomotive run 20 minutes–with a big load this time, to slow it down and keep it on the track–I re-glued the broken corner with some Tenax-7R plastic welder. Tenax is great stuff–apply a small amount of it, hold the pieces together for a minute, and they’ll stay. It’ll take 8 hours for the joint to completely dry and reach full strength, but after just a minute, the joint is as strong as it would be with every other glue I’ve ever tried on plastic. Lesson learned: Keep your test track on the floor. Or surround it with pillows. Or use a Marx transformer that can send just a couple of volts on its lowest setting, so slow actually means slow. The next day, I ran my 490 the opposite direction on my track–the first time I’d ever run a locomotive that direction on the track. And guess what? I found a bad spot on the track. It derailed–again–and the piece I’d glued fell off in spite of the cushions I’d placed all around my table. Then I remembered that Tenax is amazing stuff if your two pieces fit snugly, because unlike some glues, Tenax doesn’t fill in the gaps at all. The break must not have been clean enough to give the Tenax adequate surface area to create a very strong bond. So I re-glued with epoxy, since epoxy will fill gaps. It held this time. So now Marxie has a battle scar and he’s probably worth half what he was worth a week ago, but he runs very well. It’s short on ability but long on heart–it struggles pulling loads that won’t make a Lionel break a sweat. But it’ll pull them, and you can see it working hard doing it. And where a Lionel will just give up on a grade with a curve with a long load of cars, the Marx just keeps spinning its wheels, ever faster, until something manages to catch and it propels on its way. I think that’s what I like about it. It never gives up. There are a few other things to like about them too. Like I said before, you can buy a Marx locomotive for less than the price of the box a Lionel locomotive came in. Marxes are easy to take apart–mine’s held together by four joints, easily pried apart with a small slotted screwdriver. And the motor is simpler than a Lionel, so it’s easier to understand. If you want to learn how to fix toy trains, Marxes are easy to learn on, and if you mess up, you ruin a $15 locomotive rather than a $100-$1,000 locomotive. Recapturing the charm of Dad’s Lionel train Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 4, 2003 October 7, 2010 1960s, christmas, collectibles, HO, lionel, lionel train, oxidation, postwar lionel, tinkerer, WD, wd 40 I unboxed Dad’s old Lionel train Monday night. They don’t make them like that anymore. Dad’s train led a rough life. My investigative reporting skills tell me he got the train sometime between 1949 and 1952, and then sometime after 1953 he got a new locomotive and cars. And then sometime in the 1960s, the trains ended up in a box. I remember him telling me it came out a few times in the 1970s for Christmas, but most of my memories of Dad’s train are four big pieces of plywood with rusty track mounted on it, sitting in the garage next to a stack of repurposed liquor boxes containing train parts. Finally, when I was in the fourth or fifth grade, my incessant pestering paid off and the train found a new home in the basement. Dad and I plugged the track back together, and Dad wired the transformer. Then Dad produced two locomotives out of one of the boxes. Dad’s fanciest locomotive didn’t work at all. The smaller locomotive sputtered and sparked when he put it on the track. That was more than the fancy one did. Dad’s answer to everything mechanical was WD-40, so he went back up to the garage, got the can off the top of the gun safe (there was always a can of WD-40 on top of Dad’s gun safe), came back down, and blasted the locomotive with several spurts of the tinkerer’s favorite. (Incidentally, for those of you here seeking advice on trying to get an old Lionel train to run, this isn’t a good idea.) This time, when Dad put it on the track, the train produced a lot more sparks and a lot more noise, and it even moved a little bit. He picked it back up and blasted it again, with similar results. I asked Dad why the WD-40 helped. He said it would lubricate the moving parts, but it’s also a conductor of electricity. Dad eventually gave up and started paying more attention to the football game. I ran the train around the track a few times by hand. When I was in the fifth grade, this was more interesting to me than football. For that matter, it might still be more interesting to me than football. When I got bored with that, I decided to go over to the transformer and give the train some juice. The train hesitated, and it sure didn’t move fast, but it moved. I gave it some more juice, and it chugged its way around the track, gradually picking up more speed and creaking less. The more we ran it, the better it got. We started adding scenery. There wasn’t much of anything realistic about it, and Dad didn’t have much scenery short of a plastic diner and two train stations, but it was fun. Well, we moved a couple more years later, and the train found itself back in boxes again. Eventually it made its way out of the boxes and into the new basement. If I remember right, this was Dad’s doing, and not mine. The second time around, Dad spent more time with the train than I did. But after I went off to college and my parents finished the basement, the train went back into boxes. After Dad died, the trains stayed in boxes in Mom’s basement. After I bought a house, one weekend the trains showed up in my basement, where they stayed for about a year, until this week. What I found this week was a trio of dusty engines, three trailing tender cars, bits and pieces of scenery, one caboose, and a whole lot of rusty track. That was one more locomotive than I remembered and a lot fewer cars than I remembered. I suspect there’s still a box or two of train cars somewhere in Mom’s basement. One of the locomotives was very clearly missing a few pieces. I set it aside. I recognized one of the others as the plain-Jane locomotive Dad and I first messed with. The other one was fancier. I took eight straight pieces and eight curved pieces and made a circle. One of the straight pieces had the contact piece for the transformer, so I connected the transformer with two pieces of wire. I put the fancy locomotive on the track, fired up the transformer, and recalled the episode from 17 years earlier. I skipped the WD-40 this time. I didn’t have any, and the residue it leaves behind tends to attract dust, making the situation it was supposed to correct worse in the long run. I grabbed the other train. It was about as lively as I am first thing in the morning, but it made noise and it moved. I gave it a little push, and it moved even better. Eventually I searched the Internet, and I consulted with Tom and his mechanically inclined sidekick Tim, and they suggested I clean the track with some 600-grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation. After doing that, both locomotives ran pretty well. As for the engines, the first thing you want to do is use a soft brush to remove any dust you can find, both on the visible surfaces of the cars and locomotive but especially on the underside. The most common advice suggests a small, soft paintprush. I didn’t have one, so I ended up using an old soft-bristled toothbrush. That was fine, but you want to make sure it’s a soft-bristled one, such as an Oral-B. A paintbrush would definitely be gentler. The idea here is to get the dust off the equipment so it doesn’t find its way onto the track or, worse yet, inside the engine where it can gum up the gears and motor(s). Next, use a light grease to lubricate the gears and a light machine oil to lubricate the other moving parts. I didn’t have any grease, but I have a little tube of oil I use to keep my electric razor working well, so I applied some of that to a toothpick and lubed some of the moving parts on the two engines. Honestly, I don’t know how much of a difference the oil made. It seems to me that just running the engines, pushing them around the track with power applied until they were able to move on their own, made a bigger difference than anything else I did. If the only lubricant you have handy is WD-40, skip it. If you happen to have some compressed air, blasting some of that into the crevices after you’ve done a job with the brush probably will knock loose some more of the gunk that’s accumulated inside, but I wouldn’t bother unless the engine isn’t running well. It doesn’t seem to take much to get a vintage Lionel working again. There’s a train store on the way home from work that has a Lionel sign in the window. I stopped in on my way home tonight. I bought a very overpriced Lionel-branded maintenance kit–for $14.50 I got a little tube of oil, a little tube of grease, a bottle of some substance with the words “track cleaner” and “biodegradable” on the outside, and a pencil eraser. I bought it mostly for the directions on the back, and to hopefully help ensure that train store will be there a little bit longer. Perusing the store and perusing the awesome Postwar Lionel Trains Library, I found out, not to my great surprise, that few of the pieces I’d unboxed were particularly rare. The only rarity was Dad’s caboose. That did surprise me. It wasn’t popular, so it wasn’t made very long, so now it attracts interest. Figures. But that’s how it always goes with collectibles. The store had an elaborate Lionel layout in the front, with three trains and a level of detail I’m more used to seeing in HO- and N-gauge layouts. They used an aftermarket track with wooden ties and the middle rail painted black to make the notoriously unrealistic O-gauge track look much more like real track. The new locomotives had digitized sound effects and the whole layout operated by remote control. I have to admit, it was pretty impressive. But the cars and the engines looked cheaper and flimsier than Dad’s stuff made in the fifties. “For $130 I can add sound effects to your old engine,” he said when I looked less impressed than most people probably are. It sounded like a cool idea. But for now, I don’t think I want to mess with that. This set’s charm isn’t just about trains, and I’m not sure if jaw-dropping whiz-bang technology would enhance that charm or just cover it up.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line678
__label__cc	0.652918	0.347082	World War I Letters of Samuel Bloom Irvin Department of Special Collections Browse by Item Type Diary Letter Memorandum Pay Book Postcard Telegram Troop Billet Samuel Bloom (1895-1976), a first-generation Ukrainian immigrant and recent City College graduate, served as private first class and signaler with Company L, 325th Infantry Battalion, US Army, from October 1917 till July 1919. In April 1918, he went with his company to France, training behind the Somme front, and then going to signal school, before service in the Lorraine count-offensive (July), the St. Mihiel offensive (mid-September, and the Meuse-Argonne offensive (September-October), with fighting in Cornay, Fleville, and the Aire River, till he was wounded by shrapnel in the left hand on October 16. After the Armistice, he studied at the University of Montpellier (February-June 1919), before Returning to the U.S. Bloom’s regular letters home about his war experience, and other materials, donated to Rare Books & Special Collections in 2004 by his sons Dr. Robert A. Bloom and Mr. Jack Bloom, are written on highly acidic paper now too brittle for handling. This project makes available the full sequence of Blooms life during World War I including his letters, postcards, and diaries, arranged chronologically. The digitization of the World War I Bloom Letters from Samuel Bloom is a project made possible by the Rare Books and Irvin Department of Rare Books & Special Collections and Digital Collections of the University of South Carolina Libraries. Elizabeth Sudduth of Rare Books and Irvin Department of Rare Books & Special Collections suggested this project for scanning. Deborah Green (MlIS December 2007) created the metadata for the photographs in an excel spread sheet. The metadata records follows the Dublin Core Metadata Best Practices. Florian scanned the photographs on a flatbed Epson Expression 10000XL Photo scanner, using SilverFast scanning software. She scanned the images as color TIFFs at 24-bit and 300 ppi. From the TIFFs she created high quality JPEGs and added preservation metadata to the TIFF and JPEG images. Green uploaded the JPEGs to the CONTENTdm server. The TIFFs will be maintained as the archival masters on a SAN server, backed-up to DVD and tape. The website was designed by Robert Blank (MLIS 2013). This work could not have been done without the help of Elizabeth Sudduth and Tony Branch, systems administrator for the CONTENTdm database. Images & Postcards Manuscripts & Diaries World War 1: Centennial Selections	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line683
__label__cc	0.618011	0.381989	ECIPE > Blog > Regions > South Asia & Oceania > Myanmar: Open for Business or Closed by Sanctions? Myanmar: Open for Business or Closed by Sanctions? Subjects: South Asia & Oceania Trade Defence The Status Quo In January Aung Sang Suu Kyi stood at a platform in a brightly lit conference centre in Naypyidaw. The room was ostentatious and so was her speech. Citing the series of economic reforms her government planned to implement, she claimed that Myanmar ‘was open for business’ and welcome to the world. The ‘Invest Myanmar Summit’ was meant to be the launching of a new, business-friendly image. Guests included international journalists, business people and diplomats. Suu Kyi’s speech was received with rapturous applause with government spokesmen calling it a resounding success. However, perceptions can belie the truth. While some members of the audience were undoubtedly pleased with the new vigour that Myanmar was approaching the issue of economic liberalisation, others were visibly nervous. Their apprehension was due to the continued widespread international condemnation of Myanmar’s response to the Rohingya atrocities. More specifically, they were concerned about what the European Union will do next. In 2018 the EU froze the assets of 14 army officials, while in January of this year they imposed tariffs on rice to curb a surge of imports. Most notably, though, they are considering trade sanctions through the revoking of Myanmar’s Everything but Arms (EBA) access to the European single market. It would be a significant move that would likely cause Myanmar’s GDP growth to decline by more than the 0.6% that was forecast by The World Bank. Investors are rightly nervous. From a European governmental perspective, they must ask themselves about the effect of such a diplomatic procedure. Will sanctions have the desired socio-economic effect of ending persecution of the Rohingya people and helping Myanmar further liberalise? Historical evidence is not kind on this front. Economic sanctions only succeed 34 % of the time and this number drops to just 21% in the case of military activities, as is the situation in Myanmar. Moreover, when sanctions do work, it almost ubiquitously requires significant multilateral action involving large coalitions, or at very least action from the offending countries’ main trading partner. Europe is neither Myanmar’ main trading partner, accounting for just 7% of its total trade, nor is it capable of creating a majority coalition. As such, this is not an issue of Europe effecting meaningful change, but rather one of morality and whether it is right to be trading with a country accused of ethnic cleansing. In asking themselves this question, European officials should also consider the unintended consequences that could arise in response to economic sanctions against Myanmar. Precedent shows that sanctions can actually have a negative rather than a positive impact, whereby ‘a rally round the flag’ effect is created. In these situations, the offending government becomes empowered rather than enfeebled. A perfect example is the recent announcement of the revoking of Cambodia’s EBA access due to governmental crackdowns on the opposition. Prime Minister Hun Sen’s response was to announce provocatively that ‘if you want the opposition dead just cut it [EBA].’ Previous experience also tells us that the impact of economic sanctions is often borne by those with narrowest rather than the broadest shoulders. The classic international example is Iraq in the 1990s where an ‘oil for food’ programme had to be introduced due to rising child malnutrition. In Myanmar itself, US sanctions in 2003 led to the estimated loss of 80,000 jobs, most of them women in the garment industry. European imports are also heavily concentrated in the textile sector so any economic sanctions are also likely to impact women and low-wage workers. Lastly, any restrictions on trade is likely to have a geopolitical impact. The loss of a trading partner is usually significantly offset by increased production from another. In Myanmar’s case this void would probably be filled by China and other Southeast Asian allies, who already make up the vast majority of their trade. European officials should consider the impact that such a move would have on its political ambitions in the region. In all likelihood their influence, and ability to make FTAs, would be weakened while the influence of China would be strengthened. What Should Europe do Next? Given the ethical dilemma that the EU faces, they need to consider their next step carefully. From a symbolic perspective it is necessary to further condemn the atrocities. Such action could include personal sanctions against military top brass, General Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and his Deputy General, Soe Win. Hitherto they have avoided punishment. They could target military businesses where most foreign direct investment goes through. They could impose trade restrictions on the two largest military conglomerates: The Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. and Myanmar Economic Corp. Through these umbrella companies the military is involved in a host of industries from tourism to banking from transport to real estate. However, unfortunately a holistic map of the military’s entrepreneurial activities does not exist and as such it would be fairly easy to circumnavigate any restrictions introduced. The symbolic impact would nevertheless be significant. From a more pragmatic standpoint, the EU should continue to work with NGOs to create a nuanced understanding of the military’s economic activities. This will consequently allow future sanctions to be better targeted and more successful. They should also put increased pressure on the military through strong diplomatic engagement with civilians of influence at regional and national level. This could create a greater culture of condemnation within Myanmar. Lastly, member states of the EU should continue to publicise the plight of Myanmar on the world stage at the UN, including at the General Assembly in September. A word of caution is needed though. Getting sovereign states to change their behavior is a fiendishly difficult and lengthy task with no panacea or magic bullet. However, sometimes it is necessary to simply follow the ‘least bad’ options. Most Read Blogs Preparing for COVID-20 By Oscar Guinea The indispensable four per cent By Hosuk Lee-Makiyama Globalization after COVID-19 By Erik van der Marel Oscar Guinea Europe’s dependency on China? By Hosuk Lee-Makiyama Florian Forsthuber	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line685
__label__wiki	0.811418	0.811418	Lost Voice Guy: Inspiration Porn Murray Robertson A passionate cry against preconceptions Having won this year's Britain's Got Talent, comedian Lee Ridley (better known as Lost Voice Guy) is one of the Fringe's hottest tickets. The comedian has cerebral palsy which has left him unable to speak, and so he presents his show using a pre-written script which he performs using a computer-generated voice through an iPad. He opens Inspiration Porn with a video produced by Channel 4 for their Paralympics coverage before puncturing its inspiring message with a superbly pithy put-down. A rapturous welcome greets Ridley as he takes to the stage for what he inaccurately describes as 'a man standing still for an hour'. Banish any misconceptions you may have that this is a family-friendly hour: Inspiration Porn is a resolutely adult show littered with judiciously employed profanities and sexual peccadilloes, and Ridley deftly plays on his audience's fears about what they can and can't laugh at, to glorious effect. He precisely measures the timing of his delivery, and he's a compelling presence on stage: gesturing, dancing, and grinning with relish at his best lines. With all his material delivered in the same, slightly robotic tone, it's a testament to his impeccable writing that he's able to engagingly express subtlety and nuance throughout sections of long-form storytelling. There's pathos, too, in his material, particularly the heartfelt story of a failed romance. Before a wonderful pre-recorded sketch brings things to a close, Ridley passionately argues against the UK government's sanctions against disabled people. He recounts some statistics of the number of people who have died due to Tory policy, and he decries a society that simply 'sees you as a fire hazard'. As well as being a consummate comedian, Lost Voice Guy has plenty to say. Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug (not 13), 4pm; 15 Aug, 7.30pm; Gilded Balloon at the Museum, 14 Aug, 7.30pm, £9–12 (£8–11). Lost Voice Guy: Cerebral LOL-sy Britain’s Got Talent winner Lee Ridley (aka Lost Voice Guy) sets out on a tour of the UK. 1. Orby Bittal – 10 Aug 2018, 6:53pm Report Saw him in a comedy club when I was in the North East so made a bee line for the show. Excellent work from an excellent comedian. RSS feed of these comments Lucy Frederick: Even More Naked (27 Aug 2018) More Fringe pain and trauma are unveiled in front of a captive audience Scott Gibson: Anywhere But Here (23 Aug 2018) Preaching the importance of storytelling in patchy hour Murray Hill: About to Break (19 Aug 2018) A flimsy showbiz affair lifted straight from the Big Apple Christopher Macarthur-Boyd: Home Sweet Home (19 Aug 2018) A show which elevates its material to a higher plane Jarred Christmas: Remarkably Average (17 Aug 2018) Solidly above average despite the show title Dominic Frisby's Financial Game Show (17 Aug 2018) Fringe first for Frisby's fiscal fun Jay Lafferty: Weesht! (16 Aug 2018) Chatty hour with a poignant finale Gary Meikle: Before All This (15 Aug 2018) A funny love letter to family Gilded Balloon Lost Voice Guy	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line687
__label__cc	0.511788	0.488212	Skyrim: Skill Books, Oblivion: Skill Books, Morrowind: Skill Books, Skyrim: Books Oblivion: Books Morrowind: Books Books Copyrighted by Bethesda Skyrim: Quest Items Night Falls on Sentinel Boali FormID 0001AFE4 000243EF Blunt Weapon bookskill_blunt weapon3 Main article: Books (Skyrim) Main article: Books (Oblivion) Main article: Books (Morrowind) Night Falls on Sentinel is a book in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. 1.1 Effects 2.1 Rare Gifts 3.1 Morrowind 3.2 Oblivion 3.3 Skyrim Permanently increases Blunt Weapon (Morrowind) Permanently increases Blunt (Oblivion) Permanently increases One-Handed (Skyrim) Rare Gifts[edit \| edit source] Rustleif, the blacksmith in Dawnstar, asks for the retrieval of a copy of the book for his pregnant wife, Seren. After completion of the quest, the Dragonborn is rewarded with an increase of one point of the Smithing skill. Morrowind[edit \| edit source] Caldera, Ghorak Manor Dagon Fel, Sorkvild's Tower Oblivion[edit \| edit source] In Goblin Jim's Cave, turning left at the entrance, then going down the hallway, turning right, and going down the long hallway that leads to the dead end, will lead to a room with some alchemy tools, plus several bookshelves. The book is on the top shelf on one of the shelves. Skyrim[edit \| edit source] Bandit Camp: Ilinalta Foothills, inside one of the tents. Volunruud, can be found in a chest next to Kvenel the Tongue in Elder's Cairn. Contents[edit \| edit source] No music played in the Nameless Tavern in Sentinel, and indeed there was very little sound except for discreet, cautious murmurs of conversation, the soft pad of the barmaid's feet on stone, and the delicate slurping of the regular patrons, tongues lapping at their flagons, eyes focused on nothing at all. If anyone were less otherwise occupied, the sight of the young Redguard woman in a fine black velvet cape might have aroused surprise. Even suspicion. As it were, the strange figure, out of place in an underground cellar so modest it had no sign, blended into the shadows. "Are you Jomic?" The stout, middle-aged man with a face older than his years looked up and nodded. He returned to his drink. The young woman took the seat next to him. "My name is Haballa," she said and pulled out a small bag of gold, placing it next to his mug. "Sure it be," snarled Jomic, and met her eyes again. "Who d'you want dead?" She did not turn away, but merely asked, "Is it safe to talk here?" "No one cares about nobody else's problems but their own here. You could take off your cuirass and dance bare-breasted on the table, and no one'd even spit," the man smiled. "So who d'you want dead?" "No one, actually," said Haballa. "The truth is, I only want someone ... removed, for a while. Not harmed, you understand, and that's why I need a professional. You come highly recommended." "Who you been talking to?" asked Jomic dully, returning to his drink. "A friend of a friend of a friend of a friend." "One of them friends don't know what he's talking about," grumbled the man. "I don't do that any more." Haballa quietly took out another purse of gold and then another, placing them at the man's elbow. He looked at her for a moment and then poured the gold out and began counting. As he did, he asked, "Who d'you want removed?" "Just a moment," smiled Haballa, shaking her head. "Before we talk details, I want to know that you're a professional, and you won't harm this person very much. And that you'll be discreet." "You want discreet?" the man paused in his counting. "Awright, I'll tell you about an old job of mine. It's been - by Arkay, I can hardly believe it - more 'n twenty years, and no one but me's alive who had anything to do with the job. This is back afore the time of the War of Betony, remember that?" "I was just a baby." "'Course you was," Jomic smiled. "Everyone knows that King Lhotun had an older brother Greklith what died, right? And then he's got his older sister Aubki, what married that King fella in Daggerfall. But the truth's that he had two elder brothers." "Really?" Haballa's eyes glistened with interest. "No lie," he chuckled. "Weedy, feeble fella called Arthago, the King and Queen's first born. Anyhow, this prince was heir to the throne, which his parents wasn't too thrilled about, but then the Queen she squeezed out two more princes who looked a lot more fit. That's when me and my boys got hired on, to make it look like the first prince got took off by the Underking or some such story." "I had no idea!" the young woman whispered. "Of course you didn't, that's the point," Jomic shook his head. "Discretion, like you said. We bagged the boy, dropped him off deep in an old ruin, and that was that. No fuss. Just a couple fellas, a bag, and a club." "That's what I'm interested in," said Haballa. "Technique. My... friend who needs to be taken away is weak also, like this Prince. What is the club for?" "It's a tool. So many things what was better in the past ain't around no more, just 'cause people today prefer ease of use to what works right. Let me explain: there're seventy-one prime pain centers in an average fella's body. Elves and Khajiiti, being so sensitive and all, got three and four more respectively. Argonians and Sloads, almost as many at fifty-two and sixty-seven," Jomic used his short stubby finger to point out each region on Haballa's body. "Six in your forehead, two in your brow, two on your nose, seven in your throat, ten in your chest, nine in your abdomen, three on each arm, twelve in your groin, four in your favored leg, five in the other." "That's sixty-three," replied Haballa. "No, it's not," growled Jomic. "Yes, it is," the young lady cried back, indignant that her mathematical skills were being question: "Six plus two plus two plus seven plus ten plus nine plus three for one arm and three for the other plus twelve plus four plus five. Sixty-three." "I must've left some out," shrugged Jomic. "The important thing is that to become skilled with a staff or club, you gotta be a master of these pain centers. Done right, a light tap could kill, or knock out without so much as a bruise." "Fascinating," smiled Haballa. "And no one ever found out?" "Why would they? The boy's parents, the King and Queen, they're both dead now. The other children always thought their brother got carried off by the Underking. That's what everyone thinks. And all my partners are dead." "Of natural causes?" "Ain't nothing natural that ever happens in the Bay, you know that. One fella got sucked up by one of them Selenu. Another died a that same plague that took the Queen and Prince Greklith. 'Nother fella got hisself beat up to death by a burglar. You gotta keep low, outta sight, like me, if you wanna stay alive." Jomic finished counting the coins. "You must want this fella out of the way bad. Who is it?" "It's better if I show you," said Haballa, standing up. Without a look back, she strode out of the Nameless Tavern. Jomic drained his beer and went out. The night was cool with an unrestrained wind surging off the water of the Iliac Bay, sending leaves flying like whirling shards. Haballa stepped out of the alleyway next to the tavern, and gestured to him. As he approached her, the breeze blew open her cape, revealing the armor beneath and the crest of the King of Sentinel. The fat man stepped back to flee, but she was too fast. In a blur, he found himself in the alley on his back, the woman's knee pressed firmly against his throat. "The King has spent years since he took the throne looking for you and your collaborators, Jomic. His instructions to me what to do when I found you were not specific, but you've given me an idea." From her belt, Haballa removed a small sturdy cudgel. A drunk stumbling out of the bar heard a whimpered moan accompanied by a soft whisper coming from the darkness of the alley: "Let's keep better count this time. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven..." This book was taken from The Elder Scrolls series of video games or from websites created and owned by Bethesda Softworks, the copyright of which is held by Bethesda Softworks. All trademarks and registered trademarks present in the image are proprietary to Bethesda Softworks, the inclusion of which implies no affiliation with The Elder Scrolls Wiki. The use of such images is believed to fall under the fair use doctrine of copyright law. Retrieved from "https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Night_Falls_on_Sentinel?oldid=3100180" Skyrim: Skill Books Oblivion: Skill Books Morrowind: Skill Books	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line701
__label__cc	0.679137	0.320863	Gender Bias 1 Geographic Regions 1 Masculinity 1 Racial Composition 1 Racial Differences 1 Social Attitudes 1 History of Education Quarterly 1 Holden, Charles 1 Postsecondary Education 1 Postsecondary Education X History of Education Quarterly X Gender Bias X Holden, Charles X Social Attitudes X Educational History X Manliness and the Culture of Self-Improvement: The University of North Carolina in the 1890s-1900s Holden, Charles – History of Education Quarterly, 2018 As it entered the ranks of the "modern" university in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the University of North Carolina (UNC), as did other universities of the time, embraced the development of manhood and self-improvement as part of its mission. But unlike the social and economic pressures on northern and eastern universities to… Descriptors: Higher Education, Masculinity, Social Attitudes, Educational History	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line706
__label__wiki	0.737755	0.737755	Pan European Game Information Pan European Game Information: translation "PEGI" redirects here. For the engineering company, see Peninsula Engineering Group, Inc.. PEGI logo Purpose/focus Video game classification Interactive Software Federation of Europe http://www.pegi.info Pan European Game Information (PEGI) is a European video game content rating system established to help European parents make informed decisions on buying computer games with logos on games boxes. It was developed by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) and came into use in April 2003; it replaced many national age rating systems with a single European system. The PEGI system is now used in more than thirty countries and is based on a code of conduct, a set of rules to which every publisher using the PEGI system is contractually committed. PEGI self-regulation is composed by five age categories and eight content descriptors that advise the suitability and content of a game for a certain age range based on the games content.[1] The age rating does not indicate the difficulty of the game or the skill required to play it.[2] As of August 2010, PEGI has rated more than 15,000 games.[3] 50% of the games were rated 3, 10% were rated 7, 24% were rated 12, 12% were rated 16 and only 4% were 18.[4] On 16 June 2009, it was announced by the UK's Department of Culture, Media and Sport that PEGI would become the sole classification system for videogames and software in the United Kingdom (currently, a portion of the games that would get a PEGI 16 or 18 rating is rated by the BBFC).[5] PEGI ratings are also found on some French language-video games outside Europe, specifically Canada. 1 Age ratings 1.1 Content descriptions 2 PEGI and the European Union 3 Rating Process and Boards 4 PEGI Committees 5 PEGI Online 6 Where PEGI is used PEGI has five age categories. 3: Suitable for all ages. May contain mild violence in an appropriate context for younger children, but no bad language is allowed. Games With This Rating Would Recieve EC Or Low E By The ESRB. 7: Suitable for ages 7 and older. May contain mild, cartoon-style violence and elements that can be frightening to younger children. Games With This Rating Would Be Rated High E Or E10 By The ESRB. 12: Suitable for ages 12 and older. May contain violence in a fantasy setting, bad language, sexual innuendo or gambling (Games That Enable Gambling For Actual Money Will Be Banned). Games With This Rating Would Be Rated T By The ESRB. 16: Suitable for ages 16 and older. May contain explicit violence, strong sex references, bad language, gambling or drug use (encouragement). Games With This Rating Would Pick Up An ESRB M Rating. 18: Suitable for ages 18 and older. May contain graphic violence, strong sexual content, bad language, gambling, drug use (glamorisation) or discrimation. Games With This Rating Would Be Rated High M Or AO. The current design was introduced at the end of 2009. Black and white icons were used until June 2009, when the colour-coded PEGI icons were announced, with green for 3 and 7, yellow for 12 and 16 and red for 18. Plus signs were removed from the icons, and the background text changed from 'ISFE' from the old, black-and-white icons to 'PEGI' from the new, colour-coded PEGI icons.[6] In Portugal, two of the PEGI categories were aligned with the age ratings of the film classification system to avoid confusion; 3 was changed to 4 and 7 was changed to 6. Finland also used to use a modified scale, where 12 became 11 and 16 became 15. Finland fully adopted PEGI on 1 January 2007, and the standard ratings were adopted as well. The eight content descriptors are: Content descriptor Corresponding age ratings Violence May contain scenes of people getting injured or dying, often by use of weapons. Also may contain gore and blood-letting and blood particles. Street Fighter series, Half-Life series, Grand Theft Auto series, Hitman series, Fallout 2, Doom, Resistance: Fall of Man, Super Smash Bros., The Legend of Spyro, Max Payne 2, Mortal Kombat, God of War, The Simpsons Game, Call of Duty, Tekken series, Dead or Alive series, Final Fantasy X, LittleBigPlanet 2, Wii Sports Resort, The Legend of Zelda series, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Lego Universe, Crash Tag Team Racing, Crash of the Titans, Crash: Mind over Mutant Bad Language May contain profanity, sexual innuendo, threats, and all manner of slurs and epithets. Grand Theft Auto series, Fallout 3, Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven, Kingpin: Life of Crime, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Driver series, Shadow the Hedgehog, Scarface, The Simpsons Game, Call of Duty: Black Ops, The House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii version), God Hand, Tomb Raider: Legend Fear May contain scenes that are considered too disturbing or frightening to younger or more emotionally vulnerable players. Coraline (Nintendo DS version)[7], Bionicle Heroes, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, Silent Debuggers, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Rayman Raving Rabbids, LittleBigPlanet 2, Kingdom Hearts, Lego Universe, Sega Superstars Tennis, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 Sex May contain references to sexual attraction or sexual intercourse. Also may contain nudity and characters dressed in suggestive clothing. Singles: Flirt Up Your Life, Leisure Suit Larry, Fallout 2, Playboy: The Mansion, BMX XXX, God of War, The Sopranos: Road to Respect, The Sims series, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Agarest: Generations of War, The Simpsons Game, We Dare Drugs May contain references to illegal drugs or a fictional substance that has parallels to real-life illegal drugs (in use, possession, or sale). Driver series, Grand Theft Auto series, Fallout 2, Deus Ex: Invisible War, The Warriors, NARC, Scarface Gambling May contain games of chance (but never for real money). 42 All-Time Classics, Fallout 2, Driver: Vegas, God Hand, Street Hoops, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights, BioShock, Scarface, Poker Night at the Inventory, Fallout: New Vegas Discrimination May contain cruelty or harassment based on race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual preferences. Original War, Postal 2: Apocalypse Weekend, Postal 2: Share the Pain, SWAT: Target Liberty Online Contains an online game mode. Eve Online, Metal Gear Online, Knight Online, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Left 4 Dead, FIFA series, Mario Kart Wii, Mario Kart DS, Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty series, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, 42 All-Time Classics, Angry Birds, Lego Universe The 'Gambling' content descriptor was first used on 29 September 2006 with the title 42 All-Time Classics. The 'Online' descriptor was introduced in September 2009. PEGI and the European Union The study "Video gamers in Europe – 2008" made by Nielsen Games, demonstrates that PEGI age ratings labels are recognized by 93%. 62% are aware of a European game rating system, 50% recognize the content descriptors and 49% of parents find the age rating label system useful when buying a videogame.[8] PEGI is an example of a European harmonization. The European Commission supports the PEGI self-regulation: "PEGI appears to have achieved good results and PEGI On-line is also a promising initiative, making of PEGI a good example of self regulation in line with the better regulation agenda."[9] Moreover, the European Parliament in its last report on protection of consumers "takes the view that the PEGI system for rating games is an important tool which has improved transparency for consumers, especially parents, when buying games by enabling them to make a considered choice as to whether a game is suitable for children."[10] Rating Process and Boards To obtain the ratings for any piece of software, the applicant submits the game with other supporting materials and completes a content declaration[11], all of which is evaluated by an independent administrator called the Netherlands Institute for the Classification of Audiovisual Media (NICAM). It is based on the Dutch Kijkwijzer system as well.[12] Following the evaluation the applicant will receive a license to use the rating logos. If the applicant disagrees with the rating, they can ask for an explanation or make a complaint to the complaints board. Consumers may also make complaints to this board. Although PEGI was established by an industry body (ISFE) the ratings are given by a body independent of the industry and the whole system is overseen by a number of different Boards and Committees. There is the PEGI Council, composed mainly by national representatives for PEGI, that recommends adjustments to the code in light of social, legal and technological developments. Members of the PEGI Council are recruited for their skill and experience from among parent/consumer body representatives, child psychologists, media specialists, civil servants, academics and legal advisers versed in the protection of minors in Europe.[13] There is also a Complaints Board with experts from various European countries. They deal with complaints related to breaches of requirements of the code of conduct or to age rating recommendations. Should a complaint be received from a consumer or publisher regarding a rating given to a game and no satisfactory settlement can be reached by the PEGI administrator through discussion, explanation or negotiation the complainant may formally request the Complaints Board to mediate. Three board members will then convene, hear the complaint and decide on a ruling. Publishers using the PEGI system are bound by the decision of the Complaints Board. Consequently, they are obliged to carry out any corrective actions required and, in cases of non-compliance, are subject to sanctions as laid out by the code. PEGI Committees There are three committees; a criteria committee, a legal committee and an enforcement committee. Criteria Committee: The Criteria Committee is made up of representatives from ISFE, NICAM, VSC and the industry. It works on adapting and modifying the PEGI questionnaire and the underlying criteria to take account of technological and content developments and recommendations made by the Advisory Board or circumstances brought to light by the complaints procedure. Legal Committee: Since PEGI is a voluntary system it runs in conjunction with, and is subordinate to, existing national laws, whether they prohibit certain content or establish mandatory rating systems. The Legal Committee’s role is to advise ISFE of any changes to national legislation within participating countries that could have an impact on the voluntary age rating system. Enforcement Committee: The Enforcement Committee is charged with implementing the recommendations of the Advisory Board and, more generally, of ensuring the enforcement of the provisions of the PEGI Code of Conduct, including conclusion of the Complaints Board. The Enforcement Committee is made up of ten members, five of which are publishers, and five of which are chosen from the PEGI Council.[13] PEGI Online This division of PEGI was formed in 2007. It’s an addition to the PEGI system for online games and aims to give young people in Europe improved protection against unsuitable online gaming content and to educate parents on how to ensure safe online play.[14] This project is supported directly by the European Commission. "PEGI On-line, which was launched in June 2007 and co-funded by the Safer Internet Programme, is the logical development of the PEGI system, designed to better protect young people against unsuitable gaming content and to help parents to understand the risks and potential for harm within this environment"[15] PEGI Online is based on four principles:[16] the PEGI Online Safety Code and Framework Contract which is signed by all participants the PEGI Online Logo which will be displayed by holders of a licence the website for applicants and for the general public an independent administration, advice and dispute settlement process. The licence to display the PEGI Online Logo is granted by the PEGI Online Administrator to any online gameplay service provider that meets the requirements set out in the PEGI Online Safety Code (POSC). Where PEGI is used PEGI is used in 31 European countries, Canada and Israel. The ratings system is partially recognised in other countries such as the United Arab Emirates[17], South Africa and South Asia since they are considered official PAL regions, although they may import games from regions outside of PEGI's jurisdictions. PAL games officially released in Australia are usually rated by the ACB. Legally enforceable means the ratings are not simply "voluntary" or "advisory" but are enforced by some kind of local regulation or law. ESRB is the primary rating system in Canada, while some French-language products, mainly in Quebec, carry a PEGI label. Legally enforced? Additional rating Austria Yes PEGI is legally adopted and enforceable in the Vienna region,[18] but until 2013 there is a transitional arrangement which allows USK as well. Belgium No Officially supports PEGI, but there is no specific legislative basis. Bulgaria No Canada No Rates some (but not all) French-language games in the province of Québec, primarily those that are imported from France. ESRB Cyprus No Officially supports PEGI and is represented in the PEGI Council, but there is no specific legislative basis. Czech Republic No Colombia No Denmark No Officially supports PEGI and is represented in the PEGI Council, but there is no specific legislative basis. Estonia No Officially supports PEGI and is represented in the PEGI Council, but there is no specific legislative basis. Finland No Finland adopts PEGI which is exempt from mandatory classification with national age symbols. Both classifications are enforced by the penal code. VET/SFB France Yes France has adapted legislation to make classification of video games with age labels mandatory. Greece No Germany No USK system is adopted and enforced.[19] PEGI is not formally recognised, although PEGI labelling can be found on games along with the USK rating. USK Hungary No Iceland Yes PEGI is officially supported and age classifications are mandatory for video games by law. Ireland No PEGI ratings are excluded from mandatory classification by IFCO, which adopts PEGI but is still legally empowered to ban certain video game content from the market. Israel Yes PEGI has been adopted by law as the mandatory classification system for video games in Israel. Italy No Officially supports PEGI and is represented in the PEGI Council, but there is no specific legislative basis. Latvia No Lithuania Yes Lithuanian legislation adopts PEGI which is exempt from mandatory classification with national age symbols. Both classifications are enforced by the penal code as of Nov 2010. Luxembourg No Officially supports PEGI and is represented in the PEGI Council, but there is no specific legislative basis. Malta No Netherlands Yes PEGI is officially adopted and legislation is in place to enforce the age classification in shops where video games are sold. Norway No Officially supports PEGI and is represented in the PEGI Council, but there is no specific legislative basis. Poland No PEGI ratings are not yet enforced in Poland but has intentions to support PEGI as a self regulatory system. Portugal No PEGI has officially been adopted by the Portuguese Classification Board IGAC. IGAC Romania No Russia No PEGI just as recommendation (No strict laws about game labelling). Slovakia No Slovak media law obliges distributors to mark games with national age labels. Slovenia Yes Officially supported. No further need for additional restrictions due to extremely low game-related incident history. Spain No Sweden No Officially supports PEGI and is represented in the PEGI Council, but there is no specific legislative basis. Switzerland No Officially supports PEGI and is represented in the PEGI Council, but there is no specific legislative basis. United Kingdom No Currently both PEGI and BBFC are used with the latter being legally enforceable. There has been plans to make all responsibility go to PEGI with all ratings 12+ and above becoming legally enforceable, but there's been no confirmation when it will take place.[20] BBFC ACB, the Australian media rating system CERO, the Japanese computer and video game rating system DJCTQ, the Brazillian media rating system ESRB, the North American computer and video game rating system ELSPA, the former British computer and video game rating system, replaced by the PEGI ratings OFLC (New Zealand), the New Zealand media rating system USK, the German computer and video game rating system ^ "PEGI Website". Pegi.info. http://www.pegi.info/en/. Retrieved 2011-06-29. ^ "PEGI Pan European Game Information - What do the labels mean?". Pegi.info. http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/33. Retrieved 2011-06-29. ^ NICAM activity report August 2010 ^ "PEGI Website". Pegi.info. http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/37/. Retrieved 2011-06-29. ^ "Kotaku: PEGI triumphs over the BBFC". http://kotaku.com/5292677/pegi-triumphs-over-the-bbfc. ^ Tom Ivan. "PEGI Unveils New Ratings Symbols". http://www.next-gen.biz/news/pegi-unveils-new-ratings-symbols. ^ "PEGI database - Coraline game entries". Pegi.info. http://www.pegi.info/en/index/global_id/505/?searchString=Coraline&agecategories=&genre=&organisations=&platforms=&countries=&submit=Start+zoekopdracht. Retrieved 2011-06-29. ^ http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/37/ ; http://www.isfe-eu.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=chr154nv5gn99ans2v8i72o9k7&oidit=T001:662b16536388a7260921599321365911 ^ Communication from the commission of the European parliament, the council, the European economic and social committee and the committee of the regions, on the protection of consumers, in particular minors, in respect of the use of video games, Brussels, 2008,p.9 ^ Toine Manders, Report of the European Parliament on the protection of the consumers, in particular minors, in respect of the use of video games, 2009, p.6. article 24 ^ "PEGI Assessment Form". Pegi.info. http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/1184/media/pdf/235.pdf. Retrieved 2011-11-06. ^ NICAM website[dead link] ^ a b "Website PEGI". Pegi.info. http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/41/. Retrieved 2011-06-29. ^ "PEGI Online Website". Pegionline.eu. http://www.pegionline.eu. Retrieved 2011-06-29. ^ Communication from the commission o the European parliament, the council, the European economic and social committee and the committee of the regions, on the protection of consumers, in particular minors, in respect of the use of video games, Brussels, 2008, p.3. ^ "PEGI Online Website". Pegionline.eu. http://www.pegionline.eu/en/index/id/232. Retrieved 2011-06-29. ^ "UAE's Xbox page explaining PEGI ratings". http://www.xbox.com/en-AE/Marketplace/gameratings. ^ "Austrian government page explaining PEGI and its status". http://bupp.at/chancen-amp-risiken/jugendschutz/pegi/. ^ "Halo 2: Best of Classics". EB Games.de. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927213836/http://www.ebgames.de/product_info.php?products_id=5301. Retrieved 2006-09-25. ^ "VSC Video Games Update". http://www.videostandards.org.uk. Official website for online games ISFE website v · d · eVideo game classifications and controversies List of controversial video games · List of banned video games · Video game content rating system Computer and video game law Family Entertainment Protection Act · Truth in Video Game Rating Act · Video Game Decency Act · Video Recordings Act 1984 · California Assembly Bills 1792 & 1793 · Law 3037/2002 rating boards Australia · Brazil · Canada, Mexico and the United States · Europe · Finland · Germany · Iran · Japan · New Zealand · South Korea · Republic of China (Taiwan) · United Kingdom Platforms: 3DO · PC · Sega consoles Countries: South Korea · United Kingdom · France James v. Meow Media · Strickland v. Sony · Entertainment Software Association v. Foti · Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association Australian Christian Lobby · Fox News Michael Atkinson · Christian Porter · Evan Bayh · Sam Brownback · Hillary Rodham Clinton · Herb Kohl · Joe Lieberman · Jack Thompson · Fred Upton · Keith Vaz · Leland Yee Adult video game · Eroge · First-person shooter · Nonviolent video game · Survival horror Video game content ratings systems Organizations established in 2003 Hanno (crater) Pan European Game Information — Acrónimo PEGI Fundación Abril de 2003 … Wikipedia Español Pan-European Game Information — (PEGI) ist das erste europaweite Alterseinstufungssystem für Computerspiele und wird von der Interaktiven Softwareföderation Europas (ISFE) verwaltet. Für die praktische Umsetzung des PEGI Systems ist das niederländische Institut für die… … Deutsch Wikipedia Pan European Game Information — Pan European Game Information, plus connu sous son acronyme PEGI, est un système d’évaluation destiné aux logiciels de loisirs (comme les jeux vidéo), afin d’encadrer leur diffusion aux mineurs. Sommaire 1 Pays membres 2 Fonctionnement 2.1 … Wikipédia en Français Pan European Game Information — Логотип PEGI Pan European Game Information (PEGI) европейская рейтинговая система видеоигр и другого развлекательного программного обеспечения. Была разработана Европейской федер … Википедия Pan European Game Information — PEGI Logo Pan European Game Information (engl. für Europaweite Spielinformation, kurz PEGI) ist das erste europaweite Alterseinstufungssystem für Computerspiele und wird von der Interaktiven Softwareföderation Europas (ISFE) verwaltet. Für die… … Deutsch Wikipedia Game of Robot — The Game of Robot Entwickler: TOM Productions Verleger: TOM Productions Publikation: ab 1988 Plattform(en) … Deutsch Wikipedia European Leisure Software Publishers Association — Logo der ELSPA Beispielsklassifikation der ELSPA für Spiele allen Alters Die Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) ist eine 1989 gegründete Organisation britischer … Deutsch Wikipedia Pan Am Flight 103 — Flight 103 redirects here. For other uses, see Flight 103 (disambiguation). Pan Am Flight 103 CGI impression of Clipper Maid of the Seas immediately after the explosion Occurrence summary … Wikipedia Cossacks: European Wars — Cossacks ist eine vom ukrainischen Entwickler GSC Game World entwickelte Computerspieleserie, die sich relativ nahe an der realen europäischen Geschichte orientiert. In der Cossacks Reihe wird viel Wert auf Realismus, Taktik und Strategie gelegt … Deutsch Wikipedia Cossacks - European Wars — Cossacks ist eine vom ukrainischen Entwickler GSC Game World entwickelte Computerspieleserie, die sich relativ nahe an der realen europäischen Geschichte orientiert. In der Cossacks Reihe wird viel Wert auf Realismus, Taktik und Strategie gelegt … Deutsch Wikipedia	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line709
__label__cc	0.720047	0.279953	Revision as of 17:51, 20 March 2017 by *** (* \| ***) 2 The Technology 2.1 Active vs. Passive Systems 2.2 Collectors 2.2.1 Flat Plate Collector 2.2.2 Evacuated Tube Collector 2.3 Installation and Maintenance 3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Thermosiphon SWH 4 Costs 5 Target Groups for SWH 5.1 SWH for Households 5.2 Solar Water Heating in Social Institutions 5.3 Productive Use of Solar Water Heating 6 Global Market Trends for Solar Water Heaters 7 Market Barriers and Limitations 8 Impacts and Benefits of Solar Water Heaters 9 Political Environment for SWH 9.1 Policies 9.2 Standards and Quality Aspects 10 Actors in the Field of SWH 10.1 Companies/Technology Providers 10.2 Research Institutes 10.3 National and International Organisations, NGOs 11 Further information A SWH with a water tank in Bolivia. (Picture: GIZ Energising Development Bolivia) Obtaining hot water is energy intensive. In developing countries, households often spend a large portion of their energy budget on heating water. Solar thermal water heaters are a sustainable solution for poor households as they allow the barrier of high upfront costs to be overcome.[[1] The technology of solar thermal water heaters is present worldwide and significant deployments are already occurring in emerging economies and developing countries. Regions that do not experience freezing temperatures can use the simplest and most cost-effective kinds of this technology.[2] In fact, more than 90% of systems worldwide are based on the thermosiphon principle (for a definition see below regarding passive systems).[3] Solar water heating (SWH) systems are typically composed of: Solar thermal collectors (flat plate or evacuated tube) A storage tank A circulation loop. State of the art solar water heaters incorporate features such as: selective surface absorbers, anti-reflective glazing, well-designed collector arrays, and efficient storage systems thereby achieving operation efficiencies of the order of 35 to 40%. Even the simplest types allow households to have convenient access to hot water.[4]. Active vs. Passive Systems SWH can be either active system or pasive systems: Active system: collector, tank, pipe and controller Active systems use either pumps to circulate water or a heat transfer fluid which utilizes electrical components (e.g. a controller). There are two types of active solar water-heating systems: Direct-circulation systems use pumps to circulate pressurized potable water directly through the collectors. These systems are appropriate in areas that do not freeze for long periods and do not have hard or acidic water. Indirect-circulation systems pump heat-transfer fluids through collectors. Heat exchangers transfer the heat from the fluid to the potable water. Some indirect systems have "overheat protection" which is a method of protecting the collector and the glycol fluid from becoming super-heated when the load is low and the intensity of incoming solar radiation is high. Passive system: collector and tank Passive systems transfer and circulate heat naturally. Passive solar water heaters rely on gravity and the tendency for water to naturally circulate as it is heated. Because they contain no electrical components, passive systems are generally more reliable, easier to maintain, and possibly have a longer work-life than active systems. The two common types of passive systems are described below: Integral-collector storage systems or batch systems consist of a tank that is directly heated by sunlight. These are the oldest and simplest solar water heater designs and are good for households with significant daytime and evening hot-water needs. However, they do not work well in households with predominantly morning usage because they lose most of the collected energy overnight. These solar collectors are suited for areas where temperatures rarely go below freezing. Thermosyphon systems are an economical and reliable choice. These systems rely on the natural convection of warm water rising to circulate water through the collectors and to a storage tank located above the collector. As water in the solar collector heats, it becomes lighter and rises naturally into the tank above. Meanwhile, the cooler water flows down the pipes to the bottom of the collector, thereby enhancing the circulation. Indirect Thermosiphon systems use a glycol fluid in the collector loop as a heating medium.[5] Most solar thermal systems installed in developing countries are thermosiphon systems. Flat Plate Collector A flat plate is the most common type of solar thermal collector and is typically used as a solar hot water panel to generate hot water. A weatherproofed, insulated box containing a black metal absorber sheet with built-in pipes is placed in the path of sunlight. They can be deployed on the roof of buildings or on the ground. Solar energy heats the water in the pipes causing it to circulate through the system by natural convection. The water is then usually passed to a storage tank located above the collector. There are many flat-plate collector designs but generally all consist of: a flat-plate absorber which intercepts and absorbs the solar energy, a transparent cover that allows solar energy to pass through but reduces heat loss from the absorber, a heat-transport fluid (air, antifreeze or water) flowing through tubes to remove heat from the absorber and a heat insulating backing. One flat plate collector is designed to be evacuated, therefore preventing heat loss. The absorber can be made from a wide range of materials, including: copper, stainless steel, galvanised steel, aluminium and plastics. When choosing an absorber material it is important to ensure that it is compatible, from the point of view of corrosion, with the other components in the system and with the heat transfer fluid used. The absorber must also be able to withstand the highest temperature that it might reach on a sunny day when no fluid is flowing in the collector (known as the stagnation temperature). The fluid passageways of the absorber may consist of tubes bonded to an absorbing plate or may form an integral part of the absorber. Experience has shown that the simple mechanical clamping of tubes to an absorber plate is likely to result in an absorber with a poor efficiency. A good thermal bond, such as a braze, weld or high temperature solder, is required for tube and plate designs as it ensures efficient heat transfer from the absorbing surface into the fluid. Matt black paints are commonly used for absorber surfaces because they are relatively cheap, simple to apply and may be easily repaired. Paints, however, have the disadvantage that they are usually strong emitters of thermal radiation (infrared) and at a high temperature this results in significant heat losses from the front of the collector. Heat losses from the collector can be substantially reduced by the use of absorber coatings known as 'selective surfaces'. These surfaces may be applied by electroplating or by dipping a metal absorber in appropriate chemicals to produce a thin semi-conducting film over the surface. The thin film will be transparent to solar radiation while simultaneously appearing opaque to thermal radiation. However, these surfaces cannot be produced or applied easily. Flat-plate collectors usually have a transparent cover made of glass or plastic. The cover is required to reduce heat losses from the front of the collector and to protect the absorber and the insulation from the weather. Most covers mimic a greenhouse environment. They permit solar radiation to pass into the collector while also absorbing the thermal radiation emitted by the hot absorber. At night it is possible for the collector to lose heat by radiation resulting in the circulation being reversed and the water cooling. This can be overcome by use of a suitable non-return valve. However, there is a danger with solar collectors when used under clear night conditions (e.g. in arid and semi-arid regions) that they can actually freeze even when the ambient temperature is above freezing point. In such conditions it may be necessary to have a primary circuit through the collector filled with antifreeze and a separate indirect hot water cylinder where the water from the collector passes through a copper coil to heat the main water supply. This problem will only apply in certain desert regions during the cold season or at high altitudes in the tropics and sub-tropics. Evacuated Tube Collector Evacuated-tube solar collectors tend to be more efficient but also more expensive. They are used more frequently for commercial applications in the U.S.A. A collector is made up of several pipes in parallel rows that are connected at the top. The tubes consist of a vacuum with a pipe running through the middle containing the working fluid. The water moves up and down and along through the series of pipes to exit the system at a significantly higher temperature. The heat loss is significantly reduced thanks to high negative pressure in the glass tubes. They can be deployed nearly horizontally on flat roofs.[6][7] Basic rules for a good installation include: a preliminary study and a needs assessment to determine the best size for the specific installation and a location that is well-exposed to the sun with no shading (from nearby buildings, vegetation, etc.).[8] The following data is required to design, size and select a solar water heating system:: daily hot water requirement (litres/day), average insolation (kWh/m2 day), water quality and storage requirements[4]. Find more technical details on SWH: http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/research/solar-water-heaters/solar-water-heater.pdf Solar thermal systems are relatively maintenance free and only require an inspection of the piping for leaks and the cleaning of the collectors on an occasional basis. In some regions, it may also be necessary to inspect the transfer fluid for freeze protection and to remove the build-up of lime scale that chokes the collector and tank recirculating pipes over time. Advantages and Disadvantages of Thermosiphon SWH Advantages and disadvantages of thermosiphon Solar Water Heaters very simple systems only applicable in regions without frost very efficient systems (aesthetic aspects) very cheap no electricity, no pump, no controller self-controlling systems Solar water heater thermosiphon in Peru: Solar water heating systems are usually more expensive than conventional water heating systems when electricity is available. However, a solar water heater can save money in the long run. How much money can be saved depends on: the amount of hot water needed, the performance of the system, the geographic location and solar resource availability , available public financing and incentives, the cost of fuels (e.g. natural gas, oil, electricity, biomass) otherwise used for heating water, the cost of the fuel used for the backup water heating system (if existing).[9] SWH are very efficient, and can reduce either the electricity needs or reduce the costs for heating water by nearly 75% annually.[8] Initial costs for a solar thermal system vary among countries and depend on the quality of the solar collector, the labour costs of installation, and also on the climate conditions in which the solar thermal systems works. Initial costs depend on the level of governmental support for SWH as well as the development of local industries. Quality of the solar collector: Lower quality products are assumed to have a life expectancy of only half of higher quality products.[10] See details for different system sizes within the chapter about households, social institutions and productive use. Target Groups for SWH SWHs are employed in: residential, public buildings and institutions, commercial and industrial buildings and in industrial processes (drying, pre-heating boiler feed water, cleaning, etc. - see examples for potential on solar thermal applications in industries in India) for the provision of hot water, heat and cooling. Energy demand for hot water is often difficult to predict as hot water demand is influenced by factors such as: user habits, number and efficiency of appliances and the required water temperature.[5] The current commercial market for SWH is predominantly: households (mostly high income), hospitals, commercial establishments and tourist facilities. Therefore, this article distinguishes between Solar Water Heating for household uses, for: social institutions, like schools or hospitals and for productive uses in commercial enterprises. SWH for Households Household interests differ depending on their demand, the availability of different system sizes and what they can afford to pay. Relevant questions are, for example, how big must the system be for a family? How many liters of water can usually be heated? How much are the initial costs? What are the alterative costs for biomass heating or other options? What is the payback time for the SWH? The system size depends on the number of family members and on the climate: In hotter climates, thermosiphon SWH have often only a smaller collector area of around 2-4 m² and a 100-300 litre storage tank. In China, for example, thermosiphon SWH with an evacuated tube collector of around 2 m² have a hot water storage tank of around 120-200 litres.[11] A 300-liter system is typically suited for family of 4-6 persons and will provide up to 1000 kWh of electricity annually.[12] Costs for SWH largely vary among countries: usually prices for SHW are between USD 250-2,500/kW. However, in some developing countries prices could be less than half of this. The figure below shows that the costs for a SWH do not only depend on the type of SWH (blue dots: flat plate collector, red dots: evacuated tube collector, or green dots: active system with a pump) or the collector area, but also on the costs for specific applications of each system (e.g. different materials for tanks, insulation, piping) or other characteristics like warranty (e.g., 5 or 10 years).[11] Figure: Prices for final customers for internationally traded thermosiphon systems (2014).[11] Most solar thermal systems have a relatively high up-front cost of between USD 2,000 and 4,500. However, this price is often cost competitive when the total energy expenses are averaged over the entire lifetime of the systems (e.g. compared to electricity-based (generators) or biomass heated water).[13] In China, initial investment costs for a direct thermosiphon systems for households with average collector size of 4 m² (2.8 kW th ) range from 100 to 250 USD/kW th (90 to 225 EUR/kW th ) with an energy cost ranging from 2 to 5 USD cents/kWh th (1.8 to 4.5 EUR cents/kWh th ). In the Mediterranean region, the average cost for a open-loop, pressure-less thermosiphon systems (180 litre hot water, 70 litre feeding tank) is around 920 USD (830 EUR).[14] It has been demonstrated that in Rwanda, households can save up to 70% of their electrical bills after switching to a solar SWH. A payback period of 3-5 years is common with variables including: geographical areas, water consumption patterns and the type of system selected. After the payback period, the SWH produces hot water without charging the recipient.[15] The solaRwanda programme even offers a subsidy for quality approved systems to minimise the high upfront costs. It was found that switching from electrical to solar water heating systems would lead to yearly energy savings of approximately 930kWh within a local Native American community of California. Using the SWH for showering and other daily hot water uses, the payback period is only 7 years.[16] Low temperature flat-plate solar collectors typically cost 21 US $ per square metre (0,0021 US $ /cm²). Medium to high temperature collectors generally cost approximately 200 US $ per square metre. Flat plate collectors are sized at approximately 0,1 square metre (929 cm²) per gallon (3,79 l ) of daily hot water use or 245 cm² per l of hot water. A complete system installed costs approximately 14 US $/l or 2000 US $ per 150 l.[17] Solar Water Heating in Social Institutions Solar Water Heaters are used in different social institutions, wherever there is a substantial use of domestic hot water. These include schools, hospitals, swimming pools and sport facilities, dormitories, retirement homes, etc. The sizes of SWH installations vary widely depending on the institution’s requirements. Small systems have a collector size of 10 m² (7 kWth); larger systems up to 500m² (350 kWth).[18] System requirements depends on: quantity of hot water timeframe (when it is needed) and desired temperature Social institutions need to assess their own requirements to determine the best system size for their needs (e.g.: how big must the system be for a hospital, for a school? How many liters of water can usually be heated?). The institution’s financial means must also be assessed along with: the initial costs? for the system, what the payback time will be and whether there is a financing option available? Potential savings and the respective energy costs depend on three main aspects: the initial cost of the system, the lifetime of the system and These factors are contingent upon the location (affected by climate, insulation, taxes, cost of living, etc.) and quality of the system (which influences performance, lifetime and cost). This can vary significantly from country to country, as well as system to system. In contrast to households systems that use thermosiphon passive systems, SWH for social institutions are most commonly use mostly active, pumped, indirect systems. Initial investment costs range between 850 to 2400 USD/kWth (765 to 2160 EUR/kWth) with running energy costs between 10 and 29.5 USD cents/kWhth (9.5 to 26.6 EUR cents/kWhth) in central and northern Europe.[18] Lessons learnt from a project in Bolivia Energía para infraestructura social (energy for social infrastructure): Communities faced technical difficulties to provide portable water and infrastructure at the beginning, then overcame them and improved the situation and learning environment for their students. The participation of teachers as well as parents in teaching about hot water usage was of utmost importance for the efficient usage and sustainability of the solar thermal systems installed. Communities that installed thermal solar systems in "health points" (areas used for medical treatments) supported an improvement in hygiene and health standards of the personnel and the patients.[19] Find more information for social institutions: Global Solar Water Heating Market Transformation and Strengthening Initiative (GSWH Project. ‘Solar Heating and Cooling Application Factsheet: Domestic Water Heaters for Social Amenities’, 2015. http://www.solarthermalworld.org/sites/gstec/files/story/2015-10-14/application_factsheet_swh_social_amenities.pdf. Productive Use of Solar Water Heating Heating water is a small but essential element of a wide range of production processes in agricultural, industrial and service sectors. Hot water is needed, for example, in restaurants for cooking and cleaning, in industrial processes for dissolving substances or cleaning equipment (e.g. dairies), in hotels for hot showers, etc. Productive use applications of solar water heaters arise in various industries, notably in the food service and hotel industries. Reliable and sufficient availability of hot water usually implies higher and cleaner service quality, which allows restaurants and hotels to attract more clients or increase their prices.[20] Companies consider the following aspects before acquiring a SWH: System sizes (e.g.: how big must the system be for a small Hotel? How many liters of water can usually be heated?) and Costs / payback time the construction of locally produced solar water heaters is inexpensive and the devices are simple to maintain and to repair. In comparison, the investments for industrial produced solar water heaters are often higher, but generally show good efficiency values.[20] In Tunisia, the programme PROsol has provided SWH to 450 companies in the tertiary sector (hotels, swimming pools, hammams, etc.) via loans. It grants five years to pay back the loan through their monthly STEG electricity bill, which is a key success factor of the financial scheme, because it is a relatively reliable method of refinancing the thousands of loans.[21][22] See also: Opportunity Study for Solar Thermal Systems in the Tertiary and Industrial Sector Example: Hotel in Peru The Colca River Hotel in Chivay, capital of Caylloma province in the department of Arequipa installed a SWH on their roof. “The water heater works perfectly. We installed it on the roof and all went well. We have 18 rooms, all with hot water, because from the beginning we had decided to have hot water. If we are working with tourism, we have to provide hot water. There are over 100 hotels in Chivay, for all tastes and prices, and most already have hot water”, says Israel Huaraya, the owner. They opted for the largest heater, which is 650 liters and are therefore able to offer hot water to large groups with up to 40 people. Global Market Trends for Solar Water Heaters The use of solar energy to generate heat is a well-established technology that has been used for decades.[23] Some countries have a higher degree of SWH market penetration due to favourable external factors. Some of these include: high to extremely highenergy costs (USD 0.20 to 0 .60 per kWhth), high solar irradiance is excellent (H global- horiz > 4.5 kWh/m 2 -day), and sufficient government support (e.g. subsidies to consumers or manufacturers, mandates, or technology promotion).[24] For example, market penetration is at 90% in residential homes in Cyprus and Israel which can be at least partially be attributed to the establishment of SWH mandates since the 1980s. Another important example is China which has the largest market is and the biggest share of newly installed capacity (around 80% of recently installed capacity globally).[11] The markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the MENA region and other regions within Asia (excl. China) are comparably small (see figure below). Figure: World market for SWH of flat plate and evacuated tube collectors from 2000 to 2010.[25] Because many countries have opted for policies and financial instruments to make SWH more affordable to households, social institutions and companies, global adoption of SWH has increased by an average of 25% annually between 2000-2010. The dip observed in the graph was deemed to be due to the 2009 global financial crisis. Although the graph only shows the SWH market until 2010, markets in Europe and China were found to be contracting with the SWH market only rising by 6% in 2015.[25] The global capacity of SWH is 435 GWth in 2015.[26] Figure: Capacity of solar water collectors, 2005-2015 (REN21, 2016) The highest capacity of SWH was installed in China, Turkey, Brazil, India and the United States. While Chinese and European experiences demonstrated a slower market development than in the past, Denmark, Israel, Mexico, Poland and Turkey reported significant growth in 2015, according to the Global Status Report 2016 by REN21. [26] Worldwide, SWH applications differ. The figure below shos that globally approximatly half of the World's installed capacity is for larger domestic SWH (red bars) and the other half for smaller SWH (orange bars), with swimming pool heating (purple bars) and sophisticated SWH-combi systems (blue bars) playing only a minor role. Figure: SWH applications for newly installed capacity by region, 2014.[26] In Latin America, smaller domestic SWH have the largest share, followed by swimming pool heating. Institutional and commercial use also plays a role. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the majority (two thirds) of SWH are smaller systems, with swimming pool heating contributing to approximately 30% of newly installed capacity. Swimming pool heating does not play a role in the Middle East, North Africa or Asia. In Asia and Middle East + North Africa, approximately 60% of newly installed capacity are larger SWH for institutions, while in other Asian countries (except China), approximately 70% of newly installed capacities can be attributed to smaller SWH.[26] Market Barriers and Limitations The barriers that prevent faster dissemination of SWHs are listed below:[27][12][5][11] Economic/financial barriers Relative high upfront costs of SWH is a major limitation in their uptake. See costs Demand side and social barriers Lack of awareness at end-user level Pervasive inertia on the part of most residential users to switch from conventional heating and cooling systems that provide a reliable supply Supply side and technical barriers Lack of skills of installers Water quality: solar water heaters require clean, non-hard water for long term operation. Hard or dirty water leads to blockage and corrosion of pipes and storage tanks. Closed circuit systems are recommended in regions where the water is hard. Quality of housing: rooftops need to be strong enough for heavy water tanks and collectors. Installation, commissioning and maintenance: improper installation and commissioning and maintenance of SWHs are the leading causes of system failures. Lack of local manufacturing, Lack of knowledge and SWH capabilities among architects and other decision makers within the construction and energy industries. Institutional and legislative barriers Lack of appropriate regulatory frameworks to guarantee that SWH meet the technical requirements to ensure appropriate and reliable operation Lacking standards, and quality control: with increasing local manufacturing as well as international trade of SWH, international performance standards for SWH will be important to ensure continued deployment. Research and development challenges Impacts and Benefits of Solar Water Heaters Solar water heaters have several impacts and benefits, especially in developing countries. Some of these economic, political and environmental benefits are listed below:[14][28][29] Potential savings in energy costs for households, social institutions and companies Potential savings in energy generation costs for utilities: 100 SWH with 100 litres capacity save 1 MW during peak load. If all 100 million electric water heaters of the USA replaced by solar water heaters, the peak load would be reduced by approximately 100 GW[25]. Creation of local jobs related to the manufacturing, commercialization, installation and maintenance of solar thermal systems Reduction of fuel consumption: a 100 litres SWH can save up to 1500 units of electricity annually. Possibility of improving energy security by reducing energy imports Reduction of CO2 emissions: a 100 litres SWH can prevent 1.5 tCO2/year or around 350 kg of CO2 can be saved by a SWH system with 4 m² (2.8 kWth) household size. Larger systems with a collector of 20 m² (14 kWth) could save approximately 1.75 Mt CO2. Political Environment for SWH Government support for SWH systems for low-income families and social housing projects has increased significantly in recent years.[30] This support has resulted in several key policies and programmes, including: Incentive programmes that reduce high upfront costs, thereby increasing SWH access. Incentive programmes can comprise of different mechanisms, including: upfront rebates, performance-based incentives (PBIs), and hybrid incentive structures Providing financing for innovative business models that reduce high upfront costs. This may include: low-interest lending programs, utility on-bill programs, and innovative contractor business models SWH mandates and regulations that address landlord-tenant barriers and low customer awareness of SWH. Training, quality control and certification programmes that increase skilled labour and SWH quality. Outreach and education programmes also fall under this category and were found to be important in generating awareness and communicating the SWH benefits.[31] Although these policies and programmes are increasing in popularity, the limited number is resulting in slow market growth and missed opportunities for many cities in developing countries.[32] On an international scale, renewable heating targets were included in the INDCs submitted to the UNFCCC by Bosnia, Malawi, Herzegovina and Jordan. At least 21 countries also have mandates for renewable heating and cooling technologies. However, fiscal incentives for renewable heating and cooling mechanisms still remain the primary method of support due to regulatory policy being a relatively slow process. The following NAMAs have a direct focus on SWH: National Solar Water Heating Programme, Zimbabwe Energy efficiency in residential buildings, Algeria (2011-2014) Promoting the use of Renewable Energy Solution for Households and Buildings in Rwanda (2016-2030) Residential buildings energy efficiency in Morocco (2012-2014) Regulatory framework descriptions for a selection of countries: United Arab Emirates Solar water heating regulation (since 2011): the emirate of Dubai requires new buildings to meet 75% of their water heating requirements by solar power. In case a swimming pool is included in the building footprint, 50% of its water heating requirements must be met by solar power. Source: IEA database Burkina Faso Law of finance 2013 relative to the deletion of customs charges and value-added tax on solar energy equipment and material . Source: IEA database Kenya Solar water heating regulations (since 2012): These target premises with hot water requirements above 100 litres: new buildings with hot water requirements of over 100 litres will have to install solar heating systems while the existing ones have 5 years to install and use solar heating systems that cover at least 60% of their hot water demand. Source:IEA database El Salvador: Master Plan for Renewable Energy Development (2012-2026): target of 200 MW of new installed capacity of solar thermal energy until 2026. Source: IEA database Uruguay Solar Thermal Energy Plan (since 2012): The plan grants incentives to households and businesses that buy SWH through credit; electricity bill gets discounts. It was designed and implemented by the state-owned generation and transmission UTE. Source: IEA database Uruguay Solar Thermal Energy (since 2011) The decree regulates some obligations on health care centres, hotels, sports clubs and public buildings for water heating, on a progressive basis. The decree also establishes some tax exemptions for the acquisition of solar panels. Source: IEA database Chile Regulatory Framework for Solar Water Thermal. A tax rebate programme for solar water heater (SWH) constructors. Source: IEA database Brazil Brazil National Climate Change Plan (since 2008): refers to the residential sector and seeks to stimulate the use of solar water heaters. Source: IEA database Standards and Quality Aspects The quality of industrial solar water heaters and services: for maintenance, replacement and repair vary greatly. This is due to a number of reasons, including: A lack of certified and trained practitioners: although SWH are often imported, the onsite installation of the systems is often relatively complex and requires trained professionals. Unfortunately, these trained professionals are often non-existent (particularly in rural regions). This can result in a less efficient system being installed. A lack of standardisation enforcement: The dispersed nature of SWH manufacturing has thus far hampered the enforcement of standardisation. In most countries, the SWH market is dominated by hundreds to thousands of small- and medium-size enterprises with only a small number of multinational enterprises.[30] Tracking and enforcing standardisation on all of these operations is therefore difficult. Transportation of standardized components: GIZ experience from Tajikistan showed that the import of glass vacuum solar water heaters from China was not feasible as a high percentage of glass pipes break during the transport resulting in difficulties in ordering spare pipes and solar water heater installation problems in rural settings.[33] This indicates that although the equipment may be standardized, it could still result in difficulties and subsequently other, non-standardized, material being used. Actors in the Field of SWH Companies/Technology Providers According to DENA, Germany is the global leader for quality products with German solar thermal energy companies having many years of comprehensive experience in producing, planning and building solar heating systems and their components.[34] List of German providers of Solar Water Heaters China is a primary manufacturer and installer of SWH with over 5,000 small- and medium scale companies (only 10 of them opperate at a larger scale).[35] However, most of them are small and rural with no product quality control.[24] Moreover, the Chinese SWH market has been predominately in rural areas and is characterised by inexpensive SWH, The substantial government support to consumers and to manufacturers is reflected in the high energy cost relative to income and highly intermittent or non-existent conventional energy supplies.[24] List of SWH providers worldwide (37 providers) Some of the bigger US companies operate worldwide: Solahart: In 80+ countries with an average system life expectancy: 19.2 years Silicon Solar: has multi-national offices to serve emerging markets and developing nations around the world (NY, Philippines, China, India); Price: 400-1,250 USD[36] Rheem: has several international offices (also Latin America, Middle East) Global Energy Network Institute (GENI): http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/research/#solarwaterheaters http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/research/solar-water-heaters/solar-water-heater.pdf National Institute of Solar Energy, an autonomous institution of Ministry of New and Renewable (MNRE), India http://nise.res.in/SolarThermalDivision.php Energy Department: https://energy.gov/eere/energybasics/articles/solar-water-heater-basics NREL's centres for scientific and technological excellence support the research and development efforts of the U.S. Department of Energy, including significant photovoltaic and solar thermal research: https://www.nrel.gov/solar/ Florida Solar Energy Center: http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/research/solarthermal/index.htm and http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/consumer/solar_hot_water/ Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), Malaysia http://www.ukm.my/seri/solar-thermal/ National and International Organisations, NGOs Solar Energy Industries Association (USA): http://www.seia.org/research-resources/environment-america-solar-hot-water-2011-report and their list of research links: http://www.seia.org/research-resources/solar-research-links The Solar Action Alliance is a group of environmentalists who want to spread the word about the most clean, reliable, and abundant source of renewable energy: the sun: https://solaractionalliance.org/heating/ Solar portal on energypedia All articles on solar water heaters Solar thermal technologies Technical Brief: Solar Water Heating by Amy Punter. This publication by Practical Action explains how solar energy may be used to heat water and how the technology works. http://practicalaction.org/solar-water-heating Construction of Solar Collectors for Warm Water – Practical guide by Regina Drexel and Rostom Gamisonia. This brochure by Women in Europe for a Common Future shows how to use the energy from the sun for heating water, how to construct a solar water heater and gives an overview of other solar collector models. of_solar_collectors.pdf http://www.wecf.eu/download/2010/WECF_Construction_ of_solar_collectors.pdf Solar Water Heater with Thermosyphon Circulation by Bernd Sitzmann. This publication describes briefly the advantages and engineering aspects of solar water heaters with thermosyphon circulation. http://www.gate-international.org/documents/techbriefs/webdocs/pdfs/e021e_2003.pdf Guidelines for Fabrication of serpentine solar water heaters by Ben Dana. Practical Action, 2009. http://answers.practicalaction.org/our-resources/item/serpentine-solar-water-heating-guidelines-for-fabrication Two very comprehensive studies on the Solar Heating and Cooling Sector were published in early June 2016: REN21’s the Renewables 2016 Global Status Report (GSR2016) from REN21 and Solar Heat Worldwide from the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling programme (IEA SHC). This webinar will highlight the key data and findings of these two studies looking at new installations, prospering applications, market barriers, industry trends, costs of solar heat and jobs. http://www.solarthermalworld.org/content/webinar-global-view-solar-heating-and-cooling-market-industry-and-policy IRENA offers various trainings regarding solar water heating, e.g. Solar Water Heating Project Feasibility Analysis Course How to set up a test laboratory for Solar Water Heater (2015) by Research and Testing Centre for Thermal Solar Systems (TZS) Stephan Fischer: Rica/8-Setup test lab SWH -Stephan Fischer.pdf http://www.irena.org/EventDocs/Costa Rica/8-Setup test lab SWH -Stephan Fischer.pdf IRENA held a Forum on Quality Assurance Schemes for Solar Water Heating in Latin America and the Caribbean 29-30 June 2015 in San Jose, Costa Rica. http://www.irena.org/menu/index.aspx?CatID=79&PriMenuID=30&SubcatID=623&mnu=Subcat Introduction to solar thermal technology: https://energypedia.info/images/9/95/Solar_Thermal_Energy_Basis_Mr_Kofler_ITW.pdf Solar Heat for Industrial Processes in Tunisia: An Economic Assessment with Policy Recommendations (2014) by Filip Schaffitzel FSEC Public Information Office. ‘Solar Water Heater Troubleshooting Checklist’. Florida Solar Energy Center. Accessed 9 March 2017. http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/publications/pdf/FSEC-FS-32-86.pdf John Harrison & Tom Tiedeman. ‘Thermosyphon Systems - Passive Solar Water Heating Systems’, 1997. http://www.flasolar.com/thermosyphon_systems.htm Philibert, Cédric. ‘Barriers to Technology Diffusion: The Case of Solar Thermal Technologies’. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and International Energy Agency, Paris, 2006. https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/Solar_Thermal.pdf ↑ Ashok Gadgil et al., ‘Domestic Solar Water Heater for Developing Countries’, Http://Energy. Lbl. Gov/Staff/Gadgil/Docs/2007/Solar-Water-Heater-Rpt. Pdf. Accessed on 6, no. 04 (2007): 2013. ↑ David Elizinga et al., ‘ADVANTAGE ENERGY Emerging Economies, Developing Countries and the Private-Public Sector Interface’ (Internationale Energy Agency, 2011), http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/advantage_energy.pdf. ↑ Amy Punter, ‘Solar Thermal Energy Application Heating,cooling, Crop Drying - Practical Answers’, 2007, http://answers.practicalaction.org/our-resources/item/solar-thermal-energy. ↑ 4.0 4.1 GTZ (2007): Eastern Africa Resource Base: GTZ Online Regional Energy Resource Base: Regional and Country Specific Energy Resource Database: I - Energy Technology ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 UNEP (2015): Solar Water Heating, a Strategic Planning Guide for Cities in Developing Countries http://www.estif.org/fileadmin/estif/content/publications/downloads/UNEP_2015/unep_report_cities_lr.pdf ↑ Ray Holland, ‘Solar Water Heaters: Hot Water for Washing and Heating - Practical Answers’, 1988, http://answers.practicalaction.org/our-resources/item/solar-water-heating. ↑ Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), ‘Solar Thermal Energy Technologies and Applications’, 17 December 2014, http://www.renewables-made-in-germany.com/en/renewables-made-in-germany/technologies/solar-thermal-energy/solar-thermal-energy/technologies-and-applications.html. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Jean Cariou and Peter Meisen, ‘Solar Water Heater’, Global Energy Network Institute, 2010, http://www.solarthermalworld.org/sites/gstec/files/story/2015-06-21/solar-water-heater.pdf. ↑ https://energy.gov/energysaver/estimating-cost-and-energy-efficiency-solar-water-heater ↑ International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme (ETSAP, ‘Solar Heating and Cooling for Residential Applications \| Technology Brief’, 2015, http://bit.ly/2nW44Sl. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme (ETSAP, ‘Solar Heating and Cooling for Residential Applications \| Technology Brief’. ↑ 12.0 12.1 GTZ (2007): Eastern Africa Resource Base: GTZ Online Regional Energy Resource Base: Regional and Country Specific Energy Resource Database: I - Energy Technology ↑ US Department of Energy, ‘A Consumer’s Guide HeatYourWaterwiththeSun’, 2003, http://solarteknologies.com/pdfs/brochures/water_heat_guide.pdf. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Global Solar Water Heating Market Transformation and Strengthening Initiative (GSWH Project, ‘Solar Heating and Cooling Application Factsheet: Domestic Water Heaters for Single Family Houses’, 2015, http://www.solarthermalworld.org/sites/gstec/files/story/2015-10-14/application_factsheet_swh_social_amenities.pdf. ↑ SolaRwanda program, ‘Introduction to Solar Water Heaters. Frequently Asked Questions on Solar Water Heaters’ (Energy, water and sanitation authority, Kigali, Rwanda), accessed 16 March 2017, http://www.reg.rw/images/pdf/Article%20on%20SWH.pdf. ↑ Ashok Gadgil et al., ‘Solar Water Heater Project’, 2009, http://www.solarthermalworld.org/sites/gstec/files/story/2015-06-21/swh-rpt-2009.pdf. ↑ Source? ↑ 18.0 18.1 Global Solar Water Heating Market Transformation and Strengthening Initiative (GSWH Project, ‘Solar Heating and Cooling Application Factsheet: Domestic Water Heaters for Social Amenities’, 2015, http://www.solarthermalworld.org/sites/gstec/files/story/2015-10-14/application_factsheet_swh_social_amenities.pdf. ↑ http://endev-bolivia.org/images/stories/proyecto_endev/infraestructura/Descargas/Difusion/lecsaprendidas.pdf ↑ 20.0 20.1 Anna Brüderle, Johanna Hartmann, and Katja Diembeck, ‘Productive Use of Thermal Energy An Overview of Technology Options and Approaches for Promotion’ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH - Programme - Poverty-oriented Basic Energy Services (HERA) and European Union Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PD, 2014), https://energypedia.info/images/2/24/Productive_Use_of_Thermal_Energy_Overview.pdf. ↑ http://www.solarthermalworld.org/content/tunisia-government-extends-prosol-support-scheme ↑ https://climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/san-giorgio-group-case-study-prosol/ ↑ Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), ‘Renewable Energy Solutions for Off-Grid Applications. Providing Electric Power and Heat for Regions without Grid Power or Connected to a Weak Grid’, 2013, http://www.renewables-made-in-germany.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Auslandsmarketing/Offgrid_2013_131020.pdf. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Trudy Forsyth et al., ‘Quality Infrastructure for Renewable Energy Technologies: Solar Water Heaters’ (International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 2015), http://www.irena.org/DocumentDownloads/Publications/IRENA_QI_3_SWH_2015.pdf. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Alessandro Clerici and World Energy Council, World Energy Resources. 2013 Survey (London: World Energy Council, 2013). ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Janet L. Sawin, et al., ‘RENEWABLES 2016. GLOBAL STATUS REPORT. Key Findings 2016’ (REN21, 2016), http://www.ren21.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GSR_2016_KeyFindings1.pdf. ↑ Kordab, Mohamad (2009): Solar Water Heaters Development In MENA Region, Solar Thermal Application in Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syriaq and Jordan: Technical Aspects, Framework conditions, and private Sector NeedsfckLRThis is a presentation from Dr. Kordab (Energy Expert of the Damascus University) during the “Solar Thermal Applications workshop” held in Syria. The event was jointly organized by the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE), regional organizations from Syria and Egypt and the German Development Cooperation (GTZ). Available at http://www.solarthermalworld.org/taxonomy/term/22121. ↑ SolaRwanda program, ‘Introduction to Solar Water Heaters. Frequently Asked Questions on Solar Water Heaters’. ↑ Global Solar Water Heating Market Transformation and Strengthening Initiative (GSWH Project, ‘Solar Heating and Cooling Application Factsheet: Domestic Water Heaters for Social Amenities’. ↑ 30.0 30.1 International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme (ETSAP, ‘Solar Heating and Cooling for Residential Applications \| Technology Brief’, 2015, http://www.irena.org/DocumentDownloads/Publications/IRENA_ETSAP_Tech_Brief_R12_Solar_Thermal_Residential_2015.pdf ↑ Pedro Dias and Amr Abdelhai, ‘SOLAR WATER HEATING. A STRATEGIC PLANNING GUIDE FOR CITIES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES’, 2015, http://www.estif.org/fileadmin/estif/content/publications/downloads/UNEP_2015/unep_report_cities_lr.pdf. ↑ Janet L. Sawin, et al., ‘RENEWABLES 2016. GLOBAL STATUS REPORT. Key Findings 2016’ (REN21, 2016), http://www.ren21.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GSR_2016_KeyFindings1.pdf ↑ Anna Brüderle, Johanna Hartmann, and Katja Diembeck, ‘Productive Use of Thermal Energy An Overview of Technology Options and Approaches for Promotion’ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH - Programme - Poverty-oriented Basic Energy Services (HERA) and European Union Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PD, 2014), https://energypedia.info/images/2/24/Productive_Use_of_Thermal_Energy_Overview.pdf.Brüderle, Hartmann, and Diembeck, ‘Productive Use of Thermal Energy An Overview of Technology Options and Approaches for Promotion’. ↑ Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), ‘Renewable Energy Solutions for Off-Grid Applications. Providing Electric Power and Heat for Regions without Grid Power or Connected to a Weak Grid’, 2013, http://www.renewables-made-in-germany.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Auslandsmarketing/Offgrid_2013_131020.pdf.Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), ‘Renewable Energy Solutions for Off-Grid Applications. Providing Electric Power and Heat for Regions without Grid Power or Connected to a Weak Grid’ ↑ International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme (ETSAP, ‘Solar Heating and Cooling for Residential Applications \| Technology Brief’, 2015, http://www.irena.org/DocumentDownloads/Publications/IRENA_ETSAP_Tech_Brief_R12_Solar_Thermal_Residential_2015.pdf. ↑ http://www.siliconsolar.com/shop/solar-store/solar-hot-water-heaters/thermosyphon-solar-hot-water/ Retrieved from "https://energypedia.info/index.php?title=Solar_Water_Heater&oldid=200907"	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line711
__label__cc	0.643381	0.356619	IN THE TOWNS NORTH CALDWELL ARTS \ EVENTS UNION NEWS DAILY FIND A NEWSPAPER LOCAL STORES & SERVICES District clears up misconceptions about consolidated ELL By Amanda Valentovic on June 15, 2018 Comments Off on District clears up misconceptions about consolidated ELL Trailers at Gregory Elementary School WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange Assistant Superintendent Eveny de Mendez and world languages supervisor Felix Plata returned to the West Orange Board of Education with an update to the proposed changes to the English Language Learners program at the June 4 BOE meeting, after board members expressed concerns about the changes presented at the May 21 meeting. The two have received feedback from staff members and parents of ELL students, and the BOE will hear further updates at its June 18 meeting. If approved, the plan would consolidate ELL elementary school students at either Washington or Gregory elementary schools, while students in both the ELL and special education programs will remain at Kelly Elementary School. Current ELL students at Redwood Elementary School and non-special education ELL students at Kelly, they will attend Washington. ELL students from Hazel, Mt. Pleasant and St. Cloud elementary schools will attend Gregory. According to de Mendez and Plata, more than 1,500 students in the district live in homes that speak languages other than English. Fifty different languages are spoken in West Orange homes and 623 current students were born in 68 countries. There are 260 ELL students in the district — 157 at the elementary school level, 31 in the middle schools and 72 at West Orange High School. “At our last board meeting the board asked us to communicate more, get feedback, reach out and get feedback from our staff,” de Mendez said at the June 4 meeting. “We met with Gregory staff and we met with our Washington staff. We also met with parents at the West Orange Hispanic Foundation.” According to de Mendez, the top concern staff members had about the possible changes to the ELL program was professional development and feeling comfortable with their abilities to teach ELL students. If the plan is approved, there will be three days of professional development for staff members in August. BOE President Ron Charles asked de Mendez if three days would be enough time for the necessary professional development. “Three days will never be sufficient, it’s just a starting point,” de Mendez said. “The teachers absolutely will need more. It would be an ongoing process throughout the year with the support and the material embedded throughout the day.” Another concern teachers had was the physical space at the schools that would be affected by the changes. “There were some concerns at Washington with spacing,” de Mendez said. “We did a walkthrough and took a look at the classes and took a look at where the students would be. There will be two extra classrooms that will be needed. One is currently being converted for ELL and one is opening because there is one less class in a grade level.” The staff at Gregory is also concerned about the use of trailers, which would return if ELL students begin attending the school. “They are currently up to code,” de Mendez said about the trailers at Gregory. “The strategic plan says we should be moving away from the trailers and we acknowledge that. If we move to this recommendation it would mean that two fifth-grade classes would go back to the trailers.” BOE member Sandra Mordecai said she is concerned about potentially using trailers again at Gregory. “I’m not happy about the trailer situation,” she said at the meeting. “We’ve tried for so many years to get rid of the trailers every year, so I’m not happy that we’re going to go back to the trailers. I know, according to the strategic plan, we were supposed to be going in the direction of getting rid of the six trailers and not going back to using them, so that’s a concern for me.” The staff members at Washington and Gregory were given a survey that 30 teachers had responded to as of the June 4 meeting. According to the survey’s 30 responses, 43 percent of teachers said they would be comfortable with the program changes if they receive professional development. And de Mendez said that some teachers have also already volunteered to teach at another school. The survey will also be given to teachers at the district’s other elementary schools, and de Mendez and Plata will also be meeting with them. In discussions de Mendez and Plata held with stakeholders before the June 4 BOE meeting, staff members and parents said they were worried about ELL students leaving their current schools and being taken away from their neighborhoods and friends. “It is a concern and something that exists,” de Mendez said. “But again, there are competing priorities. When we’re thinking about how we offer students a quality, meaningful education, we have to prioritize.” Despite those concerns, de Mendez said the program proposal has support among the parents of ELL students. “Of the parents that responded that have children in the program, we had overwhelming support,” she said. “I think a lot of this is clarification and clearing up some of the myths for the parents.” One of those myths was a question about where ELL students would be learning in the new school. According to de Mendez, they will not be grouped together in a class, as many parents thought, but will be in classes with general education students, as usual. “Bringing them to the program would offer a program,” she said. “However, they will be mainstreamed and be going through all their electives and content with everyone else.” The benefit of the program, if approved, is that ELL students will be able to learn English more proficiently while also learning the general school subjects, de Mendez said. “It is not true that a student will learn English in one year and, at the end of kindergarten, they will be proficient,” she said. “It takes five to seven years to learn. They may know how to communicate basic English for social everyday life, but we are measuring academic language for academic rigor so that they can compete and be able to succeed with their monolingual peers.” Edison Middle School, FEATURED, Gregory Elementary School, Hazel Elementary School, Kelly Elementary School, Liberty Middle School, Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, Redwood Elementary School, Roosevelt Middle School, St. Cloud Elementary School, Washington Elementary School, West Orange Board of Education, West Orange High School, WOSD District clears up misconceptions about consolidated ELL added by Amanda Valentovic on June 15, 2018 View all posts by Amanda Valentovic → Sign up to receive Local News Alerts to your email Select a Month Click to Select January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 August 2015 July 2015 Select a Category Click to Select ABOUT US ADVERTISING INFO ARTS / EVENTS BUSINESS NEWS COUNTY CRIME BEAT HEADLINE NEWS IN THE TOWNS BELLEVILLE BLOOMFIELD CALDWELL CEDAR GROVE EAST ORANGE ESSEX COUNTY NEWS ESSEX FELLS FAIRFIELD GLEN RIDGE IRVINGTON LIVINGSTON MAPLEWOOD MILLBURN MONTCLAIR NEWARK NORTH CALDWELL NUTLEY ORANGE ROSELAND SOUTH ORANGE VERONA WEST CALDWELL WEST ORANGE MEDIA OBITUARIES OPINION SPORTS BELLEVILLE BLOOMFIELD EAST ORANGE GLEN RIDGE IRVINGTON MAPLEWOOD NUTLEY ORANGE SOUTH ORANGE WEST ORANGE Uncategorized WSOU revisits in 2010s accolades through digital campaigns Belleville American Legion members buy Girl Scout cookies for overseas service persons LGBTQ+ WAE meets on Jan. 21 Marie Donofrio South Orange unveils Master Plan draft, seeks feedback © 2021 Created by WMS All Rights Reserved	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line714
__label__wiki	0.838975	0.838975	Connecting the Dots-Computing the Physics Source: Newswise: DOE Science News Source \| October 6, 2017 Computing the physics that links nuclear structure, element formation, and the life and death of stars When a neutron star forms, compression creates heat that generates neutrinos. When the star’s core collapses, a shock wave propagates around the star but stalls. The neutrinos reenergize a stalled shock wave, and the convection created leads to an asymmetric explosion that shoots elements into the cosmos. The heat content, or entropy, is shown, with greater entropy represented by “warmer” hues. At center is a volume rendering of the developing explosion above the newly formed neutron star (based on a simulation with the CHIMERA code); side images of orthogonal slices through the star reveal additional detail. Credit: (ORNL, DOE; created by J.A. Harris) The Big Bang began the formation and organization of the matter that makes up ourselves and our world. Nearly 14 billion years later, nuclear physicists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and their partners are using America’s most powerful supercomputers to characterize the behavior of objects, from subatomic neutrons to neutron stars, that differ dramatically in size yet are closely connected by physics. Through the DOE Office of Science’s Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC) program, which concurrently advances science and supercomputing to accelerate discovery, ORNL is participating in two five-year computational nuclear physics projects. Collaborators on the first project, the Nuclear Computational Low Energy Initiative (NUCLEI), will calculate properties and reactions of diverse atomic nuclei that are important in earthly experiments and astrophysical environments. Approximately 30 researchers at 12 national labs and universities are slated to share funding of $10 million. Joseph Carlson of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) heads NUCLEI, with Stefan Wild of Argonne National Laboratory as co-director for applied math and computer science and Thomas Papenbrock of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) and ORNL as the co-director for physics. The second project, Towards Exascale Astrophysics of Mergers and Supernovae (TEAMS), partners 32 researchers from 12 national labs and universities. With planned support of $7.25 million, workers will simulate supernovae explosions and neutron-star mergers that create atomic elements heavier than iron and predict signatures of these cataclysms, such as gravitational waves. Raph Hix of ORNL heads TEAMS, with Bronson Messer of ORNL as the computational lead and Chris Fryer of LANL as the science lead. “There is a nice synergy—NUCLEI is doing pure nuclear physics and TEAMS is, in a sense, doing applied nuclear physics,” said Hix, a nuclear astrophysicist. “We need their nuclear physics to do our astrophysics.” NUCLEI partners will calculate the structure, reactions, interactions and decays of stable and radioactive nuclei (elements that decay to more stable states) for comparison with results of experiments at DOE facilities such as the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), under construction at Michigan State University. Because astrophysicists need high-quality input about how nuclei really behave, information from NUCLEI and from experiments will be used in TEAMS simulations that explore how nuclei are created under the extreme conditions of dying stars. For both SciDAC projects, science and computing experts will start from state-of-the-art models, numerical techniques and leadership-class high-performance computers, such as Titan, ORNL’s current workhorse supercomputer, or Summit, coming in 2018. Calculating key nuclei How does the strong force bind protons and neutrons into nuclei? How do light atomic nuclei capture neutrons to create heavier elements in stars? What is the nature of the neutrino, which plays crucial roles in radioactive decay and supernovae explosions? These are some questions NUCLEI researchers will explore using advanced applied mathematics, computer science and physics to describe atomic nuclei. The calculations are computationally costly. “With 100 or more particles, exact solutions became exponentially costly,” Papenbrock said. “New methods enable efficient performance on the fastest supercomputers.” ORNL’s critical contribution to NUCLEI’s scientific community is the coupled-cluster method, an efficient, systematic expansion of the nuclear wave function with a modest computational cost. Its solution provides detailed insights into the structure and decay of atomic nuclei and nuclear interactions. ORNL’s lead for the NUCLEI collaboration, Gaute Hagen, also leads the development of a flagship code NUCCOR (NUclear Coupled Cluster Oak Ridge). NUCCOR provides a compromise between high accuracy and affordable computer cost. At ORNL, Hagen, Gustav R. Jansen and George Fann will compute properties of nuclei and their decays. At UTK, a postdoctoral fellow will work with Papenbrock on the project. NUCLEI’s partners at other institutions will bring their own codes, computational methods, and expertise to the project. “Atomic nuclei exhibit very different properties as one goes from the lightest nucleus with a single nucleon—a proton—to the heaviest, consisting of about 240 nucleons [protons or neutrons],” Papenbrock explained. “In this collaboration, we have complementary methods that are good for different nuclei.” Hagen said, “At Oak Ridge we developed first principles methods that can describe medium mass and heavy nuclei starting from the underlying interactions between nucleons. This is remarkable progress in the field. A decade ago we were computing the structure of oxygen-16, the oxygen we breathe, which [has] 16 nucleons. Today we just submitted a paper on tin-100, which has 100 nucleons.” NUCLEI researchers will calculate properties of key isotopes, such as calcium-60, which has 20 protons and 40 neutrons, and is therefore more exotic than the common stable isotope in our bones and teeth, calcium-40 (20 protons, 20 neutrons). “Calcium-60 has not been measured yet,” Hagen said. “Nothing’s known. To go to that region—and beyond—would be a major challenge for theory. But eventually we’ll get there with the tools that we’re developing and the computing power that will be coming available to us in this SciDAC period.” The biggest nucleus the scientists propose to compute from scratch is lead-208. Knowledge gained about what keeps its nucleons together might impact the understanding of superheavy elements beyond lead-208. Moreover, the calculations will complement both present and pending experiments. The stars in ourselves “Astrophysics is a quintessentially multi-physics application,” said Hix, who leads the other SciDAC project in which ORNL participates, known as TEAMS. “There are so many facets of physics involved; nobody can be expert in all of it. So we must build teams.” The members of the TEAMS project will improve models of the deaths of massive stars, called core-collapse supernovae, which disperse chemical elements throughout the galaxies, as well as models of the final hours of the stars’ lives that set the initial conditions for core-collapse supernovae. They will also improve models of the mergers of neutron stars, which create black holes while also dispersing newly formed elements. Improving the TEAMS simulations will require better microscopic nuclear physics, improving our understanding of the states of nuclear matter and its interactions with neutrinos. TEAMS scientists will also study the consequences of explosions detectable by telescopes and the chemical history of our galaxy, providing observations that can be compared with simulations to validate models. In core-collapse supernovae, massive stars (10 times the mass of our Sun) build up an iron core surrounded by layers of lighter elements—e.g., silicon, oxygen, carbon, helium, hydrogen. Eventually the iron core collapses to form a neutron star, launching a shock wave. Since the 1960s, scientists have tried to simulate how this shock wave produces a supernova, starting with one-dimensional models that assumed the star was spherically symmetric. Simulations based on those models rarely resulted in explosions. More recently, with better understanding of the physics and faster computers, researchers started running two-dimensional, and later three-dimensional, core-collapse supernova models with improved physics. “The behavior in two or three dimensions is completely different and you get the development of big convective regions,” Hix said. “It is neutrino energy delivered to the shock wave by convective flows that ultimately powers up the explosion. The result is an asymmetric explosion that shoots out big plumes.” The power source that drives this explosion is the newly made neutron star, its Sun-sized mass compressed into a mere 30 kilometers, releasing tremendous energy that is carried away rapidly by neutrinos. Capturing just a small fraction of the escaping neutrinos reenergizes the shockwave, leading to the supernova. The material that gets shot out into the galaxy by the supernova is available to make the next generation of stars. Elements—the oxygen in your breath, the iron in your blood—are tangible tracers of the chemical evolution of our galaxy all the way back to the Big Bang. “The story your atoms could tell!” Hix exclaimed. “Billions of years ago and thousands of light years away, parts of you have been through supernovae, neutron star mergers and other exotic events, and we can prove it because you carry all of the elements and isotopes that were made there. There’s a tendency when people look at the sky to say, ‘Oh, that’s the universe.’ But the universe is here too,” he said, tapping his chest. The DOE Office of Science supports TEAMS and NUCLEI, as well as a third SciDAC project, Computing the Properties of Matter with Leadership Computing Resources, which will explore the properties of strongly interacting particles composed of quarks and gluons. As results from these projects become available, they will be coupled with results from the other projects and compared to experiment to provide a more complete understanding of nuclei and their reactions. UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science. The single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov/.—by Dawn Levy	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line717
__label__cc	0.507426	0.492574	Call Cds Sucks Call Cds Sucks Customer Reviews and Feedback The Center for Development and Strategy (CDS) is an environmental and economic American think tank and online publisher based in Buffalo, New York, in the United States. The center develops policy studies, risk briefs, and OpEds on political, economic and environmental issues throughout the world, with a specific focus on issues concerning sustainability, development, and national security. An upset former employee said this on Indeed "I did an internship at CDS years ago and was placed under someone who had never supervised anyone. She was a mean, old therapist who made my going in everyday dreadful. She was negative, critical and just tried to make my life hard. I asked to be placed under someone else and was let go. I luckily found a great internship and excelled. This was an awful experience and management sucked". Tell the world why Call Cds sucks! Gary Moore says "Today the power went out in Paoli PA 2 times during the day and another time at 10:43 pm ,this time the generator was running and there was no power in the house. So I called emergency service and the serviceman got ten minutes from the house and called then turned around while I was waiting , all I know he was rude and it was a service failure and I bought the 5 year maintenance plan. My generator is paid for, the emergency plan cost $1500 pre paid . I strongly advise not to do business with this company after you experience not getting what you paid for. I want my money back for a service failure.If it walks like a snake and talks like a snake ,its a snake.This company does not have anything to offer if it can not be on time and fulfill its contractual obliigations. Because they are obligated. I am a licensed aircraft mechanic trained I would not trust them to do good work, I suspect sabotage, I would not trust them to do work, they would sabotage the equipment based on information and belief. I made a emergency call and they lied and said they were comeing out and said they were 10 minutes out from my home then they never showed up. I would never trust them.That's called non performance of contract obligations, and deceit, because I paid 1500 for a 5 year maintenance contract with emergency service they did not intend to do ,but they want the money. Theft of services is what it is and I am pressing charges" RIDDEL says "I have no indication that my generator was serviced. No document was indicating the date of service or the service performed." ANDRADE says "I did not receive a phone call before CDS showed up to do maintenance @ my house. I like to be home when maintenance is being conducted. I called and complained,....I was told that they called me on my cell phone that is not true I did check my cell phone and no phone call was received....After talking with Denise Rogers last year I requested that my cell phone 301 672 2959 be removed from your listing and only use my home phone 301 855 3159." Stan says "Disorganized company, very poor business processes, poor communication, stuck in 1970s technology" Retrieved from "https://everything.sucks/index.php?title=Call_Cds&oldid=29756"	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line721
__label__cc	0.624716	0.375284	Good Boundaries; Good Family Business Relationships People Matters Succession by Rochelle Clarke July 15, 2020 July 15, 2020 Sometimes, the informality of working in some family business can be a great blessing… or a dreadful curse. For some successors and other family members, the relaxed atmosphere of working with family provides welcome space to be themselves. For others, it frustratingly turns work/life balance into a hopeless illusion. Sooner or later, most family members find themselves in the second camp. When work starts to encroach on everyday life—from Sunday dinners to family picnics— family members can feel as though their lives have been taken captive by the family business. In helping overwhelmed family members who work together, we’ve seen what happens when successors fail to acknowledge the creeping pressure and combat it with healthy boundaries. The best way to build those boundaries is to talk about them early and often along the family business journey for the long term success of the business. An ounce of proactive boundary-setting early in the process is worth a pound of awkward conversation and explosive conflict later on. In these conversations, there are three critical questions that need to be addressed: How can a family member let the others know he or she is feeling overwhelmed? How can a family member address intrusive behaviour from other family members? How can the family work together to collectively balance their home/work lives? Boundaries are as individual as our finger prints. What may be OK for me, may not be OK for you. There is no way that someone else could correctly guess where your boundaries lie unless you tell them. At times, we may not even know where our own boundaries lie until we experience that feeling of discomfort. The only way that someone else will know for sure that a boundary has been crossed, is when you voice it. At the end of the day, achieving perfect work/life balance can be tough for everyone—successors and employees alike. The best way to protect all employees, whether they are family members or not, is to use healthy communication to get out in front of it as soon as possible. Just imagine working in a business where employees have the freedom to be at their best in an environment that brings out the best. Where they have the mental separation from the business when they need it; where intrusive behaviour from other family members or employees is addressed. How can family members in your business develop healthy boundaries? Snap Learning – Building Robust Systems To Help Deal With The New Normal Swire Properties Named Hong Kong’s Most Attractive Employer Rochelle Clarke Rochelle Clarke, is founder and CEO of Succession Strength, a company that keeps good businesses in business for generations. She regularly writes articles in Forbes on the topic of business longevity and continuity. Part 'referee'; part strategic guide for entrepreneurs and families in business, Rochelle combines her expertise with that of her team in helping business owners stay in operation for generations by protecting the business operations and helping families in business thrive through generational change. Her areas of focus are Communication, Governance and Successor Preparation and Support. She is the author of The 5 Critical Succession Conversations: A Comprehensive Guide for The Family Business and has appeared in a number of global publications like The New York Times, Family Office Magazine, Business Leader, The CEO Magazine to name a few. Succeeding In Family Business – Building An Outstanding Leadership Team Paul Andrews October 19, 2020 October 19, 2020 What They See Is What You Get! Greg McCann September 1, 2016 December 2, 2020 Six Reasons Why The Tidal Wave Of Transitions Has Not Happened Paul Andrews May 31, 2015 June 2, 2020 Still time to book your complimentary ticket to hear from GB Paralympian Sammi Kinghorn on her journey and how to p… https://t.co/dw3mB9wK4C	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line727
__label__cc	0.619957	0.380043	Iceland Creates Over 3,000 New Jobs England News UK by Paul Andrews October 7, 2020 Supermarket Iceland has created more than 3,000 new jobs to enable it to meet a 300% increase in demand for home deliveries since August 2019, with lockdown driving particularly strong growth in online orders in the first half of the year. The 3,000+ new colleagues include both additional delivery drivers and the expansion of Iceland’s supporting in-store teams. As lockdown was announced in the UK, demand for Iceland’s delivery service surged leading to a four-fold increase in delivery orders, placed both online and in store, via the retailer’s Home Delivery service. With Iceland now having the ability to handle three-quarters of a million orders every week, the supermarket has undertaken a recruitment drive to meet the ongoing demand. The trend towards online shopping and home deliveries shows no sign of slowing down as the weather shifts over the coming weeks and months and Iceland is meeting the demand head on by increasing its delivery fleet by 30%. Lucky London customers can get their groceries delivered in just 20 minutes to their office or home thanks to Iceland’s new partnership with UberEats, the retailer’s latest move to expand its delivery capabilities. The online delivery service provides pick-ups from Iceland’s Hackney store to those in the city. The pandemic forced Iceland, along with many other retailers, to change its normal operating style in order to support its local communities. An Iceland store manager in West Belfast was the first to introduce vulnerable shopping hours, an inspiring initiative which led to a nationwide roll-out by Iceland and the adoption of similar initiatives by all major grocery retailers. David Devany, Chief Customer and Digital Officer at Iceland Foods, said: “We’ve been blown away by the demand for deliveries over the past six months with a four-fold increase in online orders since the beginning of lockdown. We see no sign of a slowdown in the demand for deliveries in the run up to Christmas, so a recruitment drive for more permanent staff was essential. “Our store and delivery colleagues have gone above and beyond during lockdown introducing incredible measures to help their local communities, and I’m proud that our business has been able to adapt to the changing needs of our customer.” Iceland offers free next day delivery on orders over £35, and a Home Delivery service in many of its high street stores, offering in-store customers the choice of a same day home delivery. John Good Logistics Continues Global Expansion Boost In Prepared Meals Results In New Family Firm Jobs Paul Andrews Paul is the founder and editor-in-chief of Family Business United, the global magazine and resource centre that brings together the family business community via news, insights, research, events and much more besides. He is also recognised as one of the Top 100 Global Family Business Influencers. The Clock Struck Gold For Midlands Based Smith Of Derby Paul Andrews June 26, 2020 June 26, 2020 Sweet Little Mystery At Golden Casket Paul Andrews April 30, 2019 May 31, 2020 JCB Serves Up 25,000th Meal Paul Andrews June 8, 2020 June 9, 2020 A fabulous #familybusiness story as the third generation makes their mark at Colemans, crafting out the future of t… https://t.co/dFSFRO8ULH	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line728
__label__cc	0.710988	0.289012	Touch Me I'm Sick By sgadmin October 23, 2012 531 None of the lockout news coming out today, and what little of it there is, will encourage you. And the dearth of it simply makes me sick. I’m sure I’m not the only one. Locally, Patrick Kane is the first big-name Hawk to jump the pond and head overseas (sorry Bicks and Stals and Fro). He has signed with EHC Biel of the Swiss League, probably so he once again pants a team that either Rick Nash or Joe Thornton is on. Oh my god, do you have to check out the Team Page for them, as they’re all done up to look like extras in 300 in hockey pads. Biel is already sporting Marc-Antoine Pouliot and Tyler Seguin (see how he sticks out on that roster page). I’m sure Seguin and Kane will in no way lay to waste whatever they find in front of them in the Swiss League. It’ll probably feel like London all over again for Kaner. There are some who fear it means that Kane has come to the conclusion that the NHL won’t be back for a while, and that may be it. Maybe things have been in the works for weeks and only now just got completed, and he’s tired of just having workouts and wants to get some games in now. Maybe Kane figured that spots were going to get harder and harder to find the longer he waited and he’d better go now for however long it will be.I don’t know what it means. But it shouldn’t mean that this thing is going to drag out. Even the thought of it could makes me want to vomit up things I haven’t even ingested. The main story today on the NHL level was this ridiculous memo that went out that allowed GMs and other execs to talk to players for two days to explain the NHL proposal. Is it probably an attempt to split union members from the PA? Yeah, it is. It’s a chance for the owners to get their terms to the rabble without their leaders spinning it, and the owners getting to spin it without spinning it. Has the PA leadership but spinning things to the foot soldiers that might not be true? So it seems with this sudden objection to anything resembling escrow, no matter how necessary it might be. Is this something the NHLPA should use to stonewall negotiations even more? No, it is not. Again, it is sickening that both sides are trying to prove how angry they are at each other instead of getting to an agreement. Guess what numbnuts on both sides, whenever you do reach an agreement, you’re still going to be angry at the other side. That’s generally what a deal is, when both sides leave unhappy. This is no longer the players holding out for 57% and the owners offering 43%. Both sides have put out 50-50 there. Yeah, both offers had holes, but that’s what negotiating fucking is. And now they can’t even agree on how to meet. An agreement is staring them in the face, and yet both sides are intent on putting their hands over their eyes and screaming before they hit themselves with a tennis racquet. At this point, I’m getting to the point where I hope the game is irrevocably damaged. Yeah, it might mean the end of my business, but at this point it’s what both sides deserve because it’s the outcome both refuse to see. Because let’s just say they cancel games officially instead of just dates. Or let’s say just enough fans are poisoned beyond the point of return. Let’s say revenues drop 10% this season, which I don’t think is unreasonable to suggest. That’s 330 million dollars. Or another way, almost three times the difference in their proposals from last week. Understand that. Simply to win a dick measuring contest, they would cost themselves 230 million to split up. And what’s worse is that mine and the thousands of others expressing our sickness at this won’t matter a jot. Tags: Blackhawks nhl lockout Patrick Kane touch me I'm sick Checking In With The Kids Morning Links 10/24 Game #48 – We Need New Pornos. Guess I’m Still Writing – Hawks 2, Leafs 2 (Leafs Win Sap Boil) By John Pullega January 24, 2018 Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – February 1st By Sam Fels February 1, 2019 Gibby Wasn’t Talking About This Outfit: Avs at Hawks Preview/Clinic Hours By March 19, 2017	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line732
__label__wiki	0.939858	0.939858	March 2, 2020 Craig Eagles @Eags37 InFocus with Craig Eagles Leave a comment Dieppe New Brunswick’s Cole Cormier has experienced a lot in his short time in the QMJHL. From making the Rimouski Oceanic out of camp last season to being sent back to Midget, to finally realizing his dream to play in the Q. The highly skilled 17-year-old forward was eager to write the next chapter in his hockey career and prove he could be an impact player in the QMJHL. Photo Credit the Rimouski Océanic https://firstdownsportspodcast.com/2019/08/19/his-own-path/ Everything was going to plan. Everything looked to be falling into place. Nevertheless, the start of his career rivals that of a Hollywood drama. Cormier was finally hitting his stride with the Océanic when the business side of the game temporarily interrupted his progress. Cormier would find out he was being traded to the Quebec Remparts. “Playing in Rimouski was an unbelievable experience,” Cormier said proudly. “I loved it there.” Photo Credit Sherbrooke Times “I have so many good memories from my time in Rimouski.” “I had good people surrounding me, from the coaching staff, my teamates and everyone involved.” “They made it a very fun place to play,” confessed Cormier. Sometimes the business side of the game is off side, but Cormier certainly doesn’t see it that way. “I was in shock and I was a bit disappointed.” In his short time in the Q, Cormier proved he could be an effective top six forward in the league, now it was time to show people he could be a critical piece to build a team around. The mature soft spoken kid from Dieppe, handled the shock of being traded and early minor set backs or growing pains like a true pro. “When I got traded I think Serge was obviously upset it wasn’t part of the plan, but he had to make moves to build a winning team.” “It’s a part of the business,” Cormier said. “Like I said I was a bit disappointed, but after that my mindset changed, I felt very fortunate to be apart the Remparts.” It’s difficult at any time to be traded especially when you’re seventeen and just getting settled into a new city and creating deep friendships with your teammates and billet family’s.” “I was very close with a lot of players, but Colten Ellis and I really grew a big friendship over time.” “I saw him as very professional and a great role model.” “It’s definitely tough leaving that friendship and Rimouski,” Cormier said. The trade to a rebuilding team also meant a new opportunity. Cole Cormier was taught at a very young age to confront adversity head on and to always stay positive. “I was ready to start a new chapter with another first class organization,” Cormier said. “Quebec City has been great so far. Obviously it’s a big city with a lot of fans, it’s been a blast.” What about playing for Patrick Roy? “Patrick is a great coach, but most of all he’s a great guy.” “Patrick cares a lot about the process and the development of the players and I really respect the way he does things,” Cormier said. The one constant in all of this has been Cormier’s relentless pursuit of his dream and willingness to improve. “I always try to improve on every asset of my game, but my speed is definitely something I try to work on everyday along with my strength and physical play,” Cormier said. Hard work, dedication, persistence, skill and perseverance that’s Cole Cormier and that’s why his draft stock continues to soar. Cormier was left off of NHL Central Scouting’s Players to Watch List, but made their 2nd list released in January where he was ranked 115th overall amongst North American Skaters. “It’s fun to see your name on the Central Scouting list, but I try to stay away from those things and try to focus on my journey and take it day by day,” explained Cormier. What would it mean to hear his name called in June at the NHL Entry Draft. “It would really be unbelievable.” “All the work I’ve put in to hockey, it would be a day to remember forever and the first step of my dream.” Cole Cormier’s story is far from over. The newest chapter has yet to be written. Previous Post: My Idol Next Post: Hockey’s Divide Widens with Handshake Decision	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line733
__label__wiki	0.812301	0.812301	The Next Wave: QMJHL Maritime NHL Draft Prospect Report March 28, 2020 Craig Eagles @Eags37 InFocus with Craig Eagles Leave a comment The next wave of Maritime talent is ready to embark on a journey to accomplish their dream of playing professional hockey. From the QMJHL ranks to knocking on the NHL’s door, players from this region continue to excel at the Q level. The dream of playing pro hockey isn’t so far fetched as once imagined for players coming from the Maritimes. An opportunity to play and the dream continues to fuel young Maritimers to believe that anything is possible when it comes to the game of hockey. Over the past five years I have had the privilege of covering the QMJHL from a broadcasting and journalist perspective. Over that time I’ve witnessed some amazing performances by players that call this region home. This feature will focus on those Maritimers currently playing and excelling in the QMJHL. This region continues to produce some of the games brightest up and coming stars. This year’s crop of 2002 QMJHL NHL Prospects is no different. Given the current COVID-19 crisis these young players won’t have the opportunity to showcase their talents in the President Cup Playoffs and beyond. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean NHL scouts haven’t seen their development and progression throughout their journey in the Q. It’s also noteworthy to showcase some overage Maritimers that might have the opportunity to sign pro contracts. For them the dream of playing pro hockey is still well alive. The unconventional path to the pros or the road less traveled is always the most rewarding. Josh Currie, Jordan Murray, Zack MacEwen and Philippe Myers are all perfect examples of Maritimers that have reached the pro level in their unique way. Nothing seems out of reach for young aspiring Maritimers given the one characteristic that defines them all. Work ethic. This year’s crop of 2002 born NHL Draft Prospects are blazing their own unique path in the game. Nicolas Savoie D Quebec Remparts Savoie is the quintessential stay at home two zone defencemen. The Dieppe, New Brunswick product plays in every situation for Patrick Roy and has certainly had two solid seasons up to date in the QMJHL. The strong skating solid puck moving defencemen isn’t flashy by any means, but that doesn’t make him any less effective. https://firstdownsportspodcast.com/2020/03/08/patient-and-persistent/ The one perceived knock against Savoie is a lack of offensive upside. At only 6’0 tall, most NHL scouts are also looking for other intangibles that may jump off the page, which could translate to the next level, like offence. Savoie does possess an above average shot from the point and does have the ability to rush the puck, but he choses to play a sound defensive style of game. Savoie was ranked 190th on the NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm List. Brady Burns F Saint John Sea Dogs Brady Burns is a dynamic scoring forward with elite level skill, scoring touch and play making ability. Burns was ranked 188th on NHL Central Scouting Midterm Report earlier this season. What a move by @bradyburns20! to win it for the @SJSeaDogs pic.twitter.com/THkundZVhk — Craig Eagles (@Eags37) October 18, 2019 If Brady Burns was 6’0 feet tall and above, he would be well inside the first two rounds of the draft rankings, but clearly he’s not. Listed at 5’8 Burns continues to amaze in his second season in the Port City. At times last year Burns seemed lost amongst the trees, but the highly skilled forward had a breakout second half and found a way to excel and have offensive success. The Port Williams, Nova Scotia product is as elusive as they come and can certainly pick and choose his spots to generate offence at every turn. Burns is a throw back player who is arguably within the top 10 most naturally gifted players in the QMJHL. Obviously, Burn’s size and ability to play a full 200ft game has NHL scouts questioning his place in the draft and perhaps at the next level. Those are pretty massive questions or concerns to be addressed, but it’s all about projecting. I can guarantee you no one has ever questioned that young man’s individual skill set and hockey sense. Burns is a shifty speedy forward, but in my opinion will have to get even faster if he wants to play at the next level. Charlie Desroches D Saint John Sea Dogs Charlie Desroches is another exceptional defender from PEI. There must be something in the water over there, because the Island keep producing elite level defencemen. https://firstdownsportspodcast.com/2019/06/30/trust-the-process/ Desroches is a highly skilled puck mover and extremely gifted skater with great vision and a first pass. Desroches had a fantastic rookie season last year in the Port City and was the one bright light on a very young and inexperienced blueline. The proud Islander may have seen his draft stock fall slightly, but when I spoke to him earlier this season he had already interviewed with sixteen NHL teams. There’s no question, Desroches is a special talent who’s game can certainly translate to the next level. The young right shooting D-man thinks the game extremely, but needs to take charge a little bit more in certain areas and at certain times in the game. There’s no doubt Jeremie Poirier got all of the attention this season, but in my opinion, Desroches is more complete and plays a much more detailed two-way game. Desroches was 169th on the Central Scouting list, which is quite low in my opinion. There’s no question, Desroches has been playing in the shadow of Poirier, and needs more offensive opportunities to flourish. Desroches has been matched up against other team’s top lines on year long which is great for his defensive game, but that’s a big reason his point totals are down. Poirier logged close to half or well over half the Dogs first power play unit time so Desroches only saw 2nd unit PP minutes while logging 1st PK minutes. It’s undeniable, Charlie Desroches can flat out play the game. The kid from Days Corner, has an extra gear and we definitely saw that in the the second half before the cancellation of the season. The sky is the limit for Charlie Desroches. Cole Cormier F Quebec Remparts Cole Cormier has experienced a lot in his short time in the QMJHL. https://www.google.ca/amp/s/firstdownsportspodcast.com/2020/03/02/a-new-chapter/amp/ From making the Oceanic out of camp last season to being sent back to Midget, to making the Oceanic this season and having success, to being left off Central Scouting’s first list to getting traded to the Quebec Remparts at the deadline, Cole Cormier has seen it all in his short time in the circuit. The one constant in all of this has been Cormier’s relentless pursuit of his dream. Cormier certainly hit his full stride in the QMJHL this season scoring 16 goals and would have definitely surpassed the 20 goal mark if the season hadn’t been canceled due to COVID-19 crisis. It was truly great to see him get some recognition for all his efforts on the NHL Central Scouting list at 115th overall. Cormier is a powerful skater with great agility and edge control, but perhaps his best weapons are his hockey sense and shot. Cormier has a pro release and is always a threat when he’s on the ice, because he can basically score from anywhere. Cormier has adjusted very well to playing without the puck and playing against bigger and stronger players. At the early stages of the year, Cormier struggled and was getting pushed off pucks because of lack of leverage and understanding hoe to use his lower body to protect and shield the puck from the opposition. Clearly Cormier has addressed that issue and is starting to put up points at an alarming clip. Hard work, dedication, persistence, skill and perseverance that’s Cole Cormier. Cormier’s draft stock continues to soar. You can guarantee Cole Cormier will stay grounded and committed to process and won’t get caught up in looking at the numbers or rankings for that matter. For Cormier it’s all about progressing and getting better every time he steps on the ice. Lukas Cormier D Charlottetown Islanders After suffering a broken foot earlier in the season Lukas Cormier has seamlessly picked up right where he left off leading the Islanders offensive charge from the backend. The dynamic skating defender has drawn many comparisons to NHL standouts like Samuel Girard and Torey Krug. https://t.co/UbXBw0pjmX?amp=1 Cormier has ability to control the pace of the game and is extremely accountable in all three zones and certainly doesn’t shy away from the physical aspect of the game and position. Can Cormier jump into the NHL’s 1st round come June? One knock on Cormier from a NHL Scouting perspective will always be his size. Size certainly doesn’t matter when you have Cormier’s overall talent, but the question remains can the St-Marie-de-Kent product handle the physical demands of the game and position at the next level? It’s all about projecting, and by all accounts Cormier has excelled at every level thus far so what’s saying he can’t continue to do so. Cormier will have to take “a less is more” approach and not force the issue in the second half of the season and beyond. In my opinion, that’s one area that Cormier struggles with because he cares so much about winning. You see Lukas Cormier tries to do too much at times which causes him to turn pucks over or get caught up the ice. That’s the only knock that I have on the young man, and to be brutally honest, that aspect of his game is easily correctable. Lukas Cormier is amongst the world’s elite and he’s getting better by the minute. Cormier was 27th overall on the Midterm List earlier this season. There’s no place to go but up for Cormier and I think the Islanders star defenceman might in fact sneak into June’s 1st round. Ryan Francis C Cape Breton Eagles Ryan Francis was ranked 43rd on the NHL Central Midterm List earlier this season and it’s clear the high scoring kid from Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia has certainly caught the attention of NHL Scouts with his performance over the last two seasons in the QMJHL. Francis has a motor that never stops. His relentless compete level and determination to win puck battles in all zones of the ice is truly extraordinary. From a purely skill perspective, Francis scores off the charts. His creativity, vision and passing ability makes him offensive threat every time he steps on the ice. Photo Credit The Cape Breton Post https://firstdownsportspodcast.com/2020/01/04/a-very-dangerous-team-the-cape-breton-eagles-are-ready-to-take-flight/ Sure Francis plays with Egor Sokolov and Tyler Hinam, but this kid creates his own offence and creates offensive opportunities for them as well. Ryan Francis can do it all, but again the knock on the him has always been his size. Is he strong enough physically to play at the next level and excel? Obviously it would depend on the right organization and the right situation, but who knows? It’s all about projecting and that’s extremely hard to do, but that’s part of the job. No one has ever doubted Francis’ skill and determination, will that be enough to get him drafted into the National Hockey League? I don’t doubt it a bite. Justin Barron D Halifax Mooseheads One can only imagine what Justin Barron and his family went through earlier this season dealing with a blood clot that sidelined arguably the best defenceman in the QMJHL. Thank goodness for the Mooseheads Athletic Therapist Robin Hunter who diagnosed the clot almost instantly or things could have taken a tragic turn. It was unclear if the star defencemen would return to action this season, but it was great to see the Halifax, Nova Scotia product return late in the season. NHL scouts flocked to see Barron play in ultimately the final two weeks of the QMJHL season. They all know what this kid can do, NHL Scouts have been watching Barron for quite some time and know exactly what the highly skilled puck moving and transitional defencemen can really do. Barron’s skill set is off the charts and he checks off all the boxes when it comes to the proverbial NHL defencemen. There’s no question Justin Barron is arguably the most complete defencemen in the entire QMJHL. Barron was slotted in at 15th overall during the Mid term report. It would be a shame to that young man drop in the NHL Central Scouting rankings due to him not playing. https://firstdownsportspodcast.com/2019/11/05/barron-embracing-nhl-draft-year-pressure/ Time will tell, but rest assured Justin Barron deserves to be 1st rounder, he’s earned it. Pro Potential Jeremy McKenna and Tyler Hinam are certainly the front runners for potentially signing pro contracts this off season. https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/undrafted-jeremy-mckenna-ready-prove-doubters-wrong-flames/sn-amp/ https://www.google.ca/amp/s/firstdownsportspodcast.com/2020/02/07/jeremy-mckennas-impact-goes-beyond-the-stat-sheet-for-the-moncton-wildcats/amp/ Hinam has already committed to the USports route with the Acadie Axemen, but I’m sure Hinam’s play over the course of his QMJHL career has garnered a lot of attention from NHL scouts. Hinam is a high character player with exceptional drive and compete level. https://www.google.ca/amp/s/firstdownsportspodcast.com/2020/01/06/coming-home-for-another-shot-at-a-championship/amp/ https://www.google.ca/amp/s/firstdownsportspodcast.com/2019/05/29/the-perseverance-of-a-champion-tyler-hinam/amp/ When the stakes are at their highest Tyler Hinam always rises to the occasion! The Summerside Sniper has been there all before signing on the dotted line last season with Calgary Flames. McKenna decided to return to the Moncton Wildcats in October for one final shot at junior hockey supremacy. His dream to hoist the President Cup and Memorial Cup came to a very sad ending with the cancellation of the season. McKenna is a natural scorer that undoubtedly will score a ton of goals at the pro level. The Maritimes continue to produce skilled and high character young men whose passion and love for the game is truly unparalleled. Previous Post: The Next Wave: QMJHL Maritime Prospect Report Next Post: Hockey’s Dark Subculture: Key “Board” Warriors	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line734
__label__wiki	0.568938	0.568938	Bitcoin Bitcoin Investment Bitcoin Market CryptoCurrency Bitcoin Wave This Time Sees Mature Investor Participation Dec 26, 2020 bitcoin analysis, bitcoininvestors, bitcoinmarket, bitcoinnews Ashish Nitin Patel made his first bet on bitcoin in late 2017 amidst the brouhaha around cryptocurrencies. He jumped in to make a quick buck, like most investors back in the day. But, as he learned more about the value proposition of the digital tokens, Patel stuck around.Initially the intention was a short-term investment, but now I firmly believe that some good projects (hedge funds, ETFs) can deliver good gains of about 5-10X over a long period of 1-3 years,” says the 28-year-old tech professional. After its first run-up three years ago, bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, is making headlines again on gaining nearly 242 per cent year to date, to trade at all time high levels of about USD 24,000. In the last four months alone, bitcoin’s price has surged by nearly 104 per cent. Cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX has reported a 3X QoQ growth in trading volume and 4X QoQ growth in daily active users. In October alone, it has registered a 25 per cent MoM growth in the number of users and 21 per cent MoM growth in average trade volume. Zebpay, one of the early exchanges in India, has recorded a 270 per cent QoQ surge in trading volume and 218 per cent increase in number of users trading in 2020. However, investors this time are in for the long-haul.Take the case of Delhi-based Shruti Vakhariya who made her first cryptocurrency investment in October this year. “I’d been meaning to buy bitcoin for a long time but only took the plunge after thoroughly reading up on the digital tokens and their applications,” she says. “My current holding has gained over 35 per cent but I’m in no hurry to cash out. I see a lot of value in cryptocurrencies and want to remain invested for a few years to see where this is going.” Digital-asset exchanges also confirm the trend that this time investors are not entering the space in the heat of the market sentiment. Vikram Rangala, chief marketing officer, ZebPay says users are behaving like long-term investors by holding on to their investments instead of quick buying and selling, as was the case during the 2017 rally.“In the two-week period of November 5-17 that kicked off the current bitcoin rally, despite a 46 per cent increase in BTC-INR (bitcoin-Indian Rupee) volume and a 48 per cent increase in the number of unique customers trading BTC, our withdrawals stabilized,” Rangala pointed. This behavior is in contrast to the 2017 run when most investors ploughed in a small amount and cashed out during the upsurge as they didn’t particularly wish to wait for a long time to receive the pay-offs, say industry stakeholders.“Our daily transaction volume right now is less compared to the 2017 rally but that’s because investors are not jumping in due to the fear of missing out,” says Sathvik Vishwanath, co-founder and CEO, Unocoin. The trend seems to be playing out globally. A report by blockchain and cryptocurrency analysis company Chainanalysis said there are fewer sellers in the market as compared to three years ago.So, what has changed in the last three years? Increasing Awareness and Adoption Monark Modi, founder and CEO, Bitex, a UAE-based digital currency exchange and a professional trading platform, says with increased awareness around cryptocurrencies, speculative trading has gone down.In fact, the 2017 rush opened the floodgates for small as well as institutional investors to seriously look at the space. Patel is a case in point. What started as a punt for him now accounts for 20 per cent of his total investment portfolio.Moreover, with improved tech and innovations over the years, emergence of crypto related index funds and hedge funds have made cryptocurrencies a legit alternative asset class to include in one’s investment portfolio. “The biggest change between 2017 and today is the rise of exchange traded BTC futures and options. The cryptocurrency derivative markets are substantial now. There are many ways to hedge against sudden price moves (of bitcoin),” explains William Quigley, MD and co-founder, Magnetic Capital, a US-based investment and incubation firm, and founder of WAX, a blockchain built for video games. “This has the effect of reducing price volatility that is strictly due to speculation.” “We’ve seen a substantial shift in people warming up to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a new asset class and not just a gamble,” says Rangala. Take the case of Viraj Shah. He entered the cryptocurrency space in August this year to diversify his portfolio. “With the lockdown, I was reading up a lot about diversifying my portfolio and I considered investing a small percentage of it in crypto currencies,” says the 20-something entrepreneur. Growing use cases of digital tokens has also supported their adoption. Top Crypto Mining Hardware to Expect in 2021 Chainlink’s Plans For Blockchain and Beyond in 2021	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line735
__label__cc	0.699181	0.300819	Krema V cremations lazamtlob Postby lazamtlob » 1 decade 5 years ago (Sat Sep 24, 2005 3:08 pm) Richard Perle wrote: By "bettered" and "enhanced" you mean doctored. No I mean bettered, because the pics was pretty beat up. Another curious thing is the second pic (282) which shows women being showed about. On the original pic you see skinny faceless women, but in the "bettered" you see a recognizable face of one women and their breasts have been lifted. Is that a revisionist deed? Skinny old women were doomed, but younger healtier were often spared. Is this pic a revisionist fraud? Location: Milwaukee Postby PLAYWRIGHT » 1 decade 5 years ago (Sat Sep 24, 2005 4:10 pm) lazamtlob wrote: J.C. Pressec in his book on Auschwitz also comments on the revised pic where the lady gets the boob job, and notes that that pic is in the Auschwitz State Museum. His interpretation is that it was an act of mercy by a sympathetic archivist. When the picture was altered wasn't clear, but it was in the late 1940's or early 1950's, before the revisionist's had the pic in hand. Probably done by the Poles, to make the pic more palatable? My guess, at least. But the fact that these are nothing but emaciated old ladies in the pic in itself is confusing. 1. According to the "story", the selections weeded out not only old women, but also children and pregnant women. Where are they in the picture? 2. This picture is supposedly of Hungarian women during the alleged Hungarian extermination of 1944. According the story, the Hungarians were quick loaded onto trains in Hungary, according to a carefully crafted master schedule made up by Adolf Eichmann and the Zionist Jew Rudolf Kastner. Between the time the Hungarians left their homes and the time they entered a gas chamber was supposed to never be more than 10 days, though some allege that some transports were delayed by the traffic jam, so it would have been longer. The Hungarians were told to take food along with them for the transport, and according to some Sonderkommando depositions, pilfering food, some of which included expensive meats, from the Hungarian's luggage was a major source of nutrition. So why are the women emaciated? If the Hungarian extermination story is true, they should have arrived in good condition. To the point on that, if you look at the picture in Hannover's AV, it's a pic of a transport of Hungarians to Auschwitz at about this time, with the phony smoke cloud added into the background by the Simon Weisenthal center. If you look at the Hungarians in that pic - there's a full sized version floating around - they are not only well-fed and healthy, with clean clothes - some of them are actually plump. I've toured Hungary, and they are very much into the epicurian delights of a lavishly stocked table, in other words, they like to eat. NOTE ON POINT TWO: I'm quite aware that over 100,000 Hungarian women were transported to Southern Germany to work in the aircraft factories around Regensburg, and that Albert Speer complained about the terrible physical condition that they arrived in. This was a completely seperate transport operation that was handled in an inept and chaotic manner. RICHARD PERLE: The burning body pics could not be the typhus victims of 1942. The barbed wire in the background is on solid concrete poles, buried deep in the ground, and the typhus pits weren't surrounded by barbed wire. If I remember correctly, they were outside the camp perimeter, and also at Auschwitz, not Birkenau. The concrete posts in the background seem consistent with Birkenau. Richard Perle Postby Richard Perle » 1 decade 5 years ago (Sat Sep 24, 2005 4:59 pm) I think you're right, but the summer of 1942 wasn't the only time when people were dying from typhus. I don't think revisionists have dismissed the idea that outdoor burnings happened on more than one occasion. Regarding the naked ladies, I think the picture is only clear enough to show that four of the people - the four walking - are old and female. Although that could be a man in a short-sleeved shirt behind the lady closest to us. Regarding their health, I am not even sure that they are emaciated. We don't generally see old women naked, but often they can look very skinny. I think there are probably websites that you could use to confirm this The fact of the matter is, all of these pictures depict scenes that have a bengin interpretation and don't prove anything that revisionists have a problem with. Anyone who has read any of the thorough, sober reasearch into camp activity will likely have imagined images just like these. The wooded area is right next to the central sauna on the air photo. Those naked women could just as easily be on their way to this building rather than a gas chamber. Moderator3 Postby Moderator3 » 1 decade 5 years ago (Sun Sep 25, 2005 9:38 am) I've deleted some of these posts, we very recently debated the supposed cremation images at: http://forum.codoh.com/viewtopic.php?t=1103 Add your posts there if you like. Read the guidelines. Postby Scott » 1 decade 5 years ago (Sun Sep 25, 2005 10:05 am) Vallon wrote: The following picture clearly shows that the contact prints were made with negatives #281 and #282 connected: (Note for example the edge of the film, where light had leaked in from the side.) I don't think so. That's on the contact print, not necessarily the negative. The two negative pieces were just overlapped when the print was made. And the white streak could be accounted for by poor developing of the negatives, using something to fasten the negatives onto the printing paper while contact printing, by bad film stock, or by a fault from the same camera. Nothing is conclusive without the negatives. Vallon wrote: As for the rags, I remember a witness from "Kanada" mentioning the name of the paper mill where the lowest quality clothes were sent to. Of course, I cannot remember now who that witness was or where I read it... That may indeed be what someone remembered, but that certainly does not make it correct. For example, one Auschwitz Survivor in the studio audience on the Donahue TV show adamantly remembered boiling Human Soap. Donahue chastized Revisionist Bradley Smith for telling her that she was simply WRONG and causing her distress--but his debate opponent, Dr. Michael Shermer had to admit that Smith was right. Postby Moderator3 » 1 decade 5 years ago (Sun Sep 25, 2005 10:14 am) Hello, can we read my posts?	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line738
__label__wiki	0.891364	0.891364	November new car sales ‘blown off course by significant headwinds’ By Natalie Middleton / 2 months ago / Latest News / No Comments UK new car registrations fell 27.4% in November; a direct result of the second coronavirus lockdown and the resultant shuttering of dealerships. Overall registrations were down 42,840 units year-on-year in November to 113,781 new cars – a level last seen during the 2008 recession – but EV and PHEV take-up continued to soar However, while the closure meant that registrations were down 42,840 units year-on-year to 113,781 new cars – a level last seen during the 2008 recession, according to the figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) – the 27.4% decline was vastly better than the 97.3% crash seen in April after the first lockdown came into effect. The SMMT said that dealers’ newly developed ‘click and collect’ capabilities had helped offset the showroom closures this time round. This is shown in the figures for the individual market segments; fleet was down 22.1% in November – obviously smaller than the overall 27.4% decline and comparing to a fall of 96.6% in April – and actually boosted its market share from 55.5% in November 2019 to 59.5% last month. Meanwhile, sub-25 ‘Business’ registrations were down 58.6%, compared to an 88.3% fall in April, while private registrations fell 32.2% in November (98.7% in April). More positively, demand for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) continued to grow significantly, up 122.4% and 76.9% respectively, and potentially supported by the PM’s announcement on 17 November of the widely anticipated 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars and vans. In fact, BEVs recorded their third highest-ever monthly share of registrations at 9.1%, while the PHEV share increased to 6.8%. In total, more than 18,000 new zero-emission capable cars were registered last month. In terms of year-to-date figures across all fuel types, the data clearly shows the impact of the pandemic on the car sector, with the market now down 30.7% for the first 11 months of 2020, a drop of some 663,761 units. Fleet is down 32.9% YtD while ‘Business’ registrations have fallen 44.9% and private registrations are down 27.3%. Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “Compared with the spring lockdown, manufacturers, dealers and consumers were all better prepared to adjust to constrained trading conditions. But with £1.3bn worth of new car revenue lost in November alone, the importance of showroom trading to the UK economy is evident and we must ensure they remain open in any future Covid restrictions. More positively, with a vaccine now approved, the business and consumer confidence on which this sector depends can only improve, giving the industry more optimism for the turn of the year.” EY has said the data shows how a ‘perfect storm’ for the auto sector blew November car sales off course by significant headwinds. David Borland, EY UK & Ireland automotive leader, said: “The perfect storm of challenges affecting the automotive industry continues unabated, with the pandemic, Brexit and supply issues all impacting consumer confidence and demand for new vehicles. “Against this backdrop and lockdown 2.0 closing showrooms for the month of November, it comes as no surprise that new registrations suffered significantly.” He also said that ‘playing the long game’ could be key to the sector’s rejuvenation longer-term. “With the recent announcements by the Government in its ‘Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’, which included the sales ban of ICE vehicles from 2030; closely followed by the 2020 Spending Review and the planned investment of £1.9bn across charging infrastructure and consumer incentives, it is clear that the longer-term transformation is as important as the challenges the sector faces today. “The UK can be a long-term competitive player in automotive manufacturing if there is significant investment in battery development, production and the associated supply chain. The investment confirmed in the Spending Review is a welcome first step in the right direction for both the UK automotive sector and consumers. “The consumer grants will reduce the impact of the higher purchase price of electric vehicles and will be an important factor in the shift to zero-emission vehicles. Investment in the energy sector and charging infrastructure is also a critical step forward, alleviating the concerns of many potential EV buyers around: access to charging at home, duration of charge times, and anxiety over sufficient battery range. But given recent estimates of the number of charging points needed across the UK to support mainstream EV adoption by consumers, further investment may still be needed to support successful roll-out and adoption.” The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) also said that it was important that businesses and customers continue to be supported during this transition to EVs, while highlighting just how vital a trade deal with the EU is for the overall sector. However, it had some positive news on the results of the initial days out of lockdown. Chief executive Sue Robinson commented: “The first few days of the month have been busy with pent-up demand driving sales and franchised dealers are looking forward to a buoyant December as the UK emerges from lockdown.” Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for 16 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day. As Business Editor, Natalie ensures the group websites and newsletters are updated with the latest news. Previous: More than half of motorists now driving fewer miles Next: CMA to explore EV charging to ensure drivers are treated fairly	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line740
__label__wiki	0.89879	0.89879	Watchlist 0 Netflix Guides Leaving Netflix Recommended movies See all Need a Laugh? Check Out the Best Quirky Comedies on Netflix Weird and funny. A list of really quirky comedies on Netflix. Immerse yourself in culture with the Best Italian Movies on Netflix Some of the world's best films have made their way from Italy right onto our Netflix stream, and we're highlighting the very best Italian movies Netflix has to ... The Best Indie films on Netflix On your next movie night, start here for the best indie films on Netflix. Guilt Free Screentime: The 20 Best Documentaries for Kids on Netflix Kid-friendly documentaries that highlight important topics, like compassion, conservation, and empathy. Browse the Netflix catalog Any genre before the 50's Movie runtime Any runtime 80 to 100 min 100 to 140 min 3 hours+ Netflix release date IMDb rating Hide Bollywood movies The best fantasy movies from the 2010's on Netflix Found movies Top recently added movies The best movies added to Netflix in the last 14 days. Netflix Guides See all It's Up To You: Netflix's Interactive Titles Those who fondly remember the Choose Your Own Adventure bookswill thrill in Netflix’s interactive offerings, especially when given a chance to tell Bear Gryll... Need an Adrenaline Hit? Check Out The Best Survival Movies on Netflix Netflix has dozens of captivating survival movies, and we’ve rounded up fifteen of their very best. Specifically Scary: 6 Great Horror Movies with a Lovecraftian Vibe on Netflix Lovecraftian horror movies tap into an unshakeable fear. Those brave enough to confront it can start here, with the best Lovecraftian films on Netflix. Movies in Spanish on Netflix: Travel without leaving your couch Some of the can’t-miss films in Spanish on Netflix right now. Ready to Sleep With the Lights On? Curl Up With Netflix's Best Horror Series Zombies, ghosts, and maniacal killers. A list of the best horror series on Netflix. The Best Historical Series on Netflix: Travel Back In Time Series that transport the viewer to a foreign land and time. Travel in Space and Time With These Sci-fi Movies on Netflix Movies with spaceships, justice, comedy and cool special effects. Escape to Another World with the Best Fantasy Series on Netflix Monsters, magic, and superpowers. The very best fantasy series Netflix has to offer. Cancel Your Plans! The Best Korean Dramas On Netflix Are Totally Addictive Frustrated elite teens, determined revenge stories, and fairy tale remakes. Check out these K-dramas. Bring on the Competition: The Best Sports Docuseries on Netflix High stakes, big wins, and devastating losses. The most impactful, riveting, and inspirational sports docuseries on Netflix. Want a weekly summary of the best additions on Netflix? Sign up for our weekly newsletter containing the best newly added movies and TV shows on Netflix in the U.S.. We won't share your email with anyone. Netflix facts and stats Netflix, January 2021 new movies on Netflix new episodes on Netflix titles leaving Netflix soon titles in the Netflix catalog What is Flixboss? Flixboss is the unofficial guide to the best movies and series currently available to stream on Netflix. We keep track of all new additions to the catalog and let you know what's new and what's good. What are the best movies on Netflix right now? Going by IMDb ratings, the 5 best movies available on Netflix right now are: The Shawshank Redemption, Schindler's List, Inception, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and The Matrix. Why do movies and TV shows sometimes disappear from the Netflix catalog? Netflix licenses most of their titles (except "Originals") from studios around the world. These agreements run for a certain time, after which Netflix will decide whether they want to renew or not. Sometimes renewing isn't possible, for example if another streaming service licensed the title exclusively. Other times they find that the title isn't popular enough to warrant the cost of renewing. In that case, if you find that your favorite movie is leaving Netflix, it's probably because not enough people watched it and it was too expensive for them to keep it around. Check out the "Leaving Netflix"-page to find out what you need to see now, before it is too late What are Netflix Originals? Movies and shows branded as "Netflix Originals" have been either produced directly by Netflix or licensed exclusively, so they are not available for viewing on any other streaming platform. The first Original, the critically acclaimed series House of Cards, was released in February 2013 and since then there have been over 1,500 Originals. Why doesn't the Netflix catalog contain the same titles in every country? Netflix is currently available in over 190 countries. Studios and content producers license their titles to streaming services on a per-country basis, meaning Netflix pays a sum for each country a movie or TV series should be available in. Since audiences in different countries have different preferences it doesn't always make sense for Netflix to buy the global rights to a title. After all, a Turkish crime drama series would probably work great in Turkey, but maybe won't be as popular in Australia or Canada. Can I change my Netflix region to be able to watch titles available in other countries? Yes! Due to how content is licensed you are only supposed to have access to the titles that are available in the country you are currently in. But, using something called a VPN you can make it look like you are connecting from a different location, thus giving you access to hundreds (or thousands) of titles available in other regions. A what...? V-P-N? Sounds complicated! Well, it's actually quite simple and you can be up and running in about 5 minutes. There are two providers that we recommend: NordVPN and ExpressVPN. Both provide a 30-day money back guarantee and are very easy to set up: Once set up, the cost is usually $3-$10 per month (depending on the length of the subscription) and as a bonus, you can use them for other geo-blocked streaming services as well (Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, BBC iPlayer etc.). Well worth it, in our opinion. So... what is Flixboss? Browsing the Netflix catalog can be a frustrating experience. It's hard to know what's good and it's easy to waste a lot of time trying to find something to watch. Flixboss solves this by providing a better way to discover and browse the complete list of movies and series available on Netflix in the U.S.. In short: it's an improved search engine for Netflix. Flixboss is not affiliated with Netflix. 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__label__cc	0.618227	0.381773	Forestedgebooks.com Trish Mercer's book series dedicated to the realization that the world IS out to get you. Start Reading the Books! Trish Mercer choose your obedience How a Pepperidge Farms cake revealed that everyone is obedient to something, if they realize it or not October 19, 2016 trishmercer Leave a comment My friend “Sally” has a brother who openly belittles her for being “blindly obedient” to her religion. Privately, Sally struggles to think more charitably of “John” who she thinks is a jerk. One summer their parents invited Sally’s family and John’s family to share their condo at the beach. They agreed until they found out—too late—that each other’s family would be there. So Sally, her husband, and three kids decided to try to be cordial to Jon, his wife and two kids. But things started off rocky, because while John and his family arrived at the condo on Saturday, Sally and her husband has responsibilities at their church and didn’t want to miss it. Normally they avoided travel on Sundays, but to keep the family peace, they left after church and arrived at the condo that evening. It wasn’t good enough. John greeted them with, “You and that stupid church of yours. I swear, you’re so blindly obedient to it that you fear to miss even one day? Check-in to the condo was yesterday, you know. You were supposed to be here then.” Sally was determined to be kind, even though it was silently eating her gut. She had called the condo earlier and they told her check-in started on Saturday, but they could check in at any time that week. However, Sally gritted her teeth and said, “Thank you for getting the place for us.” She decided not to further ruin her Sabbath by getting in an argument about her “blind obedience.” Jon had quit religion when he was a teenager, and thought Sally was ridiculous for giving up her Sundays. The next morning, Sally got up to make her kids their favorite muffins. She dumped the mixes in the bowl and proceeded to whip the contents into a froth. “Whoa!” John exclaimed as he came in the kitchen. “That’s not how you make muffins!” He snatched the bowl out of her hands, picked up the box with instructions, and said, “Look—it clearly says, ‘Mix gently until just moistened.’ Can’t you follow directions?” She grabbed the bowl back, trying not to feel like a twelve-year-old again. “I know what the box says, but some months ago one of my kids made muffins, overmixed the batter, and we discovered that we much prefer that texture. Whipping improves the recipe, and this is how we like it!” She purposely whipped the batter even more, just to shock her brother who stormed out of the kitchen mumbling, “She can’t ever get things right . . .” The muffins turned out exactly how Sally and her family liked them. That day the weather was rough, so instead of spending it at the beach, the families hit the shops. Sally and John took their kids in different directions. One store on the boardwalk was particularly aggressive in trying to get parents to buy their children an overpriced stuffed animal they “made” themselves, then paying an extra $10 for that animal to wear a t-shirt from the beach. They advertised loudly that the bears were the item to have that year, and the employees went so far as to herd families into the store. Sally and her husband purposely steered their kids away. They had a budget for the trip, and told each of the kids how much they could spend on them. “That bear, all by itself,” Sally’s husband told their kids, “would take all of your souvenir money. One toy for all of you? But instead of a bear that wears a t-shirt, how about each of you get a t-shirt for school? The shop over there has a deal, and you could each get three shirts and still have money left over for churros.” The decision was easily made, because churros are the best, and when they went back to the condo at dinner time they had a dozen t-shirts for the whole family. They’d stopped at the grocery store to buy supplies for dinner—grilled cheese sandwiches, carrots with dip, and a favorite cake for dessert. Sally wasn’t surprised when they entered the condo and found John and his family already there, each of his kids with one of those bears, each with the extra $10 t-shirt. One of Sally’s kids said to her cousins, “My parents said those were too expensive. We bought us t-shirts instead.” As the cousins examined each other’s purchases, John smirked at Sally. “Too cheap to buy them stuffed animals?” “Not at $50 each,” Sally scoffed. “Our kids would stick them on a shelf then never play with them. I thought it was a useless purchase for us.” John scoffed back. “But it’s what you do at the beach! You buy them expensive souvenirs. That’s what credit cards are for.” Sally and her husband didn’t believe in using credit cards. John also predictably made fun of their grilled cheese sandwich dinner, (“But it’s our favorite!” Sally defended) and when someone knocked at the door, John announced, “There’s our dinner from the ‘Happy Harbor’.” John’s kids frowned as his wife paid the delivery boy. “But we hate seafood,” they complained. “Seafood is what you eat at the beach,” John told them, and set out their elaborate dinner of shellfish on the table on the back porch, so that any passers-by at the condo could see the bags advertising the most expensive restaurant in the area. Sally quietly made two more grilled cheese sandwiches and slipped them to John’s kids who wolfed them down before their parents announced that their seafood feast was laid out and ready. Sally’s family sat at the table indoors, not needing to show off their sandwiches, and perfectly satisfied to not have to dig their dinner out of shells like their cousins, whose complaints could be heard from outside. When it was time for dessert, Sally pulled out of the freezer their favorite: two frozen Pepperidge Farms cakes. John came in from the porch and frowned at the cakes she was removing from the boxes. “You’re not cutting those up frozen, are you?” “Of course I am,” Sally said. “They taste like ice-cream cake like this.” He grabbed the box and pointed at the words. “Look, right here. You’re supposed to defrost it in the fridge, first. Man, you can’t get anything right, can you? I’m taking my family out to the Ice Cream Shack for a proper dessert.” “But that place is pricey!” Sally exclaimed. “One scoop of ice-cream costs more than an entire cake.” “It’s supposed to be pricey. It’s the beach and it’s supposed to be the best! And don’t cut that cake while it’s frozen!” Enraged, he took his family—and his credit card—out for the evening. That’s when it hit Sally, and she told me later, “I realized at that moment that John belittled me not for my ‘blind obedience’ but because I wasn’t obedient to what he thought was important. His fury at my cutting a frozen cake was only a hint at a much bigger problem: “He, too, was exceptionally obedient—to what the world expects of him. His insistence that I follow the directions on the boxes? Obey the boxes. His buying those expensive bears because everyone else was? Obey the crowds. The ice-cream? Obey the marketing. “The trip became easier after that, because I finally understood my brother; he was scared of what people would think of him if it found out his sister wasn’t obedient to the world he worshiped, and he was terrified to not be seen what he thought it demanded he be doing. “I realized that all of us are obedient—wholly devoted—to something: maybe it’s a team, or a political party, or a religious organization, or a movement, or even ourselves that we set on a pedestal and worship. “That’s not necessarily wrong or bad. But it is if we don’t realize it, or if we didn’t make that choice consciously. “John didn’t recognize how blindly he followed the trends of the world, and worried that everyone was watching to make sure he did everything he was ‘supposed’ to do at the beach. But I doubt anyone even noticed him and his family’s ‘obedience.’ “Yes, I’m obedient to my church, because I’ve researched and lived by its teachings, and have discovered for myself that it’s the best way for me to live my life. That’s how we’ve done everything, from muffin mixes to how we spend our Sundays. There’s nothing blind about my obedience. Nothing blind at all. I’ve chosen what I’m obedient to, and it’s brought meaning and peace to my life. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure my brother can say the same thing.” But Jaytsy knew what she did love, and it was glorious to no longer worry about the world’s opinions. ~Book 4, The Falcon in the Barn Want updates about the books, or my pointless rantings? Sign up here! Clicking on the picture will whisk you away to Amazon. (The store, not the river.) Why I CHOOSE to write . . . Why I write . . .	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line745
__label__wiki	0.935928	0.935928	What is the Top rated Video Game Console? Gaming consoles came quite a distance since the Atari 2600 system and “Pong”. While discussing the most used video game systems, it will be logical to imagine that last year’s top console could consistently be one of the most up-to-date systems. The Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 console, and PlayStation 3 would one thinks of. Are you prepared for any shocker? The most famous gaming console of April, 2009 was the PlayStation 2! Yes, it is the same console that Sony had released nearly 10 years earlier, in 2000. About 140 million units and 2,000 games later, the PS2 remains to be going strong. You might be wondering: bed not the culprit the “most popular” console being defined? PS2 earned the title determined by recent Nielsen ratings. The ratings are calculated by totally the number of minutes gamers spent playing particular consoles, during an entire month. When Nielsen published its statistics for April of 2009, PlayStation 2 what food was in the most notable, earning 21.6% coming from all gaming minutes that month. The next most popular console was right on the PS2’s tail, with Xbox earning 21.1% with the total minutes. Nintendo wii gaming console was farther behind, at 17.6%, and Ps3 was next at 10.5%. You must certainly take these figures which has a dose of skepticism. One factor is that in April 2009, Xbox games were selling superior to all of those other video game consoles. Also, Nintendo released a lot of original titles towards the latter half of 2009. In reality, by November of 2009, the PS2 dropped to second invest the Nielsen ratings (19.8%). The Xbox was king in the ratings, earning 24.1% of usage minutes. Meanwhile, the Wii took third place (16.0%), and also the PS3 was at fourth place (12.4) Nonetheless, the sexual stamina with the PS2 is nothing short of incredible, considering how rapidly the gaming industry changes. Still, newer does not necessarily mean better. Remember all the hype surrounding Sony’s unveiling with the PS3? Nielsen’s figures show that it’s fallen well behind the Xbox 360 system and Wii, with regards to minutes played. So there will be something to get said about winning contests around the oldie-but-goodie PS2. What about those Nielsen ratings for Computer games? “World of Warcraft” continues to be typically the most popular PC game in the world. In fact, it isn’t even close! When Nielsen released its monthly figures in April of 2009, about 45% of minutes that PC gamers racked up were for “World of Warcraft” alone. Interestingly, while players average more hours playing other games, those games have fewer players. As of November 2009, “World of Warcraft” still topped the charts, with “Warcraft 3” earning the other spot. Gamers weekly spent about 8.7 hours and seven.6 hours playing the two games, respectively. It remains to be seen what sort of gaming systems will rank in Nielsen’s ratings, this season. The PS2 will probably drop further from the charts, as newer systems produce more complex games. But consider the fact that typically, gamers are nevertheless spending double time playing PS2, because they are playing PS3! Check out about games net page: look at this. fowlingreturns Uncategorized Leave a comment March 27, 2018 2 Minutes	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line748
__label__cc	0.559671	0.440329	Les Beatles Club Les Beatles Posts on Fanpop Les Beatles George's Big Rumble Part 3 posted by 80smusiclover1 About an heure later, Laura finished playing with her skipping rope and returned to George's side. He asked, "Did toi have fun, darling?" She replied, "Absolutely, daddy George! I'm getting the hang of mastering this now." George remarked, "Splendid, my dear! I'm veddy proud of you." Laura smiled in return. She then asked, "I saw toi talking with someone earlier. Who was that?" George replied, "Oh, that was me bully from elementary school. I call him Terence the Terrible. He has done nothing but give me and my brothers a hard time during class. Thankfully, they always kept me sûr, sans danger and stood... George and Laura relaxed in the snow-covered herbe near the pond after exploring most of the Gardens. As they watched the clouds, George said, "Y'know, darling, this has been one of my favori pastimes ever since I was a wee lad." Laura replied, "That's nice, daddy George. Yes, watching the clouds is very soothing." George smiled and remarked, "It truly is." A couple of minutes later, Laura said, "I think I'm going to play with my skipping rope for a while." George replied, "Sure, love. But just stay close to where I can see you, okay?" Laura responded, "Okie dokie! I will." And that's just... A fiendish thingy! posted by kkbeatles ~Basic Info: Name: Caitlyn Middle Name: louise Last name of a Beatle toi wish to Marry: Starkey Birthday: July 1 ~Favourites: Beatle: Ringo Song: are toi seriously gonna make me pick? D: Album/Albums: Magical Mystery Tour,Beatles for sale,Rubber Soul,A Hard Day's Night Period: Mop-tops Accent: Ringo/George Movie: A Hard Day's Night You & The Beatles Has your current favourite Beatle always been your fave?: Yes Which song are toi currently real into?: Right now I'm into Magical Mystery Tour Do toi think toi know everything about the fab four?: Alot, could learn more! -------------------------------... If I Fell 12 posted by Rubyrings It was cold in the gloomy basement, and dark. And the Beatles were all so hungry, and thirsty, and bored. There was absolutely nothing in their little corner, save for the dripping end of a pipe that could prolong their lives a little bit, leaking a tiny amount of water into their prison. It wasn’t enough to satisfy any of them, though. And sooner ou later, they were going to need food. And while there might be an accidental source of water in here, there was no way to get food. How could they have been so wrong about their girlfriends? Now that the boys looked back on it, they could think... How I Came to l’amour the Beatles posted by Roldan13 Hello, fellow Beatles fans. Roldan13 here, and I am écriture on how I became a Beatles fan. Before we begin, I'd like to give a shout out to ChiliPepperLuv, WIBBILY_WOBBLY, and RocknRollSoul60. Their articles are amazing, and if toi haven't done so already, I suggest lire them. Now that I have that off my chest, I'll begin the story of how I got into the Beatles. I've only been a fan of the Beatles since January. However, I feel like I know all about them because of all the research I've done on them. Anyway, toi may want a box of tissues for this part. It's kinda sad. After losing both of... Why I l’amour the Beatles posted by WIBBILY_WOBBLY I started liking them only this year. My sister a dit "Hey, you've got to listen to these guys. You're going to l’amour them!" So I listened. I a dit "They're so amazing! What was that song called?" she a dit "You Like Me Too Much." And I a dit "What? No I don't" She a dit "No, toi idiot! That's the song title." And I a dit "Ohhhh, I get it." That's just how I got started liking them. After a while, I did some research on them. I soon became obsessed with them. (Especially George Harrison.) So, as I became more, and plus obsessed, I became over-obessed. I found out their height's, favori color's,... The Power Of l’amour RINGO'S POINT OF VIEW The jour I Lost the l’amour of my life. Forever. One of the last times I saw him was July. My daughter had brain surgery and I could't stay long. "Do toi want me to come with you?" George offered. "What? No, toi can't. You've got to stay here and get rid of the cancer." I can't believe I a dit a thing like that. "So? I've missed you. I don't want toi to have to leave me." I was most likely blushing when he grabbed my hand. "Ritchie, I need to tell toi something." He sat up. I got scared and just walked out. That was a mistake. Me, George, and Paul went out... Going Back To Yesterday, part 13 July 11, 1957. Less than one full jour left to get Paul and John to meet each other. I had been quiet all morning, alternating between hoping things would work out and hoping I wouldn’t randomly get sucked back into the present in front of Paul and his family. Paul had told his dad and brother at breakfast that I was leaving today, and they’d a dit polite goodbyes (or what I presumed were polite goodbyes; I still wasn't entirely used to nineteen fifties etiquette). Paul made it all sounds very normal, and nobody questioned me. I was relieved to see that Paul seemed to have accepted that I... One snowy day, George and Laura were dancing merrily along the streets of Knightsbridge. They had just finished eating lunch and were on their way to spend the afternoon at Kensington Gardens. George remarked on his daughter's outfit, "You look lovely in your béret, beret and guitare necklace, Laura, darling." Laura replied, "Thanks, daddy George. I'm very excited to see what this an has in store for us, too." George responded, "So am I, dear. This outing is a great way to start it." "Indeed!", exclaimed Laura. Before long, they reached the gates of the Palace, and George gave Laura a shoulder ride as they went in. John Lennon Made Us Better✨ posted by ktichenor It's been forty-years since John Lennon was tragically taken from us in 1980. Even if toi weren't born then (like me) that rendez-vous amoureux, date still affects us all. And recently a Rolling Stones article came out stating that John made people better. And when toi think about it, he did. While his musique is enjoyable, he made us think, about who we are as humans and our actions. Even as a solo artist he was never afraid to speak out not just what was wrong but also hope. Tbh, I think if he knew what was going on I think he would have hope that it would get better. I also think he would remind us that we're human... 1960's musique The Beatles: Rock Band A Special Father's jour Surprise Final Part The Best Father Ever Shortly after the fair had closed for the night, Laura, George, and Ringo decided to take a little walk to neighboring Knightsbridge. Laura said, "I can't wait to hear what uncle John and uncle Paul will say now that toi have Sparkie as your pet when they return from their vacation, uncle Ringo!" He replied, "Oh, I'm looking vers l'avant, vers l’avant to that too, Laura! I bet they'll be surprised. What do toi think, Geo?" He responded, "Yeah. That's for sure, mate!" Sparkie, who was now back inside his case, nodded in agreement. George remarked, "I can sense that he's excited to meet them... A Special Father's jour Surprise Part 9 Sparkie Wows the Audience The pet montrer kicked off with a bang, and all of the participating animaux took turns in montrer their talents. When it was now Sparkie's turn, the rest of the audience were quite amazed par how graceful he was, especially in the speed and agility challenges, and also because they had never seen a hedgehog rejoindre the montrer before. Laura cheered for him and exclaimed, "Go, go, Sparkie!" George added, "I have a feeling that he's going to win!" Sure enough, he was right. After getting the results ready, one of the judges announced, "The winner of the pet montrer is, wow this is... Fun at the Fair Now that Father's jour was in full swing, Laura, George, and Ringo were on their way to Kensington Gardens. Once they got there, the place was alive with the sound of enthusiastic fairgoers. Ringo told them after checking the scheduled time for the pet show, "I'll be proceeding to the tent where this will take place so that Sparkie shall get ready for it. The montrer will start at 4:00 pm." George replied, "All right, mate. We'll meet toi there again and watch Sparkie's performance after two hours." Ringo said, "Okie dokie. Have fun!" Laura replied, "We sure will, uncle Ringo!" The... George Comes Back "So, what time will George be returning?", asked Ringo after he and Laura ate breakfast. She looked at the clock and replied, "Well, he told me earlier during our morning call that the train ride takes about four to five hours. Most likely, he'll be back around the mid ou late afternoon." Ringo said, "All right, then. Would toi like to have a walk in the yard for a while?" Laura responded, "Sure!" It was a beautiful jour as they went out. During their walk, Ringo let Sparkie get his nourriture around the grass. After returning inside, Laura decided to snooze at the canapé while Ringo... All Has Been Completed By the time evening came, Laura had finished creating her card. She held it and remarked, "There! All done!" However, Ringo was still quite busy with Sparkie's training, so she decided to tell him about it later. While waiting on the couch, the phone rang again. "I wonder who's calling.", Laura wondered as she went to answer it. Upon picking it up, she said, "Hello there?" The response was, "Hi Laura, darling! This is your daddy George. I'm calling from my parents' house!" Laura replied, "Oh, hi George! How are things going there? Were toi able to fix the aircon?" George... Bonding Time With Ringo After twenty minutes have passed, a knock was heard on the door. George remarked, "That must be Ringo!" He proceeded to open it. Ringo exclaimed, "At your service, mate!" George replied, "Hi, Ritchie! Come in!" Laura exclaimed as he entered, "Uncle Ringo! Lovely to see toi once again!" He replied, "You too, Laura! I know we're going to enjoy our time together for a while." She responded, "Indeed!" They then hugged each other. George asked, "So, is everything all right for both of you?" Laura replied, "Absolutely!" Ringo nodded in agreement. George replied, "Great! Well,... Two Phone Calls "Hello?", responded George after answering the telephone. The caller turned out to be his mother. She said, "Oh, George! My darling! We're having an urgent situation here right now." He replied with concern, "What is it, Ma? toi sound quite upset." She explained, "The air conditioner in our bedroom has been leaking heavily since this morning. We have tried calling the repairman, but all of his slots are currently full." George remarked, "Oh, dear! I'm sorry to hear that." His mother continued, "So, I hope toi don't mind, but I think toi need to come here to help us in fixing... Planning the Perfect Outing The following day, Laura and George were relaxing at accueil while thinking about how they can start their summer. George said, "Laura, I just remembered that this coming Saturday is going to be Father's Day. I think we should go someplace nice to celebrate it together." She replied, "You're right, daddy George! I'd l’amour that." Just then, a commercial on the télévision caught their attention. The voiceover announced, "Looking for the perfect place to kick off the summer? You're in luck! The annual Kensington Gardens Summer Fair is returning in time for Father's Day!... School's Out! Summer had officially arrived in the UK, and Laura successfully completed the last jour of her school's semester. After all of the students were dismissed, she happily skipped back to the cafe. George a dit upon seeing her again, "Hey, Laura! How was me darling's final jour of school?" She replied, "It was great, daddy George! I passed the exam with flying colors." "Jolly good! I'm veddy proud of you, love.", remarked George as he gave her a big hug. He then asked, "Would toi like to order something to eat here before we go home?" Laura replied, "Certainly! I think I'd like to have... With a Little Help From the Beatles Part 9 Victory! Now that the tournament had reached its climax in the marathon, Laura felt a surge of adrenaline all over her body. Thankfully, the ring leader of the bullies was having difficulty in recovering from the sting of her retort that the earlier games had left her feeling exhausted. As the horn sounded, the runners were off. Whoever finishes three laps while in the lead will be the champion of the tournament, and Laura was on her way to achieving this. During the seconde lap, the ring leader decided to take a nap underneath a tree. This, unfortunately, came at a cost for her, as par the time... The Les Beatles Club Les Beatles Wall Les Beatles Updates Les Beatles Images Les Beatles Videos Les Beatles Articles Les Beatles Links Les Beatles Forum Les Beatles Polls Les Beatles Quiz Les Beatles Answers Les Beatles Fans	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line749
__label__cc	0.617197	0.382803	Academy Award ® Qualifying BAFTA Qualifying Canadian Screen Award Qualifying 69 Years Running Brooklyn Film Festival Santa Barbara International Film Festival Established in 1952, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is one of the world’s oldest film festivals and the Southern Hemisphere’s largest. The Festival has a large, dedicated and growing audience with a well-established public profile as a major event on the Australian calendar. The Festival is a unique event in Australia, with a vibrant screening program, a loyal audience, and industry initiatives providing opportunities for Australian filmmakers at many levels. In recent years, MIFF has successfully extended its activities to include a raft of industry and filmmaker focused programs to complement its core business, the screening program. These are: • Accelerator, a 4-day educational and inspirational skills development program for up-and-coming directors with short films screening at MIFF; • MIFF 37ºSouth Market, a 4-day film financing market for producers with market-ready projects pitching to potential international and local co-financing partners; • MIFF Premiere Fund, MIFF’s own investment and loan fund, providing essential financing support for local feature-length films. In 2019 MIFF presented 31 world premieres, six of which were Premiere Fund films. • MIFF Talks program, a complementary program of panels and In Conversations featuring invited guest directors, actors, screenwriters and producers. MIFF has an Academy®, BAFTA and AACTA accredited short film competition. The winners of the top prizes in the competition become eligible for Oscar® consideration. In 2020, MIFF streamed over 118 features, documentaries, and shorts experiences from 56 countries in 32 languages over 18 days. The 2021 festival will run from 5 - 22 August. MIFF features one of the most highly regarded short film competitions in the Southern Hemisphere, accredited by the Academy®, BAFTA and AACTA. The winners of the top prizes in the competition become eligible for Oscar® consideration. Thanks to our Shorts Awards partners, in 2019 the eligible short films competed for a total cash prize pool of A$56,000. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING REGULATIONS CAREFULLY PRIOR TO SUBMITTING OR MAKING ENQUIRIES REGARDING SUBMISSIONS. YOU CAN FIND THE SHORT FILM COMPETITION REGULATIONS HERE. 1. Submission Deadlines 4. Preview Screener Formats 5. Eligibility Requirements 6. Authorised Use and Inclusion of Materials 7. Works-in-Progress and ‘Rough Cuts’ 8. Prior Submissions 9. Selection 10. Correspondence MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (“MIFF”) SUBMISSION REGULATIONS FOR THE 69TH ANNUAL MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (“FESTIVAL”) 5 TO 22 AUGUST 2021 THESE REGULATIONS GOVERN THE SUBMISSION OF ALL WORKS FOR CONSIDERATION FOR THE FESTIVAL AND YOU (“YOU” OR “SUBMITTER”) ARE REQUIRED TO READ THE FOLLOWING REGULATIONS CAREFULLY TO CONFIRM YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE SAME PRIOR TO SUBMISSION OF ANY FILMS. PLEASE NOTE THAT MIFF RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ALTER THESE REGULATIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND THAT THESE REGULATIONS ARE NOT CONFIRMED TO GOVERN REGULATIONS FOR FUTURE FESTIVALS. Please refer to the MIFF website for a comprehensive table regarding deadlines and associated fees: miff.com.au/about/submissions/submission-regulations **Please read the following regulations carefully with regards to Works-in-Progress. Only films submitted to the correct category, accompanied by the correct fee and received by the allocated deadline will be considered. MIFF reserves the right to disqualify a submission, and to have any and all paid fees forfeited, should the submission not meet all of these requirements. Please note: MIFF does not offer fee waivers. This category is reserved for any film whose runtime is 40 minutes and 29 seconds or less (including credits). If the film is submitted into any Short category and the length is greater than this definition stipulates, MIFF will change the category and the Submitter will be required to pay the fee increase before the film is considered. Failure to do so will mean that the film will not be considered for the Festival and any and all fees paid prior will be forfeited. This category is reserved for any film whose runtime is 40 minutes and 30 seconds or more (including credits). If the film is submitted into any Feature category and the length is less than this definition stipulates, MIFF will change the category; the film will still be considered for the Festival, but MIFF will not refund any portion of the fees paid. If at least half of a film’s total film funding for development or production is from Australian sources, if at least half of the film was shot in Australia, and/or if at least half of the post-production work was done in Australia, a film can be classified as (at least) an Australian co-production and is thus eligible to be submitted into any Australian category. If the film is submitted in an Australian category and there is no indication that any of the corresponding definitions apply within the FilmFreeway fields ‘country of production’ or ‘country of filming’, MIFF will change the category and the Submitter will be required to pay the fee increase before the film is considered. Failure to do so will mean that the film will not be considered for the Festival, and any and all fees paid prior will be forfeited. This includes all films that do not fall under the ‘Australian’ definition; to reiterate, Australian co-productions can be submitted into any Australian category. If the film is submitted into an International category and it meets the conditions for an Australian category, MIFF will change the category; the film will still be considered for the Festival, but MIFF will not refund any portion of the fees paid. This sub-category of short film is reserved for films that have an absence of linear narrative and/or include abstraction within the structure and conventions of the physical medium itself. It is not for unconventional fiction films. This category is for any project presented or intended to be presented in a multi-episode format, including limited series, docuseries, web series, anthologies or any other project that was designed to develop over multiple episodes. There is no limitation as to the length of each episode or the number of episodes in each submission; however, only one screener will be accepted for any submission, so all episodes for consideration must be presented in succession within that single screener. The submission fee: • must be made in USD, as collected by FilmFreeway • is payable by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Discover, Diners Club, UnionPay or PayPal, and accepted via FilmFreeway only • cannot be waived (NO EXCEPTIONS) • cannot be discounted, including for the submission of multiple films. • MIFF cannot provide refunds for submissions that do not meet eligibility criteria or are otherwise deemed to be disqualified under these regulations. • Films submitted without payment WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED and the submission will be disqualified. Screeners in physical format are no longer accepted; MIFF accepts online screeners only. Any submission sent via disc or any other physical format will not be considered for the Festival; should this be the only format in which the submitted film is delivered, the submission will be disqualified, and any and all fees paid will be forfeited. Short, Feature and Episodic Preview Screener Formats Submitted films must be either uploaded directly to FilmFreeway via their Secure Online Screener system, or supplied as a password-protected Vimeo link or unlisted YouTube link entered directly into the FilmFreeway online application form. Some important notes: • MIFF does not accept screeners via email; you must upload directly to FilmFreeway or to a third-party site such as Vimeo or YouTube. • If the password changes at any point between the submission and the Festival, the Submitter must inform MIFF via email ASAP. Any film that is submitted with an incorrect or outdated password cannot be considered for the Festival; in such a case, the submission will be disqualified, and any and all fees paid will be forfeited. • If the screener is supplied via a Vimeo link, please ensure that the privacy settings are updated such that embedding is allowed; this ensures that MIFF can view the film via FilmFreeway. This can be done while logged in to your Vimeo account and navigating to Settings > Privacy > Where Can This Video Be Embedded? and selecting ‘Anywhere’. XR Preview Screener Formats • 360-degree video should be uploaded directly to FilmFreeway. • All other experiences (including interactive) are to be sent as a downloadable link directly to submissions(at)miff.com.au. The Submitter must ensure that the Tracking Number assigned to the submission by FilmFreeway is included in the subject line. Whichever way XR preview screeners are sent, the work must be received by MIFF by the dates listed above. As with all other submissions, if the work is not received by the appropriate deadline, the submission will be disqualified, and any and all submission fees paid will be forfeited. To be eligible for consideration, all submissions must meet the following requirements: • Films must have been completed after 1 January 2019. • Films must not have been (or will not be) broadcast on television or publicly screened, distributed or exhibited in a physical location within the state of Victoria, Australia, prior to 23 August 2021. The only exceptions to this requirement are for private screenings held for cast, crew or investors, and film-school graduation screenings. • Films must not have been (or will not be) available commercially online and accessible from the state of Victoria, Australia, either for free or via on-demand services prior to 23 August 2021. Screenings as part of a digital or online festival are permitted if the festival is for a limited run and geoblocked such that access by Australian viewers is prohibited. • Films must be in their original language; if the original language is not English, subtitles in English must be provided. • MIFF reserves the right to program films that do not adhere to the above eligibility requirements. • These regulations are specific to MIFF 2021 and do not indicate eligibility for MIFF 2022 and beyond. It is the sole responsibility of the Submitter to: • secure permission from the rights holders of any and all copyrighted and/or trademarked content or materials included within the film • clear all content within the film from any and all actual or potential legal claims and issues, including, without limitation, claims based on theories of libel, defamation, invasion of privacy, violation of rights of publicity, theft of trade secrets, breach of confidence, breach of confidential relationship, and breach of express or implied contract (“Third Party Claim/s”). MIFF will not be held responsible for any unauthorised inclusion of: • any copyrighted and/or trademarked content or materials within or relating to the submitted project, including any content or materials that are or may become the basis for any Third Party Claim/s for copyright infringement and/or trademark infringement, trademark dilution or unfair competition • any content or materials within or relating to the submitted film that are or may be the basis for any Third Party Claim/s. If any unauthorised inclusion of materials as set out above applies to a submitted film, MIFF reserves the right to forego consideration of that film, or to withdraw the film from confirmed programming – in which case any and all fees paid prior will be forfeited. IF A WORK-IN-PROGRESS (WIP) IS BEING SUBMITTED, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY. MIFF does accept submissions of WIPs only if the following conditions have been met: • The film must be at least at picture-lock stage. • The submission is made during the March submissions period ONLY. If a WIP is submitted during any other submissions period without any prior discussion with the submissions team, MIFF will disqualify the submission and submission fees will not be refunded. NO EXCEPTIONS. • The Submitter accepts that the rough cut is the ONLY VERSION that can be submitted. MIFF will not accept further cuts of the film as they are completed. Please think very carefully about whether or not you should submit the film as a WIP (see Point 8 below). If you have any queries regarding WIPs, or if you have a WIP XR experience you want to submit, please email submissions(at)miff.com.au. If a film has previously been submitted to MIFF, it is not eligible for submission to the 2021 Festival. This also applies to WIPs that have previously been submitted, even with significant changes. • Submission to MIFF is with the understanding that selection may be for any and all exhibition formats that constitute MIFF 2021, including in-cinema screenings, digital exhibition or both. • All Submitters will be notified of an outcome by end of June 2021. Festival programmers select and invite all films presented at MIFF. If the Submitter’s contact details change during the submissions period, you must inform MIFF via submissions(at)miff.com.au. • If the film is selected to screen at MIFF 2021, it must be made available in one of the following formats, received by MIFF no later than close of business (5pm AEST) 12 July 2021: Shorts and Features • 35mm • DCP (DCI Compliant) • Pro-Res • Other video format compliant with MIFF’s digital platform requirements XR (inclusive of VR, MR and AR) • Oculus • HTC Vive • 360-degree Video for playback through Gear VR • Mobile Application • If the film is selected for both in-cinema and digital exhibition at MIFF 2021, it must be made available in materials appropriate for both settings. • If the film is selected to screen at MIFF 2021, MIFF strongly encourages the Submitter to supply closed captions and/or audio description so that the film can be viewed by audiences with access requirements. • If the film is selected to screen at MIFF 2021, the Submitter must provide a minimum of three (3) digital copies of stills from the film via email or WeTransfer (minimum image specifications: 300dpi, JPGs or JPEGs only). Electronic Press Kits (EPKs), digital posters, director headshots and social media handles may also be supplied to MIFF, but are not mandatory. Please note: MIFF may supply these materials to third parties for the purpose of editorial coverage of MIFF. These materials may also be used for MIFF’s publicly available print publications and print products as well as online media (MIFF website/s, MIFF mobile application/s and MIFF social media channels), where they will remain available without any time or territorial restrictions. Please be aware that MIFF cannot make photographer attributions within our printed or online guides. • Exhibition materials, including but not limited to film prints or DCPs, of officially selected films will be insured by MIFF for the duration of the film’s stay in Australia and during transit to the Festival; all incoming freight charges will be covered by the Festival. • MIFF abides not to hold any more than four (4) screenings of any submitted film exhibiting at a physical location (excluding XR). An expanded capacity for digital exhibition may apply. • MIFF’s selection decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into. MIFF does not provide critical analysis or feedback. All correspondence from MIFF regarding FilmFreeway submissions will be sent via FilmFreeway, directly to the email address of the Submitter, or through third-party email campaign software. Please do not unsubscribe from MIFF communications, as you may miss key updates. Although MIFF takes every precaution to ensure that messages are sent to the Submitter via email, MIFF disavows any responsibility for messages not delivered to the email address supplied. MIFF recommends that Submitters regularly log in to FilmFreeway to ensure that the submission has been completed (including, but not limited to, payments and screener uploads), that the supplied email address is correct and up-to-date, and that the film’s status has changed to ‘In Consideration’ within two weeks of submitting. If you need further assistance after reading the above regulations or our FAQ (https://miff.com.au/about/submissions/submission-faq), please email the submissions team via submissions(at)miff.com.au. If you have a FilmFreeway Tracking Number, please ensure you quote it in the subject line so that the team can assist you with your query as quickly as possible. November Deadline January Deadline February Deadline March Deadline Feature - Australian Narrative Please see the Definitions section of the MIFF Submission Regulations http://miff.com.au/about/submissions/submission-regulations#2.%20Definitions to ensure you are submitting to the correct category. Failure to do so may mean the Film is not considered for the Festival and any and all fees paid prior will be forfeited. Feature - Australian Documentary Feature - International Narrative Feature - International Documentary Short - Australian Fiction Short - Australian Animation Short - Australian Documentary Short - Australian Experimental Short - International Fiction Short - International Animation Short - International Documentary Short - International Experimental VR - Australian VR - International Episodic Content - Australian Episodic Content - International	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line751
__label__cc	0.672644	0.327356	Finding Haven December 27, 2019 The What Leave a comment CategoriesGendergender neutralgenderqueernonbinaryqueer Nonbinary vs Gender Neutral Nonbinary or Genderqueer are not the same thing as Gender Neutral. There are people who describe their gender as neutral but for the most part, people usually have a lot more nuance than that. Gender neutral is a good way to describe pronouns like they/them or xe/xir, but it isn’t a good way to refer to nonbinary people unless they have explicitly said that. My gender is anything but neutral. For me, it is relatively stable and not fluid, but it lies solidly in the realm of femme with a twist of tomboy. I am both a woman and a nonbinary person because my gender is queer and defies a single category. Queerness at its heart is about breaking boundaries and holding the tension between seemingly disparate concepts. I see your categories and reject them because they don’t reflect my reality. February 13, 2018 The What 1 Comment FusionGarnetGemsGendergender rolesLesbianqueerRubySapphireSteven Universe Gem Fusion I don’t know how I’ve made it this long without gushing about Steven Universe! If you haven’t watched it yet you really should because it is THE best animated show on TV. It seems like a kids show at first but it has deep themes of queer representation, non-traditional families and gender roles, nonbinary characters, authentic relationship building skills, and self awareness. As a nonbinary person I often feel like a gem fusion is the best way to describe what it is like to be me. Stevonnie, the nonbinary character who is a fusion of the titular Steven and his girlfriend Connie, is the most obvious analogy as it is a blend of their features, personalities, and genders meeting somewhere in the middle as a tall, attractive, dark haired androgyne. But more often these days I find myself feeling like Garnet – a semi-permanent fusion between the volatile and aggressive Ruby and the prescient and peaceful Sapphire. They are both considered women but they represent very different ends of the gender presentation and behavior spectrum within femininity. Ruby wears pants and has a temper and personality that would typically be associated with masculinity. Sapphire wears a long dress, speaks softly, and is both kind and firm at the same time. Their relationship is a very obvious metaphor for queerness as the fusion of two different types of gems (as compared to two Rubies) is a taboo which results in them being shunned and hunted by the militaristic and colonizing Homeworld Gems. While I could never aspire to be as cool and collected as Garnet herself, I really resonate with these two aspects of myself, the masculine and the feminine, blending together and co-existing in a single body while still being a woman. I’m much more of a lesbian than I want to admit, despite admiring some men physically, and the enduring romance between Ruby and Sapphire always gives me big feels. I hope that someday I can fully embody their values of flexibility, love, and trust in both myself and my relationships. September 6, 2016 October 17, 2017 The How 1 Comment authenticityBarrierscommunityLovenonmonogamyPolyamoryqueer So I want to talk about one of my biggest barriers to coming out and living as my truest self. The fear that nobody would love me. Hardly a unique phobia and certainly not specific to being trans. But it can hold you back if you let it. I first started exploring my gender in college when I began accessing language to describe my experiences. I think that trajectory would have led me to coming out 5 years earlier if it hadn’t gotten sidetracked by getting married at 21. It’s a long story and off track for this blog but besides getting married too young we had a multitude of other problems that were apparent pretty early on in my 6 year marriage. And all of those problems meant that my personal growth got put on the back burner. The biggest thing that contributed to me getting in that relationship in the first place and held me back from letting go of it when it wasn’t working was my fear of being alone and not finding someone who would love me for being me even as much as she did. When I did finally discover myself as a genderqueer pansexual, my wife asked me not to come out widely because she didn’t want to answer questions about my identity and sexuality. That alone should have been a sign that I wasn’t actually loved for who I was but yet I clung on for another 4 months before I got the nerve to leave. All because of this irrational yet common fear. What I found beyond the confines of my straight, monogamous, ciscentric marriage was a world of infinite love and a community where I could be accepted both for who I was now and for who I would be tomorrow. I found my way through OKCupid and Meetup.com groups into the vast, semi-secret world of queer polyamory. For those not familiar, polyamory is a form of ethical non-monogamy focused on informed consent of all partners involved and centered around the idea that love is not a finite resource to be hoarded but an infinite pool that only grows when love abounds. Time is of course the limiting factor and everyone has a practical limit to the number of authentic relationships they can juggle, whether that is friends or intimate partners. But in poly I found both friends and partners (and many shades in-between) who are unafraid to use the word love, who can open up the vulnerable parts of their hearts honestly, and who embrace my identity, even when they don’t understand it. Today I have an amazing fiancee who I live with, two wonderful girlfriends with partners of their own, and a multitude of friends and lovers in community with each other. All of us encouraging each other to be ourselves and love ourselves as we are. I’m not going to pretend it’s a magical fairyland with no problems or transphobes but beyond the heteronormative veneer you see in the press, the poly community I have seen is the most accepting place I can imagine. And more importantly, I learned that it’s ok to be “picky,” that I should and could be loved for who I am, and that I don’t need to be everything that one partner might need. I’m not saying polyamory is for everyone or that it is the only way to find love outside the binary. That’s just an important part of my story in finding access to the idea that love is not finite. The key detail here is that you can find people who love you for who you are and you don’t need to compromise your identity to be lovable. But that fear of loneliness and the concept of love as a scarce resource are barriers to finding that happiness. Live your life proudly and boldly as your truest self. I believe that is the sexiest thing you can do. And when you do that, people will want to be around you and you have a better chance at finding someone who loves you as much as you hopefully love yourself. When we hide who we are we lose our best shot at authentic relationship with other human beings. Sure, you may lose some “friendships” that you never really had in the first place. But I bet you would lose them as soon as something serious happened in your life anyway. And there are real and tangible dangers to being out and visible. But find the places were you are safe, the communities where you can be real, and do exactly that. Be REAL, authentic, vulnerable, and honest. Once you start letting go of the idea that you aren’t deserving of love (which can be a lifelong process) then you can find it.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line753
__label__wiki	0.649472	0.649472	Outside Art Waves on the North Fork: The Sculpture of Arden Scott Artist’s 50-year journey informed by abstract form and love of sailing has entered a new phase—early modernist sculpture By Jody B. Cutler-Bittner Arden Scott, “A Flotilla by Arden Scott,” 2004. Powder-coated steel. Private exhibition, Bridgehampton. (Courtesy: Kathryn Markel Fine Arts) One interesting social effect of the Covid-19 era is new circuits of networking borne not only of proliferating media forums but also by dint of temporary physical relocations. I have been holed up in a small town upstate, where the sculpture park at Salem Art Works has been one of my interesting art finds. In conjunction, a neighbor mentioned that her sister, Arden, was a sculptor specializing in abstract large-scale outdoor work. I first heard of Arden Scott, who was born in 1938, a few years ago when a brief article appeared in the New York Times that highlighted her local renown as a boat-building sailor in Greenport, NY, where she has also been creating art for the past forty years. This article announced the sale of a small schooner she built from scratch over eight years, itself a fixture in the community. I had never seen her work, although she had been exhibiting in New York for decades, albeit with decreasing visibility. I learned that Scott has continued steadfastly with her art and has been active in a lively regional scene. What: Abstract sculpture by Arden Scott Where: Kathryn Markel Fine Art, 529 West 20th Street, NY 10011; markelfinearts.com; VSOP Projects, 311 Front Street, Greenpoint, NY 11944; vsopprojects.com. Both galleries are currently open by appointment only due to Covid-19; see the websites for contact information and updates. In a phone conversation last week, the artist relayed to me that she began to define herself as an artist while growing up in Westchester County when she began visiting New York City museums. There, she also always enjoyed spending time near the water. Among her earliest sculptural triggers was David Smith’s horizontally-oriented, skeletal painted steel piece, “Australia” (MoMA). After graduating high school in 1956, she did not attend a college-level art school, still relatively rare at the time, or likewise, dedicated studio art departments. She credits classes with Leo Steppat, a pioneering studio art educator and sculptor specializing in welded abstract sculpture, at the University of Wisconsin, with setting her on the road to New York art world, without finishing her degree. Arden Scott, “Taxi Wardance,” c. 1999, bronze. (Photo: Noah Kalina. Courtesy: Arden Scott and VSOP Projects) For several years, Scott lived and worked in a series of lower Manhattan apartments with a husband and, eventually, four children. To be able to pursue her art she used to take on jobs that even now are non-traditional for women, such as plumbing, eventually trekking to a Bronx shipyard for affordable studio space as her work got larger in size. A break came in the late 1960s from the legendary art dealer Ivan Karp, who gave innumerable artists of all stripe their starts; Scott was included in the inaugural show at his O.K. Harris Gallery (1969). By the time his active days were waning, Scott had a fledgling art career, eventually establishing a long-term affiliation with Kathryn Markel, known also for her commitment to artists and her gallery’s longevity. Scott speaks fondly about supportive, artistically engaging relationships with both, as such artist-dealer relationships are dwindling in the current mega-market driven contemporary art milieu. Arden Scott, “Rugelda,” 2016. Powder-coated steel. (Courtesy: Private Collection, Orient, NY) Still, by 1978, gentrification was underway—even the Bronx space was slated for condominiums. Through a friend, Scott secured new studio space in another shipyard—in Greenpoint on the Long Island Sound, at first commuting sporadically from home base in Manhattan. Conducive to the practice of her two passions, sculpture and sailing, long independent of each other on a conscious level, she relocated permanently within a few years to the then sleepy fishing village—now something of a hipster alternative to the ritzy Hamptons across the bay. By the late 1980s, her non-objective linear forms were morphing into ship shapes suggestive of motion. In her favored medium, welded steel, they have affinities with Anthony Caro’s framing structures, often in similar rich monochromes that culminated for Scott with industrial baked pigment coatings. Arden Scott, “Magenta Starboard Tack,” 2014, Powder-coated steel. Installation view at VSOP Projects, 2018. (Courtesy: VSOP Projects). Others are more of more fragile natural materials incorporating involving intricate crafting techniques or appear so in textured bronze. Collectively, they conjure a range of sea-faring vessels across time, place and cultures, without being preconceived as representational; in turn, they spawned other curvilinear abstractions. More recently she has been revisiting early modernist aesthetics, judging from a series of totemic, sentinel-like hand-painted works structures evoke works by Max Ernst, Joan Miro, and Alexander Calder. Arden Scott, “Acrobat,” 2018. Painted steel. (Photo: Noah Kalina. Courtesy: Arden Scott and VSOP Projects) Beyond well-attested gender bias in the postwar art world, few women working exclusively in large-scale abstract sculpture have rivaled the attention that peer male artists enjoyed. When I asked about her experience, Scott replied that she never really stopped to think about—notably, neither did Ivan Karp. She did recall supportive camaraderie with Mark DiSuvero and George Trakas, among others of a loose downtown cohort that showed generosity with each other in terms of opportunities for sculpture—a tough career endeavor in any case. At present, with most seasonal outdoor venues already canceled, Scott simply forges ahead as always with her self-generating work, wherever it leads. By: Jody B. Cutler-Bittner Alexander Calder, Anthony Caro, Arden Scott, David Smith, George Trakas, Ivan Karp, Joan Miró, Kathryn Markel, Leo Steppat, Mark DiSuvero, Max Ernst, New York Times, O.K. Harris Gallery, Salem Art Works Jody B. Cutler-Bittner Jody B. Cutler-Bittner is an art historian and educator affiliated with St. John’s University who has published on contemporary American, African, and diverse feminist art. She is also a closet artist and, crucially, a native, die-hard New Yorker Judy Joice My husband and I had our sailboat in the same boatyard as Arden. She was working on rebuilding a large sailboat and her sculpture. This was in the ‘70s. Her 4 children were great kids who basically used the yard as their playground. All of them true free spirits. The yard was owned by John Barron—a big barrel of crusty, funny humor. He adored Arden & her family. jbcb Thanks for sharing Judy! She she’s still working away, and her art deserves more attention! Jody	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line754
__label__wiki	0.812723	0.812723	East Herts District Council Main Navigation Thundridge & Standon East Hertfordshire District Council Get updates of ward problems Show Open Closed Fixed reports about Abandoned vehicles Dog Bin overflow Dog Fouling Grass Cutting Litter Bin overflow in Parks & Open spaces Litter in Parks & Open spaces Other Address Issue 12:42, 18 Dec 2020 (sent to both) Very dangerous amount of mud, gravel and sediment on the road - up to 30cm deep in places. Blocking the end of Barwick Road and making driving extremely hazardous Fixed 14:25, 27 Oct 2020, last updated 19:39, 24 Nov 2020 (sent to both) Overflowing bins Fixed 20:08, 17 Aug 2020, last updated 20:36, 14 Sep 2020 Overflowing bins and dog waste 21:33, 16 Jun 2020, last updated 22:42, 14 Jul 2020 So much litter along Cambridge road. After Hanbury to Wodson Bus stop bin overflowing Fixed 20:57, 19 Nov 2019, last updated 15:58, 18 Dec 2019 Overflowing bin Blocked drains. No good emptying gullies. Pipe blocked. 14:40, 17 Jul 2019 (sent to both) Dead deer on verge 14:46, 7 Jul 2019 (sent to both) Can't use public footpath it's blocked. 09:29, 5 May 2019 (sent to both) Human Waste on the Road and Pavement Surface 23:36, 8 Jan 2018, last updated 15:48, 21 Jan 2019 (sent to both) Car dumped partially blocking access road. Fixed 16:12, 11 Dec 2018, last updated 17:53, 8 Jan 2019 Fly tipping- fridge Fixed 19:15, 24 Sep 2018, last updated 21:40, 19 Nov 2018 (sent to both) Dumped / Stolen Car Fixed 10:51, 18 Oct 2018, last updated 13:33, 15 Nov 2018 Estate agent’s board Fixed 16:27, 20 Jun 2018, last updated 07:51, 15 Sep 2018 16:56, 19 Aug 2018 (sent to both) Grass verges all overgrown from A120 turning into Broken Green all the way through Wellpond Green and Westland Green, very dangerous presently as roads narrowed and vision very poor. Fixed 13:31, 2 Jul 2018, last updated 14:01, 30 Jul 2018 Dog bin broken and overflowing Fixed 13:05, 20 Jun 2018, last updated 12:22, 19 Jul 2018 3 Fridges Fixed 21:59, 10 Jun 2018, last updated 21:37, 27 Jun 2018 14:51, 15 May 2018, last updated 19:02, 12 Jun 2018 Yet more rubble 12:08, 27 Apr 2018, last updated 13:09, 25 May 2018 More rubble Large Fly tipping of concrete posts, cement, wooden boards, loose wood, doors and bacthroom tiles 18:46, 3 Apr 2018, last updated 11:09, 9 May 2018 Broken glass an rubbish has been dumped in the midle of the road. 00:44, 8 May 2018, last updated 12:19, 8 May 2018 Armchair dumped 15:11, 15 Mar 2018, last updated 16:18, 12 Apr 2018 Irresponsible and dangerous parking 14:59, 20 Mar 2018, last updated 08:17, 21 Mar 2018 (sent to both) Flytipping 18:25, 18 Feb 2018, last updated 19:39, 18 Mar 2018 Office printer/copier dumped Bin at biannual stop hasn’t been emptied and is now overflowing Building & household waste dumped 14:50, 26 Oct 2017, last updated 16:21, 26 Feb 2018 200 lit wast car oil Dangerous driving conditions due to excess mud on the carriageway caused by heavy lorries 14:11, 22 Dec 2017, last updated 09:51, 8 Feb 2018 Bin men dropped loads of nails and glass 16:33, 2 Feb 2018 (sent to both) Tonne bags of rubbish left in road - road blocked Fixed 07:16, 4 Jan 2018, last updated 16:00, 1 Feb 2018 Tonne bags of rubbish still blocking road. No sesible alternative route as Barwick Ford is in spate. Fridge dumped in pit off Woodlands Road, Thundridge Fixed 12:59, 3 Nov 2017, last updated 18:45, 30 Jan 2018 Burst Water Main Fixed 11:50, 8 Nov 2017, last updated 12:44, 6 Dec 2017 (sent to both) Flytipping - Old chair on side of road Rubbish dumped Fixed 14:59, 5 Oct 2017, last updated 18:52, 2 Nov 2017 The public bins are overflowing Fixed 10:04, 11 Sep 2017, last updated 11:48, 9 Oct 2017 (sent to both) Flytipped rubbish partly on public highway and partly on verge Dog Waste Bin Vandalised 23:12, 30 Jul 2016, last updated 11:07, 15 Aug 2016 (sent to both) Tree uprooted 13:17, 27 Feb 2016, last updated 11:06, 15 Aug 2016 Waste Drain Issue 15:27, 26 Jun 2016, last updated 17:48, 24 Jul 2016 (sent to both) Flytippers Fixed 16:39, 6 Mar 2016, last updated 19:37, 30 Apr 2016 Dangerous parking of excessive lorries waiting to turn into refuse centret Drain, possibly sewer, overflowing into road 10:00, 14 Feb 2016 (sent to both) Tree in road Graffit on Bridges over the A10 north of Ware . 00:17, 23 May 2014, last updated 10:24, 26 Sep 2014 Fly Tipped waste Bird scarer 07:25, 16 Mar 2013 (sent to both) Very large Dead Trees 15:59, 12 Aug 2010, last updated 15:02, 19 Nov 2010 Flytipping - 19th August Block drain 15:41, 24 Jan 2010, last updated 19:22, 10 Mar 2010 (sent to both)	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line756
__label__wiki	0.517824	0.517824	Schalke 04 UCL Kits 2018/2019 Dream League Soccer Grab the latest “Schalke 04 UCL Kits 2018/2019 Dream League Soccer“. Schalke 04 is a professional football club in Germany. The full name of the club is Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e.V. There are two nicknames of the club. The first one is Die Königsblauen (The Royal Blues) and the other one is Die Knappen (The Miners). My favorite is Die Knappen (The Miners). The short name of the club is S04. The club was founded on 4 May 1904. The total age of the club is 114 years. The club also has a ground for the practice of players. The name of the ground is Veltins-Arena. The capacity of the ground is 62,271. The president of the club is Clemens Tönnies. He is also a co-owner of the Tönnies Lebensmittel group of companies. The head coach of the club is Domenico Tedesco. The fans of the club are very crazy because there are some star players in the club. The club won many big titles. The club is the most supported club in Gelsenkirchen. Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund have a very old rivalry. Dream League Soccer Schalke 04 UCL Kits 2019 If you had played dream league soccer game then you are the big fan of Schalke 04 because the star forward player Mark Uth is in the team. Schalke 04 has a beautiful DLS 2019 kits. You can edit the kits. There are three types of kits home, away and the third kit which you can customize. You can also download Bundesliga Kits. Schalke 04 Home Kit: URL: https://i.imgur.com/hbcfsh4.png The home Schalke 04 dream league soccer kit is awesome. The color of the home kit is blue and white. There are some white verticle lines on the home kit of Schalke 04. The sponsor of the home kit is Gazprom. Gazprom is a Govt natural gas company. The head office of the company is in Moscow, Russia. The home kit is used when the match is in the country or state. Schalke 04 Away Kit: URL: https://i.imgur.com/lXrC6jf.png The away Schalke 04 UCL Kits 2018/2019 Dream League Soccer is excellent. The color of the away kit is white. There are some blue lines on the away kit. The sponsor of the away kit is Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is a private soft drink company. The head office of the company is in the US. Away kit is used when the match is in another country or state. Schalke 04 kit 512×512 is a very excellent design. Schalke 04 Third Kit: URL: https://i.imgur.com/NOL0luX.png The third kit of the club is wonderful. The color of the third kit is green and blue. There are 2 blue lines on the third kit of Schalke 04. The sponsor of the third kit is Umbro. Umbro is an English private sportswear company that designs shoes, shorts, and T-shirts, etc. The head office of the company is in Manchester, United Kingdom. The third kit is the extra kit of the club. Schalke 04 Goalkeeper Home Kit: URL: https://i.imgur.com/v2e6g3W.png The GK home kit is stylish. The color of the GK home kit is gray and black. GK kit is a different kit from the whole team that is why the GK kit is mostly awesome. Schalke 04 Goalkeeper Away Kit: URL: https://i.imgur.com/3dWi5Fj.png The GK away kit is amazing. The color of the GK away kit is purple. There are also some logos of sponsors on the away kit of GK. Schalke 04 Goalkeeper Third Kit: URL: https://i.imgur.com/5yD6sJl.png The goalkeeper third kit of the club is wonderful. The color of the third kit is green and blue. There are 2 blue lines on the third kit of Schalke 04. The sponsor of the third kit is Umbro. Umbro is an English private sportswear company that designs shoes, shorts, and T-shirts, etc. The head office of the company is in Manchester, United Kingdom. The third kit is the extra kit of the club. Schalke 04 UCL 2020 kits URL is available. Schalke 04 Logo: URL: https://i.imgur.com/Tk4kFsj.png Grab the “Schalke 04 Dream League Soccer Logo“. Schalke 04 DLS logo is awesome. Many colors are used in the club logo. The name of the club is also written on the club logo. Schalke 04 is the club of Bundesliga. The size of the logo is 512×512. Filed Under: Bundesliga Kits, Dream League Soccer Kits, Dream League Soccer Kits 2019	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line760
__label__cc	0.528428	0.471572	How To Prevent SF’s Housing Crisis From Getting Even Worse: Vote No on Prop B Today Kim-Mai Cutler 7 years Unfortunately, there is no app or API that can solve San Francisco’s housing and commercial real estate crunch. It’s rather complicated. But there is this other retro, 2,500-year-old technology that might work. It’s called voting. I’ll drop the patronizing tone. But today, there is a proposition going to ballot that will compel the entire city to individually vote on new developments if they exceed current height limits on much of San Francisco’s waterfront (pictured above). The practical impact would be a chilling effect on development across the city’s waterfront in the midst of one of the worst housing crises that San Francisco has ever seen. Given a low turnout June election, it was widely expected to pass. So no one from the mayor to the city supervisors really wanted to touch it. But something happened in the last few weeks as voter polls showed the race narrowing with 33 percent ‘No’ votes to 31 percent ‘Yes votes. Proposition B sounds nice on paper. Let the people decide! No wall on the waterfront! But in practice, it adds political uncertainty to an already sophisticated process, raising costs for final buyers or dissuading developers altogether. Much of the port lands covered by the proposition are zoned for 40-foot height limits. (That’s shorter than the Ferry Building.) The Port of San Francisco found in previous studies that low-rise development at around these heights wasn’t economically feasible. Plus, the port also already has $1.5 billion in unfunded infrastructure needs, so where is that capital going to come from? While I understand that the waterfront land is precious and that land use mistakes cannot easily be undone, the city has already developed a very participatory process involving commission hearings, neighborhood meetings, professional city planners and the Board of Supervisors that has taken decades to develop. Regular voters are not steeped in understanding how to measure environmental impact or gauge infrastructure fees, and the planning department is concerned that whatever new regime arises from the proposition would let developers bypass otherwise mandatory environmental reviews. (You can read a longtime architect’s take on it here.) Furthermore, I am concerned that if it passes, the handful of people behind it — Aaron Peskin, Jon Golinger (who made a mockery of the ballot argument process earlier this spring) and the wealthy couple Richard and Barbara Stewart (who largely funded it to protect their views) — will be emboldened to push for initiatives covering other neighborhoods of San Francisco, which will further strangle what is already one of the most complex and deliberative planning processes in the country. The NIMBYist, wealthy voting classes of the peninsula and San Francisco have not added homes in line with the region’s job growth. So we are embroiled in a brutal, practically one-in, one-out battle for the city’s very limited housing stock, which is creating pressures for evictions among the San Francisco’s elderly, disabled and working-class residents. Between 2010 and 2013, the city grew by 32,207 people but only added 4,776 housing units. For an inside look at how these battles play out parcel by parcel, you can read this depressing first-person take from Bernal Hill where neighbors are battling it out over an undeveloped lot. Like other global cities, San Francisco faces the twin challenges of urbanization and rising income inequality. Like other American cities, it has to face these problems largely alone, after cuts to the federal Housing and Urban Development budget over the last 30 years and the dissolution of the California state redevelopment agencies. The city subsidizes the construction of new affordable housing through market-rate developments, and if you want to bump the allocation for affordable housing higher, you’d probably need to allow more density or height to make the numbers work. So additional restrictions would chill housing production and rehabilitation for multiple income tiers. We must ask ourselves: If not here, then where? If the peninsula suburbs and the city cannot make room for more homes over the next five to 10 years, the spillovers will continue into Oakland and potentially accelerate displacement of the East Bay’s historic black communities, which have already dealt with decades of disinvestment and redlining. In the face of broad, regional population growth, San Francisco’s culture and attitude around re-development needs to fundamentally change. That can only happen through the electorate. For real change, the political bodies of the city need to hear from a broader swath of the tech community. And that means you.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line767
__label__wiki	0.627721	0.627721	Asteroid Disaster It’s Unlikely, but a 164-Foot Asteroid May Hit Earth in September June 7th 19 __Victor Tangermann__Filed Under: Off World ESA/Victor Tangermann Asteroid Impact Mark your calendars: a massive 164-foot asteroid called 2006 QV89 has a one in 7,000 chance of smashing into the Earth on the morning of September 9, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). The giant space rock is one of 10 asteroids that make up ESA’s “Risk List:” a ranking of objects “for which a non-zero impact probability has been detected,” according to its website — and, though the effects of an impact are unclear, it’s reportedly twice the width of the asteroid that blew out thousands of windows in Russia in 2013. Catastrophic Impact Yes, the chances are minimal, but space agencies like the ESA and NASA are actively preparing for the worst. Last month, ESA simulated what a potentially catastrophic asteroid impact could look like on Twitter to help prepare us for a real emergency. Asteroid experts came together to simulate “a fictional but plausible imminent asteroid impact on Earth,” as ESA’s website described it. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine reiterated the importance of tracking and studying asteroids and taking the risks of a possible asteroid hit more seriously. “These events are not rare; they happen,” Bridenstine said at the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference in April. But chances of a September disaster are still minuscule. 2006 QV89 will most likely pass Earth millions of miles away later this year, according to the ESA. And if we survive — which, to be clear, is overwhelmingly likely — the next potential impact we could be looking forward to is the 52-foot asteroid 2009JF1 that has a 1 in 4,464 chance of hitting Earth in 2022. READ MORE: An asteroid has a very tiny chance of hitting Earth this year [CNET] More on asteroids: Asteroid Flying by Earth Is so Big It Has Its Own Moon	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line768
__label__cc	0.589314	0.410686	Homes · Rawalpindi ×Muslim Town Plot Form Plot File DoneReset Ft² Change area unit (Marla) Currency (PKR) Type to search Agencies Default OrderNewest ListedOldest ListedHighest PriceLowest Price Rawalpindi Plot Form 5 Marla8 Marla10 Marla12 Marla1 Kanal2 Kanal4 Kanal 0 Plot Forms For Sale in Muslim Town, Rawalpindi Current location has no properties available. GET TO KNOWRawalpindi How can you get around Rawalpindi? Rawalpindi is the sister city of Islamabad and both Rawalpindi and Islamabad are known as the Twin Cities. Where Islamabad represents the elite community of the city, Rawalpindi is more like the real and unfiltered Pakistan. Rawalpindi has a number of tourist attractions where you could reach through various means like Metro, taxis, and car-hailing services. The city has a well-structured road system and network that connects the city with various other cities and destinations. Some of them include Lahore, Taxila, Peshawar, and Murree. Like Islamabad, Rawalpindi also has local bus service including: Faisal Movers Niazi Express Islamabad Express You can also rent a car and drive it yourself if you need the freedom to move around the city any time and as per your schedule. What kinds of housing options can You find in Rawalpindi? Like Islamabad, Rawalpindi also offers different housing options like apartments and houses. Since Rawalpindi is more densely populated than Islamabad, flats are a more commonly used option. Some of the famous places to live in Rawalpindi are Bahria Town, Satellite Town, Fazaia Housing Scheme, PIA Society, PWD Housing Society, and CBR Town. You can find reasonably priced houses and flats in these areas, both for rental and buy. How much will it Cost to Build a House in Rawalpindi? The cost depends on the area of the house but, on average, a 5 marla house will cost Rs. 2,488,250 and onwards. The price includes everything from the cement, bricks, sand, labor, etc. The cost can vary as it depends on a number of factors like the quality of the material and whether the house is single or of multiple stories. What are the tourist attractions in Rawalpindi? Rawalpindi has loads of fun things and tourist attractions that could keep you busy for weeks. Unlike its twin city, Rawalpindi is much richer in culture, which shows the raw culture some of the places that you should visit when in Rawalpindi are the Ayub Park, Army Museum, the Raja Bazaar, Jinnah Park, Sangni Fort, Nawaz Sharif Park, and many others. The city has a lot to offer both in terms of sight watching and cuisine. What kind of Transportation System Rawalpindi has? Metro, rickshaw, taxi, and car-hailing services, all of these means of transportation are quite famous in Rawalpindi. Unlike Islamabad, you will find rickshaw ride in Rawalpindi and it is the best vehicle if you are out to experience the ‘desi’ culture. Usually, a rickshaw costs less than a taxi or Uber or Careem and you get to enjoy a lot in it. What are the best high schools in Rawalpindi? After Lahore, Rawalpindi has the highest number of schools and colleges in Pakistan. The city is rich in its educational network and offers various options. Some of the best schools in Rawalpindi include Sain Mary Cambridge School, Islamabad Lyceum, Roots School System, Army Public Schools, Grammar Public School Rawalpindi, Siddeeq Public School, and Froebel’s International School. Name some of the best Universities and Colleges in Rawalpindi. Like schools, Rawalpindi also has a number of remarkable higher studies institutes like colleges and universities. These universities not only impart quality education but also takes care of the students by providing state-of-the-art facilities. Some of the finest among them are PMAS - Arid Agricultural University, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi Medical College, and HITEC University. All of these universities offer multidisciplinary studies in various subjects and areas. What are some of the best hospitals in Rawalpindi? Healthcare is a priority and being in Rawalpindi, you will never be short of good hospitals. Some of the best in the city include Combine Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, Khatoon Hospital, Azema Sheikh Hospital Pvt Ltd. Rawalpindi, Maryam Memorial Hospital, Pak Emirates Military Hospital, and Safia Memorial Hospital. Name some Top Food Destinations in Rawalpindi. Rawalpindi is known for its rich food culture. As mentioned earlier, Rawalpindi is more about raw Pakistani culture and you can find both local and international cuisine here. Some of the best restaurants in Rawalpindi are Habibi Restaurant, Texas Steak House, The Monal Restaurant, BBQ Tonight, Bala Tikka House, Savour Foods, Roasters, etc. Ft²MarlaKanal Please input your email Select Purpose ×Buy ×Rawalpindi Type or Select Area Min size:	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line776
__label__cc	0.697961	0.302039	Hampton Clean City Commission (1) - *Main Calendar (1) Hampton Clean City Commission (1) Hampton History Museum Carousel Schedule (1) Donate to annual back to school giveaway August 13, 2020 - August 22, 2020, 10:00 AM @ Hampton community centers Donate to annual back to school giveaway2020-08-13T00:00:00 The Annual Family Get Fit Back to School giveaway will be a drive thru event Aug. 22 from 10 a.m. to noon. The Hampton NAACP event will distribute free school supplies and boxes of food at the Y.H. Thomas Community Center at 1300 Thomas St. Donations of school supplies, masks and nonperishable food, such as canned goods, for the giveaway can be dropped off at the Y.H. Thomas, Northampton, and West Hampton community centers in Hampton. For more information, call 757-287-0277. Hampton community centersHamptonVA23669 CANCELED - Community Cleanup at Bethel High School and Phenix School August 21, 2020, 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM @ Bethel High School and Phenix School CANCELED - Community Cleanup at Bethel High School and Phenix School 2020-08-21T09:00:00 Friday Community Cleanups are planned based on Community Appearance & Litter Index scores and citizen requests. They are planned to bring attention litter problems in addition to cleaning up the sites. They're a great way to end the week! YOU MUST REGISTER to participate! Bethel High School and Phenix School 1067 Big Bethel RdHamptonVA23666	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line782
__label__cc	0.628525	0.371475	How very different our lives would be without paper. There would be limited recording of histories, sentiments or creative processes if we still recorded ideas on parchment also known as ‘animal skin’. The sharing of ideas would be more difficult. Would there be computers or other modern conveniences we enjoy today if not for the ability to draft and revise plans on paper for building and inventing? https://gwentuinman.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/pulp-and-paper.mp3 Over the past few years, I’ve come to enjoy buying paper in upbeat colours, memo pads with patterned borders, and ornate sticky notes. In my pantry, you’ll usually find a few packages of paper dinner napkins. I’m surrounded by books, books, and more books. In the office, there are receipts, file folders, documents and a recycle box of newspapers and envelopes. Downstairs, I have a shelf where gift bags, boxes, and wrapping paper are stored. Let’s not forget the watercolour paper, sketch pads, printer paper and notebook paper too. Where does it all come from? Rag pickers would sift through garbage heaps for discarded articles made of fabric. They would sell their findings by the pound to middlemen who would then sell the rags to companies that then used the materials to create new products like paper. Rag picker: Paris France, 1899-1901. (Photo credit: Eugène Atget (French, 1857 – 1927)) The manufacture of paper requires fibres. Early in the history of paper making, the remains of coarse spun silk or bamboo, hemp, papyrus, rice paper plants provided fibre for making paper. These materials have cellulose fibres that are porous and become flexible when saturated with water. When these fibres are suspended in water, they become tangled. Then, when water is drained away and the fibres are pressed, they mat together to form paper. The Arab practise of using recycled rags as a fibre element in paper making was adopted across Europe. In Canada, however, cotton and linen rags were scarce so paper makers turned to conifer tree pulp for the cellulose fibres. Conifer trees like spruce, poplar and pine trees were abundant in many areas of the country. “LUMBERING. With more than 1,000,000 square miles of timber land, Canada ranks third in the world as a producer of wood, and lumbering is a major industry. From massive log to flimsy sheet of paper is a long journey, requiring many different processes. Logs come up jack ladder from the river to be sawn into proper lengths before going into barking drums.” National Film Board of Canada (Photo credit: Harry Foster, 1943) In the early 1800’s, the focus of the lumber industry, in the Ottawa Valley, was square-cut timber. Trees were felled and their sides hewed away until they were sculpted into a perfectly square shape. These hewn timbers could be efficiently stacked in the hull of ships for export to Europe or lashed together tightly for floating down river to a sawmill. Any logs that were below grade (i.e. cracked, too short, small in diameter) were abandoned on the forest floor. Although valuable to pulp and paper, in the – timber trade, black spruce was a mere nuisance of no value. As the sawmill activities slowed, lumbermen recognized the potential to recoup the expense of costly timber limits (licenses to cut timber in defined areas) through the new rising industry of pulp and paper. Not only had they found a market for the logs they would otherwise have cast aside as undesirable, but they could also harvest and sell the spruce, balsam, poplar and jack pine they’d previously left behind in the bush. Not only were these trees were smaller and easier to handle, there was no need to worry about damage to the lumber during transport. Even some new settlers were able to capitalize thusly on the timber cleared from their fields. Ottawa schoolhouse, September 1898 (Photo Credit: James Ballantyne/Library and Archives Canada/PA-134258) In several provinces, changes to the laws about the export of unprocessed pulpwood encouraged the growth of Canadian pulp and paper mills. As an added bonus, in 1913, the Americans dropped their heavy tariffs on the import of Canadian newsprint and pulp. The demand for paper, especially newsprint, increased steadily in the 1800’s along with the rise of literacy. At that time, education was free and compulsory. Retail sectors were growing rapidly and their demand for advertising fueled a mass distribution of print media and journalism. Canadians were hungry for news at home and abroad. Pulp logs at mill in Amos, Quebec, 1922 (Credit: Canadian National Railways/Library and Archives Canada/PA-) What I learned through this research will lend to the content of a novel I’m currently working on. In this interest, I continue to watch with great interest, the number of pulp and paper mills closing in Canada due largely to the shrinking demand for newsprint. I’m also gathering research for a historical novel to be written in the future. It will be loosely based on what I know about my Irish ancestors who arrived in Bytown, Ontario in 1830. The photo at the beginning of the post was sourced through the Library and Archives of Canada. I will close this piece by quoting a caption that accompanied the photograph: “This gigantic roll of paper dwarfs the worker standing beside it. The roll weighs app. 20 tons and spans 10 metres. Although most trees are not harvested for the production of paper, it is estimated that a small black spruce can produce 12,500 sheets of paper or 62,500 $20 dollar bills.” (PS Thanks for stopping by. Click here to receive a free short story and a monthly-ish email summary of recent posts.) Available at Amazon in print & ebook format Sacrifice, betrayal, family secrets! A widower and young mother struggle to overcome their tragic pasts in a dying paper mill town. The Last Hoffman explores environmental issues, mental health & social isolation. Gwen Tuinman is a novelist, born and raised in rural southern Ontario. She draws on her psychology background to create complex characters shaped by nature, nurture and circumstance. Her storytelling is influenced her interest in bygone days. Delving Deeper, Podcasts conifer, logs, Ottawa Valley, paper, paper mill, pulp and paper, timber 5 thoughts on “Pulp and Paper” Extremely interesting post, as usual, Gwen! It seems that Synchronicity is indeed alive and well in the universe sometimes – it’s on my list to visit the HQ Papermaking Studio in Chiang Mai in a couple of weeks and I’d been wondering why an art-papermaking outfit would be located there. Your post made it all clear…..it’s a byproduct of the silk, bamboo, hemp and rice-growing industry there. I enjoyed the information about the Paris ragpickers, having heard the term before but not understanding what exactly they were (kind of like original recyclers:0)). Brilliant photos, and I look forward to buying your books! Happy New Year to you:0)). Hello Beth. I’m humbled by your kind comments. Thank you very much. Synchronicity is in deed at work. How exciting that you are traveling to such an exotic place and to visit a papermaking studio. I found a web article about the studio you are going to visit. You are in for a treat. I hope to hear back from you after your travels. The photos are wonderful as always Gwen and a fascinating history. Thank you Andrea. I saw so many interesting things that I didn’t include. One book I referenced showed cross section sketches of a paper mill style commonly found in Spain. The mills were two stories tall and located next to rivers so the running water could power a mill wheel. The mill wheel operated huge wooden mallets located on the inside of the mill. The mallets pounded down the rags to reduce them to fibers suitable for making the paper. The paper making process happened on the ground floor of the mill and the workers were housed upstairs on the second floor. Finding the photos is a very enjoyable task. They tell their own story. Delving Deeper — Pulp and Paper \| Saloons Subscribe to Gwen’s monthly(ish) newsletter. Join now and receive an excerpt from Gwen’s debut novel, The Last Hoffman! Click to follow Gwen's blog posts by email Meet Gwen … Gwen Tuinman is a novelist, born and raised in rural southern Ontario. Fascinated by the landscape of human tenacity, she tells stories about people navigating the social restrictions of their era. Her storytelling is influenced by an interest in bygone days. Gwen lives in Whitby with her husband. Follow Gwen Tuinman on WordPress.com Let’s stay in touch:	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line789
__label__wiki	0.655711	0.655711	in Premier League, Sports, Top Stories, Transfers Man Utd Rejected Chance to Sign Matthijs de Ligt Last Summer Over Concerns He’d Get Fat by Correspondent May 11, 2019, 3:12 pm 20k Views Manchester United missed out on the signing of rising star Matthijs de Ligt over concerns that he would become too fat. The Ajax captain looks set for a big money move this summer after emerging as one of Europe’s hottest young properties this season, having guided his side to the Champions League semi-finals. Man United reportedly close to signing Daniel James. Be interesting to see reaction from fans to this one: tired of expensive mercenaries and 'name' players. Want untapped, young potential. Which this is. — Alex Shaw (@AlexShawESPN) May 10, 2019 Man United reportedly close to signing Daniel James. Be interesting to see reaction from fans to this one: tired of expensive mercenaries and ‘name’ players. Want untapped, young potential. Which this is. De Ligt will likely fetch a fee of around £75m, a figure which would reflect the heroics of his exploits in Amsterdam this term but the Mirror report that United could have signed the Dutchman for a much smaller fee just one year ago. It is said that the Red Devils turned down the chance to sign the central defender because of concerns over his weight, following Marcel Bout’s extensive scouting of De Ligt. The Dutch scout was recruited at Old Trafford by Louis van Gaal and has remained in place despite his compatriot’s departure. Bout apparently recommended De Ligt to United as a potential signing, but with one significant warning. It is suggested that Bout was aware that De Ligt’s father Frank was ‘significantly overweight’, and subsequently held concerns that similar issues could affect the 19-year-old’s pace and power in the long term. Former United boss Jose Mourinho had been desperate sign a central defender towards the end of his tenure and missed out on the signing of Leicester’s Harry Maguire prior to his sacking in December, but De Ligt was the Portuguese’s top target. De Ligt is now set to spark a bidding war among the continent’s elite sides this summer after leading Ajax’s stunning Champions League run this term, whilst United’s failure to qualify for Europe’s elite competition this season is likely to see them miss out on the Dutchman’s signing. A goodbye message from @AnderHerrera. 🔴 #MUFC pic.twitter.com/z56bmBwXa9 — Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 11, 2019 The Red Devils are instead expected to turn their attentions back towards Leicester star Maguire, who is likely to cost in the region of £65m, having been put off by the £90m valuation of Napoli superstar Kalidou Koulibaly. Previous article 4 Reasons Why Your Exes Should Remain In The Past (See the list) Next article Mesut Ozil’s Agent Insists He Will Remain at Arsenal Despite Club Concerns Over Wages Ben Carter in Featured, Premier League, Sports Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Revolution Clicks Into Gear With Champions Performance in Premier League, Sports Drama as Pep Guardiola fires back at Mourinho ahead of Premier League clash More From: Premier League by Correspondent November 22, 2020, 3:48 pm 4 Reasons Why Your Exes Should Remain In The Past (See the list) Mesut Ozil’s Agent Insists He Will Remain at Arsenal Despite Club Concerns Over Wages Ben Carter in Business, Top Stories	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line794
__label__wiki	0.971756	0.971756	Global News Video Muted celebrations as UK welcomes 2021 and world says goodbye to a ‘different’ year The UK has welcomed in 2021, saying goodbye to a year that for many was the strangest, toughest or even worst in recent memory. It was ushered in by the chimes of Big Ben – an hour after the nation’s clock marked the end of the Brexit transition period – without any of the thousands December 31, 2020 by admin 0 Comments You got new AirPods for the holidays — here’s how to get the most out of them Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Apple Inc, discusses the Apple AirPods during a media event in San Francisco, California, U.S. September 7, 2016. Beck Diefenbach \| Reuters You may have received a pair of Apple AirPods over the holidays. They’re one of the most convenient Bluetooth headphones available and easily work Nobody knows the destination of the journey that we started last night Heralding the end of the transition phase and a new chapter of UK-EU relations, Boris Johnson told the country correctly that “this is the beginning.” But tonight, despite 1,246 pages of legal agreement with the EU, plus annexes, nobody actually knows the destination of the journey that we start tonight. There are some certainties. From Health worker sacked after deliberately spoiling 500 vaccine doses A health worker in Wisconsin has been sacked after deliberately spoiling 500 doses of a coronavirus vaccine. Police, the FBI and the US Drug Administration are all investigating after the worker removed the doses from where they were being refrigerated at the Aurora Medical Center on the outskirts of Milwaukee. Detectives said they had been Tech’s top seven companies added $3.4 trillion in value in 2020 Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., arrives at the Axel Springer Award ceremony in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. Johannessen-Koppitz \| Bloomberg \| Getty Images Tech’s biggest companies just wrapped up a huge year. The seven most valuable U.S. technology companies — Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, Fears and hope among business owners as Brexit transition ends Business owners across the country are waiting to see what the first day outside the customs union and single market holds for them. While some are optimistic about the change in trading rules from New Year’s Day, others say it’s led them to regret their Brexit vote. At Birmingham Wholesale Market, hundreds of crates of Brexit transition ends as UK-EU trade deal takes effect The UK has begun a new relationship with the European Union with the Brexit transition period coming to an end. Despite leaving the EU on 31 January last year, the UK has remained subject to the bloc’s rules as a member of the single market and customs union. However, this ended at 11pm and the FTSE 100 suffers worst year since 2008 – but Wall Street rebounds The FTSE 100 has clocked up its worst year since the 2008 financial crisis – underperforming against global rivals that have bounced back following a coronavirus sell-off earlier in the year. London’s leading share index closed at 6460.5 in a shortened closing session on New Year’s Eve, 14.3% down over the course of 2020. It Tesla opens new world largest Supercharger station with a whopping 72 charging stalls Tesla has now opened a new world largest Supercharger station with a whopping 72 charging stalls just a month after beating its own record number of stalls at a charging station. Tesla Supercharger Network Unlike most automakers producing electric vehicles, Tesla doesn’t rely on third-party charging networks. Early on, Tesla decided to invest into its Britain and Spain reach initial agreement on Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status Britain and Spain have reached an initial agreement over Gibraltar’s post-Brexit status, Spain’s foreign minister has said. Under the deal the territory will remain part of European Union agreements such as the Schengen free movement area, Arancha Gonzalez Laya told reporters. London and Madrid had been negotiating how to police the land border between Spain Nightingale hospitals being ‘readied’ for use as COVID patient numbers rise Nightingale hospitals across England are being “readied” for use if needed as COVID-19 patient numbers rise. The NHS in London has been asked to make sure the Excel centre site is “reactivated and ready to admit patients” as hospitals in the capital struggle. Other Nightingale hospital sites across England include Manchester, Bristol, Sunderland, Harrogate, Exeter Ford Motor and Bryan Cranston urge Americans to ‘finish strong’ and follow Covid precautions Still from Ford’s “Finish Strong” spot. Ford In a new ad campaign using actor Bryan Cranston, Ford Motor is urging Americans to adhere to Covid-19 protocols to save lives in the next period of the pandemic. The campaign, part of an initiative the company has dubbed #FinishStrong, includes a new commercial from filmmaker Peter Berg Big Supporters Of Tesla Stock Have Become “Teslanaires” December 31st, 2020 by Matt Pressman Originally published on EV Annex. Investing in Tesla has always been a rollercoaster ride. This year, however, Tesla’s stock has surged higher and higher all while settling into the prestigious S&P 500. It’s been quite rewarding for retail investors — minting some surprised (and happy) millionaires in the process. Tesla Model Spurs’ Hammon 1st woman to direct NBA team 11:23 PM ET Becky Hammon made history on Wednesday, becoming the first woman to act as head coach during an NBA regular season game. The San Antonio assistant coach filled in for head coach Gregg Popovich after he was ejected in the first half of the Spurs’ 121-107 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Popovich Tesco and Pizza Hut named and shamed over minimum wage breaches Tesco, Pizza Hut and Superdrug are among 139 companies that have been named and shamed by the government for failing to pay the minimum wage. The employers short-changed more than 95,000 workers by a total of £6.7m during the period investigated between 2016 and 2018, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said. Australia sees in New Year as majority of world set for muted 2021 celebrations The Pacific Island of Tonga has become the first country to mark the start of 2021, with millions around the world celebrating the New Year at home because of COVID-19. Many New Year celebrations have been disrupted by the pandemic as officials seek to limit crowds that can spread COVID-19. France has mobilised 100,000 police ‘Help us’: Uganda’s pop star politician Bobi Wine ‘made prisoner in his own home’ Putin critic urges Russians to ‘take to streets’ as court orders Navalny be held for 30 days Into The Grey Zone: Political violence ‘much more likely’ when facts undermined Poisoned Putin critic Alexei Navalny returns to Russia Incumbent Yoweri Museveni declared winner of Uganda presidential election India begins vaccine roll-out and aims to administer 300 million jabs by August Dutch government resigns over childcare subsidies scandal Indonesia vaccine rollout bucks trend by targeting younger generations FTSE 100 adds £60bn of value to hit 10-month high Sky’s chief executive Jeremy Darroch to step down GB News seals £60m funding for ‘bold’ launch Retail, leisure and hospitality firms to get up to £9,000 to help cope with lockdown FTSE 100 rallies as vaccine hopes boost sentiment Ladbrokes owner reveals £8.1bn takeover offer Sorrell enters post-Brexit era with double US takeover swoop Post Office hands board seats to postmasters after IT scandal Bitcoin tops $30,000 for first time Sugar sweetens revolt over Caffe Nero rescue CBC Latest News Make it Modern Copyright © 2021 by Global News Video. 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__label__wiki	0.941681	0.941681	Vanessa Wyche becomes the first black deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Vanessa E. Wyche is an American engineer and civil servant who works at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of JSC Vanessa Wyche – Engineer – Associated Links: JSC Deputy Director Vanessa Wyche \| NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/about/people/orgs/bios/wyche.html Deputy Vanessa Wyche \| LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-wyche-12356611/ Vanessa Wyche – Engineer – Related Articles: “Vanessa Wyche becomes first African-American deputy director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center” \| Chron: https://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/space/article/African-American-woman-tapped-as-second-in-13141276.php “Career Advice From Vanessa Wyche” \| Career Girls: https://www.careergirls.org/role-model/bioengineer/ “Vanessa Wyche Named Deputy Director at NASA’s Johnson Space Center” \| https://tnj.com/vanessa-wyche-named-deputy-director-at-nasas-johnson-space-center/ “Vanessa Wyche to Serve First Black Deputy Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center”\| Walker’s Legacy: https://www.walkerslegacy.com/first-black-deputy-director-of-nasas-johnson-space-center/ “Vanessa Wyche, NASA’s First Black Deputy Director, Encourages Kids to Enter Fields” \| SYWYWire: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/vanessa-wyche-nasas-first-black-deputy-director-encourages-kids-to-enter-stem-fields “Rocket Science”\| https://grandstrandmag.com/feature/rocket_science “Vanessa Wyche is the first Black woman to named Deputy of Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center” \| The Black Detour: https://theblackdetour.com/vanessa-wyche-is-the-first-black-woman/ “NASA’s Vanessa Wyche Strives to Pave Way for Minorities and Women at Space Agency” \| Moxye: NASA’s Vanessa Wyche Strives to Pave Way for Minorities and Women at the Space Agency PHOTO DATE: 06-27-16 LOCATION: Building 8, Room 183 – Photo Studio SUBJECT: Official NASA Executive portrait of Vanessa Wyche PHOTOGRAPHER: BILL STAFFORD August, August 8, Black History, Women in the Military	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line796
__label__wiki	0.591751	0.591751	Biestmann Recent content by Biestmann Eternal Dreamers \| Battle-Focused RPG \| Free Download Good to hear from you, Mimi! I hope you've been well! I am happy to hear you enjoy what's been added to the game since your last playthrough. If I remember correctly, things like the mining minigame, shop upgrade system, revamped tower and even 1920x resolution were still missing back then... Forum: Commercial Games Good question with a simple answer: to attract more players to the game. The engine isn't the most popular as we all know, and after 7 months in Early Access with a set price, I haven't found the audience I'd like to. By removing the need to pay for the game, I hope more people will be willing... Eternal Dreamers is going free-to-play! >Steam Announcement< After almost a year in Early Access, Eternal Dreamers is going free-to-play! What does that mean for buyers of the paid version and the game going forward? Everything is outlined below! When is Eternal Dreamers going F2P? The switch... OrangeGreenworks - Steam Integration with Achievements and Time Log This is a great plugin. I've been wanting to update my game to include achievements and DLC, and this does all of that. Thank you so much for this plugin again. Biestmann Forum: JS Plugin Releases (RMMV) I hope everyone is having healthy and enjoyable holidays! The game's development continues throughout the end of the year to bring you a new update soon! In early January, you may look forward to the following additions: New main quest area: Wilds Tier 6 weapons and armor Rare tier 11... Less than a day to go on the Christmas discount! Thank you! I am glad to hear there are more 7th Dragon fans out there! It's a very underappreciated series thanks to SEGA's decision not to localize most entries. Both 7th Dragon and PSO are developed by SEGA in fact, and so there are references to the Phantasy Star series in 7th Dragon. Today, I'd like to talk about some of the inspiration that served the conception of Eternal Dreamers! First of all, there would be Phantasy Star Online, a game that released in the year 2000 for the SEGA Dreamcast, and later on appeared on PC and the Gamecube. Pioneering online RPGs on... Hey, everyone! :kaoluv: I've finalized the passive abilities for every class now and felt like showing them off in advance. I tried to design them as unique and as fitting for every class as possible. Working on these was a lot of fun! Once implemented, our party will become even more... Busy times! :kaoback: But development goes on! In December, expect the following additions to the game: Tower Expansion Part 2 Score System Expanded exchange shop Passive abilities Unlocked and leveled through the coaching system e.g. Anna's Raging Berserker: Increases ATK by... A small, but delightful announcement! Eternal Dreamers has its own dedicated category on Twitch now! :kaoluv: Congratulations on conquering the Depths! Unlike the Spirit Hunt, the tower does not offer exclusive equipment-types. Instead, the mode was built for the demographic that wants to... End of an Era! (10 Viewers)	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line810
__label__wiki	0.76118	0.76118	Full HD Movie For Free High quality movies every time, everywhere Movie 18+ Hell Fest (2018) Genre: Genre, Horror, Thriller Director: Gregory Plotkin Starring: Amy Forsyth, Stephen Conroy, Cynthea Mercado, , Hell Fest is introduced as a horror theme park which travels across the country during the Halloween season. A young girl from Cincinnati is shown to be separated from her group during one of the mazes. There she is confronted by a masked figure known as “The Other” (Stephen Conroy). She recognizes The Other as a man who had been following her and her group of friends the entire night. The Other attacks the girl, stabbing her in the gut before hanging her. The young girl’s corpse appears to blend in with the other prop bodies as The Other leaves the scene. Natalie (Amy Forsyth) is shown to be arriving at her former apartment where her best friend, Brooke (Reign Edwards), still resides. She greets her old friend but is disappointed to learn that a former classmate, Taylor (Bex Taylor-Klaus), whom Natalie does not get along with is living with her. Though Natalie’s visit was planned, Brooke is shown to have been uncertain that Natalie would actually arrive as she had been distant of … User Reviews: October is upon us again! This means that along with the beautiful autumn colors that emerge, the spooky season of Halloween also returns. Along with the jack o’ lanterns, fun size candy, and parities, this is also when the often popular haunts come to town. These haunts cater to those that want something genuinely scary, as if they’ve stepped into their favorite horror movies…without the serial killers of course. I’ve only been to a few and have had more laughs then fears. This is because I more appreciate the haunts in a similar way a stage show is pulled off. So why are there dedicated fans that keep going further with mazes where they tough you (yes, they can do that)? Again, it’s a part of the Halloween atmosphere that a part of the escapism people desire. We already know were going to survive the night, but we love to see if our internal suspension of disbelief can activate and put us in the fear we want. I can understand it can be too intense for a lot of people, but again, it’s all a part of the season. It’s nice to see a movie like Hell Fest to set a slasher within a haunt park. A young college student Natalie (Played by Amy Forsyth) is visiting her former roommate Brooke (played by Reign Edwards) and classmate Taylor (played by Bex Taylor-Klaus). Not only are they going to the haunt park Hell Fest, but their meeting up with friends, including Gavin (played by Robby Attal) who got everyone V.I.P. passes (which means no line waiting). Along with the various people coming in, they see that Hell Fest of full of scare actors, several mazes to explore and even an entire land called "the Deadlands" where the actors are allowed to touch and go further with their scares. The problem? An unnamed person enters the park and into the mazes and starts randomly killing off guests. Our heroes don’t see anything wrong until this guy acquires a mask and starts to stalk them around. At first they dismiss him as a really good actor, but when friends start disappearing, they got more uneasy. Even when they try talking to security (who tells them that he can arrest someone for doing their job), they don’t seem to have a lot of options. The further they get to the Deadlands, the more they feel like they’ve descended into hell. So by reading this, you can already tell that Hell Fest follows a lot of slasher tropes that we’ve seen before; the group of college kids, unresponsive authority, walking along somewhere, killer with a mask, and such. This will definitely not appeal to those looking for a new kind of horror movie (like Hereditary). This seems to be more proud that it’s trying to be a typical slasher. Because of that, I didn’t mind it. A lot of it has to do with it’s setting and atmosphere. Hell Fest is full of theme park-like Halloween imagery that looks really cool. I was afraid they would try to pull off haunt mazes that only Hollywood effects teams were capable of. Instead, each maze has the right balance of over the top gory, but also over the top fakery. This feels like something that would be built at Knott’s Berry Farm or Universal Studios. Part of me really wants to visit this place…without the killing of course. Even the scare actors seems spot on with some coming up to them at random points, and some in full makeup hosting scary shows about guillotines. Story is minimal as the what’s served is an excuse to show off the park. The main actors like Amy Forsyth and Bex Taylor-Klaus do fine in their parts. Their interesting enough that we’d want to visit the park with them. Even when they are eventually chased by the killer (I swear, I don’t even think they gave him a name), we do want to see them survive. Also like a lot of slashers, without giving anything away, it does tease for a potential sequel in a trope manner we’ve seen before. I’d, however, would love to see this continue. I’ll give this seven tickets to Knott’s Scary Farm out of ten. Hell Fest may be a typical slasher, but it’s so atmospheric, that those that have been to these haunts will probably like it fine. It’s hard to phrase it or be critical as it’s also short, running no more then eighty-five minutes. It’s a fun watch. So see it and understand it’s all a prt of the show. 2018, amusement park, Amy Forsyth, Cynthea Mercado, Gregory Plotkin, group of friends, haunted house attraction, masked killer, slasher, Stephen Conroy, USA Public on September 8, 2020 No Chance (2020) film 2 hours ago Storyline:When a group of international criminals from his past kidnap his daughter, the world's greatest commando sets out for revenge in this action-packed parody of everything you loved about the 80's.User Reviews:... Max Payne (2008) Storyline:Three years ago, NYPD detective Max Payne's wife and baby were murdered. Max gets himself transferred to the cold case office where he can continue searching for the killer who got away. He's a loner, but tw... Brainstorm (1983) Storyline:Brilliant researchers Lillian Reynolds and Michael Brace have developed a system of recording and playing back actual experiences of people. Once the capability of tapping into "higher brain functions" is ad... 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Stealing a nurse's uniform and car, Lynn ends up in a small Calif... the wise one 1 month ago scissors are just more complicated knives 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Australia Canada China christmas english female nudity France f rated Germany Hong Kong independent film India Italy Japan love murder revenge sequel South Korea Spain UK united kingdom united states of america USA woman director John wick 14 hours ago How to download the movie shaw 18 hours ago poop 1 day ago logan paul got himself a new brain and claws and became loved anyways want so... Anonymous 1 day ago Thanks for share movie !! Confused 1 day ago A movie with so much "simulated sex" but zero nudity or actual sex. The cove... 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__label__wiki	0.591976	0.591976	Comfort Food: Guilty Pleasure? by Annette Kornblum Comfort food can make you feel warm and safe. ©iStockphoto.com/rojoimages A friend and I are dining at a neighborhood restaurant on a hearty meal of fettuccini Alfredo, mozzarella and tomato salad and bread dipped in olive oil. High in carbohydrates and fat, so-called comfort foods are an effective stress remedy. "I eat fattening foods when I'm bored or depressed because it's something to divert me from my bad moods and it tastes good," my friend says. But "afterwards, it makes me feel worse because I know I shouldn't have eaten it." When the going gets tough, people gravitate to the feel-good foods that we remember fondly from our youth — everything from macaroni and cheese to baked beans, ice-cream and candy bars. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, an AC Nielson survey of grocery store sales reported a brief 12 percent surge in snack foods sales. Do indulging in these simple pleasures come at the price of your waistline, health and a guilty after-taste? The verdict is decidedly mixed. The upside for my friend, who stays physically fit and keeps her cravings under control, is that she need not have eaters' remorse. "Even if you eat the most decadent dessert, if you control the portions, you can feel good about it and about yourself and move on," says Connie Diekman, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). Easier said than done. "The mind set in this country is that bigger is better," pronounces Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Case in point: super-sized servings of fries, sodas, muffins and pasta are standard fare at many fast food and sit-down restaurants. "No one food is to blame but almost all foods are getting bigger in serving sizes," Wootan says. According to David Katz, M.D. at the Yale University School of Medicine, overindulging in fatty, salty and sweet foods contributes to weight gain, and obesity itself can be a death sentence from diabetes, heart disease and cancer. "People say they occasionally have a hot dog, hamburger and french fries, but when asked 'what else do you eat,' they say 'nothing,' meaning they're excluding whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables," says Katz. "A poor diet and low levels of physical activity either have, or soon will, overtake tobacco as the leading underlying cause of premature, preventable death in the United States, resulting in almost 400,000 deaths per year." Choosing Healthy Fats Top Picks: Salt, Sugar, Fat Tips for Healthful Eating In moderation, fats in foods boost energy when you're sluggish and help the body absorb fat-soluble vitamins. There is growing evidence that one of the healthiest edibles is the vice you're supposed to avoid: fat. Not just any variety will do. You want the healthy, omega-3 fats found in nuts, olive oil, avocados and cold-water fish like salmon and mackerel, rather than the saturated, trans-fatty acids found in beef, butter, chips, cookies and many other foods. When it comes to fat, it pays to read the labels. Two recent studies, one from Penn State, the other from Harvard University, found that comfort foods alone won't tip the scale. To the contrary, researchers at Penn State reported that a diet rich in peanut butter, of all things, can both help shed pounds and prevent heart disease. Why can't we resist comfort foods? Their lure has both chemical and emotional triggers. "Some foods work on serotonin levels in the brain to produce a calming effect," Diekman says. "Adjusting your blood sugar levels by not being hungry can relax you." Bernadette Latson, a dietitian and assistant professor at the University of Texas, Southwest Medical Center, says women may be more susceptible to stress eating because of the peaks and valleys in estrogen during the menstrual cycle and brain chemicals that regulate hormone and insulin levels. Premenstrual changes can push women to eat more chocolates, chips and other foods associated with serotonin and insulin because their blood sugar is falling. "Stress ... triggers a drop in serotonin and leads to a craving for sweets and starches, which help you cope," says Latson. "Because they help improve your mood and trigger happy memories, it's a learned response to eat chocolate, cookies and cake when under stress simply because we associate them with a sense of security." Comfort food preferences seem to vary by gender but salt, sugar and fat are consistently top picks. In a survey of 1,005 consumers, Brian Wansink, a professor of marketing at the University of Illinois/Champaign, found that men and women both chose ice cream as their favorite. Women listed chocolate and cookies as their second and third choices, while men picked soup and pizza or pasta. "With the exception of ice cream, males generally claim they received more comfort from hot meals and from main meals than females," Wansink reported. There are other gender differences. Diners who suppress their appetites and engage in emotional eating to relieve stress may each be especially vulnerable to poor eating habits: Researchers at the University College, London, found these behaviors are more common in women than men when they measured the eating attitudes and food preferences of 68 male and female study subjects. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: stressed or unstressed. The stressed group were given 10 minutes to prepare a four-minute speech they were told must be delivered after lunch. The unstressed group listened to a neutral presentation before the meal. At lunch, researchers found that emotional eaters in the stressed group ate more sweet, high-fat, energy-dense foods, such as cake and cookies, than unstressed and non-emotional eaters. The bottom line, says Diekman, is that it's okay to splurge on sweets and fats, sort of. "Don't get hung up on eating a candy bar if most of the time it's not part of your daily routine. If you say you're going to treat yourself once or twice a week and make healthy choices the rest of the time, the little treats may make you eat more healthy." Below are some healthful tips from the ADA on enjoying your favorite comfort foods: Top low-fat ice cream with granola, or try sherbet topped with fruit. Opt for oatmeal-raisin, vanilla wafers or ginger snaps cookies. If you prefer salty foods, try popcorn, pretzels dipped in spicy mustard or baked tortilla chips and salsa. Instead of having seconds of hot chocolate, milk shakes, and eggnog, drink a glass of water. Add naturally sweet sliced or dried fruit to cereal, yogurt or pancakes. Add grated, shredded or chopped vegetables — zucchini, spinach, carrots — to lasagna, meat loaf, mashed potatoes, poultry, pasta, and grain dishes. Puree berries, apples, peaches, or pears for a thick, sweet sauce on grilled or broiled seafood or poultry. Add peanut butter to a sandwich at night or put it on toast with breakfast. Eat more whole grains and vegetables to be less tempted by sugars and fats. Controlling Diabetes with Exercise How much protein should I eat? Are milk alternatives good for your bones? Why are so many Americans obese? 10 Healthy Breakfast Tips How Sugar Addiction Works Dr. Pamela Peeke's 10 Weight-prevention Tips Which Pushup Is the Perfect Pushup for You? How to Succeed at Intermittent Fasting Bananas Might Be the World's Perfect Workout Food	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line816
__label__cc	0.645239	0.354761	Rhode Island Department of Health State of Rhode Island Skip to content \| Skip to navigation \| Mobile Menu Mobile Search Food, Water & Environment 10 Essential Services Appreciation & Recognition Health Regulations, Office of RIDOH Academic Institute RIDOH Strategic Framework Web Site Policies Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Public Health Accreditation Board National Network of Public Health Institutes Public Health Foundation Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health Ana Novais, Deputy Director Neil Hytinen, Legislative Liaison Joseph Wendelken, Public Information Officer Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant The Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant of the Health Resources and Services Administration. The General Laws of the State of RI Section 23-13-1 “designates the state department of health as the state agency for administering in Rhode Island the provisions of Title V of the “Social Security Act” relative to maternal and child health services.” The HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau improves the health of mothers, children and their families. Authorized under Title V of the Social Security Act, HRSA maternal and child health programs: Assure access to quality care, especially for those with low-incomes or limited availability of care. Reduce infant mortality. Provide and ensure access to comprehensive prenatal and postnatal care, especially for low-income and at-risk women. Increase the number of children receiving health assessments and follow-up diagnostic and treatment services. Provide and ensure access to preventive and child care services, as well as rehabilitative services for certain children. Implement family-centered, community-based systems of coordinated care for children with special healthcare needs. Provide assistance in applying for services to pregnant women with infants and children who are eligible for Medicaid. more The Rhode Island Department of Health’s Maternal and Child Health (Title V) Program is based within the Health Equity Institute. The RI Department of Health (RIDOH) used the information gathered from the community meetings, the analysis of the data from the various sources available to the department and its experience in the implementation of its maternal and child care services from prior years to select its program priorities for the next five years. From this combination of quantitative and qualitative information, RIDOH identified priorities in 2015. RIDOH has provided its progress on the selected priorities, national performance measures, new state performance measures, and program activities as they relate to the four levels of MCH services and all MCH population groups in detail in the FY 2020 Application/FY 2018 Annual Report. Key Focus Areas Women/Maternal health Perinatal/Infant Health Children with Special Health Care Needs Deborah Garneau, MA Title V/Children with Special Health Care Needs Director Jaime Comella Title V Program Manager Maternal and Child Health Services Title V Block Grant, Rhode Island, FY 2020 Application/ FY 2018 Annual Report AMCHP RI State Profile Understanding Title V of the Social Security Act Information for . . . 3 Capitol Hill After Hours Phone: 401-276-8046 RI Relay 711 Vital Records 7:30 AM - 3:30 PM Food Protection 8:30 AM - 4 PM Parking restrictions until 3 PM Publications Center COVID-19 Info Line RIDOH.COVID19Questions@health.ri.gov Official Website of the State of Rhode Island © 2021 Department of Health Public Health Accreditation Board Certified	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line818
__label__cc	0.737585	0.262415	admin@healthmovescairns.com.au The Health Moves Difference What is Exercise Phsyiology? Our Services / Specialties What To Expect/FAQ Louise Cooper, B.Sp.Ex.Sc., Post Grad Dip Ex. Phys. (Clinical),Exercise and Sports Science Member Louise graduated from James Cook University in 2012 with a bachelor of sport and exercise science and post graduate diploma in clinical exercise physiology. Since then she has gained extensive knowledge in treating a variety of conditions through working in a number of healthcare settings in Cairns and on the Tablelands. Her belief is that knowledge is power and aims to empower patients to take control of their own health through education and exercise prescription. Her passion is working with mums to be, assiting new mums to return to exercise and also working with individuals with diabetes. Louise enjoys spending time with her husband and young family, all outdoor activities; particularly camping and hiking and loves cooking! Kama Pearce, B Ex Physiol Clin, Exercise Sports Science Member When life takes over it is easy to put our health and, ultimately, our wellness on the backburner. Kama’s desire is to be able to provide people with a mechanism to empower themselves to take back control of their health through exercise prescription. The flow on effects from accumulating those bits in order to acquire long term gains is also undeniable, whether clients are looking to improve health concerns or to simply feel better to live a more wholesome life Kama will find the exercise for the individual. Kama also completed her studies in Exercise Physiology (Clinical) from James Cook University, Cairns. She has experience in both the public and private sector. She has lived in Cairns for close to 20 years and also overseas. She is now a true local, who understands the locals and what it is to be a local (wherever you may be from). Kama is passionate about all areas of exercise physiology and encompasses the mind, the body, and the soul in her approach by relating to the individual. Ben Collins B Ex Physiol Clin, Exercise Sports Science Australia Member Our newest team member is straight out of the starting blocks, after graduating in 2018 from James Cook University with a Bachelor of Exercise Physiology (Clinical). Ben is a Cairns local who has seen how healthcare can play a key role in assisting members of the community to live a happier and healthier lives.Ben places a huge importance on education and health promotion and is looking forward to educating the community on how regular exercise can improve health. Ben lives an active lifestyle by playing soccer in the local league and enjoys weekends away camping and fishing. Paramatta Park 5/ 135-141 Martyn Street, Cairns, 4870 Mountain View Medical 4 Front Street, Mossman, 4878 © 2021 Health Moves Cairns \| Exercise Physiology \| Better Health - Website by DKG	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line819
__label__wiki	0.581918	0.581918	How to create award winning internal communications campaigns Post by Richard Brown Huge congratulations to the Department for Transport Internal Communications team for their outstanding success at the recent Institute of Internal Communications Awards! Richard Brown (Head of Internal Communications at the DfT) has been in touch with us to share his tips for creating award-winning campaigns. On 27 September I had one of the proudest moments of my career so far when my Internal Comms team at the Department for Transport won ‘Best ongoing communication’ at the IOIC Awards 2019. We beat some tough competition and were the only central government department to win a top prize on the night. But more importantly, the external recognition means so much to my team, and to the volunteers across the Department that helped bring this campaign to life. Our campaign, DfT100, celebrates the Department for Transport’s centenary year. I first became aware that we were turning 100 in early 2018, and our team began thinking about how we would mark the year. We’ve done a huge amount to celebrate the year – from blogs, articles and reflective features on our intranet, to events, competitions, lanyards, a ‘birthday bake off’ and loads more. But rather than tell you what we did, I thought I’d focus on how we did it. So, here are the four key things we did to turn those early conversations into an award-winning campaign, and on a shoestring. Think and plan, but don’t be afraid to borrow We had plenty of brainstorming sessions around what to do. The actual birthday was on 15 August. Perhaps, we thought, a big party on the day would be enough? Or maybe we should do a weekly blog post? 52 articles could cover a lot on our intranet. Oh, hang on… Look over there! DfT ran a brilliant campaign in 2018 called The Year of Engineering. It took a monthly, themed approach and used a network of external partners to amplify the work of a relatively small Comms team… Engage leaders early, set clear objectives and measure Once we’d decided on a monthly approach, we took a rough plan to our Executive Committee. We could have taken something more polished, more definitive. But we genuinely wanted their input, and their feedback made a big impact. They wanted us to be more ambitious. They wanted less ‘transport modal’ focus, and a more thematic approach. We worked together to create two clear objectives – to build pride in the organisation, and to involve as many of our people as possible in our celebrations. And, crucially, we could measure the success against these objectives, using bespoke surveys, engagement on our channels, and organisation-wide people survey scores. Invest in creativity Once we’d agreed how the year would look, we spent time and worked hard on a creative brief. We went to tender on it and got some great pitches. One team were so good, we could have gone with all three of their ideas. It didn’t cost us a huge amount of money, and we got a brilliant look and feel to wrap the whole campaign. Best of all, the winning team was in fact DVLA’s in house Creative Services, so we kept the programme in the wider DfT family. Build your army I mentioned earlier the Year of Engineering’s approach to partners. We replicated that internally, by creating a network of volunteers and asking them to help us shape the year. This was probably the most influential decision we took, and helped us meet that second objective of involving our people. We had about 100 staff sign up to be volunteers, and had a kick off workshop meeting where we asked them to come up with ideas and then commit to helping us deliver them throughout the year. And this is where the campaign became something it otherwise could not. That ‘army’ of volunteers hugely expanded our scope and ability to deliver something that our small internal comms team could never have achieved on its own. If you want to hear more about this campaign, I will be speaking at the Public Sector Internal Communications Conference on December 10. Richard Brown, Head of IC at the DfT Group photo (L-R): Jennifer Sproul (CEO of IOIC), Tom Miles (DfT), Richard Brown (DfT), Christina Duncan (DfT), Grant Springford (DfT)	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line824
__label__wiki	0.67453	0.67453	Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/poleco/v52y2018icp120-140.html Central bankers as supervisors: Do crises matter? Masciandaro, Donato Romelli, Davide Donato Masciandaro Following the 2007–09 Global Financial Crisis many countries have changed their financial supervisory architecture by increasing the involvement of central banks in supervision. This has led many scholars to argue that financial crises are an important driver in explaining the evolution of the role of central banks as supervisors. We formally test this hypothesis employing a new database that captures the full set of supervisory reforms implemented during the period 1996-2013 in a large sample of countries. Our findings support the view that systemic banking crises are important drivers of reforms in supervisory structure. However, we also highlight an equally important peer effect, namely a tendency of countries to reform their financial supervisory architecture when others do so as well. We construct several measures of spatial spillover effects and show that they can explain institutional similarities among countries and impact the probability of reforming the role of the central bank in financial sector supervision. Masciandaro, Donato & Romelli, Davide, 2018. "Central bankers as supervisors: Do crises matter?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 120-140. Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:52:y:2018:i:c:p:120-140 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2017.05.005 Carmine Di Noia & Giorgio Di Giorgio, 1999. "Should Banking Supervision and Monetary Policy Tasks be Given to Different Agencies?," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 361-378, November. Carmine Di Noia & Giorgio Di Giorgio, 1999. "Should banking supervision and monetary policy tasks be given to different agencies?," Economics Working Papers 411, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Carmine Di Noia & Giorgio Di Giorgio, 1999. "Should Banking Supervision and Monetary Policy Tasks Be Given to Different Agencies," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 00-11, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania. Ioannidou, Vasso P., 2005. "Does monetary policy affect the central bank's role in bank supervision?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 58-85, January. Ioannidou, V., 2002. "Does Monetary Policy Affect the Central Bank's Role in Bank Supervision?," Discussion Paper 2002-54, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. Agnello, Luca & Castro, Vitor & Jalles, João Tovar & Sousa, Ricardo M., 2015. 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"Central Bank Independence and Monetary Policymaking Institutions - Past Present and Future," CEPR Discussion Papers 6441, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. Joe Peek & Eric S. Rosengren & Geoffrey M. B. Tootell, 1999. "Is Bank Supervision Central to Central Banking?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 114(2), pages 629-653. Joe Peek & Eric S. Rosengren & Geoffrey M. B. Tootell, 1999. "Is bank supervision central to central banking?," Working Papers 99-7, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Paul Elhorst & Eelco Zandberg & Jakob De Haan, 2013. "The Impact of Interaction Effects among Neighbouring Countries on Financial Liberalization and Reform: A Dynamic Spatial Panel Data Approach," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 293-313, September. Chortareas, Georgios & Logothetis, Vassileios & Magkonis, Georgios & Zekente, Kalliopi-Maria, 2016. "The effect of banking supervision on central bank preferences: Evidence from panel data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 11-13. Masciandaro, Donato, 2007. "Divide et impera: Financial supervision unification and central bank fragmentation effect," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 285-315, June. Cihak, Martin & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Feyen, Erik & Levine, Ross, 2013. "Financial Development in 205 Economies, 1960 to 2010," Journal of Financial Perspectives, EY Global FS Institute, vol. 1(2), pages 17-36. Martin Čihák & Asli Demirgüč-Kunt & Erik Feyen & Ross Levine, 2013. "Financial Development in 205 Economies, 1960 to 2010," NBER Working Papers 18946, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. Claessens, Stijn & Ghosh, Swati R. & Mihet, Roxana, 2013. "Macro-prudential policies to mitigate financial system vulnerabilities," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 153-185. Stijn Claessens & Swati R. Ghosh & Roxana Mihet, 2014. "Macro-Prudential Policies to Mitigate Financial System Vulnerabilities," IMF Working Papers 2014/155, International Monetary Fund. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April. Rafael LaPorta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, "undated". "The Quality of Government," Working Paper 19452, Harvard University OpenScholar. Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "The Quality of Government," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1847, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 1998. "The Quality of Goverment," NBER Working Papers 6727, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. Torsten Persson & Guido Tabellini, 2009. "Democratic Capital: The Nexus of Political and Economic Change," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 88-126, July. Torsten Persson & Guido Tabellini, 2006. "Democratic capital: The nexus of political and economic change," Working Papers 308, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University. Torsten Persson & Guido Tabellini, 2006. "Democratic Capital: The Nexus of Political and Economic Change," NBER Working Papers 12175, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 2006. "Democratic Capital: The Nexus of Political and Economic Change," CEPR Discussion Papers 5654, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. Torsten Persson & Guido Tabellini, 2006. "Democratic capital: The nexus of political and economic change," Levine's Bibliography 122247000000001304, UCLA Department of Economics. repec:fip:fedgsq:y:2007:i:jan5 is not listed on IDEAS Mayer, Thierry & Zignago, Soledad, 2006. 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What Shapes It?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 66-88, March. Ashoka Mody & Abdul d Abiad, 2003. "Financial Reform; What Shakes it? What Shapes it?," IMF Working Papers 2003/070, International Monetary Fund. Ashoka Mody & Abdul d Abiad, 2005. "Financial Reform; What Shakes It? What Shapes It?," IMF Economic Issues 2005/004, International Monetary Fund. N. Nergiz Dincer & Barry Eichengreen, 2012. "The Architecture and Governance of Financial Supervision: Sources and Implications," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 309-325, December. Cerutti, Eugenio & Claessens, Stijn & Laeven, Luc, 2017. "The use and effectiveness of macroprudential policies: New evidence," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 203-224. Eugenio M Cerutti & Stijn Claessens & Luc Laeven, 2015. "The Use and Effectiveness of Macroprudential Policies; New Evidence," IMF Working Papers 15/61, International Monetary Fund. Davide Romelli, 2018. "The political economy of reforms in central bank design: evidence from a new dataset," Trinity Economics Papers tep0918, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics. Dreher, Axel & Sturm, Jan-Egbert & de Haan, Jakob, 2008. "Does high inflation cause central bankers to lose their job? Evidence based on a new data set," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 778-787, December. Axel Dreher & Jan-Egbert Sturm & Jakob de Haan, 2007. "Does High Inflation Cause Central Bankers to Lose Their Job? Evidence Based on a New Data Set," KOF Working papers 07-167, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich. Cukierman, Alex & Webb, Steven B & Neyapti, Bilin, 1992. "Measuring the Independence of Central Banks and Its Effect on Policy Outcomes," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 6(3), pages 353-398, September. Melecky, Martin & Podpiera, Anca Maria, 2013. "Institutional structures of financial sector supervision, their drivers and historical benchmarks," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 428-444. Goodhart, Charles & Schoenmaker, Dirk, 1995. "Should the Functions of Monetary Policy and Banking Supervision Be Separated?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 47(4), pages 539-560, October. Arnone, Marco & Romelli, Davide, 2013. "Dynamic central bank independence indices and inflation rate: A new empirical exploration," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 385-398. Matías Braun & Borja Larrain, 2005. "Finance and the Business Cycle: International, Inter‐Industry Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1097-1128, June. Matias Braun & Borja Larrain, 2004. "Finance and the Business Cycle: International, Inter-industry Evidence," Finance 0403001, University Library of Munich, Germany. Waelti, Sébastien, 2015. "Financial crisis begets financial reform? The origin of the crisis matters," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PA), pages 1-15. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2010. "The worldwide governance indicators : methodology and analytical issues," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5430, The World Bank. Axel Dreher & Jakob de Haan & Jan-Egbert Sturm & Jakob de Haan, 2007. "Does High Inflation Cause Central Bankers to Lose their Job? Evidence Based on a New Data Set," CESifo Working Paper Series 2045, CESifo. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 1999. "A new database on financial development and structure," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2146, The World Bank. World Bank, 2014. "World Development Indicators 2014," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 18237, June. Di Noia, Carmine & Di Giorgio, Giorgio, 1999. "Should Banking Supervision and Monetary Policy Tasks Be Given to Different Agencies?," International Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 361-378, November. Masciandaro, Donato, 2009. "Politicians and financial supervision unification outside the central bank: Why do they do it?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 124-146, June. Stefano Ugolini, 2011. "What do we really know about the long-term evolution of central banking? Evidence from the past, insights for the present," Working Paper 2011/15, Norges Bank. Berger, Wolfram & Kißmer, Friedrich, 2013. "Central bank independence and financial stability: A tale of perfect harmony?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 109-118. Donato Masciandaro, 2006. "E Pluribus Unum? Authorities' Design in Financial Supervision: Trends and Determinants," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 73-102, January. Ashoka Mody & Abdul d Abiad, 2005. "Financial Reform; What Shakes It? What Shapes It?," IMF Economic Issues 35, International Monetary Fund. I. Kadek Dian Sutrisna Artha & Jakob Haan, 2015. "Financial Crises and the Dismissal of Central Bank Governors: New Evidence," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(1), pages 80-95, January. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli, 2017. "Twin Peaks And Central Banks: Economics, Political Economy And Comparative Analysis," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1768, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy. Masciandaro, Donato & Romelli, Davide, 2015. "Ups and downs of central bank independence from the Great Inflation to the Great Recession: theory, institutions and empirics," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(3), pages 259-289, December. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli, 2015. "Ups and Downs. Central Bank Independence from the Great Inflation to the Great Recession: Theory, Institutions and Empirics," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1503, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy. Masciandaro, Donato & Peia, Oana & Romelli, Davide, 2020. "Banking supervision and external auditors: Theory and empirics," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 46(C). Jose David GARCIA REVELO & Yannick LUCOTTE & Florian PRADINES-JOBET, 2019. "Macroprudential and Monetary Policies : The Need to Dance the Tango in Harmony," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2691, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans. Sean M. Harkin & Davide S. Mare & Jonathan N. Crook, 2019. "Average pay in banks: do agency problems and bank performance matter?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 101-122, July. Harkin, Sean M. & Mare, Davide S. & Crook, Jonathan N., 2017. "Average Pay in Banks: Do Agency Problems and Bank Performance Matter?," MPRA Paper 81249, University Library of Munich, Germany. Donato Masciandaro & Paola Profeta & Davide Romelli, 2016. "Gender and Monetary Policymaking: Trends and Drivers," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1512, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli, 2019. "Behavioral Monetary Policymaking: Economics, Political Economy and Psychology," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Behavioral Finance The Coming of Age, chapter 9, pages 285-329, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli, 2019. 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"Supervisory Governance, Capture and Non-Performing Loans," CEIS Research Paper 471, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 08 Oct 2019. repec:ces:ifodic:v:17:y:2019:i:1:p:50000000005876 is not listed on IDEAS Garcia Revelo, José David & Lucotte, Yannick & Pradines-Jobet, Florian, 2020. "Macroprudential and monetary policies: The need to dance the Tango in harmony," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C). Goodman-Smith, Francesca & Mirosa, Miranda & Skeaff, Sheila, 2020. "A mixed-methods study of retail food waste in New Zealand," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C). Oana Peia & Davide Romelli, 2019. "Central Bank Reforms and Institutions," Open Access publications 10197/10911, School of Economics, University College Dublin. Donato Masciandaro, 2018. "Central Banks And Macroprudential Policies: Economics And Politics," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1878, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli, 2018. "Beyond the Central Bank Independence Veil: New Evidence," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1871, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy. Martin Melecky & Anca Maria Podpiera, 2016. "Central Bank Design and Banking Supervision," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1630, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy. Donato Masciandaro & Davide Romelli, 2018. "To Be or not to Be a Euro Country? The Behavioural Political Economics of Currency Unions," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 1883, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy. Financial supervision; Central banking; Central bank independence; Political economy; Banking supervision; E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. 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__label__cc	0.584841	0.415159	Sharing innovation to inspire action Post idea with an Image Post idea with a Video Post idea with a URL Video Make political parties more accountable! Members, not warlords, should be running political parties by Prof George Williams AO "The bad behaviour of our politicians can hide deeper problems. In the case of branch stacking, it is the poor regulation of Australia’s political parties. They shape public decision-making and determine who stands for parliament, yet operate out of the public eye. The absence of scrutiny is by design. Political parties have been given legal structures enabling them to exercise considerable power without transparency or accountability." https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/members-not-warlords-should-be-running-political-parties/news-story/aa367ec9e2931aa19952f4f8caaced83 By Glenn Barnes Lynn Wood @ 2020.06.22 2:20 PM Infrastructure is an important area for transparency. What are others? Sparty @ 2020.06.22 2:32 PM To a hammer, everything is a nail. And to Professor George, every problem, social, economic or otherwise, necessitates more laws and regulations. More layers of complexity on complexite. Sometimes, as in this case, you can have addition through subtraction. To improve the behaviour of our politicians (not all of which is bad), lets start with removing the candy. Eliminate all tax payer contributions to parties (that includes unions and business groups, yes you BCA and AI). Get rid of tax deductability and bring them into line with the obligation everyone else is subject to with regard to things like privacy laws, spam laws and timeliness of financial reporting. Because of their ability to impact public policy, real time reporting of donations (with no thresholds), and real time publishing of elected official diaries. And just to make it interesting, let's have recall elections and a referendum on senate appointments through sortition. Glenn Barnes @ 2020.06.22 3:21 PM Hi Sparty, I think you are a bit hard on Prof Williams. His articles are often about de-complexing issues to do with our government and the Constitution. That said, I agree with doing away with party donations (and having capped spending on elections / publicly funded). I think Prof Williams would have empathy for your suggestions on the public obligations for politicians / political parties - don't think there is a big gap between you on this. I also like the idea of a Senate appointed by sortition to de-politicise it and create a "peoples house of review". Would you re-define the Senate's role as similar to to the UK House of Lords (including their conventions)? Dear Glenn, I think you are being too generous to Professor Williams. If you separate his analysis from his (proposed) solutions, you will find that his solutions almost always involve more (not less) laws and regulations and administrators. Remember, Professor George was also an unsuccessful candidate for Labor pre-selection, something he generally does not disclose in his opeds. As to your question about the Senate, House of Lords ... you cannot depoliticise politics and am unfamiliar with the role of the House of Lords. However, sortition (with term limits) would be about breaking the nexus between power brokers and senators - with the exception of a handful of senators, Senators are there though selection (by their party bosses/hacks) rather through election - how many of Kim Carr or Arthur Sinodinos or Kristina Kenneally or Don Farrell or Sarah Hanson-Young or Eric Abetz could get elected on their merits alone. Sortition would also be about making the passage of legislation much harder, thus necessitating broader community buy in. Never again should a government measure its performance by the number of laws it passed. The alternative would be to make the Senate, the State's house as it was mean to be and let the State Parliaments appointment them. Let the Hunger Games begin. And perhaps you misunderstood. Let there be as many party donations as people will make but with full disclosure from the first $1. But not 1 cent of public funding for politics .... either directly through appropriation to the parties or indirectly through tax deductability of contributions and political operations by the ABC. I am enjoying the engagement and discussion. Some of the issues are too complex to try and cover here but I would be happy to chat about these sometime. You have strong views on Prof Williams and it is probably not worth debating his merits or otherwise on-line. If the Senate were selected by sortition (say 1/3 changed each year) and it had a brief of "review and report to the public" then it would be unlikely to be a party political vestige. The House of Lords cannot initiate legislation, by convention allows the elected government to enact legislation on policy issues clearly campaigned and elected on, it can reject other pieces of legislation a maximum of three times before the government can enact it (giving a lot of debate and publicity as to why it does not agree with the legislation), and it cannot block supply. Therefore the elected government has a far better chance of getting on and doing the job it was elected to do and the electorate cannot - as has become the way in Australia - elect a party to govern and then an upper house to frustrate/block the process. I think that this is a far better process than what we have. I guess we have a different view on donations and election funding. That's fine: that's democracy! Lynn Wood @ 2020.06.23 10:25 AM This idea looks relevant to the discussion. There are others as well in the Governance category of ideas. https://ideaspies.com/posts/real-time-reporting-of-election-donations Reducing the Complexity of Death Created from a place of grief after losing her mum in her final year of University, Founder and CEO of Airloom.co, Sally Coldham, is launching a platform that guides people through the complex and difficult process of preparing for death whilst still living. Through a series of guides and questionnaires, Airloom.co helps you to organise and collate all the important information your loved ones will need to know when you die, from caring for your pet, to passing on you assets, to accessing your bank accounts, or converting your social media accounts to legacy profiles, Airloom.co has you covered! 20 January 2021 by Karen Finch 1 Comments GOVERNMENTS THAT LISTEN to the community: WHAT A GREAT IDEA! I support the proposition: “The federal government will be obliged to consult the Indigenous Voice to parliament when crafting laws on race, native title and racial discrimination which impact upon Aboriginal Australians.” (Source AAP/SBS)Additionally, the federal government should be obliged to effectively consult the broader community (citizens jury or like process) when crafting policy and laws which have a significant impact on their lives and the wellbeing of future generations. Examples are climate change, energy policy, taxation & the social safety net, affordable housing, education, healthcare and the wellbeing, socialisation & learning development of children.https://www.democraticrenewal.org.au/ 11 January 2021 by Glenn Barnes 0 Comments Innovative technologies in financial institutions: Risk as a strategic issue "Financial institutions are upgrading their technology to navigate the pandemic. But in the current regulatory climate, new tech demands new ways of managing risk.Institutions will have to balance the benefits of technological advances with the challenges of risk management. In our experience, three key components are equally essential to striking this balance:1. Establish a new risk strategy and culture2. Ensure attention, knowledge, and support at both operational and board levels3. Shift the organizational mindset from governance to reinforcing desired behaviour"McKinsey Digitalhttps://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey 8 January 2021 by Glenn Barnes 0 Comments IdeaSpies © 2021 \|	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line826
__label__wiki	0.844133	0.844133	IFP Breaking Point NGT directs total ban on sale and use of all firecrackers in all cities, towns with poor air quality District magistrates must ensure banned firecrackers are not sold and any victim of pollution can approach the district magistrate for compensation, the NGT said on Wednesday. By IFP Bureau \| Updated on: Dec. 3, 2020, 2:20 p.m. (PHOTO: Facebook) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued “total ban” on sale and use of all firecrackers during COVID-19 pandemic in all cities and towns in the country where air quality is 'poor'. It said district magistrates should ensure banned firecrackers are not sold and any victim of pollution can approach the district magistrate for compensation. "There will be a total ban on the sale and use of all kinds of firecrackers during COVID-19 pandemic in the NCR and all cities/towns in the country where the ambient air quality falls under the 'poor' and above category," the bench headed by NGT chairman Adarsh Kumar Goel said. Issuing the ban order, the NGT also said that during Christmas and New Year, green crackers can be used from 11:55 pm to 12:30 am at places where air quality is 'moderate' or better. Earlier, the Mizoram government announced a ban on sale and bursting of firecrackers and sky lanterns, as well as sale and possession of toy guns on Christmas and New Year in view of the coronavirus pandemic. The decision was taken during a high-level meeting held on November 23 at the SAD Conference Hall, MINECO, chaired by state Home Minister Lachamliana. The government appealed to the people of Mizoram to avoid bursting crackers as pollution caused by such activities could exacerbate conditions of COVID-19 patients and people suffering from other respiratory diseases. Prior to it, on November 10, the NGT ordered a complete ban on firecrackers in cities and towns across the country where the average of ambient air quality fell under the poor category or above (worse) during November. The NGT also directed that in the cities or towns where air quality is ‘moderate’ or below, only green crackers can be sold and the timings for use and bursting of crackers be restricted to two hours during festivals like Diwali, Chatt, New Year and Christmas Eve etc., as may be specified by the concerned state. The bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said the CPCB and the State PCBs/PCCs may regularly monitor the air quality during this period which may be uploaded on their respective websites. CPCB may compile information on the subject, including the status of compliance of this order from all the States/UTs and file a consolidated report with data compiled till filing of the report, before the next date by e-mail at judicialngt@gov.in preferably in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF. All states/UTs/PCBs/PCCs may initiate special drives to contain air pollution from all sources in view of potential aggravation of Covid-19. The chief secretaries and DGPs of all the states/UTs may issue and circulate an appropriate order in above terms with appropriate enforcement guidelines to all the District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police, PCBs/PCCs, it added. ALSO READ: NGT directs states, UTs to designate nodal agency for restoration of water bodies First Published:Dec. 2, 2020, 2:42 p.m. pollution, NGT, IFP Bureau Former Arunachal Pradesh Governor Mata Prasad passes away. 05:01 PM \| Jan 20 We cannot follow one trend for thousands of years; help bui…. Patriotic Writers Forum invites applications for literary a…. Manipur contractors appeal state government to release pend…. Manipur farmers to launch statewide campaign against farm l…. 1. Whither Manipur University? 2. 'Roadside vendors a suppressed lot as government delays imp… 3. A home for the holidays 4. Covishield or Covaxin? Is there a choice? About us \| Terms & Conditions \| Privacy Policy New Checkon, Imphal East, Manipur onlineifp@gmail.com ads.imphalfreepress@gmail.com Imphal Free Press \| 2020 All rights reserved.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line828
__label__cc	0.6495	0.3505	Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama SPEECHES/PAPERS PASTORAL MESSAGES INTERFAITH YOUTH VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE DIALOGUE, RECONCILIATION AND PEACE (DREP) CENTRE FEMALE CATECHISTS’ FORMATION CENTRE DREP CENTRE HOSTS MIANGO/IRIGWE AND FULANI ELDERS AND YOUTHS, SUES FOR PEACE by ARCH BISHOP · April 16, 2018 Plateau State has experienced relative peace in the past few years. The political, religious, social and economic atmosphere of the state has been peaceful. In 2015 the peaceful nature of the general election underlines the effort made by Government and other NGOs/CSOs. In other to strengthen the process of peace on the State, the current Government established the Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA), to facilitated peace building activities towards ending conflict in Plateau State. Recently, the peace enjoyed by the people of Plateau State has eluded us. Violent conflict, attacks and reprisal attacks have become the order of the day, many people were killed and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed in Miango and other surrounding villages in Irigweland. Bassa LGA used to be one of the most peaceful LGA in Plateau State, but recently from 2016 it has been engulf in a cycle of violence. It started between Irigwe and Rukuba the two major tribes in the LGA and recently it has escalated between the Irigwe and the Fulani’s. The ethnic crises between Fulani and Irigwe have taken a different dimension with high level of killings and destruction. Many people were killed, farms were destroyed and many cattle were killed and rustled while millions of people have been displaced mostly women and children. Despite the deployment of military personnel in the affected areas the violence kept escalating day by day. FACTORS IDENTIFIED AS CAUSES OF THE CONFLCIT According to the people the following factors contributed towards escalating the crises between the Fulani and the Irigwe. Ø Break in communication between the two communities which led to suspicion and mutual distrust. Ø Hijacking of the crises by criminals to perpetrate their criminal activities- Such as Cattle rustling, Rubbery etc. Ø Proliferation of arms in the communities Ø Lack of political will by government and the security agencies to curtail the situation Ø Stray cattle or cows as a result of underage shepherds or children. INTERVENTION: First dialogue Session: The Archbishop invited all the Leaders/Elders of Irigwe and Fulani residing around Miango in Bassa LGA, on the 28thMarch 2018 to DREP centre for dialogue As part of his effort in promoting peaceful coexistence among people in Plateau State; the Archbishop of Jos Most. Rev. Ignatius A. Kaigama, invited the leaders and representatives of the two ethnic communities of Fulani and Irigwe for a roundtable dialogue session. The dialogue session was held in DREP Centre because of its neutrality to both parties. During the dialogue session the people shared their grievances and expressed their dissatisfaction over the entire situation. The people narrated how the crises have affected their lives negatively. For the Irigwe ethnic communities, they expressed their pains on how they lost loved ones and at the moment they cannot go to their farms because of the fear of attacks. The Fulani people also expressed their pains on how they will not be able to go into the bush to rear their animals for fear of attacks and at the moment they are displaced and have to settle in other parts of the LGA. After a lengthy discussion the people came to the agreement that they will put all effort to bring to an end the incessant ethnic crises that have bedevilled their communities. After a lengthy interaction under the guidance of His Grace the Archbishop, the following agreements were arrived at: We have agreed that we have offended one another and therefore seek to forgive one another. We have agreed that all forms of hostility should be stopped immediately. We need to address our youths to cease all forms of hostility from both sides. We have agreed to live together in peace and tolerance. We have agreed to go back and sensitize our youths on the need for peaceful coexistence. We are aware that there are foreigners responsible for the attacks. We agree on the need for such foreigners to be identified and expelled from the communities. We caution ourselves on spreading unfounded rumours which can escalate the conflict. We caution ourselves not to temper with farms or cattle that do not belong to us, especially as we approach the farming season. We have agreed that Fulani chiefs and youths should collaborate with the Irigwe chiefs and youths to ensure lasting peace. We have agreed that the Fulanis should not leave their cattle in the custody of under- aged children especially where the cattle are many. We have agreed that both the Fulani and the Irigwe communities will bring 15 youths each for dialogue aimed at ending the conflict in Irigwe land. Also, so that they too will key in and be part of the agreement since they are always they ones at the for-front during violent conflicts. The meeting with the youths has been scheduled for Thursday 5thApril 2018. While the meeting with the stakeholders (Miango, Rukuba, youths and Fulani) has been scheduled for Saturday 5thMay 2018, with Representatives from JNI and CAN to join in the meeting. Because of the success of the first dialogue session between the leaders of Irigwe and Fulani, they suggested another separate meeting for the youth representatives of both tribes to meet in DREP also for dialogue. The elders agreed to invite 15 youth leaders from each tribe for the next meeting. Second Dialogue Session:with Youth Representatives of Irigwe and Fulani Communities in Miango. The second dialogue session took place on the 5thApril 2018 in DREP Centre, with the youth representatives of the both Fulani and Irigwe communities in Miango and heir surrounding villages. The meeting with the youth also took the same format as that of the elders. After a lengthy discussion and sharing of experience, the youth also come to a conclusion that they will want to strengthen the peace process they have started through this dialogue. As a result, they agreed to meet again in their community, and they will invite other youths within their various communities in other to widen the scope of participation in the meeting and to gain wide acceptance of the peace process. They fixed 19thApril 2018 for the next meeting, venue to be announce by the paramount chief Irigwe chiefdom. The following agreements were also arrived at: Crimes should not be generalised by demonising the person’s tribe. If a person commits a crime, such a person should be isolated and punished. Some people sometimes bring in foreigners to assist them in fighting their neighbours within our communities. Such foreigners should be identified and reported to both traditional and political authorities. The sincerity of the dialogue meetings between our communities so far is questionable, since after these meetings and agreements reached, people are still being killed. It is important that all who are present at this meeting be honest and sincere to ourselves. Both Irigwe and Fulani have coexisted together in peace for a very long time. We need to forgive one another and bury the hatchet because we have no other home and taking someone else’ life will not add to yours. We should forgive and forget. Despite the conflict, there are some Irigwe and Fulani who are still collaborating and working together in building bridges of peace, love and unity. We urge all our people to join hands and work together for peace. It is hurtful when a person cultivates his farm and his crops are uprooted with impunity and arrogance. We urge all to shun destructive tendencies. We all are Religious adherents. As such, we must respect and listen to God, our Holy Books and our Religious and traditional leaders. We must also be our brother’s keepers. Offenders should be judged and punished justly. We beg that punishment should always be commensurate to the offence committed. Considering the beautiful peaceful and loving relationship that has existed between us until now, what has happened is very shameful, because we all are losers. Let us therefore give peace a chance. We request HRH Rev. Ronku Aka, the paramount leader of Irigwe land to call a meeting of all traditional leaders in Irigwe chiefdom, including the Fulani (youths and elders) for a reconciliatory meeting on 19thApril 2018, the venue will be communicated soon. This will come before our next consultative meeting scheduled for 5thMay 2018. The elders call on youths to strengthen this process of peace in the various communities. We call on our Religious leaders to use the pulpit in preaching peace, we also call on the youths to support them in bringing peace back. We suggest the formation of combined local vigilantes of Fulani and Irigwe in our communities, instead of over relying on the police and soldiers. We should learn to expose bad elements within our communities so that they do not give our communities a bad name. As we have agreed to forgive one another here, we as a Religious people need to seek forgiveness from God, individually and collectively for inner peace and healing. For the realisation of permanent peace in our communities, we call on government to try and bring back, and resettle the displaced Fulani in their former communities. We also call on government to implement all the reports presented by the commission of enquiries formed by past governments. A joint prayer event will be organised by the Dialogue Reconciliation and Peace (DREP) Centre on a date to be announced soon. We all have agreed that we should forgive and forget. With this intervention by the Archbishop of Jos, Most. Rev. Ignatius A. Kaigama and DREP, we strongly believe that permanent and sustainable peace has returned to Irigweland and Bassa LGC of Plateau State. PEACE DECLARATION SIGNING OF THE “PLATEAU PEACE COMMITMENT” INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE 2018 Next story AD LIMINA VISIT OF THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF NIGERIA, 21.04.18 Previous story RECOWA PEACE COMMITTEE INAUGURATION Born in the Nigerian State of Taraba on the 31st July, 1958, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama was ordained a Catholic priest in 1981. In 1995, he became the first Bishop of the Diocese of Jalingo, the capital city of his home State of Taraba. In 2000, he was installed as the Archbishop of Jos, capital of Plateau State and on 11th March 2019, the Holy Father Pope Francis appointed him Coadjutor Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja and he took full possession as Archbishop of Abuja in December 2019. Archbishop Kaigama is the founder of the Dialogue, Reconciliation, and Peace Centre, Jos (2011). He was elected President of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) in 2015 and also served as the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) for six years. He has held positions as Chair of the Plateau State Inter-Religious Council for Peace and Harmony and Chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), in Plateau State for years. He was also a member of the Solomon Lar Presidential Committee mandated by the Federal Government to look into the causes of the Plateau ethno-religious crises and to proffer ways of bringing them to an end. He travels all around the world to speak about peace and share his experience of dialogue/interfaith collaboration and peace-building efforts. His Grace holds a PhD in spiritual theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy and two honourary doctorate degrees in Public Administration and Human Resource Management by Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu (2015) and Madonna University (2016) respectively. To read more, go to PROFILE ©Designed by Grace Attu. All rights reserved.	cc/2021-04/en_middle_0090.json.gz/line829

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