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How Allstate’s Donation Will Make a Difference
June 16th, 2015 By Paul Blomenkamp, Boys Town High School Associate Principal and Athletic Director
Sports, Youth Sports
At Boys Town, we understand the important role sports can play in the lives of kids. As our own athletic program has grown, we’ve watched it play a vital role in the lives of abused and neglected children as a way to help build character, sportsmanship and self-discipline. That’s why we are so thankful to Allstate and all the #GoodHandsFans at the College World Series for the continued support of youth sports at the Village of Boys Town.
On Monday, June 15th, Allstate made a generous donation of $25,000 to benefit youth sports at Boys Town Nebraska. This gift will go a long way to make a difference in the lives of our kids.
The $25,000 from Allstate will be used in many ways, individually:
• New uniforms for our junior high basketball teams
• New soccer goals for our boys and girls soccer teams
• New PA/sound system for the main arena of our Field House
• John Deere Gator for our equipment specialist and certified athletic trainer
• End zone camera for our football field that will allow our coaches to film games and practice
As Boys Town’s athletic director, I can say first-hand how much of an impact this donation will make. As the items listed show, it will allow us to better prepare our kids for competition, as well as give them the best athletic experience we can.
The most important part of this donation from Allstate is the confidence it will bring to our kids. Many of the youth that come to Boys Town have never had an opportunity to play organized sports. This donation makes that possible for them to do so in a safe environment. For that, we are grateful.
At Boys Town, we pride ourselves on competing with character. Allstate’s generous donation of $25,000 to our athletic program will ensure we can do just that for many years to come.
Day 39: Managing Arguments and Disputes https://www.boystown.org/blog/Pages/Managing-Arguments-and-Disputes.aspx Day 39: Managing Arguments and Disputes April 29, 2020 Parenting Advice Daily Dose
Despite Unique Challenges, Boys Town Kids Know the Thrill (and Valuable Skills) of Playing Sports https://www.boystown.org/blog/Pages/bt-kids-know-the-thrill-of-playing-sports.aspx Despite Unique Challenges, Boys Town Kids Know the Thrill (and Valuable Skills) of Playing Sports Sports are an important part of Boys Town because they help build character in young people. Our Competing With Character curriculum provides an innovative game plan for enhancing youth sports with a focus on character development. February 8, 2019 Boys Town Sports are an important part of Boys Town because they help build character in young people. Our Competing With Character curriculum provides an innovative game plan for enhancing youth sports with a focus on character development. Father Steven E. Boes, President and National Executive Director, Boys Town
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Standing on the Shoulders of Genius
September 21st, 2017 By Father Steven Boes, President and National Executive Director of Boys Town
Boys Town History, Father Flanagan, Healing Families, Saving Children, Village of Boys Town
The following is from a “State of Child Care” presentation by Father Steven Boes, President and National Executive Director of Boys Town, at a recent celebration of Boys Town’s 100-year anniversary. They illustrate Boys Town’s ongoing efforts to adapt our mission to meet the ever-changing needs of America’s children and families as we begin our second century of service.
Boys Town’s founder, Father Edward Flanagan, was a genius.
I believe at the heart of that genius was his openness to explore what the real problems were for the kids of his era, his creativity in finding innovative solutions that were far ahead of their time and the drive to advocate for every child in America.
Father Flanagan is my inspiration, and the inspiration of everyone who believes in and carries out Boys Town’s mission as our organization enters its second century of service to America.
Like Father Flanagan, we’ve been listening to America’s kids, the boys and girls who come to Boys Town seeking a fresh start in life, as well as families that are struggling to overcome daunting challenges that threaten their stability and strength.
In my 12 years leading Boys Town, I’ve come to the conclusion that most young people today suffer from three major problems:
A lack of quality behavioral health treatment options
A broken child welfare system
As we celebrate 100 years as a leader in child and family care, here is how Boys Town is addressing these problems with innovative, proven, research-based solutions.
Providing Effective Therapeutic Treatment
America’s children are struggling with substance abuse and other mental and behavioral health issues. About a third of all teens regularly use illegal drugs and about one out of five face mental health and behavioral health challenges. Most youth will not receive the right treatment for their problems because they will be taken to a physician with limited psychological training, who will prescribe medication. The medication will serve as a “chemical restraint,” keeping a child’s behavior under control. But it will not address the underlying reasons for or causes of the child’s disorder. Right now, five times more kids are taking psychotropic drugs than ten years ago. Worse still, we don’t what the side effects of these drugs are doing to the still-developing brains of our young people.
At Boys Town, we are responding by expanding our Outpatient Behavioral Health programs and training a new generation of child psychologists in therapeutic approaches that depend less on medications to bring about positive, lasting changes in children’s behavior. In Omaha, Boys Town has imbedded child psychologists in our pediatric clinics and built new Residential Treatment Centers to help kids with the toughest behavioral problems.
Promoting School Success
Unfortunately, America’s schools are failing our most vulnerable kids. Nearly 10 percent of students in our country attend a failing school. For many minority and poor students, high school graduation rates are under 40 percent.
In Omaha, Boys Town has responded by expanding our services in schools that are located in tough neighborhoods. We are partnering with Omaha South High School, and are working in 500 other schools nationwide to provide services that can improve student attendance and performance.
Reforming the Child Welfare System
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agrees that American’s child welfare system is broken. The Department has audited every state’s child welfare system five times since 2001 and every state has failed every audit. In its 2008 audit, Nebraska ranked 48th in the nation.
Locally, Boys Town has responded by partnering to create the Nebraska Families Collaborative, which has helped the state improve outcomes for the youth in its system. Nebraska now ranks 34th in the nation in audit results and is continuing to improve every year. The Nebraska Family Collaborative is an approach and a model other states can follow to transform their own failing child welfare systems.
It’s not easy to find solutions to these and other difficult problems that prevent boys and girls from reaching their full potential and preparing themselves for a life as a productive adult. It’s never been easy. But like Father Flanagan, Boys Town is determined to make a difference. Through life-changing services, we provide hope and healing to children and families who would otherwise fall through the cracks and be lost. Every day, we roll up our sleeves and recommit ourselves to the mission Father Flanagan started 100 years ago. With the generous support of people across the country who make room in their hearts for troubled kids, Boys Town IS changing the way America cares for children, families and communities.
Announcing the New Boys Town Education Center https://www.boystown.org/blog/Pages/Announcing-the-New-Boys-Town-Education-Center-Campaign.aspx Announcing the New Boys Town Education Center Father Flanagan knew that children facing neglect, indifference and abuse had bleak futures. So, he founded Boys Town on the belief that all children, no matter their race, color or creed, deserve the chance to learn and grow to their fullest potential April 20, 2021 Boys Town Father Flanagan knew that children facing neglect, indifference and abuse had bleak futures. So, he founded Boys Town on the belief that all children, no matter their race, color or creed, deserve the chance to learn and grow to their fullest potential Boys Town Contributor
Stopping the virus of hate https://www.boystown.org/blog/Pages/Stopping-the-virus-of-hate.aspx Stopping the virus of hate During the past year, the pandemic has forced all of us to make sacrifices and change how we live. But for some, the stress has been magnified by an additional threat: coronavirus-inspired racism. April 14, 2021 Boys Town During the past year, the pandemic has forced all of us to make sacrifices and change how we live. But for some, the stress has been magnified by an additional threat: coronavirus-inspired racism. Father Steven Boes, President and National Executive Director, Boys Town
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Kevin C. Newsom Participating in DRI Webcast
The Impact of Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. on the Filing and Opposing of Recusal Motions
Kevin C. Newsom, a partner in the firm's Birmingham Office, will be participating in a webcast, "The Impact of Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. on the Filing and Opposing of Recusal Motions". The webcast is presented by DRI’s Appellate Advocacy Committee and will be held on September 24, 2009 from 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Central.
This webcast is designed to help litigators and others understand the practical implications of the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. In Caperton, the Court reversed a decision of the West Virginia Supreme Court on due-process grounds because a West Virginia judge had refused to recuse himself after receiving contributions from the CEO of a coal company that was a party in the case. In addition to discussing the history, arguments, and holding of the case, this program will address the likelihood that the Court’s reasoning could opinion that can result in new types of recusal motions, particularly in state court systems where judges are chosen by elections. The webcast will also cover what states and judges can be expected to do to protect themselves from recusal motions.
The State Bar of California has approved this webcast for CLE credit.
Presentation Slides or Recording
Bradley 2021 CLE Day Webinar Recordings
Authored Article
St. Jude Medical v. Access Closure: The Other Lost Profits for a Patentee's Subsidiaries
Who Is That Masked Employee and Is She Vaccinated? Employers Wrestle with New CDC Guidelines
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Blockchain Research Institute ™ and INSEAD Release New MOOC for Blockchain in Finance
Feb 19, 2020 | Announcements, Press Releases
February 19th, 2020 – The Blockchain Research Institute ™ (BRI) today announced a new Coursera specialization, Blockchain Revolution in Financial Services, developed in partnership with INSEAD.
Taught by BRI co-founders Alex Tapscott and Don Tapscott, the specialization introduces students/professionals in the world of money, markets, and banking to blockchain’s key principles, and its specific impact on the finance sector. The courses are designed to appeal to a wide variety of experience levels, and there is no blockchain or coding experience required.
The new specialization builds on the success of the Blockchain Revolution specialization, first launched in 2019, which introduces learners to the basic principles of blockchain and its strategic implications for business leaders. The MOOC, developed in partnership with INSEAD, has been taken by nearly 20,000 learners and is the highest-rated blockchain specialization on Coursera, with an average rating of 4.7/5 based on over 900 reviews.
“With the success of blockchain revolution, we wanted to design an online specialization catering to professionals in specific industries,” said Alex Tapscott, course instructor. “Given the unprecedented transformations made possible by blockchain in banking and finance, it made good sense to start with financial services.”
The course’s learners will be introduced to the ways blockchain is transforming the economy and society at large—redefining workflows, global payments, and prosperity. As an outcome of this specialization, students will produce a Strategic Action Plan wherein they identify and evaluate a promising application of blockchain technology within the financial services industry.
The new course accompanies the release of the BRI’s first research compendium, Financial Services Revolution, edited and with a foreword by course instructor Alex Tapscott.
“The BRI’s new books and courses are our way of making the world-class thought leadership network we’ve compiled accessible to the broader public,” said Don Tapscott, course instructor and executive chairman of the BRI. “In Blockchain Revolution in Financial Services, we bring together insights from some of the world’s leading experts, designed so that any student or professional can understand and add value.”
Blockchain was named the most in-demand hard skill for employees of 2020 in a LinkedIn report released earlier this year. As with Blockchain Revolution, upon completion of each module learners will receive a certificate from INSEAD which can be added to their LinkedIn profile.
The Blockchain Research Institute ™ is an independent, global think-tank dedicated to inspiring and preparing private- and public-sector leaders to be the catalysts of the blockchain transformation. Funded by international corporations and government agencies, the BRI brings together the world’s leading thinkers to undertake ground-breaking research on the strategic implications of blockchain technology, producing practical insights to help its member organizations succeed.
The Institute has 100+ research projects underway in the areas of financial services, manufacturing, retail, energy and resources, technology/media, healthcare and government; as well as how this nascent technology is changing the way companies are managed. To complement the research, the BRI offers a suite of services to its members, including monthly webinars, executive briefings, all-member summits, and other exclusive activities.
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Learn More About Attorney Scott Bluestein
Attorney S. Scott Bluestein is highly qualified to represent clients in admiralty and maritime law issues. He received his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law and a Master of Law in admiralty from Tulane University Law School. Mr. Bluestein is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He represents clients in the United States district courts and South Carolina state courts.
Learn more about his credentials and experience by clicking on the link below.
S. Scott Bluestein
Attorney Scott Bluestein teaches continuing legal education classes in admiralty and maritime personal injury to lawyers, writes articles for legal publications and has been a guest on the television program “Ask Professor Lori.”
Learn more about his commitment to providing quality legal representation in all areas of maritime and admiralty law by contacting his Charleston law office to schedule a free initial consultation. Call today at 843-577-3092 or toll free at 833-415-0886.
Maritime Accidents & Injury
Marine Insurance Issues
Seaman’s Claims/Jones Act
Maritime Commercial/Contract Law
Recreational Boating Accidents
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They don’t call him ‘The Boss’ for nothing
By Kevin Cullen Globe Columnist,Updated September 14, 2020, 6:40 p.m.
Bruce Springsteen.Greg Allen/Greg Allen/Invision/AP
If you went to college in New England, September was the best month.
Frisbees and sunbathing. Music blaring from dorm windows, beckoning you to skip a class, and it was the one time of the year you could get away with it.
This September is different. Students are supposed to wear masks and keep apart. But they are no different than their predecessors. They want to learn, but also to socialize and be human.
Northeastern students were sent packing after partying at their hotel-cum-dorm. At UMass Amherst, they might as well release the tumble weeds. And at Boston College, a COVID-19 outbreak put everyone on edge.
It has been an especially unnerving start at BC, so last week’s first-year convocation speech by Bruce Springsteen was a needed tonic.
Springsteen’s son, Evan, is a BC alum and the singer-songwriter remains part of the extended BC family.
First-year students received a copy of Springsteen’s 2016 memoir “Born to Run,” which was better than having to read “Beowulf” over the summer.
Because of COVID-19, the convocation was a virtual experience. Because it was Springsteen, it was a deep one.
Springsteen, the antithesis of the drug-addled rock star, has always taken care of himself, and, at 70, looks much younger. Despite his age, he knows how to get the attention of young adults who might not listen to his music as enthusiastically as their parents or grandparents did.
“If you completed your assignment and read my book,” Springsteen began, “you will know I got into rock and roll for the sex, the drugs, and the sex.”
Springsteen was joking, of course, but he wasn’t joking when he said he regretted, despite all his success, not going to college and getting a degree.
“What you’re about to embark upon will be the greatest adventure of your young life,” he said. “You can waste it, you can half-ass your way through it, or you can absorb every minute of what you’re experiencing and come out the other end, an individual of expanded vision, of intellectual vigor, of spiritual character and grace, fully prepared to meet the world on its own terms. To be young in this beautiful and accommodating city and to be engaged in the life of this school, is a great, great privilege.”
He told students they were the first “coronial generation.” That would necessitate a spirit of sacrifice, figuring out how to remain safe during the pandemic.
And looking beyond their college years, he recommended finding a way to make a living that wasn’t about money as much as fulfillment.
Springsteen took questions from students, one of whom, Molly McGrane, noted his song, “American Skin (41 Shots),” which he first played 20 years ago, was about the police shooting of an unarmed Black man, Amadou Diallo, in New York City, after he reached for his wallet. McGrane asked if Springsteen was surprised or saddened the song remains so relevant.
“I’m sad that it remains relevant, but I’m not completely surprised because we, as a country, haven’t done the work necessary to address the systemic racism that pervades every corner of our society,” he said.
He said the relatively new technology of cellphone video has forced us to confront outrages that have gone unchallenged for generations.
“We’re living in a moment of possibility,” he said. "I believe history is dictating that we move forward, but it will take every bit of conviction and action that we can muster as a people, to create real change. It’s an existential issue for the United States and one that’s going to need the deep engagement of all you folks here tonight and all of your elders. Along with this pandemic, it’s the issue of our times and we will be judged as a country as to how well we hold up our promise that all men are created equal. Your generation will be essential in this.”
Like Woody Guthrie and John Prine before him, Bruce Springsteen loves his country, but, like them and like a true patriot, knows it can do better.
Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at kevin.cullen@globe.com.
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Send Flowers for Robert "Bob"
Robert "Bob" Kielbasa
July 9, 1942 ~ December 28, 2021 (age 79)
Robert John Kielbasa Sr., age 79 of Shaker Heights, OH, formerly of St. Augustine, FL, and Glen Cove, NY, passed away peacefully on December 28, 2021. Known to many as “Bob” or “Doc” and “Dziadzi” to his grandkids, he was a loving father of Robert "RJ" Kielbasa Jr. (Jessica) of Shaker Heights, OH, Dawn Kielbasa of Glen Cove, NY, and Donna Kielbasa of Long Beach, NY; dear grandfather of Arabella, Dominic, and Elizabeth; dear brother of Joe Kielbasa (Andrea), Virginia Kormoski (Bob), and Diane Urbielewicz (Walter); and uncle to many loving nieces and nephews and their families.
He was preceded in death by his parents, John Kielbasa and Helen (Okula) Kielbasa; his brother John (Jash) Kielbasa and his sister Genia (Jean) Domagala (Kielbasa).
He worked for 40 years at Northrop Grumman holding various skilled trade positions. He dedicated 27 years as an active member of the Glen Cove Volunteer Fire Department and served from 1961-1965 in the U.S. Air Force. He was an avid football fan, played high school football, loved watching his son play football, and held season tickets to the NY Giants. He enjoyed watching his daughters play softball, soccer, kickline and dance. He always had a surplus of tools and when asked why, he would respond “I have tools to fix tools”, and he was always crafting projects like his father before him. He was a contributing member to the Polish American Cultural Association (P.A.C.A.) where he spent many hours dancing the night away at the Port Washington Polish Hall. If he wasn’t at the Polish Hall, he could be found playing a round of golf, his favorite pastime. Even after his stroke, he could be heard blasting Polka music on his radio and keeping the beat. One of his greatest joys later in life was being able to spend time with his grandchildren watching gymnastics, dance recitals and occasionally letting them win a game of thumb war. He was humble, a hard worker, devout Catholic, deeply loved by his family, cherished by his many friends, and will be greatly missed.
In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations in his name be made to The Glen Cove Volunteer Fire Department (https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/900423183)
To send flowers to Robert "Bob" Kielbasa's family, please visit our floral store.
Viewing and Prayers of Comfort
17022 Chagrin Blvd
Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120
Video is available for this event
Click here to access the video
Glen Cove Volunteer Fire Department
10 Glen Cove Ave, Glen Cove NY
Web: https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/900423183
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WorldVentures Opens New Regional Office In Hong Kong
WorldVentures, the leading direct seller of global travel and leisure club memberships, announced today that it has opened a new regional office in Hong Kong.
WorldVentures supports the entrepreneurial ambitions of more than 350,000 Independent Sales Representatives in more than 40 markets around the world who sell travel and vacation club memberships. Its newest office in Hong Kong is part of the company’s focus on providing unparalleled in-region support.
“WorldVentures has made commitments to give Hong Kong the support it needs to help Independent Reps and DreamTrips Members understand the value of our opportunity and vacation club membership,”
WorldVentures General Manager of Hong Kong Sam Lau said.
“We’re here to ensure our Representatives have the tools, training and support they need to sell the product and promote the opportunity.”
WorldVentures has strategically placed regional offices in countries around the world. Hong Kong’s newest office is staffed by local employees who understand the culture and language, and who are committed to providing world-class customer service to support a global community that enjoys the business opportunity and travel membership.
The new WorldVentures office is located at Unit 1307A, 13th Floor, Lippo Sun Plaza, 28 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
About WorldVentures
WorldVentures Holdings, LLC, a privately held company based in Plano, Texas. WorldVentures Marketing, LLC sells travel and leisure club memberships providing a diverse set of products and experiences. The company’s goal is to help Independent Representatives, DreamTrips™ Members and employees achieve more fun, freedom and fulfillment in their lives.
WorldVentures uses the direct sales model to go to market with active Representatives and members worldwide. For more information, visit worldventures.com.
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A lot of lessons learnt in Ospreys defeat - Young
Dai Young insists he learnt a lot about his wider squad in Cardiff Blues’ Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup opener against Ospreys.
A young Cardiff side took on an experienced Ospreys outfit, but the hosts ultimately proved too strong, running away with a 36-14 victory on a sunny afternoon in Swansea.
However, Max Llewellyn and debutant Ellis Bevan both crossed for their first competitive scores for the club.
Young believes there were both positives and negatives in the performance, but it was a very worthwhile fixture from a wider context.
“The big thing for me, coming into the club, was the importance of seeing what we’ve got here,” said the director of rugby.
“That was obviously the mentality coming into today’s game, and a lot of those guys haven’t played much since I’ve been here.
“They’re all contracted for next year so the biggest thing for me was to see what strength in depth we have at the club.
“I had a few answers today, some of which are positives and some were negative.
“We were up against a much more experienced team. There was only going to be one winner and they deservedly won that game.
“They won most areas of that game but the two tries that came from charge downs in the first half probably killed the game for us.
“I was pleased with some aspects of our game but disappointed with other parts. Defensively, for big parts of the game, we did really well.
“But we were inaccurate when we were with the ball, with some of our kicks being loose and giving them an opportunity to run back at us.
“Our discipline and some of the penalties we gave away were needless and in the first half we only got over three phases on four or five occasions.
“But when we did get over three phases, we looked dangerous. And that was the message at half time - we needed to be far more accurate with the ball and we also had to improve our set piece.
“In the second half, we were better but we were playing against a team who were far more experienced and had more bullets in the gun.”
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A Global Report on the Decline of Democracy
April 17, 2018 12:00 pm (EST)
“Centralization of power in the executive, politicization of the judiciary, attacks on independent media, the use of public office for private gain—the signs of democratic regression are well known. The only surprising thing is where they’ve turned up,” writes Editor Gideon Rose in his introduction to the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs. “As a Latin American friend put it ruefully, ‘We’ve seen this movie before, just never in English.’” The issue’s lead package, “Is Democracy Dying?,” puts the country’s current troubles into historical and international perspective.
Kenneth I. Juster
The Quad Should Speak Out Against Russia’s Aggression Toward Ukraine
A World of Mounting Disarray
These pass through links for each article bypass the paywall on ForeignAffairs.com for one month following the release date. We encourage media use and share them with their audiences.
Highlights from the cover package:
“There is now a pervasive sense of despair about American democracy,” writes Bard College Professor Walter Russell Mead. But, reflecting on the transformation, social upheaval, and political failure in the decades following the end of the U.S. Civil War, Mead notes that United States failed its way to success then, and can do so again. “Humans are problem-solving animals. We thrive on challenges,” he writes. “The good news and the bad news are perhaps the same: the American people, in common with others around the world, have the opportunity to reach unimaginable levels of affluence and freedom.”
“The long century during which Western liberal democracies dominated the globe has ended for good,” write Harvard University lecturer Yascha Mounk and University of Melbourne lecturer Roberto Stefan Foa. They argue that such governments have gotten worse at delivering economic growth, whereas authoritarian states have gotten better at doing so. “The only remaining question now is whether democracy will transcend its once firm anchoring in the West, a shift that would create the conditions for a truly global democratic century—or whether democracy will become, at best, the lingering form of government in an economically and demographically declining corner of the world.”
“The immediate cause of rising support for authoritarian, xenophobic populist movements is a reaction against immigration (and, in the United States, rising racial equality),” observes University of Michigan Professor Ronald Inglehart. He warns that the world is experiencing the most severe democratic setback since the rise of fascism in the 1930s. “But all is not lost. Today’s democratic decline can be reversed,” he writes, “if rich countries address the growing inequality of recent decades and manage the transition to the automated economy.”
While most pundits argue that China has bucked the traditional path of modernization by making economic reforms but not political ones, University of Michigan Associate Professor Yuen Yuen Ang argues that “China has in fact pursued significant political reforms—just not in the manner that Western observers expected.” Describing China as an “autocracy with democratic characteristics,” she catalogues many behind-the-scenes bureaucratic reforms that have not delivered political freedom but that have made the government more responsive. She cautions, however, that “As prosperity continues to increase and demands on the bureaucracy grow, the limits of this approach are beginning to loom large.”
“Eastern European populism is a recent phenomenon, but it has deep roots in the region’s politics and is unlikely to go away anytime soon,” writes Centre for Liberal Strategies’ Chair Ivan Krastev. He outlines how the demographic changes that followed the 1989 revolutions—namely, the departure of “the most educated and liberal eastern Europeans”—set the stage for the region’s current democratic backsliding in Hungary, Poland, and elsewhere. Writing of voters’ embrace of illiberal democracy, he laments, “What makes it particularly dangerous is that it is an authoritarianism born within the framework of democracy itself.”
Additional highlights from the issue:
“Xi [Jinping] has matched the dramatic growth of his personal power with an equally dramatic intensification of the Chinese Communist Party’s power in society and the economy,” writes CFR Senior Fellow Elizabeth C. Economy, author of The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State, in a detailed portrait of China’s ambitious leader. “For the foreseeable future, then, the United States will have to deal with China as it is: an illiberal state seeking to reshape the international system in its own image.”
The opioid crisis, once confined mostly to the United States, is starting to go global, raising the specter of “a global opioid epidemic,” warn Stanford University’s Keith Humphreys, Carnegie Mellon University’s Jonathan P. Caulkins, and Brookings Institution’s Vanda Felbab-Brown. “Yet in the face of this terrifying possibility, the world has remained largely complacent. Governments and international organizations urgently need to learn the lessons of the North American crisis,” they write, calling for greater regulation of the sale and marketing of opioids. A global pandemic is avoidable, “but only if the world’s governments stop sleepwalking toward disaster.”
Texas A&M University’s F. Gregory Gause III notes that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “concentrated authority and evident will to shake up the system make it possible for him to do great things. But he has also removed the restraints that have made Saudi foreign and domestic policy cautious, conservative, and ultimately successful amid the crises of the modern Middle East.” Gause also asks “whether the crown prince can pull off his high-stakes gamble . . . without destabilizing his country and adding to the region’s chaos.”
“When it comes to North Korea, U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies have been whiplash inducing,” argue Georgetown University Professor Victor Cha and Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Fellow Katrin Fraser Katz, who lay out a fresh strategy to coerce Pyongyang. “Trump’s newfound enthusiasm for diplomacy has temporarily lowered the temperature on the Korean Peninsula, but it also underlines a bigger question: Does the United States have a strategy for North Korea, or are these twists and turns merely the whims of a temperamental president?”
“North Korea has all but completed its quest for nuclear weapons” and “the result is a new, more dangerous phase in the U.S.–North Korean relationship: a high-stakes nuclear standoff,” observe Columbia University’s Robert Jervis and Yale Law School’s Mira Rapp-Hooper. “Regardless of whether diplomacy proceeds or the United States turns its focus to other tools—sanctions, deterrence, even military force—the same underlying challenge will remain: the outcome of this standoff will be determined by whether and how each country can influence the other.”
A package examining the global impact of the gene-editing revolution—including an essay about the potential for gene editing to transform global development by Gates Foundation’s Bill Gates, an interview with CRISPR codiscoverer Jennifer Doudna, and essays on regulating gene editing and the next generation of bioweapons.
Explore More on U.S. Foreign Policy
It’s Time for the United States to Rethink How We See North Africa
Blog Post by Michelle Gavin April 3, 2019 Africa in Transition
Continuity and Change: The Trump Administration’s South Asia Policies
Blog Post by Alyssa Ayres April 4, 2019 Asia Unbound
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Boycott Against Southwest Airlines For Violent Removal of Anila Daulatzai
This petition had 12,514 supporters
Amara Majeed started this petition to Southwest Airlines
On the evening of September 26th, a pregnant Professor Anila Daulatzai was violently removed from Southwest airlines Flight 1525. The following is a statement on behalf of Anila Daulatzai:
“October 4, 2017. Anila Daulatzai was violently removed from a Southwest Airlines flight on Tuesday, September 26 at Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore, Maryland. She survived sexism, racial profiling, and police brutality that fateful day. Her mistreatment was particularly distressing because she is presently pregnant with her first child.
Professor Daulatzai's story has gone untold. She discussed her non-life threatening allergies to dogs with Southwest representatives upon entering the aircraft, and together they decided that she could manage by sitting away from the dogs towards the rear of the plane. Southwest allows for passengers to choose their own seats, and Professor Daulatzai found a seat comfortably distant from the animals. Contrary to the Southwest statement and various media reports, Professor Daulatzai never asked for the dogs to be removed from the plane, did not request an EpiPen, nor did she ever claim that her allergies were life-threatening.
Professor Daulatzai buckled her seat belt, turned on the overhead light, and started grading student papers. She was then approached by a series of Southwest representatives, and answered every question asked of her. She was never asked for medical certification, nor would she have needed to carry that, because her allergies are not life threatening. Despite trying to convince the crew that she would be completely fine on the plane, she was asked by another Southwest representative to leave the plane. Shortly thereafter the Maryland Transportation Authority Police pulled her from her seat by her belt loop, dragged her through the aisle exposed with torn pants, and humiliated her for the world to see in a now viral video. The Maryland Transportation Authority Police later disparaged her, accused her of lying about her pregnancy, and made racist remarks about immigrants. They also handed her a list of criminal charges, which have no merit.
Professor Daulatzai suffered physical injuries and mental trauma, required emergency care at a local hospital, including for her pregnancy, and is under continuing medical care. Professor Daulatzai has also received hate mail, including racist messages and threats of further violence. There was an attempted break in into her home. She has since left her home, fearing for her safety.
Anila Daulatzai, who previously taught at Brown University, Harvard Divinity School as well as internationally, presently holds a faculty appointment at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is a Southwest frequent flier and is currently travelling to California weekly to take care of her hospitalized father. Her removal from the flight had nothing to do with allergies or safety concerns. Professor Daulatzai was profiled, abused, interrogated, detained, and subjected to false reporting and the trauma of racist, vitriolic public shaming precisely because she is a woman, a person of color, and a Muslim. This endangered the physical and emotional well-being of a pregnant woman, researcher, and teacher.
Professor Daulatzai and her family express gratitude to everyone who suspended judgment about what happened until hearing her account of the events that unfolded that evening.”
The full statement can be found here.
Southwest Airline’s forcible removal of Anila from the airplane reeks of racism and Islamophobia. Ironically, one of the myriad of topics that Anila teaches about is institutionalized Islamophobia and the ways in which Muslims have been criminalized during the War on Terror. Watching a pregnant Anila being grabbed from her seat, so violently that her pants had completely ripped open, was painfully emblematic of the systems of oppression that Anila teaches her pupils.
We demand that Southwest Airlines issue an official apology, not some staged cover-up, to Daulatzai, acknowledging the Islamophobic and racist roots of this horrible incident.
We demand that Southwest Airlines implement anti-Islamophobia, anti-racism, and implicit biases trainings for all of its employees working on its aircrafts.
We demand that Southwest Airlines condemn police brutality.
We demand justice for Anila Daulatzai. We demand justice for passengers of color, Muslims passengers, and passengers racialized as Muslims that are subject to this form of institutionalized Islamophobia and racism.
Until these demands are met, we refuse to fly on an airline that treats people of color and Muslims in this way. We refuse to be profiled. We refuse to be complicit in and happy consumers of institutionalized racism and Islamophobia: systems of oppression that result in violence against Muslim, black, and persons of color bodies.
Please sign the petition to express your opposition to Southwest Airlines’ removal of Anila Daulatzai, and to pledge your intention to boycott the airline until the demands are met.
#BoycottSouthwest #JusticeForAnila #FlyingWhileBrown
Amara is a former student of Anila Daulatzai, studying at Brown University.
Share this petition
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COVID-19 POLITICS SOCIETY BUSINESS LIFE & STYLE CULTURE SPORTS TECH & SCIENCE IN DEPTH
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Fiscal Balances
Articles tagged with: Fiscal Balances
Baden-Württemberg Vice President: “It’s up to the Catalans to decide if they feel better in Spain or on a stand-alone basis”
Nils Schmid, Vice President of Baden-Württemberg and regional Minister for Finance and the Economy, said in an exclusive interview with the CNA that Catalans are the ones who have to decide whether they want to remain within Spain or to...
Politics Highlights
1,060 companies moved from Catalonia to Madrid for tax reasons since 2010, according to Madrid’s Government
In the last three years, 1,060 companies have moved their headquarters from Catalonia to the region of Madrid, according to a report published by Madrid’s regional Government. The report states that most of them took the decision...
The Spanish Government imposes a 1.58% deficit target for Catalonia and €2.6 billion of further budget cuts
The Catalan Finance Minister, Andreu Mas-Colell, accuses the Spanish Government of “asphyxiating” the Autonomous Communities. The 1.58% deficit target imposed to the Catalan Government represents €2.6 billion of further...
11 July 2013 01:28 AM
Catalonia is the 3rd Autonomous Community paying the most and the 10th in amount of funds received from the Spanish Government
The Catalan Executive has published the liquidation of Spain’s fiscal redistribution scheme of 2011. That year, Catalonia was the 3rd Autonomous Community paying the most taxes per citizen in Spain, with a 119.1% rate if the average were 100%....
"Who the heck is funding whom? It's Catalonia that funds Spain" Mas answered Montoro
On Tuesday, the Spanish Finance Minister, Cristóbal Montoro, stated before the Senate that the Spanish Government “was financing the services” the Catalan Executive provides. In an angry and agitated tone, Montoro concluded the intervention...
Barcelona Chamber of Commerce accuses the Spanish Government of owing €4 billion for investments in Catalonia
According to the current legislation, the Spanish Government has to invest 18.9% of its total transport infrastructure budget in Catalonia between 2007 and 2013 in order to compensate for an historical lack of such investments. However,...
Catalonia contributed with 8.5% of its GDP to infrastructures and services in the rest of Spain in 2010
On Tuesday, the Catalan Government posted the so-called fiscal balances for 2010, showing the difference between the money paid by Catalans in taxes and fees to the Spanish Government and what comes back in form of funds, services and...
The Catalan Government’s will finally request €5.43 billion from the Spanish Government’s Liquidity Fund
The Catalan Government increased the amount initially requested from the Spanish Government Liquidity Fund for the Autonomous Communities (FLA) adding €410 more million in order to include payments to service providers and local councils. The...
Catalonia had a €25 billion Social Security surplus between 1995 and 2010
An official study issued by the Catalan Finance Ministry shows that Catalan citizens have given €24.77 billion more to the Spanish pension and unemployment funds than they have received back from it. The study takes into account the...
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Saturday, 04 May 2019 / Published in MEDIA, NATIONAL MEDIA
LABOR WILL BOOST RESOURCES FOR KIDS HELPLINE
BILL SHORTEN MP
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS AND ABORIGINAL
AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND MEDICARE
JULIE COLLINS MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR AGEING AND MENTAL HEALTH
SENATOR DEBORAH O’NEILL
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH
A Shorten Labor Government will provide $6 million to Kids Helpline to ensure that children and young people across Australia can access 24/7 free national counselling and support services.
Kids Helpline is a 24/7 national counselling and support service that has been supporting young people in need across Australia since 1991.
Labor knows that the level of mental ill health amongst children and young people is of increasing concern across Australia. One in four young people aged 16 to 24 experience mental ill health.
Kids Helpline plays a critical role in addressing this by offering free prevention and early intervention services to children and young people aged five to 25 regardless of where they live. Since its establishment in 1991, Kids Helpline has helped over eight million Australians through phone, email and webchat avenues of contact.
By boosting resources for Kids Helpline, Labor will ensure that Kids Helpline is better equipped to deal with rising demand for mental health services.
Since 2012, there has been around a 20 per cent increase in contacts to Kids Helpline in relation to suicide.
With the current level of funding available, thousands of calls to Kids Helpline are not able to be answered.
Our investment in Kids Helpline builds on Labor’s strong history of supporting and expanding mental health services.
Labor continues to take action on youth mental health because it is the right thing to do – for our children and young people, their families and the broader community.
TRANSCRIPT – JANUARY 25 – MELBOURNE – TURNBULL’S PRIVATE HEALTH HIKE
MORRISON GOVERNMENT IS FAILING QUEENSLANDERS
GIVING WOMENS SPORT THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES
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Content with tag domestic violence .
Shining a light on the issue of domestic violence
Parishioners from St. Bernadette and Queen of Martyrs parishes in Evergreen Park and Christ the King Parish in Chicago joined together Oct. 27 to bring awareness to domestic violence.
Concern for domestic violence victims high during pandemic
After Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered people to stay at home to fight COVID-19, many expressed concerns about victims of domestic violence, including those who minister to them.
Domestic violence survivors recognized at fourth-annual Mass
The Archdiocese of Chicago celebrated the fourth-annual Mass for victims of domestic violence on Oct. 5, 2019 at Holy Name Cathedral.
Parish ministries working to end domestic violence
Domestic violence is a problem that most priests never address in their homilies, preferring to believe it doesn’t happen in their parishes, according to Dominican Father Charles Dahm. They don’t know what their people know: It happens everywhere, and it affects all kinds of families.
Growing domestic-violence outreach celebrated
One in three women and one in four men in the United States have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. On a typical day, domestic violence hotlines in the United States receive more than 20,000 calls, an average of close to 15 calls every minute.
The Voice of Catholic Charities
Domestic violence does not discriminate — it has no boundaries. It hides not just in the inner city and far away lands, but in every neighborhood, every income and education level, every racial and ethnic group and every religion. Alarmingly, one in four women and one in seven men will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes. All acts of domestic violence and abuse deteriorate our communities, lead to more violence and take us further away from the people God calls us to be.
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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
Candido Portinari (1903-1962)
Três meninos brincando
signed and dated 'Portinari 55' (lower right)
24 x 19 ½ in. (61 x 50 cm.)
Painted in 1955.
Private collection, Paris.
By descent from the above to the present owner.
Post lot text
1 Mário Pedrosa, “Portinari: From Brodowski to the Library of Congress,” Bulletin of the Pan-American Union 76, no. 4 (April 1942): 199.
2 Dag Hammarskjöld, quoted in “Portinari Murals are Dedicated at UN,” Brazilian Bulletin XIII, no. 310 (September 15, 1957), 7.
3 Antônio Bento (1980), quoted in Universo gráfico de Cândido Portinari (1903-1962) (Fortaleza: Multiarte, 2019), 117.
4 Pedrosa, “Portinari,” 208, 210.
Lot Essay
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from the Projeto Portinari dated 25 September 2020.
“A child of the people, his true education was received out of doors, in direct contact with the hard work that was the lot of immigrants, among the coffee trees growing in the red earth,” the Brazilian critic Mário Pedrosa noted of Portinari’s modest beginnings. “His childhood was one of poverty,” Pedrosa allowed, but “from those years he has retained, besides the images of his childhood, his attachment to his home circle and love for his relatives, his sympathy for the common people and for the day laborer, a certain roughness of manner and a touch of the shrewdness native to the country folk of São Paulo.”1 Among Brazil’s foremost modern artists, Portinari enacted his practice as a form of protest and critique for more than forty years, bringing new visibility to the working and immigrant classes who toiled on São Paulo’s coffee fazendas and in the drought-ridden states of the Northeast.
The son of poor Italian immigrants, Portinari left home at the age of fifteen to attend the National School of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro, and in 1928 he was awarded a scholarship to study in Europe. His return to Brazil in 1931 coincided with rising nationalist sentiment, and his paintings and murals began to encode the complexity of the social and racial fabric of his country as it modernized under the Getúlio Vargas regime. His now iconic renderings of Afro-Brazilian labor, such as Mestiço (1934) and Café (1935), drew early Pan-American acclaim, and Portinari was lauded with a solo exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1940 and, soon after, a commission to execute four murals for the Hispanic Reading Room at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. His monumental murals War and Peace, a gift from Brazil to the United Nations, were inaugurated in the entrance hall to the organization’s New York Headquarters in 1957. In accepting the murals, which he declared “the greatest monumental work given to the United Nations,” Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld reflected that the Member nations had “made their choice between war and peace; these murals illustrate for us the meaning of that choice.”2
Portinari began sketches for War and Peace in 1952, and he showed large-scale studies in a special room at the III São Paulo Bienal in 1955. A paean to amity around the world, Peace is populated by children—many from Brodowski, his hometown—at play, performing somersaults and handstands, balancing on a seesaw, singing and dancing. “He turned his inspiration towards rural and pastoral life, in a kind of innocent vision of Paradise, paralleling the artist’s own childhood,” wrote the critic Antônio Bento of Peace. “It’s a peace that comes from the fields, from simple folk, from poor kids, from the children of São Paulo’s peasants, who after all are united in the fraternity of Christ. In this sense, it was the humble folk, those that actually live in harmony, in a rural environment, the people that conveyed to the painter the vision of a peaceful and happy society.”3
In Tres muchachos jugando, Portinari describes three children running and tumbling, their youthful joy and innocence radiating through outstretched limbs seemingly in continuous motion. While the three figures anticipate the boys and girls later portrayed in Peace, Portinari had thematized children in his painting since the early 1930s; he reprised the subject in panels for the New York World’s Fair (1939-40) and, notably, in the series Meninos de Brodowski from the mid-1940s. “It is interesting to notice the return to certain childhood themes and objects, such as scarecrows and the balloons and masts of St. John’s Day celebrations, all enriched, it is true, with a new wealth of paraphernalia drawn from the life of Brazilian working people, constituting almost symbolic constants,” wrote Pedrosa. “In search of bygone days, or better, in an escape outside of time, the artist draws on almost subconscious images for the themes of his new achievements. . . . Today, Portinari’s artist soul is composed of a mixture of peasant realism and a romantic nostalgia for beautiful colors.”4 Tres muchachos jugando captures the abounding exuberance of children, their felicity of movement dramatized by the expressive colors—red, orange, yellow, blue, magenta—of their clothes, bright against the sun-bleached ground. Two boys fly past each other, darting through a kind of hopscotch; the game’s parabolic outline is counterbalanced by the upside-down position of their friend, his legs sprung wide into the air. Portinari describes the children with sentimental affection, their innocence and idealism a beckoning omen of peace in an anguished, postwar world.
Abby McEwen, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, College Park
27 Oct Article
14 Jan Article
More from Latin American Art
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Can capitalism be saved to better the world?
16 Mar 2017 - Jim Bignal, Triple Purpose Campaign
Capitalism is at a crossroads, with a growing perception that business is failing its obligations to society
Excessive executive pay, abuse of zero-hour contracts, tax evasion, outsourcing to the lowest bidder, mistreatment of staff and mis-selling all cast a negative light on capitalism. Maximising profit in the short term appears to be the only objective.
Against this backdrop, the UK is seeing its national health system and social services stretched to the limit; there is inadequate housing supply, major challenges in the educational system and the erosion of financial support for the disadvantaged. National borrowing is at a record level and although employment is at an all-time high, more and more are self-employed, surviving on low incomes and only just about managing. Certainly, inequality is unacceptably high: households in the bottom 10% of the population have on average a net income of £9,277 while the top 10% have over nine times that at £83,897.
In such a dysfunctional system where some are enjoying exorbitant wealth as millions of others struggle to access social care, sufficient benefits and decent housing, it is no surprise that many people are becoming disillusioned.
But can capitalism somehow be changed to provide a solution to these problems?
I suggest several practical ways on how business, and those of us working within it, can make this change towards improving society and the common good.
Our individual contribution
As individuals, we have a responsibility to play our part and make a positive contribution — by being respectful, responsible, tolerant, compassionate and loving in our actions and decisions. Importantly, we need to carry these responsibilities through into the workplace and ensure that our decisions there too have a positive impact on society and the environment.
Businesses becoming triple-purposed
Private sector businesses in the UK employ around 26 million people out of a working population of 31.5 million, so they will be vital contributors.
My contention is that having a single purpose of making a profit is not sufficient; businesses should instead look at being triple-purposed, namely to:
make a positive social impact;
protect the environment; and
make an ethical profit.
The idea is based on the concept of the “triple bottom line” accounting framework where performance is evaluated against broader social and environmental factors as well as financial.
But why should businesses care about social impact, the environment or being ethical? It is because they do not and cannot, operate in a vacuum. Where would a company be without the services provided by civil society and government? There would be no educated, socially stable and enthusiastic employees. There would be no infrastructure (hospitals, welfare, transport system, power, law and order), without which they would be unable to do business. And as users of these services and privileges, they have a corresponding duty to contribute. Hence why, for example, companies pay tax — or should do!
But beyond that, we can strengthen legislation to ensure businesses take more responsibility by making it a legal obligation to consider society and the environment in all its decision-making.
Furthermore, these triple purposes should be incorporated into a company’s Articles of Association and mission statement as a constant reminder. Non-financial reporting including within management, measurement and reporting systems need to be introduced to provide the structures and processes to help embed strong societal values and environmental efficiency into the company’s culture. Results and progress against targets must be included in the Annual Report on corporate governance and communicated regularly to all stakeholders including staff, customers, shareholders and the supply chain.
Creation of an internal ethics council
In discharging its societal responsibilities, companies should empower their staff to play their part in the workplace.
Companies could for example (as some already do), appoint an ethics or purpose officer who would champion ethical values within the organisation and help embed good culture into the DNA of the business.
Another suggestion is the formation of an ethics council or similar, comprised of workers from various parts of the organisation. The council should seed good corporate culture by bringing a continued focus on ethical issues and using communications to highlight what is important to all staff and other stakeholders on a regular basis via meetings, newsletters and social media. This council would assess major decisions that impact society and the environment and convey these cultural values via the ethics officer directly to the CEO and the board. Another function of this council might be to approve all the incentive schemes introduced by the company — much of the unethical behaviour in business can be caused by inappropriate incentives. Through this procedure, the views of the workforce on ethical issues would strongly influence the business’s ethics strategy.
Investing in the workforce, embedding ethical values
Staff who are happy in their jobs, well-trained, feel part of a team, proud in their work, safe, have equal opportunities, made to feel valued, have a fair work-life balance and justly paid are likely to be more loyal, motivated, hard-working and conscientious. Companies with this kind of workforce will be more successful. Employers who value a happy workforce, and encourage independent judgment, creativity and decision-making will attract more talented people and retain them.
Just as companies that invest in new product development and R&D will design better products, remain competitive and ultimately achieve more sales, investing in training, collaborative working and innovation can improve a company’s ability to adapt to new market conditions and be more sustainable.
Then in terms of limiting the risk of brand damage, where ethical values are embedded into the DNA of the business, the chances of a reputational crisis is much reduced where there is better, more consistent and ethical decision-making at every level.
And where strong ethical values translate to conscientious meeting of legal obligations like payment of a fair rate of tax, this will in turn lead to greater public revenue for health, schools, infrastructure and so on.
A new approach to capitalism is needed, where a greater emphasis is placed on the ethical perspectives of business conduct.
We need to create work environments where people are happy in what they are doing, feel valued, purposeful and motivated; where they feel they can make a contribution, not only to the profitability of the business but also to making the world better for current and future generations. I think many people would love to work in such a place.
The way forward lies with this new form of social capitalism — capitalism with a social conscience — where a company and most importantly, its employees, accept their individual and collective responsibilities towards society and the common good.
We need CEOs who understand that businesses have a strong, moral obligation to be strong corporate citizens; we need ethics champions within businesses to better the world for the future.
Are you such a champion?
Read related articles
Good work and a process of renewal
Is it time to focus on business's capacity to generate transformational change?
12 Jul 2017Robert Phillips, Co-Founder, Jericho Chambers
The 'human factor' in business
How can you achieve efficient management so industry can prosper and ensure your business still has a soul and is seen as a trusted part of the community?
17 Mar 2017 Bridget Morris, Executive Director, The Rowntree Society
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21+ To Enter | All Sales Final
3130 Hartley Road
(Located inside the Ramada)
Pablo Francisco
Jason Banks
Henry Cho
Bob Zany
Ronnie Bullard
Ryan Davis
Led Varela
Sherri Shepherd
Anthony Rodia
King Bach
Valentine's Packages
Comedy Zone Rules For Laughter
Henry’s TV credits include appearances on NBC’s The Tonight Show, CBS’s The Late, Late, Show, and NBC’s Young Comedians Special. He served two years as host of NBC’s Friday Night Videos and had many guest roles on various network sitcoms. Henry was co-creator, co- producer and co-writer of “The Henry Cho Show” on GAC.
Henry’s one hour Comedy Central Special, “What’s That Clickin Noise?” is currently running and on Netflix. Henry can also be heard daily on Sirrus, XM, Blue Collar Radio and Pandora. He’s also a regular performer at the Grand Ole Opry.
Some of Henry’s film credits include Universal’s McHale’s Navy with Tom Arnold and David Allen Greer; Say It Isn’t So with Heather Graham and Sally Field; and Material Girls with Hilary Duff and Angelica Houston produced by Madonna.
Henry was the keynote entertainer for The 59th Annual Radio & Television Correspondents’ Dinner and has worked extensively with Vince Gill, Amy Grant, Willie Nelson, Carrie Underwood, Reba and many, others. Henry’s clean comedy is so versatile that he can headline Vegas and then tour with Michael W. Smith.
Henry filmed the Faith-based Indy film “Saving Faith” in which he co-starred and also co-producer was released by Lions Gate. Henry has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Feature Film by the International Christian Film Festival. Henry recently completed filming a Hallmark movie “The Farmer and the Belle- Saving Santaland". He'll start shooting a TV pilot, "Double Occupancy" early July and also a the film, "Cheyenne". He's working on his own project with Triple Horse Studios the guys behind "Case for Christ".
Official web page: www.henrychocomedy.com
Cost: Adults: $20
Overnight Package (per 2): $195.34*
* Available only on Friday and Saturday. Plus taxes and fees.
January 27- 7:30 pm
January 28 - 7:30 pm
You must be 21 your or older with a valid photo ID to enter the Comedy Zone.
An ID matching the name on the ticket is required to verify tickets.
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Home > Our Work > Databases > FCMD > All Misconduct > Whiting, Ind. Refinery Clean Air Act Violations (2012)
Whiting, Ind. Refinery Clean Air Act Violations (2012)
BP North America agreed to pay an $8 million penalty to the United States and the State of Indiana and invest more than $400 million to install state-of-the-art pollution controls and cut emissions from BP’s petroleum refinery in Whiting, Indiana. The government alleged violations of Clean Air Act (CAA) in connection with construction and expansion of the Whiting Refinery, as well as violations of a consent decree entered into with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2001.
Multiple Agencies
BP P.L.C. $8,000,000
Consent Decree 11/16/2012
EPA Press Release 11/16/2012
Settlement Summary 11/16/2012
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HKTDC Launches New “Start-up Express” Incubation Programme
Powering Start-ups for Connections, New Markets and Investment
19 March 2018– The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) has launched a new incubation programme, Start-up Express, to help start-ups build networks, market business and attract investment. Each of the 10 winnersis entitled to joina series of top-notch marketing activities in Hong Kong and overseas, worth about HK$160,000, for free.
“Nurturing start-ups and a new generation of entrepreneurs who embrace new technologies and have a global perspective is key to maintaining Hong Kong’s long-term competitiveness,” said Raymond Yip, HKTDC Acting Executive Director. “Start-up Express is our new initiative to connect new entrepreneurs with potential partners and investors, and help them expand businesses in the global market through a wide range of programmes.”
The programme is set up in five stages:
“Know the Basics”- Induction workshops to equip start-ups with the essential business skills and market intelligence;
“Be Enlightened”- Meet-ups with successful leaders and entrepreneurs in small private settings to learn their secrets to success;
“Explore the Market” – Study missions to visit a city in the Bay Area to find new business opportunities and potential partners;
“Spread Your Wings”- Participate in relevant HKTDC exhibitions or overseas trade promotion events to connect with buyers and investors;
“Rise Above” – “NiCubator,” set up by actor and entrepreneur Nicholas Tse, may assist in brand promotion.
Full support from business leaders
Start-ups set up for less than five years with core or substantial operations in Hong Kong, and have raised less than US$10 million in funding are eligible to join Start-up Express. Applications close on 16 April. Please visit: www.hktdc.com/start-up-express for details. A total of 40 start-ups will be shortlisted for a closed-door pitching session, with 20 finalists selected to join the Pitching Contest during the HKTDC Entrepreneur Day on 18 May.
Leading business leaders, including Vincent HS Lo, HKTDC Chairman; Dr Victor Fung, GroupChairman, Fung Group; Daryl Ng, DeputyChairman, Sino Group; and Neil Shen, Founding and Managing Partner, Sequoia Capital China will share their experience with start-up participants during a series of power meet-ups.
Antony Leung, Group Chairman, Nan Fung Group; Duncan Chiu, CEO and co-founder, Radiant Venture Capital; Erica Ma, co-founder and Community Advisor, Cocoon; and Joe Lee, co-founder, Kuaidi Group; will be among the panel of judges.
Opportunities to explore new market
The 10 top performing start-ups will enjoy a series of power meet-ups, study missions and trade promotions for free, including eight HKTDC local exhibitions and conference that have a “Startup Zone”: Asian Financial Forum, Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Spring Edition) and International ICT Expo, Hong Kong Houseware Fair, Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair, Hong Kong International Medical Devices and Supplies Fair, Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition), Eco Expo Asia and SmartBiz Expo, as well as HKTDC overseas flagship events, such as In Style • Hong Kong in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Lifestyle Expo in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In addition, they may join the Hong Kong Pavilion at international exhibitions, such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at Las Vegas, USA, Gulf Information Technology Exhibition and China Hi-Tech Fair, to gain first-hand market information. “Start-up Express is unique in that it helps start-ups quickly penetrate the business world and build global business connections in world-class events,” said Mr Yip.
Inspirations from successful start-ups
Two successful entrepreneurs, Ricky Lui, Chief Operating Officer, ConnectAR; and Wesley Ng, CEO and co-founder, Casetify; attended a press event today to share how they identify business opportunities through marketing activities.
ConnectAR’s marketing tool, SnapPop, is equipped with Augmented Reality (AR) and image- recognition technology to let users receive marketing materials when they snap or scan through real scenes. The company attracted several potential clients at the HKTDC SmartBiz Expo 2017. A Japanese stationery designer expressed interest in applying SnapPop’s AR technology on his products. “Southeast Asia is our first-stop overseas,” said Mr Lui. “Some retail shops have already used SnapPop on a trial basis.”
From start-up to HK$100-million business, Casetify has won the hearts of football superstar Lionel Messi, NBA star player Kobe Bryant and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, by standing out in the market with its quality, functionality and personalisation capabilities. Casetify CEO & co-founder Wesley Ng said the proliferation of copycats in the market make it important to be forward-looking and innovative to stay ahead of the curve. “For example, we partner with artists to launch designer phone case series. We’ve also introduced the military-grade anti-break phone case.” Mr Ng regularly attends HKTDC events to share his experience with would-be entrepreneurs.
Full participation from universities and venture capital firms
Our Hong Kong Foundation is the official partner of Start-up Express, while Hong Kong X Foundation and Beyond Ventures are signature sponsors. “Start-up Express offers start-ups a platform to learn, grow and interact as they take the path to success,” said Eva Cheng, Executive Director, Our Hong Kong Foundation.
The programme also has the support of “NiCubator,” a project set up by actor and entrepreneur Nicholas Tse, as well as 17 universities, research institutions and start-up related associations and organisations, such as the Hong Kong Business Angel Network.
Hong Kong Business Angel Network Chairman Dr Samson Tam said: “We will fully leverage our organisation’s angel network and experience to serve as a bridge between young enterprises and investors, and help start-ups develop their businesses.”
Beyond Ventures co-founder and Managing Partner Lap Man will identify potential start-ups and help them expand business overseas. Hong Kong X Foundation Executive Director Linshan Mu said the foundation supports local youth to set up their own businesses and ride on Bay Area opportunities. “We will collaborate with the HKTDC to help start-ups capture new business opportunities around the world.” Chef Nic Holdings Ltd co-founder Derek Yeung said some of the winners may have opportunities to appear in a TV programme hosted by Nicholas Tse.
HKTDC’s new services for entrepreneurs
HKTDC Acting Executive Director Raymond Yip said the Council will introduce more SME and start-up-focused services, while providing business and entrepreneurial opportunities for the younger generation to encourage them to think global when expanding their business.
The HKTDC will also develop a Start-up Portal and build an online community, featuring star mentors.For start-ups that have been operating for three years or more, the HKTDC will launch “Startup-Plus”, a special pricing package for participation in the Council’s exhibition and promotional services.
About the HKTDC
Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong’s businesses. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With over 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus.
Tags: HKTDC, Incubation Programme, Start-up Express
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The Cultural Genocide in Palestine: On Sally Rooney’s Decision to Boycott Israel
Photograph Source: Neil Ward – CC BY 2.0
The pro-Israel crowd on social media was quick to pounce on award-winning Irish novelist, Sally Rooney, as soon as she declared that she had “chosen not to sell … translation rights of her best-selling novel, ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You’ to an Israeli-based publishing house”.
Expectedly, the accusations centered on the standard smearing used by Israel and its supporters against anyone who dares criticize Israel and exhibits solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people.
Rooney’s laudable action was not in the least ‘racist’ or ‘antisemitic’. On the contrary, it was taken as a show of support for the Palestine Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS), whose advocacy is situated within anti-colonial and anti-racist political discourses.
Rooney, herself, has made it clear that her decision not to publish with Modan Publishing House, which works closely with the Israeli government, is motivated by ethical values.
“I simply do not feel it would be right for me, under the present circumstances, to accept a new contract with an Israeli company that does not publicly distance itself from apartheid and support the U.N-stipulated rights of the Palestinian people,” she said, in a statement on October 12.
In fact, Rooney’s contention is not with the language itself, as she stated that “the Hebrew-language translation rights to my new novel are still available, and if I can find a way to sell these rights that is compliant with the BDS movement’s institutional boycott guidelines, I will be very pleased and proud to do so.”
Rooney is not the first intellectual to take an ethical position against any form of cultural normalization with Israeli institutions, especially those that directly support and benefit from the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. Her position is consistent with similar stances taken by other intellectuals, musicians, artists, authors and scientists. The ever-expanding list includes Roger Waters, Alice Walker and the late Stephen Hawking.
The BDS movement has made it abundantly clear that, in the words of the movement’s co-founder, Omar Barghouti, “the Palestinian boycott targets institutions only, due to their entrenched complicity in planning, justifying, whitewashing or otherwise perpetuating Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian rights.”
Of course, some are still not convinced. Those critics of the BDS movement intentionally conflate between antisemitism and a legitimate form of political expression, which aims at weakening and isolating the very economic, political and cultural infrastructures of racism and apartheid. The fact that numerous anti-Zionist Jews are supporters and advocates of the movement is not enough to make them reconsider their fallacious logic.
One of the ‘politest’ denunciations of Rooney, appearing in the Jewish Forward magazine, was penned by Gitit Levy-Paz. The author’s logic is puzzling, to say the least. Levy-Paz accused Rooney that, by refusing to allow her novel to be translated into Hebrew, she has excluded “a group of readers because of their national identity.”
While the Jewish Forward writer is guilty of confusing political ethics and nationality, she is not the only one. Israeli Zionists do this as a matter of course, where the Zionist ideology and the Jewish religion – and, in this case, language – are quite often interchangeable. As a result, the definition of ‘antisemitism’ has been stretched to include anti-Zionism – though Zionism is a modern ideological construct. Since Israel defines itself as a Jewish and Zionist state, it follows that any form of criticism of Israeli policies are often depicted as if a form of antisemitism.
One of the most interesting aspects of this conversation on language is that the Hebrew language has been used by the State of Israel since its establishment in 1948 as the language of oppression. In the minds of Palestinians, anywhere in Palestine, Hebrew is rarely the language used to communicate culture, literature, social coexistence and such. Instead, every military ordinance issued by the Israeli army, including closures and home demolitions, let alone the proceedings of military court hearings, and even the racist anti-Palestinian chants in football stadiums, are communicated in Hebrew. Palestinians are then excused if they do not view the modern Hebrew language as a language of inclusion, or even innocuous, everyday communication.
These realizations are not the outcome of daily experiences only. Successive Israeli governments have passed numerous legislations over the years to elevate Hebrew at the expense of Arabic. For over seven decades, the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people has been coupled with the erasure of their culture and their language, from the Hebraicization of historic Arabic names of towns, villages and streets, to the demolition of ancient Palestinian graveyards, olive groves, mosques and churches, the Israeli ethnocide is a top item on the Israeli political agenda.
The Israeli Nation State Law of 2018, which elevated Hebrew as Israel’s official language and downgraded Arabic to a “special status”, was the culmination of many years of a relentless, centralized Israeli campaign, whose sole purpose is to dominate the Palestinians, not only politically but culturally as well.
All that in mind, the hypocrisy of Israel’s mouthpieces is unmistakable. They welcome, or at least remain silent, when Israel tries to demolish and bury Palestinian culture and language, but cry foul when a respected author or a well-regarded artist tries, though symbolically, to show solidarity with the oppressed and occupied Palestinian people.
The Palestinian boycott movement is conscious of its morally-driven mission, thus can never duplicate the tactics of the Israeli government and official institutions. BDS aims at pressuring Israel by reminding peoples all over the world of their moral responsibility towards the Palestinians.
BDS does not target Israelis as individuals and, under no circumstances, does it target Jewish individuals because they are Jews, or the Hebrew language, as such. Israel, on the other hand, continues to target Palestinians as a people, downgrades their language, dismantles their institutions and systematically destroys their culture. This is rightly referred to as cultural genocide, and it is our moral responsibility to stop it.
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press, Atlanta). Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), Istanbul Zaim University (IZU). His website is www.ramzybaroud.net
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Countering Extremism: time to reboot?
Authors: Harvey Redgrave, Chief Executive Officer, James Stott, Analyst, Callum Tipple, Senior Policy Analyst
Tuesday 8 December 2020
REPORT (PDF): Countering Extremism: time to reboot?
Extremism is a significant and growing threat to this country. When left unchecked, extremism can incite violence, threaten the democratic institutions and norms that underpin liberal democracy, and undermine the social fabric that binds us together. However, whilst there is political consensus around the urgency of tackling extremism, there remains a lack of clarity around how the government ought to respond.
Extremism occupies an ambiguous and contested space. Unlike hate crime, violence and terrorism - offences which can be defined and legally prohibited - extremism need not involve direct criminality (though it often overlaps). Ultimately it is this subjectivity that has made the task of constructing a policy framework so elusive. Five years on from the publication of its ‘Counter Extremism Strategy’, the government is yet to set out an agreed definition of extremism and/ or the role it expects individual agencies to play in tackling it.
Nowhere is this ambiguity more starkly illustrated than with respect to the police - the primary subject of this report. Our fieldwork has revealed a worrying level of confusion about how officers ought to respond to extremism within their communities, beset by conflicting objectives and a lack of clarity as to what success looks like.
Clearly, responding to extremism cannot be the job of any one single agency or institution. Schools, local authorities, charities, the NHS, prisons - all have a role to play in combating extremism. Nonetheless, it is clear that the police - whether they are disrupting extremists, responding to hate crimes, managing extremist protests, or dealing with community tensions - are likely to represent the front line of the government’s response to extremism. The lack of a common framework for policing extremism is thus of significant public concern. It is that vacuum which this report seeks to address.
Extremism is a significant and growing threat. While the data is imperfect, multiple indicators suggest that extremism is on the rise in the UK, with rises in recorded hate crime, online toxicity and cases referred to the counter-radicalisation ‘Channel’ programme.
Over the last four years, on average do you think that the level of extremist behaviour described above has increased, decreased, or stayed the same?
Extremism is not limited to society’s fringes: up to 24 per cent of the public have personally witnessed or experienced extremism. While attitudinal data suggests the British public has become more tolerant overall, there is evidence of a growth in extremist beliefs at the margins, in particular, with a worrying rise in anti-Muslim prejudice. New polling by Crest suggests that nearly a quarter of the public have experienced or witnessed extremism (7 per cent and 17 per cent respectively) -and almost 6 in 10 believe that extremist behaviour has increased over the last four years.
Have you witnessed or experienced any of the following in the past 12 months? Views promoting, endorsing or supporting extremism
The nature of extremism has morphed over the last five years - it is more fluid and increasingly facilitated by social media, linked to a general coarsening of political discourse. Our report documents the rise in online abuse, including abuse aimed at MPs - a development that is likely to damage democratic institutions.
Despite widespread consensus around the urgency of tackling extremism, the government has found it difficult to drive and sustain progress. This is partly because the term extremism itself is contested but also reflects a lack of joined up thinking within government, with confusion over where counter-extremism ‘sits’ (on a spectrum between integration and counter-terrorism) and thus which departments (and agencies) are responsible for which aspects.
This has left the police confused about their role in responding to extremism. Our fieldwork has revealed officers are not clear about what constitutes extremism and what ‘good looks like’ in this area.
In many parts of the country, the police lack the required tools to sufficiently respond to extremism. Our fieldwork has revealed that many officers perceive there to be a lack of training and guidance in identifying and responding to extremism; officers are concerned about the hollowing out of neighbourhood policing and there is no national framework for the policing of extremist protests.
Recorded hate crimes, prosecutions and convictions for hate crime, 2013/14-2018/19
Principles for reform and recommendations
The UK’s ability to counter extremism has been hampered by a lack of consensus: on what extremism means, on what the government’s response should look like and on what role the police, other agencies, and civil society, ought to play. The government urgently therefore needs to establish a new vision and strategy for countering extremism (with the previous strategy having fallen out of date). This report argues that this ought to be based on the following four principles:
Shared understanding of the problem: a precondition for success is the ability to agree a common definition of the problem and build consensus around key priorities for action.
Clear objectives: the government needs to set out what it wants to achieve in relation to counter-extremism, including where counter-extremism ‘sits’ (between integration and counter-terrorism) and the role it expects key agencies, such as the police, to play.
Accountability: it is vital that the different parts of government - and their respective delivery agencies - are clear about their own role in tackling extremism.
The right tools: frontline agencies (including the police) need to be equipped with the right level of resources, skills and technology to identify and respond to extremism.
In order to build a shared understanding of the problem, government should:
Agree a common definition: the government - and the police - should immediately adopt the Commission for Countering Extremism’s definition of ‘hateful extremism’ and task the Commission with producing an annual ‘state of extremism’ report, which is presented to Parliament.
Strengthen the evidence base: the government should establish a research fund - into which universities and civil society organisations would be able to bid - to strengthen the evidence around what does and doesn’t work in countering extremism. The Home Office should also consult on commissioning an annual survey to understand the prevalence of support for extremist ideologies across the UK and track sentiment over time.
In order to set clear objectives, the government should:
Publish an update to the 2015 Counter Extremism strategy, making clear where CE ‘sits’: the updated strategy should make clear that the primary objective of CE is to prevent the risk of radicalisation. Accordingly, counter-extremism should sit within the counter-terrorism sphere, as part of a (broadened) Prevent strategy.
Task the College of Policing with producing and disseminating guidance on the police’s role in preventing and responding to extremism: ensuring there is greater clarity as to the police’s contribution to countering extremism and greater coordination across the 43 forces.
In order to strengthen accountability, the government should:
Strengthen national leadership structures: the government should designate a cabinet minister with inter-departmental responsibility for counter-extremism to coordinate and drive progress across government. In parallel, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) should identify a national lead to coordinate work across the 43 forces.
In order to equip frontline agencies with the right tools, the government should:
Invest in specialist capabilities within policing: the government should invest in a training programme for front-line police officers in identifying and responding to extremism within their communities, backed by new national guidance from the College of Policing.
Establish a national framework for the policing of extremist protests: the NPCC should work with the College of Policing to produce guidance for forces in dealing with extremist protests and managing local community tensions.
Task the Commission for Countering Extremism (CCE) with annually reviewing the powers required to disrupt extremists, including online.
These policies are designed to provide the basis of a comprehensive strategy that can secure public consent and, in so doing, reduce the scope for extremists to drive a wedge between communities and sow division.
harvey redgrave
james stott
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Serious Violence – will government policy be enough?
Counting the Cost of Maternal Imprisonment
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You are here: Home About CRFM Basic Text Agreement Establishing the CRFM
The States Parties
Convinced of the need to promote sustainable use of the living marine and other aquatic resources by the development, efficient management and conservation of such resources;
Convinced further of the intrinsic and non-extractive value and interdependence of the living marine and other aquatic resources;
Acknowledging that under international law, coastal States have sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing the living and non-living resources of their exclusive economic zones and their fisheries zones;
Conscious that certain of the living marine resources which are of interest to the peoples of the Caribbean Region are highly migratory, straddle national boundaries and are harvested by third
States;
Recognising that the unsustainable exploitation of the living marine and other aquatic resources can lead to irreparable damage to those resources;
Noting that there are international institutions, bodies and competent organisations, the policies and programmes of which may be relevant to the living marine and other aquatic resources of interest to Member States;
Recognising further the need for co-operation and consultation among all the States Parties to this Agreement, third States, interested international institutions and bodies involved in fisheries in the Caribbean Region;
Recognising also the need of the States Parties for specific assistance including financial, scientific and technological assistance in the area of fisheries management, development, conservation and sustainable use;
Aware of the relevant provisions of the Third United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982); the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (1995); the Agreement to promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas (1993); the United Nations Agreement on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (1995); Sustainable Development of the Programme of Action for Small Island Developing States (1994), and the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife in the Wider Caribbean (1990);
Noting further Resolution 54/225 of the United Nations General Assembly, dated 15 February 2000 on Promoting an Integrated Management Approach to the Caribbean Sea area in the context of sustainable development;
Convinced that this Agreement will serve to enhance co-operation in the area of fisheries among States Parties and interested third parties, thereby contributing to the general well-being of the peoples of the Caribbean Region;
Bearing in mind the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (2001) Establishing the Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy,
Have agreed as follows:
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All Sports Talk, Basketball, Featured, NBA
2019 NBA Christmas Schedule: Are You Ready?
The NBA have officially released their anticipated Christmas schedule for 2019. As expected, the NBA gave all the fans the match-ups they wanted. The 2019 NBA Christmas schedule consists of five marquee games. In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics will head to Toronto to face the Raptors. Two teams that many think will meet in the East Finals will see the Milwaukee Bucks travel to Philadelphia to face the 76ers. In he West, there will be three games featured on the 2019 NBA Christmas schedule. The young core of the New Orleans Pelicans will travel to Denver to face the Nuggets. The new look Houston Rockets will travel to face the Golden State Warriors at the new Chase Arena. In the most anticipated game, the Los Angeles Lakers will meet the Los Angeles Clippers.
The New Orleans Pelicans will face one of the better teams in the league in the Denver Nuggets. With Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and crew, New Orleans should be a really exciting team. Some believe the Pelicans could sneak into the playoffs this season. This team will be tested against the Nuggets, who finished 2nd in the West last year. Denver should finally have Michael Porter Jr. to an amazing team, and they could surprise a lot of teams next season. Most people are talking about the Lakers, Clippers and Rockets, but look out for this Nuggets team.
The Boston Celtics lost Kyrie Irving and Al Horford in free agency. In return, they signed Kemba Walker and Enes Kanter to contracts. The Celtics also lost Terry Rozier, but this team is still one of the better teams in the East. If Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum can co-exist, this could be a scary team. On the other hand, the Toronto Raptors will be without Kawhi Leonard this season. Kawhi lead them to the NBA Championship, but he’s in Los Angeles now. The Raptors still have a talented team with the team they have. If Pascal Siakim could continue to improve, this could be a sleeper team in the East. This could be an exciting game, but who will walk away with the win?
The Houston Rockets will head to the new Chase Arena to face the Golden State Warriors. Both of these teams went through changes during the offseason. The Rockets traded Chris Paul to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Russell Westbrook. With the trade, Westbrook and Harden reunite as they try to capture that elusive NBA championship. For years, the Rockets have had issues with the Warriors as they’re team that always eliminating them. The Golden State Warriors will look different for the Christmas game. The Warriors lost Kevin Durant in free agency and Klay Thompson is recovering from his ACL tear. They signed D’Angelo Russell and they just inked Draymond Green to an extension. Will the Warriors continue to reign supreme over the Rockets?
In the final game in the East, we have the Milwaukee Bucks traveling to Philly to face the 76ers. The Milwaukee Bucks finished with the best record in the league last year. The Bucks were able to resign Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and George Hill. Unfortunately, Milwaukee lost Malcolm Brogdon in a sign-and-trade with the Indiana Pacers. Milwaukee is lead by the reigning league MVP in Giannis and should be in contention for the top seed. The Sixers resigned Tobias Harris and inked Ben Simmons to a 5-year max deal. The only issue with the 76ers is their lack of shooters, but they shocked everyone by signing Al Horford. In this battle of possibly the two best teams in the East, who wins this game?
In the marquee game, we have the battle of Los Angeles. The Lakers will take on the Clippers in a must see game on Christmas night. The Lakers traded for Anthony Davis and they made a lot of additions to this team. The Lakers is one of my favorites to come out of the West this season. With Davis and LeBron James, they form one of the better tandems in the league. On the other hand, the Los Angeles Clippers went all out during free agency. They signed Kawhi Leonard in free agency and traded for Paul George. The Clippers should be one of the best defensive teams in the league. In a battle of Los Angeles, who caps off the 2019 NBA Christmas schedule with a win?
Are you looking forward to the NBA season? How about the 2019 NBA Christmas schedule? What games are you looking forward to the most? Leave some feedback below about anything related to the upcoming season or the 2019 NBA Christmas schedule.
BasketballNBAsports
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Derrick Henry Signs 4 Year Deal to Remain in Tennessee
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Difference between revisions of "What Gods Did Darius "the Great" Worship"
(Incorrect article title)
Based on the texts from Persia, it is clear that Darius the Great was a pious follower of Ahuramazda, but a number of texts from outside of Persia show that the king, like Cyrus before him, was willing to acknowledge other peoples’ gods. Darius the Great gave particular attention to Egypt, where three stelae inscribed in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Elamite and Akkadian cuneiform demonstrate that he complete a canal that went from the Red Sea to the Nile River thereby giving access to the Mediterranean Sea. The language on the Suez stelae is very similar to that on a statue of Darius the Great that was discovered in the ruins of Susa in 1972. The statue, which was probably originally in Egypt, is important for several reasons. It is the only known example of Achaemenid Persian royal statuary, but equally important are the inscriptions on the robes of the statue, which were in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian cuneiform. The Egyptian language inscriptions describe Darius the Great as “born of Atum, the living image of Re” and that “Neith gave to him her bow that was in her hand to throw don all his enemies.” <ref> Yoyette, Jean. “Les Inscriptions Hiéroglyphiques Darius et l’Égypte.” <i>Journal Asiatique.</i> 260 (1972) pgs. 254-6</ref> Atum and Re, like Ahuramzada, were both Egyptian solar gods associated with kingship, while Neith was a goddess who was particularly venerated by the Egyptian dynasty the Achaemenid Persians vanquished. Clearly Darius the Great was employing a bit of the same political strategy Cyrus used when he patronized the Marduk cult after he conquered Babylon. Interestingly, the cuneiform texts on the statue make no mention of the Egyptian deities and instead invoke the Persian/Zoroastrian god in typical formulaic fashion.
“The great god Ahuramazada who created this earth, who created the sky and the below, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king, here is the statue of stone that Darius the king ordered it made in Egypt in order that in the future humanity would see and know that a Persian ruled Egypt. I am Darius, great king, king of kings, king of nations, king of this great earth, the son of Hystaspes, the Achaemenid. Darius the king said, ‘Ahura Mazda protects me and makes everything for me!’” <ref> Vallat, François. “Les Inscriptions Hiéroglyphiques Darius et l’Égypte.” <i>Cahier de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Iran.</i> 4 (1974) pgs. 161-4</ref>
“The great god Ahuramazada who created this earth, who created the sky and the below, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king, here is the statue of stone that Darius the king ordered it made in Egypt in order that in the future humanity would see and know that a Persian ruled Egypt. I am Darius, great king, king of kings, king of nations, king of this great earth, the son of Hystaspes, the Achaemenid. Darius the king said, ‘Ahura Mazda protects me and makes everything for me!’” <ref> Vallat, François. ““Les textes Cuneiformes de la statue de Darius.” <i>Cahier de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Iran.</i> 4 (1974) pgs. 161-4</ref>
===Conclusion===
Statue of Darius I in the Iran National Museum, Tehran
Darius I (ruled 522-486 BC), often referred to as Darius “the Great,” is the best known of all the Achaemenid Persian kings for several reasons. To those familiar with Darius the Great today, he is known primarily for his military endeavors as the Persian king who started the Greco-Persian Wars (499-449 BC) by suppressing the Greek Ionian Revolt. Darius I then ordered the invasion of mainland Greece, although that ended in the Persian defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Darius I was the father of Xerxes I (reigned 486-465 BC), who was the Persian king who led the Persian army for the remainder of the Greco-Persian Wars, but more importantly Darius I is known for several other non-military endeavors that helped make the Achaemenid Empire the most powerful political entity of the period. He initiated several internal reforms that made the empire run more efficiently and was instrumental in the construction of an ancient Suez Canal that linked the Mediterranean and Red seas. Darius I was also the primary Persian king who commissioned the building of the capital city of Persepolis. An examination of the inscriptions that accompany many of his building activities reveals that Darius I was a pious man and an early follower of the religion that would become known as Zoroastrianism, but he was also quite tolerant and allowed other religions to flourish within his empire.
1 The Achaemenid Empire
2 Achaemenid Persian Religion
3 Darius the Great and Religion
The Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire is quite unique among other ancient empires because it seemingly came out of nowhere. The empire began with humble origins among a dynasty of semi-nomadic Persians known as the Achaemenids, who were of little consequence in the region until one of their kings named Cyrus “the Great” (ruled 559-530 BC) led them to conquer the most powerful kingdoms in the area including Media, Lydia, and finally Babylonia in 539 BC. [1] Since the Achaemenid Persians were a semi-nomadic people who were suddenly rulers over a large, urban population, they adopted many elements of Near Eastern civilization, including models of kingship and royal ideology. Mesopotamian royal ideology can be traced back to the Akkadians, particularly King Sargon of Akkad (reigned ca. 2340-2284 BC), who took the royal epithet “he who rules the Four Quarters.” Sargon’s grandson, King Naram-Sin (ruled ca. 2254-2218 BC), followed suit by assuming the title “King of the Four Quarters,” which then established a precedent among most of the kings in Mesopotamia. [2] The concept of the king as ruler of the universe was adopted by Cyrus and the Persians when he officially proclaimed himself as such on the famous Cyrus Cylinder, which was essentially a commemoration of his conquest of Babylon. The cylinder states: “I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, legitimate king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four rims of the Earth.” [3]
Achaemenid Persian Religion
Relief of the Persian-Zoroastrian God Ahura Mazda
It is important to understand the origins of Achaemenid Persian royal ideology because in the ancient Near East political ideology was intricately intertwined with religion. The king was appointed by the gods to carry out their wills and usually was considered the high priest of any particular dynasty’s primary god or goddess so therefore any understanding of what gods Darius I worshipped can only be understood within the realm of religion.
The Achaemenid Persians followed a religion that can best be described as an early form of Zoroastrianism, or proto-Zoroastrianism. [4] Zoroastrianism was a dualistic religion where many different gods were acknowledged, both good and evil, but the chief god, Ahuramazda, was the primary object of veneration. Besides being the source of all earthly good and purity, Ahuramazda was also associated with the sun and fire. Following in the dualistic aspects of Zoroastrianism, it was the duty of the Achaemenid kings to promote the truth or asha over the lie or drugh, which was the result of the evil god Angramianu’s influence in the world. [5] Although Cyrus and the early Achaemenid kings worshipped Ahuramazda as their primary god, primary sources from the period show that they were willing to accept other gods.
Besides outlining the Achaemenid Persian concept of royal ideology, the Cyrus Cylinder details how Cyrus restored the cult of Babylon’s most important god, Marduk. The text reads: “The worship of Marduk the king of the gods, he (Nabonidus) changed into abomination, daily he used to do evil against his city . . . When I entered Babylon as a friend and when I established the seat of the government in the palace of the ruler under jubilation and rejoicing, Marduk, the great lord, induced the magnanimous inhabitants of Babylon to love me, and I was daily endeavouring to worship him.” [6]
The details of the text are probably not entirely factual – it seems difficult to believe that the Babylonian King Nabonidus would have defiled the god of his city – but it was politically important for the conquering Achaemenid king to patronize Marduk to some extent. [7] The concept of religious tolerance for political gain established by Cyrus was followed and expanded by Darius the Great during his long reign.
Darius the Great and Religion
The Ruins of the Achaemenid Persian Capital of Persepolis
Among all the Achaemenid Persian kings, Darius the Great left the most inscriptions and monuments throughout the empire, which have helped modern scholars better understand his religious ideas. There remain many questions concerning how Darius I came to the throne since he was from a collateral branch of the royal family, leading many to believe that he usurped the crown from his predecessor Cambyses’ brother. [8] Darius I’s questionable legitimacy, combined with his long rule, may have played significant roles in the king’s increased piety, or at least the perception he wanted to create of his piety. Inscriptions from the Persia sites of Behistun, Naqsh-i-Rustam, Susa, and Darius I’s capital of Persepolis – written in the languages of Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian in the cuneiform script – all attest to his allegiance to Ahuramazda. Although little theology is related in the texts, it is clear that Ahuramazda was the sovereign’s primary and only mentioned deity. An inscription from Persepolis is characteristic of all Darius I’s texts from Persia:
“Saith Darius the King: May Ahuramazda bear me aid, with the gods of the royal house; and may Ahuramazda protect this country from a (hostile) army, from famine, from the Lie! Upon this country may there not come an army, nor famine, nor the Lie; this I pray as a boon from Ahuramazda together with the gods of the royal house. This boon may Ahuramazda together with the gods of the royal house give to me!” [9]
Based on the texts from Persia, it is clear that Darius the Great was a pious follower of Ahuramazda, but a number of texts from outside of Persia show that the king, like Cyrus before him, was willing to acknowledge other peoples’ gods. Darius the Great gave particular attention to Egypt, where three stelae inscribed in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Elamite and Akkadian cuneiform demonstrate that he complete a canal that went from the Red Sea to the Nile River thereby giving access to the Mediterranean Sea. The language on the Suez stelae is very similar to that on a statue of Darius the Great that was discovered in the ruins of Susa in 1972. The statue, which was probably originally in Egypt, is important for several reasons. It is the only known example of Achaemenid Persian royal statuary, but equally important are the inscriptions on the robes of the statue, which were in Egyptian hieroglyphs and Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian cuneiform. The Egyptian language inscriptions describe Darius the Great as “born of Atum, the living image of Re” and that “Neith gave to him her bow that was in her hand to throw don all his enemies.” [10] Atum and Re, like Ahuramzada, were both Egyptian solar gods associated with kingship, while Neith was a goddess who was particularly venerated by the Egyptian dynasty the Achaemenid Persians vanquished. Clearly Darius the Great was employing a bit of the same political strategy Cyrus used when he patronized the Marduk cult after he conquered Babylon. Interestingly, the cuneiform texts on the statue make no mention of the Egyptian deities and instead invoke the Persian/Zoroastrian god in typical formulaic fashion.
“The great god Ahuramazada who created this earth, who created the sky and the below, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king, here is the statue of stone that Darius the king ordered it made in Egypt in order that in the future humanity would see and know that a Persian ruled Egypt. I am Darius, great king, king of kings, king of nations, king of this great earth, the son of Hystaspes, the Achaemenid. Darius the king said, ‘Ahura Mazda protects me and makes everything for me!’” [11]
Greek historians such as Herodotus often depicted Darius the Great as a bloodthirsty, amoral tyrant who had almost as little regard for his own subject as he did for his enemies. An examination of the Persian sources reveals that this view is the result of Hellenic bias because Darius was actually a pious king. He believed very deeply in the religion of his people as evidenced by the numerous inscriptions where he gave praise to his primary god, Ahuramazda. Beyond Persia, especially in Egypt, there is ample evidence that Darius the Great was quite tolerant toward his conquered subjects’ religions and even took the time to acknowledge and patronize their gods. There is no doubt that part of his patronage of non-Persian deities was due to political considerations, but there is also no doubt that Darius I was a religious man. Darius the Great placed Ahuramazda above all other gods and goddesses but was willing to accept foreign deities that were close enough to his own god thereby being one of the first people in history to effectively mix politics and religion.
↑ Briant, Pierre. From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Translated by Peter T. Daniels. (Winona Lake, Indiana: Esenbrauns, 2002), pgs. 31-44
↑ Frankfort, Henri. Kingship and the Gods: A Study of Ancient Near Eastern Religion as the Integration of Society and Nature. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), p. 228
↑ Pritchard, James B, ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. 3rd ed. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992), p. 316
↑ Clark, Peter. Zoroastrianism: An Introduction to an Ancient Faith. Brighton, United Kingdom: Sussex Academic Press, 2001), pg. 56
↑ Malandra, William W. An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion: Readings from the Avesta and Ancient Achaemenid Inscriptions. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983), pg. 13
↑ Krebsbach, Jared. “Achaemenid Persian Patronage of Egyptian Cults and Religious Institutions in the Twenty-Seventh Dynasty: A Study of Political Acumen in the Ancient World.” In Religion in the Achaemenid Persian Empire: Emerging Judaisms and Trends. Edited by Diana Edelman, Anne Fitzpatrick-McKinley and Philippe Guillaume. (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016), p. 330
↑ Briant, p. 102
↑ Kent, Roland G. Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon. Second Edition. (New Haven, Connecticut: American Oriental Society, 1953), p. 136
↑ Yoyette, Jean. “Les Inscriptions Hiéroglyphiques Darius et l’Égypte.” Journal Asiatique. 260 (1972) pgs. 254-6
↑ Vallat, François. ““Les textes Cuneiformes de la statue de Darius.” Cahier de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Iran. 4 (1974) pgs. 161-4
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'Just call me Harry': Prince has already been working for life-coaching firm BetterUp for 'two months' and insists on being called by his first name, reveals CEO who once gave speech in a SPACESUIT and throws fancy dress parties where staff wear ONESIES
The Duke was unveiled Tuesday morning as the chief impact officer at BetterUp, a $1.73billion startup
The role will see him weigh in on product strategy and charitable contributions but he won't manage a team
Harry and BetterUp's CEO Alexi Robichaux agreed job after an introduction by an unnamed mutual friend
BetterUp's boss has refused to say what the prince is being paid, but insists he is perfect for the 'meaty' role
On a media round likely sanctioned by Harry, Mr Robichaux said prince would work on all aspects of the app
He said 'We were just so impressed, and really I think there was such a natural chemistry and synergy around the insights and the contributions he can make creatively to BetterUp in ensuring that we achieve our mission'
By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter For Mailonline
Published: 03:46 EST, 24 March 2021 | Updated: 20:03 EST, 24 March 2021
Prince Harry started his first proper job at a Californian startup dubbed life coaching Tinder for millennials in January - but they waited to announce it until after his Oprah interview was watched by tens of millions around the globe, it was revealed today.
The Duke of Sussex has been appointed 'chief impact officer' at mental health services business BetterUp by CEO Alexi Robichaux, who says his royal employee insists on everyone calling him Harry because they are all 'partners' in the business valued at $1.7billion.
The Duke will help to promote a wellness app used by corporate giants including Hilton, Facebook, NASA, confectionery giant Mars and oil firm Chevron to improve the wellbeing of their staff.
Harry, whose new role at the firm could command a seven-figure salary plus share options, was introduced to the BetterUp co-founder through unnamed mutual friend last year, and after they weighed up 'four buckets of opportunities', they agreed to start working together, Mr Robichaux said today.
He said: 'He's been in the role for a couple of months, and we're so excited to share the news with the world. We're partners here, he likes to be called Harry in the workplace, so we just address him as Harry.'
Brand expert Mark Bukowski told MailOnline that timing the announcement for after the Oprah interview generated free publicity worth millions of dollars for the startup, and could help Harry cash in if he has shares in the business.
Tech-CEO Mr Robichaux, who likes to quote Einstein and Marcus Aurelius and once gave a presentation on his business to leading scientists and academics while wearing a spacesuit, told Sky News today: 'We were just so impressed, and really I think there was such a natural chemistry and synergy around the insights and the contributions he can make creatively to BetterUp in ensuring that we achieve our mission.
'Bigger than commercial success, this is about global impact, and so as we crafted the role together, those four buckets of opportunities, we came to the title "chief impact officer", really denoting that he's focused on our mission and he's focused on ensuring that we're doing everything we can to achieve our mission on a bigger and larger and grander scale to impact the lives of more people.'
He added: 'He's also helping to work on everything from product design to product strategy, to co-creating content and the experience for our members and helping with partnerships, like creating some new content for our users related to mental toughness and mental fitness as well.'
Harry's first real job will see him spending time at the firm's San Francisco office - when Covid-19 allows - where the prince can take part in weekly office yoga sessions, beat a punch bag when he's frustrated or pet the office dog 'Gordo' when he's concerned about his 'wellness'. He can also bring his dogs Guy and Pula to work if he likes.
BetterUp also throws regular onesie-fancy dress parties for staff, including at Halloween - but if this gets too much for the prince he can relax using some of his five 'inner work' days a year - on top of his holiday days - to focus on 'personalised growth' by hiking in California, reading books or doing volunteer work.
His new office has sofas to flop on during a hard day and games to play when staff need a break, with one employee, Lily, saying the office was designed for both work and play. She said: 'When one of us is flourishing, the whole team gets stronger. So every decision we made about what to put in the office had those baselines in mind'.
Harry's CEO, a devout Christian fluent in Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew, said he had experimented with therapy and life coaching in his twenties and the idea for BetterUp came to him while on a pilgrimage of self-reflection to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. His mantra is: 'I don't believe technology is the enemy when used right.'
The Duke of Sussex has been appointed 'chief impact officer' at mental health services business BetterUp by CEO Alexi Robichaux (right today), where he will help promote an app used by corporate giants including Hilton, Facebook and oil firm Chevron to improve the wellbeing of their staff.
When things get stressful, Harry can get his gym clothes out and roll out a mat for some yoga at a weekly session run by the company
Staff are treated to regular fancy dress parties, including ones where they drank beer and wine and dressed as unicorns and monkeys
Harry can pet the office dog 'Gordo' (pictured) when he's concerned about his 'wellness' and can also bring his dogs Guy and Pula to work if he likes
Inside the office: BetterUp's San Francisco offices include numerous sofas, exercise equipment and a punching bag
There is plenty of room for Harry to flop on a sofa and chat to colleagues - but workers are also encouraged to take five 'inner work' days a year to wind down
Harry, who has served in the British Army but has no corporate experience, will not manage any employees but will be expected to appear at special company events and spend time at the company's San Francisco HQ for meetings once Covid restrictions are lifted (pictured)
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'Meet Harry, our new CImpO': What does a Chief Impact Officer do - and is he even qualified?
Prince Harry's new boss Alexi Robichaux has said he and the Duke of Sussex weighed up 'four buckets of opportunities' before agreeing to work together and call his new job 'chief impact officer' (CImpO).
Although BetterUp say the role was created for the royal, similar jobs with the same title are becoming more common in Silicon Valley tech firms and laid-back Californian charities.
A CImpO is a senior manager, usually at board level, who reports into the ceo.
Their main job is to bring in money, by wooing investors, securing grants or donations from high-profile businesses or high-wealth individuals. They will also lead on events that could bring in cash and publicity, which BetterUp have said is part of Harry's role.
According a recent job advert for a similar role in state capital Sacramento, the CImpO must 'be a leader within the Foundation and in the philanthropic, nonprofit, civic and social sectors in the region and beyond'.
Harry's global profile, and his years of charity work, especially at the Invictus Games, would tick many boxes.
But there are some areas he may not qualify for, with employers generally looking for someone with 10 years corporate experience, whereas Harry has never had a job like this before, having spent several years in the Army.
The role also involves experience of budgeting and writing grant applications, which the prince is unlikely to have.
And bosses tend to want a Master's degree in business or a related subject, or a bachelor's degree with 'significant and relevant work experience' as a minimum.
In June 2003, Harry completed his education at Eton with two A-Levels - achieving a grade B in art and D in geography. He dropped history of art after AS level.
One of Harry's former teachers, Sarah Forsyth, later claimed that he was a 'weak student' accused staff at the exclusive private school of helping him with exams and coursework. Both Eton and Harry vehemently denied the claims.
The Prince went to Sandhurst after Eton and a gap year abroad.
Silicon Valley start-up that has hired Prince Harry
What is BetterUp?
BetterUp describes itself as company that 'combines coaching with dynamic and personalized digital experiences to accelerate members' long-term professional development and drive personal growth'.
In practice, they sell executive coaching and therapy services to individuals and large companies.
It employs clinical therapists and 'executive coaches' on contract to provide those services.
One blue chip company that recently employed their services was charged $2,000 for six months of unlimited coaching for each employee.
Those who sign up for their app can receive one-to-one video therapy or coaching through the app.
Who was it founded by?
It was founded by two USC graduates Alexi Robichaux and Eduardo Medina. Robinchaux grew up in Dallas, Texas, and has described growing up with his father a biblical linguist who translates from Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew. His mother is an immigrant from Greece who was an executive assistant at Texas Instruments. In high school he started a non-profit called Youth Leadership for America.
Medina is also a USC graduate who worked at management consultant companies Altamont Capital Partners and Bain & Company before starting BetterUp.
How big is BetterUp?
BetterUp says it has raised a total of $300m in venture capital, and claims to be valued at $1.7bn. It has not reported any corporate results or profits.
Last year, Robinchaux told Inc that the company had 200 employees and more than a thousand therapists and executive coaches on contract.
Its investors include snowboarder Sean White, NBA player Pau Gasol and a series of venture capital companies including frims called ICONIQ Growth, Lightspeed Venture and Mubadala Capital.
Who has invested in BetterUp?
The company lists 10 Silicon Valley venture capital companies among its investors, including the UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Capital.
It also names Olympic snowboarder Shaun White and NBA player Pau Gasol as individual investors.
Prince Harry announced his first job in the corporate world yesterday by revealing he had taken an executive position at a Silicon Valley start-up that claims to be worth $1.7billion.
Robichaux's company uses a app-based system for workers to swipe through 2,000-plus life coaches to find the one they want - in a similar format to Tinder.
Mr Robichaux has declined to say how much the royal will be paid, although similar roles at other California firms would command six or seven-figure salaries.
PR guru Mark Bukowski told MailOnline it is yet another step for the Sussexes towards the building of their dream of a billion dollar brand in the US, after big money deals with Netflix and Spotify.
He said the deal is worth millions to the startup in free publicity, adding: 'If he's done a good deal with a salary as well as shares in the business, it will probably make millions for Harry too.'
Harry was introduced to Mr Robichaux through an unnamed mutual friend - and it is not yet known if he has invested in the company, where other backers include the Dubai sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Capital and Olympic snowboarder Shaun White.
Executives who join American start-ups are often awarded large share options which can make them multi-millionaires when the company sells up or floats - regardless of whether they invest in the firm.
In a statement introducing himself to his new colleagues, Harry also revealed that every employee of his Archewell foundation will get access to its services.
Mr Robichaux said Harry has already helped make decisions at the business, including at a recent strategy meeting where he 'recommended that executives frame the tool in terms of resilience and overcoming adversity and setbacks in a challenging time'.
He added that the sixth-in-line to the British throne 'comes from a very different background' to his colleagues.
BetterUp is thought to charge companies about $2,000 (£1,450) per worker for six months of executive coaching, and has more than 200 employees and 2,000 contract coaches on its books.
Mr Robichaux - who is in his 30s and grew up in Dallas, Texas, where his father was a biblical linguist father and his Greek immigrant mother worked for Texas Instruments - has compared the app to a life coaching Tinder for millennials to keep them happy at work.
He has spoken about his Christian beliefs and said the firm came to him as an epiphany while doing the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail in Spain, and attended the University of Southern California (USC) along with co-founder Eduardo Medina.
Harry, who has served in the British Army but has no corporate experience, will not manage any employees but will be expected to appear at special company events and spend time at the firm's San Francisco offices for meetings once Covid restrictions are lifted.
The Duke, 36, revealed he has been using BetterUp's services including talking to one of its 'truly awesome' coaches for a couple of months who gave him 'sound advice and a fresh perspective'.
He wrote in a blog post how he will focus on 'driving advocacy and awareness for mental fitness', helping to guide the firm's 'social mission and impact', 'influencing the vision of BetterUp's platform, community and member experience' and expand its 'global community of thought leadership, coaches, customers, and members through outreach and strategic planning'.
Explaining why he took the job, Harry told the Wall Street Journal in a suitably corporate response: 'I intend to help create impact in people's lives. Proactive coaching provides endless possibilities for personal development, increased awareness, and an all-round better life'.
Mr Bukowski added: 'He's got this woke job title of Chief Impact Officer and today's announcement has done just that for the company, had a huge impact.
'This announcement is worth millions to this startup in free publicity and if he's done a good deal with a salary as well as shares in the business, it will probably make millions for Harry too.
'He could never have done this deal if he was still a working member of the Royal Family. They've announced the job just after the Oprah interview, amid an outpouring of support for the couple in the US. They're on a crest of a wave there. If the company is as good as Harry says, it is a smart move. But if it's a pile of poop, he won't have to many more chances to cash in.'
He added: 'If people weren't clear on Harry and Meghan's business strategy, they should be now.'
Harry said: 'This is about acknowledging that it isn't so much what is wrong with us, but more about what has happened to us over the course of life. Often because of societal barriers, financial difficulty, or stigma, too many people aren't able to focus on their mental health until they're forced to. I want us to move away from the idea that you have to feel broken before reaching out for help'.
The prince, who says he has been using BetterUp's app since January, began talks with them about a role last autumn after being introduced to USC graduate Mr Robichaux 'through a mutual friend'.
BetterUp employs therapists and executive coaches on contracts, who are paired with clients to provide mental health coaching by video link through the app. Most of its clients are in the United States, but it does have executive coaches employed in the UK.
The tech firm that works with corporate giants including Facebook, Google, Snap Inc, NASA, Hilton and Warner Brothers. There will be some raised eyebrows because Harry has spoken widely on the need to protect the environment, but BetterUp has also worked with oil giant Chevron.
A list of values on BetterUp's website including: 'courage, playfulness, empathy, craftspersonship, grit and zest.'
MailOnline understands that Google offered leadership coaching to staff through Better Up in 2020. Access to the app, including virtual classes, costs $3,600 per person for 12 months membership.
A statement on the company's website said: 'Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex is a humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate, and environmentalist'
Harry was introduced to CEO Alexi Robichaux (top left) through a mutual friend. He has refused to say how much Harry (top right) will be paid. Harry is listed on the company website with Mr Robichaux's co-founder, Eduardo Medina (top centre)
The company's chief executive Alexi Robichaux has declined to say how much the royal will be paid
Eduardo Medina is also a USC graduate who worked at management consultant company Altamont Capital Partners
Harry told Oprah that he has been forced to seek corporate work after his father Prince Charles 'cut him off' financially after they emigrated to Canada and then on to LA
Better up: The $1.73bn 'playful' Silicon Valley start-up with Tinder-style app for users to swipe through 2,000 life coaches - set up by CEO who wants to 'enable professionals to live with greater clarity, purpose and passion'
Prince Harry was introduced to CEO Alexi Robichaux (right) through a mutual friend
Prince Harry is joining a Silicon Valley start-up firm that claims to be worth $1.73bn and sells leadership coaching and therapy services.
It was founded in 2013 by two USC graduates and its clients include big tech companies such as Facebook, Google, Airbnb and LinkedIn as well as corporate giants including Hilton, NASA, Chevron and Mars.
The company has secured $300m in investment from venture capital firms and claims its services are 'pioneering growth for the whole person'. The San Francisco-based company provides mobile-based coaching, counseling and mentorship programs for employees of large businesses.
The Duke of Sussex joins a 'Chief Impact Officer' and his colleagues will include more than 200 employees and 2,000 contract coaches globally, which the company claims is the 'world's largest coaching network'. A list of values on BetterUp's website including: 'courage, playfulness, empathy, craftspersonship, grit and zest.
Below each subheading respectively is: 'Dare often and greatly, great ideas come from health and happiness, innovation starts with understanding, find meaning in what we do through crafting excellence, perseverance driven by determination and passion and what sets you apart makes us unique.'
BetterUp announced its latest investment round in February had raised $125million, which it says was based on a valuation of $1.73billion.
The investment round was led by ICONIQ Growth, along with existing investor Lightspeed Venture Partners among others, and new investors including Salesforce Ventures and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital.
It said its customer base grew by 80 per cent and annual recurring revenue more than doubled last year. Workers meet with BetterUp staff - licensed therapists and executive coaches - virtually to work on their employee skills. They are also told they can shout about being tired, relationship issues, bad managers and other problems they have on their mind.
CEO Alexi Robichaux told Business Insider in 2017: 'It's about moving the needle in their personal life and their work life.' He co-founded the firm in 2013 and has built it up so they can exclusively work with large firms with more than 10,000 workers. He said the idea to create the firm came to him as an epiphany while doing the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail in Spain.
He said he realised it was pointless separating his work life in software from his personal life helping people.
BetterUp promises its clients including chief executives, managers and general employees confidentiality and the company's idea is to coach 'the whole person' while the firm they work for pays for it. It is seen as a modern version of the 'life coach'.
Robichaux said: 'Most of working America thinks that the only coaching is life-coaching, which is like some dude in Alabama on Skype and you have no idea if he's wearing pants.'
He said he gives his staff five paid 'Inner Work Days' a year in addition to their usual holiday time. The startup cofounder was born in Dallas, Texas, but grew up in California, selling lemonade and knick-knacks off a stand.
But by 15 in between playing soccer and student body president - he learnt how to program and created a web development business with his brother. He said he also enjoyed philosophy at school and would read 'The Prince' by Machiavelli, Rousseau's 'Social Contract' and Plato's 'Republic' at the weekends.
The Duke of Sussex was unveiled on Tuesday morning as the chief impact officer at BetterUp with this corporate black and white photograph of Harry released at the same time. He was introduced to CEO Alexi Robichaux (right) through a mutual friend. He has refused to say how much Harry will be paid
He has revealed in previous interviews his father was a 'biblical linguist who works with ancient texts', while his mother is a Greek immigrant who was forced to go back to work to raise her family. He studied political science at the University of Southern California and graduated summa cum laude in 2007.
After university - aged 23 - he worked for the Walt Disney Company in business insight and improvement, before leaving after a year and five months when a senior started their own company and asked him to join. He moved to a management consulting firm advising leading companies in private equity, venture capital, entertainment and technology industries, where he was a partner and CFO.
From here, the businessman moved to Socialcast, which was bought out by VMware, and he become the director of product management. Robichaux stayed there for just over a year before he broke away and set up BetterUp.
His LinkedIn page, which says his firm is hiring, adds: 'BetterUp is on a mission to help people everywhere pursue their lives with greater purpose, passion, and clarity. As the creator and leader of AI-enabled video coaching and positive behavior-based platforms, BetterUp has delivered personalized coaching and care across organizations big and small, resulting in improved performance and transformation at all levels.
'Simply put, people, teams, and companies are more resilient, more productive, and less stressed with BetterUp (even in times like these). And we're just getting started.'
Asked who he most admires, he told Medium: 'I admire so many people, but I have to say I would put St. Paul up there. Along with Jesus. Religion aside, these men are some of the most influential leaders, objectively speaking, in world history — if not the most.'
He says his favourite quote is: 'From the Bible: ''Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.'' I think it's incredibly relevant and valuable in Silicon Valley right now.'
Robichaux's company uses a app-based system for workers to swipe through coaches to find the one they want - in a similar format to Tinder.
There are therapists and psychologists for customers to chose from depending on their needs. Employees can then video call them or speak over text on a weekly or monthly basis depending on the contract.
In some cases the staff will proscribe external sites for customers to use, such as the Headspace meditation app. Once every three months the firm sends out a questionnaire to customers, to get them to track their focus, problem solving, influence, 'mental agility' and 'presence'.
It claims to have a 95 per cent satisfaction rate, but this could not be verified. The CEO wants his app to move on from being a perk to more of a health package like medical insurance at companies.
He said: 'Millennials are the first generation to unashamedly come to the conclusion, ''If work is taking more of my time, then it should be contributing more to my human fulfillment. It's only fair, right?'
The company's boss Alexi Robichaux says that Harry is an ideal fit for this latest 'meaty role'.
The business, founded in 2013, sells its app and services to big businesses with more than 10,000 employees, who can tap into a network of 2,000-plus life coaches whose aim is to help improve their happiness at work and at home, the company says.
Facebook and LinkedIn are paying for expensive on-the-clock 'coaching', where their workers can hold virtual meets with therapists to help them cope better with stress and set goals to achieve in their jobs.
BetterUp claimed in February it raised $125million in their latest round of fundraising, taking its valuation to $1.73 billion.
It has raised $300million in total from venture capitalists, but are yet to report any results,
A statement on the company's website said: 'Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex is a humanitarian, military veteran, mental wellness advocate, and environmentalist.
'As co-founder of Archewell, he is focused on driving systemic change across all communities through non-profit work as well as creative activations.
'The mission across Archewell—which currently includes Archewell Foundation, Archewell Productions, and Archewell Audio—is united behind the deeply held belief that compassion is the defining cultural force of the 21st century.
'Prince Harry has dedicated his life's work to advancing causes that he is passionate about.
'He is the Founder of The Invictus Games, a platform for wounded, injured and sick service personnel to use sport as part of their rehabilitation, as well as Travalyst, a non-profit entity comprised of several of the largest online travel agencies in the world.
'Additionally, he co-founded Sentebale with his dear friend Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, in memory of their mothers' charitable work in combating the HIV crisis, and serves as President of African Parks, a non-governmental organization focused on protecting Africa's ecosystems in partnership with local communities and governments.'
The role will see the Duke weigh in on product strategy, charitable contributions and speak about mental health.
He will not be in charge of other workers or handle reports directly, but will go to San Francisco to work when Covid is over.
His latest title is rare, with few corporate companies having such positions. It is more often used at nonprofit firms.
BetterUp CEO Alexi Robichaux, who met Harry through a friend last year, said: 'It's a meaningful and meaty role.'
Since it was founded seven years ago, it has built a network of 2,000 coaches and has 270 other employees. The company says it is worth $1.7billion because of it has 100,000 corporate members.
It says that that need for more executive coaching, and virtual sessions because of lockdown, has further improved its position in the market.
The businessman would not be drawn on how much the Duke will earn and did not reveal details of his employment.
The new job came just over a fortnight after the Sussexes' bombshell interview with Oprah, where Harry said he was persuaded to sign multi-million dollar deals with Netflix and Spotify when he was 'literally cut off financially' from the Royal Family.
The Duke of Sussex told Oprah Winfrey that shortly after he and the duchess announced their wish to step back as senior members of the Royal family and spend time overseas, he stopped receiving income from palace.
Harry added that, had it not been for money left for him by his late mother, Princess Diana, he would have been unable to pay for security to protect his family.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex raised eyebrows when they announced in September a deal worth an estimated £75million to make programmes for streaming giant Netflix, despite citing a lack of privacy as one reason for quitting the Royal Family.
In December, the couple announced a second high-profile partnership - this time a multi-year deal with global audio streaming behemoth Spotify.
The deal, which experts estimated could be worth around £18million, will see Harry and Meghan make and host a number of podcasts for Spotify's 320million monthly active users on a variety of subjects to help listeners 'connect to one another without distraction.'
Asked about the lucrative partnerships during the interview, Harry told Miss Winfrey that they were 'never part of the plan' but instead were suggested by a 'friend' when they feared financial issues.
'My family literally cut me off financially, and I had to afford, afford security, for us,' he said. 'But I've got what my mum left me, and, without that, we would not have been able to do this.'
He added of the issues he has faced in recent years: 'I think she saw it coming.'
Prior to stepping back from royal duties in December 2019, Prince Harry received the vast majority of his income from the Duchy of Cornwall, a portfolio of property and financial investments managed by his father, Prince Charles. For the financial year 2018/19 this was more than £5million. It is believed Prince Charles, who initially continued to fund the couple, withdrew financial support from the Duchy last year when it became clear their move to the US was permanent.
About 5 per cent of the couple's income came from the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant.
However after their decision became public, Buckingham Palace announced the couple would no longer receive public money.
The Home Office also funded the couple's Metropolitan Police security detail, however this was withdrawn when they permanently relocated, leaving the couple to foot the bill for their own security at an estimated £4million-a-year.
Last year, the couple paid back the £2.4million cost of refurbishing Frogmore Cottage after it was initially covered by the taxpayer, as well as taking on a £7.5million mortgage on their California home.
Harry was left about £6.5million when his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, died in 1997. It is thought to have matured to around £10million by the time of his 30th birthday.
Asked by Miss Winfrey about the perception that the couple could be seen as 'money-grabbing royals,' Harry said: 'We're certainly not complaining. Our life is great now.'
He added that 'all I needed was enough money to be able to pay for security to keep my family safe.'
The couple have set up their own company, Archewell, which encompasses a not-for-profit enterprise as well as their production companies for audio and video content.
It aims to drive 'systemic cultural change across all communities, one act of compassion at a time.'
Last year, the duchess took on one of her first major media engagements since stepping back as a senior royal, narrating a Disney nature documentary about elephants.
How Harry photographer Matt Sayles also took picture of Sussexes for Time100 series last year
LA photographer Matt Sayles has also photographed Beyonce
The picture of Prince Harry accompanying the announcement about him joining BetterUp was part of a set taken last year by photographer Matt Sayles.
Los Angeles-based Mr Sayles is believed to have taken the picture at the Sussexes' £11million home in Montecito, California, last October.
Another frame also featuring Meghan Markle was first released that month to mark the couple's special edition of TIME100 Talks.
And after Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7, Mr Sayles posted a picture of her an Instagram, writing: 'Thank you Meghan. Thank you for your class, strength, and vulnerability. I was in awe watching last night and I stand with you like I know so many do. #internationalwomensday #istandwithmeghan'
Mr Sayles is a father to two boys - and describes himself on Instagram as a 'black photographer and director'.
He started his professional photography career in college at Stanford after working at the Stanford Daily.
Mr Sayles then covered sports and news for the Associated Press where he initially freelanced before becoming a national entertainment photographer.
Among the celebrities he has photographed in recent years are Beyonce, Kanye West, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Ricky Gervais, Hilary Clinton and Kit Harington.
He has also specialised in photographing plus-sized models, with a recent series on the subject called Body Art which he described as his 'most important project'.
Asked in an interview at the same time in July 2019 about how he captures the perfect image, Mr Sayles said: 'I don't worry about capturing the perfect image but rather capturing the perfect emotion or feeling. The image doesn't have to perfect but as long as it carries the message that I am trying to convey.'
The photo of Harry for BetterUp is from the same set as this one also taken by Matt Sayles of the Sussexes for Time100 last year
Prince Harry's statement about why he's joining BetterUp
First of all, I am really excited to be joining the BetterUp team and community! Thanks for having me.
I firmly believe that focusing on and prioritising our mental fitness unlocks potential and opportunity that we never knew we had inside of us. As the Royal Marine Commandos say, 'It's a state of mind.' We all have it in us.
Being attuned with your mind, and having a support structure around you, are critical to finding your own version of peak performance.
What I've learned in my own life is the power of transforming pain into purpose.
During my decade in the military, I learned that we don't just need to build physical resilience, but also mental resilience. And in the years since, my understanding of what resilience means — and how we can build it — has been shaped by the thousands of people and experts I've been fortunate to meet and learn from.
When I first met Alexi, we instantly recognised a shared passion for helping others realise their full potential. As our conversations continued, it became even more clear that we hold a similar philosophy on mental health: that we must proactively take care of our minds.
In addition to this shared philosophy, what caught my attention about BetterUp was that the company's mission to unlock the potential in people everywhere necessitates innovation, impact, and integrity. Their team has been delivering on that work for years. I was also impressed by the scale and opportunity for impact – the ability to change millions of people's lives for the better, through a combination of human connection, leading technology, and behavioural science.
I've personally found working with a BetterUp coach to be invaluable. I was matched with a truly awesome coach who has given me sound advice and a fresh perspective. And because we believe in strengthening our own mental fitness, our entire Archewell team also has access to BetterUp coaching.
As BetterUp's first Chief Impact Officer, my goal is to lift up critical dialogues around mental health, build supportive and compassionate communities, and foster an environment for honest and vulnerable conversations. And my hope is to help people develop their inner strength, resilience, and confidence.
In this new role, I'll be focused on four key areas:
Driving advocacy and awareness for mental fitness. We can and will elevate the global conversation around our mental health. What we're doing is about equipping people to thrive. Whether you're performing at the highest level, or want to get to the next level, or just want to get started, it's all about having the specialised resources, preparation, and human connection to back you up — whatever the challenge.
Guiding BetterUp's social mission and impact to bring the science of peak performance and human potential into the hands of people worldwide.
Influencing the vision of BetterUp's platform, community, and member experience. I'm excited to help shape their already extensive library with content and resources on mental fitness and to share new stories and voices. To start, I've invited BetterUp to work with 'Peak State: Mental Fitness', a platform I helped establish which provides practical online tools to enhance our mental fitness.
Expanding BetterUp's global community of thought leadership, coaches, customers, and members through outreach and strategic planning.
Self-optimisation is not about fixing something that's broken. It's about becoming the best version of ourselves, with whatever life throws at us — someone who is ready for the next challenge and can meet setbacks with courage, confidence, and self-awareness.
This is what BetterUp is making possible, and I look forward to being on this journey with you.
Join the community to get access to insights, advice, and tools on reaching your true potential, and be the first to learn about new content and programmes on mental fitness and resilience that I'll be developing.
From a former NBA player and an Olympic snowboarder to billion-dollar venture capitalist firms, who are the investors in BetterUp?
NBA All-Star Pau Gasol
The 7 ft 1 in Spanish basketball player, 40, was in the NBA before moving back to his homeland to shoot hoops for FC Barcelona.
He is a big believer in investing in new technology for the sports industry to keep growing. He is worth £47million. He has written a guide for Better Up on how he keeps his mind in check while performing in top flight sports matches.
He listed: keep your head in the game, visualise your success, make mental health a priority, build a foundation of confidence from within and winning as a team.
NBA All-Star Pau Gasol is pictured earlier this month. 7 ft 1 in Spanish basketball player, 40, was in the NBA before moving back to his homeland to shoot hoops for FC Barcelona
He said of his time at the LA Lakers: 'Practising mindfulness helped me get comfortable with uncertainty and keep my head in the game.
'I've learned how to let go of the things that are outside of my control and focus on staying in flow.
'Throughout the uncertainty of this past year, mindfulness has helped me stay focused on what's important to me so I can get through the tough times.'
Olympic snowboarder Shaun White
American snowboarder Shaun White, 34, is one of the most decorated in his sport in the world, having three Olympic gold to his name.
He has another high-profile sports star to invest in Better Up, sacrificing some of his £43million fortune.
In a live virtual event with the firm he discussed reaching the top of his sport and how he continues to develop himself and 'inspire millions of people globally'.
American snowboarder Shaun White (pictured on Sunday), 34, is one of the most decorated in his sport in the world, having three Olympic gold to his name
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a global venture capital firm focusing on multi-stage investments in the enterprise technology, consumer, and health sectors.
It has a broad portfolio of more than 400 firms it has backed, including Snapchat, Affirm and MuleSoft.
The company - which has about £10billion in assets - invests across the world, including advisers in Silicon Valley, Israel, India, China, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
Threshold Ventures
Capital market company Threshold Ventures is based in Silicon Valley and says on its website it backs 'disruptive companies across each threshold of transformative growth'.
The firm, founded in 1985 and has £16million in revenue, says it 'aspires to be founders' trusted partners and their first call when they come to a fork-in-the-road decision'.
It invests capital but says more importantly it invests itself in support of the companies it works with 'because we believe that great companies are built by people'.
Plus Capital
Plus Capital proudly boasts it is the 'only venture infrastructure trusted by elited artists, athletes and their teams to invest in'.
Based in Marina del Rey, California, the eight-year-old company says it is a 'full-service venture advisory firm for celebrities'.
The firm's LinkedIn page says: 'We work with top-tier celebrities and their teams across entertainment, sports, and more to facilitate investments and equity-based partnerships in transformative businesses.
'By placing our celebrities with top entrepreneurs and venture-backed companies, we can help accelerate growth through financial and/or sweat equity - turning celebrities' influence into financial returns.'
Salesforce Ventures
San Francisco-based Salesforce Ventures works with more than 400 companies in 24 countries across the world.
Earlier this month it reported a $2.17billion annual gain from its investments in other tech firms.
And then just days later it racked in more cash with another huge exit. Other gains were made last year when it sold its 2.8 million Zoom shares - which rocketed in price due to people's reliance on it during the Covid crisis.
Sapphire Ventures
Sapphire Ventures is another Silicon Valley-based venture capital company that invests in tech firms.
Sapphire Ventures has invested in more than 130 companies across 10 countries and says it has 'financed over 120 start-ups, including 23 IPOs and 42 acquisitions since 2011'.
The firm has total assets worth $5.7 billion.
Mubadala Capital
Mubadala Capital is based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and was only founded in 2011.
It started life as the financial investment arm of Mubadala Investment Company - one of the world's leading sovereign wealth funds, with over $232 billion of assets.
It invests across the capital structure in both private and public securities, either directly or through third-party managed funds.
Its website says it 'aims to maintain a well-diversified portfolio that generates superior risk-adjusted returns on behalf of its shareholder and investors'.
San Francisco-based Freestyle Capital is a venture capital firm focused on early stage investments in technology, financial technology, media, telecommunications, internet software and consumer and web-based technology companies.
The firm was founded in 2009 by Josh Felser and Dave Samuel who started out by making angel investments with their own money.
Some of those investments include CoTweet, Get Satisfaction and CrowdFlower. In 2011, Freestyle announced a formal fund of $27 million. In 2012, SalesForce bought portfolio company GoInstant for more than $70 million.
Crosslink Capital
Leading early-stage venture capital firm Crosslink Capital is an asset management business that continues into the public equity market for fast-growing companies.
It has over $2billion in assets under management that it invests in consumer and enterprise businesses.
The San Francisco-based company was started in 1989 by Seymour Franklin Kaufman and Michael Joseph Stark.
Tenaya Capital
Tenaya Capital is another venture capital firm - but has offices in Portola Valley, California as well as Wellesley, Massachusetts.
It was founded in 1995 as Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, before Tenaya split to become an independent firm in 2009 following Lehman's bankruptcy
It has $1 billion of committed capital and currently has about $750 million under management.
Better Up CEO Alexi Robichaux tells how he 'crafted Chief Impact Officer role' with Prince Harry
And his qualifications for this position is what e...
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GroundUp: Rough diamonds, Part 3 – ‘If we could wor...
GroundUp: Rough diamonds, Part 3 – ‘If we could work legally, we wouldn’t break the law’
By GroundUp
The Department of Mineral Resources is criticised for its handling of a mining disaster. Text by KIMON DE GREEF for GROUNDUP. Photos by Shaun Swingler.
This is part three of a four-part series on illegal diamond mining in the Northern Cape. First published by GroundUp.
Trapped in the collapsed mine at Bontekoe, seven metres below ground, Sidney*, an illicit diamond digger from Hondeklipbaai, began removing small stones from beneath his torso, attempting to work himself free. Aubrey Booies, his dead companion, lay at his feet. Miners cried for help under mounds of debris, their voices muffled by sand. Others, more seriously injured by the falling rocks, merely groaned. Sidney’s headlamp was still working; he shone its beam around the chamber and saw more bodies.
“There was blood everywhere,” he told me. “Those people couldn’t be identified afterwards. Their faces were damaged. Some men were missing their arms.”
When he had opened a large enough cavity below his chest, Sidney began wriggling forwards, taking care not to disturb the rocks above him. He could move his chest but his hips were pinned under a boulder. He pulled more stones loose and reached for his legs, pulling them out one by one.
“I had to use all my force,” he said. “I was sweating. I knew those rocks might fall again, but I needed to escape.”
Unable to walk, he crawled on one leg towards the mineshaft. His right hip was dislocated and he moved slowly. “The leg had popped out the meat,” he said. His head hurt. His right shoulder hurt. When he reached the ladder, he climbed with one arm.
At the surface, lit by a crescent moon, survivors sat in shock; many of the diggers waiting to enter the mine had fled. Shortly afterwards, police and De Beers officials arrived from Kleinzee, 30km away. By dawn, a rescue operation had begun.
The entrance to a new illegal mine, currently being excavated by hand near Komaggas. Despite the Bontekoe collapse, diggers continue working in unsafe tunnels.
“Management expressed their shock today following an accident that trapped seven or more people in illegally excavated tunnels,” announced a De Beers press release on 22 May 2012. “We can confirm this evening that one person has been rescued and taken to hospital … The rescue team is still carefully excavating the collapsed tunnels to investigate whether more people are trapped.”
De Beers was “deeply concerned that people are illegally digging and thereby endangering themselves”, the statement continued. “The mine is managing a situation where groups of people are knowingly entering mine property, destroying fences, ignoring signage, evading arrest, transporting mining equipment and undertaking the dangerous excavation of tunnels which have proven to be unsafe.”
Over the next few days, as media flocked to Namaqualand to cover the disaster, three private specialist rescue teams worked alongside De Beers technical staff as well as a police Disaster Recovery Unit, Department of Health Emergency Services, Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) personnel, and three survivors of the collapse, who helped rescuers map out the tunnels. No further diggers came out of the mine alive.
Authorities called off the operation on 31 May, after excavating the entire site down to the bedrock. Two jackhammers and the remains of 10 men were recovered in the process. In a press release that day, Phillip Barton, CEO of De Beers Consolidated Mines, stated: “The loss of life in illegal digging is even more tragic in that it is completely avoidable. (Illicit diamond digging) is an action endangering one’s own life. It is an act damaging to one’s own family and community.” Barton added that illegal excavations were by nature “unco-ordinated” and “prone to collapse”.
“The solution may rest collectively with a multiplicity of stakeholders yet the will to change ultimately belongs to individuals involved and benefiting from these illegal activities,” he said.
The Bontekoe site today. After excavating the collapsed mine down to the bedrock, officials removed all diamond-bearing gravel deposits and filled the site in.
De Beers sold its Namaqualand mines to Trans Hex in October 2014, following more than three years of negotiations. The consortium West Coast Resources, in which Trans Hex is a majority shareholder, has subsequently resumed mining operations in parts of Namaqualand, but not at Strydrivier, where the Bontekoe collapse took place.
Today, the site is almost indistinguishable from the degraded mining landscape surrounding it. The gravel deposits excavated during the recovery, still containing diamonds, were removed and “secured at a safe place”, according to De Beers statements. The tunnels had already been filled in once by the time of the accident, authorities familiar with the case told me. “The diggers began working there again on the Easter Weekend of 2012,” said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In Hondeklipbaai, illicit diggers told me that retrenched De Beers mineworkers had “tipped diggers off” that the site was rich in diamonds, and that a “clique” had opened the mine up a second time after it was closed by De Beers.
“Those people knew where the diamonds were,” said Sidney, who has deep scars on his back from being pinned beneath the rocks at Bontekoe. “They were well trained but had no work opportunities. You can’t blame them, or say that we’re guilty for going inside the tunnels. It’s like training a person to do something, and later on saying: ‘Fuck him’.”
At the entrance to the Bontekoe property, a memorial stone commemorates the 10 diggers who died on 22 May 2012 — as well as other diggers who have lost their lives in Namaqualand. The stone was erected by the Fastenopfer Regional Network, a Catholic organisation that has criticised the government’s handling of the collapse.
Since the rescue and recovery operation — which was largely funded by De Beers, and cost “hundreds of thousands of rands”, according to sources close to the case — police have opened an inquest docket to investigate the deaths at Strydrivier. Once completed, this docket will be sent to the Springbok Magistrate’s Court to determine whether any parties can be held responsible for the accident. The docket requires submissions from everyone involved in the rescue; it already consists of multiple lever-arch files.
If, upon being submitted to the court, the inquest contains errors or elicits queries, it will be sent back to the police for further investigation. The inquest will remain off public record until a magistrate has ruled on the matter — or until the case is dropped.
In the meantime, more than four years later, there has been no formal government investigation of the incident, as required by South African law. This is according to Janet Love, a Commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), who in 2013 visited Namaqualand while conducting investigative hearings into illicit mining in South Africa.
“There has been a real failure for any responsible party to stand up since Bontekoe,” Love told me earlier this year. “Unless there’s more exposure, this disaster won’t be dealt with appropriately.”
The SAHRC hearing, published in 2015, reports that residents in Komaggas, one of the communities directly affected by the collapse, have “not found emotional closure following the mishandling of the tragedy” by the DMR, the government agency responsible for investigating mining accidents.
“The incident appears to have been re-categorised from being a mining accident to a criminal activity,” the report states. “All questions from the community … were met with the response that they should ask the Springbok SAPS, who have no mandate to conduct an enquiry.”
“It is not acceptable for the DMR to shirk their responsibilities in terms of carrying out this enquiry simply because the incident related to ‘unlawful mining activities’ … The community cannot continue to be fobbed off … Whether legal or not, a mining accident requires a report into the mining related issues.”
The DMR did not respond to written questions by time of publication.
Located at the edge of Hondeklipaai, the Multi-Purpose Resource Centre was set up as a poverty alleviation project and guesthouse. The site is occupied by squatters today, and no longer operates as intended.
In Hondeklipbaai, Sidney now works as a casual labourer for a local guest resort, cleaning cottages and tending the garden. His employer pays him R100 per day. “It isn’t good money, but if you don’t have a job, or food on your table, you must take it,” Sidney told me when I visited him at work.
After the mine collapse, Sidney spent nearly a month in hospital; his right hip still hurts when he walks. Some nights, he dreams of bloodied faces and contorted limbs. The images return during the day, while he is folding linen or sweeping ash from outdoor fireplaces. He drinks heavily whenever he can afford to — “I want to stop,” he said, “but it helps me forget these painful things.”
Although Sidney has not gone digging in more than two years, many others from Hondeklipbaai have continued, including the two other local men who escaped from Bontekoe alive.
“I often think of starting again. I think I will go soon, because I need the money,” Sidney said. “People aren’t going to stop doing this until there is a better opportunity. If we could get permits, or work legally, nobody would need to break the law. Nobody would have died.” DM
*Name changed.
This four-part feature was made possible by a Taco Kuiper Grant, administered byWits Journalism
Main photo: Working by torchlight, illicit diggers search for diamonds near Hondeklipbaai.
Mining accident
Mining in Africa
Mining in Botswana
Mining in Namibia
Mining in South Africa
The 30% matric pass mark: To increase or to scrap, and why all the excitable commentary?
Parliament building firebug or scapegoat? Zandile Mafe’s family speaks out about the man behind the headlines
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Home International Asia summit ends in historic failure
Asia summit ends in historic failure
PORT MORESBY REUTERS, Nov 18 2018 - Asia-Pacific leaders failed to agree on a communique at a summit in Papua New Guinea on Sunday for the first time in their history as deep divisions between the United States and China over trade and investment stymied cooperation.
Competition between the United States and China over the Pacific was also thrown into focus with the United States and its Western allies launching a coordinated response to China’s Belt and Road programme. “You know the two big giants in the room,” Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said at a closing news conference, when asked which of the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group could not agree. O’Neill, who was chairman of the meeting, said the sticking point was over whether mention of the World Trade Organization and its possible reform should be in the Leaders’ Declaration.
“APEC has got no charter over World Trade Organization, that is a fact. Those matters can be raised at the World
Trade Organization.”
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Airdrie & Coatbridge
Brotherly love as brave Plains man saves identical twin's life by donating kidney
Scott Reid was on dialysis with his kidneys functioning at 11 per cent, but his brother Stuart 'couldn't watch him suffer.'
Ian Bunting
Stuart, in bed, and Scott after the operation
Brotherly love was taken to a whole new level as brave Plains man Stuart Reid made the ultimate sacrifice to help save his twin’s life – giving him a kidney.
Doctors told Scott Reid, 42, that he was in the final stage of renal failure in October 2013.
With his kidneys functioning at 11 per cent, Scott was put on daily dialysis – a procedure to remove waste and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys stop working properly.
But brother Stuart didn’t hesitate when he discovered his brother’s plight and stepped in and made the life-saving decision by offering to donate his kidney.
Stuart, who works with public service providers Amey as a line marker, said: “Scott is my twin. I couldn’t watch him suffer. I knew I could help and I did.
“We’ve always been close. For me, there was never a question. He is my brother and has always been there. I can’t imagine life without him
Stuart, right and Scott at work
“He texted me from his bed and said, ‘Thank you for saving my life’.”
Scott, who lives in Motherwell, with wife Angela, 39, and their three children, said: “When they then told me I needed a kidney transplant, I was so shocked. It’s not something you ever expect to happen to you.
“Then Stuart stepped up and said he wanted to give me a kidney. I couldn’t believe it. His bravery saved my life.”
Stuart and Scott underwent more than a year of counselling and tests to ensure both were fully prepared for what a kidney transplant would involve.
Finally, they got the green light and in May the pair underwent a three-hour kidney transplant operation at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
Stuart, who lives with wife Julie, 37, said: “Straight after the operation Scott walked along to my room to see me. I couldn’t believe it.
“I felt like I’d been hit by a bus, but I could instantly see how the kidney had boosted Scott’s health. The colour was back in his cheeks and everything.
“It was amazing. We had laughed and joked about it for months but after the op Scott was stern and serious about it. He realised what it had meant. He text me from his bed and basically said something along the lines of thank you for saving my life.
“I’m glad to see him happy and healthy again. But now if we ever have an agreement I always win because I can just say, ‘well I gave you a kidney’.”
Scott added: “It was amazing, I feel fine now. I had been so tired before, now I have a new lease of life.”
Click here for more from Airdrie and Coatbridge
Three months after the operation, the brothers are doing well.
Scott said: “I don’t think there is anything I can do to repay Stuart for the sacrifice he has made. I did buy him a second-hand fishing rod for £51. I owe him my life but the rod will do for now.”
Sadly, a month after the life-saving operation, the twins’ dad James, 70, passed away.
Stuart said: “It’s been a hell of a year. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster. But I’m glad dad got to see us have the operation.
“He was really proud of us.”
Speaking from her home in Plains, the brothers’ mum, Davina, added: “It was such a scary time for both sons to be in hospital at the time was so worrying at the time.
“But I’m so proud of them. I’m really happy for them both as well.”
Airdrie News
NHS Scotland
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Imran Khan and Pakistan's current agenda
by Farhan Mujahid Chak
Oct 08, 2019 - 2:03 am GMT+3
by Farhan Mujahid Chak Oct 08, 2019 2:03 am
It was what legends are made of. A wondrous moment that sent shrills of joy echoing throughout caged Kashmiri households. It emboldened the oppressed, frightened Hindutva activists and convincingly sent a damning message to the world – stop the siege on Kashmir or there will be a bloodbath.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, with the eloquence of a seasoned statesman, confidently placed his country in the esteemed company of major global players. With the support of Turkey, China and Malaysia and the behind the scenes support of Qatar, he was nothing short of being in his element.
What hundreds of millions of people were waiting for, what 8 million imprisoned Kashmiris were praying for, was more inspiring than what they imagined. From the onset, his speech was carefully crafted, almost academic in its methodical analysis. Yet, as he carried on, he was brusquely swept away – as were the onlookers, by his intense fusion of faith, passion and audacity.
First, refusing to hold back or mince words, he accused the powerful countries of the world of not doing enough to prevent the climate change they were largely responsible for. Eloquently, he spoke of our humanity's collective stewardship of the environment.
Secondly, he lambasted the ways/means that wealthy nations provide a tax haven to corrupt and unscrupulous officials in developing countries. By doing so, they are complicit in depriving less developed economies of their own much-needed hard cash. In fact, he complained of the arduous rules and regulations that prevent poor countries who seek to regain access to those ill-gotten funds, but constantly hit dead ends.
All this, he pinpointed as a form of money laundering. To date, Swiss banks have huge amounts of cash, upwards of $1 billion – the exact amount being unclear – that a financially struggling Pakistan is unable to access.
Thirdly, he deplored the unholy rise of Islamophobia across the globe. He attacked the manner Islamophobes demonize more than 1 billion Muslims, especially Palestinians, and politicize Muslim clothing, in particular the hijab.
He chastised those who would abuse the principle of freedom of expression to insult or ridicule others – especially, the beloved prophet of Islam, Muhammad, peace be upon him. Then, most memorable and mystifyingly, he proudly spoke of his own Islamic faith and the global contributions that it has made to human civilization. Essentially, his speech at the United Nations was a watershed moment, but the clear achievement was when he movingly spoke of the disputed territory of Kashmir.
The disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir remains the longest unresolved conflict on the agenda of United Nations. Also, it is the most militarized space on the planet. Even worse, this international conflict is certainly not bilateral since it involves Kashmir, Pakistan, India and China, and has the atrocious appellation of being a nuclear flashpoint.
Now, the reputable nongovernmental organization Genocide Watch has issued a "genocide alert" over Indian government machinations in Kashmir. In spite of that, no matter how frightening, so little is understood about this conflict. And, its resolution is nowhere in sight. More often than not, the culture, history, identity and most importantly, the will of the people of Kashmir have been deliberately obfuscated for political or ideological agendas.
In fact, there is an ongoing attempt to silence their voices, imprison their bodies, curtail their agency and even snatch their lives – all under the ever-watchful, but disinterested eyes of the world. Attempting to conceal the tragic reality of the people on the ground, the Kashmiris are currently enduring the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Hindutva India's state terror. Yet, the indomitable Khan would have none of it.
Forcefully, he spoke about the cruel ideology and arrogance of the RSS and Hindutva fanatics that grew out of a grotesque admiration of Mussolini and Hitler. He reminded the world of 1939 Munich and the invasion/occupation of Czechoslovakia that emboldened Hitler to indulge in crimes against humanity.
He probed the entire international community with the harsh question on whether Muslims are "children of a lesser God." And, that if the type of siege currently being inflicted on Kashmiris was inflicted on Europeans – not millions, but only a few – then the whole world would be in uproar. Before it is too late, the international community must fulfill its promises the people of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
By not doing so, it will inevitably leading to a "bloodbath" in the Kashmir Valley. That Pakistan will not and cannot stand by and idly watch. Lastly, in the words of Khan, the people of Pakistan, if attacked and threatened with a loss of their freedom, are ready to fight to the death.
* Secretary-general of Kashmir Civitas, associate professor of political science in the Gulf Studies Program of Qatar University
Associate Professor of International Affairs, Qatar University
Spectacular sunrise above clouds at Japan's sacred Mount Fuji
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Donkeys honored, raced in festival dedicated to mystic
by Compiled from Wire Services
ISTANBUL Jul 11, 2016 - 12:00 am GMT+3
Reverse riding was the most challenging event at the festival.
by Compiled from Wire Services Jul 11, 2016 12:00 am
A weeklong festival dedicated to Nasreddin Hodja wrapped up Sunday with a string of events dedicated to his favorite mode of transportation: a donkey.
Hodja, believed to have lived in the central province of Konya in the 13th century, etched his name in Anatolian folklore as a mystic, philosopher and wise man and has been the subject of countless funny stories laced with a good dose of folk wisdom. Since the 1960s, a festival is held every year in Akşehir, his presumed hometown, and besides a chance to celebrate his legacy, the festival presents an opportunity to showcase the "beauty" and fun of donkey riding, a favorite pastime of the Hodja and his companion in many of the stories attributed to the mystic.
This year's edition included contests involving "reverse riding," "normal riding" and "donkey with the most beautiful eyes." A regular four-lap riding event saw 19 donkeys compete, but the crowd gathered for the festival was more enthusiastic for reverse riding. Riders struggled to reach the finish line with their backs facing the head of the animals, and it took longer than the regular event, but İbrahim Arslan managed to reach the finish line first without turning around. Reverse riding is linked with a story about the Hodja that says he preferred to ride backwards on a donkey with his face to a crowd of admirers following him "out of respect," while he was riding home. The event organizers also awarded a rider who fell off the donkey during the race, in tribute to another anecdote of Hodja who sought "advice from someone who fell off a donkey before" instead of a physician after he fell off his mount.
The final event was the election of the donkey "with most beautiful eyes." The festival jury had a hard time selecting a winner from the 19 donkeys, before setting their sights on Ömer Çetin's donkey with a pair of piercing brown eyes.
Last Update: Jul 11, 2016 1:16 am
Trump and Biden enter final week of election campaign
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HK edtech startup Snapask raises $35m to grow SE Asia business
Timothy Yu, founder and CEO of Hong Kong edtech startup Snapask
By Eudora Wang
Hong Kong-based education technology brand Snapask has closed $35 million in a new funding round led by Singapore-based private equity firm Asia Partners.
Intervest Star, a co-GP fund of South Korean Intervest and Kejora Ventures, as well as Snapask’s existing shareholder Ondine Capital participated in the investment, according to a statement obtained by DealStreetAsia.
Upon the completion of the deal, Snapask will continue to focus on the development of data analytics products and video learning content, as the company targets to further grow its business in Southeast Asia and to expand into new markets including Vietnam. The startup also plans to open its regional headquarters in Singapore.
“Snapask is a clear illustration of Asia Partners’ focus in solving the growth capital funding gap for tech companies in Southeast Asia,” said Nick Nash, co-founder and managing partner of Asia Partners, in the statement.
“The company has already demonstrated a strong product-market fit in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore and is already successfully expanding in emerging markets like Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The company exemplifies our interest in humble ‘Rhinos’, which focused on sustainable growth with a clear path to profitability,” said Nash.
Established in 2015 by Hong Kong entrepreneur Timothy Yu, Snapask started as the operator of a mobile app that matches students with questions to quality tutors for instant one-on-one learning sessions. Dubbed as the “Uber for tutoring,” the startup promotes a personalized, self-directed learning process in which the student can upload a picture of the problem and get connected to a tutor in around 17 seconds.
The four-year-old company has expanded offerings to deliver teaching videos and courses covering most topics in university entrance exams, as well as AI-enabled learning progress tracking and analysis solutions. The firm also operates after-school self-study space and offline classes in Hong Kong, Taipei, and Seoul.
“Snapask is not only leveraging fragmented education resources, but also developing AI-enabled, low-cost, tailor-made education,” said Randolph Hsu, founding partner of Ondine Capital.
The company has served over three million students in eight Asian territories: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea.
It has built a strong market presence in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore in the past three years, where it claimed that about 20-60 per cent of the total student population aged between 10 and 17 have registered and experienced the service.
Yu, founder and CEO of Snapask, said: “We will continue to invest in both products and content to meet students’ learning needs, focusing on the promotion of self-directed learning and creating environments in which students can compete and cooperate with peers. More collaborations with schools and education institutions are also part of our roadmap, leveraging data to unveil blind spots in learning, and help teachers and students design individualized learning paths.”
Asia Partners edtech Intervest Snapask
Tencent, Sequoia lead $80m funding in VIPKid’s online education brand
VIPKid had over 700,000 students and more than 90,000 teachers as of August 2019.
India: Unacademy, Byju’s success lifts fortunes of edtech startups
India saw 34 venture capital deals worth $399 million in the education technology space last year.
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Flipkart in talks to acquire MapmyIndia, may exit ebooks business
Visual from the Flipkart website, September 2015
India’s largest e-tailer Flipkart is in talks to acquire a majority stake in navigation and tracking solutions provider MapmyIndia, whose venture capital investors are looking for an exit, said a report in The Economic Times. Bangalore-based FlipKart is also looking to exit the e-books business, as it plans to focus more on retailing physical goods, another report in ET said.
The negotiations between FlipKart and Delhi-based MapmyIndia, owned by CE Info Systems Pvt Ltd, for the proposed stake sale started about a month ago, when the current promoters finally decided to exit the company. Besides key venture capital investors Lightbox Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners, MapmyIndia is also backed by Qualcomm Ventures, the venture investment arm of the US-based telecom giant Qualcomm, and Japanese map publisher Zenrin.
In the past, Nexus Venture Partners also made profitable exits from investments such as Dimdim, OLX, and Gluster.
Although the deal size could not be ascertained, industry insiders peg the acquisition at about $60-75million (Rs 400- Rs 500 core). With the acquisition of MapmyIndia, FlipKart intends to further leverage and strengthen its logistics and customer analytics.
Established in 1992 by Rakesh Verma and Rashmi Verma, MapmyIndia provides digital map data, navigation, tracking, global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information systems (GIS) based systems integration services.
MapmyIndia, which has all the major car makers in India as its clients, claimed in a PTI report that its order book doubled to Rs 200 crore in the last fiscal from Rs 100 crore a year ago. Off late, the company has been aggressively focusing on tapping the fast-growing e-commerce platform to sell its products such as GPS navigation, tracking and entertainment systems.
Meanwhile, Flipkart is also looking to exit its e-books business, the move which is contrary to its rival Amazon’s strategy to push sales of books through the online platform in India. The company is evaluating its e-books strategy and is working towards redefining digital offerings to customers, FlipKart said in a statement on Tuesday.
Flipkart entered the books retailing category through its digital store Flyte in November 2012 with an aim to change the reading habits of Indian book lovers. Later in 2013, the company also launched an eBook app for reading books on mobile as well.
The company’s decision to exit e-books business seems quite evident from its move to end the distribution contract with self-publishing website Smashwords last month. Flipkart had tied up with self-publishing platform Smashwords in 2013, to sell more than 200,000 e-books through a new app it had launched. Smashwords is one of the largest distributors of e-books written by independent authors, worldwide.
In contrast, FlipKart’s rival Amazon is all set to cash in on the tremendous potential in India’s e-books business. Recently, Amazon introduced Kindle unlimited offer, which customers can subscribe to read books for just a monthly fee of Rs 199. If FlipKart exits, Amazon will undoubtedly dominate the e-books market in India.
Flipkart HR head steps down, to move to an advisory role
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India may rope in e-commerce giants Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal to sell solar products
eBay India introduces new category for refurbished goods
Snapdeal acquires US based advertising company
Amazon’s Dimdim Flipkart Gluster Lightbox Ventures MapmyIndia Nexus Venture Partners OLX Qualcomm Qualcomm Ventures Zenrin
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NPR Headlines
The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are bracing for several more inches of snow
By Jaclyn Diaz
Tennessee Highway Patrol
State troopers and police officers from several departments in Tennessee responded to this crash along Interstate 65 involving several vehicles Thursday afternoon.
The East Coast is preparing to get several inches of snow — just days after the Mid-Atlantic was hit by a storm that caused a more than day-long traffic jam in Virginia.
A winter storm is expected to bring heavy snow and ice from parts of the South into the Northeast on Thursday night into early Friday morning.
Snow from the storm system fell hard early on Thursday in Tennessee and Western Kentucky, causing major pileups on the roadways.
Some areas in Kentucky received nearly 7 inches of snow, prompting Gov. Andy Beshear to declare a state of emergency following the heavy snowfall.
"We are urging Kentuckians to stay off the roads if possible," Beshear said. "The weather we are continuing to see across Kentucky is dangerous."
It was the snowiest day in Tennessee in years
According to AccuWeather, Tennessee experienced its snowiest day since 2016. Between 4 and 7 inches of snow fell throughout Nashville and most of the Middle Tennessee region, according to the Tennessean.
Police from several departments in Tennessee had to respond to a crash involving multiple cars on I-65 as well as I-40, which involved tractor trailer trucks, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
By mid-day, the Nashville International Airport recorded at least four inches of snow and disruptions to air travel in and out of the airport.
/ Tennessee Highway Patrol
Tennessee Highway Patrol officers respond to a crash on Interstate 65 involving seven passenger cars and two commercial vehicles.
Mid-Atlantic is prepping for more snowfall
The National Weather Service indicated Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York should expect between 2 and 7 inches of snow. Southern New Jersey is expected to get 4-6 inches of snow early Friday.
Ahead of the storm, Boston Public Schools cancelled school for Friday.
During Monday's storm, more than a foot of snow fell in some areas of the greater Washington, D.C. region — the most since 2016. Thursday's storm is expected to drop between 2-3 inches of snow. Worst-case-scenario predictions have snowfall at 5-8 inches.
Officials are warning drivers to stay off the roads if they don't need to be out, as the storm could cause travel to become very difficult.
Parts of Virginia, which experienced an hours-long backup on Interstate 95, are still recovering from the snowfall earlier this week. Hundreds of motorists were stuck in freezing temperatures – some for more than 20 hours — along a 50-mile stretch of I-95 after several tractor trailers crashed, blocking traffic. More than 75,000 homes and businesses were still without power on Thursday evening, according to Poweroutage.us.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam issued a state of emergency on Wednesday in anticipation of the storm, which could bring another 4 inches of accumulation to parts of the state.
Virginia State Police said after Monday's wintry weather, officers responded to 1,220 crashes and 1,414 disabled vehicles statewide from Jan. 3 to Jan. 4. The police said they are ready for this next storm to hit.
"We will have all available troopers on patrol in order to respond as quickly as possible to traffic crashes, emergencies & disabled motorists," Virginia State Police's Major RC Maxey, Jr. said during a press conference Thursday.
Jaclyn Diaz
See stories by Jaclyn Diaz
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Forget hikes, most protesting researchers haven't been getting the existing stiped on time for months
Many researchers in the country haven't been receiving their stipend for the past year. Some of them are sent wrong links by the HRD Ministry to register their complaint
Parvathi Benu
The reserachers have been protesting for months now (pic: Facebook)
You probably know that India's brightest research scholars all over the country have been protesting for months now for a hike in their stipend. What you probably did not know is that many of them have been receiving their stipends delayed for months. Even worse, many of them have continued working without any financial aid for close to a year now. While it cannot be put down to it, curiously enough most of them are involved rather vocally with the ongoing protests for a hike in research stipends.
Nikhil Gupta, National Representative and Coordinator of Research Scholars of India says that since the day he started coordinating the hike research protest, he had been contacted by at least 50 researchers from institutes around the country about an untimely and delayed disbursal of stipends. "There is no regular disbursal of fellowships. Even though the scholars are emailing the government departments, there is no response from anybody," he says.
A researcher at Centre for Bio-Medical Research, Lucknow, Nikhil himself had to face the same issue twice last year. His fellowship was disbursed only after he threatened to commit suicide in front of the CSIR Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, where he was a research fellow till July. "I'd filed an RTI seeking details about my stipend and in the reply, I was told that I'll get the stipend only after they (CSIR) gets all the documents regarding my joining from CDRI. But CDRI, on the other hand, said that they'd sent all the documents to CSIR. Finally, I got my stipend after I said that I'll commit suicide in front of CSIR," he says. Later, he faced the same issue a few months ago and received the pending stipend for three months (August, September, October) in January, after sending a series of emails. "This is nothing but a case of irresponsibility," he says.
Of the scholars who emailed Nikhil was Lipi Das, a researcher in ACTREC, Mumbai. A fourth-year PhD student, she hasn't been receiving her fellowship stipend since June 2018. Lipi says that before April 2018, the researchers were to submit their documents to Canara Bank every three months. "The nearest branch of the bank was in IIT Bombay and I'd submit all the documents regularly. Things were smooth back then and the stipend always came on time. Sometimes, it came in advance as well," she recalls. But post-April, the researchers were asked to submit the documents via the institute. "It took the institute a month to get everything on track. But since then, I haven't received my stipend," she says.
Lipi has been emailing the authorities about the delay periodically. But until now, she hasn't received any proper response. "Whatever email id I find, I email them. There have been days where I have emailed the same authorities six to seven times a day. Phone calls to them always go unanswered. It is difficult for me to follow up because I want to finish my work too," she says.
She also narrates an incident where she received a reply from the HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar's office, asking her to register her grievance and complaint at the Centralized Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System. But she notes that the link that was sent to her was erroneous. "I even wrote back to them about the same, but until now no action has been taken," she observes. It is often difficult for these scholars at the time of the semester fee payment. Lipi says that she made the previous fee payment, taking money out of her savings. An active member at the current hike research protest, she says, "More than the hike, my concern is timely disbursal of the stipend. At least give us our money."
Anuradha Venkataramani, a Junior Research Fellow at IIT Bombay also had something similar to share. She says that she did not receive any fellowship money for the first six months of her PhD. "I had to write to CSIR repeatedly. I wrote an email to the HRD minister only to find out that my documents were misplaced. I had to send it again," she says. Six months later, when she received a notification, she had expected the authorities to clear all the backlogs. But she was shocked to find out that she'd received the stipends for only two months.
While there are no images or sob stories of researchers saying that they haven't had three square meals a day because their stipends haven't come through, their plight is quite badly affected. "I still have to receive the stipend for four months. Instead of doing the research on time, most researchers are spending their time in getting this red tape sorted," says Anuradha, a second-year PhD student. She also notes that the delay creates more trouble especially at the time of fee payment. Like Lipi, Anuradha too received an email from the HRD Ministry with a link to register her complaint. But the link took her to the wrong department initially. The second time, Anuradha was informed that her complaint was closed without any explanation.
We also spoke to Neeraj Mohan Gupta, a researcher at CSIR CDRI. While Neeraj hasn't received his stipend for the past three months and finds it hard to survive, he and his colleagues are not even allowed to protest peacefully by the institute's authorities. When will things come to a head? That is the question.
Researchers Hike Research Fellowship
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Rep. Craig Horn: The education legislator
Alex Granados
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by Alex Granados, EducationNC
<h1>Rep. Craig Horn: The education legislator</h1> <p class="byline">by Alex Granados, EducationNC <br />April 13, 2015</p> <p><a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/membersByDistrict.pl?sChamber=H&nDistrict=68">Rep. Craig Horn (R-Union)</a> is the education legislator. It’s an odd moniker considering he only moved to the state in 2005, has no education background and didn’t even start out focused on the subject. </p> <p>An almost 8-year veteran of the Air Force, Horn made his living as a food broker, retiring in 2002 from his business which he says was the largest food broker in the country at the time. When he retired, he worked with big names such as <a href="https://generalmills.com">General Mills</a>, <a href="http://www.butterball.com">Butterball</a> and <a href="http://www.conagrafoods.com">ConAgra</a>. </p> <p>His office in the Legislative Office Building is festooned with armed forces memorabilia, including pictures, medals and even a military book with the title “Assault on the Liberty,” a book describing the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, which took place while he was in the Air Force. He says he lost friends in that assault. </p> <p>He’s also a fan of Winston Churchill, and the British prime minister’s name came up numerous times during our conversation. </p> <p>So it’s not surprising that his take on education in North Carolina is imbued with lessons learned from the military. </p> <p>“You lead from in front. You command from the rear,” he said of education. “It’s the teachers who are the leaders. They’re out in front.” </p> <p>But none of that explains how he came to be known for education. That story takes a more twisted route.</p> <p>He moved to North Carolina, the father of four and grandfather of seven. He had no political aspirations. </p> <p>“I moved here to be a full-time grandpa,” he said. </p> <p>But he still needed to fill his time between visits with his offspring’s offspring. He tried golf, but admits he wasn’t very good. He had always been active in the community, so he started volunteering in schools. But it wasn’t until the House seat in his district came open that others started clamoring for him to run for office. He was reluctant. </p> <p>“Some friends of mine called and said, ‘You know you should run for a seat in the House,’" he said. "I said ‘I have a seat in the house. My house.’”</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: left">You can’t just talk. You have to act.</p> </blockquote> <p>But he mentioned it to his grandchildren, and it was they who ultimately decided his course. They reminded him that he always told them that you can’t just talk. You have to act. </p> <p>“I like to think that I set an example for my family and my community,” he said. “So my grandkids called my bluff.”</p> <p>He joined the General Assembly in 2011. The first issue he became interested in was drugs. First artificial drugs — synthetic heroin and marijuana — which he was told were major problems in North Carolina. And then he started looking into the methamphetamine problem in the state. </p> <p>“It was exciting," he said. "I thought I could help save lives.”</p> <p>But that issue led him directly to the youngest population in our state: the students who are often most affected by issues related to drugs. </p> <p>He realized education is the number one, two and three top issue in his county, and in his second term in 2013-14, he co-chaired the education appropriations committee. He has been focused on education ever since.</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: right">"All it takes is one person really feeling passionate. Really going to bat to make changes."</p> </blockquote> <p>“I’m afraid to say that I really feel I can make a difference in how we do education. I’m afraid to say that because I think it’s a little bit on the arrogant side,” he said. “But you know, all it takes is one person really feeling passionate. Really going to bat to make changes.” </p> <p>Now, Horn co-chairs both the <a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=ViewCommittee&sActionDetails=House%20Standing_166">House K-12 Education Committee</a> and the <a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/Committees/Committees.asp?sAction=ViewCommittee&sActionDetails=House%20Standing_7">House Education Appropriations Committee</a>. Two of his signature issues this session are differentiated pay and digital learning, he said. </p> <p>With digital learning, he’s fascinated by the possibilities that exist for youth raised on technology. </p> <p>“A kid doesn’t read the manual, he jumps in and does it,” he said. “That’s education. Now we need to harness it.”</p> <p>He’s also interested in the chance that digital learning can help level the education field for low-income and rural students. </p> <p>And he thinks differentiated pay is essential to create a more tiered system of rewards for our state’s educators. But he is quick to say what differentiated pay is not. </p> <p>“Differentiated pay does not mean bonuses or pay for performance,” he said. “Differentiated pay means different people doing different things should be paid differently.”</p> <p>He wants educators to have a reasonable base level of pay that enables them to work without having to worry about financial issues. </p> <p>On that note, he thinks educators need better pay, an issue that should be addressed in part this session with many lawmakers and leaders promising to raise the pay of starting teachers to $35,000. </p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: center">“I can’t have somebody worried about whether their car is going to be repossessed while they're standing up in a class full of 4th graders,” he said. </p> </blockquote> <p>It must be acknowledged, however, that critics of salary increases say not enough is being done for veteran teachers. But perhaps Horn’s ideas on differentiated pay can help with that. </p> <p>He thinks that teachers should have opportunities for responsibilities and duties beyond the norm. And if they take those opportunities, they should be compensated for them. That, he says, is differentiated pay.</p> <p>“You reward people for excellence for achieving,” he said. “For reaching and attaining higher levels of delivery, whatever they’re delivering.”</p> <p>I also asked him about a few topics that I’m particularly interested in. One is<a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/membersByDistrict.pl?sChamber=S&nDistrict=29"> Sen. Jerry Tillman’s (R-Randolph) </a><a href="http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2015&BillID=S94">bill</a> that would scrap the position of state superintendent and the Board of Education and replace them with a secretary of education. </p> <p>Horn wasn’t so sure about that. </p> <p>“There’s always something good… no, there isn’t always something good in every bill," he said. "Some of them, pencil should have never been put to paper. But there’s something to be learned. How can we make it work?”</p> <p>In Tillman’s idea he sees a kernel of an idea. He thinks the state needs a secretary of education. But not to replace the current leadership. Rather, he thinks the secretary should oversee the entire continuum of education: pre-K, K-12, community colleges and universities. He thinks there needs to be somebody working to ensure that priorities and goals are connected across sectors. </p> <p>For instance, he mentioned the problem of high school students graduating and going to college in need of remediation. </p> <p>“Maybe we’re not teaching what the college wants," he said. "How about we talk to each other?”</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: left">There needs to be one person responsible for education generally. Someone to accept blame for the failures and credit for the successes. </p> </blockquote> <p>Plus he thinks there needs to be one person responsible for education generally. Someone to accept blame for the failures and credit for the successes. </p> <p>“I’m responsible. I did it. And I’m accountable for what is done. Period. Not pass the buck,” he said.</p> <p>I also asked Horn about a complaint I hear often in my travels around the state: that the General Assembly isn’t funding localities adequately. </p> <p>To that he responded that since he’s been in office, state spending on education has increased.</p> <p>And that’s true. The revised education appropriations for 2010-11 was $7,085,588,912. It’s gone up every year since and for 2014-15 was $8,104,976,608. (Go <a href="https://www.ednc.org/2015/02/27/getting-ready-for-the-education-budget-what-you-need-to-know-from-2014-15/">here</a> for a primer on the budget)</p> <p>But per-pupil spending from the state has decreased. That’s because the number of students in state schools has gone up faster than the amount of spending on education.</p> <p>Some of the decrease, Horn attributes to the change in the state’s financial reality — the effects of the financial crash of 2008 and the resulting recession.</p> <p>“We long for the good old days. Let me tell you as I tell my kids, these are your good old days," he said. "They’re not mine. They’re yours. It doesn’t matter about the good old days. What matters is here and now.” </p> <p>He says the question of per-pupil spending is more complicated than simple numbers can describe. </p> <p>He uses an analogy to explain his thinking on the subject. As a food guy, he references his business to illustrate: </p> <p>Imagine, he says, that you are trying to ship turkeys from point A to point B. A truck driver says he will move 100 pounds of turkeys for $100. Now say you tell the truck driver you want to add another 20 pounds of turkey. Does the cost now go up to $120? If so, why? </p> <p>Now apply that to per-pupil spending. If $5,390 is spent to educate a child based on the number of children in the student population. And you add another 100 students, should that cost go up? The school buildings are there. The teachers are there. The curriculum is set. Most of the materials already exist. </p> <p>“Isn’t there some kind of decreasing cost for increasing volume?” he asked. </p> <p>But he also looks at it another way. If you spend $5,390 per student and the student population doesn’t change the next year, should the cost remain $5,390? Well not necessarily, he said. If you want continually improving schools, you might want to up the per-pupil funding so there is money for teacher professional development. Or, here is another question:</p> <p>“Could we find a way that a teacher could actually handle 30 kids per class instead of 25? Should it therefore cost us less? No. Not necessarily," he said. "A doesn’t equal B. And we’re not taking that into consideration. We’re looking for an argument.”</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: right">Horn is a legislator that takes into account nuance and complexity when considering the issue of education. </p> </blockquote> <p>So, no easy answers, but it does illustrate something about Horn: he is a legislator that takes into account nuance and complexity when considering the issue of education. </p> <p>But that also means that what he says won’t be satisfying to everybody, or, perhaps, anybody. </p> <p>Then again, what he says doesn't matter as much as what he does. As he told his grandkids, “You can’t just talk. You gotta do.” </p> <p>By the end of the session, we'll know more about his batting average for change on this issue that he cares so much about.</p>
This <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ednc.org/rep-craig-horn-the-education-legislator/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ednc.org">EducationNC</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://www.ednc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/cropped-logo-square-512-150x150.png" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://www.ednc.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=8361&ga=UA-57754133-1" style="width:1px;height:1px;">
The Monday Missive Feature The Monday Missive
Rep. Craig Horn talking with Rep. Graig Meyer (D-Orange) and Rep. Rick Glazier (D-Cumberland) at the House K-12 Education Committee.
Rep. Craig Horn (R-Union) is the education legislator. It’s an odd moniker considering he only moved to the state in 2005, has no education background and didn’t even start out focused on the subject.
An almost 8-year veteran of the Air Force, Horn made his living as a food broker, retiring in 2002 from his business which he says was the largest food broker in the country at the time. When he retired, he worked with big names such as General Mills, Butterball and ConAgra.
His office in the Legislative Office Building is festooned with armed forces memorabilia, including pictures, medals and even a military book with the title “Assault on the Liberty,” a book describing the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, which took place while he was in the Air Force. He says he lost friends in that assault.
He’s also a fan of Winston Churchill, and the British prime minister’s name came up numerous times during our conversation.
So it’s not surprising that his take on education in North Carolina is imbued with lessons learned from the military.
“You lead from in front. You command from the rear,” he said of education. “It’s the teachers who are the leaders. They’re out in front.”
But none of that explains how he came to be known for education. That story takes a more twisted route.
He moved to North Carolina, the father of four and grandfather of seven. He had no political aspirations.
“I moved here to be a full-time grandpa,” he said.
But he still needed to fill his time between visits with his offspring’s offspring. He tried golf, but admits he wasn’t very good. He had always been active in the community, so he started volunteering in schools. But it wasn’t until the House seat in his district came open that others started clamoring for him to run for office. He was reluctant.
“Some friends of mine called and said, ‘You know you should run for a seat in the House,’” he said. “I said ‘I have a seat in the house. My house.’”
You can’t just talk. You have to act.
But he mentioned it to his grandchildren, and it was they who ultimately decided his course. They reminded him that he always told them that you can’t just talk. You have to act.
“I like to think that I set an example for my family and my community,” he said. “So my grandkids called my bluff.”
He joined the General Assembly in 2011. The first issue he became interested in was drugs. First artificial drugs — synthetic heroin and marijuana — which he was told were major problems in North Carolina. And then he started looking into the methamphetamine problem in the state.
“It was exciting,” he said. “I thought I could help save lives.”
But that issue led him directly to the youngest population in our state: the students who are often most affected by issues related to drugs.
He realized education is the number one, two and three top issue in his county, and in his second term in 2013-14, he co-chaired the education appropriations committee. He has been focused on education ever since.
“All it takes is one person really feeling passionate. Really going to bat to make changes.”
“I’m afraid to say that I really feel I can make a difference in how we do education. I’m afraid to say that because I think it’s a little bit on the arrogant side,” he said. “But you know, all it takes is one person really feeling passionate. Really going to bat to make changes.”
Now, Horn co-chairs both the House K-12 Education Committee and the House Education Appropriations Committee. Two of his signature issues this session are differentiated pay and digital learning, he said.
With digital learning, he’s fascinated by the possibilities that exist for youth raised on technology.
“A kid doesn’t read the manual, he jumps in and does it,” he said. “That’s education. Now we need to harness it.”
He’s also interested in the chance that digital learning can help level the education field for low-income and rural students.
And he thinks differentiated pay is essential to create a more tiered system of rewards for our state’s educators. But he is quick to say what differentiated pay is not.
“Differentiated pay does not mean bonuses or pay for performance,” he said. “Differentiated pay means different people doing different things should be paid differently.”
He wants educators to have a reasonable base level of pay that enables them to work without having to worry about financial issues.
On that note, he thinks educators need better pay, an issue that should be addressed in part this session with many lawmakers and leaders promising to raise the pay of starting teachers to $35,000.
“I can’t have somebody worried about whether their car is going to be repossessed while they’re standing up in a class full of 4th graders,” he said.
It must be acknowledged, however, that critics of salary increases say not enough is being done for veteran teachers. But perhaps Horn’s ideas on differentiated pay can help with that.
He thinks that teachers should have opportunities for responsibilities and duties beyond the norm. And if they take those opportunities, they should be compensated for them. That, he says, is differentiated pay.
“You reward people for excellence for achieving,” he said. “For reaching and attaining higher levels of delivery, whatever they’re delivering.”
I also asked him about a few topics that I’m particularly interested in. One is Sen. Jerry Tillman’s (R-Randolph) bill that would scrap the position of state superintendent and the Board of Education and replace them with a secretary of education.
Horn wasn’t so sure about that.
“There’s always something good… no, there isn’t always something good in every bill,” he said. “Some of them, pencil should have never been put to paper. But there’s something to be learned. How can we make it work?”
In Tillman’s idea he sees a kernel of an idea. He thinks the state needs a secretary of education. But not to replace the current leadership. Rather, he thinks the secretary should oversee the entire continuum of education: pre-K, K-12, community colleges and universities. He thinks there needs to be somebody working to ensure that priorities and goals are connected across sectors.
For instance, he mentioned the problem of high school students graduating and going to college in need of remediation.
“Maybe we’re not teaching what the college wants,” he said. “How about we talk to each other?”
There needs to be one person responsible for education generally. Someone to accept blame for the failures and credit for the successes.
Plus he thinks there needs to be one person responsible for education generally. Someone to accept blame for the failures and credit for the successes.
“I’m responsible. I did it. And I’m accountable for what is done. Period. Not pass the buck,” he said.
I also asked Horn about a complaint I hear often in my travels around the state: that the General Assembly isn’t funding localities adequately.
To that he responded that since he’s been in office, state spending on education has increased.
And that’s true. The revised education appropriations for 2010-11 was $7,085,588,912. It’s gone up every year since and for 2014-15 was $8,104,976,608. (Go here for a primer on the budget)
But per-pupil spending from the state has decreased. That’s because the number of students in state schools has gone up faster than the amount of spending on education.
Some of the decrease, Horn attributes to the change in the state’s financial reality — the effects of the financial crash of 2008 and the resulting recession.
“We long for the good old days. Let me tell you as I tell my kids, these are your good old days,” he said. “They’re not mine. They’re yours. It doesn’t matter about the good old days. What matters is here and now.”
He says the question of per-pupil spending is more complicated than simple numbers can describe.
He uses an analogy to explain his thinking on the subject. As a food guy, he references his business to illustrate:
Imagine, he says, that you are trying to ship turkeys from point A to point B. A truck driver says he will move 100 pounds of turkeys for $100. Now say you tell the truck driver you want to add another 20 pounds of turkey. Does the cost now go up to $120? If so, why?
Now apply that to per-pupil spending. If $5,390 is spent to educate a child based on the number of children in the student population. And you add another 100 students, should that cost go up? The school buildings are there. The teachers are there. The curriculum is set. Most of the materials already exist.
“Isn’t there some kind of decreasing cost for increasing volume?” he asked.
But he also looks at it another way. If you spend $5,390 per student and the student population doesn’t change the next year, should the cost remain $5,390? Well not necessarily, he said. If you want continually improving schools, you might want to up the per-pupil funding so there is money for teacher professional development. Or, here is another question:
“Could we find a way that a teacher could actually handle 30 kids per class instead of 25? Should it therefore cost us less? No. Not necessarily,” he said. “A doesn’t equal B. And we’re not taking that into consideration. We’re looking for an argument.”
Horn is a legislator that takes into account nuance and complexity when considering the issue of education.
So, no easy answers, but it does illustrate something about Horn: he is a legislator that takes into account nuance and complexity when considering the issue of education.
But that also means that what he says won’t be satisfying to everybody, or, perhaps, anybody.
Then again, what he says doesn’t matter as much as what he does. As he told his grandkids, “You can’t just talk. You gotta do.”
By the end of the session, we’ll know more about his batting average for change on this issue that he cares so much about.
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Alex Granados is senior reporter for EducationNC.
History of assessments in North Carolina
by Alex Granados | April 11, 2015
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Edwards AFB celebrates Air Force's 74th birthday
The Blue Mountain Tribe performs at the 74th Air Force Birthday picnic at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Sept. 17. (Air Force photo by Giancarlo Casem)
Col. Randel Gordon, 412th Test Wing Vice Commander, provides his opening remarks during the Air Force 74th Birthday picnic at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Sept. 17. (Air Force photo by Katherine Franco)
The Blue Mountain Tribe performs at the Air Force 74th Birthday picnic at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Sept. 17. (Air Force photo by Katherine Franco)
Team Edwards and family members enjoy a picnic in celebration of the Air Force's 74th birthday at Wings Field on Edwards Air Force Base, California, Sept. 17. (Air Force photo by Katherine Franco)
Published Sept. 24, 2021
By Katherine Franco
412th Test Wing Public Affairs
Airmen, civilians, and family members attended a picnic event to celebrate the Air Force's 74th birthday at Wings Field on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. On Sept. 17.
President Harry Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, establishing the Air Force on Sept. 18, 1947, as an independent service from the U.S. Army.
"We're at 74 years, from our inception right after World War II, through Korea and Vietnam, and Desert Storm,” said Col. Randel Gordon, the 412th Test Wing Vice Commander. "I get to put on this uniform, it is deeply, profoundly honoring; it's a boyhood dream come true. We should always be happy and proud of that."
Gordon explained that Airmen should be proud to be a member of a group that has participated in numerous world-changing events, including the most recent non-combatant evacuation operations in Afghanistan.
“The different conflicts that we've been engaged in along the way; to say that ‘hey, those are Airmen…that's my tribe, those are my people’ is special and kind of cool and unique," Gordon said.
The picnic allowed Team Edwards to celebrate and socialize in an outdoor manner, and for some, this was the first event they could attend to do so.
"I’ve been at Edwards for a couple months, this is my first event to go to and it’s been most memorable," said Senior Airman Jakela Dewey, 412th Medical Group.
During the celebration, she contemplated on the fact that before 1947, there was no Air Force, just a corps within the Army.
"We’re celebrating the Air Force; the beginning to now and the history of it and being able to celebrate something that didn't even exist back then," she said.
The Blue Mountain Tribe performed provided the musical entertainment for the picnic accompanied by games and food vendors. The Blue Mountain Tribe is an award-winning Native American Blues rock band who are also all Edwards AFB employees.
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The Sky Bet League 2 contenders have previous in The Football League Play-Offs
Plymouth Argyle, Southend United, Stevenage and Wycombe Wanderers all have something in common, other than the fact they're competing in this season's Sky Bet League 2 Play-Offs.
Unlike any other division in this term's end-of-season showdowns, these four contenders all have previous experience of winning the Play-Offs. Here, we take a look back through the history books.
This will be the third time that Plymouth have taken part in the Football League Play-Offs and their semi-final first leg against Wycombe Wanderers takes place at Home Park on Saturday at 7.45pm.
Their first Play-Off voyage came in 1993/94 when, under Peter Shilton, they came third in Division Two (League 1). Argyle took on Burnley over two legs in the semi-finals and, after a 0-0 draw on the road, they suffered a 3-1 defeat in the reverse match.
Two years later they were back in the Play-Offs, but this time in Division Three (League 2) and Colchester United were their semi-final opponents. A 1-0 loss in the first leg was followed by a 3-1 success in the second tie, taking them to the final at Wembley against Darlington. Ronnie Mauge scored the only goal of the final and Neil Warnock's Pilgrims sealed promotion in front of 43,431 at the national stadium.
Martin O'Neill was the first manager to lead Wycombe into the Play-Offs, in 1993/94, and it ended in promotion as they saw off Preston North End in the Division Three final, after a 4-1 aggregate semi-final win over Carlisle United.
Since then, they've lost two Play-Off semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate; firstly against Cheltenham Town in 2005/06 under the stewardship of John Gorman, before Paul Lambert's Wanderers suffered the same fate against Stockport County in 2007/08.
Gareth Ainsworth will now lead the club into their fourth Sky Bet League 2 Play-Off campaign, after a fourth-placed finish in the regular season.
Southend are the most experienced Play-Off campaigners out of all the Sky Bet League 2 contenders as they've competed in them on four occasions.
Their first appearance in 2005 ended with success as they saw off Lincoln City 2-0 in the League 2 final at the Millennium Stadium, with Freddy Eastwood and Duncan Jupp scoring the crucial extra-time goals.
Since then though, they've suffered three semi-final defeats; against Doncaster Rovers (2007/08 – League 1), Crewe (2011/12 – League 2) and Burton Albion (2013/14 – League 2).
Graham Westley's Stevenage came into The Football League in 2010 and tasted Play-Off success in their first season, beating Torquay United 1-0 in the League 2 final at Old Trafford, following a semi-final triumph over Accrington Stanley.
And they were at it again 12 months later in League 1, although they suffered a narrow 1-0 aggregate semi-final defeat at the hands of Sheffield United, with Gary Smith at the helm after Westley had left for Preston North End.
With Westley back in the dugout, it's no surprise to see Stevenage back in the Sky Bet League 2 Play-Offs this term for their third end-of-season Football League showdown, and their first leg against Southend takes place at the Lamex Stadium on Sunday evening (6.35pm kick-off).
Follow The Sky Bet Football League Play-Offs on Twitter @football_league, on Facebook by searching The Football League and on Instagram @footballleague, using #PlayOffs.
Sky Bet Play-Offs
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Female suicide bomber kills four in Iraq
Published Monday, March 10, 2008
A female suicide bomber blew herself up outside the house of an Iraqi tribal sheikh, killing him and three others on Monday in the restive province of Diyala, an army officer told AFP.
The bomber arrived early Monday at Sheikh Ghadban Al Karkhi's house in the town of Kanan, north of Baquba, the provincial capital, Brigadier General Rageb Al Omeri said.
"The bomber blew herself up as the sheikh came out of the house to meet her. The sheikh, his daughter and two of his bodyguards were killed in the attack," Omeri said.
Diyala, one of the most volatile regions of Iraq, has seen a number of suicide attacks by female bombers in the past several months. (AFP)
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Take five to kick off the weekend madness
Bindu Suresh Rai
Published Thursday, June 09, 2011
It was June 25, 2009 when the world took pause, marking it as the day the music died.
Michael Jackson’s death shook up his most ardent friends and fans, but two years on, the legend is still the undisputed King of Pop.
Marking his two-year death anniversary, Think Flash is bringing “Thriller Live” from London’s West End, a musical like no other that pays tribute to all things Jackson – from the early years, until the lead up to “This is it.”
For those who missed the legend live in concert, this is one hot ticket you cannot miss.
Emirates 24|7 dishes the details on “Thriller Live”, along with other hot events to catch over the weekend.
Shiamak Davar’s Summer Funk at Sheikh Rashid Auditorium, Dubai
All those who appreciate dance and want to root for the young and older talent as they put their best foot forward in showcasing their deft moves on stage, the head to the Shiamak Davar’s Summer Funk performance at the Sheikh Rashid Auditorium, Indian High School, Dubai, this Saturday.
A little over three hours, the show kicks off at 2pm, with those interested, able to purchase tickets at the gate itself. Tickets are priced at Dh50, Dh70 and Dh90. Call: 050 496 3558
Thriller Live at Flash Forum, Yas Island
Flash Entertainment brings the highly anticipated “Thriller Live” concert, a two-hour non-stop show paying homage to the undisputed King of Pop, the late Michael Jackson, for a limited season in Abu Dhabi this summer.
Currently in its third sell out year in London’s West End, “Thriller Live” brings to life the sensational dancing and distinctive sound of Michael and The Jackson 5.
This globally acclaimed production celebrates the career of Jackson, one of the greatest entertainers the world has ever seen and who, across four decades, sold an unparalleled 750 million records worldwide, with the “Thriller” album still the world’s best-selling recording of all time. Even after his death, Jackson’s music continues to sell in its millions.
Jackson fans across the UAE will be thrilled to hear all of his smash hits as an exceptionally talented cast perform songs such as: “I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “Can You Feel It”, “Off The Wall”, “Smooth Criminal” and much more.
Award-winning director/choreographer Gary Lloyd’s musical moonwalked into the West End after three acclaimed UK tours and standing ovations across Europe. Lloyd’s long-list of credits include working with Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, Victoria Beckham and Girls Aloud and “Fame the musical”.
International reviewers have called this show “quite literally thrilling” (The Stage), “a total blast” (What’s On Stage) and “a great tonic in these gloomy days” (The Evening Standard).
From Jackson’s early years as a teen sensation belting out the classic “ABC” with his brothers and sisters, to his breakthrough solo album “Off the Wall” and beyond, six different singers deliver all of his greatest hits.
Held at the Flash Forum from June 9-10, at spokesperson, Shatha Al Romaithi, said: “This show has captured audiences around the world, with its talented energetic cast recreating Michael’s amazing entertainment qualities and we are delighted to bring this incredible musical experience to Abu Dhabi to pay tribute to Michael Jackson.”
Tickets are priced at Dh100, Dh195 and Dh250. Group discounts also available for 10 people or more. Show starts at 8pm. Call: 800 FLASH
Whose Line Is It Anyway? at First Group Theatre
Join Stephen Frost, Andy Smart, Niall Ashdown, Steve Steen and Ian Coppinger, regular members of the Comedy Store Players, for “Whose Line is it Anyway?”
These guys have been making people laugh around the globe with their improvised comedy. It’s simple – you shout it out and they act it out in a hilarious manner. The boys are back in Dubai after a sell-out run of shows last year.
Entry is strictly for 18 and above only. The shows are being held at the First Group Theatre, Souk Madinat, with the evening’s proceedings kicking off at 8pm.
Tickets are priced at Dh165, with allocated seating on first come, first serve basis. Call: 04 366 6546
The Laughter Factory at Courtyard by Marriott Green Community
Factory Productions is back with a hilarious line-up for this month, which includes the super-talented Geoff Norcott, Mandy Knight and Pete Johansson.
Norcott, who is one of the rare comedians who has even made it to Afghanistan to bring forth a chuckle or five, is a well-known name on the comedy circuit. His energetic performances and storming mix of observations have made him a famous face on television networks too.
Called “a frisky terrier on heat”, Knight is considered the dame of British stand-up comedy. The first female comedian to compere at The Comedy Store, Knight, who is a trained actress, gave up her theatre career for stand-up.
When asked why, she said it was due to an irrational fear of a life in fringe theatre, exploring her inner child by pretending to be an oak tree, a fridge or a tambourine.
Rounding up the trio is Johannson, whose acting credits could take up a book with still titles left over. The Canadian comedian, writer and actor, who has made noteworthy appearances on Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” and CTV’s “Comedy Now, CBC’s Comics,” is one to watch out for.
Strictly for 21 and up, the show kicks off at 9pm, with tickets costing Dh130. Call: 04 355 1862
Ghulam Ali Live at Sheikh Rashid Auditorium, Dubai
Ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali, along with the talented Ranjeet Rajwada from the reality show “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa”, are making their way to Dubai for a one-night performance that will put the soul back into the music for connoisseurs of sufi music.
Ali, who is a well-known name in Pakistan and India, took his first step in music at a tended age when he became a student of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, a master of the Patiala Gharana of Hindustani classical music.
He found fame when Bollywood came calling for the song “Chupke Chupke Raat Din” in BR Chopra’s film, “Nikaah” and there has been no looking back since.
Organised by Orbit Events and Marketing, tickets cost Dh75, Dh200 and Dh500. Doors open 8pm, show starts 9pm. Call: 050 218 3536
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Qatar's Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. Photo Credit: US State Department, Wikipedia Commons.
Qatar: Foreign Minister Says No Solution To Gulf Crisis Unless ‘Siege Lifted’
HE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has reaffirmed that the dialogue based on clear and correct rules and principles is capable of resolving the current Gulf crisis, but after lifting the blockade imposed by some Gulf countries on the State of Qatar.
In a meeting with a number of journalists on Monday, Al-Thani refused to give specific expectations to end the Gulf crisis before holding a dialogue based on strong foundations.
“We can not expect an end to the crisis, solutions are not yet developed and the countries besieged Qatar have not provided any clear reasons for the steps they have taken,” the Minister added.
“We do not know these reasons. We do not know these grounds why the three Gulf countries boycotted their relations with Qatar. Therefore, there are no steps regarding the crisis and no party has taken any steps,” Al-Thani said.
Al-Thani stressed that the solution must be primarily diplomatic and through dialogue and not through the blockade as the State of Qatar’s choices always depend on diplomatic options.
Al-Thani reiterated that the State of Qatar is with the principle of dialogue to resolve the Gulf crisis, but clarified that dialogue also requires lifting the embargo, adding that, “therefore, you should ask the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia and the countries of the blockade about their requests, as the principle of boycotting is to put your comments and then ask us to answer them and not to put all this boycott without any basis, especially that the State of Qatar is a neighbor has a historical ties with the boycotting Gulf countries and close bonding with their peoples.”
According to Al-Thani, “We are not an enemy to those countries and they are asking us to meet demands that they did not put forward and did not present them directly to the Qatari side, therefore, anything should begin with dialogue and end with dialogue.”
Regarding the Kuwaiti mediation to resolve the crisis, the Foreign Minister reiterated Qatar’s thanks and gratitude for the great efforts exerted by HH the Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and said that these efforts had started since the beginning of the crisis. He added that HH the Emir of Kuwait has not received any responses so far from the countries besieging the State of Qatar.
Al-Thani reiterated that the State of Qatar can not start a dialogue without knowing the demands of the besieged countries. He said that any dialogue must be based on correct and sound foundations. No one can ask a state to stop something. It does not know what this thing is. “This is not a way of dialogue,” the Minister noted.
Al-Thani said in response to a question that the State of Qatar has shown from the beginning its willingness to sit to the dialogue table but that it should be a sound dialogue. “We are ready to study any demands from the Gulf countries,” he added.
Al-Thani said that the State of Qatar has clear principles and has the right to obtain answers from the Gulf countries on the reasons for the step they had taken, pointing out that Qatar was shocked by the position taken by the countries of the blockade and that “Qatar has become a priority for them instead of other issues.”
In response to a question about Qatar’s continued supply of gas to the UAE, despite the Gulf crisis, the Foreign Minister said that Qatar could legally do so, but “We have ethics in dealing and we do not want to harm the UAE people, who will be affected by the disruption of electricity as a result of the stoppage of the Qatari gas supply, stressing that the UAE people have no fault in what happens.”
On his visit to a number of European countries at the beginning of the Gulf crisis, the Foreign Minister said that the State of Qatar has excellent relations with European countries and there are common interests between the two sides, therefore it was important that the picture be clarified to them in all aspects besides economic damage and illegal matters resulting from the embargo imposed on the State of Qatar by a number of Gulf States.
In response to a question about a planned visit to Washington soon, Al-Thani referred to the excellent relations between the State of Qatar and the United States, which has a military base in Doha and said it is also necessary to talk with US officials about the siege of a number of Gulf countries to Qatar and clarify the image of Qatar as a result of this embargo, he Minister said.
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Artist / Collection
Sir Henry Englefield
US$ US$
Classical To Enlightenment46 Italy46 Rome46 Europe46 Places46
Size Category
21 to 30 cm [8 to 12 inches]46
Black/White46
Landscape21 Portrait25
In Stock36 Out of Stock10
These are antique engravings of Etruscan vases, made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield.
Sir Henry Englefield (1752 - 1822) was an English antiquary, scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries.
He was a passionate collector of ancient Etruscan vases. The wealthy Etruscan civilization (800 BC - 264 BC) made beautiful painted vases influenced by Greek art.
He employed Henry Moses to draw famous collection of vases and make engravings.
Here are some of the engravings for you to choose from. They are genuine antiques, made in 1819.
Etruscan vase (I)
27 x 18 cm (10.8 x 7.2 inches).Plate 1. Front view showing Etruscan womenThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of ..
27 x 18 cm (10.8 x 7.2 inches).Sir Henry EnglefieldThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of noblemen and scholars ..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 3. Back viewThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of noblemen and scholars that ..
Etruscan vase (II)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 5. Front view showing the festival of BacchusThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exist..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 4. Front view showing a young woman holding a laurel branchThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (whi..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 6. Back view with a honeysuckle patternThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of ..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 7. Young woman holding a laurel branchThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of n..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 8. Celebrating the festival of BacchusThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of n..
Etruscan vase (IV)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 11. Back view showing a woman with a satyrThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) ..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 11. Young woman with a satyrThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of noblemen an..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 14. Young woman between two FaunsThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of noblem..
Etruscan vase (VI)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 18. Back view showing Electra at the foot of the tomb of AgamemnonThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Socie..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 19. Greek priestess IoThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of noblemen and scho..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 21. Greek warriors on the shoulders of the vaseThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exi..
Etruscan vase (VII)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 23. Combat between Centaurs and LapithaeThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of..
Etruscan vase (VIII)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 24. Front view showing a woman playing a double pipe with men dancingThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti So..
Etruscan vase (IX)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 26. Inside view showing an elegant woman with a demi-godThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which ..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 28. Inside view showing a woman fanning a youthThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exi..
Etruscan vases (X)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 29. Group of three vasesThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of noblemen and sc..
Etruscan vases (XI)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 30. Group containing a vase and two vesselsThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists)..
Etruscan vases (XII)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 31. Group containing a vase and four vesselsThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists..
Etruscan vases (XIII)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 32. Richly decorated group of four vasesThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of..
Etruscan vases (XIV)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 33. Group of vasesThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of noblemen and scholars..
Etruscan vases (XV)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 34. Group of three vases and two vesselsThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of..
Etruscan vases (XVIII)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Plate 37. Three large vasesThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of noblemen and schol..
Etruscan vase (XXI)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Slender vase showing a seated woman and warriorThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) o..
Etruscan vase (XXII)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Front view showing a woman in a portal and demi-god running to release herThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Soc..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Details from the vaseThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of noblemen and scholars th..
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Front view showing a woman in a portalThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of nobleme..
Etruscan vase (XXIII)
24 x 15 cm (9.5 x 6 inches).Hercules with a bow and clubThis original antique engraving was made in 1819 for Sir Henry Englefield, an English scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was secretary of the Dilettanti Society (which still exists) of noblemen and scho..
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Fleet Remarketing Pioneer Hangs Up Spurs After Four Decades
Ron Breslow Joined FLD Remarketing As Kid, Retires As Partner
If careers were hat racks, Ron Breslow would likely appear to be the biggest haberdasher in town because he wore just about every hat that existed in the remarketing world!
Office guy, driver, lot manager, auction lead, vice president, partner — pretty much whatever the main cog in a company wheel needs to do. To hear Breslow say it, it’s possible that over the years, he’d be out waxing cars when he wasn’t making major business decisions. In a tenure that lasted over 40 years, the just recently retired partner of Delray Beach-based fleet services company FLD Remarketing handled just about every position the company ever had and some that may not have even existed!
“Hell, if someone needed me to sweep the parking lot,” I probably did that too,” mused Breslow, now retired and comfortably ensconced in his Florida home, not far from the office where he helped pioneer the modern vehicle remarketing industry.
A young kid from Philly looking for his life’s work, Breslow moved to South Florida in 1977. As luck would have it, not long after he ran into an old buddy from his Philly neighborhood, Michael Sheinson, who had also moved to Florida and started a business remarketing vehicles. Dabbling in the car space himself, Breslow was intrigued. Staying in touch with his old friend Sheinson, he eventually joined FLD in 1980, and the rest – as they say – is history. Now, more than four decades later – Breslow is retiring from the only industry and company he has known, and the people he’s loved working with for so long.
Like many successful execs, Breslow started his career in fleet in FLD’s office, learning all he could from the ground up. As business increased, he took on basically whatever needed to be done, even heading to auctions on Tuesday and Thursday evening after what usually amounted to a full day of regular 9 to 5 work. Eventually, the company needed a lot manager when the guy who’d been doing it decided not to come back from vacation, so Breslow stepped in there, too. Ditto his position overseeing the detail and body shop, services the company opened in response to client demand.
No matter what it took to make the company successful, Breslow found a way to become an expert. Often learning the ropes in a “trial by fire manner,” noting that the company was so busy, and growing so quickly, that Sheinson never bothered to even train him. “It was the early days,” he said, “we were writing the rules and learning the ropes as we went along, but more than anything, we always stayed focused on the customer.”
Proud of the company’s longevity, Breslow firmly believes there are three distinct things that have made FLD so successful for so long:
First, he thinks the company’s culture has resulted in so many FLD associates staying for decades. That includes current President Gary Mott, a nearly 30-year veteran of the company, whom Breslow remembers picking up at the airport for his first job interview.
Second, he thinks the company has flourished because it chose to embrace technological innovation early on, and “never stopped.” That strategy has resulted in such high points as selling a company-developed software; developing the industry’s first online condition report (1997); and, more recently, updating FLD’s WebAccess online solution so fleet professionals can safely and easily manage the entire remarketing process from any smartphone, tablet or computer anywhere in the world.
Finally, he thinks FLD’s policy of paying customers upfront for their vehicles is a huge competitive advantage because it puts all the risk of remarking vehicles squarely on FLD’s shoulders, not the seller’s.
Said Mott: “Ron is just a total credit to the generation that built this industry; roll up your sleeves and get it done and if it’s worth doing it’s worth doing right. I have had the honor and privilege to have been mentored by Michael and Ron, two of the industry’s leading authorities in the fleet vehicle remarketing space. What I have learned from these two men will help carry FLD well into the future. Heck, by the time I am ready to retire I’ll have 50 plus years with the industry and with the FLD brand. We have many career veterans here within the ranks of FLD and that is a large portion of our recipe for success.”
Looking back on all those decades, Breslow figures he is responsible for remarketing over 250,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment. If not, it’s certainly close, but when he thinks of what matters most, and what he’s going to miss about the business, he gets a little sentimental. For his buck, Breslow thinks it’s the people and friendships he’s made at FLD matter most.
“These people (at FLD) aren’t just my colleagues, they’re like my family to me,” said Breslow (who lives with his wife in Boca Raton) “I mean, Michael hired me all those years ago because we were from the same block, I knew his mom, he knew my mom … and that’s the way it’s always felt working here, I know I’m going to miss it.”
Jan 31, 2021 Janice
Ebbon Group Moves Into Automotive AI with Zegami PartnershipArval Launches 'Industry First' Mobility Services in Europe
Strict Troubleshooting Best Approach to Using Electronic Scan Tools to Pinpoint Drive Train Problems
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Home > Epl > Defender Adam Webster signs new five-year deal at Brighton
Defender Adam Webster signs new five-year deal at Brighton
Adam Webster of Brighton & Hove Albion passes the ball during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham at American Express Community Stadium on January 27, 2021 in Brighton, England.
Brighton defender Adam Webster has signed a new five-year contract, the Premier League club have announced.
The 26-year-old centre-back has been a key part of Graham Potter’s side, making 60 Premier League appearances since moving from Bristol City in a £20million deal two years ago.
The news is a boost for the Seagulls following the £50million sale of Ben White to Arsenal.
“I am absolutely over the moon to sign a new deal,” Webster told the club’s website. “As soon as I heard there was the potential for me to sign a new contract I was thrilled and I am pleased to get it done. Now I can focus on the new season.
“The club have shown a lot of faith in me to bring me here in the first place, to reward me with a new contract is amazing and I can’t wait for the next five years.”
Webster began his career with Portsmouth and has also played for Ipswich.
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Home > Epl > Fofana suffers broken leg in Leicester's pre-season win
Fofana suffers broken leg in Leicester's pre-season win
Wesley Fofana of Leicester City during the Leicester City training session at Leicester City Training Ground, Seagrave on July 20th, 2021 in Leicester, United Kingdom.
Leicester defender Wesley Fofana has revealed he has suffered a fractured fibula.
The French centre-back suffered the injury during the second half of Wednesday's pre-season friendly against Europa League winners Villarreal.
Fofana was the victim of a late tackle by forward Nino, after which he immediately called to the bench, with physios and paramedics rushing on.
The 20-year-old had lengthy treatment on the King Power Stadium pitch, including being given oxygen, before being stretchered off to applause in front of a crowd of over 17,000 fans.
"Hello guys, many thanks for all your messages. It is a bad day today but I am in a tremendous club with a wonderful medical team," he wrote on Instagram.
"I will give you news as soon as I have a final diagnosis but we already know that I have a fibula fracture. I will come soon and stronger: do not worry."
Fofana excelled for the Foxes last season after he joined from Saint-Etienne in October for a fee of up to £30m.
He established himself as a key player for Brendan Rodgers' side in his debut Premier League campaign, making 38 appearances in all competitions.
Leicester won the match 3-2 after goals from Caglar Soyuncu, Harvey Barnes and Ayoze Perez.
The Foxes, who won the FA Cup last season, play Premier League champions Manchester City in the Community Shield on Saturday, before they open their league campaign at home to Wolves on August 14.
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Home > NEWS > Japan defeats China in FIFA World Cup qualifiers
Japan defeats China in FIFA World Cup qualifiers
Silver Emmanuel September 08, 2021 NEWS
Japan's forward Yuya Osako (C) celebrates his opening goal during the 2022 Qatar football World Cup Asian Qualifiers match between China and Japan, at the Khalifa International stadium in Doha, on September 7, 2021.
Yuya Osako's first-half goal helped Japan beat China 1-0 in the final round of the FIFA World Cup Asian Zone qualifiers here on Tuesday.
China came into the game on the back of a 3-0 defeat to Australia, while Japan was stunned by Oman 1-0 in its opener of the final qualifying round. Both teams were eager to get their qualification campaign back on track.
Facing Japan, the highest FIFA ranked team in Asia, Chinese head coach Li Tie fielded five defenders in the starting line-up. But they suffered an early setback as veteran center back Zhang Linpeng had to be stretched out just five minutes into play due to a waist injury and Zhu Chenjie filled his place.
"Zhang was injured by accident. His injury seems very severe and he will go through PCR test tomorrow," Li said in the post-match press conference. "We had a preliminary plan when Zhang couldn't play, the young defender Zhu played a very good match and executed our tactics well."
Japan controlled the first half with 78 percent ball possession and 14 shots. 20-year-old forward Kubo Takefusa penetrated into the penalty area in the 22nd minute, but his close-range shot was denied by the post.
The "Samurai Blue" broke the deadlock in the 40th minute, when Junya Ito raced down the right flank and found Osako inside the box, who tapped in the ball to put his side 1-0 ahead.
After the restart, China managed to keep Japan at bay but was unable to level the score despite sending strikers Alan and Luo Guofu on the pitch in a bid to strengthen counter-attack.
"I am very grateful for the efforts of my players. We saw the gap between us and the best team in Asia through the game. I am satisfied with the fighting spirits of my players," Li noted. "All my players have equal opportunities, I only select the starting lineup on the basis of the game plan and requirements. No matter starters or substitutes, they all fought hard."
The Japanese head coach Hajime Moriyasu said that he is happy to see his team back on track. "We worked very hard. I can see the fitness conditions are much better than the first match."
"Our aggressive style of football forced China to play in defence, it was not the way Chinese play. I knew that the Chinese will raise their intensity in the second half, they put more players in the front line as well. We managed it well and we didn't concede a goal," Moriyasu added.
China was drawn into Group B of the final round with Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Vietnam. The top two will qualify for Qatar 2022 directly. The third finisher will play a home-and-away playoff with its counterpart in Group A, and the winner will go into a continental playoff.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Australia beat Vietnam 1-0 to top the group, while Saudi Arabia also claimed a 1-0 victory against Oman.
China will next play Vietnam on October 7 in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates. The Chinese team will depart for Sharjah on Wednesday.
"We will definitely train very hard and I hope all my players' fitness could improve to a higher level after one month of training," Li said.
"I hope we have chances to play friendly matches against teams who are better than us. Before the final round of the qualifying tournament, We couldn't play high-quality games for nearly two years due to the pandemic. Australia and Japan out-competed us with fast tempo, that's what we need to improve on," Li added.
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Michelinternational
Everything posted by Michelinternational
Michelinternational replied to Soaring's topic in Madrid, Spain 2020 Olympic Bid
We need to try to keep calm all of us, those comments are sometimes "normal" in those exciting process, but I don't think he really thinks that. Be happy, my friends!
^^ +1.000.000
misprints: - "Everybody hold one´s cards close to the chest, otherwise serve to make enemies," - ...but after having spoken to the Prince, they will back to Madrid," Interesting affirmation: "which can harm the favorite in the first cut"
Interesting report from mexican IOC member Olegario Vázquez Raña; EL PAÍS spanish newspaper. Fast transcription with google translator (and some corrections) about the most important information: "Everybody hold one´s cards close to the chest, that only serve to make enemies," he explained in conversation with this newspaper one of the members of the IOC, the Peruvian Ivan Dibos. In his view, each vote goes to "friends", which can harm the favorite in the first cut. "I have great fear of the second vote," added another IOC member, the Mexican Olegario Vazquez Rana, who believes that Tokyo will be the first to fall and Madrid's play against Istanbul. Vazquez Rana is delighted with the work of lobbying by Don Felipe de Borbón. "I have doubts about the vote of at least three or four Latino members, but after having spoken to the Prince, I will back to Madrid," he explained yesterday, while Don Felipe chatted a few feet away with a prince of Malaysia, a member of the Jordanian royal family and a prominent Sikh Indian. On the vote of the European countries is not so optimistic: "50% will back to Madrid. The others want to try it in 2024 or 2028, maybe Paris and the Spanish candidacy would prevent it ". Other sources, however, outlined the U.S. could unravel in a few days its aspiration to organize in Los Angeles or New York the 2024 Games, which inclined the European votes to Madrid by subtracting future options. http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2013/07/03/madrid/1372836598_461970.html
Tokyo 2020 Bid News
Michelinternational replied to gotosy's topic in Tokyo 2020 Summer Games
This is a race, heallthy race Of course I support Madrid and I wont't loose my breath. At the end just we will see.
I continue saying that 3.000 - 4.000 million is a very assumable amount for our country. Nowadays there are people that think that it is not good to apply for the games, but if we get the games,,, the country will take it with more hope and a lot of euphoria.
Yes, you are right, Madrid is a weak candidacy for the media and public opinion because his budget is no so big, because of the crisis feeling, and because it isn't so well known as Tokyo or Istambul. But it doesn't mean that Madrid is a safe option for the IOC and a very comfortable for the athletes, managed by athletes and designed from and for them. A budget 2.000 million euros (or more) isn't a problem for Spain economy, only Madrid city payed 3.000 million for the biggest underground motorway. Also Sheldon Adelson magnate will make lobby for the city because he will develope in Madrid his enormous complex "Eurovegas" (and will be ready for the olympics), probably you don't know him. He is one of the top richest man and have a lot of influence in USA, Asia and Israel. He is the CIO of Las Vegas Sands (3 resorts in Las Vegas, Macao LVS-Cotai, Marina Bay Singapore...) and he said they'll do anything for Madrid to get the OG.
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2018 Election Roundup with article links to each race
Barton County 2018 unofficial election results
Democrat Kelly defeats Kobach in governor’s race
More whooping cranes visited in 2021
Van tours of Cheyenne Bottoms available at KWEC
Curtis Wolf, site manager at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, talks about sandhill cranes, like the one shown here, and their “close cousin,” the whooping crane, during a recent program for the Great Bend Kiwanis Club. Both crane species visit the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area in Barton County and the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Stafford County every year. - photo by photo by Susan Thacker/Great Bend Tribune
COVID-19 has caused a decline in program attendance at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center for the past two years, but attendance is slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels, Site Manager Curtis Wolf said. Meanwhile, the numbers of visiting whooping cranes at area wetlands have increased, Wolf told members of the Great Bend Kiwanis Club when he spoke there earlier this month.
“This year has been a phenomenal whooping crane year in this area,” Wolf said. “Because there’s quite a few more birds now – we have about 500 that could potentially come through here – it’s kind of hard to keep track of who’s who. So we’ll get cranes in and then you don’t know the next day if it was the same ones.”
Management at Stafford County’s Quivira National Wildlife Refuge estimated they had about 90 whooping cranes come through in November, Wolf said. He didn’t know what the numbers were at the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area in Barton County, but the whooping cranes did stay longer than usual. One group of 15 whooping cranes arrived on Nov. 4 and stayed for almost a month.
Whooping cranes are the most endangered bird in North America, with only about 800 in the world today. These bright white cranes are also the tallest bird in North America; they stand about 5 feet tall, with a 7-foot wingspan.
“If you go back to the 1940s, there were only 16 of them left in the world,” Wolf said. “They were on the brink of extinction.” Placed under protection, their numbers steadily improved. There were still fewer than 35 birds in 1960 and then they saw an upswing.
“In 2006 there were 200 birds, and then today, there are over 500 of them that are in this flyway (the Central Flyway), and there are several experimental groups as well. Overall, there are about 800 birds.”
Historically, they migrated and bred throughout the eastern two-thirds of the United States. But by 1900 whooping cranes were gone from most of their historical areas.
“Right now there’s the Central Flyway flock, which is the only natural flock that migrates and they’re the ones that come through here,” Wolf said. “There are about 500. They breed in northern Canada at a place called Wood Buffalo National Park and then they follow basically the Central Flyway, coming through Kansas. And then most of these go down and overwinter down on the Texas coast at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.”
Both sandhill cranes and whooping cranes feed, roost and nest in shallow-water wetlands, Wolf said.
“Whooping cranes can live up to 30 years in the wild. They do mate for life but they don’t begin breeding until they’re 3 to 5 years old. That’s one of the reasons why their numbers took so long to recover,” Wolf said.
Human visitors return
The number of human visitors to the KWEC has been slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels, Wolf said.
“Interestingly enough, we have done more van tours this fall than we’ve ever done.” The personalized van tours allow groups of up to 11 people to visit the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area with an expert guide.
Tours are by reservation only and are dependent on the weather and the availability of tour guides. A 30-minute “Get to Know Cheyenne Bottoms Tour” costs $3 for adults, $1.50 for children under 12 and is free for kids younger than 4 years old. The “Cheyenne Bottoms Deluxe Tour” lasts approximately 90 minutes. It focuses on bird/wildlife identification and will also include a stop at the K-4 Cheyenne Bottoms overlook. The cost for this tour is $5 for adults, $3 for children under 12 and free for children under 4.
The KWEC, managed by Fort Hays State University, is located in Barton County at 592 NE K-156. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday (excluding holidays). The telephone number is 620-566-1456 and the toll-free number is 877-243-9268.
George Stumps Nature Trail
Visitors to the KWEC may also take a leisurely stroll on the George Stumps Nature Trail next to the Center. Wintering songbirds are attracted to feeders near the trail head, which is located at the west end of the Center’s parking lot.
Looping approximately a half-mile, the level-paved trail is wheelchair accessible. It is sponsored by Ducks Unlimited.
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Jen Psaki, Biden’s new White House press secretary, vows ‘truth and transparency’ in 1st briefing
By Stephanie Weaver and Austin Williams
WASHINGTON - Jen Psaki took the podium as the new press secretary in the Biden administration on Wednesday, just hours after the presidential inauguration.
Psaki, a longtime Democratic spokesperson, previously served under the Obama administration. She served as the White House’s deputy press secretary, White House communications director, and the State Department’s spokesperson. Psaki also served as Biden’s press secretary during the transition.
"Rebuilding trust with the American people will be central to our focus in the press office and in the White House," Psaki said as she opened the briefing.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds first Biden administration briefing
Jen Psaki took the podium as the new press secretary in the Biden administration on Wednesday, just hours after the presidential inauguration.
"It's an honor to be here with all of you. When the president asked me to serve in this role, we talked about the importance of bringing truth and transparency back to the briefing room. And he asked me to ensure that we are communicating about the policies across the Biden-Harris administration, and the work his team is doing every single day on behalf of all American people," Psaki said.
Wednesday’s briefing was the first interaction between the new Biden administration and reporters.
RELATED: Biden signs executive orders on COVID-19, immigration, rejoining Paris climate accord and WHO
"There will be times when we see things differently in this room, I mean among all of us. That's OK, that's part of our democracy, and rebuilding trust with the American people will be central to our focus in the press office and in the White House every single day," Psaki told the reporters in the briefing room.
In November, Biden announced that all women would lead the White House’s communications team, a first in U.S. presidential history.
PASADENA, CA - JULY 29: Jen Psaki speaks during her appearance at Politicon 2017 at Pasadena Convention Center on July 29, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Michael Schwartz/Getty Images)
"Communicating directly and truthfully to the American people is one of the most important duties of a President," Biden said in a statement when he announced his communications team. "I am proud to announce today the first senior White House communications team comprised entirely of women."
"Our country is facing unprecedented challenges," then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris added. "From the coronavirus pandemic to the economic crisis, to the climate crisis, and a long-overdue reckoning over racial injustice. To overcome these challenges, we need to communicate clearly, honestly, and transparently with the American people."
RELATED: Inauguration Day 2021: Biden enters White House for 1st time as president
President Donald Trump's White House had all but abandoned the practice of briefing reporters daily, taking an oftentimes openly combative tone with the news media. Sean Spicer, who was Trump’s first press secretary, set the tenor four years ago by claiming that the audience at Trump’s inauguration was the largest in history, despite photographic evidence to the contrary.
Trump’s final press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, had called some White House journalists "activists," and refused to call on them during contentious briefings.
Psaki said Wednesday that she will bring truth and transparency to the White House briefing room, a clear reference to her predecessors under Trump.
Psaki answered questions from reporters on a range of subjects during the briefing — from Biden’s foreign travel plans to the president’s stance on the Senate impeachment trial of Trump.
Psaki said Biden will allow Congress to decide the way forward on the impeachment trial, and that the president believes members of the Senate should figure out how to proceed with a trial that could consume the opening weeks of his presidency.
Trump was impeached by the House last week on a charge of inciting an insurrection. It was his second impeachment, though he was acquitted by the Senate in the first.
Psaki said Wednesday that the Biden administration is instead focused on the pandemic and the economic crisis that have engulfed the country for nearly a year, noting that the Senate can handle multiple issues at once.
On the foreign relations front, Psaki said Biden will call Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday, the first call with a foreign leader after his oath of office.
Psaki said the subject of the call will be relations between the United States and Canada as well as the status of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, whose permitting Biden revoked in one of his first acts as president.
Psaki said Biden’s first round of calls to foreign leaders will be with allies, adding that the new president plans to repair damaged global relationships.
This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press contributed.
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Iman Washington sentenced, 12 years for crash that killed young girl
A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Iman Washington to 12 years in prison plus another six years of extended supervision. He pleaded guilty in connection with a crash that resulted in the death of 7-year-old Londyn Quesada in October 2020.
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Iman Washington on Friday, Dec. 3 to 12 years in prison plus another six years of extended supervision.
Washington, 21, pleaded guilty in connection with a crash that resulted in the death of 7-year-old Londyn Quesada in October 2020.
Kevin Hightire, also charged in this case, was sentenced to three years probation.
Iman Washington, Kevin Hightire
Both defendants accepted plea deals in their cases. In September, Washington agreed to plead guilty to second-degree reckless homicide and second-degree reckless injury – and four other charges were dismissed and read into the court record.
As for Hightire, he pleaded guilty in October to a single felony count of harboring or aiding a felon.
Before sentencing
Washington was given an opportunity to speak to the court prior to his sentencing. He pleaded to the court, indicating he's never been in trouble with the last like this before.
"I have to sit there and deal with the fact that something I did brought pain to another family. I got two beautiful nieces. I wouldn't know what to do if one of my nieces died," Washington said. "I don't know what to do, ya know? So I can't be mad at them. I just hope that they can eventually come forgive me so I can forgive myself. Until then, I'm just sorry."
Iman Washington statement at his sentencing
Iman Washington shared this statement at his sentencing. He pleaded guilty in a crash that killed 7-year-old Londyn Quesada in October 2020.
Judge Glenn Yamahiro spoke at length before handing down his sentence. He keyed in on the trouble with reckless driving in the City of Milwaukee.
"I have been watching day after day. I've seen so many vehicles in houses, in trees, upside down, you name it. And it wasn't always like that in this community," Judge Yamahiro said.
The judge indicated he's never seen the volume of bad driving cases that the community is seeing now.
"Cars can kill people. It's not a video game. As far as I'm concerned, in this community, it's the #2 weapon at this time," the judge said. "Certainly a lot more damage being caused by vehicles than knives or other things. So with the exception of firearms, this is it."
Judge statement, sentencing of Iman Washington
Milwaukee County Judge Glenn Yamahiro spoke to Iman Washington and then handed down a 12-year prison sentence to him. Washington pleaded guilty in the crash that killed 7-year-old Londyn Quesada in October 2020.
Criminal complaint
According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police officers were dispatched to the intersection of 76th and Calumet on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020. 911 callers indicated two vehicles were racing when a crash occurred. Additional callers stated the crash was a hit-and-run.
When officers arrived on the scene, Milwaukee firefighters were already rendering aid to a child lying in the intersection. That child was later identified as 7-year-old Londyn Quesada. She died as a result of her injuries.
Londyn Quesada
The complaint said on the scene, there was a 2005 Toyota Camry (victim vehicle) -- and a 2006 Pontiac G6 (striking vehicle). Quesada had been in the rear seat of the Toyota, the complaint says.
According to the criminal complaint, inside the center console of the Pontiac, officers found a Wisconsin identification card for Iman Washington.
Officers in their crash reconstruction determined the Toyota was struck by the Pontiac. They determined the "striking Pontiac was traveling south on N. 76th Street and the victim Toyota was traveling north on N. 76th Street turning left to proceed west on W. Calumet Road."
Fatal crash at 76th and Calumet in Milwaukee
The complaint indicates the posted speed limit at the location of the crash is 40 miles per hour. Investigators downloaded data from the Airbag Control Module of the striking Pontiac. An analysis of that data showed "the striking Pontiac was traveling 107 miles per hour in the seconds leading up to impact and slowed to 103 miles per hour just prior to impact with the victim's Toyota."
When police recovered video from the Milwaukee County Transit System bus, they say the Pontiac and second vehicle were traveling south on N. 76th Street just prior to the crash. The PT Cruiser-type vehicle was in fact a Chevrolet HHR.
After Milwaukee police released a photo of the Chevrolet, a woman "recognized the vehicle as her vehicle that her son was in possession of. (The woman) stated that she had contacted her son who told her that he had loaned the car to another male."
Fatal crash near 76th and Calumet
The complaint goes on to say the son of the owner of the Chevrolet indicated "he had (been) driving from his employer back to his residence in the Chevrolet HHR" to pick up Kevin Hightire. He said Hightire "was visibly upset and said, 'I messed up, I messed up.'" Hightire later stated "there was an accident, it's not my fault."
Police later questioned Hightire. On the day of the crash, Hightire said he had been out in the Chevrolet -- and when he returned home, he saw his neighbor, Washington, pulled over to the side of the road. Washington told Hightire he "had the money he owed Defendant Hightire for a television that had recently been purchased." But that he needed to go to an ATM to get the cash.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android
On the way to the ATM, the criminal complaint says the speed of both Washington's vehicle and Hightire's vehicle increased. Hightire indicated "Washington has always driven fast, but never 100 mph before." Hightire told police "he was having trouble keeping up with Defendant Washington's Pontiac because of the speed, and that both he and Defendant Washington were weaving in and out of traffic as he was attempting to keep up."
Hightire went on to say Washington "slowed up a bit as they approached Dean Street, which allowed him (Defendant Hightire) to pass and get ahead. Defendant Hightire related that Defendant Washington then sped by increasing his speed -- and took off." Hightire told police "there was no way he could catch up to Defendant Washington" and that Washington "was traveling at least 100 mph when the collision occurred."
The complaint says Hightire stated after the collision, he saw the passenger in Washington's vehicle appeared unconscious. Hightire said "Washington was trying to pick up items from in the car. Defendant Hightire stated Defendant Washington wanted to leave the passenger behind, but Defendant Hightire refused because the passenger was hurt." Hightire stated, "he and Defendant Washington put the passenger in the Chevrolet HHR and then drove them all back to their apartment complex."
3 separate shootings in Milwaukee; 3 men, 1 woman wounded
Milwaukee police are investigating three separate shooting incidents that happened Thursday, Dec. 2 into Friday, Dec. 3. Three men and one woman were wounded as a result of the shootings.
Jerseys for Jackson: Social media explodes with support for Waukesha boy
Support for a social media campaign honoring an 8-year-old boy killed in the Waukesha Christmas Parade has been nothing short of astounding.
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Wind topples giant statue of China's first emperor
Beijing (AFP) –
A strong gale-force wind has toppled a giant statue of China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang and flattened its face at a popular tourist site in eastern Shandong province.
The 19-meter (62-foot) bronze replica of the monarch -- who was the first to unify warring factions in China and established the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC) -? was blown out of its pedestal on Friday.
Cranes were immediately called in to pick up the statue, which weighs about six tonnes, according to the state-run People's Daily newspaper.
Photographs showed the structure was hollow, with metal bars inside.
The monument was built in 2005 to attract visitors to a local tourist resort.
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Turkey's oldest national daily remains bastion of press freedom
Istanbul (AFP) –
Founded less than a year after the creation of modern Turkey, the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet whose journalists were convicted on Wednesday of terror-related charges remains one of the country's last bastions of press freedom.
Cumhuriyet -- which means simply "Republic" -- was set up in 1924 as a staunch supporter of the secular modern nation created by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.
But in the last years it has taken a strong line against the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), putting it on a collision course with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The 13 journalists and executives convicted include some of the most prominent commentators in Turkey, such as editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu, celebrated cartoonist Musa Kart and influential anti-Erdogan columnist Kadri Gursel.
They were given multiple sentences for "aiding and abetting terror organisations without being a member" but they remain free pending appeal.
Three others were acquitted.
They had been accused of ties with Kurdish militants and the group of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen blamed for the July 2016 failed coup, charges that supporters say are ridiculous.
"Enough is enough with this cruelty," Cumhuriyet said in its front page on Wednesday before the convictions.
After the verdict, the newspaper said on its website: "You will be shamed in front of history."
Throughout the trial and during their stints in jail, the staff have remained defiant.
Editor-in-chief Sabuncu said in late 2016: "We bow down in front of our people and our readers. We do not bow down in front of anyone else."
- 'Hostile environment' -
Unlike many other Turkish newspapers that are owned by big industrial holding companies -- which critics say makes them vulnerable to government influence -- Cumhuriyet is owned by a foundation to ensure its independence, if not financial security.
It has little of the celebrity gossip and snaps of Turkish soap stars on holiday that take up pages of most of its rivals, instead giving greater space to the arts.
Some local and special interest newspapers in Turkey trace their history back to Ottoman times but Cumhuriyet is the oldest of the mainstream national titles.
It has a circulation of just over 50,000 but its influence as an independent voice had been hugely significant.
A key decision was taken in February 2015 when, after years of internal conflicts, Cumhuriyet appointed the high-profile Turkish writer and filmmaker Can Dundar as its editor-in-chief.
Moving the paper to the left, Dundar took a far more stringent anti-government line and in May 2015 published a sensational front page claiming to show the government sending arms to rebels in Syria.
Erdogan warned Dundar he would pay "a heavy price" and in May 2016 Dundar was handed a five-year-and-10-month jail term for revealing state secrets. His Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gul got five years.
But last month, Turkey's top appeals court quashed the verdict. The Court of Cassation, known as the Yargitay, said he should face an even more serious charge of "providing information for the purpose of espionage" and a longer prison term of up to 20 years.
Dundar was also wanted over the current case against Cumhuriyet but the court on Wednesday ordered his dossier to be separated from the others. But, with his appeal pending, Dundar slipped away to Germany from where he set up a new Turkish-language media organ.
The paper had also riled the authorities in early 2015 by reproducing a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed in the wake of the attack on French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris.
Dundar stepped down as editor in August 2016, saying coming back to Turkey to face the judiciary "would be like putting one's head under the guillotine."
The paper was in 2015 awarded the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) TV5 Monde Press Freedom Prize to recognise its fight for media freedom "in an increasingly hostile environment and courageous coverage."
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Things to do in Moscow
Red Square
Moscow: Soviet History Tour
Learn the history of Moscow during the days of the Soviet Union on a guided tour. Learn more about the heritage of the Communist era and some of the greatest political figures who changed the world in the 20th century.
See the site of the former KGB headquarters
Go to Red Square to look at Lenin's Mausoleum and Stalin's Tomb
Pay your respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Learn about Stalin's project for the huge buildings on Tverskaya Street
Hear about how Soviet people shopped at the GUM department store
Travel back in time to the days of the Soviet Union and learn about life in Moscow under Communism. Look at the headquarters of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) and see the former KGB building. Learn who was the founder of the secret service during Soviet times, and which state was placed in the center of Lubyanka Square. Continue to Red Square to see Lenin’s Mausoleum and hear about the most important political project of the Soviet government since 1924. Get the chance to see Stalin’s Tomb – relocated to the Kremlin Wall – from Red Square, along with other tombs of his supporters. Enter Alexander Garden to look at the magnificent Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the eternal flame. End on Tverskaya Street and learn about Stalin’s master plan to change the look of Moscow forever.
Meet at the entrance to the St. Regis Nikolskaya Hotel, Malyy Cherkasskiy Pereulok, 2, Moskva, Russia, 109012. The guide will be waiting for you close to the entrance of with a GetYourGuide/Russia with Love sign.
This tour does not include visits inside the buildings and museums
Tanya was an excellent guide and provided us with a lot of amazing information. The bittersweet journey was appreciated by both adults and our children. Unfortunately due to heavy rain we were forced to abandon the planned excursion, but Tanya was so flexible that we continued with a riveting tour in the metro, all with a Soviet history theme. I would recommend this tour for anyone visiting Moscow for the first time.
Aleks – South Africa Verified booking
Fantastic day!
I am really interested in Soviet history, so the tour was just what I needed. Vladimir told me a lot of interesting stories and facts!
Patrik – Russia Verified booking
Very good, informative tour
The guide was very animated and motivated - made it easy and enjoyable to follow. Contents were interesting although most buildings were visited only from the outside. Tourist crowds on the streets made the visit almost unpleasant.
Pedja – Switzerland Verified booking
"RVL Tours" LLC
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David Harsanyi Tells Glenn Why He's Firmly #NeverTrump
If you’re like many conservative Americans, you find yourself in a conundrum this election season without a clear-cut candidate to vote for. While Glenn has made his decision, he wants to help undecided voters hear from across the conservative political spectrum.
“We’re going to try something in the next two weeks that is very, very different because I think that America — at least maybe this audience and conservatives all around America, maybe 30 percent of them — are struggling with the hardest political decision of their lives,” Glenn said. “I don’t like Hillary Clinton. I don’t want her president. But I also don’t like Donald Trump and I don’t want him president. How do you deal with that?”
Over the next two weeks, The Glenn Beck Program will feature heavy hitters from the conservative right in four categories:
1. Get on Board the Trump Train
2. Get off the Trump Train
3. #AlwaysTrump
4. #NeverTrump
“I’ve made my decision, but this is a decision that each of us has to make as individuals. And nobody can tell you what the right answer is for you. So we’re going to talk to both sides of this argument,” Glenn said.
David Harsanyi, senior editor of The Federalist and former member of TheBlaze staff, joined Glenn on Thursday to share why he is firmly in the #NeverTrump category.
Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:
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Home :: WMD :: Library :: News :: Turkey :: 2020 :: July ::
Turkish drilling in Mediterranean can affect relations with EU, Germany warns
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 21 July 2020 2:49 PM
Germany says Turkey's failure to halt drilling activities in contested waters in the eastern Mediterranean Sea would affect relations between Ankara and the European Union (EU).
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas raised the alarm on Tuesday, after his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said last week that Ankara would start seismic research and gas drilling operations in waters that are covered by an agreement between Turkey and the Libyan government.
Greece has rejected the accord as geographically absurd since it ignores the presence of the Greek island of Crete between the coasts of Turkey and Libya.
Maas said the activities constituted acts of "provocation."
"Regarding Turkey's drilling in the eastern Mediterranean, we have a very clear position; international law must be upheld and that is why progress in EU-Turkey relations will only be possible if Ankara stops provocations in the eastern Mediterranean," the German foreign minister said during a visit to the Greek capital of Athens on Tuesday.
"At the same time, we see the need within the European Union for dialog with Turkey given that Turkey is an important strategic partner when it comes to NATO and migration policies. That is why there can't be any honest dialog with Turkey if we can't tell Turkey they have to deliver when it comes [to] all the unanswered questions especially concerning the eastern Mediterranean," he said.
Turkey's claims to drilling rights have also upset other countries around the corner of the sea, namely Egypt and Cyprus.
The drilling has also led to a stalemate in negotiations over Turkey's accession to the EU. Earlier this year, the EU announced plans to slap sanctions on Ankara over its "illegal" drilling in the eastern Mediterranean off Cyprus.
The Cypriot government has previously called Turkey a "pirate state" because of Ankara's resumption of drilling operations in waters that Cyprus claims to be part of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Turkey rejects the agreements that the internationally-recognized Cypriot government has reached with other Mediterranean states on maritime economic zones.
Cyprus was divided in 1974 after a Turkish invasion triggered by a brief, Greek-inspired coup. Several peacemaking efforts have failed, and the discovery of offshore resources in the eastern Mediterranean has complicated the negotiations.
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Goldstar closes second and final tranche of offering of flow-through units and non-flow-through units
Montréal, Québec– May 4, 2016 – Goldstar Minerals Inc. ("Goldstar" or the "Corporation") (TSX Venture Exchange: GDM)
The Corporation is pleased to announce that the second tranche of the offering was completed for gross proceeds of $167,500, consisting of 5,650,000 flow-through shares and 2,725,000 non flow-through shares as well as an aggregate of 5,550,000 warrants. The Corporation has paid EMD Financial Services an amount of $12,500 as a Finder’s fee. Gross proceeds for both tranches amount to $300,860.
Each flow-through unit consists of one flow-through common share at a price of two cents per share and one-half common share purchase warrant, each warrant entitling its holder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.05 per share for a period of 24 months following the closing date.
Each non flow-through unit consists of one common share at a price of two cents per share and one common share purchase warrant, each warrant entitling its holder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.05 per share for a period of 24 months following the closing date.
The Corporation has agreed to pay the Finder i) a cash payment equal to 10% of the gross proceeds; ii) Finders options entitling the Finder to purchase such number of common shares equal to 5% of the aggregate number of units issued under the offering at a price of five cents per share for a period of 24 months following the closing date; iii) such number of common shares of the Corporation equal to 5% of the number of units subscribed pursuant to the offering; and iv) a corporate finance fee of $5,000 at closing.
Use of proceeds
The proceeds of the flow-through offering shall be used incur Canadian exploration expenditures (as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada)), which will be renounced for the 2016 taxation year for mining exploration work on the Corporation’s Lake George property located in New Brunswick, which will include an airborne survey ($85,000), remote sensing study ($15,000), permitting, compiling, targeting and diamond drilling ($140,000).
The proceeds of the non-flow-through offering shall be used for general corporate purposes. No part of the proceeds shall be used to reimburse insiders of the Corporation for past indebtedness.
All securities issued, including the Common Shares underlying the warrants, are subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from the date of closing. Closing remains subject to all applicable regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
This press release is not an offer or a solicitation of an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration.
Appointment of a new Corporate Secretary
Goldstar Minerals announces that Mr. Jonathan Federico was appointed as the Corporate Secretary of the Corporation. Mr. David Johnston has resigned as the corporate secretary of Goldstar Minerals and the Board of directors wishes him every success in his future endeavours.
About Goldstar Minerals Inc.
Goldstar Minerals is focused on developing high-value tungsten and related metals deposits in leading mining jurisdictions in Canada. Goldstar Minerals has the Julien property in Québec and the Lake George Property in New Brunswick, each with year-round access. The Company is led by a talented team with expertise and major company experience in resource exploration and development and a clear understanding of the mining business.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of
GOLDSTAR MINERALS INC.
Benoit Moreau, Chief Executive Officer
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Richard Charles Francis Annett
Revision as of 12:17, 17 November 2016 by Ait (talk | contribs)
Richard Charles Francis Annett (c1840-1911)
R. C. F. ANNETT, who had formerly held the office of Honorary Secretary of the Society for 15 years, died at Liverpool on 10th October, 1911, in his 72nd year.
During the construction of the Vyrnwy Waterworks Mr. Annett was managing clerk, and as such had charge of all the expenditure connected with the numerous contracts which had to be entered into. This appointment he held until 1892 when he was appointed Chief Clerk in the Water Department of the City of Liverpool.
In his capacity as Honorary Secretary of the Society Mr. Annett rendered invaluable service, and his devotion to the work of the Society could not well have been surpassed. The fact that during the time that he was Honorary Secretary the Society increased, enormously in numbers and prestige, until at the time of his retirement in 1907 its strength was 516 of all grades, was a striking tribute to his work.
On the occasion of his retirement Mr. Annett was elected an Honorary Life Associate of the Society, and the esteem in which he was held was further shown by the extensive support given throughout the Society to a presentation made to Mrs. Annett and himself on behalf of the members. On that occasion numerous Past Presidents of the Society expressed their great appreciation of his work not only in the routine of his duties as Honorary Secretary and in editing the Transactions, but also in his organisation of the various visits paid by the Society to engineering works and in his efforts to promote the spirit of good fellowship which existed in the Society. The very large attendance of Past Presidents, Officers and Members of the Council at his funeral bore testimony to the great regard in which Mr. Annett was held by the members of the Society.
↑ 1912 Liverpool Engineering Society: Obituaries
Retrieved from "https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/index.php?title=Richard_Charles_Francis_Annett&oldid=898507"
Liverpool Engineering Society
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Gulf Coast Retina Center
Gulf Coast Retina Associates, LLC
Dan P. Montzka, M.D.
BOARD CERTIFIED OPHTHALMOLOGIST
Dr. Dan P. Montzka, a board-certified ophthalmologist, specializes in diseases of the vitreous and retina. His area of sub-specialty includes the medical and surgical management of diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, retinal detachments and complications of intraocular surgery.
Dr. Montzka received his bachelor’s degree with honors in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, Institute of Technology in 1985. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1989, receiving the Charles A. Oliver award for outstanding achievement in the field of Ophthalmology. After serving his ophthalmology residency at the Scheie Eye Institute in Philadelphia, Dr. Montzka completed his fellowship training in retina and intraocular tumors at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia.
Dr. Montzka has authored numerous papers on retinal vascular disease and retinal electrophysiology. He edited the popular Wills Eye Hospital Atlas of Clinical Ophthalmology on CD-ROM and served as the medical consultant on the classic ophthalmology reference Duane’s Clinical Ophthalmology on CD-ROM. Dr. Montzka has developed his own electronic medical software for use in his practice. In April 2001, he earned a United States Patent for the apparatus, system and method for securing scleral tissue during certain forms of retina surgery.
Dr. Montzka maintains an active interest in the latest research and treatment of retinal disease. He recently served as an investigator for the Visudyne Photodynamic Therapy Study and Rheopheresis Clinical Trial.
Dr. Montzka and his wife, Marianne, have four children and reside in Tarpon Springs.
Medical and Professional Memberships
American Society of Retinal Specialists
Association for Research In Vision and Ophthalmology
Pasco County Medical Society
Pennsylvania Medical Society
Copyright © 2021 Gulf Coast Retina Associates, LLC
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LendingClub Closes Acquisition of Radius Bancorp
Combination of Leading Online Lender with Award Winning Online Bank Creates First Full-Spectrum Marketplace Bank
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 1, 2021
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LendingClub Corporation (
NYSE:LC, Financial) today announced the completion of its acquisition of Radius Bancorp, Inc. and its digital bank subsidiary, Radius Bank ("Radius"). The acquisition combines the strengths of two digital innovators with complementary businesses and a digital-first, branchless approach to banking that will help improve the financial well-being of everyday Americans, while driving accelerated revenue growth for the company.
"This is a historic day for LendingClub and a true watershed moment for the industry," said Scott Sanborn, CEO of LendingClub. "The move to digital-first banking is accelerating, and we are now positioned to capture that trend to grow our membership base, to more deeply engage with our existing 3 million members, and to help them keep more of what they earn and earn more on what they keep. By bringing together the unique assets of these two industry-leading businesses we can build on our history of improving the financial health of everyday Americans while significantly accelerating our growth trajectory."
LendingClub will provide additional details on the Radius acquisition when it reports earnings for the fourth quarter and full year 2020.
About LendingClub
LendingClub Corporation (NYSE: LC) is the parent company of LendingClub Bank, National Association, Member FDIC. It is the only full-spectrum fintech marketplace bank, and the first public U.S. neobank. Members can gain access to a broad range of financial products and services through a technology-driven platform, designed to help them pay less when borrowing and earn more when saving. Since 2007, more than 3 million members have joined the Club to help reach their financial goals. For more information about LendingClub, visit https://www.lendingclub.com.
Some of the statements above, including statements regarding the ability to realize certain financial and strategic benefits from the transaction, are "forward-looking statements." The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "outlook," "plan," "predict," "project," "will," "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements include our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the transaction with Radius and those factors set forth in the section titled "Risk Factors" in our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K, each as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as our subsequent filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and 10-K. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in forward-looking statements. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Information in this press release is not an offer to sell securities or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.
CONTACT: For Investors: [email protected]; Media Contact: [email protected]
View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lendingclub-closes-acquisition-of-radius-bancorp-301218843.html
SOURCE LendingClub Corporation
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The City of Greater Sudbury has a Diversity Policy which emphasizes acceptance, inclusion and equality for all.
The concept of a diversity policy for the City of Greater Sudbury was first advanced by the City's Diversity Advisory Panel and Chair Leonard Kim. The Diversity Advisory Panel worked over many months to develop the content, scope and audiences for the Diversity Policy and statement to ensure clear intentions and direct connection to human dignity, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Following these efforts, the Diversity Advisory Panel presented the Diversity Policy and Statement to Council who adopted it unanimously in May 2014.
The policy was then taken on by the Newcomer, Immigrant and Refugee Advisory Panel, which was established to provide advice to City Council on strengthening support in the community. This panel worked to develop the artwork and layout of the Policy to engage audiences and display publicly in municipal facilities.
The Diversity Policy, which includes artwork by local artist Sarah King Gold, is on permanent display at Tom Davies Square and will be permanently installed at all municipal facilities.
Diversity Policy Statement
Equality and inclusion are fundamental human rights for every individual, as prescribed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Throughout our City, we support diversity in all of its forms, including but not limited to age, disability, economic circumstance, marital status, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and gender expression, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
Leading by example, we aspire to make diversity a core and abiding strength of the City of Greater Sudbury. Our strength is found in our differences and we strive to embrace diversity in all that we do.
Our mission is best fulfilled when we honour diversity as a value and a practice. In doing so, our community will attract and retain the most talented and skilled people to the City of Greater Sudbury, and this will benefit our economy and our quality of life.
Achieving diversity requires an enduring commitment to human dignity and inclusion that must find full expression in our organizational culture, values, norms and behaviours.
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the judicial power
The judicial power is independent of the executive and legislative powers. It shall be exercised by the Supreme Court and the other Courts and Tribunals. The power of the judiciary is the guardian of the liberties defined by this Constitution. It guards the rights and liberties defined by this Constitution. It is charged to apply, in its proper domain, the laws of the Republic.
Magistrates shall not be suppressed in the exercise of their duties, but by the authority of the law. Seated Magistrates may not be removed. The President of the Republic is the guarantor of the independence of the judicial power. The Superior Council shall watch over the management of the Magistrates’ careers and shall give its opinion on any question concerning the independence of the Magistracy. The Superior Council of the Magistracy serves as the Council of discipline for the Magistrates. Organizational law shall establish the composition, organization, allocations, and functioning of the Superior Council of the Magistracy. Law shall likewise establish the status of the Magistracy with respect to conformity with the principles of this Constitution.
Constitution : Mali
The Rights and Duties of Human Dignity
The State and Sovereignty
The Cabinet
The National Assembly
Interaction between the Cabinet and the National Assembly
The High Court of Justice
The Territorial Collectives
The High Council of Collectives
The Economic, Social and Cultural Council
Treaties and International Accords
On African Unity
Final Arrangements
Transitory Arrangements
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Grant Categories
As of January 2021, the Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion in International Affairs is no longer accepting unsolicited inquiries. We encourage applicants interested in the topic of religion in global perspective to consult the grantmaking guidelines of the Luce Foundation’s Religion and Theology Program.
Responsive Grants
The Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion in International Affairs aims to provide intellectual leadership, develop new paradigms for research and teaching, create new resources and networks, and enhance public understanding of and discussion about religion in the international sphere.
Fellowships in Religion, Journalism & International Affairs
Launched in 2015, the Luce/ACLS Program in Religion, Journalism & International Affairs (RJIA) is designed to foster new connections between scholars and journalists covering international affairs. Fellowships are available to scholars pursuing research on any aspect of religion in an international context. The program is administered by the American Council of Learned Societies on behalf of the Luce Foundation.
See Fellowship Program details
Image: American journalist Micah Danney as he films Palestinian children by a building that was heavily damaged in Beit Hanoun, Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas during the war in 2014. Photo by Heidi Levine for The Groundtruth Project.
Carat Up
Recent News and Announcements
See All Religion in International Affairs News
Reflections on the Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion in International Affairs: 2005-2021
Religion in International Affairs, Foundation News
Hope and Disappointment Under Lockdown in Kashmir
Religion in International Affairs, Responding to Covid-19
A Case for De-emphasizing Religion in US Foreign Policy
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Hearing continued in sexual abuse case
Wednesday, July 27, 2016 3:14pm
Homer District Court Judge Margaret Murphy on July 21 continued a preliminary hearing for Stephen R. Boyle, 43, a Homer man charged with six counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor.
Boyle is the deputy fire chief for Kachemak Emergency Services. Boyle was released on bail last month and remains on administrative leave with his Kenai Peninsula Borough job. Because he has not yet been indicted by a grand jury, a preliminary hearing was required.
Boyle’s lawyer, Andy Pevehouse, waived court rules requiring an indictment and a speedy trial. Pevehouse said he was waiting for information from the Homer Police.
Boyle’s next hearing is 3:30 p.m. Aug. 22.
In a press release, Homer Police said on May 31 they received a complaint from woman in her 20s that over a period of six years and when she was between the ages of 9 and 15 she had been sexually assaulted by Boyle. The woman now lives in Florida, but grew up in Homer.
Homer Police Chief Mark Robl said the woman contacted a county sheriff in Florida and that office contacted Homer Police.
According to a criminal complaint by Sgt. Lary Kuhns, the woman claimed that from about 1997 to 2003 and on six occasions she was sexually assaulted at Boyle’s home and other locations. To protect the woman’s privacy, the Homer News is not providing details regarding her exact age or her relationship to Boyle.
Lower Cook Inlet oil leases advance
Council talks animal control, water assessments, budget
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Art & Culture / Photography / Half a century of photography with Joel Meyerowitz
Half a century of photography with Joel Meyerowitz
A modern-day master
Posted Friday 9th March 2018 /
Text By Miss Rosen
Photography © Joel Meyerowitz
From still lifes and cityscapes to portraits and street shots: the legendary US photographer looks back on his ‘rollercoaster’ legacy.
At 80 years old, American photographer Joel Meyerowitz is still going strong, forging a singular path that has taken him around the globe several times over. Hailing from East Bronx, Meyerowitz began his career as a street photographer, capturing the curious, quirky moments that reveal themselves as quickly as they disappear.
Today, Meyerowitz now finds himself living on a farm in Tuscany, amassing an archive of 50,000 photographs in just about every genre imaginable. “How come I found myself here, living in Italy and making still lifes when I am a street photographer Jew form New York City? What am I doing here?” Meyerowitz laughs.
He set out to answer this question in Where I Find Myself (Laurence King), a career retrospective presented in reverse chronological order. Here, Meyerowitz takes us on a magical journey from the present into the past, guiding us through the many chapters of his well-lived life.
The Caldwells, Truro, Massachusetts, 1976
Rather than make a collection of greatest hits, he set out to show what he describes as “the twists and turns, the failures and the cul de sacs, all the things that happened along the way: the story of a life in photography. When you look back through all of the different passages in your life, they all seem to line up in very interesting ways. If you start from the beginning when you are a young artist, you can’t see what your path is going to be.”
Where I Find Myself reveals Meyerowitz’s path from still lifes, landscapes, cityscapes, and scenes of Ground Zero immediately following 9/11 to portraits, road trips, street photographs, and a body of colour work long ahead of most anyone else.
New York City, 1974
“I love this medium,” the photographer exudes. “Everything I know about the world around me and myself has really come from serving it.” Meyerowitz got his start as a printer and a graduate student in art history at a time when most of his friends were action painters and Abstract Expressionists.
“When I said I was going to be a photographer, they looked [at me] like I was crazy,” he remembers. “We were the untouchables because we used a machine, but it didn’t matter. I understood something about the risk of photographing, about time and movement, the instantaneity of things, and how it was about perception in the fraction of a second, consciousness in a fraction of a second, and these things were of incredible value to me. My innocence was to work with colour because I didn’t have a prejudice.”
The artist describes the early years of his career as “like riding the rollercoaster.”
“It was a thrilling challenging rid because the time was so open-ended because there was no commercial or celebrity fame around photography,” he recalls. “It was a free system. You did it for love of medium – and if you serve the medium the lessons come to you. It’s Zen in a way. The medium is the guru and you get the message from the medium itself.”
This message revealed itself in the physicality of the form, of the tempo and rhythm of the photographer’s hand-eye coordination. “I am very physical, I play ball, I dance, I knew how to move, and photography is about movement,” he explains.
For Meyerowitz, photography “was like a leap into a new time, space realm where you could watch the reality play in front of you like a film but you’re always looking at the high moments where the action is exquisitely told and the action lasts for a few hundredths of a second: BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Everything was disappearing and only the camera and its perception of the moment could hold on to it.”
Elias, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1981
Joel Meyerowtiz is currently teaching a Masters of Photography course.
Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.
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Miss Rosen
Posted Friday 9th March, 2018
A photo exploration of the evolving American landscape
The small coastal haven that became an outsiders’ paradise
Postcards from Provincetown
If photography is limitless, why doesn’t it represent everyone?
Championing other voices
Shooting visual rhymes in the heart of the city
People, places, things
How Bruce Davidson captured worlds in transition
Outsider on the inside
From Brooklyn gang members, to Welsh miners and the residents of East Harlem, Bruce Davidson used his camera to shine a light on the most marginalised.
As a Black Bristolian, the Colston verdict is bittersweet
Toppling racism
While the Colston 4 verdict is worth celebrating, it‘s debatable whether the law would’ve had such empathy for Black people in the same position.
The Outsiders Project > Features
Skate legend Ray Barbee is still living the dream
The street-skating pioneer talks life, legacy and why, after all these years, he still views his monumental career as a case of ’right time, right place’.
News & Politics > Activism
Inside the community kitchen feeding Hackney
#NoOneGoesHungry
During the pandemic, Made In Hackney launched a meal service that has since proved vital for many, made up of vegan dishes that reflect the borough‘s cultural diversity.
Politics For All is over, but the memeification of news isn‘t
While the popular news aggregation service has been kicked off Twitter, its demise does not spell the end of digestible misinformation.
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Coldplay Opens Up To Say What Exactly 'Music Of The Spheres' Is About
By Ariel King
Coldplay released their ninth studio album, Music of the Spheres, on Friday, October 15. The record found them utilizing emojis as song titles and slipping into their own world. Sitting down with NME to explain the concept behind the album, the band's frontman, Chris Martin, explained that Music of the Spheres is " a set of songs located in a distant galaxy... that we made up."
"It's where we can be totally free from any pressure of what we've done before and how we should sound," Martin added in the interview. "That freedom of location allows us to speak about what it means to be human. It seems a bit sci-fi and everything, but really it's a bunch of love songs. It's not even really set in space. It could all be set in Margate too; it just depends what the music videos and artworks look like – we could have dancing fish and chips salesmen instead..."
The album itself found Coldplay collaborating with the likes of Selena Gomez and BTS, the band willing to step out of their own sound and dabble in something different. The band's bass player, Guy Berryman, explained of the BTS collaboration, "My Universe," that the band has "got such amazing energy. We hung out with them recently in New York, and even though there's a bit of a language barrier, it didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable at all. When a situation like that arises, the easiest thing can be to say 'no' to a collaboration like that because they're different, or they're from a different genre or a different country. There's so many historical situations where that collaboration wouldn't have happened."
The band cements that Music of the Spheres is more about breaking down barriers, with drummer Will Champion adding to Berryman's words. "This notion that change is a bad thing is crazy – we want to grow and embrace music and culture from all over the world," Champion said. "That's the spirit of this album, trying to get rid of all those barriers we put up between us and other people."
Coldplay has been steadily touring their record (which contains song credits to both of Chris Martin's kids) in support of its release. They performed at this year's Global Citizen Live and were joined on stage by Billie Eilish and her brother, FINNEAS, then Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes. When they returned to London for an album release party at Shepherd's Bush Empire on October 12, Ed Sheeran joined along for a performance of "Fix You" and "Shape of You." Coldplay also joined iHeartRadio for an Album Releaes Party.
After putting a hold on touring for several years due to a desire to limit their carbon footprint, Coldplay revealed that they'll be returning to the touring circuit in support of Music of the Spheres. However, the tour will be as eco-friendly as possible, with fans on the dancefloor helping to generate energy, and the trek will cut down their CO2 emissions by 50% from the last time they had toured.
Topics Coldplay
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Il Rossignolo, Amiata Piano Festival 2018
Il Rossignolo is an ensemble specialized in studying and playing early music on historical instruments. It was founded by flutists Marica Testi and Martino Noferi, with harpsichordist Ottaviano Tenerani, who also conducts it.
It is hailed internationally as “a bearer of Italian excellence in early music” (Financial Times Deutschland).
Il Rossignolo has a record agreement with Sony Classical International. Il Rossignolo’s first release with Sony was the Germanico, a previously unpublished opus recovered by the ensemble and attributed to Georg Friedrich Händel; This album have received unconditional praise and enthusiastic reviews, from both international critics and music magazines all over the world. The successive recording, Telemann Virtuoso, has been considered “exceptional” by specialised magazines susch as Fanfare (USA) and Musica (ITA), and included among the best 25 records of the year by Artribune. In September 2019 Sony released Il Rossignolo’s 4 cd box with the first recording ever of the complete Sonatas for Solo instrument and Bass by Georg Friedrich Händel. Future projects with Sony are the first recording ever of Italian composers Antonio Caldara and Alessandro Scarlatti.
Il Rossignolo is also involved in teaching, in Italy as well as abroad, holding courses and masterclasses mainly focused on the interpretation of early music. The ensemble is the artist-in-residence at the International Academy of Organ and Early Music Giuseppe Gherardeschi in Pistoia – where it coordinates the historical interpretation department, with courses on early instruments and chamber music.
International awards:
In 2012 Sony Classical International included Il Rossignolo in its “Top Artists” catalogue.
The ensemble also received prizes and awards from: Muse Baroque, Early Music, The Classic Voice, Classical Music, Concerto, Musica, Musicweb International, Gramophone, Financial Times Deutschland, International Record Review, BBC Music Magazine, The Sunday Times, NDR Kultur.
Il Rossignolo, Palacio de Bellas Artes – Ciudad de México
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David Gray complains about the use of music as torture in the “War on Terror”
Andy Worthington | 03.07.2008 22:44 | Guantánamo | Repression | Terror War | World
Singer-songwriter David Gray has taken a brave stand by complaining about the use of his music as torture by the US military in "War on Terror" prisons in Guantánamo, in Iraq, and in secret prisons run by the CIA.
On BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight, singer-songwriter David Gray spoke out against the use of music as torture by the US military.
Gray’s chart-topping song Babylon, played repeatedly at ear-piercing volume, is one of dozens of songs, by artists including Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against the Machine and Britney Spears, that has been used by the US military as part of a package of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” intended to “break” prisoners held without charge or trial in the “War on Terror” -- in Guantánamo, in Iraq, and in secret prisons run by the CIA.
As the Guardian recently explained, the use of Babylon first came to light “after Haj Ali, the hooded man in the notorious Abu Ghraib photographs, told of being stripped, handcuffed and forced to listen to a looped sample of Babylon, at a volume so high he feared that his head would burst.”
Complaining that the only part of the torture music story that gets noticed is its “novelty aspect” -- which he compared to “Guantánamo[‘s] Greatest Hits” -- Gray delivered a powerful indictment of the misappropriation of his and other artists’ music.
“What we're talking about here is people in a darkened room, physically inhibited by handcuffs, bags over their heads and music blaring at them for 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he told the BBC. “That is torture. That is nothing but torture. It doesn't matter what the music is -- it could be Tchaikovsky's finest or it could be Barney the Dinosaur. It really doesn't matter, it's going to drive you completely nuts.” He added, “No-one wants to even think about it or discuss the fact that we've gone above and beyond all legal process and we're torturing people.”
This is the second time that Gray has spoken out about the use of music as torture. Two weeks ago, he explained, “The moral niceties of whether they're using my song or not are totally irrelevant. We are thinking below the level of the people we're supposed to oppose, and it goes against our entire history and everything we claim to represent. It's disgusting, really. Anything that draws attention to the scale of the horror and how low we've sunk is a good thing.”
Reprieve, the legal action charity that represents over 30 prisoners at Guantánamo, recently launched an initiative, Pull the Plug on Torture Music ( http://www.reprieve.org.uk/Press_stop_torture_music.htm), encouraging artists to sign up to prevent the use of their music as part of the US military’s torture techniques, to insert a clause in their contracts preventing the misuse of their music, and, in general, to raise awareness of the issue by spreading the word and playing anti-torture gigs.
Others who have signed up for Reprieve’s initiative include Massive Attack (who recently hosted a series of Reprieve events at their Meltdown festival at London’s Southbank Centre), Alabama 3, Elbow, the Magic Numbers, Seize the Day, and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, who told Spin magazine in 2006, “The fact that our music has been co-opted in this barbaric way is really disgusting. If you're at all familiar with ideological teachings of the band and its support for human rights, that's really hard to stand.”
Whether you like David Gray’s music or not should be irrelevant. He understands what’s really going on with the use of music as torture, and he’s been brave enough to raise his head above the parapet, which is not something that musicians are always prepared to do.
Andy is the author of "The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal Prison" ( http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/the-guantanamo-files/).
Andy Worthington
e-mail: andy@andyworthington.co.uk
Homepage: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/
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Choral Currents
Dale Warland Singers
Choral gems
Mary Ellen Childs
Stephen Paulus
Steve Barnett
Carol Barnett
Cary John Franklin
Sydney Hodkinson
Libby Larsen
McKnight Series
Choral CurrentsiTunes Artist's PageiTunes Album Page
1. Bright Faces 12:38
2. 4 Preludes on Playthings of the Wind: No. 1, The Woman Named Tomorrow 01:31 $0.99
3. 4 Preludes on Playthings of the Wind: No. 2, We are the Greatest 02:09 $0.99
4. 4 Preludes on Playthings of the Wind: No. 3, Rats and Lizards 03:43 $0.99
5. 4 Preludes on Playthings of the Wind: No. 4, The Wind and the Dust 03:33 $0.99
6. 3 Songs from Hebrew Poetry: No. 1, The Poet 01:43 $0.99
7. 3 Songs from Hebrew Poetry: No. 2, Epitaph. For a Wife 00:36 $0.99
8. 3 Songs from Hebrew Poetry: No. 3, The Sun 01:40 $0.99
9. The Last Invocation 05:03 $0.99
10. With a Poet's Eye: No. 1, The Uncertainty of the Poet 01:17 $0.99
11. With a Poet's Eye: No. 2, Rodins Muse 03:16 $0.99
12. With a Poet's Eye: No. 3, The Badminton Game 01:57 $0.99
13. With a Poet's Eye: No. 4, Coming from Evening Church 03:32 $0.99
14. With a Poet's Eye: No. 5, The Merry-Go-Round at Night 01:53 $0.99
15. Expiration 04:47 $0.99
16. The Settling Years: No. 1, Comin' to Town 02:49 $0.99
17. The Settling Years: No. 2, Beneath These Alien Stars 05:22 $0.99
18. The Settling Years: No. 3, A Hoopla 03:27 $0.99
The masterful talents of the legendary Dale Warland Singers in action.
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Album Review: Beneath The Massacre - Fearmonger
Artist: Beneath The Massacre
Album: Fearmonger
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Review by Steve Jenkins
Canadian technical death metal destroyers, Beneath The Massacre, have returned with their first album in a whopping eight years! Yes that's right, it has been like the tech-death version of waiting for the new Tool record, but this time Beneath The Massacre have absolutely crushed, destroyed and obliterated expectations with 'Fearmonger'.
There is absolutely no shortage of mind-blowing technical riffs, crazy time signatures and patterns, thunderous blast beats and scorching vocals on this new album. This is peak tech-death for those who enjoy everything sped up and then some, so right away you know that this is some of the most intense stuff out there. Standout tracks such as "Hidden In Plain Sight", "Of Gods And Machines" and "Rise Of The Fearmonger" are absolutely brutal and punishing from beginning to end. The guitar work on this album is absolutely ridiculous and insane, and I still can't fathom how anyone can play that fast with so much technical precision.
The vocals on 'Fearmonger' and just as proficient and brilliantly executed as the musicianship, with frontman Elliot Desgagnés acting as a machine gun with his venomous vocals whilst the music is the soundtrack for battle and destruction. His range is super impressive and despite most people just thinking of it as gutturals, there's actually quite some variety ranging from pitches, bellowing growls and shrill screams. So the vocals definitely factor in to the intensity of the bands music for sure, but is also an impressive element in its own right.
What Beneath The Massacre have created with 'Fearmonger' is seriously one of the best comebacks I've ever heard. Hitting everything from the tech-death you feel in love with a decade ago to brutal intensity without sacrificing any of their outstanding qualities. They've proven that a band can indeed create an absolute masterclass in music after not having released anything for eight years and it still holds up to anything else you'll hear in this genre.
There's not much to complain about on 'Fearmonger' as it is what it is, and that's a fast, brutal, technical death metal album, so they've nailed that right on the head. I think you really have to enjoy fast-paced technical death metal to enjoy this album due to the sheer velocity of the music. But you can't deny that this band is one of the most important bands to pull off this style of music - and that goes for past, present and hopefully the future as well. What a return for Beneath The Massacre!
'Fearmonger' will be released via Century Media Records on February 28th.
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Glasgow accountancy firm makes four new appointments
New hires bring the staff total to 18, with more planned for next year
Robyn McLauchlan has been appointed as a senior accountant
A Glasgow chartered accountancy firm has made four new appointments following a year of growth.
Russell & Russell has hired Robyn McLauchlan, Conor Casey, Paul Smith and James Cassidy.
The business advice specialist has increased its client portfolio by 20% since 2020.
It has also taken on three trainee accountants and a qualified senior accountant, to raise the total number on its team to 18, with further appointments planned early in 2022.
Accountancy firm takes on seven new graduates
McLauchlan has been appointed as senior accountant. She studied at the University of Glasgow and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, working previously as a management accountant at independent fuel supplier Oilfast.
Casey joins as a trainee accountant, preparing financial statements and year end accounts, while undertaking his accountancy qualifications. He left his career in hospitality to begin training in accountancy.
Smith will also be a trainee accountant, aiming for chartered certification. He spent 15 years in Japan, where he owned an English language school.
Cassidy is another trainee accountant, and graduated in finance at the University of Strathclyde. He has three more exams to sit before qualifying as a chartered accountant.
Stuart Clark, managing director at Russell & Russell, said: “We have been actively looking for new hires and we are delighted with the four talented people who have joined the team.
“They are signing up with Russell & Russell at an exciting time as the firm brings all its collective expertise to bear on the plethora of opportunities which are open to us as we enter a new phase of our development.
“This is a close-knit firm, with a supportive and encouraging working environment, and we look forward to helping our new recruits fulfil their professional and personal potential.”
KPMG UK appoints three new partners in Scotland
Johnston Carmichael promotes 64 people across Scotland
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Are You Morally Obligated to Teach Your Parents How to Use a Computer?
In some ways, it boils down to whether or not you believe in God.
Colin St. John
My dad occasionally tells a funny family story. My grandfather, who was aging, had decided to write a memoir. Instead of letting him compose it on his Olympia typewriter, my father encouraged his father to learn how to use a PC. My dad is pretty savvy for 65, having been an early adopter of the internet for sending his articles into The Rocky Mountain News remotely. He even worked for Microsoft for a couple of years. He brought my grandfather an older PC and sat him down to teach him the basics of word processing. He told his dad to use the mouse to move around on the screen and my grandfather — a dentist and no dummy — picked it up and put the tracking ball right on the monitor’s screen. They both had a good laugh and moved on with the lesson.
I didn’t have to teach my dad how to use, well, anything, but I’ve had to help my mother with various computing tasks — from her iPhone to her Amazon tablet. So, I put the question of moral obligation to my father, not just because he stands as a subject but because of his academic record. As a graduate student at the University of Chicago, he racked up two master’s degrees (one in public policy, one in divinity) and a Ph.D. in theological ethics. So, do we have to help our parents with tasks like how to make an Excel spreadsheet? I’ll let him explain his dissertation via an interview he conducted with The University of Chicago Magazine:
“I was in Washington, DC, at a conference with some of my fellow students in 1982. There was an air accident out of National Airport. This plane took off, clipped its wing on a bridge, and crashed into the Potomac River. There was this man floating in the Potomac with a lot of other survivors, waiting to be rescued, and this helicopter kept coming by and lowering a life ring into the water. And this man kept handing the life ring to other people in the water. And he died. He sacrificed his life for other people. I was fascinated by that. Why did this guy do that? So I started studying what’s called in philosophical circles supererogation: those acts of goodness that are beyond the call of duty. In Christian ethics, you have to do those things; you’re supposed to turn the other cheek, to do good works, to lay down your life for your friends. Philosophers would say, bullshit. That’s supererogatory. That is not necessary. So I wrote a dissertation on supererogation.”
Okay, so, having to deal with your parents as they try to figure out how to close an app ain’t rescuing people from a freezing river. But you might not want to do it. Do you have to do it? That depends.
Where is this lady's son, dammit!?
I studied philosophy and theology, too, and, as my dad said, many philosophers would basically come down on the “do what you want” side of things. Still, going all the way back to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, we see philosophers struggling with the idea of a required morality. But, then again, many have questioned the entire idea of what good or good isn’t: Nietzsche, for instance, in Genealogy of Morals. It gets quite complicated.
It’s easy to say that, yes, if you consider yourself religious — Christian, Jewish, Hindi, Muslim, or so forth — your religion probably has a tenet related to being good to others. This would include your parents. You should help your parents however you can, sayeth all major creeds. Now, if you don’t believe in any organized faith, it’s tougher to say.
It’s true you have free will to do what you please, but there’s also what I’ll call the Asshole Factor. Your mother pushed you out of her body: You should probably help her figure out where commands differ on Macs and PCs. Or else, you’re an asshole. Plain and simple. There may or may not be a larger guiding principle that binds us all, but one thing is for sure: Everyone can spot an asshole. Or as Kant wrote, “What does it avail, one will say, that this man has so much talent, that he is so active therewith, and that he exerts thereby a useful influence over the community, thus having a great worth both in relation to his own happy condition and to the benefit of others, if he does not possess a good will?” Now there’s a man who would take the time to set up his mom’s iTunes just so.
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Dance event for inspirational Becky
A GROUP of dancers and musicians are today preparing for a fundraiser to help an inspirational young girl and others like her to continue a life-saving drug trial.
The Suffolk School of Samba will headline an event in Ipswich tomorrow which will raise crucial funds for a 12-year-old HIV positive South African youngster called Becky visiting Ipswich.
Becky is staying with her adoptive parents Xris and Karl Kroger for the first time after anti retroviral drugs (ARVs) made her well enough to travel from Cape Town to their Ravenswood home.
Tomorrow 50 dancers and 20 musicians from the samba band will perform alongside the African Song Group, 20 Djembe drummers and the Roger Band for an evening of entertainment.
The event has been organised after Becky, who was born HIV positive and lost both her birth parents to Aids, was finally well enough to make the trip to Ipswich.
Mrs Kroger, who moved to Ipswich from Stellenbosch in 1999 with Mr Kroger, adopted Becky soon after her birth. At the age of four Becky was put in the care of the sisters at Nazareth House, a Cape Town convent which specialises in looking after children affected by HIV/Aids.
Originally it was not thought she would survive but she has confounded the experts.
Since being reunited with Mr and Mrs Kroger, who live in Mansbrook Boulevard, she has toured London, seen a West End show, been in a guard of honour for the players at an Ipswich Town game and on Tuesday she had the amazing opportunity to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Blair at 10 Downing Street.
Mrs Kroger said: “We had a ball at Downing Street.”
Becky was invited to Number 10 as the guest of Mr and Mrs Blair and the One to One Children's Fund, which funds her treatment.
The charity's founders Rita Eker and David Altschuler were also there and, by chance, so was the Prime Minister of Japan and his wife, who were on their first visit to the UK and were involved in meetings with Mr Blair.
That left Mr Blair tied up during Becky's visit but Mrs Blair and the couple's son Leo entertained them.
Mrs Kroger said: “Becky had her photograph taken in the cabinet room and on the way out we chatted to Gordon Brown. He said 'hello Becky' and then he chatted to her about school. He was so lovely.”
Tomorrow's event will be held at the Caribbean Association, 15 to 17 Woodbridge Road, Ipswich, from 7.30pm.
There is no ticket price for the event but donations of around £3 are being requested. Children can make smaller donations. All funds raised will go towards the Becky fund.
www.suffolksamba.com
www.one2onekids.org
BECKY'S family have no doubts that they owe her good health to one thing - the anti retroviral (ARV) drugs which are keeping her alive.
Every 12 hours Becky takes her medication which enables her body to fight the HIV virus inside her by protecting her from infection.
Four years ago Becky was chosen as one of the six healthiest children at Nazareth House to take part in a drug trial under the supervision of Dr Paul Roux and his team at the Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
In that four years Becky's life has been transformed.
And it is thanks to the work of the London-based One to One Children's Fund that the programme has been able to help HIV positive orphans at Nazareth House.
One to One has provided funding to pay for the treatment which is keeping Becky alive.
Rita Eker MBE, co-founder and director of the fund, was at Heathrow airport to meet Becky when she flew in last month.
She said: “When we met Becky about four years ago she left the impression that this was a little girl who was very shy. Then I met her at the airport and she came bounding in and there were tears running down my face. She's fantastic.
“If we could replicate all the kids that are on the treatment we'd like them all to turn out like Becky. We've got someone really remarkable in this little girl.
“Look what can happen with care and love and the right medication. Look what we've achieved.”
But the fund relies on the public's help to keep children infected with HIV in Africa alive.
Ms Eker said: “Every child deserves the right to feel the way Becky does but without everyone's help we're not going to do it.
“With everyone's help thousands of kids can be on the treatment. Without people's help there is no hope for these kids.
“Five pounds goes a long way in Africa for these kids.”
To send a donation visit www.one2onekids.org, send a cheque made out to the One to One Children's Fund to Rita Eker, One to One Children's Fund, Carradine House, 237 Regents Park Road, London, N3 3LF or call 020 8343 4234.
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'Twilight' star Kristen Stewart is 'fearless' about fashion
Kristen Stewart is "fearless" about fashion. The “Twilight Saga: New Moon” actress has had something of a style transformation in recent months since making it big as an A-list Hollywood star and her stylist Tara Swennen says she's willing to try anything.
ANTOINETTE KELLY
She added: "She's comfortable in her own style and has a natural edge to her, but when she's in the mood she likes to go elegant."
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana also agree, saying: "It's Kristen's desire to experiment that puts her in a league of her own, as she effortlessly manages to pull of an uber-cool look every time." The pair are such big fans of the new film they even co-hosted a special screening of it in New York. The men behind Proenza Schouler also said they thought 19-year-old Kristen had a "strong individualism" and "a self-awareness beyond her years".
Kristen has previously spoken about how much her style has changed. She said: "I have grown so much. The biggest change for me has been sort of opening up."
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Rapists will face surgical castration in Nigerian state
Thursday 17 September 2020, 10:21pm
Protesters in Nigeria demonstrate against rape and sexual abuse. Credit: AP
Men convicted of rape in Nigeria will face surgical castration and anyone raping a child under the age of 14 will face the death penalty, after the governor of the country's Kaduna state signed a new law.
Govenor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai said the “drastic penalties are required to help further protect children from a serious crime.” Reported cases of rape in Nigeria have risen dramatically during the months of coronavirus restrictions.
Women’s groups have called for tougher action against rapists, including the death penalty. Kaduna state’s new law is the strictest against rape in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. The state’s newly amended penal code also says a person convicted of raping someone over age 14 will face life imprisonment. The previous law carried a maximum penalty of 21 years imprisonment for the rape of an adult and life imprisonment for the rape of a child. A woman convicted of rape of a child under 14 faces the removal of her fallopian tubes.
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Senate panel votes to authorize U.S. war against Islamic State
WASHINGTON – A Senate panel voted to give President Barack Obama a three-year authorization for the use of military force against Islamic State and affiliates, opening a debate that’s unlikely to be settled until the new Congress convenes next month.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee acted along party lines, with 10 Democrats voting yes and eight Republicans voting no.
The authorization for use of military force, or AUMF, was offered by Chairman Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, at the panel’s final meeting before Republicans take control of the Senate in January.
Sen. Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican in line to become chairman, said the committee will revisit the issue early in the new year. He said he wants to hear more from the Obama administration about its anti-Islamic State strategy before moving ahead with a new version of the measure.
The debate Thursday largely reflected a partisan split over the extent to which the measure should impose restrictions on the president.
The measure would impose a three-year limit on authorization and bar the use of U.S. ground combat forces in most cases. Most of the panel’s Republicans, while critical of Obama’s policy, expressed concern about language that would tie his hands.
Secretary of State John Kerry told the committee this week that the measure should give the president the option of extending the authorization beyond three years and shouldn’t specify limits on U.S. forces even though Obama has vowed not to let them become drawn into a ground war.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky broke with his Republican colleagues with an amendment seeking to limit the authorization to Iraq and Syria. He said the language in the measure could give Obama authority to act in as many as 30 countries where groups have expressed solidarity with Islamic State.
That amendment was defeated on a bipartisan 13-5 vote, and Paul then joined the panel’s other Republicans in voting against the final measure.
war, Barack Obama, Republicans, U.S. Senate, Democrats, Islamic State
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National | Regional voices: Chubu
Job security eludes Japan's growing ranks of post-doctorate part-time lecturers
Chunichi Shimbun
Yosuke Amaike, 39, spends a busy week juggling work at four different schools, where he works as a part-time instructor.
He gives lectures at Gifu University, as well as a private university, a junior college and a vocational school, and his salaries are decided according to the number of classes he holds.
For the current school year, which started in April, he has six classes a week in the first half of the year and five in the latter half, and the pay is roughly ¥10,000 per class.
He doesn’t get paid during the vacations, when there are no classes, so his annual income is less than ¥2 million.
There are no allowances paid for class preparation, grading students’ essays or devising exams. In order to get a full-time job at colleges, it is necessary to achieve a high research performance through presenting papers, but he has to bear all the costs, including purchasing books and attending academic conferences.
He has no health insurance and says he finds it hard to make a living. “Sometimes I only have one meal a day or eat rice that my friend sent me,” he said. “Bento sold at convenience stores are too expensive for me to buy.”
Every fall, schools start discussing with him about contracts for the next school year. “I always get nervous around that time because I’m worried about whether I can get a job again.”
Schools don’t make an official contract with him until April, right before the new school year starts.
As a part-time lecturer, he was only able to join a labor union at Gifu University. “Part-time lecturers are in a very disadvantaged position,” he said, adding that he can’t get married because of his unstable career.
Amaike graduated from university in 2002 during the weak economy that followed the bursting of the bubble economy in the early 1990s. He started working at a company, but his health deteriorated after being forced to work 12 hours a day and he had to quit.
Since it was difficult for him to find a full-time job amid shrinking job opportunities, he decided to go back to school to study welfare policy and employment support so he could make a fresh start.
He entered Nagoya University’s graduate school in 2008 and proceeded to a doctoral course by obtaining a student loan of ¥4.5 million.
Although tenure-track positions at universities are constantly being reduced in line with the declining birthrate, people seeking such positions are increasing. This is because the number of graduate students rose sharply in the 1990s after the government focused on expanding the capacity of graduate schools to catch up with Western nations in the field of academic research.
According to education ministry statistics, the number of people who completed a doctoral course in the 2018 school year totaled 15,658, up nearly three times from 5,576 in the 1989 school year.
Along with the increase of people with a doctorate, the number of post-doctorates working as part-time lecturers rose sixfold from 15,689 in 1989 to 93,145 in 2016.
Toshihiko Maita, 43, of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, was also one such post-doctorate. He said he worked as a part-time lecturer at five private universities from 2005, but in the fall of 2016, when he turned 40, he was asked by the universities “to give up the positions for younger people.”
Having a doctorate in education, Maita has applied for a full-time position at more than 40 universities, but to no avail.
Currently working as a freelance writer, Maita said: “Part-time lecturers tend to be laid off easily because universities use them to cut back on personnel expenses.”
This section features topics and issues from the Chubu region covered by the Chunichi Shimbun. The original article was published on July 15.
labor laws, education, jobs, universities
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New York man is named Guinness World Record holder for a holiday light display
By editor • Dec 6, 2021
Originally published on December 6, 2021 4:20 am
Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. If you think you're going all out this holiday season, you might want to look up the home of Tim Gay of Lagrangeville, N.Y. He just won the Guinness World Record for a display of 687,000 blinking, multicolored lights. He calls it the ERDAJT Holiday Lights Display - E-R-D-A-J-T, using his kids initials. He beat his own record this year. Back in 2012, he won with only half as many lights as this year. Shine on, Tim Gay. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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Powered by Mitochondria
MITOCHONDRIA IN CANCER, CANCER HEALTH DISPARITIES AND HEALTH DIVERSITY
A postdoctoral position is available in Singh’s MITODESIGN LAB at the Department of Genetics at the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB). Our group has a longstanding interest in understanding the role of mitochondrial genetics in human diversity, mitochondria-to-nucleus retrograde crosstalk, numtogenesis (nuclear mitochondrial biogenesis), mitonuclear genomic instability in cancer and cancer health disparities.
We have an excellent academic environment and research facilities at the Department of Genetics. UAB is a major research university and academic health center that offers a highly interactive scientific environment with state-of-the-art research and core facilities and multidisciplinary work environment. The Department of Genetics fosters collaborations with other basic science as well as clinical departments and the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The candidate is expected to be self-motivated, resourceful and should have a recently obtained a Ph. D degree. Those with interest and experience in mitochondrial biology, biogenesis, and genetics, epigenetics such as DNA methylation and mouse and cell culture models of cancer and/or human diseases are strongly encouraged to apply.
The candidate must have experience in mitochondrial techniques, OXPHOS enzymatic assays, cell culture, and standard molecular and epigenetic techniques including cloning, real-time PCR, transfection, Southern, Northern and Western analysis and immunoprecipitation. The candidate with experience in tumorigenesis assays such as soft agar, matrigel invasion, and mouse xenograft is also preferred. The successful candidate is expected to design and perform experiments and interpret data independently.
Interested applicants should email a cover letter with the description of research interests and experience, curriculum vitae, and contact information of three references (in pdf format) to kksingh@uab.edu
Keshav K. Singh, Ph.D.
Joy and Bill Harbert Endowed Chair
Professor of Genetics, Pathology and Environmental Health
Department of Genetics, UAB School of Medicine
Kaul Genetics Building, Rm. 620
720 20th St. South
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer with a strong commitment to ethnic and cultural diversity among its faculty, students and staff. Applications from women and ethnic minorities are encouraged.
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Julphar signs production agreement with Quantum Genomics
Julphar will receive an exclusive license to market firibastat in the Middle East, all African countries, CIS and Turkey
Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) has announced the signing of an exclusive license and production agreement with Quantum Genomics, a leading biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of first-in-class cardiovascular drugs, to market and produce firibastat in the Middle East, all African countries, CIS and Turkey.
The new partnership comes in line with Julphar vision to form robust strategic alliances on the global level, that will help enhance patients’ access to innovative healthcare solutions. The launch of firibastat will address the unmet medical need of up to 25 per cent of all hypertension patients who currently show resistance or are difficult to treat with available therapy alternatives.
Julphar will be Quantum Genomics’ exclusive production partner and will receive exclusive rights to market firibastat in the following geographic areas: the Middle East North Africa region, CIS, Turkey and all other countries on the African continent.
In addition, Julphar will become the preferred manufacturing partner of firibastat for Quantum Genomics in other parts of the world. This new landmark reflects Julphar’s commitment to establishing innovative biopharmaceutical solutions to enhance the UAE’s competitiveness in this strategic sector.
Dr. Essam Mohammed, Julphar’s CEO, said: “Julphar is delighted to partner with Quantum Genomics to commercialize firibastat, the first in class molecule to treat resistant and difficult-to-treat hypertension, and to produce it in our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Ras Al Khaimah. We are confident that firibastat will add a strong value to the treatment of this unmet medical need and to Julphar’s portfolio.”
“The new landmark agreement brings together a stronger focus on innovative ways to address critical diseases in the MENA region through manufacturing high-quality medications locally,” he added.
Jean-Philippe Milon, CEO of Quantum Genomics, said: "Julphar, which was founded forty years ago, is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the Mena region. Its success has been built on its comprehensive portfolio including anti-infectives, dermatology, and diabetes products, and its presence in all key MENA markets. Its business is expanding fast and cardiology is one of the key areas of investment. Julphar is also amongst the region’s largest producers and is the ideal partner to support firibastat’s future production needs. We’re already exploring how Julphar could meet some of those requirements for the United States and Europe.”
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Minister Fitzgerald announces Government decision to grant a Posthumous Pardon to Harry Gleeson
· Government to advise President to exercise his right of pardon in respect of Mr Harry Gleeson's conviction in 1941 under Article 13.6 of the Constitution
· Review by Mr Shane Murphy SC concludes deficiencies in conviction rendering it unsafe
· Government deeply regrets unsafe conviction of Mr Gleeson and wishes to express its sympathy with both families
Frances Fitzgerald TD, Minister for Justice and Equality, announced today that the Government has decided to advise the President to exercise his right of pardon under Article 13.6 of the Constitution in respect of the conviction in 1941 of Mr. Harry Gleeson for the murder of Ms. Mary McCarthy.
On 27 February 1941, Mr. Harry Gleeson was convicted of the murder, in November 1940, of Ms. Mary McCarthy. He was sentenced to death and executed on 23 April 1941.
Questions have been raised over many years regarding the safety of the conviction. Most recently, on foot of a submission from the Innocence Project Ireland and the Justice for Harry Gleeson Group, the Attorney General directed that the case be subject to final and authoritative review by Mr. Shane Murphy SC. Mr. Murphy's review concluded that in his opinion there were deficiencies in the conviction such as to render it unsafe.
Mr. Murphy's examination concluded that, in his opinion, a number of new matters which have come to light, combined with his assessment of the existing features of the evidence given at the trial, led him to form the opinion that Mr. Gleeson's conviction was unsafe.
These combined factors include:
• Inconsistencies pertaining to the medical evidence and the purported time of death. Although there was a degree of uncertainty at the trial surrounding the time of death, the prosecution's case was that Mary McCarthy was murdered on the evening of the 20th November 1940. Mr. Gleeson did not have an alibi for portions of the evening of the 20th November. Mr. Murphy considered that the medical evidence at the trial did not show beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder occurred on the evening of the 20th November but rather it was highly probable that Ms. McCarthy was killed on the 21st November. Mr. Gleeson had an alibi for the 21st November and witness evidence as to Mr. Gleeson's whereabouts on the morning of the 21st would have raised a reasonable doubt as to his guilt.
• A failure by the prosecution to comply with the prosecutorial obligation to assure a fair trial to the accused by taking a decision not to call Mr. and Mrs. Ceasar, the accused's uncle and aunt, to give evidence at the trial. The Ceasars, in whose home Mr. Gleeson lived, were material witnesses in relation to a number of issues in the trial. The Garda file suggests that the Ceasars were considered by the Gardaí to be truthful witnesses but that it was considered preferable that they would be called by the defence, thereby allowing the prosecution to cross-examine them and in so doing, to gain a tactical advantage. The Ceasars did not give evidence at the trial. This fact attracted judicial comment at the latter stages of the trial in a manner which was prejudicial to the accused.
• The apparent non-disclosure to the defence or to the Court and Jury of a Garda statement pertaining to a confrontation which allegedly occurred at the McCarthy’s farm during the Garda investigation between Mr. Gleeson and two of the McCarthy children, which statement, if it had been disclosed to the defence, would have suggested that the confrontation was an artificial construct instigated and staged by the Gardaí, in a manner calculated to unfairly prejudice the accused in the eyes of the jury. The prosecution introduced evidence from a Garda witness in relation to this confrontation which had not been given by the children in their testimony at the trial. The Garda witness evidence did not disclose to the court at trial the true picture of how the confrontation had occurred, and in particular, did not reveal the details of contact by members of An Garda Síochána with two of the children prior to the confrontation, contact which might have prompted the defence to explore whether these witnesses had been coached.
• The failure by the prosecution to introduce evidence in relation to the shotgun register held by the shopkeeper who sold Mr. Ceasar his ammunition. The shotgun register tended not to support the prosecution's case that Mr. Ceasar had, in October 1940, purchased ammunition of a calibre consistent with the type of ammunition used to murder Mary McCarthy. This was material which ought to have been available to the jury.
More generally, Mr. Murphy concludes that, in his opinion, Mr. Gleeson was convicted and executed as a result of a case based on unconvincing circumstantial evidence.
Having considered Mr. Murphy's opinion, the Attorney General has advised the Government that the deficiencies in the conviction warrant the Government recommending to the President that he exercise his right of pardon. The Government has accepted that advice.
The Government deeply regrets that a man was convicted and executed in circumstances now found to be unsafe. All that can be done now by way of remedy is to clear his name of the conviction, which this pardon will do, in the hope that this will be a proper tribute to his memory.
Equally the Government regrets that this decision leaves unresolved the brutal murder of Ms. Mary McCarthy, whose children were deprived of their mother in terrible circumstances.
The Government wishes to express its sympathy with both families and with all those affected by this crime and the subsequent conviction.
ENDS.../
Note for Editors
Mr. Gleeson was a single man living in Marlhill, Co. Tipperary. He lived and worked on the farm of his uncle, John Ceasar, and Mr. Ceasar's wife, Brigid. Ms. McCarthy was a single woman living in a nearby house with her children. On 21 November 1940, Mr. Gleeson reported to the Gardaí at New Inn, Co. Tipperary that he had seen the body of a woman lying in a field near where he lived. Upon investigation by the Gardaí the body was found to be that of Ms. McCarthy who had been shot twice, with one of the shots having gravely disfigured her face. Ms. McCarthy had last been seen on the evening of 20 November.
Mr. Gleeson was prosecuted for Ms. McCarthy's murder and convicted in the Central Criminal Court on 27 February 1941. Mr. Gleeson strongly denied the accusation. The Court of Criminal Appeal refused leave to appeal to Mr. Gleeson and a petition to the Government for his reprieve was turned down. He was executed in Mountjoy Prison on 23 April 1941.
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May 6, 2021 Articles Comments Off on Article
Pakistan, India backchannel at a delicate point
Fahd Hussain
Almost two weeks since a senior Pakistani official confirmed the existence of backchannel talks between Pakistan and India, fresh information suggests this quiet process is today situated at a delicate point and could go either way depending on the response from New Delhi.
A national debate was generated by a story published in this newspaper on April 25 titled “Indian offer led to ‘quiet’ talks on all major issues” which detailed a deliberate effort by the two South Asian rivals to engage in secret talks aimed at reducing tension and initiating an effort to resolve outstanding disputes. While the debate raged over whether discussing a possible resolution of the Kashmir issue with India was prudent policy at this time, some key nuances were overlooked. One reason for this was the direction that the debate took as it veered off from the contents of the original story and began to fuel itself from various other interpretations of what the senior official had suggested.
The situation is gradually becoming clearer with the emergence of fresh information from Red Zone insiders. Here is how it is mapping out:
For four months, the Pakistan-India backchannel progressed smoothly and between December 2020 and April 2021, intelligence officials from the two countries met face-to-face at least four to five times in a Gulf country. In these meetings, they talked about a number of key issues including the Kashmir dispute. However, officials insist that these meetings are best characterised as “talks about talks” and nothing more at this stage.
Today these talks are at a standstill. Official sources confirm that for the process to move forward, India has to show some progress on issues that have been discussed so far. “They have to say something, do something to create an environment in which these secret talks can move forward,” says an insider. The sense that emerges from background conversations with official sources is that after hectic rounds of conversations, both sides had come to an understanding that tangible measures would need to be taken to nudge the process forward. Pakistan today believes it has done whatever it could do and now it is India’s responsibility to show progress.
This progress centres on the situation in Occupied Kashmir. Pakistani officials have communicated to Indian interlocutors their immediate priorities on the Kashmir issue after the Indians expressed their willingness to discuss all aspects of this dispute. These priorities are (1) India must not change the demography in Occupied Kashmir, and this is non-negotiable; (2) India must not undertake any measures that alter the character of the region; (3) India must take steps to normalise the lives of the people in the occupied territory, including the release of prisoners; (4) India will need to give statehood to Occupied Kashmir in one form or another; and (5) Any discussion from the Indian side on the status of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan is off the table.
“Please remember this is not a dialogue,” says an insider. He argues that Pakistan had told India during backchannel talks that any prospects of transforming these ‘talks about talks’ into a dialogue depended on the progress that India could show on the priorities regarding Occupied Kashmir. So far, there is silence from New Delhi. Officials say that Indian interlocutors had mentioned some steps they could take, but those have not materialized yet. Till they do, Pakistan will not take any other initiative.
What then was the logic to engage with India in the first place?
As mentioned in the earlier story, India had approached Pakistan in December last year to initiate talks and Pakistan had responded favourably. This response germinated from many closed-door meetings that discussed the pros and cons of accepting India’s offer to conduct ‘talks about talks’. Two points of views emerged from these discussions. The first one said India was offering these talks because the BJP government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to buy time so it could fast-track its plans to change the demography of Occupied Kashmir and at some point make the issue a closed chapter. The other view suggested that India had realised it was stuck in Occupied Kashmir after its August 5, 2019 takeover of the territory and therefore needed to tone down its belligerence in order to find a way out by engaging with Pakistan via some quid pro quo.
These two competing and conflicting arguments within high-level official circles led to some conclusions, one of which was that the BJP government must not be allowed to change the demography of Kashmir to a point of no return. Some officials argued that the RSS agenda was aimed at completing this altering of demography so that there would be nothing left for Pakistan and India to negotiate. However, it was noted that India was struggling to achieve this target.
On the basis of these arguments and counter-arguments, it was finally decided that it would be prudent to reciprocate India’s offer and use this opportunity to somehow push back Indian designs on Occupied Kashmir’s demography. In the ensuing rounds of talks between December 2020 and April 2021, Indian officials said they were open to talking about all these options regarding Occupied Kashmir.
However, a month on, the message from Pakistan to India, according to Red Zone insiders, is clear: If you do not take any positive steps, we do not have any space to move forward at this point.
But who in India is this message intended for? This too has been a sensitive topic these last few weeks in terms of who is ‘in the loop’ regarding this backchannel process in both Pakistan and India. A senior Pakistani official had confirmed two weeks ago that these talks were led by intelligence officials from both sides. He had explained diplomats and experts had not been involved because these backchannel contacts had not progressed beyond the exploratory stage. However there is fresh information available that suggests that from the Indian side the process of engagement is piloted by the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and includes various senior officials of the Indian intelligence service. The assessment of Pakistani officials is that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) does not have a significant role in this process so far. “At this stage, their consensus is even narrower than ours,” says an insider.
Insiders with knowledge of the process say that Pakistani officials involved in the process had taken the leadership of Azad Kashmir as well as the Hurriyat Conference in the loop. How much these leaders knew is not clear but they were at least informed that the process was under way. Official sources now say that if there is reciprocity from New Delhi, and if there is any substantive headway that can convert these exploratory meetings into some kind of a structured dialogue, then the Pakistani side will take all stakeholders, including all political parties, into confidence.
But at this stage, expectations are tempered. Officials argue that Pakistan has kept its word on activity at the Line of Control (LoC) and the Indians know this. However, their ceasefire violations in the last few days have vitiated the atmosphere. This piles up on the fact that New Delhi has not even replied to Pakistan’s offer of help in the terrible situation from coronavirus in India. “These are all signs that they are not serious in their engagement,” an official states.
For Islamabad now, it is a policy of wait and see. — Courtesy Dawn
Previous ‘Human catastrophe’ as India’s COVID-19 surge spreads to Nepal
Next Delhi court seeks ED’s reply in Shabbir Shah’s bail plea
Article: India’s Hindu extremists are calling for genocide against Muslims. Why is little being done to stop them?
Article: Communal Violence in the Year 2021
Article: BJP now a ‘sinking-ship’ will soon hit ‘rock-bottom’
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A Sheriff And A Doctor Team Up To Map Childhood Trauma
By Laura Starecheski
Published March 10, 2015 at 2:33 PM CDT
Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell (left) and Dr. Nancy Hardt, University of Florida.
The University of Florida's Dr. Nancy Hardt has an unusual double specialty: She's both a pathologist and an OB-GYN. For the first half of her career, she brought babies into the world. Then she switched — to doing autopsies on people after they die.
"I want to prevent what I'm seeing on the autopsy table. ... A lot of times, I'm standing there going, 'I don't think this person had a very nice early childhood.' "
It makes perfect sense to her.
"Birth, and death. It's the life course," Hardt explains.
A few years ago, Hardt says, she learned about some research that changed her view of how exactly that life course — health or illness — unfolds.
The research shows that kids who have tough childhoods — because of poverty, abuse, neglect or witnessing domestic violence, for instance — are actually more likely to be sick when they grow up. They're more likely to get diseases like asthma, diabetes and heart disease. And they tend to have shorter lives than people who haven't experienced those difficult events as kids.
"I want to prevent what I'm seeing on the autopsy table," Hardt says. "I've got to say, a lot of times, I'm standing there, going, 'I don't think this person had a very nice early childhood.' "
Back in 2008, Hardt was obsessing about this problem. She wanted to do something to intervene in the lives of vulnerable kids on a large scale, not just patient by patient.
So, by looking at Medicaid records, she made a map that showed exactly where Gainesville children were born into poverty. Block by block.
Right away she noticed something that surprised her: In the previous few years, in a 1-square-mile area in southwest Gainesville, as many as 450 babies were born to parents living below the poverty line.
It just didn't make sense to her — that was an area she thought was all fancy developments and mansions.
So Hardt took her map of Gainesville, with the poverty "hotspot" marked in deep blue, and started showing it to people. She'd ask them, "What is this place? What's going on over there?"
Eventually she brought the map to the CEO of her hospital, who told her she just had to show it to Alachua County's sheriff, Sadie Darnell.
So Hardt did.
And, to Hardt's surprise, Sheriff Darnell had a very interesting map of her own.
Darnell had a thermal map of high crime incidence. It showed that the highest concentration of crime in Gainesville was in a square-mile area that exactly overlaid Hardt's poverty map.
"It was an amazing, 'Aha' moment," says Darnell.
"We kind of blinked at each other," Hardt says. "And — simultaneously — we said, 'We've got to do something.' "
The hotspot is dotted with isolated, crowded apartment complexes with names like Majestic Oaks and Holly Heights. The first time she visited, on a ride-along with Sheriff Darnell's deputies, Hardt tallied up all things that make it hard for kids here to grow up healthy.
/ Bryan Thomas for NPR
Dr. Nancy Hardt's free "clinic on wheels," parked in December at an apartment complex in Gainesville, Fla., gets about 5,000 visits from patients each year.
There's a lot of poorly maintained subsidized housing. Tarps cover leaky roofs. Mold and mildew spread across stucco walls. Sherry French, a sergeant from the sheriff's office, says lots of families here have trouble getting enough to eat.
Hardt added hunger to her list and substandard housing. And she noticed something else: almost a total lack of services, including medical care.
She mapped it out and determined that the closest place to get routine medical care if you're uninsured — which many people here are — is the county health department. It's almost a two-hour trip away by bus. Each way.
This was a problem a doctor like Hardt could tackle. She would bring medical care to the hotspot, by rustling up a very large donation: a converted Bluebird school bus, with two exam rooms inside.
Hardt organized a massive crew of volunteer doctors and medical students from the University of Florida, where she teaches, and raised the money to hire a driver and a full-time nurse.
The "clinic on wheels" first made it out to the hotspot in 2010, parking right inside one apartment complex there. Patients could walk in without an appointment and get treatment free of charge, approximating the experience of a house call. Today, the mobile clinic gets an average of 5,000 visits from patients per year, in under-served areas all over Gainesville.
Physician assistants and undergraduate care coordinators treat patients in the mobile clinic parked at Majestic Oaks, a low-income apartment complex in Gainesville.
But the clinic is really just one piece of the puzzle.
Because after the day that Hardt and the sheriff matched up their maps, they kept digging into the data. And, a few years later, Hardt made some new maps. They showed that the crime in the hotspot included the highest concentration of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect in Gainesville.
That revelation brought Dr. Hardt back to her original mission — to head off bad health outcomes in the most vulnerable kids. So she teamed up with Sheriff Darnell and other local groups and grass-roots organizers from the neighborhood. They collaborated to create the SWAG (Southwest Advocacy Group) Family Resource Center, right in the Linton Oaks apartment complex.
The SWAG Center opened in 2012. Kids can come play all day long. There's a food pantry, free meals, a computer room, AA meetings. A permanent health clinic is slated to open up across the street next week.
All the resources here are designed to decrease the likelihood of abuse and neglect by strengthening families.
"I think we knew it intuitively — that health issues are associated with crime, [and] crime is associated with health issues and poverty," Darnell says. "But seeing that direct connection literally on a map ... it helped to break down a lot of walls."
Child abuse and domestic violence are still serious problems, but there has been a small drop in the numbers of such calls over the past few years, according to the data.
Hardt says that investing in families and health now can help kids grow up healthy — and save money in the future.
"Conservatives or liberals, everybody gets that," she says. "That we have limited resources and we need to really spend them wisely. I think the maps — the hot spot maps — just tell us policywise, where we need to be going and what we need to be doing."
Hardt's next goal is to make more people aware of the links between health and early education. Last summer, the county got a new superintendent of schools. Hardt has been to visit him three times already — maps in hand.
This story is part of the NPR series, What Shapes Health? The series explores social and environmental factors that affect health throughout life. It is inspired, in part, by findings in a poll released this month by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Laura Starecheski
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A Groundswell of Support for Lambda Legal's DOMA Challenge
By Lambda Legal
golinski_274.jpg
Lambda Legal client Karen Golinski (r.) with her spouse, Amy Cunninghis
Lambda Legal's challenge to Section 3 of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is gaining support leaders and organizations from nearly all walks of life.
Some 132 members of Congress—plus dozens of companies, unions, bar associations, legal scholars and historians—have signed on to friend-of-the-court briefs urging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to find DOMA unconstitutional.
The 13 briefs filed yesterday at the Ninth Circuit bring together hundreds of signatories, including Microsoft, Google, CBS, the Gap, the State of California, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Psychological Association and other health care professional organizations, as well as scores of religious, civic and public interest groups.
Lambda Legal Staff Attorney Shelbi Day says:
Each of these briefs, and the impressive roster of signatories, underscores the myriad ways in which DOMA not only harms loving couples and families, but also impacts businesses and the efficient conduct of state and local government. What these briefs make clear is that DOMA is both discriminatory and burdensome, unjustly stigmatizing one segment of the population while at the same time increasing the cost of doing business. Clearly, it is time to put DOMA out of its—and our—misery.
Lambda Legal represents Karen Golinski, a federal court employee who sought to enroll her spouse, Amy Cunninghis, in the employee health plan. In February, a federal district court ruled for Golinski and found Section 3 of DOMA (which prohibits federal recognition of the marriages of same-sex couples) unconstitutional. Last week, the Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
Learn more about the case and read the briefs here.
See Also: DOMA, Employment and Rights in the Workplace, Golinski v. OPM, Health Care Fairness, Marriage, Same-sex relationships, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Supreme Court, California, Anti-LGBT Rulings, Laws and Amendments, Employment and Rights in the Workplace, Health Care Fairness, Marriage, Relationships and Family Protections, Golinski v. United States Office of Personnel Management
Lambda Legal to Work to Resolve EEOC Complaint on Behalf of Terminated Employee
For MLK Day, Let's Remember That Voting Restrictions Are An LGBTQI+ Issue Too
Lambda Legal Reacts to Supreme Court Decision Allowing Challenge to Texas Abortion Ban to Move Forward
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James Galway
Flute Serenade
Flute and Harp Concerto in C, K.299: II. Andantino
8 December 1939 (age 82)
Belfast, Belfast, County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Sir James Galway OBE (born 8 December 1939) is a virtuoso flute player from Belfast, Northern Ireland, nicknamed "The Man With the Golden Flute". Following in the footsteps of Jean-Pierre Rampal, he became one of the first flute players to establish an international career as a soloist. Galway went to London as a teenager to study the flute. He studied at the Royal College of Music under John Francis and then at the Guildhall School of Music under Geoffrey Gilbert. He then studied at the Paris Conservatoire under Gaston Crunelle and Jean-Pierre Rampal and also privately wi… read more
Sir James Galway OBE (born 8 December 1939) is a virtuoso flute player from Belfast, Northern Ireland, nicknamed "The Man With the Golden Flute". Following in the footsteps of Jean-Pierre Rampal, he became one of the first flute players to establish an international career as a solo… read more
Sir James Galway OBE (born 8 December 1939) is a virtuoso flute player from Belfast, Northern Ireland, nicknamed "The Man With the Golden Flute". Following in the footsteps of Jean-Pierre Rampal, he became one of the first flute players to establish an international career as a soloist. Galway went to London as a teenager to study the flute. He studied … read more
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U.S. Fertility Rates Fall To All-Time Low
By Scott Hensley
Published February 11, 2013 at 10:33 AM MST
Here we go again.
The rate at which American women are having babies fell by 1 percent in 2011, continuing a decline that's been under way for years.
There were 63.2 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 in 2011 (the lowest on record), compared with 64.1 in 2010 and 66.2 in 2009.
A deeper look at the numbers reveals some other noteworthy trends.
Births to teenagers hit another low — 31.3 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19, down from 34.2 in 2010.
Fertility rates rose a little for older women — climbing 1 percent to 10.3 births per 1,000 women aged 40 to 44 from 10.2 in 2010. The rate of births was unchanged for women aged 45 to 49.
The infant mortality rate was 6.05 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011, about the same as the rate of 6.15 in 2010. There has been some improvement in the U.S. The rate stood at 6.91 in 2000 and 9.22 in 1990.
But the U.S. could do a whole lot better. A table that's part of the analysis published in the latest issue of Pediatrics puts the U.S. just behind Hungary and Slovak Republic in a list of 30 nations ranked by infant mortality.
Top of the charts: Hong Kong, Japan and Finland.
Scott Hensley
Scott Hensley edits stories about health, biomedical research and pharmaceuticals for NPR's Science desk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he has led the desk's reporting on the development of vaccines against the coronavirus.
See stories by Scott Hensley
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Paul Manafort Trial Brings Possible Investigation Into Foreign Lobbyists And Lawmakers
By Peter Overby
The case against Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, began with charges that he violated the law regulating lobbyists working for foreign interests. It's often been ignored or confused with the domestic lobbying law. That may be changing. Here's NPR's Peter Overby.
PETER OVERBY, BYLINE: In the late 1930s, a little bit like today, America was in high anxiety about the influences of fascists and communists. Politicians responded.
UNIDENTIFIED POLITICIAN: We have proven that fearless exposure followed by vigorous prosecution is the Democratic answer to the fifth column.
OVERBY: And the Foreign Agents Registration Act was passed.
STEPHEN VLADECK: I certainly think that the special counsel has reinvigorated both public awareness and, perhaps, sensitivity to the statute.
OVERBY: Stephen Vladeck teaches at the University of Texas School of Law. He said FARA, as it's known, has a lot more power than even special counsel Robert Mueller is using.
VLADECK: What we're really seeing with, you know, Paul Manafort, with his other cases, are prosecutions for the most preposterously transparent violations of the statute.
OVERBY: And Joe Birkenstock, who practices FARA law in Washington, said the capital city doesn't seem much wiser - people who should know better acting as if FARA isn't any tougher than the law on lobbying for domestic clients.
JOE BIRKENSTOCK: I think you'll see hints of this, even in some of the statements around the case, about people saying, you know, but I never meet with public officials, or, I don't engage in any lobbying.
OVERBY: There used to be a reason for that relaxed attitude. FARA enforcement was weak. Before Manafort, there had been fewer than a dozen prosecutions ever.
It's always been easy to sidestep FARA, for example, to register as a lobbyist for the domestic subsidiary of a foreign corporation instead of for the corporation itself. Lobbyists do that because FARA demands much more information than disclosures under the domestic lobbying law.
JOHN SARBANES: If you're a foreign agent, we want to know everything there is to know about how you're behaving.
OVERBY: Democratic Congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland is sponsoring new anti-corruption legislation that includes fixes for FARA, including getting rid of that loophole of using the domestic lobbying law instead. Sarbanes is really aiming his bill for action in the next Congress after the midterm elections.
SARBANES: The public is fed up with this. They want to know who's lobbying, who's getting paid to lobby. They want them to register. They definitely want to know if some foreign interest or foreign principal is standing behind that lobby.
OVERBY: Speaking of registering, Joe Birkenstock mostly practices FARA law, but he's also a registered lobbyist for an association of the domestic subsidiaries of foreign companies. But he said he's having lots of wake-up conversations with his law clients.
BIRKENSTOCK: You thought of this as the caboose. You know, theoretically, there could be a FARA issue. But as far as I know, there's no problem there, so why can't we just leave it alone? Well, you know, not good enough.
OVERBY: He said everyone's paying more attention to FARA now - the lobbyists and the Justice Department. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.
Peter Overby
Peter Overby has covered Washington power, money, and influence since a foresighted NPR editor created the beat in 1994.
See stories by Peter Overby
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Raising money to send ND veterans on an honor flight this spring
Researchers share findings of Champion Trees in Bismarck
Basketball: DCB defends home court in Sunday doubleheader
Plays of the Week – January 16
Hungary sets election for April 3 in big challenge to Orban
by: JUSTIN SPIKE , Associated Press
FILE – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban speaks during a joint press conference with French far-right leader Marine le Pen in Budapest, Hungary, on Oct. 26, 2021. Hungary’s president says the country will hold a parliamentary election on April 3. The vote will decide whether right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban will keep power after 12 years in office. President Janos Ader made the announcement on the election date on his website Tuesday. April 3 is the earliest date allowed by law. It will be the ninth election since Hungary’s democratic transition from a communist state in 1990. Six opposition parties that range from the liberal left to the far right have banded together as a single bloc to challenge Orban. (AP Photo/Laszlo Balogh, File)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary will hold a parliamentary election on April 3, the president said Tuesday, in a vote that will decide whether Prime Minister Viktor Orban will remain in office after 12 years in power.
President Janos Ader made the announcement on the election date, which is the earliest allowed by law, on his website. It will be the ninth election since Hungary’s democratic transition from a communist state in 1990.
Ader said that the election will be held on the same day as a contentious referendum sponsored by the governing party, which will poll Hungarians on their attitudes toward LGBT issues — something opponents say is meant to vilify sexual minorities.
The April election is expected to be the most significant challenge to Orban’s power since he and his anti-immigration party, Fidesz, took a two-thirds parliamentary majority in 2010.
Orban and Fidesz are being challenged by a diverse coalition of six opposition parties that range from the liberal left to the far right, and which recent polls suggest are neck and neck with the governing party.
Those parties, which previously competed against one another, have banded together as a single united bloc, arguing it’s the only way to contend with an uneven playing field created by Orban’s changes to election laws, seizure of large swaths of the media and superior financial resources.
Hungary’s government under Orban has also come under fire from many liberals and moderate conservatives in the European Union who argue the leader has overseen the dismantling of democratic institutions, exerted undue control over the judiciary and facilitated widespread corruption.
But as the election approaches, Orban and Fidesz have portrayed their political opponents as both right- and left-wing extremists serving foreign interests, and offered major benefits to many Hungarians in the form of tax cuts, subsidies for families with children and an extra month of pension payments to retirees.
Following the announcement of the election date, Orban wrote on his Facebook page, “We will be there!”
Army veteran Delaino Helm once visited Washington D.C. on an honor flight.
“It was exciting, especially when we got to Washington to the airport. We walked down there to the terminal, and everybody was greeting us,” Helm said.
Volunteers presented their findings after a years-worth of research on what's called Champion Trees.
Champion Trees are identified as the largest tree specimens found in the U.S. and there are even some in Bismarck.
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The Policy & Advocacy Task Force held its sixth meeting on Nov. 1, 2021, and included representatives from multiple sectors interested in resolving the digital divide in the Los Angeles County region. Taskforce members discussed the CPUC reply comments, L.A. County September 2021 ISD Report for Broadband Equity Partnership, and reviewed the proposed policy framework for the task force.
The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors instructed the Director of Internal Services, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer and County Counsel, to report back to the Board in 30 days with viable options for the County to facilitate residential access to reliable broadband service in low-income communities where greater than 20% of the households lack internet service. The proposed options must identify options, cost estimates and, possible funding sources to enable the implementation of internet access in 2021.
The following are some of the details for each of the proposed options:
Information from telecommunication carriers and ISPs on the availability and prices for connectivity in the impacted communities for up to 300,000 households.
Prices ranged from $10.00 to $74.99 per month, with download and upload speeds ranging from 5 megabits per second (Mbps) to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps).
Some included provisions for free equipment or devices, and some identified minimum levels of households and minimum annual commitments.
All required direct payment by the County on behalf of the residents.
Respondents offer subsidy programs that reduce the costs of broadband.
This option would be the quickest to implement and potentially cover many households at below-market rates.
Offers the County the potential of rapid deployment with consistent user experiences for households and potential service improvements over time.
The County will be able to control the footprint and quality of service of its networks and the opportunities for internet cost savings. The County could also partner with community-based organizations to employ community “Digital Navigators” for technical support.
This option has the advantage of directly delivering service under the County's oversight while maximizing the potential for partnerships in the communities most affected by the digital divide. It can be deployed rapidly and begin connecting households within months of the Board’s determination to move forward.
Offers the County control of the network and service delivery with a consistent experience to households in need and potential service improvements over time.
This option “future-proofs” the services while offering the most robust, fastest, and reliable service.
Deployment would take several years and substantial financial investments but could be advantageous with long-term economic and jurisdictional authority to achieve and sustain digital equity.
The task force also reviewed the draft policy framework to inform the LA DEAL's advocacy efforts. The recurring stands presented for consideration to guide the policy priorities:
Affordability - broaden affordability of the internet to unserved or underserved low-income communities and communities of color.
Marketing - promotion of affordable rate plans (EBB), broadens eligibility requirements, so more households qualify, and the affordable plan includes high-quality internet connection (e.g., 50MPS)
Increase competition of internet providers in low-income areas and communities of color (more than 2)
Infrastructure to support the building of fast internet to ensure the region keeps the demand for internet services
Taskforce members advised on the changes to be incorporated into the principal priorities and the criteria to determine the policy consideration to either support or oppose.
Meeting #7 is scheduled for Dec. 6, 2021.
RECAP: Infrastructure Deployment Task Force Convening | Oct. 27, 2021
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Barbados has removed the Queen of England as head of state and is now a republic
Ashley Westerman , Sarah Handel
Let's head now to the world's newest republic. The Caribbean island of Barbados made history today. In a lavish ceremony full of dignitaries, politicians and Rihanna, Barbados removed the Queen of England as its head of state. Here is the nation's first president, Dame Sandra Mason, at that ceremony.
PRESIDENT SANDRA MASON: We the people must give Republic Barbados its spirit and its substance. We must shape its future. We are each other's and our nation's keepers. We the people are Barbados.
SHAPIRO: Kareem Smith is a reporter for the online outlet Barbados Today, and he joins us from Bridgetown. Welcome.
KAREEM SMITH: Thank you for having me.
SHAPIRO: What did it feel like to be at that ceremony?
SMITH: Wow. It was really a rush of excitement. You went through so many different emotions from very early on in the ceremony, which was filled with cultural celebrations, everything that was Barbadian. That touched on our African heritage, our links with Britain, our minority populations that include persons from the Asian continent. So it was just a swell of jubilation. And as the ceremony got a bit later in the evening, it took on a much more solemn character when we saw the arrival of Prince Charles spending the last moment as royalty over Barbados, really, as well as the new president and the prime minister. Mia Mottley was really the mastermind behind this whole transition to a republic. And you really started to get a feeling as though Barbados was truly moving on.
SHAPIRO: Barbados gained independence from Great Britain in 1966, so why did it take so long for the country to take this step?
SMITH: There are many accounts as to why that may have been. We hadn't made a full break like countries like the United States of America and some of the other Latin American countries who are associated with other European powers. But on one hand, it is said that because of the relationship that Barbados had with Britain, those types of reforms - moving towards a full republic - may have been deemed a step too far in terms of the consciousness of Barbadians and their understanding of the Independence Project. But on the other hand, at that point in time, Britain was still very much trying to cling on to its empire, so to speak. And so I think the process of Barbadians perhaps needed to be a bit more extended to ensure that persons fully understand and could grasp and appreciate the need to fully break away.
SHAPIRO: I'd love for you to tell us a little bit more about the first president, Dame Sandra Mason, because she's a history-making figure as well.
SMITH: First of all, I think what's really exciting about Sandra Mason is the fact that apart from being a born Barbadians who looks like the average Barbadians, she has also been able to identify with the Barbadian struggle. She came up within a working-class family in rural Barbados. She went through the public primary and secondary education systems. And she benefited from the free education that was on offer at the University of the West Indies. She was the first woman to be called to the Barbados Bar as a practicing attorney. She served as the first magistrate to become a diplomat. And really, becoming the first president of Barbados really is the culmination of everything that she stands for. And really, she is a glowing symbol of the Barbadian dream - that despite not being born into some kind of hereditary sovereignty like the queen or inheriting a massive amount of wealth, that you can still aspire to serve within the highest offices of Barbados.
SHAPIRO: So I'm curious. When you walk around the capital Bridgetown today, does it feel different? Like, are there flags and banners out? Are people in the streets? Like, what's the vibe?
SMITH: Yeah. Well, I really don't think that it is as festive as perhaps we would have wanted it to be because we are still currently in one of the most infectious, one of the deadliest waves of COVID-19 that has been a source of economic hardship and a feeling of depression throughout the country. And I think that these republic celebrations really have done quite a bit to renew a sense of hope within the average Barbadian.
Prior to the transition, I must admit that there were many persons who were still wondering, you know, what does this really mean for me, you know? But I think having gone through the ceremonial aspect of it, again, being able to see a daughter of this, I mean, in Robyn Rihanna Fenty - also from a working-class background - rise to become one of the national heroes of Barbados, it really gives an air of hopefulness about what's ahead.
SHAPIRO: I'm thinking, you've got this trio of women - the prime minister, the president and Rihanna. That pretty much says it all.
SMITH: Yeah, I remarked quite lightheartedly that we now have three of the most powerful women in the world. And I think all three of those women encapsulate something very, very special about Barbados and about the progressive direction in which we want to go.
SHAPIRO: Kareem Smith is a journalist with Barbados Today. Thank you for talking with us.
SMITH: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in non-English language). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
Ashley Westerman
Ashley Westerman is a producer who occasionally directs the show. Since joining the staff in June 2015, she has produced a variety of stories including a coal mine closing near her hometown, the 2016 Republican National Convention, and the Rohingya refugee crisis in southern Bangladesh. She is also an occasional reporter for Morning Edition, and NPR.org, where she has contributed reports on both domestic and international news.
See stories by Ashley Westerman
Sarah Handel
See stories by Sarah Handel
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Remembering Elinor Ostrom, Nobel Laureate
By Zoe Chace
Published June 12, 2012 at 3:37 PM MDT
Elinor Ostrom in January 2011.
Elinor Ostrom, the only woman ever to win an economics Nobel, died today at age 78.
She was famous for challenging an idea known as the tragedy of the commons — the theory that, in the absence of government intervention, people will inevitably overuse a shared resource.
So, for example, if a village shares a pasture, it's in the individual interest of each farmer to graze his cattle as much as possible on the pasture even though, in the long run, overgrazing may ruin the pasture for everyone.
"It's a problem, it's just not necessarily a tragedy," Ostrom told us when we spoke to her in 2009. "The problem is that people can overuse [a shared resource], it can be destroyed, and it is a big challenge to figure out how to avoid that."
But, she said, economists were "wrong to indicate that people were helplessly trapped and the only way out was some external government coming in or dividing it up into chunks and everyone owning their own."
In fact, Ostrom found, there were lots of real-world examples where the theory didn't hold up — places where local people got together and figured out how to manage shared resources without destroying them.
Zoe Chace explains the mysteries of the global economy for NPR's Planet Money. As a reporter for the team, Chace knows how to find compelling stories in unlikely places, including a lollipop factory in Ohio struggling to stay open, a pasta plant in Italy where everyone calls in sick, and a recording studio in New York mixing Rihanna's next hit.
See stories by Zoe Chace
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Norah Jones On World Cafe
Published July 6, 2012 at 12:24 PM MDT
Norah Jones.
Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Norah Jones has been a star since the 2002 release of her debut album, Come Away With Me, which sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. and won eight Grammys. Her success hasn't let up: Subsequent releases have all reached gold or platinum status.
Jones' fifth album, Little Broken Hearts, came out in May, and was recorded with producer Danger Mouse. Here, Jones sits down with World Cafe's David Dye to discuss her creative process.
Copyright 2012 XPN
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Loughborough University reveals hope to create 'clones' of Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree
Loughborough University hopes to create descendants of tree which inspired research into the nature of gravity
Ciaran FaganCrime Correspondent
Academics hope to produce ‘clones’ of the famed apple tree which inspired Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity and plant them around their campus.
Staff from Loughborough University travelled to Woolsthorpe Manor, the former home of the mathematician and physicist in Lincolnshire, last week to collect cuttings from the tree, a rarely grown variety known as a Flower of Kent.
Newton, who died almost 300 years ago, returned to the manor, his childhood home in 1666 when Cambridge University closed due to the plague.
The university’s grounds and gardens team intend to attach each of the cuttings to underground stems, known as rootstocks.
They hope they will join together permanently and continue to grow as a single organism – creating ‘clones’ of Newton’s Tree.
They hope they will be ready for planting across the campus within two years.
Observing an apple fall from the tree reputedly led Newton to consider the nature of gravity (Image: John jenkins)
One will be planted near the entrance of the Schofield Building as a reminder of the contribution Newton made to applied mathematics.
Professor Andrew Archer, acting dean of the school of science, said: “Newton is one of the great characters in science and the apple tree story is always retold when we teach the next generation about the important ideas stemming from Newton.
“To have apple trees at Loughborough that descended from ‘The Tree’ is hugely significant and a great honour for us.”
The university was gifted the five cuttings under an informal co-operation between the university and the National Trust, which runs Woolsthorpe Manor.
Jannette Warrener, operations manager for Woolsthorpe Manor, said: “We are delighted to be helping to inspire possible future Newtons studying at Loughborough by sharing grafts from our famous tree.
“This is just the start of a great partnership between the National Trust and Loughborough University and we are really looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together.”
The tree at Woolsthorpe Manor (Image: Loughborough University)
Professor of mathematical engineering Roger Smith, who is also a National Trust volunteer, said: “Since Loughborough is the closest university to Woolsthorpe, I hope our current informal co-operation can develop into a series of regular events where our staff can demonstrate science to a wide audience.
“A big thank you to the National Trust for this generous gift, I look forward to seeing the cuttings join the Loughborough landscape.”
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LexCampus is an educational technology platform that brings passionate teachers and aspiring professionals together with the focus on learning intellectual property. LexCampus offers the most-comprehensive training programme for clearing the Patent Agent Exam.
LexCampus was born out of the fusion of a job, a technology platform and a national vision.
Dr. Feroz Ali took charge as the first Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Chair Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) and was entrusted with the job of teaching IPR to engineers and scientists. IPR is a legal subject that is traditionally taught in law schools. Teaching law to non-lawyers came with its own set of challenges. As the IPR Chair Professor, he offered IPR courses within and beyond the institute.
He offered two IPR courses, Patent Law for Engineers and Scientists and Patent Drafting for Beginners on the NPTEL, a technology platform supported by Google, and found that there were thousands who registered for the courses. The conventional understanding of classroom-size, student-teacher ratio, group-discussion took new meanings with rapid strides made by technology to bring people together in meaningful ways. When India’s first National IPR Policy spelled out the vision of an India where creativity and innovation are stimulated by Intellectual Property for the benefit of all, the idea of taking IPR to the masses through a technology enhanced platform was realised with LexCampus. In 2016, LexCampus successfully trained a small group of aspirants to clear the Patent Agent Exam. Since then, LexCampus became Your IP Coach.
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A judge, jury and execution: Being a doctor in the COVID-19 pandemic
Dr. RK is the duty doctor at a hospital in the outskirts of Mumbai on the 15th of April, 2020. She has been working in the isolation ward of the hospital since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic. It is late at night and her shift has been extended because of the shortage of medical personnel and due to a high influx of patients. She has spent the last nine hours monitoring the patients and evaluating the treatment protocol. Finally, she arrives in her cabin and sits for the first time in what seems like forever, especially without the heavy personal protective equipment.
Just as she sits down to give her worn soles some rest, a nurse rushes in and informs her in a hushed whisper that the cheerful 77-year-old lady in the general ward has started to show symptoms of the disease and that her condition is rapidly worsening. Dr. RK’s mind begins to race and she tries to remember the patient’s case history. The 77-year-old was suffering from diabetes and her kidneys were failing; she was teetering on the brink of a renal failure. Medical facts aside, Riya remembers the old woman in her residential complex, someone who inquired of her every time they ran into each other. Dr. RK rushes to examine the patient’s condition, and then decides that a ventilator support is imperative. Just as she calls the ICU to inform her decision to shift the patient, she is called-in for a VIP case.
The district medical officer runs up to her and informs her that a prominent 36-year-old businessman, who was under self-quarantine has tested positive for COVID-19. He said that the patient had a history of recent travel to Italy. He was asymptomatic at first but his condition has worsened over the days presenting currently with severe breathlessness. The medical officer said that the businessman must be immediately shifted to the ICU when his ambulance arrives. The businessman employs around 15000 people in his four business ventures and carries his own political clout.
Faced with these three challenging cases in the span of less than five minutes, Dr. RK tells her trusty team of nurses to ready three ventilators in the ICU. Within minutes, however, a senior nurse informs her that three of the four remaining ventilators are malfunctioning and cannot be used. This leaves Dr. RK in an extremely difficult position. She has to decide who among the following will get to use the only functioning ventilator: the 77-year-old woman in whom she sees her grandmother or the 36-year-old influential businessman who can cost her job or the 19-year-old girl who is just beginning to live her adult life. No matter the decision she takes, she will also have to figure out a course of action for the remaining two patients but she could have as well consigned them to permanent damage if not their deaths. As this is a remote area, the next nearest hospital is about 200 miles away. Also, there is a shortage of drivers because of the lockdown and at this late hour, thus it is highly likely that the remaining patients will be shifted only the next day.
The doctor tells the nurses to attend to the patients, take some preliminary readings and then starts reflecting on a decision that could change three lives and families forever. While frazzled and tired physically, Dr. RK’s mind is in overdrive. She recalls WHO material that indicates fatalities to be very high (about 20%) for people aged over 80 and significantly lower (about 0.2%) for people in their 30s and below. However, complications like asthma, COPD or diabetes can significantly increase the probability of a fatality. Further, all of these patients were suffering from severe breathing difficulty, and unless urgent care is administered, they may not survive the night.
With complications likely to rise with every passing minute, the doctor decides to recall her classes of medical ethics and recount if any of the established principles could help her arrive at a decision. The Hippocratic oath that she took just before passing out from college is the first one, she thinks of. She remembers snippets of it like ‘I will not let considerations of age or disability affect my judgement’. The principle of patient autonomy is the next one that comes to her mind. She wonders if it would be appropriate for her to go and ask any of the patients if they are willing to forsake the ventilator for the benefit of a more ‘deserving’ patient. “Who is more deserving?”, she asked herself. Is it the youngest person of the lot? Or is it the person with the highest likelihood of survival? She wonders if it is acceptable for her to override patient autonomy in testing times like this to avoid a greater damage to society. Though she wondered who made her- a, judge, jury and executioner. The principles of beneficence and nonmal efficiency were the next she considered. Like any other doctor she must not willfully hurt any individual and also try her best to facilitate the best treatment available for all of her patients.
Attempting to save all three lives by giving all of them a ventilator was out-of-the-question. She then thinks about the patients and tries to assess who deserves the ventilator. The young woman has the greatest number of years left, arguably. However, she suffers from a pre-existing lung disease, which may decrease her prospect of surviving COVID-19. The girl is the only child of her parents and it would be impossible for them to forsake their child’s treatment for anybody else. The older woman is the one with the lowest number of years left, arguably. She also suffers from complications like diabetes and other ailments that can have a negative impact on the chance of survival. The businessman, though in a comfortable age bracket and expected to have a fairly high immunity. It is unclear if the infection has passed to a stage where his lungs were damaged to such an extent that the probability of survival decreases. He is also the owner of many businesses and his death can cause economic fallout beyond his immediate family. The doctor wants to impart the greatest happiness to the greatest number, but the cost of that decision was an increasingly steep one. She can base her decision on a set of predefined rules or try to make a decision based on ground realities. She even tries calling the senior-most doctors for advice but the poor network has put them off the grid. The clock is ticking as she has to decide or risk being accused of medical negligence. She decides to give herself a couple more minutes to arrive at the decision.
She comes back to the fundamental nature of the problem and a few ethical perspectives come to her mind. She thinks of universalism, an approach which mandates her thought to have universal applicability. In this situation, it would mean that her decision must be purely objective and devoid of any sort of personal bias. She would need to be satisfied with her decision even if in a hypothetical situation, she was one of the patients. With a heavy heart, she makes a firm decision to not consider her emotional ties with the old woman or the young girl as part of her decision-making process. Similarly, even the political connections of the businessman should not affect her decision. What then, should her decision be based on?
She then thinks of utilitarianism, which leads her to question which individual would impart the greatest contribution to society post recovery. It is clear that the businessman would be the one to save then, as he provides employment to a huge number of workers. The elderly woman arguably has a few years of life left. However, this theory becomes muddled when she comes to the 19-year-old girl. While she undoubtedly has a lot of potential to serve society in the long-run, how could one decide whether that potential was of higher value than what the businessman had already achieved? It seemed that, after all this thinking, the doctor had hit a roadblock, once again.
Suddenly, a nurse came running and informed her that the businessman had been brought in and his preliminary evaluation had been done. All three of the patients had fluctuating vitals and a decision had to be taken now. Then it struck her. The enormity of the decision she faced. After all, these were human lives at stake. She couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, even ashamed of herself, for debating theories such as utilitarianism, when the subjects were innocent human beings. While her decision might save one life, she couldn’t help but imagine that it might also result in the other two possibly losing theirs. How could she ever justify such a decision? How could she live with it if one of the three patients died, and her decision could have saved them? She could not help but hold herself accountable. However, there are some things which have to be done. She did sign up for this, when she first registered as a doctor. Every second she spent pondering on this increased the risk of one of her patients deteriorating. So, putting on a brave face and holding back those tears, the doctor emerged, to face the situation head on. She moved towards one of the patients and asked the nurses to procure the ventilator.
Now, we leave it up to the reader to decide which patient did the doctor save. If faced with the same situation, whom would you save? While this tale might seem far-fetched, even fictitious to some, it portrays the reality of what front line healthcare workers often face and are increasingly facing today.
Based on the facts of this case, what decision would you take if you were in Dr.RK’s shoes?
Aniket Kar: Born and brought up in Rourkela, Odisha, Aniket is now a second-year student pursuing IPM at IIM Indore. He also works as a freelance writer and is interested in a myriad of topics ranging from philosophy and psychology to gaming and football
Jeevan Joseph. M: Born in Kerala and brought up in Dubai, Jeevan is now a second-year student of the IPM program at IIM Indore. He enjoys writing articles and short stories. His areas of interest include ethics, history, politics and public policy.
Bed No 13
Medicine in Bollywood: What else were we even expecting?
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Under scrutiny
A recent Information Tribunal ruling suggests that when it comes to planning decisions relating to historic buildings, public scrutiny trumps commercial confidentiality. However, writes Robin Hopkins, the judgement has left a number of unanswered questions.
To local authority lawyers involved in planning or information law, the pattern will be all too familiar. A developer applies for planning permission to demolish or convert a historic building. In accordance with statutory guidance, the application is accompanied by a report purporting to show alternative use of the current building to be unviable.
Objectors understandably wish to interrogate this ‘viability report’, and they request a copy under the Environmental Regulations 2004, younger sibling of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The developer wishes to keep any sensitive commercial data contained in the viability report confidential. The sympathetic local authority therefore refuses to disclose the report, relying on the relevant exemption (regulation 12(5)(e)) under the EIR.
In such circumstances, which takes precedence: commercial confidentiality or public scrutiny? Following the Information Tribunal’s recent decision in Bristol City Council v IC and Portland and Brunswick Squares Association (EA/2010/0012), the answer would appear to be the latter.
The Tribunal was – as Tribunals tend to be – at pains to deny that it was setting a broad precedent for full transparency in planning applications. Nevertheless, the upshot, in my view, is that it will now be very difficult to withhold viability reports or any other information which will be decisive in a planning decision about a historic building. This is arguably the most significant development in the intersection of planning and information law since the ‘Vauxhall Tower’ decision of 2007 (Baker v IC and Dept for Communities and Local Govt (EA/2006/0043)).
In order to digest and apply this case in practice, close attention to the underlying facts is required.
First, the buildings: a Coroner’s Court (Victorian; grade II listed; refurbishment and conversion proposed; in council ownership but with a conditional contract for sale to the developer) and an adjacent site (also Victorian; not listed, but in a conservation area; demolition proposed; already owned by the developer).
Next, the documents at issue: one was the developer’s viability report, the conclusion of which had been officially pronounced “not unreasonable” by an independent quantity surveyor. The second was a ‘feasibility costs report’ submitted by the developer. In short, the disputed information included the developer’s estimates as to both the costs of and the returns on alternative schemes for the site.
The chronology should also be noted: the Residents’ Association’s request for information was finally refused in April 2008. That was therefore the relevant date from an EIR perspective. Planning permission was granted in June 2008, but was swiftly subject to a judicial review challenge. The JR proceedings in turn were stayed pending the Information Tribunal’s decision.
Finally, the applicable planning guidance was PPG15, which provided that a listed building could only be demolished where there was “clear and convincing evidence that all reasonable efforts have been made to sustain existing uses or find viable new uses and these efforts have failed… or that redevelopment would produce substantial benefits for the community which would decisively outweigh the loss resulting from demolition” (paragraph 3.17).
As we shall see, the stringency of this test was fundamental to the Tribunal’s finding in this case. PPG15 further provided that proposals to demolish unlisted buildings which make a positive contribution to the character or appearance of a conservation area (as was agreed to be the case here) should be assessed against the same broad criteria as listed buildings (paragraph 4.27).
PPG15 has of course since been supplanted by PPS5, which retains a reconfigured version of the aforementioned principles, albeit with a hint of uncertainty about unlisted buildings in conservation areas (of which more anon).
With the foregoing facts in mind, we can examine the Tribunal’s reasoning on the engagement of the exemption and the public interest balance.
Contrary to the Information Commissioner’s decision, the Tribunal found that the exemption under regulation 12(5)(e) was engaged, notwithstanding the absence of any express reference to confidentiality in the correspondence or documents themselves, because the desire to cloak an economic interest in confidentiality was implicit in the context. The explicit and information-specific (rather than blanket) signposting of an expectation of confidentiality will, however, help to make the engagement of regulation 12(5)(e) less contentious.
The public interest factors favouring disclosure were listed as: (i) the viability report being a “major factor” in (ii) a controversial decision; (iii) the requirements of PPG15; (iv) the planning regime’s emphasis on the engagement of local residents, amenities societies and other interested parties; (v) the “particular scrupulousness” demanded of a Council when dealing with one of its own sites, and (vi) the mismatch in resources between the Council/developer on the one hand and the Residents’ Association on the other (the latter could not afford to commission a separate viability report of their own).
The public interest in maintaining commercial confidentiality was noted, but downgraded in this case due to a number of factors. Some were fact-specific but common enough: the absence of any express insistence on confidentiality by the developer, and the viability report’s use of general pricing levels in the construction industry and “hypothetical” (as opposed to actual) forecasts. The latter is a little mystifying, given that forecasting is an intrinsically hypothetical activity. In any event, “the most telling factor” against disclosure – namely that developers might refuse to supply viability reports if publicity is envisaged – was discounted because, where PPG15 applies, there simply cannot be a reasonable expectation of confidentiality.
In the end, it was not a close-run affair: the Tribunal found that the public interest in disclosure “substantially outweighed” that in maintaining the exemption. In the circumstances of this case, that decision must be right.
We can go further: a quick glance through the factors listed above reveals that the majority will apply to any planning decision about a historic building – hence the prescriptive force of this decision. Note this conclusion from the Tribunal: “so far as PPG15 viability reports are concerned, it seems to us that developers will not be able to refuse to supply them if they want to obtain the relevant consent but that, given their hypothetical nature, it may be possible for them to construct such reports in a way that does not reveal sensitive commercial information specific to themselves”. It is not entirely clear how this suggestion is to be implemented.
Further uncertainty comes from the Tribunal’s observation that “the result may have been different, for example, if the information had not been provided to satisfy the PPG 15 criteria or if the Council had not owned the Coroner’s Court building”.
This has two odd implications. One is that for historic buildings in private ownership, commercial confidentiality could prevail over the public interest in disclosure. The other is that if the building in question had been publicly-owned but non-historic, the Tribunal may still have reached the same conclusion. Given how large PPG15 loomed in this decision – compared with the question of public versus private ownership – both of these implications should be approached with caution.
A safer approach might be something like this: if a building is publicly-owned but not historic, disclosure may be required; if it is historic but privately-owned, disclosure is very likely to be required, and if it is both historic and publicly-owned, disclosure is (barring exceptional circumstances) virtually unavoidable. In all cases, the more controversial the planning application, the greater the public interest in transparency.
This unearths another question. PPS5 is expressed in terms of “heritage assets” rather than “buildings”. It is as yet unclear whether, in the case of a conservation area, the relevant heritage asset is the area as a whole (in which case the stringent test for demolition need not necessarily apply on a building-by-building basis), or whether each constituent building is itself a heritage asset (in which case the stringent test applies each time, and disclosure is likely to be required).
The first planning inquiry decision to straddle the PPG15 and PPS5 worlds (The Turnmill, 63 Clerkenwell Road, London (APP/V5570/E/09/2118167 and APP/V5570/A/09/2118166)) was not required to resolve this point. My prediction is that the Information Commissioner and Tribunal will presume the stringent test to apply until planning law says otherwise, or unless they are persuaded that the particular building in question is of insufficient merit to justify the level of public interest implicit in PPS5.
For those troubled by the unresolved questions from this crucial decision, I have tried to set out some rules of thumb in this article. In any event, it is safe to say that the Information Commissioner or Tribunal will be asked to wade into another controversial planning decision before too long.
Robin Hopkins is a barrister at 11KBW Chambers (www.11kbw.com). He specialises in information, public and employment law.
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End of British rule by queen as Barbados becomes Republic
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: In a colonial unshackling, Barbados will say goodbye to the British monarch, as the reign of Queen Elizabeth will come to an end this December, with the island's transitioning to a republican status.
Barbados, a British Caribbean colony that became independent in 1966, announced that it would move forward with its republican agenda in September, as its governor general, Sandra Mason, 73, affirmed that "The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind."
Mason will assume the role as the first president of Barbados at a swearing-in on November 29. Through a unanimous election in October, Mason emerged as the clear choice of the parliament of the Caribbean country.
Among the attendees at this event will be Prince Charles, the English successor to the Queen. Charles will be the honoree at the celebratory event, as per information provided by Clarence House.
"Becoming a republic is a coming of age," according to Guy Hewitt, former high commissioner of Barbados to the UK, as quoted by CNN.
"I make the analogy to when a child grows up and gets their own house, gets their own mortgage, gives their parents back the keys, because it says we are moving on," Hewitt added.
The Caribbean island's choice signals an important moment, when a country intends to pull back from the tradition of British monarchy, with the last country to do so being Mauritius in the 1990s.
Similar to Mauritius, Barbados is also keen to stay as a Commonwealth member.
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Manny Villar’s Net Worth Surges by $1.6 Billion in 2021, According to Forbes
The rich just got richer—including the Philippines’ Manny Villar, who remains the country’s richest person.
This is according to Forbes, which released its annual billionaire list on Tuesday, April 6. The magazine reported the business tycoon’s net worth at $7.2 billion—an increase of $1.6 billion, compared to his reported $5.6 billion last year.
Manny Villar Remains Wealthiest Filipino in Forbes List, PH Now Has 17 Billionaires
Former lawmaker and real estate magnate Manny Villar is still the richest Filipino in the Forbes World's Billionaires List this 2021.
He is among the 17 Filipinos in the international publication's list, up from last year's 15. Forbes listed 2,755 billionaires worldwide this 2021, also higher from the 2,095 the year prior.
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Investing/Securities
A look at Trump backer Robert Mercer, who stepped down from hedge fund
Published: Nov. 6, 2017 at 8:06 a.m. ET
Ciara Linnane
Billionaire co-CEO of hedge fund Renaissance Technologies is resigning from his role
Robert Mercer
DJIA
Robert Mercer, the billionaire co-chief executive of hedge fund Renaissance Technologies LLC and an early backer of Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, is resigning from his role, according to a memo sent to employees on Thursday.
Who is Mercer?
Mercer, 71, and his daughter Rebekah, came to public attention during the 2016 presidential campaign, when they donated early and generously to Trump and encouraged him to add Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway to his staff.
Mercer is also a part owner of Cambridge Analytica, a private company that uses data mining and analysis in election campaigns. The company is credited with influencing voters in the Trump election as well as the Brexit campaign and has become the subject of criminal probes in both countries.
Read also:Assange says WikiLeaks was approached by head of data firm hired by Trump campaign
Mercer said he will depart the hedge-fund role on Jan. 1.
What does the memo tell us about Mercer’s politics?
“Of the many mischaracterizations made of me by the press, the most repugnant to me have been the intimations that I am a white supremacist or a member of some other noxious group,” Mercer wrote in his memo.
Instead, he is a strong believer in individuals forming their own opinions and taking responsibility for their actions, rather than being swayed by experts “who are confident in their knowledge of what is best for everyone else. This is why I support conservatives, who favor a smaller, less powerful government,” he wrote.
Mercer is unhappy that the media has characterized his political views as matching those of Bannon.
“I have great respect for Mr. Bannon, and from time to time I do discuss politics with him. However, I make my own decisions with respect to whom I support politically. Those decisions do not always align with Mr. Bannon’s,” he wrote in the memo.
The individual he singles out for the most criticism is Milo Yiannopoulos, the former Breitbart tech editor and Bannon protégé who is widely credited with inciting internet trolls in the Gamergate controversy and other social media attacks.
Yiannopoulos, a conservative firebrand, has expressed views that are critical of feminism, Islam, social justice and political correctness. He was banned from Twitter in 2016 for “inciting or engaging in the targeted abuse or harassment of others”. An October report revealed his contacts with extreme-right and neo-nazi groups, including seeking feedback and story ideas while working for Breitbart. Leaked emails showed that many of his articles were written by other people.
Yiannopoulos was fired from Breitbart and had a book contract with Simon and Schuster canceled after the release of a video clip in which he appeared to condone sexual relationships between teenage boys and adult men. More recently, speeches made at U.S. universities have attracted protests and violence with eight people being arrested at Cal State Fullerton this week after he spoke on the suppression of conservative views on campuses.
Mercer said he supported Yiannopoulos in the hope and expectation that by expressing views that went counter to mainstream and “spotlighting of the hypocrisy of those who would close down free speech in the name of political correctness" would promote open debate on U.S. campuses.
See also: Bill Maher on all the backlash against Milo Yiannopoulos: ‘You’re welcome’
“But in my opinion, actions of and statements by Mr. Yiannopoulos have caused pain and divisiveness undermining the open and productive discourse that I had hoped to facilitate. I was mistaken to have supported him, and for several weeks have been in the process of severing all ties with him,” he wrote in the memo.
Milo Yiannopoulos Resigns From Breitbart News
Renaissance Technologies has become a subject of an activist online organization called Sleeping Giants, that has been lobbying universities and pension funds to pull their money because of Mercer’s ties to alt-right website Breitbart News and to far-right figures, including Milo Yiannopoulos, according to The Street.
Why is he leaving his job?
Mercer said he is not planning to retire, but to relinquish management responsibilities and resign from the board. He will continue to work the firm on the research side, work “that I find most fulfilling.”
The investor has also decided to sell his stake in Breitbart News to his daughters.
The S&P 500 SPX, +0.08% was down 0.1% Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial DJIA, -0.56% as up 0.1%.
“Nearly all hospitalizations and deaths in this population could have been prevented by vaccination,” said Kathryn Edwards, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center pediatrics professor involved in the study published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Ciara Linnane is MarketWatch's investing- and corporate-news editor. She is based in New York.
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Business/Consumer Services
Angie's List parent ANGI Homeservices upgraded on opportunity in the home sector
Published: Jan. 3, 2018 at 10:33 a.m. ET
Tonya Garcia
ANGI Homeservices Inc. ANGI, +3.79% shares rose 5.3% in Wednesday trading after the company was upgraded to buy from neutral at MKM Partners due to the opportunity in the home services sector. ANGI Homeservices' portfolio includes Angie's List, HomeAdvisor and HomeStars. "The home services sector is one of the largest opportunities still relatively untouched by internet platforms and we think that a digital marketplace will become a primary source of business origination over time," wrote analyst Rob Sanderson in a note. "If management can deliver on its post-merger targets, we think the company could be worth $13 billion to $16 billion by 2022, a 2.3X to 2.8X increase from current valuation." The merger with HomeAdvisor and Angie's List took place in September. ANGI shares up nearly 48% for the last 12 months while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.08% has rise nearly 20% for the period.
Here's what you need to know.
Tonya Garcia is a MarketWatch reporter covering retail and consumer-oriented companies. You can follow her on Twitter @tgarcianyc. She is based in New York. Tonya joined MarketWatch from Moguldom Media, where she was business editor for MadameNoire, a website targeting African-American women with a range of content from personal finance to economics, politics, education and lifestyle and entertainment. She also worked at Mediabistro, and previously handled media relations for MSLGroup’s consumer practice.
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Home>First Amendment Trends>The Internet’s Enduring Free Speech Legacy
The Internet’s Enduring Free Speech Legacy
By Stuart N. Brotman and Shiela Hawkins…
Over 20 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which found the communications decency provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to be unconstitutional. Applying a strict scrutiny judicial review standard under the First Amendment, the Supreme Court concluded that unlike broadcasting (where the FCC’s “indecency” content regulation consistently has been upheld due to the unique characteristics of that medium), no government regulation would be constitutionally permissible – even for online child protection. This means that there continues to be no content restrictions (aside from child pornography) on what Internet users in the United States can send or receive online.
Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote the opinion, presented historical and technical aspects of Internet development to illustrate its expansive nature and popularity. His explanation may seem a bit elementary, but the basic framework of the Internet remains the same today:
“Anyone with access to the Internet may take advantage of a wide variety of communication and information retrieval methods. These methods are constantly evolving and difficult to categorize precisely. But, as presently constituted, those most relevant to this case are electronic mail (e-mail), automatic mailing list services … ‘newsgroups,’ ‘chat rooms,’ and the ‘World Wide Web.’ All of these methods can be used to transmit text; most can transmit sound, pictures, and moving video images. Taken together, these tools constitute a unique medium – known to its users as ‘cyberspace’ – located in no particular geographical location but available to anyone, anywhere in the world, with access to the Internet.”
The Court was especially impressed by the “extraordinary growth” that the Internet had achieved as of two decades ago. About 40 million people used the Internet at the time a lower court enjoined the Department of Justice from enforcing any of the law’s criminal penalties against indecent online content. Justice Stevens wrote that this number “is expected to mushroom to 200 million by 1999”; there now are over 275 million U.S. Internet users.
A Different Medium
Clearly, the Supreme Court understood that the Internet had unique characteristics that made it far different than the medium of broadcasting. Its opinion argued that the Internet, unlike earlier mass media, was not geographically constrained by spectrum limitations or local/national physical boundaries. The uniqueness of cyberspace meant that online access could be available to anyone, anywhere in the world, with an available Internet connection.
The Court also highlighted that the Internet, unlike broadcasting, was not freely accessible to all, since an Internet access fee must be paid by individuals to utilize an online connection. And the opinion noted that, “unlike the conditions that prevailed when Congress first authorized regulation of the broadcast spectrum, the Internet can hardly be considered a ‘scarce’ expressive commodity. It provides relatively unlimited, low-cost capacity for communication of all kinds.”
Nevertheless, some have argued that the Court’s reasoning in Reno was based on a view of the Internet that only was in its nascent stages of development back then. Norton and Citron (2010), for example, assert that as the applications of the Internet continue to change, the Court’s prior understanding of the Internet may no longer be applicable. Snyder and White (2018) argue that the Court was using the wrong paradigm when hearing the facts of the case because regulation of Internet content is not the regulation of speech, but rather the regulation of the communications transport system. To them, the Reno interpretation of the Internet as a medium for speech is an oversimplification; with modern technological advances, they believe it has become archaic.
We strongly disagree. Admittedly, the Internet has developed in many unanticipated ways since Reno v. ACLU. The speed of transmission has dramatically increased through various broadband networks. Users also now access the Internet through both paid access and free WiFi connections, including numerous hotspots that are available both in private businesses and public locations. Content that is accessible on apps rather than websites now is more popular. Multiple devices provide online access today, from desktops to mobile laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
The more recent Supreme Court decision in Packingham v. North Carolina clearly underscores and updates the Court’s Reno assessment about the ongoing dynamics of Internet development. As Justice Anthony Kennedy, the author of this 2017 opinion, noted:
“While we now may be coming to the realization that the Cyber Age is a revolution of historic proportions, we cannot appreciate yet its full dimensions and vast potential to alter how we think, express ourselves, and define who we want to be. The forces and directions of the Internet are so new, so protean, and so far reaching that courts must be conscious that what they say today might be obsolete tomorrow.”
A Pervasive Medium
The pervasiveness of the Internet in American life now is universally recognized; if anything, the passage of time has only underscored why the Internet remains as a mass medium unlike any of its predecessors. The constitutional analysis the Court applied in Reno, which found that the First Amendment prohibited the regulation of “indecent” online content, remains fully applicable today and in the foreseeable future.
This notable decision represents a stark contrast to another landmark case that dealt with “indecent” content available through a different form of mass media – broadcasting. In Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation, the Supreme Court dealt with “indecent” content played during a mid-afternoon radio broadcast. A complaint to the FCC alleged that a recorded monologue by comedian George Carlin that aired on New York City radio station WBAI-FM in the afternoon was “indecent.” The FCC subsequently sent a letter of reprimand to the station, censuring it for allegedly violating broadcast regulations that prohibited airing indecent material.
Although the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed the FCC’s assertion of this regulatory authority as an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment, the Supreme Court overturned that decision and decided in favor of the FCC. In a 5-4 decision, the Court found that restricting broadcasting content deemed by the FCC to be indecent was constitutionally permissible because of the unique nature of the broadcast medium.
The majority opinion, like Reno also written by Justice John Paul Stevens, stated that the Court had “long recognized that each medium of expression presents special First Amendment problems.” The Court must consider “the intrusive nature of radio and the presence of children in the listening audience.” It reasoned that the scarcity of broadcasting spectrum, the unique accessibility of broadcasting to children, and its availability without payment made radio an “undeniably public medium,” and as such, subject to government sanctions.
As World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee notes, “the web has become a public square, a library, a doctor’s office, a shop, a school, a design studio, an office, a cinema, a bank, and so much more.” Given the Internet’s emergence as the dominant streaming mass medium, it should reshape our notions of governmental authority over broadcast content, as well. Since identical broadcast content now travels ubiquitously over both traditional spectrum-based radio and television stations and through live-streamed online transmission, the conventional First Amendment lines that the Supreme Court has used to distinguish broadcast and Internet content now seems permanently blurred, perhaps fully indistinguishable. At a practical level, identical “indecent” content now may receive a different level of First Amendment protection by courts depending on how it is transmitted and received. This is certainly problematical.
Given the Internet’s now-clear dominance, it would be sensible to have broadcasting brought under its more robust constitutional protection rather than maintain a two-tier system under the First Amendment that is difficult to rationalize. So perhaps we are nearing a time when the Supreme Court will have to reconcile the Reno and Pacifica cases in a new case that illustrates this reality.
But in any event, time and technological changes have demonstrated that the Reno decision continues as a critical element in explosive Internet development. An open terrain for content, with a First Amendment firewall from government intrusion in place, contributes greatly to the powerful forces of its online supply and demand. The Reno precedent represents a free speech legacy for all those using the Internet as a vital source of news, information, and entertainment.
Guest Authors: Stuart N. Brotman is the Howard Distinguished Endowed Professor of Media Management and Law and Beaman Professor of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Shiela Hawkins is a doctoral candidate in the College of Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This article appeared here in the April 11, 2019, edition of Journalism History.
Berners-Lee, T. (2019, March 11). The World Wide Web turns 30. Where does it go from here? Wired.
Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978).
Norton, H., & Citron, D. K. (2010). Government Speech 2.0. Denver University Law Review, 87(4), 899-943.
Packingham v. North Carolina, 582 U.S. ___ , 137 S. Ct. 1730, 198 L. Ed. 2d 273 (2017).
Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U.S. 844 (1997).
Snyder, W. C., & White, R. D. (2018). The nature of the revolution: Rethinking Reno to reflect the reality that the internet is part of the physical world. Albany Law Journal of Science Technology, 28(3), 45-78.
By Guest Authors Stuart N. Brotman and Shiela Hawkins|2019-04-18T11:32:26-04:00April 18th, 2019|First Amendment Trends|Comments Off on The Internet’s Enduring Free Speech Legacy
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