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From Hall of Fame talent to Hall of Fame production to NFL legend — the evolution of Charles Woodson
In the span of a decade, Charles Woodson has gone from being a college football player with no NFL pedigree to an NFL legend. He is now one of the most decorated players in league history and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer.
Charles Woodson was a high school football player who went on to play for the University of Michigan. He became a Hall of Fame talent, but it wasn’t until his NFL career that he became a Hall of Fame production.
7 a.m. ET
Gutierrez, Paul
ESPN Contributor
For eight years, I covered the Oakland Raiders for CSNBayArea.com and the Sacramento Bee.
Pro Football Writers Association member
Worked for the Los Angeles Times, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and Sports Illustrated in the past.
Demovsky, Rob
From 1997 through 2013, I covered the Packers for the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association has named him Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year twice.
At its core, Woodson, Charles’s football narrative is a three-part tale. He had Hall of Fame talent in Oakland. He was a Hall of Fame player in Green Bay. Woodson became a legend after his comeback to the Raiders. ESPN Raiders reporter Paul Gutierrez and ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky collaborated to document Woodson’s journey to Canton in the greatest way possible.
THE CITY OF HENDERSON, NEVADA — When Charles Woodson initially joined the NFL, as a Heisman Trophy-winning No. 4 overall selection in the 1998 draft by the Raiders, he was a young player doing young player things.
He’d get in a vehicle with wide receiver Andre Rison some days after practice. Woodson would take off with running back Charlie Garner on other occasions. As the vehicles drove away from Raiders headquarters for places unknown, Jon Gruden, then a young first-time head coach, would watch wistfully and mumble to himself, “Oh, no, there he goes.”
Gruden chuckles about the recollection two decades later.
“He was broken in by some crazy people,” Gruden said recently, referring to Woodson, who was his first-ever draft choice as a head coach. “We had a lot of personalities on our squad.” Characters who have a football theme. Charles was smack dab in the midst of it all.
“When he was there for us [in the draft], we were overjoyed. Peyton Manning was first, followed by Ryan Leaf, Andre Wadsworth, and finally us. Charles has the ability to play dime linebacker. Corner. Nickel. Safety. And they’re all part of the same series. He was regarded as one of the most decorated defensive players in the draft’s history. Yes, we were ecstatic. And he was like a magnet, drawing everyone to him. It was enjoyable for him. We had to reel him in on occasion.”
Woodson was awarded the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, which he shared with Gruden and the Raiders. But if he seemed to be preoccupied or allergic to practice, it never manifested itself on game day.
“You’re just sort of ready for life out of college, high draft selection,” Woodson reflected. “You’re there to play football, but you also want to live, if you get what I mean. I used to be that guy. I put forth a lot of effort in both football and off the field.”
Rison and Garner are two examples. Woodson is now wailing.
Woodson replied, “Those were my guys, dude.” “We pushed ourselves to the limit. That was the old school in me showing through. We partied hard some nights, but when it came time to wake up and perform that thing on Sunday, we were pumped.”
Do you want to go back in time?
On the football field, Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown, known as the “Godfather of the Bump and Run,” agreed to let Woodson wear his old No. 24.
In his first four NFL seasons, Charles Woodson was renowned for partying excessively, but he also made the Pro Bowl three times. Getty Images/Ezra Shaw
Woodson stated, “Willie Brown was a man that made sure you knew what it meant to be a Raider.” “‘There are 31 clubs in the NFL, and there are the Raiders,’ he would say first. That’s the mindset you brought with you when you arrived. Cliff Branch, George Atkinson Those guys made it clear early on that I needed to be a tough, physical, and quick football player.”
In his first four seasons with the Raiders, Woodson appeared in four Pro Bowls and was thrice voted first-team All-Pro.
Is this Woodson’s last game under Gruden’s tutelage? “The Tuck Rule Game,” as it’s known. In January 2002, Woodson came in on a corner blitz and dislodged the ball from Michigan college classmate Tom Brady in the snow in New England, sending the Raiders to the AFC championship game.
The fumble was reversed into an incomplete pass by Brady, who would lead the Patriots to an overtime win and accelerate Gruden’s departure as well as the Raiders’ demise.
Sure, the Raiders made it to the Super Bowl the next year (when they played Gruden’s new club in Tampa Bay), and Woodson had an interception on the third play of the game while playing with a fractured bone in his right leg. However, Gruden’s Buccaneers thrashed Oakland 48-21, and the Raiders have only had one winning season and one trip in the playoffs since then.
Injuries and problems with Gruden’s successor, Bill Callahan, signaled that Woodson’s time with the Raiders was coming to an end. Woodson fractured his right leg in Game 6 of the 2005 season. His season was over, as was his tenure with the Raiders, after he had been on franchise tags for the previous two years. As content as he was with moving on, he was even more looking forward to the next bidding battle.
“I was thinking, ‘I’m going to have people crawling over each other to come to me,’” he said. “I used to think I was that kind of player.”
Tom Brady has ‘discovered my voice more’ at 44. Charles Woodson, a new HOFer, has gone through a transformation. • Parsons, a rookie, will play a key role for the Cowboys. Murray, dubbed “Philosophical,” is in his third year with the Cards. • Sirianni, a member of the Eagles, adds a little of grit to camp.
Unless… The offers didn’t come in fast enough. Even Gruden, who had taken Woodson to Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse in Tampa to get a feel for him, didn’t seem impressed.
“Not signing him was probably the biggest mistake of my career,” Gruden stated. “He was at the bottom of his game. There were concerns about the fit.”
People squeezing past one another to get to him? Teams were fleeing in the other direction, given his previous injury history, which has prevented him from playing a complete 16-game season since 2001.
“That hurt a little,” Woodson said. “You hear former Green Bay players, particularly Black guys, say, ‘Hey, buddy, that ain’t where you want to be.’
“That’s not the squad I want on the phone with me…. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I expected there to be many teams and a bidding war. It made me irritable.”
‘It wouldn’t be possible without Green Bay.’
The Green Bay Packers were more important to Woodson than he wanted to acknowledge at the time.
By 2006, he only had two teams to choose from: the Buccaneers or the Packers.
Woodson was coveted by Tampa Bay, but exclusively as a safety. Woodson, who was 29 at the time, still thought he was a cornerback. The Packers were the only club willing to take a risk on him.
It didn’t start off well.
Mike McCarthy’s first season as a head coach was in 2006, and he wanted guys who were excited to be there.
“When I first arrived there, things were a little rough at first,” Woodson remembered recently. “I think Coach McCarthy and everyone else around there was just trying to make my transition as easy as possible, but I was just very reluctant to allow myself to just be a Packer. We had some issues that we had to iron out our first few weeks in training camp, but Coach Mike McCarthy assured me, ‘Hey man, we want you here. You’re going to be a Packer.’
“We were able to have discussions like that throughout my career, my seven years in Green Bay, to the point where Coach McCarthy and I developed a strong connection throughout my time there. I appreciate his making me feel welcome although I didn’t want to be welcomed in the first place.”
The Packers were back in the NFC Championship Game by Woodson’s second season.
He was named Defensive Player of the Year in the NFL by his fourth season.
But it wasn’t until Year 5 that Woodson received what he really desired: a Super Bowl ring.
Charles Woodson was all smiles when the Packers won Super Bowl XLV following the 2010 season, despite fracturing his collarbone during the game. Getty Images/John Biever/Sports Illustrated
In reality, as the NFC’s sixth seed, he became a driving factor behind their march to Super Bowl XLV.
Woodson held court with the players gathered in the middle of the locker room following the NFC Championship Game victory over the rival Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. He explained to them: “Consider one for two weeks. Let’s all think alike. Let’s unite in a single pulse. There is just one goal. There is just one aim. There’s one more game. One. Let’s get started.”
Woodson’s Super Bowl experience was bittersweet, as he was forced to leave the game in the second quarter due to a fractured collarbone. Woodson’s phrases “mind,” “goal,” “purpose,” and “heart” were engraved on the team’s Super Bowl rings, which were imprinted with the No. “1” along with the words “mind,” “goal,” “purpose,” and “heart.”
Years later, Woodson told ESPN, “You see the ‘1’ and the words, and it’s like, ‘Wow,’ you’re stunned.” “You never know what will stick when you speak with the team in whatever manner. You attempt to mention something that the boys can relate to. The fact that it was engraved on the ring indicated to me that it meant something to both the players and the coaches. Now there’s something we can really hang on to for the rest of our lives.”
It’s a stretch to suggest Woodson needed his time in Green Bay to cement his Hall of Fame numbers since, as he recently said, “I would’ve gone someplace else, created a name for myself somewhere else. It just so happened that I was able to stop in Green Bay during my transition from Oakland and accomplish some amazing things there.”
“In that sense, it doesn’t happen without Green Bay,” Woodson said later, “but my career was going to continue someplace, I don’t know where it would’ve been, but I would’ve left my impact somewhere else.”
Woodson played a total of seven years with the Packers. Woodson has been referred to by Aaron Rodgers as the greatest teammate he’s ever had. When Woodson’s induction into the Hall of Fame was announced, Rodgers reacted with a three-word Tweet: “The greatest ever.”
McCarthy, who coached Woodson for the whole of his time with the Packers, referred to him as “a generational player” when he retired.
Woodson made 38 of his 65 career interceptions with the Packers, including a league-high nine picks during his defensive MVP season of 2009, and was named to four consecutive Pro Bowls from 2008 to 2011.
All of this in a location he first found difficult to accept.
“It was tough at first because I didn’t want to be there and couldn’t get my head around the idea that no one wanted me on their team,” Woodson said. “I was very upset about that, and it influenced the way I dealt with a lot of people around there, making me standoffish and getting into verbal fights and stuff like that. When I think about it now, I think it was a method for me to attempt to get out of the situation. However, I’m happy I didn’t get out of it because it turned out the way it did.”
‘A lovely transition’
Charles Woodson was a conquering hero and a mentor to the Raiders’ young players when he returned to Oakland. Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
After his contract with Green Bay ended, Woodson visited the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos in search of a new club. After that, he took a chance on the Raiders.
On May 21, 2013, Woodson paid a visit to the Raiders’ headquarters, where he used to call home. With over 200 fans mobilizing on social media, they, too, came out in force to sway Woodson, some wearing game-day makeup, costumes, and, of course, Woodson jerseys.
At the moment, Woodson remarked, “I tell you, man, it was overpowering.” “I believe that if I had forgotten what love was like in Oakland at any point, I was certainly reminded… I believe [the large turnout of fans] had a significant role in [my comeback].
“I was terrified about leaving the institution without a contract in place. I’m not sure I would have made it out alive. But it was a huge thing, and seeing that type of welcome placed me in a mindset where I thought it would be a smart choice to go ahead and do it.”
Woodson, at 37 years old, returned to the Raiders a changed and wiser man. Old man Woodson, who had gone just as hard off the field as he had on, showed up for training camp with kid car seats and strollers, while beat reporters who had covered C-Wood 1.0 couldn’t believe it.
Green Bay’s slower-paced culture, according to Gruden, helped Woodson calm down and center himself.
“And he found the proper lady, married her, and had kids,” Gruden said.
“It was a wonderful transition, if you will,” Woodson remarked.
He also became a full-time free safety and did not miss a game in his three seasons with the Raiders (he had a dislocated shoulder in the season opener of his 18th and last season and played through the agony), making the Pro Bowl after his final season in 2015. It was his seventh pick of his career.
Simpson, O.J. 1968 1985
Roger Staubach is a professional football player who plays for the 1963 1985
Hornung, Paul 1956 1986
Walker, Doak 1948 1986
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Sanders, Barry 1989 2004
Tim Brown 1988 2015
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Yes, there were gray specks in his beard, exemplifying the reversed role. Now he was portraying Brown, Atkinson, and Branch for the kids, including quarterback Derek Carr, who was in first grade when Woodson won the Heisman.
“When I mention this, he gets angry,” Carr continued, “but when I was 6 years old, I was trying to be him.”
“I can’t simply attribute C-leadership Wood’s to the times I played alongside him. To me, he is still a leader. He continues to text me. He continues to call me. He’ll approach me and say, ‘Hey, try this.’ On his way out, he realized Khalil [Mack] and I were on the verge of becoming the organization’s leaders… I’ll be eternally grateful to him.”
In Woodson’s last three seasons with the Raiders, the team went 4-12 in 2013 (he reportedly stated he believed he’d be returning to Green Bay following that season), 3-13 in 2014, and 7-9 in 2015.
“It doesn’t matter if we began 0-9, which we did one year, it doesn’t matter,” Woodson said. “You have to go out there and work and show your teammates, coaches, and fans that you care.” “When you return the second time, everything is completely different. I now have two children. I’m a married man. It’s like going from a 75-mph zone to a 35-mph zone, if you know what I mean.”
Woodson, who has launched his own wine and bourbon brands, was such an important part of the Raiders’ culture that owner Mark Davis selected him to ignite the Al Davis Torch for the team’s last game in Oakland.
He’ll wrap off the current chapter of his football career with the closing address of the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Sunday night, becoming just the 10th player in history (and the third Raider) to win a Heisman Trophy and earn a Gold Jacket.
In anticipation of his enshrinement next week, #PFHOF21 Enshrinee @CharlesWoodson received a sneak peek at his @HaggarCo Gold Jacket. pic.twitter.com/jMBoi6vVlX @Raiders | @Packers
July 29, 2021 — Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF)
“This isn’t going to be a one-night stand,” Woodson remarked. “It’s not like I walk in on the 8th and then it’s done; I’m not claiming to be a Hall of Famer anymore.” On that Monday, Tuesday, the next week, and the following year, I’m going to declare myself a Hall of Famer.
“I’m a Hall of Famer, so I get to enjoy it for the rest of my life.”
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Cal Poly’s Swanton Pacific Ranch Receives $4.7 Million Grant to Assist with Post-Fire Recovery Efforts •
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REVIEW: Curtain Up: Celebrating 40 Years of Theatre in London and New York, Victoria and Albert Museum
AuthorEmma ClarendonPosted on February 9, 2016 CategoriesTheatre, Visual ArtTagsVictoria and Albert Museum
This timely display in time for the 40th year of the Olivier Awards celebrates the wealth of talent that are shared between London’s West End and New York’s Broadway.
Installation view of Curtain Up, running at the V&A until August. (C) Victoria and Albert Museum,London.
Set right in the heart of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s section dedicated to the world of theatre, Curtain Up sweeps visitors right to the heart of the West End and Broadway in this concise – if slightly disappointingly short display.
The display pays tribute to all the work that goes into making a theatrical production that those who are sitting in the audience will have perhaps little understanding of while enjoying the overall effect.
Curtain Up is filled with video clips, costume designs, posters, set designs and costumes themselves that will certainly be appreciated by any regular theatregoer.
Installation View of Curtain Up. (C)Victoria and Albert Museum, London
But this fascinating and detailed display also reveals how closely London and New York Theatre has been closely linked over the past forty years, with recent successful transfers including The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Matilda the Musical – showcase the close involvement to share talent on both sides of the pond.
It is filled with tiny pieces of information that audiences perhaps won’t be aware of (unless you were fortunate to see both productions) – such as the changing of some of the lyrics in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita when it transferred to Broadway or the changing of the set design for the National Theatre’s production of Carousel when it transferred to New York in 1994.
Those who go to the theatre a lot will find plenty to enjoy, whether it is admiring the way in which the Tony and Olivier Awards have changed design wise or admiring costumes from Chicago or Phantom of the Opera.
But it is still worth a look even if you don’t attend the theatre on a regular basis as you still gain a valuable insight into the way in which this industry works from all angles.
The way in which the display has been presented is also effective and really can be theatrical itself in places, capturing the dedication and number of people involved in creating a production. However, it can feel a bit cramped in places and awkward in terms of making the best use of the space – perhaps a little more room is required to appreciate it even more.
However, this shouldn’t detract from the wonderfulness of the display that is a joyful celebration of the theatre.
Curtain Up runs at the Victoria and Albert Museum until the 31st August 2016. Admission to the display is free.
← In the Heights Now Booking Until 30th October
PREVIEW: Run @New Diorama Theatre →
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Pedagogical sciences
Vildanov I.R., Ishbulatov M.G., Larkina M.S., Usmanova A.R., Salakhov R.R.
METHODOLOGY OF COMPLEXING AGRICULTURAL MAP OF MUNICIPAL LEVEL (ON THE EXAMPLE OF ERMEKEEVSKY DISTRICT)
UDC 37.012
Vildanov I.R.1 (Ufa, Russian Federation) – E-mail: ildar.vildanov.89@mail.ru, Ishbulatov M.G.2 (Ufa, Russian Federation) – E-mail: img63@mail.ru, Larkina M.S.1 (Ufa, Russian Federation) – E-mail: mariy__larkina@mail.ru, Usmanova A.R.1 (Ufa, Russian Federation) – E-mail: adelmalikova@mail.ru, Salakhov R.R.1 (Ufa, Russian Federation) – E-mail: salachow.ruslan@mail.ru
1Bashkir state University
2Bashkir State Agrarian University
Abstract. The study of the content and mapping of agriculture is relevant today, both in cartography and in society and the economy in general. The main tasks of agriculture include: ensuring greater stability and growth in production; increased productivity in the crop and livestock sectors. A comprehensive agricultural map was drawn up to assess agricultural development. A separate area was considered as an example. Before compiling the map, a brief physical and geographical description of the study area was collected. To create the map, a detailed analysis of literature, atlases, maps, Internet sources was carried out, and conversations were held with the head of the department of agriculture and agricultural enterprises of the district in order to collect the necessary data on agricultural enterprises in the district. The main source of information was the statistical data of the Department of Agriculture and the Information and Consulting Center of the Administration of the Municipal District of the Ermekeevsky District of the Republic of Bashkortostan. To compile the map, a vector graphics editor CorelDRAW was chosen, a map program was developed, which includes eight main points and serves as the main normative document for further drawing up a map. Thus, the purpose of the map, its mathematical basis, content, methods of image and design, principles of generalization, information base, geographical characteristics of the territory of the region, technology of making a map were determined. The map shows in detail large agricultural enterprises of the Ermekeyevsky region, shows their main agricultural indicators, indicates the geographical basis (settlements, hydrographic objects, communication routes, borders). This information can be useful to employees of ministries, administration, agricultural department, specialists of the department of economics, students of educational institutions.
Keywords: method of drawing up a map, Ermekeyevsky district, municipal district, agricultural map, thematic map, physical and geographical characteristics, Corel DRAW, Republic of Bashkortostan.
Adelmurzina I.F., Zaripova L.A., Nikolaeva N.V., Maps of General and Secondary Education of the Republic of Bashkortostan: Types, Analysis, Possibilities of Use. CITISE, 2020, no. 1 (23), pp. 405-416. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=42771139
Alferina A.V., Kaverin A.V. The use of thematic cartoraphic materials in the management of agricultural resources. Ulyanovsk: Ulyanovsk State Pedagogical University named after I.N. Ulyanov Publ., 2019, pp. 10-11. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=41452947
Bakieva E.V., Bigildina E.R., Vildanov I.R. The principles of drawing up and the possibility of using tactile maps in teaching geography. CITISE, 2021, no. 1 (27), pp. 195-205. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=45645429
Berlyant A.M. Cartography and geoinformatics in the system of sciences and academic disciplines. Geodesy and Cartography, 2017, no. 1, pp. 38-45. (In Russian). URL: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=9456797
Bryakina A.V. Digitalization of economic systems in agriculture: the economic and legal aspect of the innovative development of agriculture. Agrarian education and science, 2019, no. 2, pp. 2-5. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=41104845
Vildanov I.R., Gayazova G.A., Larkina M.S. The value of maps of the education system for studying the infrastructure of educational institutions (on the example of the municipal district of the Ufa district of the Republic of Bashkortostan). CITISE, 2021, no. 2 (28), pp. 322-332. (In Russian) DOI: http://doi.org/10.15350/2409-7616.2021.2.31
Davletbaeva L.R. The development of farms of the rural population as the basis for sustainable development of agriculture. Scientific works of the Free Economic Society of Russia, 2010, vol. 133, pp. 544-552. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=15582400
Danshin A.I., Karpovich L.L., Naumov A.S. World Agriculture Map for Higher Education. InterCarto. InterGIS, 2015, vol. 21, pp. 643-646. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=30075545
Druzhko A.V. The main stages of designing special maps for agricultural topics. Krasnodar, Kuban State Agrarian University named after I.T. Trubilin Publ., 2016, pp. 127-130. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=26589318
Zheleznyakov V.A. Technology of creating and updating electronic maps of agricultural land according to remote sensing data. Engineering research, 2010, no. 6, pp. 46-49. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=15605763
Kulagina O.A., Kuznetsov V.I. The use of gis technologies in the preparation of thematic maps. Kemerovo: West Siberian Scientific Center Publ., 2019, pp. 65-67. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=37050892
Pochtareva A.N. Displaying agriculture on maps of the atlas of the Tambov region. Bulletin of the Tambov University. Series: Natural and technical sciences, 2004, vol.9, no. 1, pp.50-50. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=15605763
Pshidatok M.A., Podtelkov V.V. Development of the layout of the agricultural land use map. Krasnodar, Kuban State Agrarian University named after I.T. Trubilina Publ., 2017, pp. 833-834. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=32275339
Khavanskaya N.M., Alyaev V.A., Semenova D.A. Cartographic Methods of Researching the System of Rural Settlement of the Volgograd Region. Natural Systems and Resources, 2019, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 64-71. (In Russian). URL: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=43009453
Khizbullina R.Z., Vildanov I.R., Yakimov M.S. Fundamentals of the methodology for using geographical maps. Ufa, Bashkir State University Publ., 2016, 80 p. (In Russian). URL: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=27607180
Vildanov I.R., Ishbulatov M.G., Larkina M.S., Usmanova A.R., Salakhov R.R. Methodology of complexing agricultural map of municipal level (on the example of Ermekeevsky district). CITISE, 2022, no. 1, pp.20-31. DOI: http://doi.org/10.15350/2409-7616.2022.1.02
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Merger of Journal Communications approved by feds
Posted by Tommy Tutocker on December 12, 2014 at 20:16:45:
The FCC has approved the merger of JOURNAL COMMUNICATIONS, INC. and THE E.W. SCRIPPS CO. The grant was, as expected, conditioned upon spinning off stations in two markets and getting a waiver of the television ownership limits under the "failing station" exception. The merged company will split into two operations, publicly-held E.W. SCRIPPS CO. with the broadcast properties, and JOURNAL MEDIA GROUP INC., with the companies' newspaper holdings.
A spinoff in BOISE (where the company owns two of the "big 4" network stations, ABC affiliate KIVI-TV and FOX affiliate KNIN-TV) will be transferred to the JOURNAL/SCRIPPS DIVESTITURE TRUST, with DOUGLAS G. KIEL (KIEL MEDIA GROUP, LLC) as trustee. The "failing station" waiver is for MY NETWORK TV affiliate WACY-TV/GREEN BAY, where JOURNAL owns NBC affiliate WGBA-TV. And in WICHITA, where JOURNAL owns six radio stations, five on FM, and must spin off one FM, Classic Country KFTI (CLASSIC COUNTRY 92.3)/WICHITA, has been sold to ENVISION BROADCAST NETWORK, LLC.
JOURNAL owns radio clusters in MILWAUKEE, OMAHA, TUCSON, KNOXVILLE, BOISE, SPRINGFIELD, MO, TULSA, and WICHITA. Those stations (except for KFTI) and JOURNAL's television properties in BOISE, FORT MYERS, GREEN BAY, LANSING, LAS VEGAS, MILWAUKEE, NASHVILLE, OMAHA, and TUCSON will become part of SCRIPPS, joining SCRIPPS TV stations in WEST PALM BEACH, TAMPA, BALTIMORE, CINCINNATI, CLEVELAND, DETROIT, INDIANAPOLIS, KANSAS CITY, TULSA, DENVER, SAN DIEGO, and BAKERSFIELD.
JOURNAL's MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL and other publications will join SCRIPPS' KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL, NAPLES DAILY NEWS, TREASURE COAST (FL) NEWSPAPERS, ANDERSON INDEPENDENT MAIL, CORPUS CHRISTI CALLER-TIMES, SAN ANGELO STANDARD-TIMES, ABILENE REPORTER-NEWS, VENTURA COUNTY STAR, REDDING RECORD SEARCHLIGHT, KITSAP SUN, MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL APPEAL, EVANSVILLE COURIER AND PRESS, HENDERSON GLEANER, and WICHITA FALLS TIMES RECORD NEWS as JOURNAL MEDIA GROUP.
(Via All Access)
Subject: Re: Merger of Journal Communications approved by feds
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Lynette Payne
Make the Kalief Browder Tragedy Mean Something
We have the Choice to do the Right Thing
I’m angry. I’m angry that mental health is a topic that people don’t want to discuss. I’m angry that mental health is pushed aside for other less sensitive topics. I’m angry that people don’t feel as ashamed to talk about their addictions with sex, substance abuse, gambling. I’m angry of the cone of silence over mental health.
So let’s put a face and a name to someone who was brave enough to allow his story to be told so that others would not have to suffer as he did. Kalief Browder shared his story with the New Yorker of being incarcerated at Riker’s Island for three years while waiting in vain for a chance to tell a judge that he did not steal a backpack when he was 16. He told of his mental abuse in solitary confinement for two years and the physical abuse at the hands of other inmates and corrections officers. He tried to commit suicide several times while incarcerated and was committed twice to a mental hospital. On release (charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence) he re-enrolled in community college, no longer suffered from panic attacks and was recognized by people as diverse as Rand Paul, Rose O’Donnell and Jay Z.
Earlier this week, he finally succeeded in committing suicide.
As angry as I am about Kalief’s story, as the executive director of Galaxy Counseling Centers, I know that countless unnamed young people without his connections are trapped in a confluence of the kind of bad luck, bad public policy and bad timing that tests their sanity. If we don’t recognize the importance mental wellness has in cases such as these and provide easy access to help, this story will be just another statistic, another sad tale of another young person gone too soon.
Despite the fact that mental illness is common and varying degrees of the ailment is experienced by all of us during our lifetime, it is dismissed at worse and under-diagnosed at best. We have the choice not to judge.
I suggest we start with the most vulnerable, our children. Childhood is fraught with challenges, but it is also a phase with the opportunity to make the most difference. What if we had a “vaccination” that could shield our children and make it easier for them to navigate the trials they will face AND help them to become better adjusted adults? Meeting mental and behavioral health needs before they become severe can, in the long run, be valuable in both personal and economic terms.
We must respond to a child’s emotional needs. They are as critical to their cognitive and social development as attending to their physical needs. An individual’s development stems from both environment and biology, and mental health problems arise from stressors on the interaction of these two factors. Studies have shown a lasting impact on the lives of children that experience sadness, grief and disruption in response to trauma, neglect and loss. According to the U.S. Public Health Service, mental illness is now the leading cause of disability for persons 5 years of age and older; and “the long-term consequences of untreated childhood disorders are costly in both human and monetary terms”.
The pervasive stigma about mental illness and the desire to avoid “labeling” children contributes to the lack of prevention, early identification and adequate services for all children. Risk factors such as violence and poverty, prenatal exposure harmful substances, and poor mental health in parents can result in children with a 50 percent greater chance of continuing to struggle with mental health problems into adolescence and adulthood.
Mental health needs in children are often linked to poor academic performance, social isolation, behavior issues (self-harm or injury to others), substance abuse, suicide, and criminal activity. It is clear that inappropriate behaviors such as these seldom resolve themselves without systematic intervention.
We must identify problems in formative years. Research confirms that early psychological intervention such as play therapy with family involvement tailored to children’s maturity level is extremely effective.
Let’s find ways to maximize the positive and minimize the negative by providing the tools for emotional, social, and cognitive development. Are we more afraid of what others will think than helping our children? We need to openly seek these services and utilize therapy as they would treat any physical illness.
Our challenge is to start a revolution and raise a generation that is mindful of mental health needs in the formative and dynamic pre-school years. There’s lots of research on what works, now we just have to do it.
Lynette Payne is the Executive Director of Galaxy Counseling Center, and a member of The OpEd Project’s Dallas Public Voices Greenhouse.
Executive Director of Galaxy Counseling Center.
More from Lynette Payne
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Alfonso Ramirez "Calesero"
He fought from the 1940s until 1966, when he officially retired, though he appeared in many festivals long after this and lived to see his sons become toreros. Calesero was known as "The Poet Of The Cape" due to his work with the big capote, which was his trademark. He died in Aguascalientes, Mexico in 2002.
Luis Nino de Rivera
Luis Nino de Rivera drew acclaim as a novillero int he 1970s, but became more famous as a commentator and writer on bullfight themes, from Mexico City, which proved to be his true calling in life.
Rodrigo Santos
Rodrigo Santos remains one of the foremost rejoneadores in the bullfighting world today, right behind Pablo Hermoso De Mendoza and is seen many times each year in the bullrings of the world, especially Mexico, where he has great cartel.
Juan Espejo
Spanish novillero Juan Espejo is best known for this incident in the late 1950s. After receiving this tremendous tossing and blow on the head, he left the bullring, climbed into the stands, asked if he was on "The bus to Aranjuez," and insisted the "driver leave at once." He then passed out and was taken to the infirmary. Little else is recorded of him in the arena.
Rocky Moody
An American novillero, Rocky Moody lost a leg due to a major goring in Juarez in the late 1950s. He made an attempt to return to the bullring with an artifical leg and failed. He retired to Texas, where he died in 1991.
Pacorro
Jorge Espinosa "Pacorro," not to be confused with the Spanish matador Pacorro from the 1960s, was a promising Mexican novillero in the 1980s, especially good with the banderillas and capote. Unfortunately, he could never beat the political system. Most of his performances were designated to capeas and small placitas, which is a pity as he will be remembered only by the few people who saw him in action and not the multitudes of fans he should have won.
Rafael Carbonell
Rafael Carbonell from Huelva, Spain was a rising novillero in the 1950s, who was building up a great fan following when his life was cut short. He died from a goring in the leg, which severed the femoral artery, while performing in front of his hometown crowd. He lived, died, and was buried in Huelva.
Paco Pita
Paco Pita is shown here while a novillero in the 1950s, taking one of the many gorings which forced this Spaniard to become a banderillero instead. In 1969, he was gored for the final time, fatally. His remains were buried at the Cemetario Carabanchel in Madrid, the same graveyard which holds the tomb of the famous Frascuelo.
A rising novillero, El Zorro was killed in Barcelona in 1958 as this photo shows. A fatal horn wound in the intestines as he placed the sword brought his life and career to an untimely end.
Fernando Robleno
Looking worse for wear after receiving a serious goring, Fernando Robleno came back from this wound and is presently a highly regarded matador recognized throughout the bullfighting world.
Manolo Vazquez
Manolo Vazquez, brother of celebrated Spanish torero Pepe Luis Vazquez, had a long career himself, from the 1950s into the early 1980s. He retired after a spectacular farewell performance in Sevilla, where he was carried out in triumph on the shoulders of the crowd.
Harper Lee, the first American matador de toros, was a brave, but badly gored bullfighter in the 1910s. His exploits have been written about in the books Knight in the Sun and Wild West Characters (see mercado/store and book review sections in this site.) Upon retiring from the ring, he raised chickens on a farm, until he died from oral cancer many years later. He is buried in San Antonio, Texas.
Luis Briones
Luis Briones, the older brother of Felix Briones, was a popular Mexican matador, though often badly gored. In Spain, he was gored in the face, and in Nogales, Mexico, he was gored through the lower back, yet survived both wounds. He retired from the ring and died of natural causes many years later. In action, he was known as a valiente, with a dashing but unartistic style.
Jaime Ostos
During the 1960s, Jaime Ostos was a highly regarded matador known for his skill with the sword. Political controversies and many bad horn wounds spelled an end to his career.
Nicanor Villalta
Tall and lanky, Nicanor Villalta resembled a "praying mantis" in the ring, according to Hemingway. He was, however, capable in all acts of the bullfight and scored many triumphs, cutting over a total of thrity ears in Madrid alone, one of the toughest bullrings to please the fans in, in the world. He lived to be quite old and died of natural causes.
Angel Castejon
Angel Castejon was a rising young novillero, who met death in San Sebastian de Los Reyes, due to a massive goring while placing banderillas. His death was considered a major loss to the bullfighting world, as he seemed destined for greatness once he took the alternativa. He did not, as noted, live long enough to receive the ceremony.
Canitas
Canitas was a brave but modest Mexican matador, known for his role alongside Fermin Rivera, in the film The Brave One. He fought well in Spain and Mexico, retired, then made an ill-advised comeback because he needed the money. In this return, he was gravely gored in Mexico City while working with the muleta and lost a leg due to the injury. He was forced to retire and died of a heart attack decades later.
Eduardo Cuevas
Eduardo Cuevas arose on the scene and became an extremely popular rejoneador in Mexico in the 2000s. He is still going strong and gaining great cartel.
Curro Giron
Curro Giron, brother of Cesar Giron, appeared from the 1950s until the early 1980s when he made a triumphant retirement tour before returning to his native Venezuela. There, he died from complications during an intestinal operation.
Guillermo Carvajal
Guillermo Carvajal was a popular Mexican matador in the 1950s and 1960s, plagued by numerous injuries and health problems. Nonetheless, he enjoyed tremendous fan support, especially in bordertowns such as Nogales and Tijuana.
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HomeViet Nam Ranks 5th in Emigration to the United States
Viet Nam Ranks 5th in Emigration to the United States
07/01/2018 maavn Commentary, Reports, Updatesemigration, immigrant petitions, immigration, overseas vietnamese, remittances, vietnamese-americans
Viet Nam ranks 5th in two US-related categories: the number of its young people studying there as of last June and the number of its citizens who emigrated there in Fiscal Year 2017, which ended on 30 September 2017. (Viet Nam is a “top ten” country in other categories, including EB-5 cases and US real estate purchases in 2016/17.)
Below is a list of the top 10 countries for US-bound immigration (PDF download).
Mexico: 84,045
Dominican Republic: 48,254
China: 35,350
Philippines: 30,410
Viet Nam: 28,719
India: 27,303
Haiti: 16,694
Jamaica: 13,695
Bangladesh: 12,331
Pakistan: 12,143
The breakdown for Viet Nam is as follows, along with an official definition of each category:
Immediate relatives: 9,974 (Certain immigrants who because of their close relationship to U.S. citizens are exempt from the numerical limitations imposed on immigration to the United States. Immediate relatives are: spouses of citizens, children (under 21 years of age and unmarried) of citizens, and parents of citizens 21 years of age or older.)
Special Immigrants: 53 A special immigrant is a person who qualifies for a green card (permanent residence) under the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) special immigrant program. In order to apply for immigration documents under this status, an individual must fill out a petition documenting his or her circumstances and submit the petition to USCIS.
Family Preference: 17,991 U.S. immigration law allows certain foreign nationals who are family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to become lawful permanent residents (get a Green Card) based on specific family relationships.
Employment Preference: 665 Approximately 140,000 immigrant visas are available each fiscal year for aliens (and their spouses and children) who seek to immigrate based on their job skills. If you have the right combination of skills, education, and/or work experience and are otherwise eligible, you may be able to live permanently in the United States. There are five employment-based immigrant visa preferences, including the popular EB-5 immigrant investor program in which Viet Nam ranks a distant second to China.
Diversity Immigrants: 0 The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (DV Program) makes up to 50,000 immigrant visas available annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to individuals who are from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The number is 0 because Viet Nam has a high rate of emigration to the US.
Finally, 36 visas were issued under the Vietnam Amerasian category. Immigrant visas are issued to Amerasians under Public Law 100-202 (Act of 12/22/87), which provides for the admission of aliens born in Vietnam after January 1, 1962, and before January 1, 1976, if the alien was fathered by a U.S. citizen. Spouses, children, and parents or guardians may accompany the alien. Of the estimated 50,000 Amerasian children born during the war, 21,000 of them and more than 55,000 family members were permitted to emigrate to the US under the Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1987. Only about 3% of Ameriasians in the US have found their fathers. The rest are in Viet Nam, many in HCMC. (Here’s a related story from 2015 and a more recent one about a father-daughter reunion.)
TOTAL: 28,719
The dynamics of push and pull are obvious here, given the fact that people from these countries represent large ethnic minority populations in the US. For example, Mexican-Americans comprise 11.2% of the population.
Vietnamese immigrants are 5.1% of the worldwide total (559,536) with nearly as many Vietnamese moving to the US as immigrants from all of South America (30,242). Vietnamese-Americans are the fourth-largest Asian American group after Chinese-, Indian-, and Filipino-Americans. The US Census Bureau estimates the total population of Vietnamese-Americans (Việt kiều) to be just over 2 million, which is about 44% of the world’s overseas Vietnamese.
Where Do They Live?
California and Texas have the highest concentrations of Vietnamese-Americans with 40% and 12%, respectively. Those states are also #1 and #2 in student enrollment with 6,171 in CA and 5,221 in TX, as of May 2017, according to the SEVIS by the Numbers quarterly update, for a two-state total of 11,392. This means that two states out of 50 and Puerto Rico, which had one (1) student from Viet Nam, hosted 38% of all Vietnamese students, at the end of the 2016/17 academic year.
Another interesting observation is that the percentage of young Vietnamese studying in CA was significantly lower than the percentage of Vietnamese-Americans living in that state (20.38%), while in Texas it was slightly higher (17.24%).
Other states with sizable concentrations of Vietnamese-Americans are Washington (4%), Florida (4%), and Virginia (3%). It’s probably not a coincidence that these are among the top 10 host states for Vietnamese students. There are also significant numbers of Vietnamese-Americans in Atlanta and New York, among other cities.
Vietnamese in the U.S. Fact Sheet
In its series on social and demographic trends in the US, the Pew Research Center has produced fact sheets on Asians in the US, including Vietnamese-Americans. It includes fairly up-to-date information about population, English proficiency, length of time in country, educational attainment, poverty rate, demographics, and social class. For example, you can see how Vietnamese-Americans fare when compared with all Asians in the US in median annual household income, as well as the same income for US born vs. foreign born. (The overall US median household income was $56,516 that year.)
There are estimated 96 million Vietnamese, which means that the emigration of 28,719 of them to the US, most from southern Viet Nam, is a drop in the statistical bucket. In case you’re wondering, that’s .03% of the population.
Why do they go? There are several reasons, most related to the pull factor. The most obvious one is that so many Vietnamese in parts of the country that were in the former Republic of Viet Nam have so many relatives in the US. Others, some of which overlap, are the often mistaken belief that the grass is greener, marriage (arranged or based on love), and employment-based cases.
In the meantime, growing numbers of overseas Vietnamese are relocating to Viet Nam, most likely in the thousands not tens of thousands, some to join a dynamic and promising startup scene, others to do non-profit work and still others simply to retire in their homeland. The Vietnamese government has taken a number of steps to make them feel more welcome, including dual citizenship and the right to buy property. (Many of those who have no intention of returning home are sending billions of dollars home in the form of remittances. Viet Nam ranks 9th in that particular category with about 50% of those transfers coming from the US.)
Taking Advantage of a Golden Opportunity: They Did It for the Children
I know of one couple who emigrated to the US through the Orderly Departure Program (ODP) created in 1979 under the auspices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as a way of allowing the immigration of Vietnamese affiliated with the Republic of Viet Nam government or military. In this case, the man was a low-ranking soldier in the RVN army, like so many, and a farmer by trade.
Why did they take advantage of the opportunity to emigrate? Not because they were persecuted or discriminated against but as a way to give their children a better education and future. Mission accomplished. What are their future plans? To return to Viet Nam for retirement because they really don’t like living in the US and they want to die and be buried in their hometown (quê hương). Their children will likely remain.
BONUS: There is Some Truth to This Particular Stereotype
It’s well-known that overseas Vietnamese and nail salons go hand in hand. I’ve heard it used by consular officers as a reason why some student applicants are denied. As the story goes, they say (“used to say” might be more accurate, since times have changed) that they plan to live with an aunt in San Jose and study at a local community college or university. Said aunt just happens to own a nail salon that her niece will probably end up working in, illegally, of course. It is a family business, after all.
In fact, according to the Wikipedia entry on Vietnamese-Americans and based on a reliable source,
Nail-salon work is skilled manual labor which requires limited English-speaking ability. Some Vietnamese Americans see the work as a way to accumulate wealth quickly, and many send remittances to family members in Vietnam. Vietnamese entrepreneurs from Britain and Canada have adopted the U.S. model and opened nail salons in the United Kingdom, where few had existed.
This trend occurs in Europe for the same reasons. Like the restaurant and other service sector businesses, labor costs are low and profit is high.
← Education in Vietnam (WES)
Viet Nam Ranks Among Top 10 Foreign Residential Property Buyers in the US →
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The Massy Group is proud of our reputation as a values-driven business, and we take seriously our responsibility to protect this heritage. Our Code therefore is much more than just a policy document, it is a guide to living our Values by directing the way that we do business and informing the way in which we work. The Massy Group is committed to ensuring high ethical standards in all its business activities and to conducting business with honesty, integrity and respect for the law and our values. In keeping with this commitment, if you observe or suspect any misconduct, you are encouraged to Speak Up.
The Massy Group is committed to leading the way for positive change in our region, and we believe that we can have a positive impact on our people, our customers, the communities in which we operate.
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Gary R. Kremer, executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri
Home/Opinion/Opinion: As bicentennial nears, who are ‘Missourians’?
OpinionPolitics
Opinion: As bicentennial nears, who are ‘Missourians’?
Missouri Independent Send an email December 28, 2020Last Updated: May 26, 2021
The year 2021 marks the 200th anniversary of statehood for Missouri — Aug. 10, to be exact.
Almost seven years ago, the 97th Missouri General Assembly put the State Historical Society of Missouri in charge of planning statewide commemorations of the bicentennial. Since that time, we have visited Missourians in each county in the state, listening to how their communities would like to celebrate this milestone in Missouri’s history.
Now, this momentous year is almost upon us.
The year, 2020, leading up to our 200th year, has certainly been a memorable one, as our world fights a deadly pandemic. One hundred years ago, Missouri celebrated its centennial, which came a few short years after another lethal virus, the 1918 flu pandemic, infected about 500 million people. The world was also recovering from a war that took the lives of 40 million soldiers and civilians.
Resiliency is a word that quickly comes to mind as we look back in history while trying to chart a course for tomorrow. And, we find this inner strength by looking no further than the place we call home.
In his book “Following the Equator,” published in 1897, one of Missouri’s most famous sons, the inestimable Mark Twain, wrote: “All that goes to make the me in me began in a Missouri village …”
I feel the same way. Missouri is a place that I have always called home, as have four generations of my family who preceded me here. It is a place that has alternately confounded and comforted me, which has both excited and exasperated me. Most of all, it is a place that has endlessly intrigued me.
One of the things that intrigues me most about Missouri is its diversity.
To understand this point, one need look no farther than the multiple landscapes our state offers: the delta of southeastern Missouri, the Ozarks hills of the southwest, the prairie lands of the state’s western border, and the rich farmland of the rolling hills north of the Missouri River. These regions are as different as the people who occupy them, as different as the people they have produced.
St. Louis and Kansas City may both be major midwestern urban centers, but they are as different as night and day. We, Missourians, embody and exemplify the complexity and diversity of this great nation; our diversity is an attribute meant to be celebrated.
There is much to celebrate and commemorate in calling to mind our rich collective history over the span of two centuries. The bicentennial offers an opportunity for exploring and promoting the rich history and multiple cultures of Missouri’s local communities, counties and regions, while simultaneously preparing a dynamic economic, social and cultural future for the people of this state.
It is our intent that the bicentennial commemoration become a path to a “usable past,” one which guides our citizens’ decision-making in the present and into the future.
There is a basic question that we hope Missourians will address over the course of the upcoming bicentennial year: What does it mean to be a Missourian, and how has that meaning changed over time?
The simple answer to that question, of course, is, “It depends.”
It depends on where you lived, and when, and how you made your living. It depends on whether you were male or female, and what your race, ethnicity, religion and level of education was. It depends on whether you lived on a farm, in a mining camp or a village, or in a city.
That is why our state’s bicentennial commemoration is a truly statewide, grassroots series of events that involve Missourians from all 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. We must somehow capture all of these different “Missourees” and “Missourahs” as we move to celebrate.
So far, more than 100 local, regional and statewide projects are underway to commemorate our 200th birthday. We continue to encourage and invite individuals, communities and organizations to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Missouri is our home, a place that has shaped who we are, a place that has, in return, given us the means to shape its future, and our own.
The year 2021 will be an important time to be a Missourian, and if we see an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, which we hope with the distribution of vaccines, it will give Missourians a chance to come together in celebration.
This article by Gary R. Kremer is published by permission of the Missouri Independent.
1821 gary r. Kremer Mark Twain missouri bicentennial Missouri Independent state historical society of Missouri
Missouri Independent
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PARIS DAY 2 CONTINUED
Posted on February 2, 2009 by michaelweening
After enjoying the Catacombs, we headed toward the Eiffel Tower and the Military Museum. Our first stop was lunch at a little French deli near École Militaire. The food was fantastic and we did everything that we could to get the French lady who was serving us to smile (she certainly was not going to speak English).
The École Militaire is a vast military training facility near the Eiffel Tower and had I read the map correctly, I would have realized that it was not the Musée de l’Armée that we were looking for. It is very vast and in the biting wind, the troops were getting a bit frustrated that I could not find the entrance.
As we circled, we came across this memorial and to the best of my knowledge this refers to the round-ups of Jews and other political targets in Paris:
Arrests in homes. Roundups carried out in Paris, regardless of nationality but aimed particularly at French Jews (dignified Jews) – sent to the camp of Compiegne.
Coming around another corner, I finally realized we were circling around the wrong building (DOH). Guess I should have looked up earlier.
I should have realized that it was the building with the gold roof.
The Musée de l’Armée is a museum at Les Invalides in Paris, France. Originally built as a hospital and home for disabled soldiers by Louis XIV, it now houses the Tomb of Napoleon and the museum of the Army of France. The museum’s collections cover the time period from antiquity until the 20th century.
The start of our tour was the tomb of Napoleon (among others). This is a magnificent building dedicated to one of the world’s greatest generals:
Within Les Invalides is the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The former emperor’s body was returned to France from St Helenain 1840 and, after a state funeral, was laid to rest in St Jerome’s Chapel while his tomb was completed in 1861.
There was no expense spared for the tomb and Napoleon Bonaparte’s body lies within six separate coffins. They are made of iron, mahogany, two of lead, ebony, and the outer one is red porphyry.
The tomb sits on a green-granite pedestal surrounded by 12 pillars of victory.
I found this book very interesting, it is Napoleon’s notes about Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, which influenced his thinking. The Scots would be proud.
What is also interesting (and not publicized) is the fact that the tomb also hosted hundreds of President Mitterrand’s spies who kept tabs on his enemies.
A FORMER French spy chief has revealed how a bunker beneath Napoleon’s tomb was used by hundreds of secret policemen to monitor the conversations of politicians, writers and celebrities.
Pierre Charroy, 69, a retired general, lifted the veil last week on one of the most sensitive secrets of French intelligence when he told a court about the so-called inter-ministerial control group, or GIC, that he ran for 16 years.
He is one of 12 accused in the “Elysée-gate” scandal, a case that has made history by showing the extraordinary lengths to which the late President François Mitterrand went to keep tabs on his enemies.
Abusing the near absolute powers of the French presidency, the Socialist leader set up a cell of security officials in the Elysée Palace to protect secrets such as the existence of his illegitimate daughter and his work as an official in the collaborationist wartime Vichy government.
We then headed into the museum. Put a male in a war museum, you can never go wrong. The museum covers all major wars and France’s colonial days. A few highlights for me ….
It is scary to think that exploitation of Africans was so common place in an era not that long past. These posters are from 1905, The paper on the right was denouncing the exploitation of black Africans (November, 1905).
During the Battle of the Marne (WWI), the German’s tried to encircle Paris. At one point, the legend of the Taxis of the Marne was created, where 670 taxis took 6,000 troops to the front as the rail system was too congested. You can read about it here. It should be noted that the fares were paid, at 27% of the metered rate.
This weapon stopped me in my tracks. In the middle of machine guns and artillery from WWI was a French made cross bow. It was used to hurl grenades and made from wood. Someone must not have seen the memo about the move to Gatling guns and mortars.
The tank changed the cavalry but it was the Gatling gun that changed man’s approach to infantry. This 1939 Gatling gun looked menacing.
This map reaffirmed my admiration for the British in World War II. A small island of blue holding out against the Axis regime. Thank God for the British and Churchill.
The benefits of video games? My boys could name an astonishing number of weapons in that museum including the German Goliath, the tracked mine (thanks to Company of Heroes). It was bigger than I imagined.
So ended day 2, strolling past a beautiful flower shop on our way back to the hotel.
This entry was posted in Photography, Travel and tagged Ecole Militaire, flower shop, France, German Goliath, Les Invalides, military museum, Musee de L'Armee, Napoleon, Paris, Photography, World War II by michaelweening. Bookmark the permalink.
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Tag: Football Association
Opinion: The Super League undressed one vital ingredient hidden in plain sight
The Dirty Dozen or the 12 clubs who was breaking away from the Football governing bodies and creating their own league on Sunday the 18th April 2021. Have shown the world their true character and reason for ownership in the sport in the first place. The clubs have been taken over by sports owners, businesses and financial backers who is in for a quick buck. This isn’t owners who cares about football, its traditions or the legacy of these clubs. No, they are a MEAN to an END.
The clubs in question are useful tools for a cash-grab and a huge profit margin in sports where there isn’t to much investments for supporters and consumers world-wide to buy the product. If that is TV-Licensing deals, sponsorships or merchandise sale. It is all ways to sell the products and get the money flowing. Get the business from going from red to black in a heartbeat.
The 12 clubs and additions would have a financial wet-dream and be in a beneficial agreement. Where they would earn big money before even playing and just participating in the Super League. These teams would earn fortunes and they would just change the rules of the game. The pyramid of national leagues or even UEFA club coefficient wouldn’t matter. These twelve teams would get an advantage and be partners in their own system.
They wouldn’t have to care about the rules of FIFA, neither the tournaments of UEFA or the national association. The teams would be separate from the national leagues and cups. The 12 in question would live on their own island and on their own terms. Not playing in solidarity with others than themselves and gaining the perks of that.
That is why the Super League was so baffling. Yes, the UEFA and FIFA isn’t perfect. They are corrupt and have well known cronyism. The UEFA governing body is a greedy machine and the same is FIFA. So, the 12 clubs are just a mirror of their efforts, but in their own way. The 12 teams have been living in this greed and been building its prestige within these systems. That’s why breaking away would be a betrayal of the system they have grown big in.
Neither of the parties I have mentioned has clean hands. In the end its the supporters and fans who pays the price. The clubs are only being wealthy and rich, because of fans and supporters are willing to spend their dimes on them. They are buying tickets, subscription to Pay-Per-View and other things in connection with them. Not like the clubs can live or work without fans. They are the one reason for their existence in the first place.
The Super League was built on a shaky ground and would be a damned from the start. There would be so many left behind and leagues shattered because of the betrayal of these 12 teams. The owners of the teams might seek to find a way out. As their wet-dreams went south. The fans and the football bodies didn’t accept this. However, the teams still needs a reminder and they we’re close to making it happen. They had finalized the deal and went out with sort of collective statements. They we’re proud founding clubs of the Super League. These teams needs to be reminded and get a punishment. The Football Associations and others needs to react swiftly. It cannot just be water under the Stamford Bridge. It got to be something, drop of points and transfer embargoes. They need to feel.
The 12 teams are maybe not able to configure the league. As teams are ditching out the deals tonight. Sports directors and CEOs are resigning. We are seeing rumours of trading teams or trying to sell. All of that because they couldn’t bath in glory and swim in coins like Scrooge McDuck. However, the clubs was willing and was close to ditch everyone else. That got to have consequences. This cannot just conspire to happen over night, release it out of the bag and scare whole of Football Europe without any sanctions or punitive actions. The clubs who was willing to betray their national leagues and associations needs to be addressed. These has to be answered and they have to wonder why they wanted to leave the fold for their own game.
The owners underestimated the values, the reach and the general support for Football in Europe. These owners aren’t close in the alleys and streets around the stadiums on the day-to-day basis. They are only looking over the stock portfolio and the bottom-line on their investment. If it is yielding good money and great returns. Now, they are seeing the heart of the matter and possible the outreach of clubs. They didn’t just buy a Football Club, but also a local stakeholder and a part of a community. That cannot just be traded or sold as a loaf of bread. No, it got to be respected and honour the commitment of the fans it has.
The Dirty Dozens owners forgot this part. They forgot why they exist. Now, these clubs better face consequences and answer for the Super League. The resignations and possible sales of clubs isn’t saving it. That is just damage control after a failed enterprise. They we’re supposed to get a quick fix of money and run their own game. Now, they have lost without even playing a game. The PR is ghastly and the reputations is in tatters. The trust in the owners and the boards is at a all time low. These folks are willing to trade it all for a JP Morgan security of steady cash-flow.
The Super League shows how the Americans lives in their own world of Money-Ball. Where clubs are vehicle for printing money and securing favourable deals in Entertainment/Sports. That is all it is to them. They don’t value traditions, competitions or the rules of the game. No, it is money and that is what it all boils down too. They don’t care about Bushby, Shankly or Shearer. No, they only care about Pound Fucking Sterling and Euros. Peace.
Author nilspeacePosted on April 20, 2021 April 20, 2021 Categories Business, Development, Europe, FootballTags AC Milan, Arsenal, Athletico Madrid, Barcelona, Champions League, Chelsea, Euro League, European Super League, Fédération Internationale de Football Association, FIFA, Football Association, Inter Milan, JP Morgan, Juventus, La Liga, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Premier League, Real Madrid, Serie A, Tottenham, UEFA, Union of European Football AssociationsLeave a comment on Opinion: The Super League undressed one vital ingredient hidden in plain sight
Opinion: Supporters have to learn from AFC Wimbledon [Super League, don’t join’em, but beat’em]
I always remember back to Wimbledon and their rough playing style (the Crazy Gang). Wimbledon as a team was filled with sometimes misfits and out of character players. However, they did entertain and showed courage on the pitch. That is why the Wimbledon team was respected and deserved credit for what it did.
However, at some point the team fell apart. It also got relegated and got new owners. That really relocated the team and its facilities. This cause furore and fury among the loyal supporters. Wimbledon deserved much better. The owners went ahead and relocated it. Nevertheless, the supporters started from scratch and built up a new team.
MK Dons – The Owners Club:
“MK Dons, formed in 2004 from the ashes of Wimbledon FC, began playing their football at the National Hockey Stadium under the guidance of Stuart Murdoch, but poor results would lead to his dismissal in November of the same year and the appointment of Danny Wilson in his place. The experienced Wilson was in charge during the Dons’ most turbulent spell as a Club, escaping relegation from League One on the final day of the season thanks to Gareth Edds’ 84th minute winner against Tranmere Rovers.” (MK Dons – History).
AFC Wimbledon – The Supporter Club:
“It was preserving that glorious past that drove followers of the club to start again in the summer of 2002 after a specially appointed three-man FA commission shocked football fans everywhere by allowing the old Wimbledon FC to relocate to a Buckinghamshire new town. Determined not to let a proud 104-year history die, Dons supporters organised themselves and within just six weeks AFC Wimbledon – a club the commission had declared would be “not in the wider interests of football” – was born” (AFC Wimbledon – About Us).
This here is a cautionary tale, as well as one that has to inspire, as AFC Wimbledon is the game ahead and what the supporters needs to do. Yes, the owners can have the stadiums, the licenced names and jerseys. They can have the logos and even the grounds where the proud history of the clubs was made. However, the owners doesn’t own the supporters or the fans. They are the reason why the clubs are profitable and big business. These are the ones spending and making football viable as an investment.
Therefore, now that the Super League becomes a thing. The fans of the Big Six in the United Kingdom better learn from AFC Wimbledon. If they want to take care of the rich history and what matters. They better start their own clubs and forget the old ones. They are like the MK Dons. The clubs of the owners like Glazers, Levy and Henry. These people are in it for business and profits. Those fellows isn’t in it for the love of the game, but to earn quick bucks. That is why they are invested and interested in a Super League where they control and secure the bag.
That is why the supporters, fans and everyone who loves the sport. Have to start a fresh. They got to do like the Wimbledon fans had too. They had to stand strong and united, be courageous and not take the bollocks from the owners. They have to start new clubs in their stead. The supporter unions and organizations have to organize together in a manner where the they all can participate and create new clubs. Clubs which will represent the supporters and be “theirs”. Not be money-making machines for rich investors or hedge-funds.
Supporters have to stay grounded and think for the long run. Because this Super League is only envisioned as a cash-grab for a selected group of owners who has no care in the world in the spirit or the ideals of the competitions. They want a huge profit quickly and earn fortunes on the hard work and dedications of supporters for decades before they arrived to the clubs. These individuals want to take the heritage and the history of these clubs to get a few more shillings. That is what they do and leave behind a lot of national leagues, cups and European competitions without their presence. All been done for a creation of a money-ball situation. That’s it. The rich historic clubs traded on the alter of crony capitalism. That is tragic and therefore, the supporters have to challenge this. Just like the great supporters of Wimbledon who lost their home, their club, but they started their own with AFC Wimbledon, because the owners traded it away with the MK Dons.
Now, the big clubs are trading away their histories and their collective place for a shot at this Super League. In their stead the supporters have to create new teams in Milan, London, Manchester and elsewhere. To show the owners that they got nothing without the supporters and in the end… the souring profits will stop when they don’t have the ratings, the licences, the merchandise and gift selling. They only have empty stadiums and TV-deals, which the supports might boycott. That will be the tragic end. That is if the supporters are willing to risk their clubs, which have already been traded and taken for granted by a few greedy owners. Peace.
Author nilspeacePosted on April 19, 2021 April 19, 2021 Categories Business, Development, Europe, Football, Leadership, MediaTags AC Milan, AFC Wimbledon, Arsenal, Athletico Madrid, Barcelona, Champions League, Chelsea, Crazy Gang, Euro League, European Super League, FIFA, Football Association, Inter Milan, JP Morgan, Juventus, La Liga, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, MK Dons, Premier League, Real Madrid, Serie A, Tottenham, UEFA, WimbledonLeave a comment on Opinion: Supporters have to learn from AFC Wimbledon [Super League, don’t join’em, but beat’em]
Opinion: The “Owners” League
The establishment of the European Super League (ESL) is practically the “Owners” League. This is made by and made for the owners of these clubs. The owners of these Football Clubs see the profit and possible incentives to control the licensing and merchandise directly. Not being part of the European Football bodies or governing associations. This is taking direct control of their investments and finding ways of getting a possible cash-cow.
The Super League is the European answer to the American Money-Ball. Where they have “World Series”, NBA and all the other leagues where Franchises and Owners of Teams are automatically part of the leagues. These are not made by national associations and by league structures that makes it possible for the underdog to get to the top. Because, the leagues are pre-fixed and has the Major League Teams already secured play.
The same will be with the Super League. Where the Founding Teams and such will have a favourable spot. These clubs will be there and never get relegated. These clubs with their massive wealth will sign of their own rules and together not care about for instance the “Financial Fair Play” or other measures to make the game more interesting.
With this sort of game-play and league. There will not be possible to see Burnley or Sheffield United beat Manchester United or Tottenham. No, they will not be able to participate or even try to play other second tier teams in the other leagues. They are practically shut out of the competition and the league is a narrow joint venture between the capital strong clubs of Europe.
The ESL is just made for the owners and not for the supporters. This is not intended on making it better for fans or making the sport more competitive. There is already Champions League and Euro League under the UEFA umbrella. Where the European Club Association has a say and is a vital member of. Therefore, ESL is playing around this and trying to be challenger to this.
What the ESL is losing out of is the direct competitions and the growth of the national leagues itself. If La Liga, Premier League or Serie A wasn’t competitive and interesting the supporters would ditch that too. However, the race for the titles and the race for the European titles as well have fuelled the interests for years. The ESL wants to cash out of that without putting the work down.
These clubs wouldn’t be interesting or as big as they are, if they didn’t participate or being part of the bigger picture. So, if they go along with this one and plays this one out. They are outplaying themselves too. You cannot grow naturally on your own. The competition will be pointless and mediocre with time. Especially, if the fans ditches things or boycotts it. As they feel betrayed by the owners and the financial backers of this. The owners wants quick money and control. They don’t want to be playing to rules of the game or the governing bodies of it. No, they want to the dough and wants to eat quickly.
That is what happens when you mix a lot of rich billionaires, oligarchs and hedge-fund investors taking control of Football Clubs. These are only calculating profits and possible returns. They are all in for their ends and doesn’t care about the love of the sport. These has invested to get money and earn money on buying the clubs. That is why they are doubling down on it and preparing for the ESL.
The ESL is the “Owners” League. It isn’t made for the supporters, but as a incentive to make it more profitable and cash-in money quickly. However, that can also only happen if the supporters actually follows and does participate in this. Nevertheless, supporters and fans are already outraged.
We know that will matter, but they are not taking that in. As the money is to big to care about few screaming out and being mad. They need to see the bottom-line and if the money goes from red to black. When they do that… then they are earning money and they don’t care what the older fans cared about. Peace.
Author nilspeacePosted on April 19, 2021 April 19, 2021 Categories Business, Development, Europe, LeadershipTags AC Milan, Arsenal, Athletico Madrid, Barcelona, Champions League, Chelsea, Euro League, European Super League, FIFA, Football Association, Inter Milan, JP Morgan, Juventus, La Liga, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Premier League, Real Madrid, Serie A, Tottenham, UEFALeave a comment on Opinion: The “Owners” League
Opinion: The European Super League [it’s all about the money(!)] and forgetting the fans
It is now officially that there been made a deal or an agreement to form an European Super League. This has been made with the American Bank JP Morgan and other owners of European Clubs. This being the owners of the 15 big Football Clubs.
The clubs who is involved is Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletico Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus. These together will form the core of the league. That is 12 clubs with additional 6 teams to become 18 teams league.
This is a formation made with the financial backers and owners of the clubs. These are oligarchs and wealthy hedge-fund owners who is trying to make their own cash cow, which they control and not involving either UEFA or FIFA. These clubs will run the tournament and be the chiefs in their own house. These is all founded by the financial backers and the ones owning the clubs. It is their own drive to make a more profitable enterprise.
The Super League at this point is slated to start in the 2023-24 season. This means the club will be preparing for the shift and the machinery behind the launch of the League until then. The managers and the clubs will be making preparations for it. While they might focus less on the National Leagues or the European Cups (Euro League and Champions League). They maybe not even care about the FIFA Club World Cup. Therefore, this is creating their whole own additional thing without considering the implications of the current tournaments the clubs already participate and is members off.
The modern day football have been driven by money. The salaries and the revenue have reached epic sums. The clubs, the merchandise and licensing is profitable enterprise for the European elites. The clubs has fans worldwide and the stars has posters everywhere. That is why these clubs who signs up to this Super League could profit and make vast fortunes to cover the eventual debt or prices of operation. However, they are also not respecting the football’s governing bodies or the traditional tournaments, which have made the sport and the clubs big in the first place.
This clubs didn’t grow on a island. They grew as a part of a football body and part of the evolution of football. These clubs have been part of the changes with UEFA and their National Leagues. If they feel to big for these bodies now. Then they are disrespecting the national associations and their roles in supporting their growth. The clubs are grand and great, because the Football Associations and supporters made them huge.
If they would pick the Super League and do this deal. Take the bait and the funds. They would have fight for relevancy and be a secondary league or tournament to the ones already existing. These are sort of making their “upper echelon” Champions League and formalizing it. The elite making their own league and ignoring the other champions of Europe. They are not caring for the second tier from the other states who also can get their cut and sometime meet the giants at their field. That is the beauty of this game.
Now this will block the greatness of the possibility of seeing the Messi’s and Ronaldo’s against the national heroes of Eastern Europe or Central Europe who could only dream about challenging such big stars on the pitch. They are now relegated by default and by the cynic approach of outside owners who see the money, but not the heart of the game.
If I we’re a Liverpool support. I would turn to Everton. Similar with the other clubs. If they decide to do this. Yes, UEFA and the National Association have to take their turns. They got to show force and enforce strict rules. So, that the ones that betrays the leagues get punished. However, this only proves what the American Money-Ball people thinks. They can juice up the clubs and make them invisible to the rest. Instead of investing and securing a better football product for all supporters.
This is corporate greed, which has grown strong into the Football Community. This is the market driven and profit thinking. Instead of loving the game. This is the owners taking it all in their hands, using their leverage and trying to forge their own rules. Instead of using all governing bodies of Football. Yes, FIFA and UNICEF have become cash-cows and big business too. Still, they are capable of exporting and making the sport more interesting for the supporter. Yes, they have made greedy agreements and shady transactions, which the manner they have traded the World Cup on the International Stage.
However, the National Leagues and European Cups have been successful and grown massive interests. That’s because of the competitive nature and international interests on these competitions. This is why the world is following Champions League, Euro League and the other National Leagues like Premier League, Serie A, La Liga and others. Which has all created interests and fans all across the globe.
If the big-teams ditches this and creates their own by corporate interests, instead of their fans. They are losing their key ingredient to why they became big-clubs in the first place. If the fans and supporters ditches the Super League and forget these clubs. Then they are losers and have huge bills to pay for empty stadiums. It maybe not happening at first. However, when they are not participating in ordinary leagues or competitions. What will drive them to make them better or challenge for titles? When they are in their secluded little league… of giants… who just plays along themselves.
That will end hurt themselves. It might work for a few seasons if the backers are lucky, but the prospects and the greatness will fade. As these will not have growth potential or glory in their respective fields anymore. They will be lonely in their own tournament and maybe not allowed to return to respective leagues and such.
In previous times, when clubs have demoted or breached rules. They have lost points, been relegated and even pre-fixed to struggle in the up-coming season. If these clubs abandon their respective leagues and wants to return “home”. Then the associations should use measures to stifle and make them pay for their disloyalty. Also, in a way where the club pay a hefty price and also on the pitch. Since the owners didn’t value the additional support or the traditional leagues.
The Super League is the Money-Ball experiment in Europe. American investors and corporations thinking they can juice up a cash-cow and call it a day. Where they can use strong brands and huge platforms to make a “World Series” and hope for a “Super Bowl”. While forgetting about the UEFA cups and the importance of national leagues. This is why this is a destructive move and as a supporter of football. A tragic move. A move made only for the pockets and not for the heart of the game. Peace.
Author nilspeacePosted on April 18, 2021 April 18, 2021 Categories Business, Europe, FootballTags AC Milan, Arsenal, Athletico Madrid, Barcelona, Champions League, Chelsea, Euro League, European Super League, FIFA, Football Association, Inter Milan, JP Morgan, Juventus, La Liga, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Premier League, Real Madrid, Serie A, Tottenham, UEFALeave a comment on Opinion: The European Super League [it’s all about the money(!)] and forgetting the fans
Opinion: If Guardiola is a tactical mastermind, he should manage with 3 substitutes!
Now that the Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola is having his first real test as a professional manager, he wants to revamp the system. So that it can with ease fit his protocol and tactical, mastermind of tactics are struggling with “only” having 3 substitutes in the Premier League. Since he doesn’t have Arjen Robben or Lionel Messi; he has Sergio Agüero and Kevin De Bruyne. Seems, like they are not up-to his level or his standard of football, he is not winning with ease as Guardiola did in Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
With History in Mind:
“On 21 August 1965 Charlton’s Keith Peacock ensured his place in football history by coming on as substitute for injured goalkeeper Mike Rose at Bolton. The Football League had decided to allow substitutes from the start of the 1965-66 season, although only to replace an injured player. There had been many calls for such a change over the previous decade and the issue achieved prominence after a series of FA Cup finals had seen teams depleted by injury, often with decisive influence on the result” (Bateman, 2016).
What Guardiola was saying:
“’It’s not just English football, it’s all around the world. We’re going to kill the players,’ Guardiola said” (…) “‘For that reason we have to have huge squads, more money for the clubs to spend. Just three substitutions right now… why can’t you make four, five or six? ‘That [would] mean all the players are involved more than they were before. The coaches can use different tactics, where you can change four or five players’. ‘It’s [then] a more open game, not always the same. Less injuries. Everything would be better. I think UEFA and FIFA have another opinion about that.’” (Gaughan, 2016).
So to be able to change a forward, midfield and defence isn’t enough as he has loaned away Joe Hart to Torino, not thought much of many of the other former big-players under Roberto Manchini, Guardiola are now wanting to revolutionize the Substitutions system in the Premier League. This is the same kind of whining we heard similar fashion when Jose Mourinho started his first period in Chelsea. That there we’re to many matches in the Christmas and around New Years, as the Premier League and cup matches happens nearly every 3 day with no Christmas break as in other European leagues.
So now Guardiola, the tactical genius, the mastermind of football cannot manage to change 3 out 11 players on the pitch, as he cannot see this fitting the time schedule with Champions League and other cups. That sounds weak, as Alex Ferguson managed well for a decade with that in Manchester United. He has not been proclaimed the FOOTBALL mastermind and the one who could make water into wine.
The new-wine is to be able to substitute half of the team as the strength of modern players are lacking, the ease of heavy training make them more fragile as their salaries has surged and the level of tattoo’s are more common than on seamen back-in-the-day. That Guardiola has to and wants to change half his team says more about his lacking consideration and wish to have bigger squads. Because if they can substitute 6 players, the bench shouldn’t be 7 players with 6 players eligible to play on the field and one keeper! Than the number of substitutes should be 12 players and 11 eligible players to play on the field. That means that the squad of a team would be 23 players not the 18 players that it’s now. That together with the maximum squads registered into UEFA Champions League and Football Association (FA) for Premier League. Something that will make the richest and powerful teams grab more of the talent and more of skilled players without needing farmer-clubs to keep the level of world-class professional players elsewhere.
Guardiola just want it easy and make the changes as he sees certain players without form or without character on the field playing Burnley instead of intelligence of how to use those three to change the game. This isn’t what I expected of Guardiola, I thought he would cope with the Premier League and not bitches like this. The Arrogance of wanting to revamp an old system because he has a hard time isn’t wisdom. It’s the easy fix out. Just like I felt with Mourinho when he was nagging on the amounts of matches in the Christmas and New Year’s period!
Man-up Guardiola! You who are supposed to be a mastermind, a tactician use the system and hit it hard. You have a club with fortunes to spend; you got workmates from Barcelona to help you out in the corners of Football Academy and the scouting after talent on the continent. You Guardiola have a grand opportunity to prove your skills.
I feel the same way to ranting Mourinho who said this in 2013:
“We go into the Christmas period and the accumulation of matches is so high, we don’t do it as a normal thing, we do it as a special group with a special mentality, enjoying the situation, forgetting we don’t have a Christmas break like the Spanish, Italian and German players. We don’t have that” (…) “But we have the pleasure of playing a period that’s only for the braves. I like that very, very much.” (…) “”I enjoyed it when I was in England before and I missed it when I was in Spain and Italy. Now I’m back I want to enjoy it, I want the players to enjoy it, and we need a special mentality to cope with that situation” (…) “Nine matches and one of them is the match against Steaua. That’s our motivation for tomorrow, to try to kill the situation in the group phase and give us a little bit of space in December; instead of having nine real, competitive matches, we only have eight” (HGH Magic – ‘Mourinho: Christmas fixtures only for the braves!’ (26.11.2013) link: http://www.chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=538783#ixzz4SZILKQJi).
It’s time for Pep to cope with the Premier League, to play with the cards that are dealt and the cards on the table. He cannot think that his stature and his former accolades will give him way to fix the FA. Pep is not the first or last former successful manager trying himself in the Premier League. There aren’t many leagues with more substitutes over 3 + one extra if the goalkeeper is injured in the overtime. This is something that Pep should be able to fix it!
PEP, time to man-up eats the pupping-pop and figure out possible ways of using the players, the club and the league. Not complaining and wanting a revolution because you cannot handle the pressure. Time to think through your skill-set, talk with your fellow compatriots and club apparatus in Manchester City; they should help you and give you advice so you can manage 3 substitutes as it has been for decades. Peace.
Bateman, Jason – ‘Fifty years of substitutions in football: from necessary novelties to tactical tools’ (18.09.2016) link: https://www.theguardian.com/football/when-saturday-comes-blog/2015/sep/18/fifty-years-substitutions-football-sport
Gaughan, Jack – ‘Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola urges football authorities to allow managers to use more than three subs’ (10.11.2016) Link:: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4018792/Manchester-City-boss-Pep-Guardiola-urges-football-authorities-allow-managers-use-three-subs.html#ixzz4SZ8BtdBN
Author nilspeacePosted on December 11, 2016 December 11, 2016 Categories Discussion, Europe, Football, LeadershipTags Alex Ferguson, Arjen Robben, Barclays Premier League, Bolton, Champions League, Charlton, Different Tactics, English Football, European Leagues, FA, FIFA, Football Association, Football Rules, Football Squads, German, Guardiola, Injured Player, Injuries, Italy, Jose Mourinho, Keith Peacock, Kevin De Bruyne, Lionel Messi, Manchester City, Mastermind, Mike Rose, Pep Guardiola, Premier League, Roberto Manchini, Sergio Agüero, Spain, Squad, Substitution, Tactical Mastermind, Tactician, Team, UEFA, UEFA Champions LeagueLeave a comment on Opinion: If Guardiola is a tactical mastermind, he should manage with 3 substitutes!
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Women of Color in Science
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The National Institutes of Health has some amazing women supporting, doing research, and making discoveries in biomedical research. These women represent a multitude of cultures, ethnicities, abilities, and identities. The idea to honor women of color in science originated with the Committee for Women of Color in Biomedical Careers, a sub-committee of the working group for Women in Biomedical Careers at NIH. We’ve gathered their stories in hope that women and girls all over the world will be inspired, informed, encouraged, and empowered to pursue their own dream of scientific discovery.
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ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP Welcomes Laryngologist Michael S. Goldrich, M.D, FACS Bringing a Wealth of Experience to Its Roster of Sub-Specialists in Central New Jersey
Friday, 03. December 2021 16:33
Tarrytown, New York, Dec. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The demand for high-quality specialty medical care has never been higher, and it continues to grow. To be able to evolve and keep pace with this growing demand, ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP, the preeminent Ear, Nose, Throat, Allergy, and Audiology practice in the region, is proud to announce that Michael S. Goldrich, M.D., FACS, will be joining its Somerset, NJ clinical office, effective January 1, 2022.
Dr. Goldrich has practiced in the Central New Jersey area for over 20 years and comes to ENTA as a highly recognized physician. He will practice alongside Otolaryngologists Bruce Edelman, M.D., and Steven Sabin, M.D., as well as Allergist / Immunologist Stacey Galowitz, D.O.
ENTA’s Somerset office includes six ENT exam rooms, an Audiology booth, a hearing aid dispensing room, an Allergy suite including dedicated Allergy exam rooms, a spacious reception area, full-service electronic health records, and many other cutting-edge conveniences. The Somerset office of ENTA is located at 1543 Route 27, Suite 21, Somerset, NJ 08873 with ample parking available.
Dr. Goldrich graduated from Johns Hopkins University and then completed Medical School and General Surgery at George Washington University in Washington, DC. His Otolaryngology residency was done at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering and Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, NY. He also completed fellowships in Allergy at the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Disease and in Laryngology and Care of the Professional Voice at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. He has Top Doctor honors from New York Metro Area (book series), New York Magazine, and Castle Connolly Regional Top Doctors. He has been named a top physician in Jersey's Best Magazine every year from 2015 – 2020, as well as Top Doctors New York Metro Area (digital guide): from 2016 to the present (2021). He is a Clinical Professor at Rutgers - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and served as Chief of Otolaryngology at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital from 2007 to 2016. In addition to care of voice disorders and reflux, Dr. Goldrich sees adult and adolescent patients with Chronic Sinusitis, Nasal obstruction, Snoring and Sleep apnea, Hearing loss and Vertigo.
Dr. Bruce Edelman remarked, “Dr. Goldrich has been a notable physician in our area for some time. It is an exciting opportunity to add him to our staff and to be able to better serve all of our patients.”
Robert Glazer, CEO of ENTA stated, “Sub-specialty care is a core component of the services offered at ENT and Allergy Associates. Adding an established physician like Dr. Goldrich allows us to further bolster the quality specialty care we aim to provide. His Laryngology expertise and focus on patient care make him an outstanding fit as we continue to grow our presence in Central New Jersey and beyond.”
“We have worked tirelessly to ensure that the overall expertise of our Voice and Swallowing Division is second to none,” added Dr. Jonathan Aviv, Clinical Director of ENTA’s Voice and Swallowing division, “and we firmly believe that Dr. Goldrich’s extensive education and clinical proficiency in the field is yet another example of our ability to deliver advanced medical care to our deserving patients. I’m both professionally and personally delighted to welcome him to ENTA.”
ENTA President Dr. Robert Green also added, “The depth and breadth of care offered at ENT and Allergy Associates is what sets us apart from other specialty groups. Talented physicians like Dr. Goldrich provide us with an immeasurable advantage and unparalleled patient care. We look forward to sharing his terrific approach and experienced leadership with the patients of Central New Jersey.”
To learn more about the benefits of ENT and Allergy Associates, find the office near you or book an appointment, please visit www.entandallergy.com or call 1-855-ENTA-DOC.
About ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP:
ENT and Allergy Associates LLP (ENTA) has more than 220 physicians practicing in 44 office locations in Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Rockland, Nassau, and Suffolk counties, as well as New York City and northern/central New Jersey. The practice sees over 90,000 patients per month. Each ENTA clinical location provides access to a full complement of services, including General Adult and Pediatric ENT and Allergy, Voice and Swallowing, Advanced Sinus and Skull Base Surgery, Facial Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery, Disorders of the Inner Ear and Dizziness, Asthma, Clinical Immunology, Diagnostic Audiology, Hearing Aid dispensing, Sleep and CT Services. ENTA has clinical alliances with Mount Sinai Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, Northwell Health, Saint Barnabas Medical Center, and a partnership with the American Cancer Society.
Michael Goldrich, MD Press Release FInal
Michael Goldrich, MD
Steven Borzoni
ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP
sborzoni@entandallergy.com
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Actor Akshay Kumar attends Mumbai Police event with Aaditya Thackeray, Anil Deshmukh
Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar joined Maharashtra minister for tourism and environment Aaditya Thackeray, and the states home minister Anil Deshmukh at a function of the Mumbai Police.
At the event on Saturday evening, also attended by Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh, Segways were given to police personnel for better patrolling of the Bandra sea shore.
“I am so happy and so proud that Mumbai Police is going to get a vehicle through which they will be able to control a lot of things over here. I think that’s good news for all the citizens of Mumbai. I am thankful to Mumbai Police and Maharashtra Government for making me a part of this ceremony,” Akshay said at the event.
The actor, who has played a cop in numerous films including “Mohra”, “Main Khiladi Tu Anari”, “Khakee” and “Aan: Men At Work”, returns in a uniformed avatar on the big screen soon with Rohit Shetty’s “Sooryavanshi”. He plays the role of Veer Sooryavanshi, chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad, who is on a mission to prevent terrorist attack in Mumbai.
At the event, Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh added: “It’s indeed a big day in terms of policing in this area of Mumbai. I think it will not only increase mobility but also visibility and effectiveness of the Police. It will also give a better image to Mumbai Police. Every day and every year, we are trying to modernise ourselves and this is a big step in that direction.”
Also present were local BJP MLA Ashish Shelar and Vishwas Nangare Patil, Joint Commissioner of police ( Law and Order), Mumbai City.
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Spanish tennis stalwart Rafael Nadal began his quest for a 21st Grand Slam — and his second Australian Open title in 13 years — dismissing world No. 66 Marcos Giron of the US 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the second round at Melbourne Park on Monday.
Enjoying a trouble-free opening round, the 2009 Australian Open champion seemed to have recovered fully from the left-foot injury which had forced the 35-year-old to miss the Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open last year.
The Spaniard has improved to 4-0 for the year, having won his 89th title at the Melbourne Summer Set in week one. The winner of a record 13 title at Roland Garros, Nadal dropped just eight points on his first serve and slammed 34 winners, including seven aces in his opening-round win.
“It’s been a very challenging few months… tough moments with a lot of doubts– there still are doubts (about the foot injury having healed completely),” Nadal said after the match. “But I am here and I can’t be happier to be back in Australia in this amazing stadium,” he was quoted as saying by atptour.com.
“You never know when you come back from injury, which unfortunately I have a lot of experience with, how things will be, so you have to take it day by day. You have to forgive yourself if things aren’t going the proper way.”
Nadal is also attempting to become just the second man after Serbian world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to win all four majors at least twice. He is also trying to become the third man in the Open Era to win the Australian Open after turning 35 after Swiss master Roger Federer and Australian great Ken Rosewall.
Next up for the 20-time Grand Slam champion is the winner of Adelaide International 2 champion Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia and Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann.
Australian Open: Contrasting first-round wins for teenager Alcaraz and Shapovalov
Spanish teenager and last year’s US Open quarterfinalist Carlos Alcaraz lived up to his status as a first-time Grand Slam seed as the world No. 31 scored a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win over Chilean qualifier Alejando Tabilo on Day One of the Australian Open here on Monday.
The 18-year-old Alcaraz’s first serves proved too much for the 24-year-old Tabilo, who was making his second Grand Slam main-draw appearance, as the Spaniard put his game on full display after an offseason spent on improving his skills.
“I felt really good,” said Alcaraz after the match. “I didn’t expect that this first match was going to be really good for me. I played a great level the first match of the season. Really good feelings… hope the next matches are going to be the same.”
With Alcaraz at No. 31 and Tabilo at No. 135, it was never going to be an easy job for the latter and the gap in the rankings showed as the Spaniard advanced comfortably after the pair traded early breaks.
Alcaraz went on a six-game winning streak to wrestle away control. The Spaniard built his opening-round game on intense aggression from the baseline, but he also deftly mixed well-placed returns in building the lead.
Alcaraz faced just one break point in the match, while breaking seven times in 16 chances of his own.
“I’m starting to get more comfortable on hard court than on clay courts,” said Alcaraz. “I think the most tournaments of the year are on hard court, so you have to be ready.”
Alcaraz enters the new year on the heels of a breakout year that also saw him reach the US Open quarterfinals, win his first ATP title (Umag) and break into the ATP’s top-40 for the first time. Alcaraz had started the 2021 season inside the top-150.
This season, his goals include reaching the top-15 and playing in the Nitto ATP Finals.
“It’s a really good goal for me, but so difficult as well,” he said.
With the top quarter of the Australian Open draw now missing world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz will take on Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, who defeated Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-1. One step further, No. 7 seed from Italy Matteo Berrettini looms as a potential third-round opponent.
Less than a fortnight after helping Canada win the ATP Cup, Denis Shapovalov survived a first-round matchup against Croatia’s Laslo Djere. After being two points away from a fifth set, the Canadian advanced in four, 7-6(3), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3). Djere had an opportunity to serve for both the first and fourth sets, but each time the No. 14 Canadian seed denied him.
“I felt like the fourth set was slipping away from me after that set point,” Shapovalov said in his on-court interview. “But I’m very happy with the outcome.
“He did a great dob to come back from two sets to none,” Shapovalov was quoted as saying by atptour.com. “He changed his tactics, tried to go for it more and was very tricky.”
Next up for the Canadian is South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon, who edged past Holger Rune of Denmark 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Bollywood actor-director Farhan Akhtar will be featuring along with director and producer Rohit Shetty in the show ‘Mission Frontline’. Farhan will be seen training hard while spending a day with soldiers of the Rashtriya Rifles.
Speaking of his overall training experience, Farhan said: “If I could express the feeling in one word, it would be humbling for me. Back when we were filming ‘Lakshya’, we went up close and personal with the lives of our jawans, but stepping into their shoes and experiencing the hardships they go through on-ground is a life-changing experience.”
The actor-director shares further about the difficulties faced by him during the training in tough terrain and weather conditions.
“It was extremely difficult for me to get trained in such tough terrain and weather conditions, but their support and encouragement made it possible. It is an honour to have got the chance to be a part of discovery+’s ‘Mission Frontline’.”
‘Mission Frontline’ will premiere on January 20 on discovery+.
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Music Together Walla Walla
Sing Dance Play Learn
Music Together®
Teacher Dara
Schedule + Tuition
Mixed Ages
Coronavirus Protocols
Try a Class
At Music Together®, we aim to make the world a better place by making it more musical.
To do this, we bring the highest quality music and movement experiences to children everywhere.
What is Music Together?
Music Together is an early childhood music and movement program for children from birth through age eight—and the grownups who love them! First offered in 1987, our music classes help little ones develop their innate musicality—and much, much more.
Our early childhood music curriculum has decades of research behind it, in both music education and child development. We know what we’re talking about, and we’re good at what we do! And because we recognize that children learn through play, we make everything we do in class engaging and fun.
We also know that young children learn best from the powerful role models in their lives. That’s where you grownups come in: our family music classes show parents, teachers, and caregivers how to help their children become confident music-makers just by having fun making music themselves!
Most people think being musical is a question of talent—you either have it or you don’t. While that may sound reasonable, it’s completely untrue! All children can learn to dance and sing just as naturally as they learn to walk and talk. With this in mind, we formulated four basic principles that guide everything we do.
The Four Principles of Music Together
1. All children are born musical.
2. All children can achieve basic music competence—that is, they can learn to sing in tune and dance accurately to a beat.
3. It’s crucial that parents and caregivers participate in class and model music-making for their children in class and at home, regardless of their own musical ability.
4. The environment that best fosters young children’s musical growth is playful, musically rich, and developmentally appropriate.
The great thing about our music is that adults love it as much as children do! All Music Together songs were designed to inspire families to listen, sing, and make music together both at home and on the road. And the songs have been pitched in the perfect range so that even very young children can sing along.
Our award-winning music spans nine different collections. The songs are a mix of original and traditional tunes from a variety of genres and styles—folk, blues, rock, jazz, classical, and world music—so there’s something for everyone.
The first Music Together® classes were offered to the public in 1987. The program was founded by Kenneth K. Guilmartin and Lili Levinowitz, Ph.D., in Princeton, New Jersey. Their objective was to offer non-formal music experiences for the very young in order to support early childhood music development. They had observed that passive music listening was not enough for children: they needed opportunities for live and playful music making in order learn to sing in tune and move in rhythm to a beat. They wove together leading-edge research from the fields of early childhood and music education to develop the unique, musically-rich curriculum that would become known as Music Together.
Ken and Lili remain actively involved in guiding research, development, training and teaching of the Music Together program. Over the last 30 years, Music Together has successfully added programing (in multiple languages!) for babies, preschools, bigger kids, and the elderly.
Today the Music Together program is offered in more than 3000 communities and 40 countries worldwide!
Share the music:
Music Together Walla Walla is a research-based music and movement program for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, from birth to 5 years, and their families. We are passionate about early childhood music development and believe that every child can learn to sing and dance as naturally as they learn to walk and talk.
Our mission is to make the world a better place by making it more musical®.
We are located at 270 E Cessna Ave, Walla Walla WA 99362
BLDG 270, 270 E Cessna Ave, Walla Walla, WA
©2019 Music Together Walla Walla. All rights reserved. Music Together art & logo design ©1992-2019 Music Together LLC. Music Together is a registered trademark. Music Together Walla Walla is licensed by Music Together LLC. For more Music Together locations: www.musictogether.com.
Music Together Worldwide
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January, 30
Ex-rap mogul 'Suge' Knight arrested in deadly hit-and-run
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Marion "Suge" Knight, the former rap music mogul with a long history of violent crimes, was arrested early Friday on suspicion of a hitting and killing a man with his car and then fleeing the crash near Los Angeles.
Knight's attorney said the founder of Death Row Records accidentally ran over and killed a friend and injured another man as he tried to escape attackers Thursday, but witnesses and authorities say an argument between the men escalated into Knight ramming the pair.
Knight, who created one of rap's leading labels and launched artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur, turned himself in to authorities and was arrested around 3 a.m. PST, said Deputy Trina Schrader of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
He was held on $2 million bail and could face a murder charge, she said.
A red pickup truck drove into the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant Thursday afternoon in the Los Angeles-area city of Compton, and its driver started arguing with two people there, sheriff's officials said. The argument escalated, and the pickup struck the men around 3 p.m. and then took off, officials said.
"Looks like he drove backwards and struck the victims and drove forwards and struck them again," sheriff's Lt. John Corina said.
"The people we talked to say it looked like it was an intentional act," he said.
A 55-year-old man died at a hospital, and a 51-year-old man was injured, but officials did not immediately know his condition.
Witnesses also spoke of an argument.
"To see the argument happen, it's one thing," said 17-year-old Robert Smith, who was eating in the restaurant. "Seeing the car incident, that was shocking."
Knight's attorney, James Blatt, said the crash was an accident.
"He was in the process of being physically assaulted by two men, and in an effort to escape, he unfortunately hit two (other) individuals," the lawyer said. "He was in his car trying to escape."
The empty truck was found late Thursday night in a West Los Angeles parking lot, Corina said. Knight was seen driving a red pickup truck 20 minutes earlier in a different part of town where a music video was being filmed, the lieutenant said.
"We are confident that once the investigation is completed, he will be totally exonerated," Blatt said.
Knight founded Death Row Records in the 1990s, but he later declared bankruptcy, and the company was auctioned off.
Many of the records Knight released helped immortalize Compton, the city where the crash occurred, in hip-hop folklore as a gritty and violent urban environment, though crime has dipped significantly there since its 1990s peak.
Knight lengthy history of run-ins with the law range from assaults to driving violations.
In November, he pleaded not guilty to a robbery charge filed over an incident in which a celebrity photographer accused him of stealing her camera in Beverly Hills. Because of prior convictions, he could face up to 30 years in prison.
He has felony convictions for armed robbery and assault with a gun. He pleaded no contest in 1995 and was sentenced to five years' probation for assaulting two rap entertainers at a Hollywood recording studio in 1992.
He also served timed for probation violations.
Last August, Knight was shot six times at a Los Angeles nightclub. No arrests have been made.
Associated Press writers Christopher Weber and Robert Jablon contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
Source: www.msn.com
Added automatically
Mark Ronson was attacked by a swarm of killer bees. The 'Uptown Funk' hit-maker was left terrified during an interview with BBC Radio 1's Jameela Jamil.
As Marion "Suge" Knight sat jailed on suspicion of murder, dueling narratives cast him as attacker and victim in the hip-hop music mogul's latest and most serious run-in with the law.
Meghan Trainor was "shaken up for months" after a man told her she has saved his daughter's life.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Marion "Suge" Knight, the former rap music mogul with a long history of violent crimes, was arrested early Friday on suspicion of a hitting and killing…
Organisers of the T in the Park music festival have announced that The Libertines will be one of the headline acts at this summer’s event.
Madonna: Getting 'high' never came naturally to me.
X Factor winner Ben Haenow took over Twitter to throw his own Q&A session and the internet was inundated with inquisitive fans.
Taylor Swift own the rights to “Party Like It’s 1989″, “‘Cause We Never Go Out of Style”, “Could Show You Incredible Things” and “Nice to Meet You, Where You Been?”.
Mark Ronson has also claimed a sixth non-consecutive week at number one with his single Uptown Funk featuring Bruno Mars with combined chart sales of 120,000.
Ed Sheeran's career has been inspired by Coldplay. He has revealed the band's lead singer, Chris Martin, and their albums 'Parachutes' and 'A Rush of Blood to the Head' have been critical to his albums '+' and 'X'.
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An Army Ranger Helps Syrian Refugees
By Nick Schwellenbach Jan. 08, 2013
Kassig
Peter Kassig, U.S. Army Ranger turned humanitarian.
Follow @TIME
Peter Kassig is a former U.S. Army Ranger who deployed to Iraq in 2007. I met this 24-year-old Indiana native while taking an entry-level Arabic course in Beirut last year. Since then, Peter has gone on to help Syrian refugees in a Lebanese hospital and recently started his own aid group called Special Emergency Response and Assistance — SERA.
SERA’s main focus right now “is providing Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Syria with medical assistance, medical supplies, and clothing for refugees, and non-perishable food as well as cooking fuel, cooking stoves,” and other supplies, according to its Facebook page. It wants to specialize in bringing in critical supplies to people in particularly dicey circumstances, which is an understatement when used to describe the refugee landscape within Syria.
There are estimates that there are over 2.5 million internally displaced persons within the country, and nearly 500,000 who have left.
The group recently finished its first week-and-half-long operation inside Syria.
With just over $2,000 raised from donations, SERA set out to supply Syrian refugees in the north of the country with blankets. But the group soon realized that was not a pressing need when compared to the increasingly dire food situation. So SERA purchased two cooking stoves, 20 45-kilogram propane fuel tanks, a ton of rice and other food, and loaded it all into a truck its members drove across the border into Syria. They delivered it directly to the people in a Syrian refugee camp, according to Kassig’s debrief on the operation.
“We learned first-hand through this process just how difficult it is to get supplies into Syria,” Kassig wrote, expressing frustration with delays. “Innocent lives were lost in the days we were in the area of Qah Refugee camp attempting to deliver aid.”
While pledging to improve their effectiveness, Kassig wrote that he was inspired by the people in the camp: “I did not meet a single man woman or child who could not muster a smile and a message of strength and hope that was nothing short of earth-shatteringly humbling.”
I asked Kassig a few questions about SERA and why he came back to the Middle East after his time in the Army.
What drew you to Beirut?
Originally, I came to Beirut on my spring break from [Butler] University last spring. I was interested in what I could learn about the Syrian crisis firsthand and what I could do to help and raise awareness about the crisis amongst my peers back at home in the United States. I was also interested in learning more about the Middle East in general from a civilian perspective. I wanted to better understand my role in the conflict in Iraq and its impact on the Middle East in general from a personal perspective and from the perspective of the Arab world. I hoped to gain insight into potential paths forward with regards to developing a new and improved relationship between my generation in both the Arab world and in the West.
What have you been doing during your time in Lebanon?
I started by travelling as much as possible throughout the country and focusing my efforts on volunteering on a small scale in a Palestinian refugee camp in South Beirut. I wanted to try and understand the full scope of the level of need and what role I could potentially have in meeting that need. I also volunteer in a hospital in Tripoli, Lebanon, offering my services as a trauma medic to Syrian refugees who have been wounded in the fighting in Syria. From these experiences I began the development of my NGO, SERA, which stands for Special Emergency Response and Assistance. I divide by time between my personal volunteer efforts, my organizations relief operations, which include the distribution of aid materials such as medical equipment and children’s clothing, as well as food and cooking materials in both Lebanon and Syria.
Tell us about your group, Special Emergency Response and Assistance. What does it do and why did you start it?
I designed Special Emergency Response and Assistance around a belief that there was a lot of room for improvement in terms of how humanitarian organizations interact with and cooperate with the populations that they serve. SERA is focused on the distribution of aid materials to populations with an acute and immediate need. We administer aid in the form of food and cooking materials, medical supplies, and clothing.
The idea is for SERA to supplement the efforts of larger organizations by focusing on delivering aid materials that can do the most good for the most people over the longest period of time possible. I believe that how and why we do what we do is equal in importance to what we do. It’s about showing people that we care, that someone is looking out for those who might be overlooked or who have slipped through the cracks in the system for whatever reason.
I started SERA because I felt that we could fill a niche as an organization that had not been filled. There are a lot of other wonderful organizations out there but we feel that by working directly with the people who are in need at a grassroots level allows for us to establish an invaluable personal relationship that not only allows us to effectively distribute material goods but also allows for an opportunity for an increased level of cooperation and an exchange of ideas between people from diverse backgrounds and experiences and that this enhances our ability to accurately meet needs. The personal connection is key.
Does SERA team up with other organizations to help Syrian refugees?
Yes. Part of our operational philosophy and founding principles is that there should be no wasted energy or redundancy in the operations we carry out. I believe in working as closely with the population in need as is possible. This allows for us to maximize our transparency and effectiveness of our operations based on the respect for and appreciation of the fact that people have the best understanding of what they need and many times, simply lack the means to carry out the ideas that they already have.
What would you like to see SERA doing that it isn’t already and what do you need to make that happen?
I would like to see SERA responding to a variety of needs throughout the region in as short amount of time as possible. Our aim is to be a rapid response organization that can help to fill gaps in supply chains, or assist those who have fallen through the cracks. I would love it for SERA to be able to impact conditions on the ground in places like Lebanon and Syria in a more comprehensive and efficient way.
To make this a reality we need to make sure we maintain our focus and our drive internally, we also need to make sure we maintain an operational tempo that allows for us to have good visibility on the conditions that the populations we serve are facing. Of course we definitely need more funding. Right now we have very little and so our operational scope is very small. We have the ability to serve much larger populations in a really effective way but we need a stronger budget to be able to conduct these sorts of operations.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
That is a good question. I believe that if you are passionate about something and you put the necessary effort into making it work (such as SERA) that it is ultimately up to you how long you can keep it viable. The work speaks for itself to some extent I think. I certainly plan on continuing to try and serve those who are in need for as long as I live.
The truth is sometimes I really think I would like to do something else, but at the end of the day this work is really the only thing that I have found that gives my life both meaning and direction. In five years, I certainly hope to have seen SERA grow into an international relief organization capable of helping hundreds of thousands of people around the world. I would also like to be able to say that I was able to give something back to everyone who helped along the way.
This work is important for the message that it sends to people back home, that one of the best aspects of the American way of life is our ability to come together in the face of adversity and to stand beside those who might need a helping hand. In five years, if I can look back on all of this and say that our organization is able to truly help people, that I was able so share a little bit of hope and that I never stopped learning then I will know this all stood for something.
If people want to help SERA, what’s something they can do?
We can accept donations at a temporary account at:
Epworth United Methodist Church
6450 Allisonville Road
Checks should be made out to Epworth United Methodist Church. In the memo line, people can put either “SERA Relief Effort” or “Peter Kassig Relief Effort.”
It’s not a religious thing, but my hometown neighborhood set this up for us in the meantime as a transparent and monitored donation system. SERA is a fully incorporated NGO, but our 501c3 [federal non-profit tax status] is still pending.
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Home / CE Articles / Ethics & Legal / Is It Ethics or Law?
Is It Ethics or Law?
By Stephen A. Ragusea, Psy.D.
In my position as chair of the Florida Psychological Association’s Ethics Committee, I frequently received telephone calls from psychologists asking for guidance about ethical concerns. However, the majority of questions I hear actually have nothing to do with ethics, per se. Rather, they are queries about the law and psychologists often seem surprised to find that they are blending the two realms in their minds. I’ll try to clarify the distinction in this column.
Laws are rules of conduct established by a community or authority and enforceable by that entity. The underlying philosophy of the law is called jurisprudence. Certainly, it may be claimed that ethical concerns are often at the root of our laws but ethics do not carry the power of law. In order for laws to have real meaning, a system of punishments is often established and enforced. In the United States, laws are established and enforced by federal, state, county and local governments.
Psychology’s ethical system is promulgated by The American Psychological Association. APA’s current Code of Ethics was adopted by the Council of Representatives and establishes our ethical guideposts. As stated in the code’s introduction, “The Ethics Code is intended to provide guidance for psychologists and standards of professional conduct that can be applied by the APA and by other bodies that choose to adopt them.”
What follows is 16 pages of “guidance” covering many of the ethical challenges with which psychologists must wrestle on a daily basis. The code is, quite literally, the end product of decades of work by thousands of psychologists who committed their time and energy to carefully considering the relevant issues. However, the code is not law and specifically addresses that point in its introduction by stating:
“The Ethics Code is not intended to be a basis of civil liability. Whether a psychologist has violated the Ethics Code standards does not by itself determine whether the psychologist is legally liable in a court action, whether a contract is enforceable, or whether other legal consequences occur.”
The code provides further clarification in section 1.02, Conflicts Between Ethics and Law, Regulations, or Other Governing Legal Authority:
If psychologists’ ethical responsibilities conflict with law, regulations, or other governing legal authority, psychologists make known their commitment to the Ethics Code and take steps to resolve the conflict. If the conflict is unresolvable via such means, psychologists may adhere to the requirements of the law, regulations, or other governing legal authority.
Ultimately, therefore, we may obey a law that conflicts with our ethical code. However, if our ethical obligations represent a higher moral standard than the law, we are obligated to embrace that higher level. And, we are bound to consider a variety of sources of guidance, including that found in our own conscience.
The instructions continue:
“In the process of making decisions regarding their professional behavior, psychologists must consider this Ethics Code in addition to applicable laws and psychology board regulations. In applying the Ethics Code to their professional work, psychologists may consider other materials and guidelines that have been adopted or endorsed by scientific and professional psychological organizations and the dictates of their own conscience, as well as consult with others within the field. If this Ethics Code establishes a higher standard of conduct than is required by law, psychologists must meet the higher standard.”
We are required to engage in a “process” that can be complex and not always satisfying. An example of this process may be briefly discussed relative to laws requiring psychologists to report child abuse.
What is to be done if a nearly 18 year-old patient tells you that he was abused by his stepmother when he was 12? He has had no contact with his stepmother for five years since his father divorced her and she moved to New Zealand. Therapeutically, is it in the patient’s best interests to report the abuse? If not, our ethical standards would suggest that it not be done. However, the law requires it.
Therefore, law trumps ethics. However, your consultation with peers and a personal examination of conscience may ultimately lead you to consider not making the report. Yet, to not report the incident is a violation of the law. What do you do?
Nobody said it was going to be easy.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published as a column for “The Ethics Corner” in The Florida Psychologist. Stephen Ragusea, Psy.D., is in private practice in Key West, Fla. His email is: ragusea@ragusea.com.
Therapy in the time of COVID-19: A look at one ethical issue
How to ethically increase access to care during COVID-19
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Winter on the Columbus campus
Reflections of a First-Year Buckeye: Vaccine information, return to campus reminders
Annual Buckeyes for Charity campaign raised $1.35 million for Ohio nonprofits
President Kristina M. Johnson sent the following email to The Ohio State University community today (Jan. 5).
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
I hope you and your families had a safe and joyous holiday break. As we look ahead to 2021, our gratitude goes to those who led and persevered in the past challenging year. Buckeyes everywhere came together to protect and care for each other and their communities while living our values. Here’s to doing great things and building a better world in the year to come.
What a fabulous Sugar Bowl game! Our outstanding, talented and resilient squad of Buckeyes crushed an excellent Clemson team. It is truly extraordinary what our student-athletes, coaches and athletics staff have accomplished this season in the face of so many unprecedented challenges. Only one more to go! I can’t wait to join all of the Buckeye supporters around the world in cheering on this very special team in the national championship on January 11.
Following are some updates as we head into the new year.
COVID-19: return to campus
We continue to plan for the start of spring semester, where the first two weeks of classes – January 11-22 – will be conducted virtually. Student move-in for university housing on the Columbus campus is scheduled to begin January 18. Students should self-sequester at home 10 days prior to returning to their campus residences and/or to in-person, on-campus engagements.
All students, whether living on or off campus, must follow spring testing protocols, which include two negative test results before resuming on-campus activities and weekly testing throughout the semester. Details are available here. We will continue to keep you informed of any changes or modifications to the plan of record.
For the latest Ohio State testing data, view the COVID-19 dashboard.
COVID-19: vaccination
Based on guidance from the Ohio Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccine administration continues to prioritize Wexner Medical Center front-line clinical staff as well as those most vulnerable to the virus. As of December 30, more than 7,200 medical center front-line health care workers have either been vaccinated or are scheduled to receive the vaccine. We hope to complete vaccinations for more than 16,000 of our health care workers by mid-January.
The university is actively planning for expanded vaccine distribution as allowed by the State of Ohio and will work in coordination with Governor Mike DeWine as well as state and local health experts. Details will be shared when they are available. Additional information about vaccine distribution is available on the Ohio Department of Health website.
While this progress is promising, it remains critically important to keep following public health protocols – even if you receive the vaccine. That means continuing to wear masks, practicing physical distancing, avoiding large gatherings and consistently cleaning your hands until the majority of the U.S. population is vaccinated and herd immunity is achieved.
Discovery, learning and impact
A free mindfulness program created by researchers in the College of Medicine significantly reduced burnout and perceived stress for health care faculty and staff, while increasing resilience and work engagement at the Wexner Medical Center, according to a new study. The findings are published online in the journal Global Advances in Health and Medicine.
Dr. Thomas Wood, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, will investigate how fact-checking can effectively counteract misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. The project will support the Google News Initiative’s creation of a COVID-19 Vaccine Media Hub.
Voting continues for the “Coolest Science Story of the Year,” a fun and interactive way to spread news of the university’s research and scholarship. Last year’s contest resulted in more than 12,000 votes. Our offices of Research and Corporate Engagement are also planning for the 2021 Research and Innovation Showcase. The annual recognition of Ohio State’s research and creative expression community, tentatively scheduled for mid-April, highlights and promotes the importance of connecting research and entrepreneurship.
Buckeye generosity
I am delighted that our annual Buckeyes for Charity campaign exceeded expectations with $1.35 million raised among Ohio State faculty, staff and retirees. The funds support Ohio nonprofit organizations, many of which have been affected by the pandemic. Even during challenging times, Buckeye generosity continues to help communities throughout the state.
Once again, happy New Year – and I look forward to sharing more with you soon.
Kristina M. Johnson, PhD
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Millions face impact of tax offset removal
Millions of Australians will be worse off when a tax stimulus measure finishes at the end of this financial year.
The $1080 low and middle income tax offset (LMITO), which benefits people with a taxable income of between $48,000 and $90,000, is due to end in June.
Analysts at the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre estimate some 3.4 million taxpayers will lose out from its removal, 50 per cent of whom will be women.
The LMITO, which is claimable when people submit their tax return, was due to end in the 2019/20 financial year.
But it was subsequently extended as a stimulus measure in the last budget when a series of other personal income tax changes were also introduced.
Bankwest Curtin analysts say the removal of the LMITO effectively cancels out the benefits of these changes to tax thresholds for $48,000-$90,000 earners, making them no better off than they were in 2019/20.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is due to hand down his 2021/22 budget on May 11.
Whether Mr Frydenberg has a change of heart over the LMITO remains to be seen.
“The government doesn’t comment on budget speculation,” a spokesperson for the treasurer told AAP.
A survey by the Australian Financial Review found 61 per cent of the 530 people polled believed the treasurer should be focused on stimulating the economy, while 31 per cent say he should be repairing the budget.
Economists expect the budget will be in a far better shape than predicted just a few months ago given the boost to revenues from a much stronger than expected economy, sharply lower unemployment and rising commodity prices.
In the mid-year budget review released in December a $197.7 billion budget deficit was forecast for the 2020/21 financial year and a $108.5 billion deficit for 2021/22.
AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver believes the deficit could now be $125 billion for 2020/21 and around $50 billion 2021/22.
In the government’s most recent monthly financial accounts, it showed the deficit for the 2020/21 financial year to February was $134.6 billion, $23.1 billion smaller than had been anticipated after eight months.
Notably, the iron price struck a 10-year high of $US178 per tonne on Friday compared with $US55 per tonne assumed at the time of the mid-year budget review.
As a rule of thumb, for every $US1 rise in the price of iron ore, the government gains $A250 million in revenue a year.
Categories: Finance, Tax
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Fans Gear Up In Gotham As Sunday’s Big Game Approaches
Jets' Coach Rex Ryan Spotted Handing Out Ice Cream On Super Bowl Boulevard January 31, 2014 at 5:04 pm
Filed Under:Jennifer McLogan, Paul Murnane, Super Bowl 50, Super Bowl Boulevard, Super Bowl XLVIII
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - JANUARY 27: MetLife Stadium stands behind a Super Bowl sign as the venue is prepared to host Super Bowl XLVIII between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks January 27, 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. MetLife Stadium will host Super Bowl XLVIII (credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — We’re just days away from the kickoff of Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium.
As WCBS 880’s Paul Murnane reported Friday from Super Bowl Boulevard, four years of planning, investing and worrying about the weather was wrapping up with the arrival of the day before the big game.
Some Super Bowl veterans said the cold weather hasn’t hampered the excitement.
Fans Gear Up For The Game As Super Bowl Weekend Approaches
“It’s freezing here, but it’s New York and we can handle it. It’s going to be a great game,” Rob Connolly of Rockland County told Murnane. “You know that New York will rise to the occasion and I think that people will leave here saying that this was the best Super Bowl they’ve ever been to.”
One Seattle fan with tickets to the game on Sunday said New York is definitely putting on a good show.
His wife added she’s not as frightened of New York as she was before arriving, Murnane reported.
EXTRA: Guide To Super Bowl XLVIII
Giants fan Todd Mazza told Murnane he’s looking forward to the game Sunday at his team’s stadium.
“One cold weather game every couple years would be great,” he told Murnane. “I’m going Sunday night but I don’t know if I would want to do it every year.”
Seahawks fan Al Nittoli said he enjoyed Super Bowl Boulevard and was trying to take in anything because, like the players playing in the big game, there’s no guarantee he’ll get another chance to attend such an event.
“There’s a huge line for autographs, but it is worth it. Super Bowl here in New York and New Jersey will probably never happen again because it’s so cold,” Nittoli said.
Jets head coach Rex Ryan was spotted handing out free ice cream on Super Bowl Boulevard, CBS 2’s Jennifer McLogan reported.
“It’s a little colder than other Super Bowl, but it is in the greatest city in the world — New York, New Jersey — too bad we’re not playing in it,” Ryan said.
McLogan also caught up with Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Ditka.
“I played in the coldest Super Bowl, and I didn’t notice it — in New Orleans — but I did remember practices were cold,” Ditka said, adding when asked how the fans will deal with the conditions inside MetLife Stadium, “It’s gonna be tough on them.”
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Hundreds dead, missing as migrant boat sinks off Italy
Publish date : 4 October, 2013
PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) – More than 300 people drowned or were feared dead after a boat packed with African migrants caught fire and sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday, one of the worst disasters of Europe’s chronic immigration crisis.
The 20-metre (66-foot) boat, believed to be carrying around 500 people, mostly Eritreans and Somalis, sank no more than 1 km (half a mile) from shore after a fire broke out, triggering a general panic that capsized the vessel.
The incident occurred when the boat’s motor stopped working and the vessel, which had set out from the Libyan port of Misrata, began to take on water, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said.
People on board burned a sheet to attract the attention of rescuers, but ignited fuel on the vessel.
“Once the fire started, there was concern about the boat sinking and everyone moved to one side, causing the boat to go down,” he told a news conference.
Bodies pulled from the water were laid out along the quayside as coast guard vessels brought in more victims.
“It’s horrific, like a cemetery,” said Giusi Nicolini, the mayor of Lampedusa, the tiny island which has been at the centre of southern Europe’s migration headache.
Fishing boats and coast guard vessels rescued 151 people in the morning and by late evening 104 bodies, including at least three children and two pregnant women, had been recovered. But divers had seen scores more trapped in the sunken ship, which rested in some 40 meters (132 feet) of water.
“They’re certainly all dead,” said Domenico Colapinto, a local fisherman whose vessel rescued 18 survivors in the morning. “There won’t be anyone alive now because when we picked them up people were already exhausted,” he told SkyTG24 television as evening fell.
The disaster happened four days after 13 migrants drowned off eastern Sicily. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said action was needed by the European Union to stem “a succession of massacres of innocent people”.
Last year, almost 500 people were reported dead or missing on the crossing from Tunisia to Italy, the U.N. refugee office UNHCR says. Syrians fleeing civil war have added to the numbers.
“ENDLESS TRAGEDY”
The search for survivors and victims began within a four nautical mile radius, in water around 30-45 meters deep, and widened later in the day in an effort to find bodies that had been pulled away by the tides, Alfano told reporters.
Antonio Candela, director of rescue operations at the local health authority ASP Palermo, said many of those pulled out of the sea alive had been suffering from hypothermia and dehydration but were otherwise not seriously hurt.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres praised the rescue effort, but said: “I am dismayed at the rising global phenomenon of migrants and people fleeing conflict or persecution and perishing at sea.”
African migrants frequently head for Lampedusa, just 113 km (70 miles) from the coast of Tunisia, and are often picked up at sea in dangerously overcrowded boats by the Italian coastguard.
The previous night, 463 refugees from Syria were rescued, Candela told SkyTG24 television.
Pope Francis, who visited the island in July on his first papal trip outside Rome, said he felt “great pain” over the disaster. “The word that comes to mind is ‘shame’,” Francis said in unscripted remarks after a speech in the Vatican. “Let us unite our strengths so that such tragedies never happen again.”
The stream of migrants poses a humanitarian and political problem for the Italian government. About 15,000 reached Italy and Malta – 13,200 and 1,800 respectively – by sea last year, the UNHCR says. Thousands more have arrived this year.
Migrants who arrive in Italy are allowed to apply for asylum. Many are ordered to leave the country but slip away to become illegal immigrants in Italy or elsewhere in the European Union.
Italy has pressed the EU for more help to fight the crisis, which it says concerns the entire 28-nation bloc.
“This is not an Italian tragedy, this is a European tragedy,” Alfano said. “Lampedusa has to be considered the frontier of Europe, not the frontier of Italy.”
(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli, Gavin Jones and Massimiliano Di Giorgio in Rome and by Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by James Mackenzie and Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Around 300,000 people displaced after deadly blast in Beirut: Governor
Lebanon, August 5 : Around 300,000 people became homeless as a result of the recent
US records 63,643 new virus cases in 24 hours
WASHINGTON, July 11:The United States recorded 63,643 new coronavirus cases on Friday, according to a
India’s COVID-19 tally crosses 7 lakh mark; deaths at 20,160
With a spike of 22,252 cases, India’s COVID-19 count breached the seven lakh mark and
PM Oli congratulates his French and Ireland counterparts
Kathmandu, July 7 : Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has extended his best wishes to
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You are here: News Corner
Statement by Ambassador Leendertse in the Security Council meeting on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2231 (Iran, JCPoA), 14 December
14.12.2021 - Speech
(As delivered)
Let me first echo previous speakers by thanking all three briefers not only for today’s interventions, but also for their continuing support to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA).
We also welcome the support expressed by the Secretary General for the Vienna talks and for our efforts to restore the JCPoA.
Despite all the difficulties encountered, we still believe that restoring the JCPoA is both urgently required and possible.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to move closer to this goal since the last Security Council meeting in June. To the contrary: During the past six months, Iran has further escalated its nuclear programme by taking extremely far-reaching steps that are incompatible with its commitments under the JCPoA, some of which also do not have plausible civilian use.
These worrying steps include the development and use of advanced centrifuges way beyond JCPoA limits, uranium enrichment of up to 60%, ever growing stockpiles of enriched uranium, and the ongoing Research & Development activities on uranium metal production, including enriched uranium metal.
Another point of great concern is lack of transparency: the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) plays a vital role in monitoring and verifying Iran’s nuclear-related commitments. The IAEA’s mandate is enshrined in resolution 2231 and serves the goal of assuring the continuity of knowledge about the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear programme. To our deep concern, Iran has curtailed monitoring activities by the Agency. We strongly support the IAEA’s continued efforts in keeping up the continuity of knowledge, and we urge Iran to fully cooperate with the IAEA and to restore JCPoA monitoring and transparency measures in full.
I echo the sentiments expressed by my E3 colleagues:
We are at a crossroads: if Iran engages seriously in the diplomatic process, a good deal for Iran and for all of us can be reached rapidly. If Iran does not engage constructively, crisis will be inevitable and will be costly for us all.
We do not want this outcome, which is no more in our interest or in the interest of the international community than it is in the Iranian interest. It is also entirely avoidable. But: the window of opportunity is closing rapidly.
Turning to Annex B of the resolution, let me reiterate our well-known position: we continue to consider Iran’s development of ballistic missiles designed to deliver a nuclear weapon, including launches using such ballistic missile technology, as inconsistent with paragraph 3 of Annex B to Security Council resolution 2231. We are very concerned about Iran’s development of relevant ballistic missile types and continued tests. Clearly, such activities are not conducive to fostering stability and security in the region.
Moreover, we reaffirm the need to ensure compliance by all states, in particular by Iran, with the prohibition of transfers of MTCR-listed items to and from Iran (Annex B, paragraph 4). The delivery of missile technology to non-state actors is destabilising the region and must end immediately.
Let me finish by noting the following: on resolution 2231 and the JCPoA, the Security Council has reached again a level of unity rarely seen. Almost all of us here have stressed again the huge importance of the JCPoA as a key contribution to the non-proliferation and security architecture in the region and beyond.
We will do everything in our power to see the JCPoA talks in Vienna succeed; we count on all parties to return with a mandate suitable to put this important agreement fully back in place.
Overview "News Corner"
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Australia faces an active bushfire season
Megan Neil
Winter bushfires in NSW and Queensland have set the scene for what is expected to be a challenging and prolonged fire season across Australia.
Fire agencies are bracing for an active 2019/20 fire season, following an unusually warm and dry year so far in large parts of the country..
The latest outlook says the east coasts of Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, as well as parts of southern Western Australia and South Australia, face above-normal fire potential.
“This year we’re seeing a potentially very active year again across the country,” Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre CEO Richard Thornton said on Wednesday.
Dr Thornton said the conditions, particularly in Australia’s east, were being driven by an increased average temperature as well as a decline in rainfall.
An early start to the fire season has been declared in many areas across eastern Australia, as crews battled bushfires in NSW and Queensland this month.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s David Jones said the climate outlook was not very good, noting Australia was experiencing one of its most severe droughts.
“It will be a challenging fire season for the weather and we anticipate an early start and unfortunately a long season based on the climatic conditions we have in place at the moment,” Dr Jones told reporters in Melbourne.
The bushfire season has again started early in Queensland, which experienced unprecedented catastrophic conditions last year when 2600 fires burnt more than four million hectares of land.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Service deputy commissioner Mark Roche said the season was also expected to finish later than usual.
“We’re expecting some significant fires and fire activity probably from Rockhampton down to the NSW border,” he said.
“Our expectation is that we will have a heavy season.”
NSW Rural Fire Service senior assistant commissioner Bruce McDonald said there were about 1500 large running fires in the state this month, some of which required late-night emergency alerts to local residents.
He equated the current conditions to those in 2013 when more than 200 homes were lost in one afternoon in the Blue Mountains.
“The community needs to understand that fire can occur at any time and preparation is the key,” Mr McDonald said.
“There won’t be a fire truck at every house.”
Parts of Gippsland in Victoria’s east are again expected to be impacted by fires, amid the third consecutive year of significant rainfall deficits and above normal fire conditions.
“What that means is we’re more likely to see protracted campaign fires which is exactly what we saw last year on the back of record-low rainfalls during winter for the previous two years,” Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp said.
Tasmania Fire Service acting chief officer Bruce Byatt predicted an early start to the fire season on the state’s east coast, an area popular with tourists.
“We are expecting large-scale fires to occur on the east coast,” he said.
Fire agencies in NSW and Queensland also face issues with a lack of water to fight blazes in some areas, with bulk water supplies shipped into some NSW towns.
Categories: Environment
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Barrett, James Noel (1903–1958)
As was briefly reported in these columns last month, Mr. James Noel Barrett, of Yera, Edgeroi, and Maida Vale, Ebor, N.S.W., died on 6th July from drowning in the Clarence River.
Mr. Barrett, who was 54, was a son of the late Sir James Barrett and received his early education at the Melbourne Grammar School. He then went on to Trinity College, Melbourne University, where he graduated B.Agr. Sc. in 1925, and two years later purchased Yera. Immediately he commenced wheat growing on a large scale and used his inquiring, practical mind to develop improved methods of farming. Not only did he pay attention to modern practices of soil conservation, but was also keenly interested in mechanisation to increase production and efficiency. He had a good deal to do with the introduction to Australian farming of such items of equipment as pick-up balers, rubber tyred tractors, and other implements, the coupe utility motor vehicle, and harvesting machinery for small seeds. He was probably the first person to harvest Mitchell grass seed in commercial quantities and for many years sold it throughout the Commonwealth. He also successfully established large areas of dry land lucerne on Yera, and at the time of his death was preparing plans to irrigate the whole of the property over the next ten years. When this scheme was completed he estimated it would represent an investment in the order of about £200,000, but he believed the results would be "colossal" and would make his property "one of the best and safest in Australia."
With typical imagination and drive, Mr. Barrett bought Maida Vale, a small run-down property in the Ebor district of New South Wales, after the war and immediately set about reconditioning the pastures. His story of the success of this developmental work was told in a series of articles published in the Review a couple of years ago. About the same time he explained how the Hernani Dog Proof Fence was erected on a co-operative basis to protect stock on several properties in the Ebor district, and earlier he had told about the organisation for a community bus service. In all these things he was a leader with outstanding ability, and during the war he served as adviser to the Minister for Agriculture in connection with farm mechanisation and pools for machinery.
Although not particularly interested in livestock, except as a necessary sideline to his farming operations, Mr. Barrett decided recently to establish a Merino stud on Yera. With his usual thoroughness, he spent many months studying breeding methods and trends before acquiring foundation stock from the Rossmore stud, Burren Junction.
A good Australian who gave his best to his country, Mr. Barrett will be greatly missed by the primary industries, and particularly by his wide circle of friends. On their behalf we express sympathy to his widow who before her marriage was Miss Nancy Mair, of Colly Creek Station, Quirindi, N.S.W., and their five children.
Pastoral Review and Graziers' Record , 19 August 1958 , p 899 (view original)
engagement notice, Sydney Morning Herald, 24 January 1929, p 4
'A Victorian in NSW Wins Wheat Championship', Argus (Melbourne), 1 December 1933, p 3
'More Vegetables From Rural Areas', Canberra Times, 5 March 1942, p 2
Barrett, James Noel
Barrett, Marian (mother)
Barrett, James William (father)
Barrett, Keith Joy (brother)
Noall, Mary Catherine (aunt)
Barrett, Edith Helen (aunt)
Noall, Alfred James (cousin)
Noall, Selwyn Richard (cousin)
Pearson, Ottilie (cousin)
'Barrett, James Noel (1903–1958)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/barrett-james-noel-9441/text28242, accessed 17 January 2022.
Prahran, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Melbourne Grammar School
agricultural writer
farming industry leader
government adviser
grazier (unspecified)
sheep breeder
wheat farmer
Yera (NSW)
Maida Vale (NSW)
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MIXTAPED UK – THE SUPER SUPERB ‘NOMINA’ AND HER CLASSY MUSIC VIDEO FOR ‘FETISH DADDY’ ILLUSTRATES WHY THE BEST NEW MUSIC AND FILMING LOCATIONS ARE NOW BASED IN AFRICA!
The super superb ‘Nomina’ and her classy music video for ‘Fetish Daddy’ illustrates why the best new music and filming locations are now based in Africa! – Mixtaped UK
Let’s face it – we all love music that tells a story, but at the same time sounds really great. Whether it’s a smooth-flowing love song, a growing up story or indeed, a heavier subject, it fills you with the most incredible feeling, when told right.
One such song is Nomina’s brand new single “Fetish Daddy”, a mesmerizing track that almost forces you to sit still and pay attention. Zimbabwe-born and now residing in Germany, Nomina is the ambassador for the “United Nation World Peace Berlin”, and as such, she’s a young woman on a mission.
“Fetish Daddy” has remarkably upbeat vibes and an easy-flowing melody, almost deceivingly so, for in truth, it deals with one of the most serious and upsetting issue of our world – that of sexual abuse, something that millions of girls face today. The music video, in particular, illustrates this really well. It tells the story of a man who objectifies the women around them, treating them as little more than sexual playthings. It also tells the story of a young woman, presumably his lover, who gets tired of his sexist attitude and breaks free from him, understanding her own worth.
With its’ catchy, easy rhythm, “Fetish Daddy” is a most empowering tune. It guides listeners towards peace and breaking free, while at the same time bringing joy to their souls. What I love about this, both the song and the accompanying video, is that it’s obvious they are born out of great passion and desire to make something beautiful, but also meaningful, perhaps to help someone who is in a bad place right now.
To me, that’s equally important in the making of a great artist, not just talent. And it seems Nomina has it all – looks, a smooth, mesmerizing voice, ample talent, as well as great vision and a good heart.
But then, Nomina was never one for ‘easy’ pop songs. Having finished a business studies degree, she turned her attention towards her true passion – music, and conquered the hearts of millions of listeners with hits like “Mamaland” and “Don’t Cry Africa”.
And now, she’s putting the finishing touches on her debut album, which I must say I definitely look forward to, as this young woman has great potential in the music business, in my opinion.
Link to article: https://mixtaped.co.uk/the-super-superb-nomina-and-her-classy-music-video-for-fetish-daddy-illustrates-why-the-best-new-music-and-filming-locations-are-now-based-in-africa
Africa ambassador fetish daddy music musicvideo review South Africa track United Nations
MUZIC MIRROR UK – United Nations ambassador and one of Africa’s top female artists ‘Nomina’ releases an epic, classy and stylish music video to accompany her sweet as sugar ‘Fetish Daddy’
TSN MUSIC MAGAZINE – From The Nation of Africa: ‘Nomina’ drops a sensational pop record and music video set in an African paradise as she releases the female empowering ‘Fetish Daddy’
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Rose Marie Fischer
Burial of Ashes
Obituary of Rose Marie Fischer
A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, September 11, 2021 at 12 noon at St. Mary's RC Church, Denville.
Interment of ashes to follow at the Denville Cemetery.
Rose Marie Fischer passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 12, 2020 at Morris View Health Care Center in Morris Plains after courageously battling Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy for 18 years. She had shared 84 years of unconditional love, laughter, and priceless memories with family and friends.
Born and raised in Dover to the late Joseph and Julia Catillo, she was one of two children to bless the Catillo household. After graduating High School, she went on to attend IBM Business School and Denville Business School, completing the program with her Real Estate License. She dedicatedly worked for 25 years as a Teacher’s Aide starting in Denville before working with VoTech and ultimately retiring from Morris School District in 1998. Rose Marie married her High School sweetheart, Charles “Charlie” Fischer, on October 13, 1956 and together they settled in the Indian Lake Section of Denville to raise their family. She was a member of the Dover Junior Women’s Club, Indian Lake Women’s Club, Park Lakes Tennis & Paddle Club in Mountain Lakes, and St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church where she was a Lector for 30 years. An avid reader, Rose Marie happily read at least one book a week. She loved to play tennis and was proud to have been able to help her friends, family and others as a Notary Public.
Above anything else, Rose Marie was an attentive wife, patient mother, doting grandmother, caring sister and friend. Her family was her greatest pride and joy. Although we are deeply saddened by her passing, we take comfort in knowing she is now reunited her parents in Heaven.
She leaves only joyful memories to her beloved husband of 63 years, Charlie; her loving children, Julie Anne Bott and her husband Steve of Charlotte, NC; Charles “Chuck” Joseph Fischer, Jr. of Andover; Thomas Paul Fischer and his wife Dana of Basking Ridge; her cherished grandchildren, Kent Truslow and his wife Addy; Alexandra Vrabel and her husband John; Julia Truslow, Taylor Fischer, Zachary Fischer, and Luke Fischer; her caring brother, Joseph Catillo and his wife Jerri; her kind brother-in-law, Lorenz Fischer and his wife Cynthia; and many nieces and nephews, extended family, and friends.
Memorial Mass will be held at a later date at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Denville. Memorial Donations are being accepted in Rose Marie’s memory by way of www.inmemof.org to either the Denville Library, St. Mary’s Church, or St. Labre Indian School. Please leave a condolence, light a candle, and share your favorite memory of Rose Marie here to continue to celebrate the life she shared with us.
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Norris Public Library
The Norris Public Library traces its history back to 1921 when Mrs. Henry Norris and her daughters and several friends met to begin a lending library with books donated from their own collections and from friends in Philadelphia. First housed in the Mission House associated with St. Luke’s Chapel on the Rutherford Hospital grounds, the collection was moved in 1924 to the “Drummers” building behind the Isothermal Hotel which was located on the site now filled by the County Annex. Mrs. Lollie Hicks Reveley became the first librarian. The library was entirely dependent on membership subscriptions and donations.
The original ledger of Norris Public Library with membership and circulation entries dating back to 1921.
By 1928, the growing collection of the Rutherfordton Library was moved to the three-year-old Town Hall at the corner of First Street and N. Washington. With 1,892 volumes, the library was one of the largest in western North Carolina and boasted 354 members. The Rutherfordton Garden Club was originally organized for the sole purpose of promoting the library which received no financial help from the town. Mrs. M.O. Dickerson and Mrs. B.D. Wilson served as librarians during the six years that the library was located in Town Hall.
By 1932, the library clearly needed a new building, and a number of groups called upon the Town Board to construct a new facility. John Anderson, Jr. obtained a lot on Main Street from the town. Brick, doors and other materials from the McEntire Mansion, which had been demolished at its location on Main Street at Third, were donated by Jim Washburn.
Mrs. R. H. Crawford chaired the library building committee. Other members included Clyde A. Erwin, M. L. Edwards and Mrs. F. W. H. Logan. They approached Charlotte architect Louis Asbury who had previously designed several other buildings in Rutherford County. Asbury completed plans for the new library in one week and provided them to the town without charge.
Between 1933-34, the Garden Club contributed much time and money for the library. Their efforts paid for shrubbery, a furnace, book shelves and the installation and painting of screens.
The building was erected with $3,000 of free labor furnished by the Civil Works Administration (CWA). The building’s total cost, including equipment, was $5,263.
Inside the original library ledger.
A long list of names was suggested for the newly constructed library. Because she was truly the founder of the library and continued throughout her life to be a loyal supporter, the library was named for Mrs. Henry Norris. The Norris Public Library stands as a living memorial to her memory.
The first elected board, including representatives from each of the civic organizations in town, a town council member, and two at-large members, was installed in December 1933. Norris Library held its grand opening on the night of Dec. 8, 1933, and Mrs. P. B. Cannon took the position of librarian of Jan. 1, 1934. With the opening of the new building, the library became a public facility, rather than a subscription library, and the Town began to assume financial responsibility for its operation.
Several different people served as librarians between 1934 and 1938 when Mrs. Eva Simpson filled the position. Mrs. Simpson served faithfully until her retirement in 1969. Mrs. Bertha Allen became librarian in 1969, remaining until her death in 1971. After a succession of temporary librarians, Mrs. Pat Hardin took the position in fall 1973 and remained library director until she retired in April of 2020. In August 2020, Mrs. Sarah Ross filled the position of library director.
A 168 square-foot, two-level addition to the facility was completed in 1971. Library space was nearly doubled by a subsequent addition that was completed in 1987.
The library board applied for and obtained a foundation status through the Department of the Secretary of State in 1999. In April of 2001, the Norris Library Foundation, Inc. received tax exempt status through the Internal Revenue Service.
In the years following the addition in 1987, several projects have been completed that have enhanced the library such as painting, new lighting, and a dedicated space for computers for the public to use. In addition, a new circulation desk, new AV cabinets, and new shelving for books have all been custom built.
132 N Main St., Rutherfordton
norrispubliclibrary@gmail.com
2nd & 4th Saturdays 10am-1pm
Connect with our town
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Home / Uncategorized / Local heritage activist recalls ‘crossing paths’ with Prince Philip
Local heritage activist recalls ‘crossing paths’ with Prince Philip
April 14, 2021 by Penny Coles Uncategorized
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip while on their 1973 Royal Tour of Canada, including NOTL, where the Queen officially opened the Shaw Festival Theatre and visited Fort George. (NOTL Museum)
The royal couple was in Niagara-on-the-Lake for the official opening of the new Shaw Festival Theatre in June of 1973, a much-celebrated visit, he recalls.
The Pillar and Post restaurant, then owned by John Drope, was hosting a banquet in honour of the Queen and Prince. At 19, Meloen, a Ryerson Polytechnic student in the hospitality program, was working at the Pillar and Post at the time, and was selected to be one of the waiters at the head table.
“This was an exciting time for the staff, and extensive preparations were undertaken. A menu had to be selected and approved, and all the staff working that day had to have security checks and health exams. I’m pretty sure the RCMP still has my fingerprints on file somewhere.”
However this was in 1973, and very unlike what security would be today for visiting dignitaries, he says.
“The day finally arrived and the royal entourage took over the premises.”
They had two footmen, or possibly pages, among other staff, accompanying the royals. “They gave the waiters for the head table quick instructions on manners when dealing with the royals. For instance, we were not to talk to them unless spoken to first. Thankfully this didn’t happen, because I probably would have stuttered and said something stupid.”
Prince Philip sat beside Lord Mayor Jake Froese, says Meloen.
“In all the hubbub I did manage to overhear some snippets of their conversation. They were discussing peach farming, and the Prince seemed genuinely interested.”
Other than that, Meloen remembers the time flying by in a blur, his mind focused on not doing anything to mess up. The royal couple was ushered out to the unveiling event, and a play at the Shaw.
“It had been an exhausting day, especially for the kitchen staff preparing for the banquet of 200 guests, but a memorable one.”
For the Pillar and Post, it meant a boost in business for years to come. Many were interested to visit and dine in the place where the royals had been. I can’t confirm it, but I would like to surmise that because of the security checks, many dignitaries were choosing the Pillar for their dinner or lunch events.”
Although it was the Queen and the Prince who came to town, it is mostly referred to and remembered as the Queen’s visit, says Meloen. “Prince Philip, ever supportive and dignified, remains in the shadow. And I am left with fond memories of the day the royals came to town.”
Although Meloen’s career ended up to be in the town’s roads department, where he retired as superintendent, he has had a life-long interest and volunteer involvement in celebrating the history of the town, possibly encouraged by a brief encounter as a young man with one of the most celebrated couples in the history of Canada.
Rick Meloen kept some souvenirs from the day the Queen and Prince Philip came to town in 1973, and Meloen was one of the servers when they dined at the Pillar and Post.
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By Laura Gurfein Jun 19, 2014, 3:00pm EDT
Share All sharing options for: Storecasting
So that Dior that's opening on Greene Street will be ready for business "later this year"—that's kind of an opening date, right? It's part of a big brick-and-mortar push for the brand, which includes new locations in Vancouver, San Francisco, and Houston, and remodels at the Beverly Hills store and the recently completed Americana Manhasset revamp on Long Island. [WWD; Previously]
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What Is Causing the Hum Around the World?
Jade Hassenplug
I have a curiosity for humanity's darker side and I love doing research so I've combined those two things to write in depth articles.
The Hum Description
The Hum has been described as a low-frequency humming or rumbling noise, similar to a distant idling diesel engine. Scientists have ruled out any home appliances that also make similar types of low-frequency humming. People who can hear this humming say they can hear it outside in areas such as cities but also in the country side and even indoors. It seems most predominant at night and for some people it’s making their lives miserable and even causing insomnia.
Where Is It Most Common
The reports of this hum are fairly widespread with a majority of the reports coming from the UK and USA. Some areas have so many reports that they have their own names for the hum. The Bristol Hum Taos Hum and Windsor Hum are the three most popular and publicized locations.
In Bristol the Hum had been recorded as far back as 1970 and at first the residence claim they only heard it at night and made it difficult to sleep. Authorities put it off saying it was just factory noise or eclectic pylons. Some residence liked to believe it was the noise from alien space ships or secret military crafts. After some time, the hum stopped as sudden as it had began but it had seemed to have made it’s way to other towns across Britain. Over the years the Hum has come back and even to this day some people say that they can still hear it.
The Taos Hum is heard in a New Mexico city that claims only about 2% of people can hear this invasive hum. The residence started to report mysterious hums back in 1990 and the people who could hear this noise had been dubbed “The Hearers”. The weird thing is that these Hearers all claim to hear different sounds. Some described it as a whir, a buzz or a hum and when scientists tried to set up sensitive equipment in the homes of the people who claim to hear the noise and the results were not what they expected. They found nothing unusual in the homes, no out of the ordinary noises, no abnormal vibrations, no answers.
The Windsor Hum is probably the most famous location in the case of this mysterious noise. It almost seems to be worse in this area as it is reported to last longer and can grow in the intercity of the sound. Some residence said the noise can get so loud that it shakes windows and scares family pets. It’s even said to be causing health problems and interfere with the quality of life for some of the people who can hear it. It’s unknown how long ago the Windsor hum has been around but reports of the Hum popped up around 2012. Some people who can hear this noise say even when they try to go on a trip to get away from the sound, they can still hear it or they will hear a different mystery sound.
Who Does It Affect?
With all the reports and research done, it doesn't seem that the Hum affects any specific people. It seems to be very random as to who can hear it. It’s a pretty even split between the number of men and women who can hear this mystery noise. It also affects people of any age, young and old and everybody in between.
Here is a map of Hum Reports.
Experts And Scientists Thoughts
A French scientists claims to have solved the case of the Hum and knows where it’s coming from. He claimed that the source of this Humming is the Ocean floor vibrating due to large continuous waves. This answer does not sit well with other scientists and experts however as it doesn't explain why the noise starts and stops so suddenly in certain areas and why it comes back over the years. Some experts claim it could be as simple as distant traffic or wind turbines. Other ideas is that it’s a medical condition, but that doesn't exactly make sense either unless a whole town can get tinnitus all at once.
One slight possible explanation scientists have is animals. They claim the midshipman fish, or toadfish, could be the cause. When these fish make their mating call it can sometimes be a short growling or a long humming noise that can last for up to an hour. These noises can be heard by many people naturally but it’s questionable if this could be the source of certain area’s mystery hum. This could explain the humming people hear when they live on houseboats however.
Another theory experts and scientists have is that it could just be due to stress, or people picking up on normal everyday background noises that they just never noticed before. Because the sounds all seem to be different depending on location and person, they believe it’s a natural phenomenon and not something otherworldly.
The main theory that scientists and experts have though is simply mechanical devices. This goes with the background noises as stated above, but they think it could be sounds coming from factories or buildings, possibly distant traffic or airports and ships in the port.
The Public's Thoughts
A man from Windsor Canada, Mike Provost has started a facebook group dedicated to finding the source of the sound. He posts regularly and has been following reports of this noise for several years. He will write down the location, time and intensity of the incident. Others that can hear the Windsor hum chime in to when they have an experience or ideas. Mike believes the noise is coming from Zug Island in the USA that is just five miles from Detroit. He says the island is owned by US Steal and that they refuse to cooperate and are very secretive about what goes on. They even have their own personal security on the island and don’t allow unauthorized people to enter. When people take boats close to the island they can hear an odd low-frequency noise but it’s not the same as what the residence of Windsor hear. It is similar to the sound but not exact.
Other more imaginative people who can hear this hum and even those who can’t say it could possibly be a UFO in the skies spying on us. They think it could be noises coming from strange crafts in the sky whether it be an alien UFO or even a secret military UFO. They think the government could be experimenting with machines or crafts and could be causing these mystery noises. Possibly a US military secret experiment on other countries as well to test sonic weapons or something of that nature.
From looking at the research and watching several videos on this phenomenon and hearing testimonies I have to say I don't have a theory. I honestly don't know what this hum could be, I don't know if it's natural or from factories but it seems like because the mystery noise is different for every location and the intensity varies I think it's most likely not just one source. I think it could be from a multitude of sources such as factories like the Zug Island Steal factory or possibly some vibrating noises from the Earth. I just honestly don't know what could be causing these mystery noises. What do you think is causing the mystery Humming noises?
Jade Hassenplug (author) from Omaha on October 07, 2019:
That was a theory but it was shown that in areas that experienced the sounds didn't show any plate movement. But that is a good question.
ElijahMyers on October 07, 2019:
Could it be the tectonic plates?
10 Chinese Myths to Know Before Visiting China
By Ced Yong
Emily Dickinson's Two Rose Poems: "Nobody knows this little Rose" and "When Roses cease to bloom, Sir"
Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death"
Margaret Atwood's "In the Secular Night"
The Northwestern Crow and a Semi-Tame Bird Named Canuck
Willow Trees and Shrubs: Interesting Plants With Useful Features
The Side Effects of Poverty
Breakfast the British Way
Alexander Graham Bell: Inventor of the Telephone and Teacher of the Deaf
Crime Fighting Through Dowsing
How to Calculate the Sides and Angles of Triangles
By Eugene Brennan
Dr. Thomas Cream—Jack the Ripper Suspect
The New Supercontinent of Amasia
Butterfly Identification Guide: 27 Types of Butterflies (With Photos)
By GreenMind Guides
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Roman egg recovered from site in Aylesbury
9th December 2019:
When Oxford Archaeology carried out archaeological excavations at Berryfields, just outside Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, the extent and range of the discoveries were more than anyone could have foreseen
The site, investigated ahead of major development by the Berryfields Consortium, which funded the fieldwork and post-excavation analysis, is located close to a Roman roadside settlement along the Roman road of Akeman Street.
The standout discoveries were found in a pit that had been dug close to the Roman road. The pit breached the water-table and had filled with water. Initially, the pit was used in the malting and brewing process, but by the late 3rd century AD, the pit had been put to another use: as a special place where the inhabitants of the Roman town and passers-by could throw in coins and other items for good luck or as offerings to the gods.
When it was being excavated, the pit was still waterlogged, and this had preserved a remarkable collection of organic objects, including a wooden basket, leather shoes and wooden vessels and tools, which normally do not survive in Britain.
Most extraordinary of all were four chickens’ eggs. At least three were whole on discovery and were extremely fragile. Thanks to the great care taken by Steve Leech, one of the lead archaeologists on the site, one was retrieved intact. (The field team noted that the other eggs emitted a sulphurous aroma during excavation.) The Roman egg is a genuinely unique discovery. Though Roman eggshell fragments have been found before now, this is the only complete Roman egg known in Britain.
In the Roman period, eggs had all sorts of symbolic meanings. They were associated with the gods Mithras and Mercury and have connotations of fertility and rebirth. Tellingly, where eggshell have been found in Britain, they have usually been found in graves. The eggs at Berryfields almost certainly represent an offering of some kind. They may have been a votive offering or possibly had been placed in the pit as part of a funerary rite.
Although excavations were completed in 2016, a programme of detailed analysis back at Oxford Archaeology’s office and in the laboratory following excavation has meant that the full results can only now be revealed in a new book published by Oxford Archaeology.
Berryfields: Iron Age Settlement and a Roman Bridge, field system and settlement along Akeman Street near Fleet Marston, Buckinghamshire, by Edward Biddulph, Kate Brady, Andrew Simmonds and Stuart Foreman (ISBN: 9780904220858)
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The mission of the church is missions.
The last command of our Lord must still be the first concern of the church - "Go into all the world and preach the gospel". The Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church has a visible, viable presence in seventeen countries around the world. Additionally, we are deeply committed to planting new churches here in the United States.
Our passion is to see the world changed
It has been said that missions is the heartbeat of the church. We believe that is because missions ministry comes from the heart of God. He sent His Son, Jesus, to the earth on a mission for the redemption of humanity. Jesus has commissioned His disciples to join with Him in carrying the message of the gospel to the ends of the earth. In describing the events upon the earth preceding His second coming, Jesus said, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come (Matt. 24:14)." The aim of PFWB Missions is to be faithful to do our part in spreading God's message of hope in Jesus Christ throughout the world in the places that He directs us in ministry.
Donate Now Contact Us
God has a plan for world evangelization and it is the local church. The way the PFWB Church is able to support missionaries and missions work in 17 countries worldwide is through the Faith Promise Offering. Faith Promise is a method for monthly missions giving by individuals or families through their local church. The Faith Promise plan follows a scriptural model of giving based on the apostolic method (I Cor. 16, 2 Cor. 8 & 9). In 2 Corinthians 8:3, we read how the Macedonian Christians gave to support the work of the ministry "...according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability." To give beyond your ability is to give by faith. A Faith Promise Offering is a commitment that, as God provides, the donor will give a specific amount on a monthly basis to their local church for the work of missions around the world. In making a commitment to Faith Promise, the individual should prayerfully consider the amount to promise that, by faith, they will personally trust the Lord to provide for them to give to missions each month. The Faith Promise Offering is over and above your church tithes, and the amount is between the giver and the Lord. Faith Promise giving incorporates the dynamics of faith, love, commitment, and personal spiritual growth as the giver experiences God's faithfulness while trusting in Him. By request, we have made Faith Promise giving available online, where the donor can give a one time gift or set up a monthly recurring draft.
Support World Witness Projects & Missions
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Southern Philippines
Puerto Rico is a beautiful, vibrant country. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution and it has seen many missionaries. Tourism is an...
Northern Philippines
The Philippines are one of the fastest growing countries in the world. They are predominately a Christian nation. Filipinos are known for being ve...
Nigeria accounts for about 47% of West Africa’s population, and has one of the largest populations of youth in the world. Nigeria is a multi-ethnic...
Nicaragua & Honduras
Nicaragua & Honduras are countries in political, social and economic crisis. There is civil unrest, crime and limited health care. Nicaragua is...
Mexico is a nation where affluence, poverty, natural splendor and urban blight rub shoulders. Prosperity remains a dream for many Mexicans, and the...
Guatemala is the biggest country in Central America. It has one of the highest disparities between rich and poor as well as one of the highest pove...
Of all the Central American countries, Costa Rica is generally regarded as having the most stable and most democratic government. A majority of the...
Kenya is a peaceful country where the government is working hard to attract foreign investors. Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the democratic ...
World Witness Missions Funds
Help Go
The Help Go Offering is collected in the local churches each year during the Christmas season (from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day). The purpose of this offering is to fund project needs on our mission fields. Every mission field has ongoing project needs. These needs range from church building construction, purchase of land for churches, purchase of Bibles and discipleship literature, funds for pastoral and leadership training, youth ministry needs, vehicles for reliable transportation, etc. Most of the people in our stateside congregations will not ever personally visit our foreign PFWB mission fields, but they can be a part of the ministry on these fields by helping others to do the work of the ministry there. The two main ways we can Help Go is through our prayers and our giving. 100% of the Help Go Offering is distributed to the mission fields to fund project needs.
Made For Missions
According to God's Word, every individual believer is made for missions. The charge from Jesus of the Great Commission to evangelize the world can be found in the DNA of every Christian. We are all called to take our place in the body of Christ and do our part in carrying out Christ's redemptive mission on the earth. We are Made for Missions! The Made for Missions Offering is received on the first night of the annual PFWB Church Camp Meeting. The date this year to receive this offering is Sunday, July 21st. The proceeds of this offering will help to fund the PFWB World Witness Department, which includes the support of missionaries and missions work in 17 foreign countries as well as our church planting efforts here in the US.
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Danny and the Juniors
Danny Rapp b. May 10, 1941 d. April 5, 1983
Frank Maffei b. November 1940
Joe Terranova b. January 30, 1941
Danny & the Juniors shot straight to the top of the charts in early 1958 with their biggest hit ever, the gold-selling "At the Hop" (penned by the songwriting team of Dave White and John Madara), though they reached the charts again with eight more singles through 1963, notably the Top 40 charters "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay," "Dottie," and "Twistin' U.S.A."
Danny Rapp (lead tenor), Frank Maffei (second tenor), Joe Terranova (baritone/bass), and Dave White Tricker (tenor) (aka Dave White) were four Philadelphia high school friends - all were born in 1940 or 1941 - who formed an atypical late-'50s rock & roll dance combo, originally calling themselves the Juvenairs. Rapp - the group's leader - choreographed their dance steps and invented the routines that they performed during their sets. After playing after-school gigs and local shows as a foursome for a while, they later added saxophonist Lennie Baker to the lineup.
While still in high school in late 1957, they were working a record hop as the intermission entertainment, when a local businessman named John Madara spotted the band. Madara had an interest in rock & roll promotion and introduced them to a local songwriter and vocal coach named Artie Singer, who also ran his own label, Singular Records.
Singer auditioned the band and liked an original song White had written that captured the energetic spirit of rock & roll. It was called "Do the Bop." However, since the term "bop" was by then already out of fashion, he suggested that the song's title needed to be changed and helped them shape it into the hit we know today: "At the Hop." Singer also shortened the name of the group from the Juvenairs to the Juniors and had them cut a demo of "At the Hop" that he took around to play for local DJs. Working with producer Leon Huff, it took 13 takes in Reco-Art Studios in Philadelphia before Singer felt he had the goods from the group.
Singer played the song for Dick Clark, whose popular music show American Bandstand was broadcast live from their hometown of Philadelphia. Clark didn't have any immediate openings on the show, but as luck would have it, Little Anthony and the Imperials canceled an appearance soon thereafter and Clark asked Danny & the Juniors to fill in as replacements. "At the Hop" proved to be an immediate success. Singular quickly issued the song as the group's first single and it became a regional hit, selling 7,000 copies in one week in Philadelphia alone. Financially strapped, Singular Records later leased the record for 5,000 dollars to ABC Paramount. "At the Hop" proceeded to climb up the charts in December of 1957, reaching number one, where it remained for seven weeks.
Danny & the Juniors soon followed up with "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay," another White-penned rocker, which also made the Top 20. The group toured with several of Alan Freed's traveling rock & roll shows and put two more songs into the Top 40. In the early '60s the group switched over to the Swan label and after their last song charted in 1963, Danny & the Juniors eventually parted ways.
Madara ended up running his own record store, located at 60th and Market Streets in Philly. He and White also went on to join the Spokesmen, whose minor hit "The Dawn of Correction" was an answer song to Barry McGuire's number one charter, "Eve of Destruction." White also made a solo album for Bell Records, which was released in 1971 under the name David White Tricker. Lead vocalist Danny Rapp committed suicide in 1983. Saxophonist Lennie Baker went on to be a founding member of nostalgia act Sha-Na-Na). Joe Terry, Frank Maffei, and new member Bobby Love continue to rock and roll across the country, thrilling new audiences with old favorites.
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Tag Archive Refugee
Posts tagged "Refugee"
ByImmigration News
Asylum Seeker, Citizenship And Immigration, Citizenship And Immigration Services, Department Of Homeland, Department Of Homeland Security, Department Of State, Homeland Security, June 3, Migration, Population, Refugee, Refugees, Resettlement Programs, S Citizenship And Immigration Services, Security Co, U S Citizenship And Immigration Services
The Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the Department of State and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security co-hosted a background press briefing on June 3, 2010 on U.S. refugee and asylum-seeker resettlement programs.
Asylum, Citizenship Attorney, Deportation Lawyer Fresno, Exceptions, Family Member, Finite Number, Fresno Immigration Attorney, Fresno Immigration Lawyer, Green Card, Green Card Lawyer Fresno, Immigrant Categories, Immigrant Category, Immigrant Petition, Immigrant Visa, Immigrants, Immigration Act, Immigration And Nationality, Immigration And Nationality Act, immigration attorney, Job Offer, Permanent Residence, Permanent Residents, Preference System, Refugee, Visas
Green Card Eligibility by Immigration Attorney in Fresno
You may be eligible to apply for a green card (permanent residence) through your family, a job offer or employment, refugee or asylum status, or a number of other special provisions.
In some cases, you may even be able to self petition or have a record created for permanent residence on your behalf. In general, to meet the requirements for permanent residence in the United States,
Be eligible for one of the immigrant categories established in the Immigration and Nationality Act
(INA)
Have a qualifying immigrant petition filed and approved for you (with a few exceptions)
Have an immigrant visa immediately available
Be admissible to the United States
Each requirement is detailed below.
Eligibility for an Immigrant Category
Individuals who want to become immigrants (permanent residents) through their qualified family member,
a job offer or employment, or a special category will generally be classified in categories based on a preference system. Except for immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen who are given the highest
immigration priority and a few other exceptions, Congress has set a finite number of visas that can be used each year for each category of immigrants. The general categories are listed below. For more
specific information under each general category, see the links to the left.
Family Based
Some relatives of U.S. citizens, known as immediate relatives, do not have to wait for a visa to become
available. There is no limit to the number of visas that can be utilized in this category in a particular year. Immediate relatives include:For More Information, Please Contact:
Asylum, Blogosphere, Citizenship Attorney, Deportation Lawyer Fresno, Exceptions, Family Member, Finite Number, Fresno Immigration Attorney, Fresno Immigration Lawyer, Green Card, Green Card Lawyer Fresno, Immigrant Categories, Immigrant Category, Immigrant Petition, Immigrant Visa, Immigrants, Immigration Act, Immigration And Nationality, Immigration And Nationality Act, immigration attorney, Job Offer, Original Articles, Permanent Residence, Permanent Residents, Preference System, Refugee, Subscription Options, Technorati, Visas
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Adjustment Of Status, Asylee, Asylum, Consular Processing, Family Member, Green Card, Humanitarian Programs, Immigration, Job Offer, Main Categories, Permanent Residence, Permanent Resident Card, Permanent Residents, Petitions, Proof, Refugee, Several Different Ways, United States
Green Card (Permanent Residence)
A permanent resident is someone who has been granted authorization to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis. As proof of that status, a person is granted a permanent resident card, commonly called a “green card.” You can become a permanent resident several different ways. Most individuals are sponsored by a family member or employer in the United States. Other individuals may become permanent residents through refugee or asylee status or other humanitarian programs. In some cases, you may be eligible to file for yourself.
The steps to become a permanent resident are different for each category and will depend on if you are currently living inside or outside the United States. The main categories are listed below. More information is available in the links to the left.
Green Card Through Family
How to apply for permanent residence when a family member petitions for you·
Green Card Through a Job
How to apply for permanent residence based on a job offer or employment.
Green Card Through Refugee or Asylum Status
How to apply for permanent residence when you have been granted refugee or asylum status·
Learn about the many other ways that you may qualify for permanent residence
If you are unsure which immigration path best fits your particular situation, see the “Green Card Processes & Procedures” link to the left which includes:·
Green Card Eligibility
Learn who can apply for permanent residence
Learn about the multi-step process for individuals inside the United States that want to get a green card
Consular Processing
Learn about the multi-step process for individuals outside the United States that want to get a green card
Please Call: (559) 761-9742
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President's Message - July 2021
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council (PBCHRC) is Florida’s oldest, independent, non-partisan, political organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. We promote equality through education, advocacy, direct action, impact litigation and community outreach.
Since 1988, PBCHRC has been responsible for the enactment of more than 160 laws and policies providing equal rights, protections and benefits for the LGBTQ community. Our work never stops. Even during the pandemic, we were responsible for the enactment of seven new LGBTQ-inclusive municipal civil rights ordinances in Palm Beach County. For a list of the laws and policies enacted as the result of PBCHRC’s efforts, click here.
Our success in enacting pro-LGBTQ laws is directly related to our community’s participation in electoral politics. Over the years, PBCHRC’s leaders have conducted close to 1,000 face-to-face endorsement interviews — and close to 100 interviews via Zoom and phone — of candidates seeking public office. For a list of more than 90 elected officials endorsed by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Voters Alliance currently holding office, click here.
Each year, we bestow Daniel S. Hall Public Social Justice Award scholarships in recognition of the achievements LGBTQ and allied high school seniors have made on behalf of our community,
To review the biographies of the 17 Daniel S. Hall Public Social Justice Award recipients and to learn more about the PBCHRC Charitable Foundation, click here. The PBCHRC Charitable Foundation also provides need-based scholarships to LGBTQ college students. This summer, the Foundation’s Board of Directors voted to establish the W. Trent Steele Legal Advocacy Awards for second- and third-year law students.
PRIDE IS BUSTING OUT ALL OVER
To mark the beginning of LGBTQ Pride Month, the Nancy Graham Centennial Fountain and Square were illuminated in Progress Pride colors on June 1. The inspiring display was repeated on June 28 to commemorate the anniversaries of the Pulse Nightclub Massacre and the Stonewall Uprising. Thanks go out to Hierromat Development and Creative Arts Enterprises for underwriting and producing these events.
Palm Tran rolled out a “Ride with Pride” bus wrapped in the 11 colors of the Progress Pride flag. Throughout June, Palm Tran’s bus operated along the most visible route in Palm Beach County, running along U.S. Highway 1 from Palm Beach Gardens to Boca Raton.
Three permanent public LGBTQ art installations in Palm Beach County were dedicated in June. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on June 3 for the Pride Crosswalks in West Palm Beach’s Northwood Village. On June 7, the Progress Pride Flag Intersection was dedicated in Boynton Beach and on June 8, the City of Delray Beach celebrated the dedication of its Progress Pride Intersection with a full day of festivities."
Unfortunately, by June 15, the Delray Beach streetscape had been vandalized. Thanks to the excellent work of the Delray Beach Police Department, on June 17, Alexander Jerich was arrested for using his truck to “burnout” the intersection. To watch a video of Jerich's crime, click here.
The police charged Jerich with criminal mischief, reckless driving and evidence of prejudice based on sexual orientation — a hate crime. Jerich, who faces felony charges, has retained a private attorney and is currently out jail on bond.
PBCHRC has asked State Attorney Dave Aronberg to consider filing an additional charge under the state’s recently enacted “Combatting Public Disorder Act.” If convicted under this law, Jerich would have to reimburse the City of Delray Beach for the cost of restoring the streetscape.
PBCHRC’S PRIDE HAPPY HOUR AT MEAT MARKET PALM BEACH
On June 28, more than 100 PBCHRC supporters celebrated at our annual Pride Happy Hour at Meat Market Palm Beach. The restaurant donated 10% of attendees’ dinner proceeds to PBCHRC and held a business card drawing for a Meat Market gift certificate. Thanks go out to Meat Market and Maribel Alvarez of Altima Palm Beach for sponsoring and producing the event. To view the Pride Happy Hour photos, click here.
PAJARO PRIDE WALL PROJECT RECEPTION AND AUCTION
Earlier this year, local artist and activist Rolando Chang Barrero asked dozens of artists, friends, allies, and community leaders to donate embellished works of art on a woodcuts of his Pajaro design to create a cornucopia of styles, vision and color exemplifying the diversity and intersectionality of the LGBTQ community. The works were on display throughout Pride Month at the Office of the Consul General of Mexico in Miami.
From 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 24, there will be a reception and auction of many of the artworks at The Box Gallery, at 811 Belvedere Road in West Palm Beach. A portion of the auction proceeds will be donated to PBCHRC and SAVE. For more information and to RSVP to attend the event, please click here.
DANIEL S. HALL SOCIAL JUSTICE AWARDS
Daniel S. Hall and Ekko Greenbaum
Throughout May, the PBCHRC Charitable Foundation presented Daniel S. Hall Social Justice Awards to Ekko Greenbaum of Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Sol Lima of Jupiter Community High School, and Vanessa Whittle of Royal Palm Beach High School. Each student received a $2,500 college scholarship for their advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ community.
If you would like to donate to the PBCHRC Charitable Foundation, checks may be sent to P.O. Box 267, West Palm Beach, Florida 33402. Since the Foundation was established in accordance with Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, your contributions may be tax deductible.
CONVERSION THERAPY BAN COURT CHALLENGE
In October 2018, Liberty Counsel, an anti-LGBTQ hate group, filed suit in federal court on behalf of two local therapists seeking to nullify the bans on conversion therapy for minors enacted by Palm Beach County and the City of Boca Raton. However, in February 2019, Judge Robin Rosenberg of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida denied Liberty Counsel's motion for preliminary injunctions, which sought to prevent the bans from remaining in effect pending trial.
Having lost, Liberty Counsel immediately appealed the order to the U.S. District Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit and in November 2020, a three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that the ordinances were unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. The City of Boca Raton and Palm Beach County immediately filed a Joint Petition for Rehearing by the full Eleventh Circuit. To date, the Eleventh Circuit has not ruled on the Joint Petition. Fortunately, since the Eleventh Circuit has yet to issue a mandate, the panel’s decision has yet to take effect. PBCHRC will continue to keep you informed.
THE WINTER FÊTE
Photo by Gail Haines
On April 10, more than 200 people attended the 2021 “Winter” Fête at the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens in West Palm Beach. Thanks to the generosity of an incredible group of donors, this was our most successful fundraising event in PBCHRC’s 33-year history. To view photos of the event taken by Gail Haines, click here (www.pbchrc.org/events)
PBCHRC will hold our next Winter Fête at a private home in Palm Beach on Saturday evening, January 15, 2022. Details to follow.
Palm Beach County Commissioners establish an Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
The School District of Palm Beach County requires public schools to require gender-neutral caps and gowns for graduations.
Sean Conklin, Rae Franks and Meredith Ockman were elected to four-year terms on the Board of Directors of the PBCHRC Charitable Foundation.
PBCHRC is currently working to persuade:
The Health Care District of Palm Beach County to provide trans-specific healthcare services to indigent patients.
The School District of Palm Beach County to adopt a resolution opposing conversion therapy on students.
The School District of Palm Beach County to cease doing business with Chick-fil-A and other companies that discriminate against LGBTQ people and other minorities.
The State of Florida to enact a law to prohibit discrimination based on "sexual orientation" and "gender identity or expression."
The State of Florida to enact a law banning conversion therapy.
The State of Florida to amend Florida’s Hate Crime law to specifically include crimes based on an individual's "gender" or "gender identity or expression."
For more than three decades, the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council has worked diligently on behalf of the LGBTQ community. With your support, we will continue to do so in the years to come. As always, we will keep you posted on our progress.
Judge Rand Hoch (retired),
Posted by Rand Hoch at 9:23 AM
This is the official blog of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.
The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, Inc. is dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. The Council promotes equality, through education, advocacy, direct action, impact litigation, and community outreach.
pbchrc at gmail dot com
State Attorney Dave Aronberg Drops Hate Crime Char...
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board: Send this intolerant...
Palm Beach Post Guest Editorial: Delray defacemen...
PBCHRC Welcomes New Board Member Gemma Torcivia
Charlie Crist (1)
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wherein is contained his maruellous deeds and life, with the strange aduentures happened to him, in the seruice of sundry masters
Printed by J.H. , London
Other titles Spaniards life.
Statement drawen out of Spanish, by Dauid Rowland of Anglesey ; Accuerdo, Oluido.
Series Early English books, 1475-1640 -- 1753:7.
Contributions Rowland, David, fl. 1569-1586., Walkley, Thomas, d. 1658?
Pagination [167] p.
Food security for Papua New Guinea
Come Love with Me and Be My Life
The pleasant history of Lazarillo de Tormes a Spanyard wherein is contained his maruellous deeds and life, with the strange aduentures happened to him, in the seruice of sundry masters () [Walkley, Thomas] on *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.
The pleasant history of Lazarillo de Tormes a Spanyard wherein is contained his maruellous deeds and lifeAuthor: Thomas Walkley. Lazarillo de Tormes was banned by the Spanish Crown and included in the Index of Forbidden Books of the Spanish Inquisition; this was at least in part due to the book's anti-clerical flavor.
Inthe Crown allowed circulation of a version which omitted Chapters 4 and 5 and assorted paragraphs from other parts of the : Picaresque. Lazarillo de Tormes. Lazarillo de Tormes is an anonymous picaresque novel written at the beginning of the 16th century which tells the story of a young boy of humble origins who works for different men in different planes of society.
Lazarillo de Tormes was the first picaresque novel and the one that invented the genre. Argument of Lazarillo de Tormes. The pleasant history of Lazarillo de Tormes a Spanyard: wherein is contained his maruellous deeds and life, with the strange aduentures happened to him, in the seruice of sundry masters Author: David Rowland ; Thomas Walkley.
Get this from a library. The pleasant history of Lazarillo de Tormes a Spanyard: wherein is contained his maruellous deeds and life, with the strange aduentures happened to him, in the seruice of sundry masters. [David Rowland; Thomas Walkley;].
Lazarillo de Tormes, El (Spanish Edition) (Spanish) Paperback – April 1, by Anonimo (Author) out of 5 stars 75 ratings. See all 94 formats and editions /5(75). The pleasant history of Lazarillo de Tormes a Spanyard, wherein is contained his maruellou.
Search the history of over billion web pages on the Internet. search Search the Wayback Machine. Featured texts All Books All Texts latest This Full text of "The Life of Lazarillo of Tormes; his fortunes and misfortunes as told by himself" See other formats.
The success of Lazarillo de Tormes gave rise to an entire literary genre known as the picaresque novel. The distinguishing mark of this genre is that the story follows a pícaro —a “rogue” or a “rascal,” always someone of low class—instead of a nobleman or a more traditional hero.
Other notable picaresque novels include Cervantes’ novel Rinconete y Cortadillo, Voltaire’s. All about The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes by Anónimo. LibraryThing is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers This was a pleasant read. A book from a period I had not visited for a long, long time AND from a region that is not my first place to go to.
The pleasant history of Lazarillo de Tormes [prospectus] by Gwasg /5(38). Lazarillo de Tormes, or The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities, is a Spanish novella, first published in simultaneously in three cities in Spain and Belgium.
Likely published anonymously due to what was considered at the time to be heretical content, it is considered to be a satirical criticism of the. Maybe to English speakers "El Lazarillo de Tormes" isn't a famous novel, but for Spanish speakers is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious novels in its literary history.
Lazarillo is a classic of the Spanish language and it is a great reading for anyone who wants to /5. The story begins with the narrator introducing himself as Lazaro de Tormes, son of Tomé Gonzáles and Antona Pérez, born in a village near explains that his father was a miller who, when Lazaro was eight years old, was caught stealing from the mill and was exiled as part of his sentence.
''La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes'' is a anonymous novella from Spain, which presents a first-person story of Lázaro de Tormes. The plot follows him through a series of apprenticeships as he. The author of Lazarillo de Tormes was a scion of one of the noblest families of Spain, and some account of it should precede a notice of the author’s life.
Don Diego Lopez, Lord of Mendoza, in married Doña Eleanor Hurtado, heiress of Mendibil. She was the daughter of Fernan Perez de Lara called Hurtado, son of Pedro Gonzalez de Lara and of the Queen Urraca of Castille and Leon.
Description The pleasant history of Lazarillo de Tormes a Spanyard FB2
Lazarillo de Tormes. Anonymous. Published: Lazarillo de Tormes is a short but extraordinary work, published anonymously in It is structured as a letter in which the narrator, Lázaro –a lowly town crier in Toledo– responds to a request made by an unnamed Vuestra Merced (Your Honour).
Lázaro has to explain in detail to Vuestra Merced, seemingly his social superior, a certain. Lazarillo de Tormes, published inis a book about today. It's about political, religious and economic elites swindling the gullible masses; about starving people being told by gluttons that they're lucky to be in a land of plenty and opportunity.
It's about corruption cloaked in /5. Lazarillo de Tormes is considered one of the early examples of the genre known as picaresque novel. This is really a novella that often uses first person narrative focusing on.
Details The pleasant history of Lazarillo de Tormes a Spanyard EPUB
The first picaresque novel ever written and the inspired precursor to works as various as Vanity Fair and Huckleberry Finn. Banned by the Spanish Inquisition after publication inLazarillo was soon translated throughout Europe, where it was widely copied.
The book is a favorite to this day for its vigorous colloquial style and the earthy realism with which it exposes human hypocrisy/5(4). Lazarillo de Tormes: A Kaplan Spanish-Language Vocabulary-Building Novel (Spanish Edition) by Anonymous and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at Other articles where Lazarillo de Tormes is discussed: Spain: Spain’s Golden Age in literature: Thus, the hidalgo in the Lazarillo de Tormes (published ; doubtfully attributed to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza), the first of the picaresque novels, is down and out but would rather starve than work, and he expects his servant, the boy Lazarillo, to scrounge for them both.
Archpriest arranges a marriage between Lazarillo and his mistress. This woman becomes Lazarillo's wife, but still has an affair with the archpriest. As a result, Lazarillo becomes a cuckold and the blind man's prophecy that the horns will one day get Lazarillo an ill-deserved meal is.
The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities (La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades) is a Spanish picaresque novella, a published anonymously, because of its heretical content.
It was published simultaneously in two cities, in in Alcalá de Henares, Spain (7 years after Cervantes was born there), and, inin Antwerp, Flanders, then. The other was the picaresque novel, exemplified by Lazarillo de Tormes. The anonymous Lazarillo de Tormes is generally conceded to be the earliest and the best of the picaresque novels.
InLazarillo de Tormes, a slim, unassuming little volume, unsigned by the author, made its first published appearance in the bookstalls of several important mercantile centers in Spain and the then, as narratives of pícaros—and pícaras—continued to follow in the footsteps of Lázaro’s fictional life, picaresque literature developed into a major genre in literary.
The seven deadly sins in La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades John Giblin La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus aventuras y adversidades the author remains unknown. If critics were to know who wrote the book, they would identify similarities between the book and the author‟s life to approximate the book Author: John Giblin.
InLazarillo de Tormes, a slim, unassuming little volume, unsigned by the author, made its first published appearance in the bookstalls of several important mercantile centers in Spain and the Netherlands.
Since then, as narratives of pAA-caros--and pAA-caras--continued to follow in the footsteps of LAAzaro's fictional life, picaresque literature developed into a major genre in literary.
Download The pleasant history of Lazarillo de Tormes a Spanyard EPUB
Lazarillo de Tormes is credited as being the first “picaresque novel” or novel who’s main character is a member of the lower social classes (a rogue or a picaro).
These novels generally have an air of satire or comedy. Spain has produced two books that changed world literature: Don Quixote and Lazarillo de Tormes, the first picaresque novel ever written and the inspired precursor to works as various as Vanity Fair and Huckleberry Finn.
Banned by the Spanish Inquisition after publication inLazarillo was soon translated throughout Europe, where it was widely copied.
prologue, 1, 2 Lazarillo. STUDY. Flashcards. Learn. Write. Spell. Test. PLAY. Match. Gravity. Created by. mluce Terms in this set (60) what is the full name.
la vida de lazarillo de tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades. when was this book published. during when. In Lazarillo de Tormes, the anonymous author narrates an autobiography that highlights the underlying views of a society of false virtues.
According to a psychologist by the name Maslow, individuals have a "hierarchy of needs- whereas basic needs must be met before the more abstract ones are considered.El Lazarillo de Tormes is a Spanish-Italian film directed by César Fernández adaptation of the anonymous sixteenth century novel Lazarillo de Tormes (), it tells the story of Lazarillo, a poor boy who has to live by his wits after being sold to a series of cruel ed by: César Fernández Ardavín.
Publicado de manera anónima, Lazarillo de Tormes apareció por primera vez enmedio del siglo XVI, durante la era de la Santa Inquisición. Dado que Lazarillo fue considerado un trabajo hereje por representar a clérigos y relgiosos como ávaros licensiosos, es probable que el autor quisiera evitar la persecución al permanecer anónimo.
Después de más de años, el misterio de la Reviews: 1.
Individual in society
Robinson Crusoe in verse
fundamentals of electro-magnetism
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Supreme Courts act in Silent Synchrony – Bailey disciplinary motions Secretly denied – once again no due process!
January 12, 2012 andy ostrowski Leave a comment
On August 9, 2011, Don Bailey filed a 20 page King’s Bench Petition with several hundred pages of attachments, raising issues regarding the very integrity of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in light of the kids for cash scandal, and, among other things, the fact that the Supreme Court Disciplinary Board is not duly constituted as a matter of law, the law over which the Supreme Court has exclusive province. There is only one non-lawyer member of the Board, and there are required to be two, and the one is the brother of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Max Baer. The Board bringing and prosecuting the charges against Bailey is not able to do so as a matter of law, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (the role of that of the United States to follow), will not even address that among a myriad of other major and supportable issues raised by Bailey. This is affecting dozens of Bailey clients, and it is unlawful on its face.
The August 9, 2011 King’s Bench was dismissed less than 6 business hours after it was filed, and the case was allowed to proceed to the hearings we have discussed generally here as a mockery of due process and proper comportment in all respects, except for the efforts of Bailey and his witnesses. The complete disregard for the seriousness and severity of the issues we have been addressing from the start is reflected in the one-sentence Order signed by Chief Justice Castille, denying the King’s Bench with such urgency as if there was an agenda behind moving forward with the hearings. The complete lack of due process, pointed out by Bailey very directly from the start, created a record of a federal judge (Conner) testifying falsely under oath, a record of another federal judge (Jones) testifying that he allowed sanctions motions to proceed 3 months after a closed case without allowing Bailey to respond because he “knew what [Bailey] would say”, and a record of a witness, Steve Conklin, being threatened with arrest for disorderly conduct by a Commonwealth Court tipstaff.
Because of the clear due process violations that have been allowed to stand, and under which the hearings proceeded, the record is insufficient as a matter of law to support the deprivation of Bailey’s interest in his property – in effect, the Supreme Court is knowingly moving forward with an effort to deprive him of his property. A law license is a protected property and liberty interest – the right to engage in the occupation of one’s choosing – the essence of the pursuit of happiness, along with family, procreation, etc. – rights that cannot be taken without “due process of law”, i.e., a fair and impartial hearing before a fair and impartial tribunal. We have covered these principles in our Constitutional Law 101 article, and throughout the Steve Conklin case, and they have equal applicability here.
The record exonerated Bailey of any and all “misconduct”, and, to the contrary, established that his claims of “judicial misconduct” have been based in fact, and made in good faith and in an appropriate manner. Bailey repeatedly attempted to address these matters, and they were avoided and ignored, until now, and Bailey has vindicated his sullied name, at least under the prevailing view. The efforts will likely continue, and they have begun here.
Significantly, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has entered a one page, two-short-paragraph Order both denying the Motion to Dismiss filed by Bailey on December 8, 2011, and the Petition for Review of the subpoena enforcement matters on August 2, 2011, before there were any hearings. Bailey’s Supreme Court Motion to Dismiss incorporated the entire Kings Bench Petition , as well as the transcripts of the August 11 and 12 proceedings, and the Petition for Review involved dozens of witness and document request issues, and upwards of 100 pages as well. Bailey also filed 2500 pages of exhibits. Despite this huge record, a record brought to you here, the Supreme Court, with all of these core constitutional issues raising issues at the core of its constitutional power, in a hearing by lawyers for lawyers, entered a one-page Order denying both the motion and the petition – that’s all the justice Bailey and his clients are getting after the effort they have put in. The Order follows:
Supreme Court Jan 6 Order
Additionally, the one-sentence Order by Chief Justice Castille denying the King’s Bench petition, within 6 business hours of its filing follows:
Castille Order King’s Bench
Recall, Bailey has complained about a one-sentence order by Cali refusing to recuse himself, and the one sentence order by Cali denying the subpoenas. The only response by ODC was a response to the Petition for Review, which, as argued in the motion to dismiss, reflected a misapprehension and misrepresentation of the Supreme Court’s own rules and procedures. Briefly, there is a fatal defect in these proceedings because Bailey was entitled to a hearing before the subpoena issues were ruled upon, and allowing the hearing to go forward without any hearing on these issues whatsoever created a constitutionally worthless hearing, though the facts sworn to under oath, true and false, remain a matter of record. There is a rule either not know to or avoided by the Supreme Court lawyers that the Supreme Court itself, which has sovereign authority over attorney disciplinary matters – no other laws or rules apply – none – is looking right past without anything more than a two sentence order coupling the Petition for review to the Motion to Dismiss and dismissing both.
The evidence of Bailey’s prolific and compelling efforts exist throughout this site, and the foregoing Orders, with one other procedural response to the Petition for Review issued almost 90 days after the Petition for Review was filed, as all we have from the Supreme Court. Why? Is this all the justice that Don Bailey and his dozens of clients and others are entitled to? Of course, it is anticipated that if pressed, the Supreme Court would say that it will get the matter after the hearings are concluded, presuming the next step is for Cali to finish the hearings. Why didn’t they even say that?
We note that Bailey had not yet testified at the August 11 and 12, 2011 hearings, the record of which has been left open for more evidence and further proceedings. Of course, he couldn’t testify without a lawyer in the due process morass created by the Court on August 11 and 12, 2011, without having the opportunity to call all the many witnesses and use all the many documents that were the subject of the petition for review upon which he was entitled to a hearing before the disciplinary proceedings. The Supreme Court now appears to have foreclosed that opportunity, and has completely cut off his Sixth Amendment confrontation rights, and, of course, his due process right to a fair hearing. How can the Supreme Court allow these major malfunctions to go unaddressed?
We note that the Supreme Court Order denying the motion to dismiss and petition for review came the same day we removed the Bailey Poll post – that is believed to be sheer coincidence. Significantly, however, January 6, 2012 was a Friday, and the Order was faxed to Bailey at 5:11 p.m.., after usual business hours. It was mailed that date as well by the Supreme Court, but not received by Bailey until Monday, January 9, 2012. Monday, January 9, 2012, was also the time within which the United States Supreme Court, through Justice and former Third Circuit Judge Samuel Alito, gave Bailey to file a writ of certiorari or motion for extraordinary relief in that Court.
We introduced Justice Alito to you in prior posts, and there was questioning concerning his nomination hearings during the Bailey Hearings, and he was also a Third Circuit Judge in the Margo Royer matter. Bailey filed a motion asking for the extension of time, and on January 9, 2012, filed a letter with the United States Supreme Court withdrawing his request at this point, with the January 6, 2012 Order providing a new period within which he could file for the relief, and a better opportunity for the full Supreme Court. 2012 is, after-all, Year of the Whistleblower, Don Bailey represents numerous whistleblowers, and his case is quintessentially a whistleblower case. Bailey provided a copy of his January 9, 2012 Bailey letter to the U.S. Supreme Court to PCRLN. In it, he requested that Justice Alito not be assigned to further proceedings. The reasons appear to be obvious.
WARNING: for those of you who are new to this sight, we have suggested some aggressive ideas that involve “judicial misconduct”, which, for many understandable reasons relating to the power of the judicial pen, are met with resistance, and for you and those of you who have been reading this sight and are still reluctant to accept the possibility that it exists, we caution you that we are going to use the “F” word. Yes, we introduced you to the word suggested that a “fix” was in before the disciplinary hearings against Don Bailey even convened, in our August 9, 2011 article, and Don and others have been saying it to deaf ears. We believe that a “fix” is indeed in, and that the record of the proceedings amply supports that suggestion.
We follow the discussion of this matter appearing on the United States Supreme Court’s docket, and note that other Bailey clients have matters on the Supreme Court docket, and still others have matters that will likely appear there. The United States Supreme Court has ruled on other petitions of Don Bailey, even petitions he filed on his own behalf raising the efforts to hurt and harm him and his clients, but those matters have not been reviewed and reported on as of yet by this site. They will be. The United States Supreme Court is the only court of original jurisdiction under our constitution, and has broad powers to bring discipline on the system, which is the Bailey refrain. That Court has not passed on these issues in any manner, and is a Court that is and will be accorded nothing but the utmost of respect, expecting that these matters in some form or fashion will end up on its docket, perhaps repeatedly, and will be considered fairly in accordance with the judicial history of our Republic. Justice Alito was a Third Circuit Judge who is now on that Court. These are just facts that are relevant to the entire story.
The “fix” that was discussed is one on the state and local federal level, and it is believed that the evidence has borne it out. “Fix” as that term is used here means an engineered process with the design of reaching a pre-determined conclusion. We discussed the dynamics of the plan to “get” Bailey in our August 9, 2011 article.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court took an international black-eye over the kids-for-cash scandal, less than one-year ago, and this case involves the same dysfunctions and malfunctions in the system that were at the core of that problem. In that sense, the Supreme Court is appearing incapable of disciplining itself. There is abundant direct evidence that Disciplinary Counsel and others admitted they had to do something to “get” Bailey. There is a transcript with evidence of a federal judge testifying falsely about that clear agenda, and other testimony related to the agenda, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court silently and secretly takes the hundreds of pages of motions and other filings by Bailey and quietly dismissed them in one-page and two short paragraphs, with nothing of substance addressed. There was an urgency to move the matter forward, then months of silence, only to time the dismissal of the motion and petition with a U.S. Supreme Court filing.
As we already brought to you, the evidence suggests that Marty Carlson and Paul Killion are among the main operatives – the politics of personal destruction is part of the plan. Much of the rest of the plan is believed to be known as well, and largely already covered here. See our struggle behind the civil rights struggle and Bailey “shit storm” articles. The evidence is compelling, and will be overwhelming. Is it possible, for example, that someone at a high level got caught rigging the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board in anticipation of the agenda we have clearly articulated from the start? We will bring you the record of Board changes and voting record, and allow you to make that conclusion.
In phase one we stated the problem, as reflected on our Welcome post, and other early efforts, pointing out the lesson that reform is needed. Phase two was to understand the problem, and involved the motions to open judgment, and to determine if there was merit to the contention that the courts must prove capable of disciplining itself. As phase one suggested phase two, phase two would appear to suggest phase three – confront the problem. We have already begun efforts to reach out to our elected politicians to consider our positions, and others, like Steve Conklin, and Andrew Kundratic, and all those others who have filed motions to open judgment, and Don Bailey himself, keep pursuing their causes boldly. We will continue to keep you apprised of these efforts, and expect more to come soon.
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Support for Goldboro LNG in Nova Scotia
Goldboro LNG plant slated to be largest project in Nova Scotia’s history
Daily Commercial News Grant Cameron January 8, 2021
Calgary, Alta.-based Pieridae Energy is gearing up to build a massive, multi-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing facility near the small community of Goldboro in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, about 250 kilometres northeast of Halifax.
Construction of a $720-million workcamp and amenities at the site could begin this summer if all goes according to plan. The plant is being built on a 266-acre project site at the mouth of the Maritimes Northeast Pipeline.
The Goldboro LNG plant would take four years to build and be the largest project in Nova Scotia’s history, putting 3,500 men and women to work during construction and creating 280 permanent jobs once the facility is up and running.
Mark Brown, vice-president, business development at Pieridae, confirmed plans for the project, which has been in the works for years, are moving ahead and the company is pleased with the way it’s proceeding.
The site has been cleared, he noted, and Pieridae has signed a services agreement with global engineering firm Bechtel to deliver a comprehensive engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) execution plan by March 31 and a final lump sum, turnkey price proposal by May 31.
Goldboro LNG is a shovel-worthy and shovel-ready project that will create thousands of jobs,
— Alfred Sorensen
Pieridae Energy
“Bechtel is completing the open book estimate for a lump sum turnkey EPCC contract,” and the company is looking to complete its work by the second quarter of 2021, he wrote in an email to the Daily Commercial News.
On its website, Natural Resources Canada has the project pegged at $8.3 billion, which would make it the most expensive of three LNG import or export facilities proposed for Nova Scotia. Detailed design and costs for the plant should be known by spring. Commercial operations are expected to start in late 2025 or early 2026.
Pieridae CEO Alfred Sorensen says the decision to have Bechtel come up with a plan is a very positive step forward for the project, as the company has significant experience building and delivering global LNG projects.
“Goldboro LNG is a shovel-worthy and shovel-ready project that will create thousands of jobs and help put Canadians back to work in a COVID-impacted environment, provide real, enduring and tangible economic benefits for First Nations, help lower global emissions by supplying LNG overseas to replace coal, and increase Europe’s choices in sourcing natural gas,” he said.
Bechtel’s oil, gas and chemicals president Paul Marsden said the company is honoured to partner with Pieridae to deliver a cleaner energy future.
“We bring a long history of successfully delivering projects in Canada and partnering with our global customers to expand access to this energy source. Together with Pieridae, we look forward to successfully bringing this project and its economic benefits to the Goldboro region.”
Pieridae has been pressing ahead on the project and in the fall awarded a contract for construction of the workcamp to house about 5,000 workers who will build the plant, to Black Diamond Group of Calgary. Units in the workcamps would be single-occupancy bedrooms with private baths.
Under the agreement, Black Diamond was directed to conduct meaningful engagement with the Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq First Nations, which would result in Mi’kmaq companies being hired to provide catering and cleaning services at the camp. Black Diamond will be responsible for the supply and rental of the work camp.
Pieridae indicated in corporate guidance for 2021 released recently that it has allocated $10 to $15 million for development expenses in 2021 and a further $250-to-$300 million capital expenditure budget that would be triggered if a final investment decision is declared by the end of June to proceed with the project.
The expenditures would be for early works at the LNG site such as highway realignment around the project, a down payment for construction of the large-scale workforce lodge, building key marine facilities for LNG offloading, and site preparation for areas to store equipment and building materials.
According to Brown, the plant is being built in Nova Scotia because it is a superb location for shipping LNG to markets mostly in Europe. Goldboro is half the distance to Europe and closer to South America and South Asia (via the Suez Canal) compared to ships coming from the U.S. Gulf Coast and Qatar.
The plant will have two liquefaction facilities, also known as trains, producing a total of about 10 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas each year, along with two storage tanks, two loading berths, a power plant, and several administration, control and maintenance facilities and utilities to support the project.
Production from the first train has been sold to German utility Uniper Global Commodities It’s a 20-year binding contract with a 10-year extension. Uniper wants to ease its reliance on supply of LNG from Russia. Germany has plans to end coal-fired power generation by 2038 and will be turning to natural gas.
The National Energy Board and U.S. Department of Energy has granted Pieridae 20-year licences to import natural gas from the United States and export it as LNG from the Goldboro facility.
As part of a commitment to fair labour practices, Pieridae has signed a project special needs collective agreement which encompasses 15 trade unions in Nova Scotia.
Antigonish Co. councillors express support for Goldboro LNG
101.5 The Hawk, Greg Morrow, Port Mawkesbury, NS, Canada, Jan. 12, 2021 9:37 AM
Municipal officials in Antigonish Co. are showing their support for a proposed LNG project in the Quad Counties.
They voted to send a letter of support for Goldboro LNG to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Stephen McNeil during January’s regular municipal council meeting Monday night.
After, Owen McCarron, Antigonish Co.’s warden, said they’re a close partner with their counterparts in the Municipality of the District of Guysborough.
McCarron said MODG officials have already put a lot of work into this one.
“We just feel it’s important to show our neighbours in Guysborough that we’re supporting this project,” he said. “The importance of this for this whole region is huge- it’ll be big for Antigonish, (and) we just feel it’s important to make a statement of support.”
The project is expected to cost roughly $10 billion (US).
McCarron said that would have a huge impact on the entire region- and province.
“There will be spin-off, whether it’s housing or other businesses that might start up as a result of a project of this size,” he said. “We just feel it’s an important time in the history of Nova Scotia, and this here is a project (that) could be a game-changer for this end of the province.”
Proponents of the project have said preliminary work could start early in 2021, with construction getting underway as soon as late 2022.
They’ve said they expect to hire 4,500 workers during the project’s two peak building years, and 200 permanent jobs once the facility opens.
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The Office of Governor Dannel P. Malloy - Archive
This is the archived website of former Governor Dannel P. Malloy. These pages are being preserved by the State of Connecticut for historical purposes.
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6/15/2018 Gov. Malloy Announces Launch of the Hartford Line, Providing Frequent Rail Service in the Central Connecticut Corridor
Governor Dannel P. Malloy today joined dozens of federal, state, and local officials, and Connecticut commuters to officially launch the CTrail Hartford Line for service. The passenger rail line, which has multiple stations in Central Connecticut along the I-91 corridor connecting New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, is the first passenger rail line to open for service in Connecticut since 1990.
6/14/2018 Gov. Malloy Signs Order Implementing the State Water Plan
Governor Dannel P. Malloy today signed an executive order directing the state’s Water Planning Council (WPC) to immediately implement the State Water Plan that was submitted to the Connecticut General Assembly in January 2018. The plan, which was ordered by the General Assembly through Public Act 14-163, was developed by the WPC to balance the needs of public water supply, economic development, recreation, and ecological health. It was completed through an exhaustive and transparent process that included an extended period of public comment from all stakeholders. The plan required legislative review and approval, but the legislative session ended without action from the General Assembly.
6/14/2018 Gov. Malloy Statement on May Jobs Report
Governor Dannel P. Malloy released the following statement regarding the May 2018 labor situation report, which was released earlier this morning.
6/13/2018 Gov. Malloy and AG Jepsen Announce Connecticut Wins Smog Lawsuit Against Trump Administration
Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Attorney General George Jepsen today announced that the State of Connecticut and the State of New York won their joint lawsuit in federal court against the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its administrator, Scott Pruitt, over the agency’s failure to adequately control ozone pollution from other states that negatively impacts air quality in the two downwind states.
6/11/2018 Gov. Malloy Directs Flags to Return to Full-Staff on Tuesday Evening
Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that U.S. and state flags should return to full-staff at sunset on the evening of Tuesday, June 12, 2018. Flags have been flying at half-staff across the state in honor of Connecticut State Police Trooper First Class Walter Greene, who passed away in the line of duty following a courageous battle with cancer as the result of his response and service in support of New York City in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
6/8/2018 Gov. Malloy: State Receives Partial Federal Approval of Hospital Proposal
Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved part of Connecticut’s hospital plan. Specifically, CMS approved the administration’s request for a waiver of the federal broad-based requirements related to the hospital user fees, which represents one portion of the overall hospital legislation adopted late last year that made revisions to the biennial budget (Public Act 17-4, June Special Session).
6/7/2018 Gov. Malloy and Dept. of Transportation Mark Opening of the West River Bridge on I-95 Between New Haven and West Haven
Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James P. Redeker today held a ceremony near the West River Bridge on I-95 to mark the opening of the newly replaced bridge, which carries I-95 over West River between New Haven and West Haven. The northbound lanes opened to traffic earlier this week, while the southbound side opened to traffic on May 23.
6/6/2018 Gov. Malloy Announces Opening of DMV Express Center in Milford
Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that beginning this Thursday, June 7, 2018, a new, state-of-the-art DMV Express Center will open at the Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union at 977 Boston Post Road in Milford. The location will offer customers the ability to renew driver’s licenses and ID cards while utilizing services designed to help streamline the transactions, including the ability to offer appointments, provide service tickets stamped with same-day times, offer self-service information kiosks, and provide text and email messages for customer convenience.
6/6/2018 Gov. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Wyman Statements on the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Robert F. Kennedy
Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman released the following statements regarding the 50th anniversary of the death of Robert F. Kennedy.
6/5/2018 Gov. Malloy Encourages Residents to Explore the State’s Tourist Attractions During Connecticut Open House Day This Saturday
Governor Dannel P. Malloy is encouraging residents and visitors to take advantage of the special discounts and unique promotions that will be offered at over 240 tourist destinations across Connecticut this Saturday, June 9, 2018 as part of the state’s 14th annual Connecticut Open House Day. Coordinated by the Connecticut Office of Tourism, the one-day event is designed to showcase Connecticut’s diverse mix of history, art, culture, and excitement. Residents can look forward to free admission at over 85 attractions, free tours at over 25 properties, and special offers and giveaways at over 100 businesses.
6/4/2018 Gov. Malloy: Military Personnel and Their Families Receive Free Admission to Over 50 Connecticut Museums This Summer
Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that over 50 museums in Connecticut are offering free admission this summer to active duty members of the military and their families as part of the ninth annual Blue Star Museums Program. Available between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the program is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in collaboration with Blue Star Families and the U.S. Department of Defense.
6/1/2018 Gov. Malloy Announces Companies to Create Nearly 4,000 Jobs and Retain Over 15,000 Jobs Statewide
Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced following today’s state Bond Commission meeting that 16 companies have been approved for $80.7 million in assistance to relocate, expand, and create new jobs throughout the state. In total, the companies are expected to retain 15,003 jobs and create 3,876 jobs.
6/1/2018 Gov. Malloy, State and Local Leaders Announce Significant Improvements to Marina in New London That Will Help Boost Tourism in the Region
Governor Dannel P. Malloy, along with Senator Richard Blumenthal, Congressman Joe Courtney, New London Mayor Michael Passero and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Robert Klee today celebrated completion of a project that provides transient dockage for larger recreational vessels at Thamesport Marina in New London. The project, which used a $1.4 million grant from the Federal Boating Infrastructure Grant Program, is intended to encourage people to enjoy boating on the state’s waterways while stimulating tourism and economic development.
6/1/2018 Gov. Malloy Announces Plans to Appoint Scott Jackson as Commissioner of Revenue Services, Kurt Westby as Commissioner of Labor
Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that he will appoint Scott Jackson, who is currently the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL), to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Revenue Services (DRS). With Jackson’s departure from CTDOL, Governor Malloy will appoint the agency’s Deputy Commissioner, Kurt Westby, to serve as its Commissioner.
5/31/2018 Gov. Malloy Reminds Residents That Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins June 1
Governor Dannel P. Malloy and state emergency management and insurance officials are reminding Connecticut residents that as the first day of the 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season begins on June 1, it is always important to have preparations in place should any severe weather potentially impact the state. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, with the principal threat period for Connecticut occurring from mid-August to mid-October.
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S&P raises growth forecast for PHL
PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS
THE PHILIPPINES is likely to grow by 5% this year, boosted by the stronger-than-expected rebound in the third quarter, according to S&P Global Ratings.
However, S&P warned that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) could pose a new risk to the region’s recovery.
“Growth in the Philippines surprised on the upside with year-over-year expansion of 7.1% [in the third quarter]. This surpassed the consensus expectation for a 4.8% increase, on strong consumer activity,” S&P said in a note on Tuesday.
The debt watcher’s latest estimate of 5% gross domestic product (GDP) growth is faster than the 4.3% forecast it gave in August and matches the upper end of the government’s 4-5% growth forecast for the year. Year to date, Philippine economic growth is at 4.9%.
Household spending, which accounts for about three-fourths of GDP, rose by 7.1% year on year in the third quarter.
The Philippines was an outlier compared with its regional neighbors which saw weaker economic activity in the July to September period amid a Delta-driven surge, the ratings agency said.
The country is expected to grow faster this year than Indonesia (3.3%), Malaysia (2.6%), Vietnam (1.9%), Thailand (1.2%), but slower than Singapore (6.5%), based on S&P projections.
However, it should be noted that the Philippine economy had the steepest contraction in the region at 9.6% in 2020 as it imposed one of the world’s strictest and longest lockdowns.
S&P said Philippine GDP is projected to rise by 7.4% in 2022. This is slightly slower than the 7.7% it gave in August due to the base effect of the stronger economic growth it forecasts for 2021.
S&P noted Southeast Asia’s growth is gaining traction as restriction measures are gradually relaxed, vaccination rates are picking up and travel restrictions being eased.
“This is leading to a gradual improvement in domestic demand and widening improvement in manufacturing activity in the fourth quarter,” it said.
However, S&P warned that the Omicron variant may threaten the region’s rebound, as governments may reimpose short-term containment measures.
“We believe the new Omicron variant is a stark reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over… We believe this shows that, once again, more coordinated, and decisive efforts are needed to vaccinate the world’s population to prevent the emergence of new, more dangerous variants,” S&P said.
The Philippines has already fully vaccinated 40.58% or 43.87 million of its population. Officials are hoping to vaccinate 70 million Filipinos by the end of 2021.
Meanwhile, S&P expects inflation in the Philippines to average 4.5% in 2021, above the 2-4% target of the central bank. It is expected to ease to 2.4% in the next two years.
It also sees the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas keeping its key policy rate steady until the end of 2022, before raising rates to 2.75% by the end of 2023.
GLOBAL SLOWDOWN UNLIKELY
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings in a separate note said that it may be too early to consider the impact of the Omicron variant on global economic forecasts since there is no clear data yet on its transmissibility and severity.
“We currently believe that another large, synchronized global downturn, such as that seen in (first half of 2020), is highly unlikely but the rise in inflation will complicate macroeconomic responses if the new variant takes hold,” it said.
The possibility of nationwide lockdowns to curb the spread of Omicron will continue to be a risk to the global economy, Fitch said. It noted that tourism and travel will likely be disrupted once again, and the shift to services from goods consumption will likely slow.
“However, recent increases in inflation will complicate any policy response to Omicron, which could have an inflationary effect if new lockdowns or voluntary social distancing constrain labor supply recoveries or exacerbate global supply-chain shortages and bottlenecks. Hence, we believe central banks could be wary of delaying the normalization of monetary policy settings in response,” Fitch said. — Luz Wendy T. Noble
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Not Exactly Brenda Starr
Jan2 by patnieder
Today is the third anniversary of Brenda Starr’s final appearance. Oh children, please don’t tell me you don’t know about Brenda Starr.
Brenda Starr was a drop-dead gorgeous newspaper reporter with a magnificent head of flame red hair. She was created in 1940 by Dale Messick, a woman who changed her name to mask her gender, in a comic strip for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. At the height of her popularity in the 1950s, Brenda Starr, Reporter was carried in 250 newspapers, and even as recently as 2010 the strip was appearing in 65 newspapers, 35 of them international papers. The final strip appeared on Jan. 2, 2011.
Even though we knew Brenda’s story with its glamorous international assignments and romantic interludes was pure fantasy, we young women reporters of the 1950s and ‘60s held a special place in our hearts for her. We joked to one another as we headed out to cover some silly society luncheon, “Yup, me and Brenda Starr.” Brenda Starr was a serious investigative reporter; she never covered society luncheons. Brenda Starr never had a journalism professor refuse to admit her into his class because “girls just get married and it’s a waste of my time to teach them” Brenda Starr was never relegated to a newspaper’s women’s department to write wedding and engagement stories because she “didn’t have the gumption” to cover “hard news.” And when Brenda and her longtime love Basil St. John finally married and had a baby girl they named Starr Twinkle St. John, Brenda’s career as an investigative reporter continued uninterrupted. No one told Brenda she should not work because she had a child.
If all of that reads like the disgruntled musings of a fugitive from the Ice Age of American Journalism, I’m sorry. For many of us who had been encouraged by our parents to go for non-stereotypical careers, encountering male resistance was a shock. Dale Messick herself had problems. While the strip was carried by the Tribune Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune’s editor initially refused to run it because its author was a woman. And if her illustrations showed too much cleavage or a navel, the papers erased them out. So yes, we’ve all come a long way, haven’t we, baby?
One of my daughters is a journalist now. When I was retelling for the 99th time how I blew my interview with The New York Times, that daughter said, “But didn’t you explain all that was going on in your life at the time?” (We were living in a hotel with a 3-year-old child while two giant dogs and a cat were racking up boarding bills back in California because we couldn’t find someone who’d rent to us. Oh, and my father was hospitalized in New Jersey in an oxygen tent following a massive heart attack. The only reason I was in for an interview is because I was summoned.) No, I didn’t mention any of that. Prospective employers did not want to hear that you had problems of any kind, especially if they thought you shouldn’t be there anyway. Women had to display an ability to DO IT ALL, and no whining.
Now here’s Katherine Zoepf in The New Yorker writing about taking her two-month-old son with her on assignment to Saudi Arabia. And an obituary for Patricia Ryan who rose from the typing pool at Time Inc. to hold managing editor spots at Life and People magazines. She was the first woman in 27 years to be appointed to a top editorial job at Time Inc. Many women rose above the prejudice of male colleagues determined to keep journalism as a men-only bastion. They did it through talent and determination and by ignoring the naysayers. Much as Brenda Starr might have done.
This entry was posted in Journalism.
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4 comments on “Not Exactly Brenda Starr”
Lewis Dana says:
The Pat Ryan obit was a double hit for those who lived through the palmy days at Time Inc. LIFE photographer John Dominis’s obit was on the same page of the Times as Ryan’s, a tribute to the epochal way things changed during that era.
Ryan and Dominis were consummate professionals. One of them had to fight harder to get to the top.It was assumed that Dominis, as a terrific photographer, deserved terrific assignments. Ryan faced far bigger challenges, because, well, she had this little problem: she was a woman.
Things were changing, but it wasn’t easy, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion, nor did doors open magically. Way back then, Time Inc. was the classic old boys’ network.
A smart woman could work her way right up to exalted station as head of Research (read WIlliam Brinkley’s “The Fun House” to understand how “it” worked). Those women were tough, competent, ingenious and to many of us, terrifying forces to be reckoned with. But Chief of Research was it.
In the late 60s, my wife worked at Time Inc. for a remarkable, wonderful, wryly funny woman who had started as a secretary. Moved on to sales director. And kept on moving up on pure talent.
And the times changed.
She eventually became my boss, too. Hey, if you knew her, you’d have considered it an honor, as I did then and still do today.
Then, in 1978, she became the first female Vice President of Time Incorporated. People wandered down the halls murmuring, “A lady Vice President, we’ve never had one of them. Ever. A woman, running a corporate division? She has budget control for God’s sake?”
The times changed. For the better.
Didn’t they, though? Thanks for this expanded insight into the inner workings of Time Inc. I worked there the summer before my senior year in college as a typist in the Letters Department. But I never considered applying there for a job after graduation because I knew the most a woman journalist could hope for was a job as “researcher,” with the actual “reporter” (writing) jobs reserved for men. These days I’m thinking that the real heroines were the women who stayed and persevered.
For the much better, I’d say. From my vantage point, working at AT&T, it appears that the glass ceilings for women have now finally disappeared.
You may be seeing some of this in your field but until the appointment of a woman CEO to head a major corporation is no longer treated as stop-the-presses news, the ceiling remains. And let’s not forget the fact that, overall, women still make 77 cents for every dollar men earn.
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Tag Archives: Counties
Colorado’s 17 Dying Counties
Posted by Paul Kiser in Colorado, Conservatives, Donald Trump, Economy, Education, Government, jobs, Mining, Politicians, Politics, Small town, Taxes, United States, Voting
Baca County, Bent County, Cheyenne County, Colorado, Conejos County, Counties, County, Democrat, Dolores County, Donald Trump, Hinsdale County, Jackson County, Kit Carson County, Logan County, Moffat County, Otero County, Phillips, Phillips County, Political ideology, Politics, Prowers County, Republican, Rio Blanco County, Rio Grande County, Sedgwick County, Yuma County
From 2010 to 2019, Colorado has enjoyed a 14.5% growth in population. Urban areas, such as Denver, have had more significant growth than rural areas. The growth has led to more jobs, more paid taxes, and a general boost to the economy of the State.
However, Colorado consists of 64 counties and many of the rural counties struggle to maintain a viable economy. A declining economy means fewer jobs, fewer jobs means less income for residents, and less income means a decline in the tax base for essential county services. It is the death spiral that a rural county suffers, leading to a collapse of its economy. When the 2020 Census is complete, there are seventeen rural Colorado counties that will likely show a decline in population.
Colorado counties with population declines (2010 to 2019 est.) Percentages indicate the amount of decline, other numbers indicate the population of counties under 10,000. [Number colors indicate the last 40 years of political party support. Red-Republican, Blue-Democrat, Purple-Split]
Typical Economic History
Colorado, like many other U.S. States, established an economy on agriculture and mining. Also like many other States, as businesses became more centralized and industrialized, rural areas became outpaced by the income potential of urban areas. This conversion of the foundation of our economy left rural areas isolated from the economic benefits of newer industries.
Rural Colorado is isolated from the economic power that exists in Denver and other urban areas.
Arteries of the Economy
Geographic location has played a major role in the economic fortunes for Colorado counties. Most pioneers heading west avoided the difficult mountain passes of Colorado and traveled through Wyoming. It wasn’t until the trains came to Colorado that significant growth began. In the 20th century, paved roads allowed smaller towns to emerge along highways that could provide services to the traveler.
The completion of Interstate 80 (I-80) through Wyoming, and Interstate 70 (I-70) through Colorado, siphoned off the traffic that fed the economy of many smaller communities. Even communities located on I-70 found that faster roads and improved gas mileage hurt their economy. The result was a loss of jobs and revenue in small towns outside of urban corridors. By the end of the 20th century, many of Colorado’s remote communities began seeing stagnation and decline in their population.
Off The Path
The counties experiencing population decline since 2010, indicate that isolation from Colorado’s central urban core is continuing to impact communities in the State. Thirteen of the counties experiencing a population decline are located on the Colorado State border. The other four are adjacent to a county located on the border.
Colorado has 26 counties that have a population under 10,000 (2019 est.) Most of these counties are also located at or near the State border. Eleven of the seventeen counties experiencing a decline in population also have less than 10,000 residents. This means that many of the counties losing residents are exacerbating the crisis for the county.
But not every county on the fringes of Colorado’s borders is losing population. Are there common traits of dying counties? The answer is yes, and the attitudes of the residents may be a factor.
Five Common Characteristics of a Dying Colorado County
1. Small Population
The total population of all 17 dying counties is just over 130,000 people. That means that the average population for the counties is well below 10,000 people.
2. Large ‘White Only’ Population
The average ‘White Only’ demographic for Colorado is 68%. The 17 dying counties have an average ‘White Only’ demographic of 73%.
3. Fewer College Degrees…by almost half
Over 40% of Colorado residents have college degrees. In the 17 dying counties, only 21% have college degrees.
4. Average per Capita Income is Less…about one-third less
The average per capita income for a Colorado resident is $36,415. The average for the 17 dying counties is $24,735.
5. Strong Republican Support
Rural counties tend to be more conservative, but these 17 dying counties are diehard Republican fanatics. All of the 17 dying counties voted for Donald Trump in 2016 by an average of 71% of the vote. In addition, almost all of the counties have voted for a Republican candidate for President in each election for the past 40 years.
Table 1.0 – Colorado Counties Decreasing in Population. [Source: U.S. Census Bureau and Wikipedia]
Not All Small Counties Vote Red
It is easy to assume that all rural counties with a small population are conservative and vote Republican. That is not true in Colorado. Most of the 26 smaller counties do vote Republican, but there are eight small counties that have voted for the Democratic Presidential candidate a majority of the time during the last 40 years.
Those eight Blue counties with populations under 10,000 have a ‘White Only’ demographic slightly less than Colorado’s average, an average population growth rate of 8.5%, have a college degree rate of about 50% greater than the dying counties, and have an average per capita income that is about halfway between the dying counties average and the State average.
Table 2.0 – Colorado Blue counties with a population of less than 10,000. [Source: U.S. Census Bureau and Wikipedia]
Does Political Ideology Determine the Fate of a County?
The correlation between a county’s fate and the political leanings of its citizens does seem to exist, but does ideology determine the fate of a county, or does the county’s situation determine the political ideology? There is no obvious answer to that question.
Still, the political ideology reflects the attitudes of its citizens in decision-making and the fact that all of the counties in Colorado that are losing population, voted for Trump in the last election, and that the long term history of those counties has been to vote Republican, it would seem that the traditional political leanings of a county have an impact on the success or failure of a Colorado county.
Dying Counties Don’t Die
The tragedy of dying counties is that they don’t die.
Colorado has three counties with a population under 900 people each. These three counties have their own county commissioners, their own county administrative offices, and their own county sheriff’s department. All three of these counties are adjacent to each other and yet they exist as separate entities.
It would be logical to fold a failed county into an adjacent county; however, that is not what happens to counties that no longer are viable. These counties become wards of the State, dependent on State tax revenues to exist.
In the end, dying counties become dependent on the rest of the citizens of Colorado.
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Best Books From The First Half of 2019
I’m not sure exactly how many books I’ve read so far this year, but I have a lot to choose from… This is definitely going to be an eclectic list, a little something for everyone. And yes, not all of these were published this year. It’s just a list of great books I’ve read from Jan 1-June 30.
My List of 10:
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reed
Told in the words of band members, record execs, rock critics, and more, the story is a riveting portrayal of the life of the 70s rock band. Reid has a real knack for knowing how to break up the interviews, and to cut the stories with various points of view to create great tension and drama. Reminiscent of the rise of Fleetwood Mac and the tumultuous relationship between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, Daisy Jones and The Six is a book that I predict will do very, very well. It’s been endorsed by Reece Witherspoon and will be turned into an Amazon Original show, and I think all the hype is totally deserved.
New Kid by Jerry Craft
I appreciated so much about this book. Craft’s artwork is a collection of many different types of scenes. From the classroom to the sports field, his illustrations seek to go beneath the surface of the three Rs. But what I really enjoyed were the looks into Jordan’s sketchbook. These were doodles and sarcastic instructions about how to deal with issues at the school. They are looks into his thoughtful, yet many times, hurting mind.
New Kid has a tremendous amount of humor, but there is also the biting reality of racial divides and jibes that young people of color are subject to. Craft’s work in this book is honest and truly revealing. I’ll definitely be looking to get this title in my school’s library.
The Court of Owls by Greg Cox
Here’s some things I enjoyed:
Not an Origin Story: The reader is thrown into the working Batman’s world. One might think would be dicey in regards to people who aren’t familiar with Batman’s overall story, but I don’t think anyone who doesn’t know at least a little about him will pick this book up. BTW I just posted a discussion about Superhero Intimidation here.
Gadgets and Fight Scenes: Batarangs, Smoke Bombs, The Batmobile, and more. The Talons’ blood is infused with a regeneration formula that protects, and heals their injuries quickly. They also have knives, lots of knives.
A Shifting Timeline: The story bounces back and forth between Wright’s work with his muse Lydia Doyle, and Batman current case. It’s a bit of a look into the workings of the court from two different time periods. Their goals of manipulating Gotham for their greedy cause has not changed, but many players have and some have not…
I can’t really think of anything I dislike about this book. I kind of knew what I was getting into and it was exactly what I was in the mood for.
Overall, this was a fantastic weekend read. Fast and full of Bat-Fun!
Upgrade Soul by Ezra Claytan Daniels
This book is filled with challenging characters, ones who the reader can both empathize with and feel conflicted with their actions. Hank continued his father’s legacy of science fiction writing, but is frustrated when producers want to whitewash the hero who has always been meant to be black. Molly is a scientist who has contributed to the field and inspired a younger generation of Latin researchers. Kenton is a young scientist who was once a prodigy and is now feeling the pressure to make his mark. Lina is a young woman who has survived a surgery to separate her conjoined twin, but it has left her with severe deformities and a challenged view of beauty.
Upgrade Soul is mindbending trip through themes of aging, defining beauty, and building legacy. Like a squashed plastic bottle that you try to make perfect again: an experiment twisted and then an attempt to fix.
Highly recommended for readers looking to push themselves into a brainy scifi test of experimentation and desire.
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World is one of the best books I will read this year. It’s chock-full of intriguing post-world speculation, contains one of the best characters in recent memory, and has a survival-adventure plot that kept me flipping through the pages.
The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan
The Ruin alluded to details of Cormac and Emma’s histories that were never mentioned, yet caused tension in their relationship and his professional life. The Scholar lets fly with it all. This allows for a much deeper view of their motivations for many of the decisions they make. And I think it will really drive the series into some new and exciting places.
Another thing that I liked is that Cormac follows through on two-three cases at the same time. This is a realistic view of the case load of a police detective. The second or minor case is one that allows the reader to see a couple more scenes to show develop his colleagues. Some are becoming allies and some are definitely choosing to become enemies. His second is a young ambitious cop named Peter Fisher who Cormac takes under his wing. It’s an interesting side of the lead detective’s personality that is really starting to flesh out.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book and think it would be wise to start with The Ruin. You will not be disappointed!
Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O’Keefe
Velocity Weapon is a fast-paced three-act play of intrigue, moral ambiguity, and science fiction fun. It contains everything I look for in Scifi… a future that is futuristic in every way: Tech, culture, and space. O’Keefe has real talent for describing spacey stuff with everyday metaphors, easy ways of explaining things to laymen like me.
Highly Recommended for fans of space operas. This one is very good and deserves great praise. I grabbed ahold of this book and for two day, I didn’t let go.
Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide by Tony Horwitz
Olmsted on one side, 2016 on the other, and Horwitz in the middle. I’ve read four of his other works and this is a much more immediate view of history and the United States than the other books. It is view of many things: the legacy of the Alamo, the struggling coal industry, modern tourism, and a man who changed the way cities and recreation spaces are built in this country. But the narrative kept going back to the way history endures through many people’s eyes.
Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay
This books discusses what it means to understand a culture, language, misbegotten families… A story of a young man who feels he’s not allowed to grieve in his own way, yet is still trying to discover what that really is. The pacing was perfect as the reader gets to know Jay in his home in the United States and then is thrust into a situation where he is thrown off at every turn. His parents wanted him to be Americanized and haven’t told him much about Filipino culture or of the political upheaval in that country. And this conflict between the parents’ teachings and a son’s naïveté clashes with his desire for truth. It brings about an honest tension that drives much of the narrative.
Patron Saints of Nothing is a welcome exploration into a young man’s mind and a family’s struggle to come to terms with a member’s death. I will happily recommend this book to my students and my librarian friends.
Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed
I’ve got a list of things I loved:
1. A fully fleshed-out cast of five pilots. What brought them to the rebellion… and what are their motivations to join the Alphabet Squadron?
2. Space dog fights… a plethora of different ships… A, B, Y, X, U- Wings!
3. Favorite Quote: ‘… but there was truth to the idea that the Empire valued squadrons and the Rebellion valued pilots.’
4. Some excellent cameos from past SW stories. I don’t want to give up any spoilers, but I think Freed does a great job integrating some less-heralded characters into the mix.
5. The last battle. I was riveted for the last quarter of the book. Most of my favorite SW films and novels come down to a creative battle plan.. and there’s a distinct difference between a Rebel plan and an Imperial plan. Freed shows that difference, proves it on every page.
6. New droids. In the first chapter, we meet an Imperial interrogation droid named IT-O who has been reprogramed into a psychologist of sorts for the defectors. And a couple new X-Wing mechs to help out in the midst of battle… also, a straight-up eerie dark side robot…
7. Storytelling: Every character is given a chance to tell his/her story, and Freed’s storytelling changes nicely between the confessional or disinformational spills…
Highly Recommended for those looking for a multi-layered exploration into the grunts of the Star Wars universe.
Have you read any of these? What did you think? What are some of your favorite books of the first half of the year?
book blog, book review, bookblogger
Soteria by Roberto Arcoleo
Grim Solace (The Chasing Graves Trilogy Book 2)
21 thoughts on “Best Books From The First Half of 2019”
Zezee says:
I haven’t read any of these, but they all sound great. I’ve seen Daisy Jones & the Six and A Boy and His Dog floating around on other best so far lists.
3 of my favs so far are Wundersmith by Jessica Townsend, Dopesick by Beth Macy, and Middle Passage by Charles Johnson.
Was thrown by Dopesick, and am trying to get a set to teach to my classes. Very good book!
That’s a great idea to incorporate it in your classes. It’s such an important read.
Carol (Bookaria) says:
Great post, Paul. I’ve only read Daisy Jones & The Six from the list and requested from the library A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World and New Kid
Oh, and downloaded The Ruin, want to read this one before The Scholar
I’ve been looking for a new thriller/ detective series… and this one has got me!
H.P. says:
Spying on the South is excellent. I really want to read A Boy and his Dog.
I liked A Boy and his Dog for many reasons. The post apocalypse description and the twists… good stuff!
wittysarcasticbookclub says:
Daisy Jones and the Six was amazing!
whatsnonfiction says:
I haven’t read of any of these but I want to read Spying on the South. What a great, eclectic list!
Thanks! That Horwitz book is very interesting. Seems like he put more of himself into that book than many of the others.
And he just passed away! Such a shame.
Very sad.
Realms of My Mind says:
Oooo, Alphabet Squadron made your top ten? This bodes well for my future!
In my mind, it was kinda a “Next Generation” book for me… I read a lot in the Expanded Universe, and this made me think about those books, but it was a step beyond. Fresh and new.
Court of Owls was really good! Probably one of the better tie-ins I’ve ever read. And speaking of tie-ins, I still have to read Alphabet Squadron. Velocity Weapon is also on my list!
I hope you like Alphabet Squadron. I just thought it really felt different than the EU, in a good way.
Ola G says:
Cool post, Paul! Glad you had so many good books this year 🙂 The Boy, Patron Saints and Velocity Weapon are on my list as well 🙂
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Check Out The Nigerian Celebrities Who Left The Country For Greener Pastures
Webby August 9, 2020 August 9, 2020
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Though the issue of brain drain has been a recurrent phenomenon in Nigeria for decades, it was not really as pronounced in the entertainment industry as it was in other spheres of human endeavour.
However, the story has since changed and more Nigerian creatives seem to be pitching their tents outside the motherland, with some even leaving at the peak of their careers. TOFARATI IGE takes a look at some celebs that have left the country but are still being missed by their fans
Opeyemi Ayeola
In the early 2000s, actress, Opeyemi Ayeola, was a regular on the silver screen, especially Yoruba movies.
Noted for her smooth delivery of emotional roles, Ayeola was one actress who didn’t find it hard crying in movies. She was well loved by her fans and producers often passed scripts her way, constantly engaging her sevices.
In her heyday, the actress starred in over 50 movies including Apadi, Niniola, Nkan Asiri, Madam Dearest, Iyawo Panda, Owu Alantakun, Ojabo K’ofo and Omo Ole.
However, at a time when her fans were still expecting her to thrill them in more movies, the beautiful actress got married to her United Kingdom-based lover, Olayiwola Owolomonse. Ayeola soon relocated to the UK and started raising her family.
After a prolonged absence of about a decade, the actress returned to the screen, sparingly appearing in movies from her UK base. In an interview she granted in 2018, the mother of twin children stated that shortly after their marriage, her husband ‘made her go on leave’. She also added that she took the decision to create a solid foundation for her family. “Taking a sabbatical from my career was my only way of laying the best foundation and building an unsinkable home,” she once wrote on social media.
She however noted that her husband had given her the nod to return to her acting career and she has since appeared in a number of movies though she is still resident with her family in the UK.
Doris Simeon
Fair-skinned actress, Doris Simeon, was undoubtedly one of the damsels in the Yoruba movie industry that producers loved to cast to play the role of a young lady. Though from Edo State, she grew up in Lagos State, where she learnt to speak Yoruba.
She started her career acting in the popular television series, Papa Ajasco and Company, and from there she began to grow a steady army of fans. She also acted in English movies but it wasn’t until she started acting in Yoruba movies till more people started paying attention to her.
Simeon later got married to filmmaker, Daniel Adenimokan, and they had a son, David, together. Though she had a bitter split from Adenimokan, she continued to do well in her career and seemed to be unfazed.
However, many were taken by surprise when news filtered in that she had relocated to the United States of America. Sources close to her claimed that she made the move to be closer to her son. Though she has left the country, Simeon has not distanced herself from the world of make-believe. These days, she features in movies and web series with other US-based Nigerian actors. She also regularly interacts with her 261,000 fans on Instagram.
Bayo Bankole
Actor, Bayo Bankole, won the hearts of many fans with his portrayal of the smooth talking and street-smart Boy Alinco in the television series, Papa Ajasco and Company. With his trademark eyeglasses that had double lenses, Bankole thrilled many lovers of the show with the ‘freshness’ he brought to the role.
He also appeared in many movies including Ojo Ketala, Alabata, April Fuulu, Omo Iya Meta Leyi, where he often played the role of a young hustler.
However, it wasn’t long before it became apparent that the actor was disenchanted with Nigeria. He once maintained in an interview with www.nollygists.com, that he regretted being a Nigerian. When asked if he was enjoying his life as an actor, he had responded, “Yes. If I come to the world again, I would love to be an actor but not a Nigerian. I regret being a Nigerian.”
Little wonder that he jetted out of the country for good when he had the chance.
In an interview with Sunday Scoop in 2018, Bankole insisted that moving to the US hadn’t ended his career. He said, “My relocation to the United States has not affected my career in any way. I still act and have featured in some movies shot here (US). I recently acted in a film produced by Lola Alao and it will be released soon. It was shot in Toronto, Canada. I am also involved in promotions of all kinds; working with actors and musicians. I do transportation business as well.”
Lola Alao
Many things have been written about actress, Lola Alao, but no one would dismiss the fact that once upon a time she was frequently seen in Yoruba movies. The Kogi State-born actress began her sojourn in the entertainment industry in the nineties when she appeared in the Zeb Ejiro-produced television series, Ripples. She went on to act in several movies, even producing some of her own. Some of the films she appeared in her are 5 and 6, Ewe Koko and Oku tee Sin.
Though her career grew in leaps and bounds, same could not be said of her love life as she was often the subject of gossips in the industry. She was, at different times, married to a car dealer, Dare Ogunlana; and US-based Olawale Ajibola; but both unions didn’t work out. Alao was also involved in a controversy when another actress, Bisi Ibidapo-Obe, claimed that she (Alao) introduced her (Ibidapo-Obe) to former Senator Dino Melaye, who she had a baby for. At a point, Alao also switched from Christianity to Islam. Some people alleged that she changed her religion because of an Alhaji she wanted to get married to but the actress debunked the rumours, asserting that she was born into a Muslim home.
In 2019, it was reported that Alao had won the custody battle for the children of her deceased colleague, Aisha Abimbola. She presently lives in Canada.
Regina Askia
A former beauty queen and actress, Regina Askia, was one person that many men loved to see on their television screens.
In 1988, Askia was crowned as the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria and thus began her career in the entertainment industry. She went on to appear in several movies including Most Wanted, Slave Warrior, Suicide Mission, Highway to the Grave and Queen of the Night.
At a time when her fans were still yearning for more from her, Askia relocated to the United States to raise a family. She is now a family nurse practitioner.
Yomi Gold
Actor, Yomi Gold, had a blossoming career and was regarded as one of the rising actors set to ‘take over’ from older thespians in the industry. With credits in movies such as Wendy, Oro Obinrin, Street Girls and Oko ni Ofe, he was fast positioning himself in the minds of fans.
In 2017, the actor criticised the country’s healthcare sector after he lost a friend who had underwent a medical procedure. Gold lamented that there were many unskilled personnel in the medical field and urged people who had the means to travel out of the country for proper healthcare instead of relying on Nigerian healthcare workers.
A year later, the actor became a US citizen and he described it as one of the most memorable moments of his life. He said, “My best moments as an actor would be right now as I have just received my US citizenship. The love and congratulatory messages I have been receiving are overwhelming. It feels very great to be an American citizen because I am now a citizen of the world.
“Compared to Nigeria’s system, it is different because as an American citizen, I am privileged to enjoy basic amenities such as adequate power supply and a better healthcare system. I am not giving up on Nigeria though; I know it is going to take us time to get there and we will definitely get it right someday with right leaders.”
Victoria Inyama
Blessed with a pretty face, Victoria Inyama was one of the actresses that made waves in the movie industry in the early 2000s.
Her ‘innocent’ face, bright smile and soft voice endeared her to many even as she appeared in some of the most popular home videos of that time. She starred in films such as Silent Night, Danger Zone, Love from Above, Glamour Boys and Iyanga, and fans couldn’t seem to get enough of her.
However, just like others on this list, she ‘suddenly’ left the country at a time when the ovation was loudest. Upon marrying her husband, Godwin Okri, Victoria relocated to the United Kingdom and concentrated on raising her family. For those who are nursing hopes that the actress may one day return to Nigeria, they had better channel their optimism to some other area as she has said that is not going to happen. When asked in an interview if she would consider returning to Nigeria, Inyama said, “I don’t think it is a possibility. Honestly, I really don’t see that happening at all. I may come and go but not come back fully to Nigeria. I don’t see myself relocating to Nigeria.”
Lara George
That Lara George has a sonorous voice is not in doubt. The talent also seems to run in her family as the singer once stated that she got her ‘beautiful voice’ from her mum.
George first found fame as a member of the defunct Kush group with Emem Ema and TY Bello, and they had hits such as Let’s Live Together and Angels. After the group was dissolved, George went on to have a successful solo career. Her debut solo album, Forever in my Heart, was an instant hit with fans. The lead single on the album, Ijoba Orun, was embraced by many and George was invited to perform at churches and other places all over the world.
However, Lara got married to Gbenga George and she relocated to the United States. They are blessed with two children and the family seems to be waxing stronger in love.
Though Lara has continued to release music, she has not been able to attract as much acclaim as she did in the early days of her career. Many have attributed this to her not being resident in Nigeria but the singer insists that the world is now a global village and where she lives shouldn’t make much of a difference. She said, “No, I didn’t leave the music scene at all. I have only made a physical relocation of my abode. I moved from Nigeria to the United States. Since then, I have performed in the UK, Canada, and across different states in the US. The world is now a global village, thanks to social media and all the amazing tools the Internet provides. Reaching people across the globe and all over the world has become something that is easy to do at just the touch of a button.”
Eldee
Call him one of the forerunners of the present generation of pop artistes in Nigeria and you wouldn’t be wrong. Lanre Dabiri, aka Eldee, was one of the brains behind the defunct Trybe Records, which had other artistes such as Freestyle, KB, 2Shotz and Sasha. He also had a solo career which saw him release hit songs including Big Boy, Bosi Gbangba, I go Yarn, I’m Leaving and Ota Mi.
Eldee is now based in the United States where he is involved in tech business. On why he turned his back on his music career, the singer said, “The other businesses I was doing outside of music were making more money for me at the time so I didn’t even need a forecast to make that decision. I realised music was taking 80 per cent of my time and the other things I was doing with my remaining 20 per cent were bringing in more money. It would be very foolish of me to dedicate 80 per cent of my time to music.”
Source: Sunday PUNCH
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Harrysong talks marriage plans
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<!– Harrysong –>
Nigerian singer, Harrison Okiri popularly known as Harrisong who once hinted of getting married in 2020 has suspended marriage temporarily because he was “not sure anymore.”
In an interview with PUNCH, the 39 years old ‘King maker’ also revealed why he doesn’t want a baby mama, despite being a popular entertainer.
“Everything about marriage has been suspended for now. I’m focusing more on my music and business. The truth is that I’m still young and having the passion to settle down early is a normal feeling.
“When you meet someone and don’t really connect is a pointer of what could happen later in life. You can’t manage yourself into a life-time journey, you have to be 100 per cent sure. In my case, I wasn’t so sure anymore. There are some things I can’t talk about. For now, I have to manage it on my own,” he said.
“As long as you’re above 20 years, you should be eligible for marriage. As a celebrity, distraction can be one of the reasons of not getting married early but finding the right person is very important.
“Personally I don’t support having a baby mama even though it’s a common phenomenon nowadays. Having a baby mama is a personal decision. I don’t have a baby mama because I don’t want it.’’
He further talked about how young and upcoming artists are not a threat to him. He said;
“Young artistes are not a threat to me in any way. The sky is big enough. That’s why they came and took their own place. Music is a function of who works harder and smarter.
“These young guys are talented and I enjoy their music. Even in other countries, a time comes when young artistes spring up and it’s healthy for the music industry. It’s not a threat to me in any way. Rather, it’s very healthy for our industry. Sometimes, I don’t even know people who have booked me because you have to get through people to do that. I just know that I’m to perform somewhere and keep the date.
“You can criticise us, we’re open to it, when we (singers) make mistakes, we should be corrected and everyone should move on,” he concluded.
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Coaching Tree
Tom Coughlin, Chris Palmer, Bill Parcells, Wade Phillips, Marty Schottenheimer
Todd Bowles, Dan Campbell
1 Career Summary
2 Career Awards
3 Tony Sparano Coaching Tree
4 Personal Information
Tony Sparano was a football coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1999 to 2017, finishing his career as the offensive line coach of the Minnesota Vikings. Over his nineteen years of coaching his teams compiled a cumulative win/loss record of 136-168-0. He was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2008 until the 2011 season, during which time the Dolphins went 31-33-0. During his career he was a head coach for four seasons. He was fired from the Dolphins on Monday, December 12, 2011. He was fired with three games left in the 2011 season, with one division title and no other winning seasons with the team.
During the 2008 season as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins he coached Chad Pennington to the Comeback Player of the Year.
Tony Sparano Coaching Tree
Before he was a head coach, Sparano served as an assistant coach for Chris Palmer, Marty Schottenheimer, Tom Coughlin, Bill Parcells, Wade Phillips, Rex Ryan, Dennis Allen, Jim Tomsula, and Mike Zimmer. Four of these years were spent on Parcells' coaching staff. During his time as head coach, two assistant coaches, (Todd Bowles and Dan Campbell) on his coaching staff were hired as head coaches across the league. His coaching tree has combined for a record of 26-53-1 in the regular season and 0-0 in the playoffs during their five seasons as head coach after serving on his coaching staffs.
Sparano was born on Saturday, October 7, 1961 in West Haven, Connecticut.
2017 Minnesota Vikings Offensive Line Coach 13-3-0 1-1
2016 Minnesota Vikings Offensive Line Coach 8-8-0 0-0
2015 San Francisco 49ers Tight Ends Coach 5-11-0 0-0
2014 Oakland Raiders Assistant Head Coach / Offensive Line Coach 0-4-0 0-0
2014 Oakland Raiders Interim Head Coach / Offensive Line Coach 3-9-0 0-0
2013 Oakland Raiders Assistant Head Coach / Offensive Line Coach 4-12-0 0-0
2012 New York Jets Offensive Coordinator 6-10-0 0-0
2011 Miami Dolphins Head Coach 4-9-0 0-0
2008 Miami Dolphins Head Coach 11-5-0 0-1
2007 Dallas Cowboys Assistant Head Coach / Offensive Line Coach 13-3-0 0-1
2006 Dallas Cowboys Running Game Coordinator / Offensive Line Coach 9-7-0 0-1
2004 Dallas Cowboys Tight Ends Coach 6-10-0 0-0
2003 Dallas Cowboys Tight Ends Coach 10-6-0 0-1
2002 Jacksonville Jaguars Tight Ends Coach 6-10-0 0-0
2001 Washington Redskins Tight Ends Coach 8-8-0 0-0
2000 Cleveland Browns Offensive Line Coach 3-13-0 0-0
1999 Cleveland Browns Offensive Quality Control Coach 2-14-0 0-0
1993 Boston Terriers Offensive Coordinator 12-1-None
1992 Boston Terriers Offensive Coordinator 3-8-None
1989 Boston Terriers Offensive Line Coach 4-7-None
Years as head coach: 4
Named the interim head coach during the 2014 season for the Oakland Raiders
Fourth in total wins for the Miami Dolphins.
Fifth in winning percentage for the Miami Dolphins.
Past teams coached for: Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns
College Attended: New Haven Chargers
Date of Birth: Saturday, October 7, 1961 (56 years old), West Haven, Connecticut
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Prodita Sabarini
Thoughts and Reports
Errol Morris: No redemption
(AFP/Larry Busacca)
Errol Morris sits in his office in Cambridge in the US. A horse’s head hangs from the wall in the dimly lit room, while snow falls outside.
The 65-year-old former private investigator’s latest film, The Unknown Known (2013), about Donald Rumsfeld, was born out of a fascination with a different kind of precipitation: The 20,000 internal memos that Rumsfeld called “snowflakes”, produced over his six years as defense secretary for George W. Bush.
One memo, dated several months before 9/11, contained what became Rumsfeld’s foundation for invading Iraq.
With a subject heading: To Discuss with P, he wrote: “Known knowns, known unknowns,and unknown unknowns. The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
In March 2003, Rumsfeld answered journalists asking about the links between Saddam Hussein and terrorists with those definitions.
Morris’ film title, however, describes a state that Rumsfeld failed to grasp.
Philosopher Slavoj Zizek said Rumsfeld forgot to add a crucial fourth term: the unknown knowns: “The disavowed beliefs, suppositions and obscene practices we pretend not to know about, although they form the background of our public values.”
Morris, after interviewing Rumsfeld for 34 hours, wonders if Rumsfeld had not been aware of what he did not know in the first place.
In 2003, as Rumsfeld was making the case for invading Iraq, Morris released The Fog of War, an in-depth interview with former US defense chief Robert McNamara, who publically stated that the US-Vietnam War was a mistake and that the US had carried out war crimes.
The film won an Oscar for best documentary.
Today, Morris is one of the executive producers of Joshua Oppenheimer’s eye-opening documentary The Act of Killing, nominated for the same award.
Morris’ career as documentary filmmaker spans three decades and covers a host of topics, from Gates of Heaven (1970), about a pet cemetery business, to The Thin Blue Line (1988), which freed a man falsely convicted of murder.
An underlying thread connects Morris’ films, he says. “I’m fascinated by all these kinds of questions: What is our relationship to the past? Do we ever see ourselves and what we’ve done? These are the questions that are the heart of almost everything that I do.”
For Morris, the key question is what the thoughts of those behind such mass killings are.
The lack of satisfactory answers in his 34-hour interview with Rumsfelf reminded Morris of Hannah Arendt’s notion of the banality of evil, which she wrote of after following the trial of Adolf Eichmann.
Morris said he watched Margarethe Von Trotta’s film on Hannah Arendt the previous night. “She engaged [with] this issue. She thought about this issue [….] In some crucial moments where you thought that there should be something there was nothing.”
He continues. “It was not that Eichmann was not really such a bad guy or was so ordinary but that somehow ultimately he could give no real account. It’s one of the frightening things in my recent Rumsfeld movie. I’m left with Chinese fortune cookie slogans platitude — these evasions — but I never really have a feeling that he had engaged with any of it.”
This is a depressing and different conclusion from The Fog of War. Morris said his wife, art historian Julia Sheehan, likens McNamara to the Flying Dutchman, who flies around the world seeking redemption, and Rumsfeld to Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat, who cannot stop grinning.
In The Fog of War, some focus on McNamara’s admission of guilt and remorse, finding redemption in the elderly man’s tearful regrets about the American, Japanese and Vietnamese who perished in the wars he fought.
Morris said that such a focus was skewed.
While McNamara’s admissions that the war was wrong were remarkable, he says that viewers should not mistake the film for an apology.
“People like stories of redemption,” according to Morris. “But there is nothing redemptive about the story. [It’s a] story about a man who’s involved in the death of millions of people. He’s a war criminal properly considered.”
“I liked him, but he was a war criminal. There is no redemption for anything.”
Morris agreed to executive produce The Act of Killing after watching a rough cut of the film, which depicts boastful killers in Medan re-enacting how they murdered suspected “communists” in the 1965 Indonesian genocide.
“It’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Morris said. “I thought it was a great achievement.”
Morris said he knew nothing about the period in Indonesia before the film. “I remember of this feeling of shock, when I realized, wait a second, when we’re talking about 1964 and 1965, these are years in which we escalated the war in Vietnam.”
“I began to wonder if there’s a connection. There had to be a connection somehow to Vietnam and Indonesia,” he continues. “Then I read this one extraordinary passage in Bradley Simpson’s book Economists with Guns. He cites Robert S. McNamara, saying that the war in Vietnam was really unnecessary because we already have prevented the dominoes from falling in Indonesia by killing whatever the figure is.”
For Morris, The Act of Killing also offers no redemption.
On the film’s final scene, where Anwar Congo retched on the roof where he killed his victims, Morris said: “You can vomit as much as you want in whatever roof top you want. You can cry. You can say you were sorry [or] ‘I don’t know what I was thinking’ but it doesn’t bring back the millions of people that are dead.”
“They remain dead”.
Prodita Sabarini, Contributor, Cambridge, the US
Published in The Jakarta Post| People | Sat, January 25 2014
ReportsProditaErrol Morris, Joshua Oppenheimer0 comments
Rights should be part of US ‘pivot’ to Asia
Take that, stereotypes! The new Ms. Marvel is a Muslim teenager
Good stuff I found on the Internet this week
Why I run
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Arts Democracy Election Human Rights Jakarta LGBT Rights Papua Religious Intolerance Theater Women's Rights
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Home Article Did Col. Morris Davis Lose His Job For Criticizing The Obama Administration?
Did Col. Morris Davis Lose His Job For Criticizing The Obama Administration?
by Adam Serwer
Colonel Morris Davis was a former Chief Prosecutor of the Guantanamo Bay military commissions. Davis resigned from his position in 2007, and soon became one of the most outspoken critics of the military commissions process, even after his his retirement from the military in October of last year.
From December 2008, Davis worked as the assistant director of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division at the Congressional Research Service which is part of the Library of Congress, until, according to the ACLU, he was fired for recent op-eds he had written criticizing the decision to try some detainees in federal court and others by military commission.
On Nov. 10, Morris wrote in The Wall Street Journal that the hybrid legal approach would "establish a dangerous legal double standard that gives some detainees superior rights and protections, and relegates others to the inferior rights and protections of military commissions. This will only perpetuate the perception that Guantanamo and justice are mutually exclusive." He wrote a letter to the editors of the Washington Post expressing similar sentiments.
The ACLU says that shortly afterward, Morris was threatened with termination, before finally being fired over his decision to criticize the Obama administration's approach to trying suspected terrorists. The ACLU is claiming that CRS violated Morris' First Amendment rights by terminating him over his personal political views.
-- A. Serwer
Adam Serwer
Adam Serwer is a writing fellow at The American Prospect and a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Read more by Adam Serwer
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Australia | Queensland | State Suburbs
Gunnawarra
Code SSC31284 (SSC) Search for a Community Profile
Average children per family
for families with children
for all families
All private dwellings
Average people per household
Median weekly household income
Median monthly mortgage repayments
Median weekly rent
Average motor vehicles per dwelling
Median and average values may be affected by confidentiality in small areas.
Due to the small population for this area, limited information has been provided. In the 2016 Census, there were 13 people in Gunnawarra (SSC31284). Of these, 50% were male and 50% were female. The median age was 31 years and the average number of people per household was 0.
Small random adjustments have been made to all cell values to protect the confidentiality of data. These adjustments may cause the sum of rows or columns to differ by small amounts from the table totals. For further information, go to the User Guide for QuickStats.
Data reported for Australia and Other Territories now includes Norfolk Island, following an amendment to the Acts Interpretation Act, 1901. Because Norfolk Island has not previously been included in the Census, any 2011 benchmarks will not include Norfolk Island.
The information contained in this QuickStat has been produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics | It contains data from the 2016 Census of Population & Housing held on 9 August 2016 | Release date of this QuickStat was 23 October 2017 | Some values may have been adjusted to avoid release of confidential data | These adjustments may have a significant impact on the calculated percentages in QuickStats | For more information refer to Introduced Random Error in the 2016 Census Dictionary. For further enquiries contact the ABS National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 | www.abs.gov.au/census
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'Freddy Hated Rats': Mafia Hit Man Under Investigation For Murder Of Whitey Bulger
Oct. 31 2018, Updated 8:31 p.m. ET
One day after Mafia boss James "Whitey" Bulger was found dead inside his West Virginia prison cell, known Mafia hit man Fotios "Freddy" Geas is under investigation.
According to the Boston Globe, Geas, 51, and another inmate were caught on tape walking into Bulger's cell around 6:00a.m. this Tuesday.
They allegedly dragged his wheelchair into a corner where surveillance cameras could not see them, and beat him to death with a lock wrapped in a sock. Sources told the newspaper the man also tried to gouge his eyes out.
While Geas is reportedly refusing to cooperate with the investigation, private investigator Ted McDonough is not surprised that he is being accused of murder.
"Freddy hated rats," McDonough told The Globe. "Freddy hated guys who abused women. Whitey was a rat who killed women. It's probably that simple."
Bulger became an FBI informant in 1975. In 2011, he was caught by authorities after 16 years on the run, and was later found guilty of killing 11 people. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2013.
Bulger — the infamous crime boss of Boston's Winter Hill Gang — was 89 years old.
We pay for juicy info! Do you have a story for RadarOnline.com? Email us at tips@radaronline.com, or call us at (866) ON-RADAR (667-2327) any time, day or night.
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Two roads, one destination: A journey of discovery
Joc, K., Hopkins, P. J., Donaghey, J. & Abbott, W., 5 Feb 2016, VALA2016 Proceedings. VALA - Libraries, Technology and the Future Inc
Two sides of the coin: Patient and provider perceptions of health care delivery to patients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
Komaric, N., Bedford, S. & Van Driel, M. L., 2012, In: BMC Health Services Research. 12, 1, 322.
Two Sides of the Fence: A Comparative Analysis Of Parc-Extension and Town of Mont-Royal
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Two Sports, Two Systems, One Goal: A Comparative Study of Concussion Policies and Practices of the Australian Football League and Hockey Canada
Greenhow, A. & Doherty, A., 6 Jul 2021, In: Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. 672895.
Two Statistical Aids for Determining the Optimal Number and Width of Pay Grades
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Sargeant, S. J. E., Gross, H. & Middleton, D., 2009, Narrative, memory and identities. Robinson, D., Fisher, P., Yeadon-Lee, T., Robinson, S. J. & Woodcock, P. (eds.). Huddersfield: University of Huddersfield Press, p. 95 103 p.
Type 2 diabetes prevention in the community: 12-Month outcomes from the Sydney Diabetes Prevention Program
Vita, P., Cardona-Morrell, M., Bauman, A., Singh, M. F., Moore, M., Pennock, R., Snow, J., Williams, M., Jackson, L., Milat, A. & Colagiuri, S., 1 Feb 2016, In: Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. 112, p. 13-19 7 p.
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Tarnopolsky, M. A., Cox, G. R., MacKenzie, K. & Gurr, S., 26 Jan 2010, In: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 12, Supp. 2, p. e194-e195 2 p.
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Kelly, E., Ellis, R. & Hing, W., Sep 2019, In: Journal of Hand Therapy. 32, 3, p. 375-381 7 p.
Ultrasound evaluation of the abductor hallucis muscle: Reliability study
Cameron, A. F. M., Rome, K. & Hing, W. A., 2008, In: Journal of Foot and Ankle Research. 1, 9 p., 12.
Ultrasound imaging of the distal radioulnar joint: A new method to assess ulnar radial translation in forearm rotation
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Ultrasound-Responsive Nanobubbles for Enhanced Intravitreal Drug Migration: An Ex Vivo Evaluation
Thakur, S. S., Chen, Y-S., Houston, Z. H., Fletcher, N., Barnett, N. L., Thurecht, K. J., Rupenthal, I. D. & Parekh, H. S., 1 Mar 2019, In: European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics. 136, 136, p. 102-107 6 p.
Ultrastructural-study of serotonin uptake by gabaergic amacrine cells in rabbit retina
Osborne, N. N., Dubourg, P., Barnett, N. L. & Calas, A., Sep 1988, In: Archives internationales de physiologie, de biochimie et de biophysique. 96, 4, p. A462-A462 1 p.
Ultraviolet radiation is a strong disinfectant. It may be what our schools, hospitals and airports need
Tajouri, L., Campos, M., Alghafri, R. & McKirdy, S., 15 Jul 2020, In: The Conversation.
Uluru Statement from the Heart: Australian Public Law Pluralism
Larkin, D. & Galloway, K., 2018, In: Bond Law Review. 30, 2, 11 p.
Uluru Statement has lit a fuse that cannot go out
Galloway, K., 29 May 2017, In: Eureka Street. 27, 10
Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › Research
Unaffordable healthcare amid phenomenal growth: The case of healthcare protection in reform China
Wong, C-K., Tang, K-L. & Lo, V. I., 2007, In: International Journal of Social Welfare. 16, 2, p. 140-149 10 p.
Uncertainty, risk, and opportunity frames in Australian online media reports of the 2016 Great Barrier Reef mass coral-bleaching event
Mitchell, M. & Roffey-Mitchell, T., 15 Oct 2018, In: Cogent Social Sciences. 4, p. 1-21 21 p.
Uncertainty, unfairness and complexity in the context of recreational activities
Dietrich, J., 2013, In: Precedent. 2013, 117, p. 53-57 5 p.
Uncertainty in Private Law: Rhetorical Device or Substantive Legal Argument?
Bigwood, R. & Dietrich, J., 2021, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Melbourne University Law Review. 45, 1, 39 p.
Uncomplicated urinary tract infection in women
Hoffmann, T. C., Bakhit, M. & Del Mar, C., 30 Mar 2021, In: BMJ. 372, 4 p., n725.
'Unconscionability' in consumer ecommerce
Svantesson, D. J. B., 2011, In: Commercial Law Quarterly. 25, 1, p. 8-14 7 p.
Uncoupling mobility and learning: When one does not guarantee the other
Kinash, S., Brand, J., Mathew, T. & Kordyban, R., 2011, Enhancing Learning Through Technology - Education Unplugged: Mobile Technologies and Web 2.0 - International Conference, ICT 2011, Proceedings. Kwan, R., McNaught, C., Tsang, P., Wang, FL. & Li, KC. (eds.). Springer, Vol. 177 CCIS. p. 342-350 9 p. (Communications in Computer and Information Science; vol. 177).
Uncovering the asymmetric linkage between financial derivatives and firm value - The case of oil and gas exploration and production companies
Phan, D., Nguyen, H. & Faff, R., Sep 2014, In: Energy Economics. 45, p. 340-352 13 p.
Undergraduate Grade-Point Average as a Selection Criterion for a Postgraduate Entry-Level Physiotherapy Program
Terry, R., Hing, W. A., Orr, R. M. & Milne, N., 2018, In: Australian Journal of Clinical Education. 3, 1, 17 p., 3.
Undergraduate grade-point average is not a determinant of student’s future performance in a postgraduate entry-level physiotherapy program
Terry, R., Hing, W. A., Orr, R. M. & Milne, N., 17 Oct 2019, p. 287.
Underlying Knowledge of Construction Management Consultants in China
Hu, X., Xia, B., Ye, K. & Skitmore, M., 1 Apr 2016, In: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice. 142, 2, 04015015.
Under-reporting remains a key limitation of self-reported dietary intake: An analysis of the 2008/09 New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey
Gemming, L., Jiang, Y., Swinburn, B., Utter, J. & Mhurchu, C., 2014, In: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 68, 2, p. 259-264
Under-representation of women in the South African construction industry
Mbachu, J. I. C. & Folose, M., Jul 2005, Queensland University of Technology Research Week International Conference, QUT Research Week 2005 - Conference Proceedings. Sidewell, A. C. (ed.).
Understanding, experiences, and reactions to bullying experiences in boys with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
Bitsika, V. & Sharpley, C. F., 24 Oct 2014, In: Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities. 26, 6, p. 747-761 15 p.
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Copland, D. A., Chenery, HJ. & Murdoch, B. E., Dec 2000, In: Cortex. 36, 5, p. 601-622 22 p.
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Martin, A. & Fisher, C. D., 2014, In: Industrial and Organizational Psychology. 7, 2, p. 270-274 5 p.
Understanding and treating depression: Biological, psychological and behavioural perspectives
Sharpley, C. F., 2013, 1 ed. Prahran, Vic: Tilde University Press. 214 p.
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Lee, S. H. & Tideswell, C., 2005, In: Journal of Vacation Marketing. 11, 3, p. 249-263 15 p.
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Hill, S. R., Burgan, B. & Troshani, I., 2011, In: Industrial Management and Data Systems. 111, 7, p. 1087-1104 18 p.
Understanding Business Law
Graw, S., Parker, D., Whitford, K., Sangkuhl, E. & Do, C., 2019, 9th ed. Chatswood, NSW: LexisNexis Butterworths. 833 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Book › Education › peer-review
Graw, S., Parker, D., Whitford, K., Sangkuhl, E. & Do, C., 2015, 7th ed. Chatswood, N.S.W: LexisNexis Butterworths.
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Neville, L., Miller, S. & Fritzon, K., 2007, In: Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology. 18, 2, p. 181-203 23 p.
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Hoare, R. J., Butcher, K. & O'Brien, D., Aug 2011, In: Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. 35, 3, p. 358-380 23 p.
Understanding contamination risk associated with protein fortified foods
Cox, G. R. & O'Bryan, K., 16 Oct 2021, (Unpublished).
O'Bryan, K., Shaw, G., Allanson, B., Trease, L., Slater, G. J. & Cox, G. R., 2021, Australian Institute of Sport. 33 p.
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Understanding covert recognition
Burton, A. M., Young, A. W., Bruce, V., Johnston, R. A. & Ellis, A. W., May 1991, In: Cognition. 39, 2, p. 129-166 38 p.
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Henschke, N., Lorenz, E., Pokora, R., Michaleff, Z. A., Quartey, J. N. A. & Oliveira, V. C., 1 Dec 2016, In: Best Practice and Research: Clinical Rheumatology. 30, 6, p. 1037-1049 13 p.
Understanding face familiarity
Kramer, R. S. S., Young, A. W. & Burton, A. M., Mar 2018, In: Cognition. 172, p. 46-58 13 p.
Understanding face recognition with an interactive activation model
Burton, A. M., Bruce, V. & Johnston, R. A., Aug 1990, In: British Journal of Psychology. 81, 3, p. 361-380 20 p.
Understanding facial impressions between and within identities
Mileva, M., Young, A. W., Kramer, R. S. S. & Burton, A. M., Sep 2019, In: Cognition. 190, p. 184-198 15 p.
Understanding family enterprise: A book of readings
Moores, K. & Craig, J. B. L., 2010, 1st ed. ed. Robina, Qld: Bond University Press. 463 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Scholarly edition › Research › peer-review
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Peter Oborne And Richard Heller Podcasts
Peter Oborne And Richard Heller public [search 0]
Oborne & Heller on Cricket
Peter Oborne, Richard Heller
Cricket authors (and obsessives) Peter Oborne and Richard Heller have launched a new podcast to help deprived listeners endure a world without cricket. They will chat regularly about cricket topics – hoping to keep a good line and length but with occasional wides into other subjects.
The Graces CC, the club which opens up cricket to LGBT people 46:54
Founded in 1996 and based in London, the Graces CC is the first cricket club in the world specifically for LGBT people. Until this year, it was the only such club but there is now one other, the Birmingham Unicorns. Stuart Anthony is the Graces captain, Chris Sherwood its press and publicity officer. They explain what the club has meant for them an…
Two festive offerings from Henry Blofeld 57:58
The incomparable Henry Blofeld switches on the festive lights as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. Henry explains his choice of the nailbiting finishes in the cricket matches beautifully described in his latest book Ten To Win… And The Last Man In. He also describes his recently-completed project: …
Tanya Aldred and the global pressure to save cricket from climate change 44:32
Tanya Aldred has become one of Britain’s most respected cricket writers, contributing notably to The Guardian, The Cricketer, Wisden Cricket Monthly and many other media. She is a co-editor of The Nightwatchman, the publication which showcases the best cricket writing every quarter. For the past three years, she has contributed one of the most sign…
Scyld Berry – England’s greatest cricket-watcher – shares highlights from over forty years of England on tour 56:46
Scyld Berry, a former editor of Wisden, has watched nearly 500 England Test matches (more than anyone in history), and reported them for The Observer and then The Daily Telegraph. He has just published a penetrating account of all the countries where he has seen England on tour: Beyond The Boundaries, published by Fairfield Books. He is the guest o…
The great commentator Fazeer Mohammed brings up to date the stories of BlackLivesMatter and West Indian cricket 46:06
By popular demand … the brilliant West Indian cricket commentator Fazeer Mohammed returns as a guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. Speaking from Sri Lanka, where he is commenting on the current West Indies tour, with his customary ebullience, eloquence and erudition he reviews a turbulent period for Engl…
Seventy years of revolution in English women’s cricket 48:00
Rafaelle Nicholson is the author of Ladies And Lords: A History Of Women’s Cricket In Britain. Having previously presented the highlights of the first six hundred years or so, she returns to share the dramatic events and big personalities of the next eighty, as the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their regular cricket-themed podc…
Tantrums and turmoil, racism and riots, class conflicts and colonialism – and some great cricket – in a historic tour 51:20
In the winter of 1953, the MCC sent a full-strength England team to the West Indies for the first time, led by Len Hutton, the first professional captain. The party included Denis Compton, Tom Graveney, Peter May, Trevor Bailey, and two pairs of great bowlers, Jim Laker and Tony Lock, and Fred Trueman, and Brian Statham. They played a thrilling ser…
The magisterial Imran Khan: the inspirational Lingard Goulding 45:09
“I expected a bit more from England”, says a magisterial Imran Khan, at the start of the latest podcast from Peter Oborne and Richard Heller, rebuking the recent cancellation of England’s short cricket tour of his country. In a clip from an extended interview with Peter Oborne, the Pakistan Prime Minister and former captain suggests that England st…
A great umpire raises his finger against discrimination in cricket 51:50
After a first-class career as a pace bowler for Hampshire, John Holder became one of England’s finest umpires. He was a popular expert on Test Match Special and the regular Observer newspaper feature “You Are The Umpire.” On the first-class list from 1983 to 2009 , he joined the Test panel in 1988 and after only a handful of matches was chosen to b…
England’s most incisive cricket writer, George Dobell, who never forgets the fans 54:21
George Dobell, chief correspondent of Cricinfo but not for much longer, is one of the most independent, incisive and informed cricket writers in Britain. Never a captive of the cricket Establishment or a champion of any interest except everyday cricket fans, he has broken or developed some of the biggest stories in English cricket. He brings unique…
Painful testimonies of racism shake the culture of denial of apartheid in South African cricket 58:46
In recent months, South Africa has been rocked by the testimonies from black players of the isolation, hostility and outright racial abuse they have encountered playing in first-class and international cricket. Two expert South African cricket broadcasters and authors, Mo Allie and Aslam Khota, relay these stories and their impact as the guests of …
Who needs the Hundred when Two Hundred Parents Start Playing Cricket? 55:17
Annie Chave is the founder and editor of County Cricket Matters magazine and a regular contributor to Guerilla Cricket. Rob Eastaway is a writer, lecturer and cricket-lover who produced a clear and witty book explaining cricket’s mysteries called What Is A Googly? as well as several explaining the mathematics behind such everyday mysteries as why b…
South African cricket – still haunted by its unacknowledged legacy of white supremacy 56:24
Former first-class cricketer and leading historian André Odendaal has made it his personal mission to reconstruct the true story of South African cricket from its beginnings. He reveals more of the black, mixed-race and Asian-descent players whose talents and achievements were suppressed and for whom opportunity was denied by South Africa’s white r…
Lonsdale Skinner: a cricket career blighted by racism 39:02
Lonsdale Skinner was Surrey’s wicketkeeper-batsman in the early 1970s and also played cricket in the same role for his native Guyana in the West Indies. Since 2013, he has been chairman of the African Caribbean Cricket Association which campaigns for fair treatment and greater representation of African Caribbean people throughout English cricket. A…
“Caught Eagle bowled Eagle” and other highlights from a political cricket lover 54:22
Dame Angela Eagle has been the Labour MP for Wallasey in the Wirral since 1992. When her sister Maria was elected as Labour MP for Liverpool Garston five years later they became the first twins to sit together in Parliament in modern times, and later they became the first twins to be Ministers of State in the same government. Angela held a variety …
The hidden history of a huge success: women’s cricket in Britain 52:24
The rise of women’s cricket is one of the biggest sporting stories in modern Britain – but behind it is nearly 700 years of history. That is one of many surprises revealed by Rafaelle Nicholson, a leading authority on women and sport, in her book Ladies And Lords: A History Of Women’s Cricket In Britain. She is the latest guest of Peter Oborne and …
Behind the stumps but never the times in eight decades: the multiple lives of Lingard Goulding 48:22
Lingard Goulding kept wicket superbly in three continents over eight decades. He also found much else to do with his life, as an industrialist, a master of early computing, an author, a Formula 5000 motor racing driver and most importantly an inspiring head master and cricket coach, mentor and recorder. He shares highlights of an astonishing portfo…
Restoring the lost history of South African cricket 1:03:35
Professor André Odendaal has made it his life’s work to tell his native South Africa its true cricket history. He has restored to memory the achievements of thousands of black, mixed-race and Asian-origin players deliberately suppressed to serve the cause of white supremacy. Besides giving back to South Africa its cricketing past he shares responsi…
Cricket’s romantic numbers 54:30
Cricket has always been rich in statistics, but lately they have deepened and multiplied. Cricket’s new professional data analysts can access the detailed results of every single ball bowled in major cricket matches for over twenty years and use them to influence team selections, tactics and onfield decisions. This has alarmed many critics, who say…
No longer underdogs but still undervalued… New Zealand’s world-class cricketers 55:27
It is an almost unnoticed revolution in global cricket: New Zealand’s cricketers have completed a journey from amateur whipping-boys to worldbeaters. They have secured an emphatic Test series victory over England while enjoying the luxury of six team changes to prepare for the ultimate prize of the World Test Championship. David Leggat, former chie…
Cricket’s clarion call… from the man who delivered it 55:47
For about fifteen years no England Test match seemed complete without the golden notes of Billy Cooper, the professional trumpeter who accompanied the Barmy Army. It made him the best-known musician in the cricket world since the celebrated pianist Don Bradman. He shares his memories of matching music to the many moods of cricket with Peter Oborne …
George Headley and a supporting cast of two emperors, one king and Evita Peron, in Latin America’s cricketing drama 1:04:26
Timothy Abraham and James Coyne are co-editors of the perennially fascinating and expanding section of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack on cricket around the world. Together they completed a long-cherished project, a personal odyssey into Latin American cricket, which took them from Mexico to the southernmost tip of Chile. They have just published an un…
The County Championship – past, present and future – by its great historian Stephen Chalke 57:13
Author, publisher and supreme recorder of cricketers’ memories Stephen Chalke returns as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. They celebrate a tremendous start to the English County Championship, before Stephen draws on his detailed and beautifully illustrated history Summer’s Crown, to analyse the co…
Wisden 2021: cricket and class, race, plague and global warming 44:00
Steven Lynch, International Editor of Wisden Cricketers Almanack, returns to the regular podcast by Peter Oborne and Richard Heller to celebrate a landmark edition which more than ever lights up the mighty issues which shape global cricket and the lives of all its players and devotees. Read the full description here: https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/…
Rich lives in a few words: the obituaries in Wisden 2021 53:57
The arrival of Wisden Cricketers Almanack is always one of the great publishing events in the calendar. The latest edition had rather less cricket to record than usual, but was nonetheless packed with important content. Indeed, it is a major source book for future political, social, economic and cultural historians. In their latest cricket-themed p…
The park cricketer who married the Queen 58:51
Annie Chave is a cricketer and editor of County Cricket Matters, journal of the members organization of the same name which supports the county structure of English cricket. She is also part of the team at Guerrilla Cricket, which provides eclectic and independent commentary and analysis of major matches. She is the latest guest of Peter Oborne and…
Why crowds roar for the Tigers of world cricket 52:40
Whether in victory or defeat, Bangladesh’s cricket team, the Tigers, have some of the most passionate supporters in the world. Athar Ali Khan is a former Bangladesh international players and selector, now a freelance commentator. He explains how and why their cricketers have captured the hearts of their nation on its fifty-year journey since indepe…
The man who discovered Eoin Morgan (and other stories) 55:19
Over twenty years ago an expert watcher predicted that a boy called Eoin Morgan would make his name in world cricket. These and other wonders of Ireland’s rich cricket story are related by author, cricketer, lawyer and all-round man of letters Charles Lysaght, returning by popular demand as guest on the latest cricket-themed podcast by Peter Oborne…
The great Pakistani fast bowler who nearly became a Hollywood movie star 48:09
The Lahore Gymkhana ground is one of the most delightful places in the world to play or watch cricket. It houses a cricket museum, small but full of treasures, which was the first of its kind in Pakistan. Its founder and curator is the eminent cricket historian Najum Latif. He has watched generations of Pakistan’s great players perform at the groun…
Wilf Wooller – the man at so many great moments of Welsh cricket 59:38
Welsh cricket gets off to a noisy, swearing start in Swansea on a Sunday in 1771. Local landowners, railways, the British army and industry all help the game to spread. After success as a Minor county, Glamorgan are the first Welsh team into the County Championship in 1921. They struggle but are revived by inspiring leadership from Maurice Turnbull…
Andy Flower: inspiring cricketer – and protestor 55:45
Andy Flower was one of the most talented cricketers of his generation. In 2003 he and his teammate Henry Olonga amazed and inspired the world when they played a cricket match in black armbands, in mourning for the death of democracy in their country, Zimbabwe. He gives a vivid and moving account of their protest as the guest of Peter Oborne and Ric…
The Modification of Indian cricket, expertly assessed 59:26
A dramatic first Test match at the giant new Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad is the cue for an insightful assessment of the Prime Minister’s impact on Indian cricket by Mihir Bose, in his second innings as the guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their regular cricket-themed podcast. The former Sports Editor of the BBC is the author of ov…
Kashmir – where cricket has become a political statement 57:10
Kashmir contains some of the most beautiful settings for cricket in the world – but cricket there has been blighted for over seventy years by the political and military conflicts which were a legacy of the partition of India. It has become not just a game but a political statement, as is explained by a local journalist, author, historian and cricke…
Maurice Turnbull – and other heroes of cricket in Wales 59:35
The rich history of Welsh cricket still comes a surprise to many English people, even after Glamorgan’s hundred years in the County Championship. That is no fault of Dr Andrew Hignell, author of some 40 books about it, Glamorgan’s scorer (since 1982) and archivist, and curator of the Museum of Welsh Cricket at the county’s headquarters at Sophia Ga…
A great historian’s love affair with cricket 50:58
Ramachandra Guha is a hugely distinguished historian not just of Indian cricket but of India itself. His most recent book, A Commonwealth Of Cricket, has a detailed descriptive sub-title “A Lifelong Love Affair with the Most Subtle and Sophisticated Game Known to Humankind.” He talks about that relationship and its high and low points as the guest …
Another fast-scoring innings by Mahela Jayawardene 31:20
Mahela Jayawardene is a busy man these days: chairman of the Sri Lankan National Sports Council, head coach of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, running a chain of successful crab restaurants with his friend Kumar Sangakkara. But characteristically, the former Sri Lankan captain scored rapidly in a few overs with Peter Oborne and Richard Heller as the…
The sky is the limit for Alsama Cricket Club, where refugees from Syria get new lives 50:21
“It was very hard to live with Isis. You could see them cutting off the heads and cutting off the hands of some people.” Maram, 15-year-old refugee, on the life cricket is helping her to forget. Alsama means “the sky” in Arabic. It gives its name to a cricket club in one of the world’s most astonishing locations – the teeming Shatila camp in Lebano…
What happened to the magic of Sri Lankan cricket? 55:41
In 1996 Sri Lanka won the World Cup with electrifying, innovative cricket. They brought solace and hope to a deeply troubled nation and joy to all the world’s neutral cricket-lovers. For the next fifteen years or so, players such as Sanath Jayasuriya, Aravinda de Silva, Muttiah Muralitharan, and the brothers-in-arms, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sa…
The United States: Paradise Regained For Cricket? 1:04:47
The United States is the Paradise Lost of world cricket. For about half of the lifetime of the Republic cricket was its major summer sport. Then it lost its hold to baseball and other sports and recreations. In modern times waves of immigrants from the West Indies and the Indian subcontinent have fostered many attempts at a revival. Another big eff…
The man who changed cricket for ever: Peter Hain 1:01:10
He was once the most hated man in cricket. He faced down threats to his career and to his life. He achieved his mission, an epoch-making change in international sport. His new book (with the great historian André Odendaal) Pitch Battles not only narrates his astonishing personal journey but sweeps up the history of South African sport and society, …
“Absent, caught fire” and other great moments from Scotland’s cricket heritage 54:08
To most English cricket-lovers Scotland is an exotic foreign country, but it has a rich, independent cricket history, as Peter Oborne and Richard Heller discover from an expert guide in their latest cricket-themed podcast. Fraser Simm is an author, historian, analyst and collector who has been chairman of the Cricket Society of Scotland for over 25…
“To take us to tea – and beyond”: the incomparable Henry Blofeld 1:01:54
For over fifty years, there have been few pleasures to compare with spending a cricketing hour with Henry Blofeld. He was the joyous guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their latest cricket-themed podcast. Henry explains his philosophy as a radio commentator on TMS and elsewhere of making listeners feel part of a real cricketing event. If t…
New Zealand cricket’s long journey to success 48:20
Charles Darwin watched a cricket match in New Zealand in 1835 – but the country had to wait a long time for international recognition and even longer for its first Test match victories. Things began to change in the 1970s, and David Leggat explains the reasons for its climb, and not only the one named Richard Hadlee. Formerly the chief cricket writ…
The thrill returns of Ted Dexter at the crease 1:01:35
In the pomp of his playing days, Ted Dexter filled cricket grounds with spectators. The former Sussex and England captain returns to the crease as the latest guest of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller in their regular cricket-themed podcast. This also includes an appeal from Mike Atherton for the MCC Foundation. For the week from 1 December donations…
South African cricket and the poisoned legacy of apartheid 1:00:01
As England’s tour of South Africa gets under way, the two latest guests of Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their cricket-themed podcast offer deep insight into South African cricket past and present. Mo Allie, of the BBC Africa service has reported on South African sport for many years and is the author of More Than A Game, telling many heroic s…
John Cleese Shares His Lifelong Love of Cricket 1:09:41
“In that moment I went absolutely rigid with real terror, far worse than facing Jeff Thomson.” That is John Cleese, sharing with Peter Oborne and Richard Heller on their latest cricket-themed podcast his experience as a performer of the “yips”, that dread loss of control which can blight cricketers on the field. He shares joyous memories of a lifel…
Jill Rutter on watching cricket with Prime Ministers and others 54:28
Jill Rutter had many high-profile roles in British public service, including Director of Communications at the Treasury and a spell in the Prime Minister’s Policy Unit. She is now a Visiting Professor at King’s College, London and a senior Fellow at the Institute For Government (which has the uphill task of promoting better government.) She has bee…
Talking with Pakistan Women’s Former Cricket Captain Sana Mir 55:20
Sana Mir played in 226 international matches for Pakistan, as an off-spinning all-rounder, 137 as captain, an appointment she received at just 23. She won many awards in her career, including two Asian Games Gold Medals, and was the first woman cricketer to be honoured by her country. Wisden named her Captain of the Women’s Team of the last decade.…
The glorious social and cultural heritage of Irish cricket with Charles Lysaght 46:19
Besides being a celebrated student debater, who replaced Ken Clarke and handily defeated Vince Cable in 1964 as President of the Cambridge Union, then one of Ireland’s leading constitutional and administrative lawyers, a biographer, obituarist and a man of letters Charles Lysaght has been a noted cricketer and host of cricketers in Ireland for over…
Cricket's growth in remarkable places: the man who knows 45:49
James Coyne, Assistant Editor of The Cricketer magazine, has prepared each year since 2012 the section in Wisden Cricketers Almanack on Cricket Around The World. He is also the co-author of a book Evita Burned Down Our Pavilion (to be published next April) a record of an epic cricketing odyssey in Latin America. As the latest guest of Peter Oborne…
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Andrew B. Kipnis, "The Funeral of Mr. Wang: Life, Death, and Ghosts in Urbanizing China" (U California Press, 2021)
9 nov 2021 · New Books in East Asian Studies
Today I spoke to Professor Andrew Kipnis about his book on social change in urban China from the perspective of funerals. In rural China funerals are conducted locally, on village land by village elders. But in urban areas, people have neither land for burials nor elder relatives to conduct funerals. Chinese urbanization, which has increased drastically in recent decades, involves the creation of cemeteries, state-run funeral homes, and small private funerary businesses. The Funeral of Mr. Wang: Life, Death, and Ghosts in Urbanizing China (U California Press, 2021) examines social change in urbanizing China through the lens of funerals, the funerary industry, and practices of memorialization. It analyzes changes in family life, patterns of urban sociality, transformations in economic relations, the politics of memorialization, and the echoes of these changes in beliefs about the dead and ghosts.
Dr. Suvi Rautio is an anthropologist of China.
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies
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Ruth Mostern, "The Yellow River: A Natural and Unnatural History" (Yale UP, 2021)
14 jan · New Books in East Asian Studies
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A three-thousand-year history of the Yellow River and the legacy of interactions between humans and the natural landscape From Neolithic times to the present day, the Yellow River and its watershed have both shaped and been shaped by human society. Using the Yellow River to illustrate the long-term effects of environmentally significant human activity, Ruth Mostern unravels the long history of the human relationship with water and soil and the consequences, at times disastrous, of ecological transformations that resulted from human decisions. As Mostern follows the Yellow River through three millennia of history, she underlines how governments consistently ignored the dynamic interrelationships of the river's varied ecosystems--grasslands, riparian forests, wetlands, and deserts--and the ecological and cultural impacts of their policies. With an interdisciplinary approach informed by archival research and GIS (geographical information system) records, this groundbreaking volume provides unique insight into patterns, transformations, and devastating ruptures throughout ecological history and offers profound conclusions about the way we continue to affect the natural systems upon which we depend.
This scale, detail, and clarity of this work was inspiring. Ruth Mostern's long-term environmental history of the Yellow River, is not the story of a single channel but of a series of landscapes and entanglements between the human and natural world. Replete with detailed explanations of physical geography and water management technologies, The Yellow River: A Natural and Unnatural History (Yale UP, 2021) succeeds not only in meticulously addressing the geographical and cultural heart of Chinese history, but also in speaking to our present moment through its recurring portrayal of the relationship between environmental awareness and political possibility.
Lance Pursey is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Aberdeen. He works on the history and archaeology of the Liao dynasty, and therefore is drawn to complicated questions of identity in premodern China like a moth is drawn to flame. He can be reached at lance.pursey@abdn.ac.uk.
Export China: Reimagining Chineseness through the Ceramics Trade in Southeast Asia
7 jan · New Books in East Asian Studies
In 2021, a team of divers led by renowned maritime archaeologist Dr Michael Flecker and sponsored by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute surveyed two historic shipwrecks discovered in the Singapore Strait, working for several months to bring their submerged cargos to the surface. Chinese trade ceramics found in these cargos date their demise to the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries – pivotal moments in the history of the globe-spanning China Trade. The most intriguing aspect of this salvage operation, however, is the discovery in the remains of the older vessel of the most substantial cargo of Yuan-dynasty blue-and-white porcelain yet found in Southeast Asian waters.
Joining Dr Natali Pearson on SSEAC Stories, Dr Alex Burchmore argues that these discoveries provide valuable insights into the complex interactions between China and Southeast Asia, allowing us to reposition Southeast Asia at the centre of historic trade narratives. Through the international trade of Chinese ceramics, Dr Burchmore invites us to reimagine the past, rethinking traditional narratives of Chineseness across the region, as well as Australia’s identity in the Asia-Pacific.
About Alex Burchmore:
Dr Alex Burchmore is an art historian specialising in the study of Chinese and Southeast Asian art, past and present, with a particular focus on ceramics, trade and exchange, and the interweaving of the personal and material. Alex received his PhD from the Australian National University in 2019 and joined the University of Sydney’s Museum and Heritage Studies department in 2021. His first book, New Export China: Translations Across Time and Place in Contemporary Chinese Porcelain Art (University of California Press, 2023), traces the extent to which artists within and beyond China have used porcelain to shape their personal, historical, and cultural identities, from the 1990s to the present. His recent publications include a study of the ‘material Chineseness’ of ink and porcelain in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art and a chapter dedicated to the ‘fugitive luxury’ of contemporary Chinese ceramics in The Allure of Matter: Materiality Across Chinese Art (University of Chicago Press, 2021).
For more information or to browse additional resources, visit the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre’s website: www.sydney.edu.au/sseac.
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COVID-19 and Vaccine Hesitancy in Japan
Anti-vaccination movements pose an increasing threat to global public health, but what of vaccine hesitancy? Join us for a discussion on the effects of vaccine hesitancy in Japan during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. University of Turku's Centre for East Asian Studies University Teacher Dr. Yoko Demelius and University Lecturer Dr. Kamila Szczepanska discuss historical, cultural, and legal factors that have led to present trends ranging from general vaccine skepticism to online and real-life anti-vaccination activism. Learn about historical developments in Japanese public health policy as well as socio-demographic factors that contribute to current attitudes. Dr. Szczepanska and Dr. Demelius also speak of the state of domestic vaccine manufacturing and Research & Development, and the significant continuing influence of anti-vaccination propaganda and misinformation campaigns from the US and Europe.
The Nordic Asia Podcast is a collaboration sharing expertise on Asia across the Nordic region, brought to you by the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) based at the University of Copenhagen, along with our academic partners: the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Turku, Asianettverket at the University of Oslo, and the Stockholm Centre for Global Asia at Stockholm University.
We aim to produce timely, topical and well-edited discussions of new research and developments about Asia.
Transcripts of the Nordic Asia Podcasts: http://www.nias.ku.dk/nordic-asia-podcast
About NIAS: www.nias.ku.dk
Satoko Naito is a docent of Japanese studies at the Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku, Finland. Research interests include Japanese literature, cultural history, and gender studies.
Cheng Li, "Middle Class Shanghai: Reshaping U.S.-China Engagement" (Brookings Institution Press, 2021)
In mid-November, Washington and Beijing mutually agreed to start granting journalist visas again, putting an end to months of reciprocal visa rejections and denials. A perhaps minor, yet still important, thawing among grander narratives of decoupling and worsening relations between the two countries.
Cheng Li’s Middle Class Shanghai: Reshaping U.S.-China Engagement (Brookings, 2021) plots out a new way to understand the U.S.-China relationship. Cheng Li’s book attempts to show the importance of the city of Shanghai to China’s economic and political development, and studies its population to show the continued value of engagement between Americans and Chinese. Readers can find an excerpt from Middle Class Shanghai on the Brookings website: Shanghai’s dynamic art scene.
Cheng Li is the director of the John L. Thornton China Center and a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings. He is also a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.
We’re joined in this interview by Brian Wong. Brian is a Co-Founder of the Oxford Political Review, a columnist with the Hong Kong Economic Journal and a contributor to the Neican newsletter.
The three of us talk about the city of Shanghai, its importance to China, and why looking at US-China relations through the prism of a single city might be a better way to understand the international system.
You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Middle Class Shanghai. Follow on Facebook or on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia.
Nicholas Gordon is an associate editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon.
Dominique Townsend, "A Buddhist Sensibility: Aesthetic Education at Tibet's Mindröling Monastery" (Columbia UP, 2021)
Founded in 1676 during a cosmopolitan early modern period, Mindröling monastery became a key site for Buddhist education and a Tibetan civilizational center. Its founders sought to systematize and institutionalize a worldview rooted in Buddhist philosophy, engaging with contemporaries from across Tibetan Buddhist schools while crystallizing what it meant to be part of their own Nyingma school. At the monastery, ritual performance, meditation, renunciation, and training in the skills of a bureaucrat or member of the literati went hand in hand. Studying at Mindröling entailed training the senses and cultivating the objects of the senses through poetry, ritual music, monastic dance, visual arts, and incense production, as well as medicine and astrology.
Dominique Townsend investigates the ritual, artistic, and cultural practices inculcated at Mindröling to demonstrate how early modern Tibetans integrated Buddhist and worldly activities through training in aesthetics. Considering laypeople as well as monastics and women as well as men, A Buddhist Sensibility: Aesthetic Education at Tibet's Mindröling Monastery (Columbia UP, 2021) sheds new light on the forms of knowledge valued in early modern Tibetan societies, especially among the ruling classes. Townsend traces how tastes, values, and sensibilities were cultivated and spread, showing what it meant for a person, lay or monastic, to be deemed well educated. Combining historical and literary analysis with fieldwork in Tibetan Buddhist communities, this book reveals how monastic institutions work as centers of cultural production beyond the boundaries of what is conventionally deemed Buddhist.
Jue Liang is scholar of Buddhism in general, and Tibetan Buddhism in particular. My research examines women in Tibetan Buddhist communities past and present using a combination of textual and ethnographical studies.
Viktoriya Kim et al. "The Politics of International Marriage in Japan" (Rutgers UP, 2021)
Viktoriya Kim, Nelia Balgoa, and Beverley Anne Yamamoto's book The Politics of International Marriage in Japan (Rutgers UP, 2021) provides an in-depth exploration and analysis of marriages between Japanese nationals and migrants from three broad ethnic/cultural groups - spouses from the former Soviet Union countries, the Philippines, and Western countries. It reveals how the marriage migrants navigate the intricacies and trajectories of their marriages with Japanese people while living in Japan. Seen from the lens of ‘gendered geographies of power’, the book explores how state-level politics and policies towards marriage, migration, and gender affect the personal power politics in operation within the relationships of these international couples. Overall, the book discusses how ethnic identity intersects with gender in the negotiation of spaces and power relations between and amongst couples; and the role states and structural inequalities play in these processes, resulting in a reconfiguration of our notions of what international marriages are and how powerful gender and the state are in understanding the power relations in these unions.
Jingyi Li is a PhD Candidate in Japanese History at the University of Arizona. She researches about early modern Japan, literati, and commercial publishing.
Takashi Saitō, "Ghastly Tales from the Yotsuya Kaidan" (Chisokudo, 2020)
28 dec 2021 · New Books in East Asian Studies
Ghastly Tales from the Yotsuya Kaidan (Chisokudo, 2020) is a newly revised and corrected translation of what is perhaps the most famous and oft told tales of horror in Japan. The legend of Iwa and her curse blurs the lines between fact and fiction as it spins its terrifying tale of ghostly vengeance. For nearly three hundred years in the repertoire of itinerant storytellers, in dramatic performances on stage, and in modern adaptations for anime and film, Iwa’s story has lost none of its intoxicating power over the imagination.
East Asian Cold War History with a Maritime Twist
When did the Cold War in East Asia really begin? According to ADI-NIAS researcher Kuan-Jen Chen, the answer is 1945 – if we view the Cold War through a maritime lens. In conversation with NIAS Director Duncan McCargo, KJ explains how he is using Japanese and Taiwanese sources to gain a more nuanced perspective on East Asian Cold War maritime history, which is far from a simple narrative of American naval dominance. KJ also discusses the relevance of the Cold War context to understanding recent geostrategic developments in the region, and why he is trying to put international historians into a more fruitful dialogue with scholars of international relations.
Kuan-Jen Chen (https://kjchen.net/) is the Asian Dynamics Initiative-Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Postdoctoral Fellow in Asian Studies at the University of Copenhagen. He has published articles in various journals including Cold War History and the Journal of American-East Asian Relations. KJ is currently completing a book based on his Cambridge PhD, entitled The Making of America’s Maritime Order in Cold War East Asia: Sovereignty, Local Interests, and International Security.
KJ was recently jointly awarded Taiwan’s 2021 Openbook Award in Translation for his co-translation into Chinese of Barak Kushner’s Men to Devils, Devils to Men: Japanese War Crimes and Chinese Justice, Harvard 2015 (see NBN podcast here).
Transcripts of the Nordic Asia Podcasts can be found here. About NIAS: www.nias.ku.dk
Shelly Chan, "Diaspora’s Homeland: Modern China in the Age of Global Migration" (Duke UP, 2018)
Diaspora’s Homeland: Modern China in the Age of Global Migration (Duke University Press, 2018) by Shelly Chan provides a broad historical study of how the mass migration of more than twenty million Chinese overseas influenced China’s politics, economics, and culture. Chan develops the concept of “diaspora moments” – a series of recurring disjunctions in which migrant temporalities come into tension with local, national, and global ones – to map the multiple historical geographies in which the Chinese homeland and diaspora emerge. Chan describes several distinct moments, including the lifting of the Qing emigration ban in 1893 and the legacy of indentured Chinese migration to the Americas, intellectual debates in the 1920s and 1930s about whether Chinese emigration in the South China Seas (Nanyang) and Southeast Asia constituted colonization and whether Confucianism should be the basis for a modern Chinese identity. She also looks at the intersection of gender, returns to China of displaced Chinese from Southeast Asia, and Communist campaigns in the 1950s and 1960s. Adopting a transnational frame, Chan narrates Chinese history through a reconceptualization of diaspora to show how mass migration helped establish China as a nation-state within a global system.
Shelly Chan is an associate professor of history at the University of California, Santa Cruz, specializing in modern China and the Chinese diaspora.
Shatrunjay Mall is a PhD candidate at the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He works on transnational Asian history, and his dissertation explores intellectual, political, and cultural intersections and affinities that emerged between Indian anti-colonialism and imperial Japan in the twentieth century.
Ian Reader and John Shultz, "Pilgrims Until We Die: Unending Pilgrimage in Shikoku" (Oxford UP, 2021)
Ian Reader and John Shultz's Pilgrims Until We Die: Unending Pilgrimage in Shikoku (Oxford University Press, 2021)" explores the Shikoku pilgrimage by focusing on the themes of repetition and perpetual pilgrimage. Reader and Shultz employ a wide array of methods to portray how these itinerant pilgrims view their unending life on the trails. Some spend most of their life walking the pilgrimage, while others use cars and other methods of modern transportation, allowing them to complete the circuit hundreds of times. The Shikokubyō or the Shikoku illness is a common term that people use to describe a sense of addiction to the pilgrimage, revealing how the pilgrimage has become a part of their life. Based in extensive fieldwork this book shows that unending pilgrimage is the dominant theme of the Shikoku pilgrimage, and argues that this is not specific to Shikoku but found widely in global contexts, although it has barely been examined in studies of pilgrimage. It counteracts normative portrayals of pilgrimage as a transient activity involving temporarily leaving home to visit sacred places outside the everyday parameters of life; rather pilgrimage, for many participants, means creating a sense of home and permanence on the road. As such this book presents new theoretical perspectives on pilgrimage in general, along with rich ethnographic examples of pilgrimage practices in contemporary Japan.
Raditya Nuradi is a Phd student at Kyushu University. He works on religion and popular culture, particularly anime pilgrimages. He’s done fieldwork at Hitoyoshi city, Kumamoto prefecture.
Michael K. Bourdaghs, "A Fictional Commons: Natsume Soseki and the Properties of Modern Literature" (Duke UP, 2021)
Modernity arrived in Japan, as elsewhere, through new forms of ownership. In A Fictional Commons: Natsume Soseki and the Properties of Modern Literature (Duke UP, 2021), Michael K. Bourdaghs explores how the literary and theoretical works of Natsume Sōseki (1867–1916), widely celebrated as Japan's greatest modern novelist, exploited the contradictions and ambiguities that haunted this new system. Many of his works feature narratives about inheritance, thievery, and the struggle to obtain or preserve material wealth while also imagining alternative ways of owning and sharing. For Sōseki, literature was a means for thinking through—and beyond—private property. Bourdaghs puts Sōseki into dialogue with thinkers from his own era (including William James and Mizuno Rentarō, author of Japan’s first copyright law) and discusses how his work anticipates such theorists as Karatani Kōjin and Franco Moretti. As Bourdaghs shows, Sōseki both appropriated and rejected concepts of ownership and subjectivity in ways that theorized literature as a critical response to the emergence of global capitalism.
Hua Li, "Chinese Science Fiction During the Post-Mao Cultural Thaw" (U Toronto Press, 2021)
The late 1970s to the mid-1980s, a period commonly referred to as the post-Mao cultural thaw, was a key transitional phase in the evolution of Chinese science fiction. This period served as a bridge between science-popularization science fiction of the 1950s and 1960s and New Wave Chinese science fiction from the 1990s into the twenty-first century. Chinese Science Fiction during the Post-Mao Cultural Thaw (University of Toronto Press, 2021) surveys the field of Chinese science fiction and its multimedia practice, analysing and assessing science fiction works by well-known writers such as Ye Yonglie, Zheng Wenguang, Tong Enzheng, and Xiao Jianheng, as well as the often-overlooked tech–science fiction writers of the post-Mao thaw.
Exploring the socio-political and cultural dynamics of science-related Chinese literature during this period, Hua Li combines close readings of original Chinese literary texts with literary analysis informed by scholarship on science fiction as a genre, Chinese literary history, and media studies. Li argues that this science fiction of the post-Mao thaw began its rise as a type of government-backed literature, yet it often stirred up controversy and received pushback as a contentious and boundary-breaking genre. Topically structured and interdisciplinary in scope, Chinese Science Fiction during the Post-Mao Cultural Thaw will appeal to both scholars and fans of science fiction.
Hua Li is an associate professor at Montana State University.
Clara Iwasaki is an assistant professor in the East Asian Studies department at the University of Alberta.
Yeling Tan, "Disaggregating China, Inc.: State Strategies in the Liberal Economic Order" (Cornell UP, 2021)
Once you understand that markets require public institutions of governance and regulation in order to function well, and further, you accept that nations may have different preferences over the shape that those institutions and regulations should take, you have started to tell a story that leads you to radically different endings.
– Dani Rodrik, The Globalization Paradox (2011)
Influenced by Dani Rodrik’s research and teaching at Harvard’s Kennedy School, Yeling Tan, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon, and non-resident scholar at UCSD’s 21st Century China Center, has written a book that brings together her interest and expertise in China’s political economy: Disaggregrating China, Inc.: State Strategies in the Liberal Economic Order (Cornell University Press, 2021).
As you will hear, Professor Tan is interested in the dynamics of international and domestic politics with a focus on the tensions involving policy change within political economies. The development and the role of institutions especially with regard to China, given its political structure and economic governance, has provided just such an intriguing case for Tan who has been immersed in PRC-related study since graduate school.
The book frames the story of China’s WTO entry and assesses its impact on the country’s complex and sprawling structures of economic governance with the kind of inspiration that makes well-written and researched economic history as compelling as it is empirically rigorous. Professor Tan’s analysis and argument fits within the interdisciplinary sphere most aptly described as political economy as she systematically ‘disaggregates’ China’s institutional response as a one-party state to the globalizing effects of WTO engagement. Her book draws upon a rich research literature including the post-Mao reform and opening period to frame her research questions before moving into her own theory, methods, and findings – a unique contribution to the field filling the lack of studies focused on external institutional influences on the political economy of China.
As such, she moves us beyond the caricatured and monolithic simplifications underlying the bipartisan, ideologically driven interpretations reassessing the outcome of China’s WTO entry and subsequent trade policy. To liberally paraphrase a key source of her intellectual inspiration, Rodrik’s The Globalization Paradox: acknowledging the role of public institutions and the various value preferences of nations to help shape well-performing markets will lead you, as with Tan’s story, to the start of an understanding of the relationship of markets and institutions with a radically different ending in the China context.
Yeling Tan is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon.
Keith Krueger lectures at the SILC Business School in Shanghai University.
Stephen Vines, "Defying the Dragon: Hong Kong and the World’s Largest Dictatorship" (Hurst, 2021)
What sequence of events led Hong Kong to lose its long-held status as a liberal enclave of China? What drove its population to rise up against its government and confront Beijing? And why did China’s rulers decide to effectively put an end to the freedoms guaranteed under the One-Country-Two-Systems arrangement by imposing in June 2020 a draconian National Security Law designed to eliminate any political opposition that has already led to hundreds of arrests?
In Defying the Dragon: Hong Kong and the World’s Largest Dictatorship (Hurst, 2021), the prominent Hong Kong journalist and broadcaster Stephen Vines offers a blow-by-blow account of the 2019-2020 protest movement. The books details the emergence of an increasingly assertive and defiant Hong Kong political identity, the collapse of trust in the Beijing-anointed government, the PRC’s increasingly hands-on assertion of its sovereignty over the territory, and the deteriorating relationship between the West and an overly confident but inwardly insecure Chinese state.
Nicholas Bequelin is a human rights professional with a PhD in history and a scholarly bent. He has worked about 20 years for Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, most recently as Regional director for Asia. He’s currently a Visiting Scholar and Lecturer at Yale Law School.
Aurelia Campbell, "What the Emperor Built: Architecture and Empire in the Early Ming" (U Washington Press, 2020)
One of the most famous rulers in Chinese history, the Yongle emperor (r. 1402–24) gained renown for constructing Beijing’s magnificent Forbidden City, directing ambitious naval expeditions, and creating the world’s largest encyclopedia. What the Emperor Built: Architecture and Empire in the Early Ming (U Washington Press, 2020) is the first book-length study devoted to the architectural projects of a single Chinese emperor.
Focusing on the imperial palaces in Beijing, a Daoist architectural complex on Mount Wudang, and a Buddhist temple on the Sino-Tibetan frontier, Aurelia Campbell demonstrates how the siting, design, and use of Yongle’s palaces and temples helped cement his authority and legitimize his usurpation of power. Campbell offers insight into Yongle’s sense of empire—from the far-flung locations in which he built, to the distant regions from which he extracted construction materials, and to the use of tens of thousands of craftsmen and other laborers. Through his constructions, Yongle connected himself to the divine, interacted with his subjects, and extended imperial influence across space and time.
Spanning issues of architectural design and construction technologies, this deft analysis reveals remarkable advancements in timber-frame construction and implements an art-historical approach to examine patronage, audience, and reception, situating the buildings within their larger historical and religious contexts.
Noelle Giuffrida is a professor and curator of Asian art at the School of Art and the David Owsley Museum of Art at Ball State University. Email: ngiuffrida@bsu.edu.
Understanding South Korea’s Taegukgi Rallies
Why did so many of South Korea’s senior citizens take to the streets between 2016 and 2019? What motivated their participation in rallies? And what do these rallies tell us about the state of South Korea’s democracy? Korea Foundation and Nordic Institute of Asian Studies postdoctoral researcher Myunghee Lee discusses these and other questions with Petra Desatova.
Myunghee Lee is a Korea Foundation and Nordic Institute of Asian Studies postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen. Her research focuses on protest, social movement, authoritarianism, and democratization. Her work appears in journals such as International Security, International Studies Review, and Politics & Gender.
Timothy D. Amos and Akiko Ishii, "Revisiting Japan's Restoration: New Approaches to the Study of the Meiji Transformation" (Routledge, 2021)
Revisiting Japan's Restoration: New Approaches to the Study of the Meiji Transformation (Routledge, 2021) presents the reader with thirty-one short chapters that capture an exciting new moment in the study of the Meiji Restoration. The chapters offer a kaleidoscope of approaches and interpretations of the Restoration that showcase the strengths of the most recent interpretative trends in history writing on Japan while simultaneously offering new research pathways.
On a scale probably never before seen in the study of the Restoration outside Japan, the short chapters in this volume reveal unique aspects of the transformative event and process not previously explored in previous research. They do this in three core ways: through selecting and deploying different time frames in their historical analysis; by creative experimentation with different spatial units through which to ascertain historical experience; and by innovative selection of unique and highly original topics for analysis. The volume offers students and teachers of Japanese history, modern history, and East Asian studies an important resource for coming to grips with the multifaceted nature of Japan’s nineteenth-century transformation.
The volume will also have broader appeal to scholars working in fields such as early modern/modern world history, global history, Asian modernities, gender studies, economic history, and postcolonial studies.
Timothy M. Yang, "A Medicated Empire: The Pharmaceutical Industry and Modern Japan" (Cornell UP, 2021)
Timothy Yang’s A Medicated Empire: The Pharmaceutical Industry and Modern Japan (Cornell 2021) is a case study of Hoshi Pharmaceutical, a Japanese drug company that exemplified the push for a modern “culture of self-medication.” The history of Hoshi is tightly intertwined with state promotion of Western biomedicine beginning in the late nineteenth century, but also reveals tensions between pharmaceutical manufacturers’ self-promotion “as a humanitarian endeavor for greater social good” and their profit motive. As the title suggests, A Medicated Empire also expands our understanding of the production and consumption of drugs―licit and illicit―in the Japanese empire, exploring topics including how companies like Hoshi exploited national-defense concerns to secure lucrative government support in times of crisis on the one hand, and the differential marketing and regulation of pharmaceuticals such as opium to Japanese and colonial subjects. In the latter sections of the book, these elements are central to the story of Hoshi’s fall and rise: the opium scandal which crippled and bankrupted the company in the early 1930s and its resurrection and profiteering as Japan geared up for war later in the decade. Throughout, Yang is sensitive to the tensions between state-led national strengthening, corporate profit motives, and the desires of individuals to optimize their health, and also to the imperial context in which the particular story of Hoshi played out. This book will of course be of interest to historians of Japan, STS, and business, among others, but as we discuss in the podcast, many of its core issues―trust in pharma, government interventions in public health, etc.—are more salient today than ever.
Nathan Hopson is an associate professor of Japanese language and history in the University of Bergen's Department of Foreign Languages.
Rayna Denison, "Anime: A Critical Introduction" (Bloomsbury, 2015)
Rayna Denison’s Anime: A Critical Introduction (Bloomsbury, 2015) uses genre as a window into the evolving global phenomenon of Japanese animation. Denison’s wide-ranging analysis tackles the anime themselves – including classics such as Astro Boy, Akira, Urotsukidōji, Spirited Away, and Natsume’s Book of Friends – but also the mechanics behind anime production and distribution in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Tracking anime’s circulation through these locations over time reveals key differences in how generic terms such as horror, nichijōkei/slice-of-life, and even anime itself are understood. Examining production and distribution contexts like the industry and fan event, Tokyo International Anime Fair, further discloses how companies and fans contextualize and re-contextualize anime to encourage its popularization in new time periods and markets. Denison depicts anime as an intricate global phenomenon that is constantly metamorphosing even on the level of individual anime texts, which are at the extreme re-cut, re-scripted, and re-dubbed to fit new contexts in an eternal evolution.
Amanda Kennell is an Assistant Teaching Professor of International Studies at North Carolina State University. She writes about Japanese media and is currently finishing up a book on Japanese adaptations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland novels.
Chun-Yi Peng, "Mediatized Taiwanese Mandarin: Popular Culture, Masculinity, and Social Perceptions" (Springer, 2021)
Mediatized Taiwanese Mandarin: Popular Culture, Masculinity, and Social Perceptions (Springer, 2021) explores how language ideologies have emerged for gangtaiqiang through a combination of indexical and ideological processes in televised media. Gangtaiqiang (Hong Kong-Taiwan accent), a socially recognizable form of mediatized Taiwanese Mandarin, has become a stereotype for many Chinese mainlanders who have little real-life interaction with Taiwanese people. Using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, the author examines how Chinese millennials perceive gangtaiqiang by focusing on the following questions: 1) the role of televised media in the formation of language attitudes, and 2) how shifting gender ideologies are performed and embodied such attitudes. This book presents empirical evidence to argue that gangtaiqiang should, in fact, be conceptualized as a mediatized variety of Mandarin, rather than the actual speech of people in Hong Kong or Taiwan. The analyses in this book point to an emerging realignment among the Chinese towards gangtaiqiang, a variety traditionally associated with chic, urban television celebrities and young cosmopolitan types. In contrast to Beijing Mandarin, Taiwanese Mandarin is now perceived to be pretentious, babyish, and emasculated, mirroring the power dynamics between Taiwan and China.
Chun-Yi Peng is an Associate Professor at Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY. His primary research interests are in the fields of sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology.
Li-Ping Chen is Postdoctoral Scholar and Teaching Fellow in the East Asian Studies Center at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include literary translingualism, diaspora, and nativism in Sinophone, inter-Asian, and transpacific contexts.
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October 26, 2017 Ryan Bohl Islamic State, Middle East, Terrorism
Iraq Is About To Remove the “I” From “ISIS”
The Global Coalition against Daesh announced Iraq’s final offensive today:
The Coalition welcomes the commencement of the Iraqi Security Forces’ offensive to liberate Al Qaim district from Daesh Oct. 26.
Al Qaim is Daesh’s final stronghold in Iraq and approximately 1,500 Daesh fighters are estimated to remain in the immediate vicinity.
Al-Qa’im is a dusty Euphrates river town on the Syrian border. For much of its occupation, Al-Qa’im was merely a waypoint for the Islamic State’s operations deeper into Iraq’s heartland. Shorn of its biggest cities, Al-Qa’im is now the final redoubt of the crumbling Islamic State in Iraq.
It seems probable that it will follow the pattern of Hawija, Iraq, where IS fighters surrendered or fled en masse. It has none of the ideological or strategic value of Mosul or Raqqa, and it seems probable that IS fighters have used up most of the supplies they captured during the 2014 blitz. Rather than ending the “Iraq” part of ISIS with a bang, this will surely be a whimper.
That leaves the Syrian side of IS. Unlike Iraq, where a suddenly more capable central government has been both crushing IS and forcing the Kurds onto the back foot, Syria is still a complex enough place to let IS maneuver. It’s fighting losing battles along the Euphrates River valley; on the north side of the river, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are rolling them up towards the border. On the south side, the Assadist army is doing the same. In Syria, that leaves only its territory near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, as yet unmolested by major assault.
Yet curiously, it maintains the ability to strike deep behind enemy lines. On October 23, the Islamic State managed an assault on a village deep within Assad regime territory far away from any declared territory. The Syrian desert is vast and tough to patrol; IS is sure to try to use that to begin a new, less territory-based strategy. A return to the bad old days of mass casualty suicide bombs is sure to emerge in both Iraq and Syria.
That leaves Iraq a simpler place in some respects, but only solves the most severe of conflicts there. There is still the Arab-Kurdish dispute, which has become violent; the Shi’a-Sunni sectarian split may go quiet in the wake of IS’s defeat, but should Prime Minister Abadi lose control of his Shi’a Popular Mobilization Units (or PMUs, the term used for fighters who are essentially militia), Iraq’s Sunnis will fight yet another rebellion.
Iraqi nationalism is crawling forward, spot by spot. The removal of IS is a major step in restoring a cracked state. The worst, perhaps, is over. But Baghdad still has a lot of work to do.
Tagged Defeat of Daesh, Defeat of ISIS, Defeat of Islamic State, ISIS, ISIS terrorism, Islamic State
The Philippines Muddies The Waters Of East Asia’s Geopolitics
The American Culture Wars Are Officially A Strategic Threat
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The men behind two of the HWR trophies
Henley Women’s Regatta, which takes place this weekend for the 30th year, is one of the largest women-only rowing regatta in the World. Its packed programme of qualifying time trials and side-by-side races for seniors and juniors fills three full days and is as exhausting for the officials as it is for the competitors!
The regatta’s collection of silverware is an impressive one with every event having an associated trophy and several more cups now in retirement as the programme of events has changed over the years.
Some of the trophies have been made specially for the regatta and have beautiful, contemporary designs. One of these is the W Peer Cup for Elite 2x which was presented to HWR in 1996 by Bill Peer, who coached some of the country’s top women’s crews in the 1960s and 1970s. Other trophies are vintage pieces, originally donated for other events but which have found a new home at HWR like the Frank V Harry Cup which will be awarded for Senior 4- this year.
Bill Peer
Bill had a life-long involvement in rowing. He was a member of Cygnet RC and he coached both there and at St George’s Ladies RC, which was based for quite a long time next door at what is now Barnes Bridge Ladies RC. Both his first wife, Gladys (always known as ‘Brownlie’) and his second wife, Barbara, whom he married after Brownlie’s death, were rowers: while rowing marriages are exceptionally commonplace now, this was not the case fifty or sixty years ago!
One of the highlights of Bill’s coaching career was when his St George’s LRC eight was selected to represent Great Britain for the Women’s European Rowing Championships in 1966. The crew was stroked by a tiny, tenacious oarswoman called Diana Hall, who is better known as the late Dame Di Ellis, of course.
Bill Peer (right) all loaded and ready to go to the 1966 Women’s European Rowing Championships. (Photo: St George’s LRC album.)
Bill’s daughter in law, Christine Peer, represented GB at the Women’s European Rowing Championships in 1970, rowing in a boat called Brownlie which Bill had bought for her and her doubles partner – there was no such thing as squad equipment back then!
There are lots more photos of Bill here (towards the end of the page).
Frank Harry
Frank Victor Hobart Harry was born in 1892 and joined Quintin BC when he was 20. He was Captain there an extraordinary 16 times, the first in 1925, the last in 1951. He died in April 1985 aged 93.
As well as his massive contribution to Quintin, he played an absolutely pivotal role in women’s rowing by coaching the United Universities’ Women’s BC group which provided most of the eights and fours that represented GB at the Women’s European Rowing Championships from 1960 to 1965. Known affectionately by them as ‘Sir’, he did all of his coaching by bike (as was customary in those days), even though he was well into his retirement by then. At the 1960 Championships he was literally left holding the baby…
Frank Harry looks after the daughter of one of the GB team at the Women’s European Rowing Championships in Willesden in 1960. (Photo: Ann Sayer’s personal collection.)
Frank was unable to accompany his crews to the 1961 Women’s European Championships in Prague or the 1962 Championships in East Berlin as he was forbidden to travel behind the Iron Curtain because of work he did during World War II in the Postal Telegraph Censorship Department for which he had been awarded the MBE in 1945. (Incidentally, he saw active service in the World War I but was invalided out of the army after being wounded at the second Battle of Ypres in 1916.)
The Frank V Harry Cup was originally presented to Brent Regatta (previously Willesden Regatta) for the Women’s Eights by the United Universities group in 1965. This was the only regatta that took place on a multi-lane course (on the Welsh Harp reservoir) at the time in the UK as Holme Pierrepont had not yet been built.
Conveniently, United Universities won the cup in 1965, winning the four-boat straight final by a length over University of London. UU cox Margaret ‘Mac’ McKendrick remembers one of her crew saying, as they were waiting to boat for the race, “We’d better win because we haven’t paid the invoice for the trophy yet!”
After Brent Regatta went out of existence, the trophy was passed on to the National Championships, which first took place in 1972. In due course the National Championships Committee decided to abandon trophies and as the United Universities group didn’t want the cup to vanish, Pauline Churcher, one its leading members, retrieved it and held on to it until some appropriate event should need a trophy. “When HWR appealed for trophies in 1996, we were able to give the cup for an entirely suitable event which was unlikely to disappear. I think its future is safe at HWR,” Pauline says.
Where do women row?
Why did YOU take up rowing?
One thought on “The men behind two of the HWR trophies”
Pingback: Missing Henley Women’s Regatta 2020 – Rowing Story
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Ana Mari Cauce
Posted by cahnrs.webteam | March 25, 2015
Born in Cuba, where her father was the minister of education, Interim UW President Cauce left Cuba with her family during the revolution, when she was 3 years old. She grew up in Miami, where both her parents took jobs in shoe factories, hoping they could return to Cuba. Both placed a very high value on the power of education.
Cauce joined the UW faculty in 1986 as an assistant professor of psychology after earning degrees in English and psychology from the University of Miami in 1977, summa cum laude, and a Ph.D. in psychology, with a concentration in Child Clinical and Community Psychology from Yale University in 1984.
Cauce is professor of psychology and American ethnic studies. She holds adjunct professor appointments in the department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and the College of Education. She has held numerous leadership positions at the UW, including director of the UW Honors Program, chair of American Ethnic Studies, chair of Psychology, executive vice provost, and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
From 2012 to 2015, prior to being appointed interim president, she served as the University’s executive vice president and provost, the chief academic officer, responsible for overseeing the education, research and service missions in the University’s schools, colleges and other academic units, including Academic and Student Affairs. As the UW’s chief budgetary officer, she was responsible for resource allocations and worked closely with the president on strategic planning and long-term decision-making.
Cauce maintains an active research program, focusing on adolescent development, with a special emphasis on at-risk youth. She is also active in encouraging women and underrepresented minorities to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She has received numerous awards for her scholarship, teaching and activism, including the much-prized University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award. She remains active in the classroom and continues to teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students.
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Home ▶ Vol 24, No 1 (2021) ▶ Joubert
Household saving and wealth in South Africa
Fanie Joubert, Theo Van der Merwe
South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences | Vol 24, No 1 | a3764 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajems.v24i1.3764 | © 2021 Fanie Joubert, Theo Van der Merwe | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 15 July 2020 | Published: 26 October 2021
Fanie Joubert, Department of Economics, College of Economic and Management Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
Theo Van der Merwe, Department of Economics, College of Economic and Management Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
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Background: A detailed picture of the saving behaviour of South African households would enable researchers to determine whether households are proactively attempting to safeguard themselves financially.
Aim: Of this article is to analyse household saving(s), using both an income-statement (saving) and a balance-sheet (savings or wealth) approach, while investigating the link between the two as well.
Setting: The perception that households are ‘dis-savers’ without really delving into the details, definitions, or reasons why this may or may not be the case. This notion is proven superficial as it ignores various interacting definitional and measurement issues.
Methods: A descriptive analytical methodology is applied to household saving (flow) and savings (stock or wealth) in the period 1995 to 2018, with the focus on macro-economics, while data are sourced from the South African System of National Accounts (SNA).
Results: Findings include a long-term decline in net household saving to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which turned negative in 2006, so that dissaving occurred. In contrast, household wealth recorded an average nominal increase of 10.3% in the period 1995 to 2018. Focusing on the link between the two concepts, it is confirmed that net revaluation of assets plays a prominent role to support the rise in wealth, while the role of saving diminishes over time. Therefore, the need for additional methodological updates is highlighted. More research is required on the various possible factors driving household income and expenditure trends, and their sustainability. The contribution of household saving to total saving should be evaluated in detail.
household saving; household wealth; theories on saving; South African System of National Accounts
Total abstract views: 519
Total article views: 324
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Associate Editor Mentorship Programme
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Vol. 117 No. 11/12 (2021) /
Exploring the potential of scientometrics for the humanities and social sciences: Towards the future
Nelius Boshoff 1.Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa; 2.DSI–NRF CoE in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (SciSTIP), Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2021/12478
Boshoff N. Exploring the potential of scientometrics for the humanities and social sciences: Towards the future. S. Afr. J. Sci. [Internet]. 2021 Nov. 29 [cited 2022 Jan. 17];117(11/12). Available from: https://sajs.co.za/article/view/12478
Vol. 117 No. 11/12 (2021)
All articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
Copyright is retained by the authors. Readers are welcome to reproduce, share and adapt the content without permission provided the source is attributed.
Disclaimer: The publisher and editors accept no responsibility for statements made by the authors
Dorothy Ngila, Nelius Boshoff, Frances Henry, Roseanne Diab, Shirley Malcom, Jennifer Thomson, Women’s representation in national science academies: An unsettling narrative , South African Journal of Science: Vol. 113 No. 7/8 (2017)
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Healthcare Industry News: Telavancin
News Release - December 5, 2007
Theravance Announces Positive Topline Results In Phase 3 Telavancin Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia Program
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)--Dec 5, 2007 -- Theravance, Inc. (NasdaqGM:THRX ) today announced positive results from the ATTAIN 1 and ATTAIN 2 studies assessing the safety and efficacy of Telavancin, a rapidly bactericidal, once-daily injectable investigational antibiotic for the treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), including patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), caused by Gram-positive bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
In each study, Telavancin achieved its objective of non-inferiority in the all-treated (AT) and clinically evaluable (CE) patient populations. In the CE population from ATTAIN 1 and ATTAIN 2 combined, the clinical cure rate for Telavancin was 82.7%, compared with 80.9% for vancomycin.
"We are in the midst of a worrisome increase in the occurrence of MRSA pneumonia," said Ethan Rubinstein, M.D., the co-principal investigator in the ATTAIN studies and Head of Infectious Diseases and Professor of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. "In addition, there is a growing incidence of MRSA with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin, leaving too few treatment options."
"In the microbiologically evaluable patients who were infected with MRSA alone, I was pleased to see that treatment with Telavancin resulted in numerically higher cure rates of 82%, compared with 74% for vancomycin. The difference did not reach statistical significance but is clinically meaningful," said Ralph Corey, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the Duke University Medical Center and the principal investigator in the ATTAIN studies. "Additionally, encouraging trends in clinical outcomes were seen in patients treated with Telavancin compared with those treated with vancomycin in many of the most severely ill patient populations, including those with bacteremia, high APACHE scores, the elderly, and those with severe renal impairment. And, in clinically evaluable patients with VAP, the cure rate was 80% for Telavancin compared with 68% for vancomycin."
"We believe that this was the largest double-blind, randomized, clinical program ever conducted in patients with Gram-positive HAP, and included the most patients infected with MRSA," said Michael Kitt, M.D., Senior Vice President of Development at Theravance. "These early results are from a very robust dataset and we look forward to presenting additional analyses as our understanding evolves."
Analysis of the safety database showed that 82% of Telavancin-treated patients and 81% of those who received vancomycin experienced one or more treatment-emergent adverse events. The most common adverse events were diarrhea, constipation and anemia, which all occurred at similar incidences in both treatment groups. Additionally, the incidence of renal adverse events was similar in the Telavancin (10%) and vancomycin (8%) treatment groups. With regard to changes in the QTc interval, there were similar proportions of patients in each group who experienced a post-baseline maximum value of greater than 500 milliseconds or a maximum change from baseline of greater than 60 milliseconds.
"In addition to the robust outcome data, we were pleased with the safety and tolerability of Telavancin in this vulnerable patient population," stated William E. Fitzsimmons, Pharm.D., Senior Vice President, Research and Development at Astellas Pharma US, Inc., an affiliate of Astellas Pharma Inc., the worldwide business partner for the development and commercialization of Telavancin. "We are excited about the results of the ATTAIN 1 and ATTAIN 2 studies and look forward to working with Theravance in bringing this potential new treatment to patients."
The HAP program consisted of two large, multi-center, multinational, double-blind, randomized Phase 3 clinical studies, ATTAIN 1 and ATTAIN 2, in which 1,503 patients were enrolled and treated, 464 of whom were infected with MRSA. Patients with HAP suspected or proven to be caused by Gram-positive bacteria were randomized (1:1) to receive either Telavancin 10 mg/kg IV once daily or vancomycin 1 g IV every 12hr (the protocols allowed vancomycin dosage to be optimized per site-specific guidelines). For patients with suspected or proven polymicrobial infections involving Gram-negative and/or anaerobic bacteria in addition to the Gram-positive organisms for which study medication therapy was used, aztreonam, piperacillin-tazobactam, and/or metronidazole was allowed. The objective of each study was non-inferiority of Telavancin versus vancomycin in clinical cure rate at the test-of-cure visit. The program also included a key objective of superiority in clinical cure rate of Telavancin versus vancomycin in the pooled patients with MRSA infections from ATTAIN 1 and ATTAIN 2. Determination of clinical cure was based upon physician-judged resolution of clinical signs and symptoms of HAP.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
The company has scheduled a conference call to discuss this announcement today at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. To participate in the live call by telephone, please dial 888-778-8914 from the U.S., or 913-312-0399 for international callers. Those interested in listening to the conference call live via the internet may do so by visiting the company's web site at www.theravance.com. To listen to the live call, please go to the web site 15 minutes prior to its start to register, download, and install any necessary audio software.
A replay of the conference call will be available on the company's web site for 30 days through January 4, 2008. An audio replay will also be available through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on December 19, 2007 by dialing 888-203-1112 from the U.S., or 719-457-0820 for international callers, and entering confirmation code 6825479.
About Theravance
Theravance is a biopharmaceutical company with a pipeline of internally discovered product candidates. Theravance is focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule medicines across a number of therapeutic areas including respiratory disease, bacterial infections and gastrointestinal motility dysfunction. Of the five programs in development, four are in late stage -- its Telavancin program focusing on treating serious Gram-positive bacterial infections with Astellas Pharma Inc., the Gastrointestinal Motility Dysfunction program, the Beyond Advair collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline plc, and TD-1792 for the treatment of serious Gram-positive infections. By leveraging its proprietary insight of multivalency toward drug discovery focused on validated targets, Theravance is pursuing a next generation strategy designed to discover superior medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.theravance.com.
About Telavancin Collaboration
Theravance and Astellas Pharma Inc. (Astellas) have a collaboration arrangement for the development and commercialization of Telavancin worldwide. Under the terms of the collaboration, Theravance will lead the development of and U.S. regulatory process for Telavancin for the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) and HAP, and will collaborate substantially with Astellas in marketing in the United States for the first three years. Astellas will lead all other development, regulatory, manufacturing, sales and marketing activities.
About Astellas
Astellas is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world through the provision of innovative and reliable pharmaceutical products. The organization is committed to becoming a global pharmaceutical company by combining outstanding R&D and marketing capabilities and continuing to grow in the world pharmaceutical market. Astellas Pharma US, Inc. located in Deerfield, Illinois, is a US affiliate of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc. For more information about Astellas Pharma US, Inc., please visit its website at www.astellas.com/us.
THERAVANCE®, the Theravance logo, and MEDICINES THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE® are registered trademarks of Theravance, Inc.
This press release contains and the conference call will contain certain "forward-looking" statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding, among other things, statements relating to goals, plans, objectives and future events. Theravance intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 21E of the Exchange Act and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Examples of such statements include statements relating to the goals, timing and expected results of clinical and preclinical studies, statements regarding the potential benefits and mechanisms of action of drug candidates, statements concerning the goals and timing of seeking regulatory approval of our product candidates (including with respect to Telavancin statements regarding any expectation that we will be able to respond fully or adequately to FDA's requests using currently existing clinical data, any expectation that the third-party manufacturer will successfully address the cGMP issues the FDA has noted, and any expectation that the FDA will approve the Telavancin NDA on the basis of existing preclinical and clinical data or at all), the enabling capabilities of Theravance's approach to drug discovery and its proprietary insights, statements concerning expectations for product candidates through development and commercialization and projections of revenue and other financial items. These statements are based on the current estimates and assumptions of the management of Theravance as of the date of this press release and the conference call and are subject to risks, uncertainties, changes in circumstances, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results of Theravance to be materially different from those reflected in its forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include, among others, the potential that results of clinical or preclinical studies indicate product candidates are unsafe, ineffective, inferior or not superior, and delays or failure to achieve regulatory approvals, risks of collaborating with third parties to develop and commercialize products and risks of relying on third-party manufacturers for the supply of our product candidates. These and other risks are described in greater detail under the heading "Risk Factors" contained in Item 1A of Theravance's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 7, 2007 and the risks discussed in our other filings with the SEC. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Theravance assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements.
Source: Theravance
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Healthcare Industry News: Berlex Laboratories
Biopharmaceuticals Personnel
News Release - August 2, 2012
Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Expands Industry Expertise with Five New Executive Hires
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 2, 2012 -- (Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network) -- Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (Inspiration) announced today that it has added new leaders who will play pivotal roles as the company moves toward commercialization of products in late-stage development for hemophilia. Inspiration has appointed Robert Corcoran as Senior Vice President, Quality, Mike Keavany as Vice President of Commercial Operations, North America, Mark De Rosch, Ph.D., as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Neil Schauer, Ph.D., as Vice President, Process Sciences, and Lorrie Ferraro as Vice President, Human Resources.
Mr. Corcoran brings extensive quality and biopharmaceutical operations experience to Inspiration, serving most recently as Vice President of Quality at Aegerion Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Aegerion, Mr. Corcoran served as Vice President of Quality at Shire Human Genetic Therapies/TKT, with responsibility for global quality operations spanning six sites. He also spent 12 years at Genetics Institute/Wyeth in positions of increasing responsibility, where he made key contributions to the development and commercialization of hemophilia products. Mr. Corcoran received his M.S. from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and his B.S. from the Catholic University of America.
Mr. Keavany brings over 15 years of hemophilia commercial experience to Inspiration. Most recently, Mr. Keavany served as Vice President of Sales and Operations at CSL Behring, where he led three sales teams and launched six products in a variety of rare diseases, including hemophilia. Before joining CSL, he served as Vice President of Specialty Sales at Wyeth. In this position, he led their Hemophilia, Oncology and Transplant teams. Earlier in his career, he helped build Genetics Institute's first sales organization and launched the first recombinant FIX. He previously spent 15 years with Zeneca in positions of increasing responsibility in Sales, Marketing and Managed Care. Mr. Keavany received his B.S. from Western New England College.
Dr. De Rosch will lead global regulatory affairs at Inspiration, managing activities and relationships with regulatory agencies around the world. Immediately prior to joining Inspiration, Dr. De Rosch was Senior Director of Global Regulatory Strategy at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. In this position, he led the global submission team for a new therapy targeting an underlying defect in cystic fibrosis, which was recently approved in the U.S. Before joining Vertex, he served as Director of Regulatory Affairs at Berlex Laboratories, Inc. He began his career as a research chemist at Mallinckrodt Medical, Inc. and Diatide, before transitioning into roles in product development and regulatory affairs. Dr. De Rosch earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego and his B.S. at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside.
As Vice President, Process Sciences, Dr. Schauer will work across teams at Inspiration to further develop the company's scientific, technical and operational capabilities. Before joining Inspiration, he served as Senior Director, Process Development, Global Biologics Research and Development at Hospira, where he held primary responsibility for the technical oversight of drug substance and drug product process development activities for Hospira's growing portfolio of biosimilar products. Dr. Schauer also served previously as Director, DSP Research and Development at Millipore Corporation. Earlier in his career, Dr. Schauer built experience in process development and manufacturing sciences with positions at Lexigen/EMD (Merck) and Biogen Idec, following 13 years at Genetics Institute/Wyeth in roles of increasing responsibility. Dr. Schauer earned his Ph.D. at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Ms. Ferraro will serve as Vice President, Human Resources, and will be responsible for overseeing the global planning, development, implementation and administration of the company's human resources strategies and programs. Immediately prior to joining Inspiration, Ms. Ferraro served as Vice President, Human Resources at PAREXEL International, the global biopharmaceutical services organization. Prior to PAREXEL, she was Global Director of Human Resources at NetGenesis, Axis Communications and Applied Science and Technology. Ms. Ferraro is certified nationally as a Global Professional of Human Resources and Senior Professional in Human Resources through the Society for HR, and is a Certified Compensation Professional through World at Work. She received her B.S. in International Business from Franklin Pierce College.
"The addition of Bob, Mike, Mark, Neil and Lorrie will bring more than 100 years of combined experience at a variety of leading biopharmaceutical organizations—including specific expertise in hemophilia and other rare diseases—to the Inspiration team," said John P. Butler, Chief Executive Officer of Inspiration. "I am confident that they will each play an integral role in supporting our success as we transition Inspiration to a fully integrated commercial company."
All five hires will be based at Inspiration headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
About Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals
As the only biopharmaceutical company dedicated solely to hemophilia, Inspiration is committed to improving the care of people with this condition by broadening treatment choices, expanding global access to care and advancing innovative therapies. Founded by two families whose sons have hemophilia, Inspiration is inspired to make a difference in the lives of people impacted by hemophilia around the world. Inspiration's lead product candidates are IB1001, an investigational intravenous recombinant factor IX being developed for the treatment of hemophilia B, and OBI-1, an investigational recombinant porcine factor VIII being developed for the treatment of serious bleeds in patients with congenital hemophilia A with inhibitors or acquired hemophilia A.
Source: Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals
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Disclaimer: This page is kept for historical purposes, but the content is no longer actively updated. For more on NASA Science, visit https://science.nasa.gov.
Earth's Inconstant Magnetic Field
Earth's Inconstant
Our planet's magnetic field is in a constant state of change, say researchers who are beginning to understand how it behaves and why.
Listen to this story via streaming audio, a downloadable file, or get help.
December 29, 2003: Every few years, scientist Larry Newitt of the Geological Survey of Canada goes hunting. He grabs his gloves, parka, a fancy compass, hops on a plane and flies out over the Canadian arctic. Not much stirs among the scattered islands and sea ice, but Newitt's prey is there--always moving, shifting, elusive.
His quarry is Earth's north magnetic pole.
At the moment it's located in northern Canada, about 600 km from the nearest town: Resolute Bay, population 300, where a popular T-shirt reads "Resolute Bay isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from here." Newitt stops there for snacks and supplies--and refuge when the weather gets bad. "Which is often," he says.
Right: The movement of Earth's north magnetic pole across the Canadian arctic, 1831--2001. Credit: Geological Survey of Canada. [more]
Scientists have long known that the magnetic pole moves. James Ross located the pole for the first time in 1831 after an exhausting arctic journey during which his ship got stuck in the ice for four years. No one returned until the next century. In 1904, Roald Amundsen found the pole again and discovered that it had moved--at least 50 km since the days of Ross.
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The pole kept going during the 20th century, north at an average speed of 10 km per year, lately accelerating "to 40 km per year," says Newitt. At this rate it will exit North America and reach Siberia in a few decades.
Keeping track of the north magnetic pole is Newitt's job. "We usually go out and check its location once every few years," he says. "We'll have to make more trips now that it is moving so quickly."
Earth's magnetic field is changing in other ways, too: Compass needles in Africa, for instance, are drifting about 1 degree per decade. And globally the magnetic field has weakened 10% since the 19th century. When this was mentioned by researchers at a recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union, many newspapers carried the story. A typical headline: "Is Earth's magnetic field collapsing?"
Probably not. As remarkable as these changes sound, "they're mild compared to what Earth's magnetic field has done in the past," says University of California professor Gary Glatzmaier.
Sometimes the field completely flips. The north and the south poles swap places. Such reversals, recorded in the magnetism of ancient rocks, are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals averaging about 300,000 years; the last one was 780,000 years ago. Are we overdue for another? No one knows.
Left: Magnetic stripes around mid-ocean ridges reveal the history of Earth's magnetic field for millions of years. The study of Earth's past magnetism is called paleomagnetism. Image credit: USGS. [more]
According to Glatzmaier, the ongoing 10% decline doesn't mean that a reversal is imminent. "The field is increasing or decreasing all the time," he says. "We know this from studies of the paleomagnetic record." Earth's present-day magnetic field is, in fact, much stronger than normal. The dipole moment, a measure of the intensity of the magnetic field, is now 8 × 1022 amps × m2. That's twice the million-year average of 4× 1022 amps × m2.
To understand what's happening, says Glatzmaier, we have to take a trip ... to the center of the Earth where the magnetic field is produced.
At the heart of our planet lies a solid iron ball, about as hot as the surface of the sun. Researchers call it "the inner core." It's really a world within a world. The inner core is 70% as wide as the moon. It spins at its own rate, as much as 0.2° of longitude per year faster than the Earth above it, and it has its own ocean: a very deep layer of liquid iron known as "the outer core."
Right: a schematic diagram of Earth's interior. The outer core is the source of the geomagnetic field.
Earth's magnetic field comes from this ocean of iron, which is an electrically conducting fluid in constant motion. Sitting atop the hot inner core, the liquid outer core seethes and roils like water in a pan on a hot stove. The outer core also has "hurricanes"--whirlpools powered by the Coriolis forces of Earth's rotation. These complex motions generate our planet's magnetism through a process called the dynamo effect.
Using the equations of magnetohydrodynamics, a branch of physics dealing with conducting fluids and magnetic fields, Glatzmaier and colleague Paul Roberts have created a supercomputer model of Earth's interior. Their software heats the inner core, stirs the metallic ocean above it, then calculates the resulting magnetic field. They run their code for hundreds of thousands of simulated years and watch what happens.
What they see mimics the real Earth: The magnetic field waxes and wanes, poles drift and, occasionally, flip. Change is normal, they've learned. And no wonder. The source of the field, the outer core, is itself seething, swirling, turbulent. "It's chaotic down there," notes Glatzmaier. The changes we detect on our planet's surface are a sign of that inner chaos.
They've also learned what happens during a magnetic flip. Reversals take a few thousand years to complete, and during that time--contrary to popular belief--the magnetic field does not vanish. "It just gets more complicated," says Glatzmaier. Magnetic lines of force near Earth's surface become twisted and tangled, and magnetic poles pop up in unaccustomed places. A south magnetic pole might emerge over Africa, for instance, or a north pole over Tahiti. Weird. But it's still a planetary magnetic field, and it still protects us from space radiation and solar storms.
Above: Supercomputer models of Earth's magnetic field. On the left is a normal dipolar magnetic field, typical of the long years between polarity reversals. On the right is the sort of complicated magnetic field Earth has during the upheaval of a reversal. [more]
And, as a bonus, Tahiti could be a great place to see the Northern Lights. In such a time, Larry Newitt's job would be different. Instead of shivering in Resolute Bay, he could enjoy the warm South Pacific, hopping from island to island, hunting for magnetic poles while auroras danced overhead.
Sometimes, maybe, a little change can be a good thing.
Help Us Track Winter Storms. Join NASA’...
NASA Launches New Mission to Monitor...
NASA Drought Research Shows Value of...
NASA Highlights Science Engagement at...
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Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
Home > Products > Wally Driven to Win
Wally Driven to Win
Inducted to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2014, harness driver Wally Hennessey grew up as a "backstretch kid" at the Charlottetown Driving Park on Prince Edward Island.
The commitment to hard work and dedication instilled in him by his parents propelled him on to many of harness racing's grandest stages, behind some of the sport's greatest horses.
Gary MacDougall's biography includes interviews with many who have known Wally throughout his life and career. The 200+ page soft cover book also includes black and white photos provided by family and friends as well as some of the best photographers in the harness racing industry.
Copyright © 2022 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame | POS and Ecommerce by Shopify
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Archive | January 2012
Regency Coin — What Did it Cost?
In Proper Conduct, the heroine spends a good deal of time worrying about money that is not there, particular after her father spends nearly 1,000 pounds on a horse. Not an excessive sum to someone such as the Prince Regent, whose racing stud farm cost him 30,000 pounds a year. But all these numbers seemed to need a bit perspective.
We also have to remember that back in the 1800’s England was not on a decimal system–you had to know your farthings, pennies, and shillings. And coins were far more common for use than any paper money. Banknotes–slips of paper that promised payment for a set amount–were initially issued by individual banks. In the late 1600’s the Bank of England was established and by the late 1700’s their notes were viewed as being as good as gold (or silver). But Scottish banks issue their own notes until the mid 1800’s, and other private banks o issue their own notes until the mid 1800’s, and the last English private banknote was issued in the early 1900’s.
Banknotes began to be standardized in the mid 1700’s, with ten and five pound notes appearing. These were all hand-lettered and signed–and were viewed by many with deep suspicion. A coin, after all, was to hold the value of itself within it’s metal. And for many, a bit of gold or silver in hand was better than any promise given in a bit of paper. Banknotes were much easier to forge than any coin–another good reason for anyone to prefer payment in solid coin.
So we look to coinage as the most common form of currency.
In the Regency, we have as the main coins denominations:
Farthing – four farthing made a penny
Penny or Pence – twelve pennies (or twelvepence) made a shilling
Shilling – five shillings made a crown
Pound – twenty shillings made a pound
Guinea – twenty-one shillings made a guinea
In ledgers, a pound is often written with the pound mark–£. Shilling is written as an “s” or a slash mark, as in 6/ is six shillings. And a penny is written up as “d” for denarius, a Roman silver coin that had the same value as the English penny. So 4d is four pence.
Coinage in use in the Regency included:
Gold for one, two, five and half-guinea coins
Silver for one, two, three, four, and six penny (or pence), shilling, and crown coins
Copper for half-pence and farthing coins
Two-penny coins were called tuppence. And there were all sorts of slang names for coins including a quid (pound), a bob (shilling), and a goldfinch (guinea).
Due to a shortage of copper and silver coins in the late 1700’s, firms began to use tokens to pay wages. There was also a growth in payments by foreign coins at this time.
The annual expenses of a great house could run between 5,000 and 6,000 pounds a year including housekeeping, repairs, stables, parklands, gardens, home farm costs, servants, and taxes.
Mrs. Whitney’s Boarding School for Young Ladies at Buckingham cost twelve guineas a year, and one guinea extra if tea and sugar were required to be served.
In Bath, one paid two guineas were paid for subscription balls, five shillings for concert tickets, and ten shillings sixpence for a subscription to the booksellers.
With an income of 400 pounds a year, one could employ two maids, one groom and keep one horse in London. On 700 hundred a year, one could have one manservant, three maids and two horses. With an income of 1,000 pounds a year, one could have three female servants, a coachman, a footman, two carriages and a pair of horses in London.
There were three to four hundred families whose income was over 10,000 pounds a year, due to vast land holdings (hence, these were called “The four hundred” — it was a small world at the top).
During the London season, the lease on house in the West End could cost as much as 1,000 pounds.
Anyone with a debt of twenty pounds or more could be sent to debtor’s prison. However, a member of Parliament could not be imprisoned while Parliament was sitting.
The capital to secure an estate was approximately thirty times the desired income–so, if you want to make 1,000 pounds a year, you need 30,000 to secure the amount of good land that could produce such an income.
The Earl of Egremont saw a rise in income due to land rentals from 12,976 pounds in 1791 to 34,000 pounds in 1824.
In Somerset (where Proper Conduct is set) 30 acres for let went for 35 pounds per annum, with the tenant paying all taxes except land tax.
In 1801, a 100-acre estate in Sussex sold for 3,500 pounds.
In 1804, due to the silver shortage, the Bank of England issued light-weight token silver coins for one shilling, three shilling and six pence coins.
From 1811 to 1812, an estimated 250,000 people lived comfortably on more than seven hundred pounds a year each. A half million shopkeepers made a hundred and fifty pounds a year each, two million artisans lived on the edge of poverty at 55 pounds per annum, and one and one half million laborers earned only 30 pounds a year each.
In 1813, a cow fetched about 15 pounds at the market, while a ewe went for 55 to 72 shillings.
In 1816, a new British one pound coin made of gold, the sovereign, began to be produced.
In 1820, 1,100 years after the first English silver pennies were minted, the last British silver pennies were minted.
This entry was posted on January 14, 2012, in Research and tagged coins, guinea, money, proper conduct, regency, Regency Romance, Regencyy England. 10 Comments
New Cover, New Book – Paths of Desire
Paths of Desire comes out as an eBook this week—my first venture both into self-publishing and my first Regency Historical romance. I’ve been bringing out my backlist of Regency romances, and that’s encouraged me to take this next step.
There are several reasons to take “Paths” on this path, the main one being I really want the book out in print and in reader’s hands. It’s a book about courage and stepping out onto risky paths, so it seems to be one that really fits into new ventures.
It’s a book I wrote a few years back—my step into writing a longer Regency Historical. But it ended up being smack in the middle between being a Historical romance and a Historical novel—there are elements of both, and therefore it’s a hard book to market to publishers. Traditional publishers don’t know what to do with it. It covers ten years, a long time for a romance, and the hero is a married man—unhappily so. That’s a really hard sell to any romance publisher. But that’s something I wanted to deal with in this story. Fiction is a place to look at life, and romances can tackle issues of infidelity and what does it mean to love someone when you have ties to others. Yes, I could have pulled that out, changed the character to better fit the market, but this one stuck with me—this story needed to be told.
It’s a story about paths crossing—about how sometimes the timing for a relationship isn’t right, and then it is. The heroine struggles with her own issues—her need for security after having grown up on the streets of London and seen her younger brother die due to not having the money for a doctor. And also her realization that her acting talents are never going to get her to the top of her craft—limitations are a hard thing for anyone to come to terms with. The hero has both a loveless marriage with a wife who doesn’t really like sex, and a wanderlust that keeps taking him from home—he’s an adventurer, and the wrong man to love if you’re looking for that illusion of security. As with all my books, I wanted to give all the characters a “star moment” in the book—that was fun. It was great fun to research London theaters of the early 1800’s and to also be able to use Lady Hester Stanhope in a story—she’s the larger than life type of character that you could never hope to create and have believable because she defies all the conventions of the time.
So “Paths” is about to take its own path—and it’s actually been hard to let it go (compulsive editing and checking and I know I’ve still left typos in there or formatting stuff where Word is not playing nice with eBook formatting). But it’s been an adventure to get this ready to go out in the world—it’ll be another one to see if readers like something that’s a little different. But that’s the point of the book—we all have to find our own paths, and the courage to follow them if we’re to be worthy of our desires.
Look for Paths of Desire as Amazon Kindle eBook, exclusive to Amazon until April 2012.
This entry was posted on January 8, 2012, in On the Shelves, writing and tagged books, covers, Paths of Desire, writing. 4 Comments
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Home / Basketball / Giannis Antetokounmpo tops NBA MVP Ladder
Giannis Antetokounmpo tops NBA MVP Ladder
By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
The weekly review of NBA MVP contenders ranked Giannis Antetokounmpo in the top position. The Greek Freak topped the Kia MVP Ladder for the third week in a row and fourth time overall since the start of the 2021-22 NBA Regular Season.
Antetokounmpo, 27, went all the way to capturing the NBA MVP award in 2019 and 2020. In 2021, he missed the three-peat but was instead named Finals MVP leading the Milwaukee Bucks to the second NBA championship in franchise history.
Powering the Bucks to the convincing win versus the Golden State Warriors and fellow MVP contender Stephen Curry build a strong case for staying on top of the MVP Ladder. He produced his 28th career triple-double and third of the season behind 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. As for his performance through the season, 28.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game shape his effort.
The 2021 MVP, Nikola Jokic follows second in the 2021-22 MVP Ladder. He has yet to rank first so far this season. Curry has enjoyed five top rankings and former teammate Kevin Durant has grabbed first place the remaining three weeks.
Kia NBA MVP Ladder
1. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks)
2. Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)
3. Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets)
4. Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)
5. DeMar DeRozan (Chicago Bulls)
6. Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors)
7. Ja Morant (Memphis Grizzlies)
8. Chris Paul (Phoenix Suns)
9. LeBron James (Los Angeles Lakers)
10. Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz)
11-15. Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks), James Harden (Brooklyn Nets), Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls), Fred VanVleet (Toronto Raptors)
The post Giannis Antetokounmpo tops NBA MVP Ladder appeared first on Eurohoops.
Bernard Tomic on flashy lifestyle: It doesn’t fulfill you at the end of the day
NHL Rumors: Rangers, Oilers, Bruins, Nordiques, Klingberg
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News@SIOP - July 2017 - North America
SIOP North America has been focusing on ways in which to increase the North American membership and engagement in SIOP. Currently, there are 291 SIOP-NA members, 238 in the US and 53 in Canada. This still remains a low percentage of pediatric oncologists in our two countries!
How can we get more North American pediatric oncologists involved in SIOP? To publicize the value of SIOP, SIOP NA hosted the fall educational session at the annual meeting of the Children’s Oncology Group featuring the many ways in which SIOP can add value to one’s career: as a place to learn about approaches to treatment that differ from the standards in the US/Canada, as a place to host a meeting to achieve consensus on new international standards, or as a way to get involved in global health, including work in low and middle income countries. SIOP NA is currently in discussions with the American Society of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology (ASPHO) about ways in which to highlight the work of SIOP at the annual meeting of ASPHO as well.
Another exciting development has been the work led by SIOP-NA members Jeremy Slone, Jaime Libes, Mark Zobeck, and Rachael Kunkel in conjunction with Neil Ranasinghe (UK) and Jennifer Geel (South Africa) of the Paediatric Oncology International Network for Training and Education (POINTE, www.cancerpointe.com ), launched at the SIOP Congress in Dublin in 2016. The goal of POINTE is to promote training of health care workers in LMICs to treat children with cancer. POINTE does not create any new materials but serves as a central repository of existing information. For example, an online database on the POINTE website contains around 70 unique training opportunities for a variety of health care workers. By consolidating information on these programs onto one site, they are more accessible to everyone. Additionally, over 35 experts in various disciplines of pediatric oncology have made themselves available to their LMIC colleagues for consultation through POINTE’s Find an Expert program. Numerous educational materials are available on the website. There are no logins or passwords required: everything is available to everyone. The site that has been accessed from 100 countries since its launch in October 2016. The group will present an abstract at the SIOP Congress in Washington DC in October regarding their use of social media to promote the site and its content. New features are being developed and the website is currently being updated to improve the user experience. Please visit the site, connect on social media, share any programs or materials you have, and consider applying to become listed as an expert.
www.cancerpointe.com
info@cancerpointe.com
https://www.facebook.com/cancerPOINTE/
https://twitter.com/cancerpointe
We hope to see all of you at the Congress in Washington DC in October. Reach out to friends and colleagues and encourage them to attend so that they can first-hand experience all the ways in which SIOP can broaden and deepen their careers.
A. Lindsay Frazier, MD, ScM
Continental President, North America
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Trump "Apologizes"
Joined: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,435
Trump: ‘I Know That Was Pretty Bad, But Let’s Just Say You’re Going To Want To Save Your Energy’
NEW YORK—Advising pundits, reporters, and the general public to rein in their indignation for the time being, Republican nominee Donald Trump admitted Friday that he knew his recently unearthed comments about groping women and attempting to engage them in extramarital affairs were pretty bad, but that everyone “should really save [their] energy” for what he was going to say next. “I’m fully aware that what I was recorded saying about using my celebrity status to sexually assault women is extremely vile and disturbing, but I want you to know that you’re really best saving your outrage and disgust for some thoughts I still haven’t verbalized yet, believe me,” said Trump, noting that if everyone worked themselves into a frenzy at his assertion that he couldn’t help but make aggressive advances on every woman he finds physically attractive or his use of the phrase “grab them by the pussy,” they simply wouldn’t have the stamina to denounce a series of forthcoming statements that the candidate assured would be even more reprehensible. “Look, I get it. What I said, frankly, should not be accepted in civil society, let alone by a major party candidate for president of the United States, but we’ve got another whole month until the election—I’m going to say a lot more unconscionably repulsive things. Trust me, you will be much more sick to your stomach with the stuff I’m going to say after this. It’s going to be so, so revolting.” At press time, Trump was standing at 44 percent in the national polls.
Last edited by Atypical; 10-10-2016 at 10:54 AM.
"I’m going to say a lot more unconscionably repulsive things. Trust me, you will be much more sick to your stomach with the stuff I’m going to say. It’s going to be so, so revolting." Here we are, one year later, and how prophetic those statements turned out to be! Of course, Trump did not really say those things -- but he easily could have.
FiveThirtyEight is a website which provides continuously updated analysis of political opinion polls. (The name comes from the number of electors in the Electoral College.) Today, October 5, 2017, Trump's approval rating is at 38.8%. His disapproval rating is at 55.6%.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com...roval-ratings/
In the latest Marist poll, conducted October 15-17, Trump's approval rating has sunk even lower, thanks to his idiotic tweets, his lies and accusations, his failure to reform healthcare, his Muslim travel ban proposals, his proposed tax cuts for the wealthy and his feuds with John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Rex Tillerson and Kim Jong-un.
Only 36% have a favorable opinion of Trump, while 58% have an unfavorable opinion and 6% inexplicably had no opinion.
www.pollingreport.com/trump_fav.htm
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The History of the Artificial Heart
In the past years, we have seen impeccable advancement in medicine. Indeed, this field has come a long way. Conditions that were usually considered lethal are now treated easily. Pandemics that killed thousands and millions are now small infections that don’t require serious attention.
Similarly, organ replacement and transplantation have changed the concept of life. Cardiac arrest was once a major cause of death worldwide. But now, thanks to the untiring efforts of medical engineers, this condition can also be reversed.
We have not only made medications but replacements too. From letting a person die because of medical insufficiency to now replacing the non-functional heart with a small piece of machine, it was indeed an evolution. But this journey wasn’t easy. The artificial heart that seems to be a piece of cake right now took a long process to develop. After dozens of prototypes and failed experiments, we finally have something we can appreciate and use.
If you want to learn more about this device that can replace a human heart, then stick till the end. In this article, we will explore the history of the artificial heart while covering all the facts and details about it. Let’s get started.
The First Theory for Artificial Heart
For the very first time, the idea of an artificial heart or blood support system was proposed in theory by Julien Jean Cesar LeGallois. This theory was put forward in 1812, but the practical work started in the 1920s.
It was only a unique fantasy until an inventor named Charles Lindbergh decided to work on this mission. He traveled all across the world and finally teamed up with a surgeon named Alexis Carrel to seriously work on an artificial heart.
They both worked tirelessly and invented the concept of temporary heart support, which made open-heart surgery possible in the first place. This was a big step in cardiology, and due to their exemplary work, they received Nobel Prize for their efforts.
First Trial of Total Artificial Heart
The efforts of Carrel and Lindbergh opened up the gates to innovation in this field. Many years later, in 1937, Dr. Vladimir came up with an idea of a total artificial heart.
It was very different than the first temporary blood pumping system. Because as opposed to providing support for temporary means, it was meant to be a permanent replacement of the heart.
When he was developing it, he came across many failed versions. But then after several tries, he finally made a machine that he could experiment on. And for the very first time, it was put on a dog who survived for 5 hours, post-surgery.
If you think about it, the machine was a failure. But in a way, it proved that it was possible to build a functional artificial heart.
The Famous Lung Heart Machine
Two years after the failed experiment of the total artificial heart, a patient lost his life during surgery. Even though his heart had support, there was no way for gaseous exchange as his lungs were detached from the heart. This patient wasn’t unique because many other lives were lost due to the same reason. But unlike other doctors, the surgical team of this patient decided to stop this vicious cycle.
After this case, Dr. Demikhov produced a machine that could not only support the heart but also provide a gaseous exchange facility to the patient as well. This ensured that the patient wouldn’t collapse in between surgery, and longer operation started to take place with significant ease. This is how the famous heart-lung machine was introduced in the market.
It took a lot of time to make this device, but the results were worth it. From 1953 until now, this machine has been modified several times. But it has proved to be a lifesaver for many patients. In the market, it is known as Mayo Gibbon Type Oxygenator.
Efforts for Total Artificial Heart
Even though the first total artificial heart wasn’t perfect, its idea still proved to be a remarkable effort. And after Dr.Vladimir, many other doctors came forward with their versions of an artificial heart.
Some remarkable examples include the work done by Dr. TetsuzoAkutsu and Dr. Willem Kolff, whose model worked for 1.5 hours. Similarly, Domingo Liotta produced his version of TAH, which worked for 13 hours.
But Liotta was different from the rest. He didn’t stop with his unsuccessful experiment. He continued the journey and kept improving his TAH, and in 1969, his work was tested on a human being. At first, it was a success, but after 64 hours of function, the condition of the patient started to decline. The pumping capacity of the mechanical heart wasn’t enough for the patient’s needs. Therefore, a human heart transplant was arranged to save him.
But the point to note here is, the doctors realized that it was possible to carry out blood circulation in a human body using a machine. The artificial heart by Liotta was the very first time when a human heart was successfully replaced with an electronic device.
Invention of AbioCor
Another important invention in the field of cardiology includes AbioCor. It was the first artificial heart that could be used without external help. Of course, it had batteries that needed charging, but other than that, it was great. FDA approved it to be used, but only when there was a bi-ventricular failure. Meaning, it could only be applied to a patient whose ventricles weren’t working at all.
Until now, it has been used on only one patient, and that patient died due to complications. Thus, one can say that even though it was better concealed and provided ease of movement, it lacked functionality.
Development of Syncardia Temporary
A device named Jarvik 7 was introduced in 1982. It was an air-pumping machine that could copy the mechanism of the human heart, efficiently. Unlike previous tries, this was made with utter attention to details. That is why the FDA approved it for clinical trials.
Three patients received this machine, and even though they all expired, they still managed to survive for some time. The complications in each patient were different, ranging from pneumonia to multi-organ failure. Because Jarvik7 was a common denominator, it was rejected as well.
But the workers behind this model didn’t lose hope in their work. They kept working on Jarvik 7, and finally, in 1991 they relaunched it with a new name, Syncardia Temporary. They got FDA approval to use this machine as a bridge to a heart transplant, which means when a patient had no other option but a heart transplant, they were put on this device until a donor was arranged. It was a temporary setup, but it was better than leaving the patients high and dry.
The Syncardia Freedom
In 2010, the company holders of Syncardia launched Syncardia Freedom. This device basically allows the patient to get discharged from the hospital and live his life somewhat normally. With this setup, the patient has to carry a 13-pound machine with him at all times to keep his heart pumping. But at least he gets the chance to get out of the hospital bed.
From storing organs in an icebox to now using machines as organs, we have done some great work in the field of medicine. The subject of artificial heart has always been a big deal in the medicinal world. Considering the rate of fatalities due to cardiac problems, it is not surprising to see the eagerness of the workers in the cardiology department.
For decades, biomedical engineers have invested their lives to create a machine that can save people. Because even though the human heart transplant is a great option, the donor to recipient ratio is too high. There aren’t enough people who can give their hearts to others. Also, the patients who do receive a new heart, mostly die due to various complications.
In such conditions, creating an artificial heart only makes sense. Until now, we’ve seen many versions of this machine, but the ones that have been used readily include Syncardia freedom and Syncardia temporary. On the other hand, a lung-heart machine is most commonly used in open-heart surgeries.
With the enormous speed of advancement, who knows, maybe one day, we will find a better replacement for the human heart. Till then, we can work on our health and try to prevent conditions that can lead to the need for heart replacement.
What is a Visiting Professor?
Endangered or Forgotten Languages
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Alexa Mcdonough Death – Obituary, first woman to lead a major political party in Canada – cause of death
By Peace Udofia | January 15, 2022
Alexa Mcdonough Obituary, Death – Alexa McDonough, the first woman to lead a major political party in Canada, has passed away today after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 77. May she rest in peace. Today is a sad day for Canada. Alexa Mcdonough was the first woman to lead a major political party in Canada. She dedicated her life to social justice, championed women in politics, and never backed down from a challenge. We’ll miss her dearly. Rest in power Alexa.
Alexa McDonough, who led the Nova Scotia NDP in 1980, making her the first woman to lead a major political party in Canada, has died at the age of 77. The former federal and Nova Scotia NDP leader died Saturday at a nursing home in Halifax after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, her family said.
Affectionately known as Alexa, McDonough changed the face of Canadian politics and paved the way for other women to rise to the top of political power. Even after retiring from politics 14 years ago, she has been an inspiration to generations of New Democrats.
A former social worker’s passion for social justice led her to her first admission to the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia, where she helped shape the party’s social policy platform in the 1970 provincial election. But by 1974, disillusioned with the government of then-Prime Minister Gerald Regan, she found a new home in the NDP and never left.
McDonough never shied away from the challenge, twice failing to win a seat in the House of Commons before launching a campaign for the leadership of the NDP in Nova Scotia in 1980. The fact that she doesn’t have a seat in the provincial council and doesn’t have much support in Cape Breton, the seat of her leadership rival, hasn’t hindered her efforts.
She handily defeated both men to become Canada’s first woman to lead a major political party. Nearly a year later, in the provincial election, she won a seat in Halifax’s Chebukto district, the party’s first victory in mainland Nova Scotia. It’s a shocking dismay, especially for a Liberal incumbent who mocked McDonough’s chances of winning on Election Day.
For the next three years, she was the one and only women’s party in the provincial capital, home of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly. The NDP didn’t meet the two-seat threshold to trigger additional public funding or gain recognized party status, so McDonough didn’t have time to enjoy her first political victory. She had to keep fighting to hold John Buchanan’s PC government accountable with a skeleton staff and a limited budget.
Alexa Mcdonough dead and obituary, first woman to lead a major political party in Canada – cause of death
Although McDonough was a solitary voice during her first three years in the legislature, she was a staunch critic of the way the “Old Boys Club,” patronage, and members of the House of Representatives behaved. She said she was personally attacked by sexism and misogyny as a result.
There is so little consideration or consideration for female representation in MLAs that the province doesn’t even provide separate restrooms for female MLAs. McDonough had to stand in line to use the public restroom on the floor below the conference room, while her male colleagues had access to restrooms just steps from their seats.
Despite her personal popularity, McDonough failed to lead the party beyond the three-seat highs it reached in the 1984 and 1993 elections. On November 19, 1994, she resigned from her leadership role without a clear plan for her future.
“It’s very, very important to me that you understand that I’m doing this with joy and no regrets,” she told supporters the day she announced her decision. Her caucus colleague John Holm, who would take over as leader, paid tribute to her at a party event later that year: “I have not only loved and respected Alexa, but admired her tremendous courage and integrity over the years.”
Just a year later, McDonough’s strong desire for change, especially for women, prompted her to face a new challenge, federal politics. She threw her hat into the ring in an attempt to win the leadership of Canada’s NDP in what is widely seen as a long-standing challenge to considered frontrunners Swindon Robinson and Lorne Nystrom.
Category: Obituary
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Mint Press News
Ricardo Hausmann’s “Morning After” for Venezuela: The Neoliberal Brain Behind Juan Guaido’s Economic Agenda
SNLS | March 13, 2019
If you’ve followed Venezuela-related news on social media, you’ve undoubtedly stumbled across a video released by comedian Joanna Hausmann in which she promises to tell you, “What’s Happening in Venezuela: Just the Facts.” Despite a title designed to instill confidence in the uninformed viewer, upon closer examination the “facts” presented in Hausman’s video hardly stand the test of reality.
Hausmann, for example, attempted to pass off dubious assertions that Venezuelan opposition leader “Juan Guaidó is not right wing,” and that he “did not just declare himself president” of the country. She also claimed that President Nicolas Maduro “made up” the National Constituent Assembly, neglecting to mention that that governing body was clearly defined in the country’s 1999 Constitution, and was ratified by 71.8 percent of the country through a democratic vote.
Hausmann’s performance ended with a teary-eyed appeal for sympathy: “On a personal level… my father is exiled from going back home.” For a video dedicated to “just the facts,” Hausmann’s rant omitted an especially pertinent piece of information: her exiled father and the rest of her family are no ordinary Venezuelans, and are, in fact, key players in the bid to bring down the elected government.
Much of Hausmann’s script echoed talking points outlined by her father, Ricardo Hausmann, in a 2018 article ominously entitled “D-Day Venezuela.” The piece amounted to a plea for the U.S. to depose Maduro by force, with Hausman arguing that “military intervention by a coalition of regional forces may be the only way to end a man-made famine threatening millions of lives.”
But Ricardo Hausmann is much more than a prominent pundit. He is one of the West’s leading neoliberal economists, who played an unsavory role during the 1980s and ’90s in devising policies that enabled the looting of Venezuela’s economy by international capital and provoked devastating social turmoil.
Ricardo Hausmann attends the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Rio de Janeiro, April 16, 2009. Ricardo Moraes | AP
Hausmann emerged among a group of neoliberal economists gathered around the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administración (IESA), a private university in Caracas. They came to be known in Venezuela as “the IESA Boys,” a not-so-affectionate reference to the Chicago Boys who were imported into Chile from the University of Chicago in 1973 to devise shock-therapy policies for Augusto Pinochet and his military junta.
The popular rejection of the IESA Boys’ agenda began with the Carazao of 1989, a massive revolt that consumed the capital of Caracas when poor and working-class Venezuelans rioted in protest of an IMF package that mandated harsh austerity. Thousands of dead civilians and three years later, Hausman entered government to impose more shock therapy on the most vulnerable Venezuelans, making the rise of Hugo Chávez as president in 1998 practically inevitable.
While unknown to most Venezuelans, Hausmann remains a key player in his country’s tumultuous politics. During a talk at the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston in November 2018, he eerily predicted Guaidó’s self-proclaimed presidency, telling the crowd “the international community is now focused on the idea that… January 10th is the end of the presidential period of Nicolás Maduro.”
“On January 11th, Nicolás Maduro will not be recognized as… the legitimate president of Venezuela,” Hausmann anticipated. “I think that’s an important date.”
On January 11th, when Juan Guaidó declared himself president of Venezuela, the Harvard professor’s prophecy was fulfilled.
Almost two months later, Guaidó appointed Hausman to serve as his representative at the Inter-American Development Bank. This was perhaps the best signal of what lies in store for Venezuela if Guaidó and his benefactors in the Trump administration achieve their goal of regime change. Hausmann’s return to power spells the restoration of the IESA Boys’ agenda, bringing neoliberal austerity back with a vengeance. A detailed look at his history is a preview of what lurks on the horizon for the poor and working-class Venezuelans whose lives improved the most throughout the era of Chavismo.
The wreckage of the IESA Boys
The neoliberal Venezuelan economist Juan Cristóbal Nagel described the neoliberal economics plan he favored for his country during the late 1980’s as “your basic Washington Consensus recipe.” Nagel said the plan consisted of the following ingredients: an end to price controls on basic goods and subsidies for gasoline; the privatization of state utilities; a decision to float the country’s exchange rate; and the lowering of tariffs. The recipe was popularly known as “El Gran Viraje,” or the Great Turn, to radical free-market capitalism.
While campaigning for Venezuela’s 1988 presidential elections, Carlos Andrés Pérez of the social-democratic Acción Democrática Party (AD) slammed the International Monetary Fund as a “neutron bomb that killed people but left buildings standing.” Immediately upon taking office, however, Pérez filled the IMF’s toxic economic prescription for Venezuela’s ailing economy, accepting a massive loan that completed the “Gran Viraje.”
The reforms led to a 30 percent hike in bus fares, announced in February 1989, prompting masses of workers to flood the streets in cities nationwide to publicly reject the bitter pill Pérez was forcing down their throats. Pérez opted to violently suppress the uprising, known as the “Caracazo,” declaring a national emergency and deploying the military to extinguish the revolt. By the time the it was over, anywhere between 300 to 3,000 people were dead, with piles of bodies discovered in mass graves outside of Caracas, the casualties of execution-style killings.
Residents of Petare, in eastern Caracas, bring down the bodies of two men killed during the Caracazo on Feb. 28, 1989. Fresso | AP
Ricardo Hausmann entered Venezuela’s government under Pérez, serving as his Planning and Finance Minister from 1992 to 1993 while sitting on the board of the country’s Central Bank. Hausman has claimed that he was at Oxford University when the Caracazo erupted, though he had already made his mark on the government’s economic policies.
“Hausmann will tell you that he was abroad at Oxford during the Caracazo rebellion,” says George Ciccariello-Maher, author of We Created Chávez: A People’s History of the Venezuelan Revolution.
“While this may be true” explained Ciccariello-Maher, “[Hausmann] had already spent years in a number of government positions going back to the mid-1980s, and as a key ‘IESA boy,’ spreading neoliberal doctrine from his professorship at the Institute.”
Indeed, before Pérez tapped Hausmann to serve as planning minister, the economist had worked also as a professor at the IESA.
“It was a classic bait-and-switch,” said Ciccariello-Maher. “Pérez had just been elected using anti-neoliberal rhetoric, but he immediately appointed an IESA-dominated cabinet and did the opposite.”
In his book Windfall to Curse: Oil and Industrialization in Venezuela, economist Jonathan Di John wrote that “Pérez was greatly influenced” by IESA academics, characterizing them as “an elite group… who had no party affiliation and were champions of radical, neoliberal reform.”
According to Di John, this group initiated “rapid liberalization reforms,” specifically in trade policy, including reducing the maximum tariff “from 135 percent, one of the highest in the region, to 20 percent by 1992.” A year later, that rate would fall to 10 percent. In other words, Pérez, Hausmann, and the “ISEA Boys” had opened up Venezuela for a free run by multinational corporations while gutting whatever was left of the welfare state.
In 1994, Hausmann received his golden parachute with a post as chief economist for the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington. This institution, which claims to “improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean” by providing “financial and technical support to reduce poverty and inequality,” is just another mechanism for imposing the Washington consensus. The U.S. controls 30 percent of the bank’s voting power over financial decisions even though it is not situated in Latin America, where the bank is supposed to do its work. Meanwhile, all 26 Caribbean and Latin American member states carry only a 50 percent sway over the bank’s decisions.
While Hausmann perpetuated his brand of neoliberalism from Washington, a movement was building in the barracks and barrios of Venezuela to exert popular control over the economy. It was led by a charismatic military man named Hugo Chávez.
Revolt against the austerity agenda
During the late 1980s, as Lt. Col. Chávez watched the wholesale ravaging of his country’s economy by foreign capital, he formed a cadre of populist officers called the Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement 200. In 1992, Chávez led the officers in an attempted military coup against the government of Pérez, hoping to ride the wave of popular resentment for the neoliberal policies enforced by Hausmann and his fellow IESA boys. Though he initially failed, Chávez captured the mood of the Venezuelan public, including sectors of the middle class, and emerged as a national folk hero.
Even mainstream U.S. media conceded that Chávez had a point. At the time, the Washington Post identified him as the leader of a popular movement challenging Perez “for not instituting a viable democracy and stewarding an economic program that has not served the country’s poor.”
In contrast to the Post’s contemporary coverage of Venezuela, which reads like an information-warfare campaign on behalf of the anti-Chávez opposition, the Post at that time freely conceded public dissatisfaction with the IESA reforms: “Many people around Caracas banged on pots and pans today and shouted out of their windows in support of the rebels,” the paper noted.
It added:
Venezuela, the third-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cartel, has been wracked by unrest. Critics accuse the government of not distributing oil riches to the public, citing corruption as a cause.”
For its part, the New York Times reported:
The coup attempt followed violent protests and labor unrest arising from a growing disparity between rich and poor in Venezuela. The Government has admitted that only 57 percent of Venezuelans are able to afford more than one meal a day.”
The Guardian also described the military insurrection as a popular insurgency against the ruthless austerity program of Pérez’s IESA Boys:
The underlying cause of the military unrest is undoubtedly the widespread social discontent. When he came back to power three years ago, President Pérez was expected to repeat the expansionist policies of his first term of office in the late 1970s when Venezuela was one of the richest countries in the developing world, enjoying the easy wealth brought by its huge oil reserves.
But Mr. Pérez overnight adopted the liberal economic policies dominant in most of the Western world. He cut back heavily on government spending, opening up the economy to market forces and international competition.”
Across the board, mainstream media identified the economic program imposed under the watch of Hausmann and his colleagues as the force driving Pérez’s unpopularity. Though Chávez failed to take control of the state in 1992, calling for his comrades to lay down arms following his failed revolt, he declared that “now is the time to reflect,” promising “new situations will come.”
“The same month that Chávez led a failed coup against the Pérez government, Hausmann officially joined the government as planning minister,” recalled Ciccariello-Maher, adding:
It’s not clear to me whether it’s better to have been in charge when the government instituted a brutal neoliberal reform package, or to willingly join that same government after it had massacred hundreds, if not thousands, who resisted the reforms.”
Six years later, Chávez won democratic elections for president, convening a national assembly and referendum to rewrite the country’s constitution and alter the character of the Venezuelan state in a dramatic fashion.
By this time, Hausmann and his wife, Ana Julia Jatar, who also served in the Pérez administration, had left for high-flying careers Washington, where Hausmann took over as Chief Economist at the Inter-American Development Bank. While her husband worked at the bank, Jatar was a Senior Fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue, a think-tank primarily funded by Chevron, the Ford Foundation, USAID, and her husband’s employer.
In 2000, Hausman took a professorial job at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, watching and waiting for an opportunity to return to power in his home country.
“Neoliberalism is the path to hell”
Back in Venezuela, the Bolivarian Revolution ushered in by Chávez provided an antidote to the IESA method that had produced so much social damage to Venezuela’s majority.
“The Bolivarian Revolution was an indirect response to neoliberalism, born of mass resistance in the streets,” claims Ciccariello-Maher, observing that while “in power, it remained largely faithful to that mission.”
Ciccariello-Maher added that “it would be difficult to exaggerate the impact Chavismo has had on Venezuelan society,” because for the first time in its history “oil was put at the service of the people. …Most important, however, the poor – so long excluded – became ‘protagonists’ in the political life of Venezuela, and active participants in local direct democracy.”
Chávez moved to nationalize not only the country’s prosperous oil resources, booting ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips from the field, but also centers of agricultural production, telecommunications, and mineral mining. Considering Venezuela sits atop the largest oil reserves in the world, as well as sizeable gold stocks, this achievement was no small feat.
In his 1998 inaugural address, Chávez cited Pope John Paul II as having described capitalism as “savage,” using the words of His Holiness to highlight the social damage left behind by Hausmann and his colleagues. Chavez declared:
It is savage that in a country like ours more than half of preschoolers are not going to preschool. It is savage to know that only one out of every five children who enter preschool, only one in five finishes elementary school. That is savage because that is the future of this country.”
In 2002, just one month after facing down a U.S.-backed coup attempt, Chávez addressed a conference in Madrid declaring “neoliberalism is the path to hell.” Unlike Pérez, Venezuela’s new leader would not sell out his promise to reject the IMF’s austerity agenda.
The Hausmann clan versus Chavismo
During the Chávez era, the Hausmann family was not content to sit on the sidelines and watch him build a “21st-century socialism.”
Joanna’s mother, Ana Julia Jatar, assumed a position as executive director of Súmate, a U.S.-backed “civil society group” formed by right-wing darling María Corina Machado in order to “build democracy” in Venezuela.
In 2003, Súmate received $53,400 from the National Endowment for Democracy “to work on referendum and general electoral activities,” according to a U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.
The initiative represented Jatar and Machado’s attempt to remove Chávez from power through popular recall. Yet the public rejected the referendum by a whopping 59 percent margin, in results certified by the Carter Center and Organization of American States.
Seeking to defend his wife’s failed project, Ricardo Hausmann co-authored a paper that he insisted “open[ed] the door to… hypotheses of fraud” marring the vote. His argument was thoroughly rebuked in an extensive study issued by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, which determined Hausmann and his co-author, M.I.T’s Roberto Rigobon, “provide no evidence of fraud.”
Súmate’s subsequent efforts to label the vote as fraudulent were also rebuffed in a comprehensive report released by the Carter Center, which concluded: “the Aug. 15 vote clearly expressed the will of the Venezuelan electorate.” The Carter Center concluded that it “did not observe, and has not received, credible evidence of fraud that would have changed the outcome of the vote.”
Despite Súmate’s failures, President George W. Bush welcomed Machado to the White House in 2005. In the Oval Office, Bush heralded her efforts “to defend the electoral and constitutional rights of all Venezuelan citizens” and monitor the country’s elections.
Sociologist William I. Robinson told Venezuelanalysis that Súmate was part of “a full-blown operation, a massive foreign-policy operation to undermine the Venezuelan revolution, to overthrow the government of Hugo Chávez, and to reinstall the elite back in power in Venezuela.”
Such elites include multiple members of Joanna Hausmann’s clan.
“My extended family, they go out on these protests,” the YouTube comedian declared in her video. “My uncle is in jail for simply being a journalist.”
That uncle is Ana Julia’s brother, Braulio Jatar, and he was not “simply” a journalist, but also a lawyer and businessman jailed not for “journalism,” but rather for extortion, fraud, and other financial crimes.
Ana Julia Jatar and her father, Braulio Jatar Dotti. Photo | NotiEspartano
Ana Julia and Braulio were the children of Braulio Jatar Dotti, who served as Secretary for Parliamentary and Municipal Affairs in the ruling Democratic Action party while it was engaged in a violent battle against the armed Revolutionary Left Movement.
The independent Chilean news site El Desconcierto described Braulio Sr. as having been “in charge of eliminating the leftist groups” in Venezuela at the time. In 1963, he literally wrote the book on how to disable the “extreme left” and guerillas. It was called, “Disabling the Extreme Left and the Corian Guerillas.”
Hausmann’s power play for “opening up the oil industry”
Fast forward to 2019, and Joanna Hausmann sits comfortably in her New York City apartment, complaining that “the Venezuelan economy is a disaster in a country that sits on the world’s largest oil reserves.”
Meanwhile, Joanna’s father, Ricardo, has been barnstorming the U.S. to drum up support at elite think tanks for a coup he clearly saw on the horizon. During his November 2018 address to the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston, which functions as a roundtable for U.S. oil executives, Hausman laid out his agenda for “the morning after” regime change.
The economist called for an end to the Bolivarian government’s policy of investing oil wealth into Venezuelan society, stating his support for “private investment in the oil industry without PDVSA participation.” In fact, Hausmann imagined “the opening up of the oil industry” as a top item on the new government’s agenda.
The selection of Ricardo Hausmann to serve at the Inter-American Development Bank by Guaidó’s U.S. handlers demonstrates how central neoliberal economics are to his own administration.
“This is about people,” Joanna Hausmann insisted at the end of her YouTube performance; “this is about people wanting to take their country back.”
Those people include her family, and they are not your average Venezuelans.
Top Photo | Ricardo Hausmann speaks at the “Us and prosperity” conference organized by the Rafael del Pino Foundation on June 7, 2017. in Madrid, Spain. Photo | Rafael del Pino Foundation | Creative Commons
Anya Parampil is a Washington, DC-based journalist. She previously hosted a daily progressive afternoon news program called In Question on RT America. She has produced and reported several documentaries, including on the ground reports from the Korean peninsula and Palestine.
The post Ricardo Hausmann’s “Morning After” for Venezuela: The Neoliberal Brain Behind Juan Guaido’s Economic Agenda appeared first on MintPress News.
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Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking
Revision as of 10:29, 26 November 2018 by Tori (talk | contribs) (→Bibliography)
5 U.S.C. §§ 801-808 (2012); enacted March 29, 1996, by Pub. L. No. 104-121, § 251, 110 Stat. 847, 868–74, Mar. 29, 1996.
Lead Agencies:
No single agency is charged with overseeing the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Various executive and legislative branch agencies have responsibilities:
Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, determines which rules are “major” rules.
Agencies must submit rules to both Houses of Congress and the Government Accountability Office.
1.1 Summary of procedure
1.2 Major and non-major rules
1.3 Exemptions
1.4 Congressional Procedures
1.5 Judicial Review
1.6 Impact of the Law
2 Legislative History
3.2 OMB/OIRA Documents
3.3 GAO Documents
3.4 CRS Documents
3.5 Books and Articles
The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, enacted as title II of the Contract with America Advancement Act (Pub. L. No. 104-121), created a process for congressional review of agency rulemaking in Subtitle E. It added a new chapter 8 to title 5 of the U.S.C. In an effort to increase accountability for costly rules, the CRA mandates that agencies submit a copy to Congress. Congress then has the opportunity to use expedited procedures to pass a joint resolution of disapproval of the rule. It was effective upon enactment (Mar. 29, 1996).
Summary of procedure
The principal provisions of § 801 may be summarized briefly. Subsection 801(a)(1)(A) defines the basic procedure that an agency must follow after adopting a rule. Before a rule can take effect, agencies must submit a report to each House of Congress and to the Comptroller General (GAO) containing a copy of the rule and indicating whether is the rule qualifies as a major rule. In addition, agencies must provide a copy of any cost-benefit analysis of the rule and the agency statements made under any other acts (such as the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, or the Regulatory Flexibility Act). For major rules, the Comptroller has 15 days after submission to provide a report to the committees of jurisdiction in each House of Congress.
Major and non-major rules
The term “rule” as used in the CRA in § 804(3) follows the definition found in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The term “rule,” therefore, includes rules that may be exempt from the APA’s notice-and comment procedures, such as statements of general policy, interpretive rules, and rules relating to government grants, benefits, contracts, etc. A “major rule” is defined as a rule that has resulted in, or is likely to result in, an annual effect on the economy of one hundred million dollars or more, a major increase in cost of prices for consumers or industry, or significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, or competition of prices in foreign markets. See 5 U.S.C. § 804(2). Section 801(a)(3) provides that the effective date of non-major rules is not delayed by the CRA, but the effective date of major rules is delayed at least 60 days from the date the rule is published in the Federal Register or from the date the agency’s report on the rule is submitted, whichever is later (unless a resolution of disapproval is defeated during that time). However, all rules for which the agency has invoked the “good cause” exemption in the APA from notice and comment procedures are effective immediately, as are rules concerning hunting, fishing, and camping. See 5 U.S.C. § 808.
The following types of rules are exempted from congressional review:
rules of particular applicability (including rules that approve or prescribe future rates, wages, prices, etc.);
rules relating to agency management or personnel; and
rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice that do not substantially affect the rights or obligations of nonagency parties. See 5 U.S.C. § 804(3).
Also excluded from congressional review are rules the FCC promulgates under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and Federal Reserve Board monetary rules.
The CRA allows for any member of Congress to introduce a resolution of disapproval. The disapproval takes effect with agreement of both Houses of Congress and presentment to the President. If the President vetoes the joint resolution, Congress then has the opportunity to override the veto.
The CRA also contains complicated provisions in § 802 addressing how days are counted for purposes of the expedited legislative process to consider joint resolutions of disapproval. Consider, for example, the timing instruction that as long as a resolution of disapproval is introduced within 60 calendar days of receipt of the rule and report (but not counting periods when either house is adjourned for longer than three days), there is no time limit on congressional action on that resolution during that Congress. Moreover, if a major rule is submitted to Congress in the final 60 days of a congressional session, the CRA provides Congress with a special extended review period.
There are also procedures, primarily designed to prevent Senate filibusters, that require a discharge from committee and floor debate on the resolution when at least 30 senators so petition. While the CRA does not grant a similar expedited procedure to representatives in the House, it does allow for circumvention of House committees in other instances. For example, when a disapproval resolution is sent from the Senate to the House, the latter cannot refer the resolution to a committee. The same rule also applies for disapproval resolutions sent from the House to the Senate.
Under § 801(f), once a resolution of disapproval is enacted, a new rule that had already gone into effect is “treated as though such rule had never taken effect.” Moreover, when a rule is disapproved, a new rule that is “substantially the same” as the disapproved rule may not be issued unless authorized by subsequent law.
The judicial review provision of the CRA is set forth in § 805 and states that no action or omission in the chapter is subject to judicial review. Section 801(g) provides that if Congress does not enact a joint resolution of disapproval, “no court or agency may infer any intent of the Congress from any action or inaction.” Notwithstanding the seemingly unqualified preclusion of judicial review, some district courts have concluded that the provision does not bar jurisdiction to review an agency’s compliance with the CRA, i.e., “whether an agency rule is in effect that should have been reported to Congress pursuant to the CRA.” United States v. S. Ind. Gas & Elec. Co., 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20936 (S.D. Ind. Oct. 24, 2002).
Impact of the Law
While a large number of rules are sent to Congress each week, the impact of the CRA on the rulemaking process was initially slight. During the first two decades after enactment, only one rule was disapproved, and few resolutions of disapproval were introduced. The first disapproval of a rule occurred in March 2001 when Republican congressional leadership, supported by the Bush Administration, successfully used the CRA to overturn OSHA’s controversial ergonomic regulations. President Clinton had issued final ergonomic regulations in November 2000, but the rules did not take effect until January 16, 2001, four days before he left office. See 65 Fed. Reg. 68,262 (Nov. 14, 2000). After the inauguration of President George W. Bush, the Republican-controlled Senate and House voted to approve the Joint Resolution of disapproval, and President Bush signed it into law.
During the Trump administration, the CRA has seen increased usage with the enactment of 15 additional disapproval resolutions in 2017. The Federal Register’s website compiles all Resolutions of Disapproval under the Congressional Review Act.
Concerned by the perceived impotence of the CRA, congressional opponents of regulation have trumpeted and introduced the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act (REINS Act) in the 112th, 113th, 114th, and 115th Congresses. Unlike under the CRA, a major rule facing scrutiny under REINS would generally only take effect if Congress enacted a joint resolution of approval. In 2013, 2015, and 2017, the Republican-controlled House succeeded in passing such a bill along party lines.
The legislation that was to become the CRA was included in several Senate “comprehensive regulatory reform bills” considered in the 104th Congress. The Judiciary Committee’s bill, S. 343, introduced by Majority Leader Dole (R-KS) on February 2, 1995, did not contain this provision originally. Subcommittee hearings were held on February 22 and full committee hearings on March 17. On May 26, S. 343 was jointly reported to the Senate by both the Judiciary and Governmental Affairs Committee and contained a simplified version of the CRA.
S. 343 ultimately failed to achieve cloture in floor votes and thus was not passed. Other bills that did not reach a floor vote included a similar provision: the Governmental Affairs Committee bill, S. 291, introduced by Senator Roth (R-DE). S. 291 was reported by that committee on May 25, 1995, and an alternative bill introduced in June by the ranking member of that committee, Senator Glenn (D-OH), S. 1001.
Although these comprehensive bills lacked enough bipartisan support to be enacted, the congressional review provisions attracted support from both parties. In the next session, Representative Archer (R-TX) introduced H.R. 3136 (the bill that ultimately was enacted as Pub. L. No. 104-121) on March 29, 1996. Its title at the time of introduction was “A bill to provide for enactment of the Senior Citizens’ Right to Work Act of 1996, the Line Item Veto Act, and the Small Business Growth and Fairness Act of 1996, and to provide for a permanent increase in the public debt limit.” Subtitle E contained the more complicated version of the CRA that was subsequently enacted. The bill was reported for floor action by the Rules Committee as the “Contract With America Advancement Act of 1996.” (See H. Res 392, approved by recorded vote in the House on March 28, 1996.)
The bill was amended to add several other “regulatory reform” provisions acceptable to the White House—some of which derived from H.R. 9, the “Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act of 1995” (the legislation introduced at the beginning of the 104th Congress to implement the original “Contract With America”). As passed by the House, H.R. 3136 was quickly sent to the Senate and was approved by unanimous consent. It was signed into law by President Clinton the next day.
Regulatory Reform, Hearings Before the S. Comm. on Gov'tal Affairs, 104th Cong. (1995).
Comprehensive Regulatory Reform Act of 1995, Hearings Before the Subcomm. on Admin. Oversight and the Courts, S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 104th Cong. (1995).
Regulatory Reform, Hearing Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 104th Cong. (1995).
S. 291, Regulatory Reform Act of 1995, S. Rep. No. 104-88 (1995).
Comprehensive Regulatory Reform Act of 1995: S.343, S. Rep. No. 104-89 (1995).
H. Rep. No. 104-500 (1996).
Oversight Hearings on the Congressional Review Act, Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Commercial and Admin. Law of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 105th Congress (1997).
“REINS Act of 2013”: Promoting Jobs, Growth and American Competitiveness, Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 113th Cong. (2013) (video).
Rulemakers Must Follow the Rules, Too: Oversight of Agency Compliance with the Congressional Review Act, Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 115th Cong. (2017) (video).
OMB/OIRA Documents
Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments, Agencies, and Independent Establishments, New Statutory Procedures for Regulations (Apr. 2, 1996).
Form for Submission of Federal Rules Under the Congressional Review Act (Mar. 23, 1999).
GAO Documents
Opinions and Testimonies concerning the Congressional Review Act.
GAO/GGD-98-102R, Regulatory Reform: Major Rules Submitted for Congressional Review During the First 2 Years (letter to Members of Congress) (1998).
T-OGC-98-55, Congressional Review Act: Update on Implementation and Coordination (1998).
B-281575, Comments on Whether EPA Interim Guidance Is a Rule Under the Congressional Review Act (1999).
GAO-06601T, Federal Rulemaking: Perspectives on 10 Years of Congressional Review Act Implementation (2006).
GAO-08-268T, Congressional Review Act, Statement of Gary Kepplinger, General Counsel, Before the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives (2007).
GAO-18-183, Federal Rulemaking: OMB Should Work with Agencies to Improve Congressional Review Act Compliance during and at the End of Presidents’ Terms (2018).
CRS Documents
Richard S. Beth, RL31160, Disapproval of Regulations by Congress: Procedure Under the Congressional Review Act (2001).
Morton Rosenberg, RL30116, Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking: An Update and Assessment of the Congressional Review Act After Ten Years (2006).
Curtis W. Copeland, RL34633, Congressional Review Act: Disapproval of Rules in a Subsequent Session of Congress (2008).
Curtis W. Copeland, R40997, Congressional Review Act: Rules Not Submitted to GAO and Congress (2009).
Valerie C. Brannon & Maeve P. Carey, R45248, The Congressional Review Act: Determining Which “Rules” Must Be Submitted to Congress (2018).
Robert S. Ballentine, Ethics in Environmental Regulatory Compliance - Conflicts Arising in a Transitional World, 58 S. Tex. L. Rev. 491 (2017).
Steven J. Balla, Legislative Organization and Congressional Review of Agency Regulations, 16 J. L. Econ. & Org. 424 (2000).
Matthew S. Brooker & Michael A. Livermore, Centralizing Congressional Oversight, 32 J. L. & Pol. S. 261 (2017).
Cary Coglianese & Gabriel Scheffler, What Congress’s Repeal Efforts Can Teach Us About Regulatory Reform, 3 Admin. L. Rev. Accord 43 (2017).
Daniel Cohen & Peter L. Strauss, Congressional Review of Agency Regulations, 49 Admin. L. Rev. 95 (1997).
Michael J. Cole, Interpreting the Congressional Review Act: Why the Courts Should Assert Judicial Review, Narrowly Construe “Substantially the Same,” and Decline to Defer to Agencies Under Chevron, 70 Admin. L. Rev. 53 (2018).
John Conyers, Jr., Henry Johnson, Jr., & David N. Cicilline, The Dangers of Legislating Based on Mythology: The Serious Risks Presented by the Anti-Regulatory Agenda of the 115th Congress and the Trump Administration, 54 Harv. J. On Legis. 365 (2017).
Sean D. Croston, Congress and the Courts Close Their Eyes: The Continuing Abdication of the Duty to Review Agencies’ Noncompliance with the Congressional Review Act, 62 Admin. L. Rev. 907 (2010).
Adam M. Finkel & Jason W. Sullivan, A Cost-Benefit Interpretation of the “Substantially Similar” Hurdle in the Congressional Review Act: Can OSHA Ever Utter the E-Word (Ergonomics) Again?, 63 Admin. L. Rev. 707 (2011).
Paul J. Larkin, Jr., Reawakening the Congressional Review Act, 41 Harv. J. L. & Pub. Pol’y 187 (2018).
Note, The Mysteries of the Congressional Review Act, 122 Harv. L. Rev. 2162 (2009).
William Alan Nelson, Unfaithful Execution of the Law: Congressional Interference with Agency Decision-Making, 42 Seton Hall Legis. J. 95 (2017).
David L. Noll, Deregulating Arbitration, 30 Loy. Consumer L. Rev. 51 (2017).
James T. O’Reilly, FDA Rulemaking After the 104th Congress: Major Rules Enter the Twilight Zone of Review, 51 Food & Drug L.J. 677 (1996).
Julie A. Parks, Comment, Lessons in Politics: Initial Use of the Congressional Review Act, 55 Admin. L. Rev. 187 (2003).
Peter A. Pfohl, Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking: The 104th Congress and the Salvage Timber Directive, 14 J. L. & Politics 1 (1998).
Morton Rosenberg, The Critical Need for Effective Congressional Review of Agency Rules: Background and Considerations for Incremental Reform (July 18, 2012) (report to ACUS).
Morton Rosenberg, Whatever Happened to Congressional Review of Rulemaking?: A Brief Overview, Assessment, and Proposal for Reform, 51 Admin. L. Rev. 1051 (1999).
Mark Seidenfeld, The Psychology of Accountability and the Political Review of Agency Rules, 51 Duke L. J. 1059 (2001).
Stuart Shapiro & Deanna Moran, The Checkered History of Regulatory Reform Since the APA, 19 N.Y.U. J. Legis. & Pub. Pol’y 141 (2016).
Brie D. Sherwin, Regulating Coal Ash Waste in the Trump Era, 37 Stan. Envtl. L. J. 75 (2017).
Paul R. Verkuil, The Wait is Over: Chevron as the Stealth Vermont Yankee, 75 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 921 (2007).
Christopher J. Walker, Restoring Congress’s Role in the Modern Administrative State, 116 Mich. L. Rev. 1101 (2018).
Title 5 U.S. Code, Chapter 8—Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking
§ 801. Congressional review
§ 802. Congressional disapproval procedure
§ 803. Special rule on statutory, regulatory, and judicial deadlines
§ 804. Definitions
§ 805. Judicial review
§ 806. Applicability; severability
§ 807. Exemption for monetary policy
§ 808. Effective date of certain rules
Retrieved from "https://sourcebook.acus.gov/index.php?title=Congressional_Review_of_Agency_Rulemaking&oldid=1276"
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Home News Fast Facts on the New Basketball Deal for Mile One
Friday, July 16, 2021 - 2:45 PM
Fast Facts on the New Basketball Deal for Mile One
Since the announcement yesterday that St. John’s Sports and Entertainment Ltd. (SJSEL) has a tentative deal in place to bring an American Basketball Association League team to Mile One this season, Council has watched and listened to feedback from residents and sports fans and would like to clarify some misconceptions.
The teams, not the City or SJSEL, chose not to sign the lease.
In 2019, the City, SJSEL and the ownership of the Growler’s and Edge announced that we had reached a 10-year Agreement in Principle with exclusivity for the teams at Mile One. From the moment of that announcement until April of this year, we have been more than willing to sign a lease based on the Agreement in Principle. However, the teams have not signed.
Despite the fact that no lease was signed in 2019, SJSEL and Council agreed to allow the teams to play in our facility according to the terms of the Agreement in Principle.
In 2021, Deacon Sports & Entertainment and Atlantic Sports Enterprises (the ownership groups for the Growlers and Edge) asked for new terms on the 10-year Agreement in Principle which would increase the City’s subsidy to SJSEL. The City and Board declined this request. We did, however, confirm home ice territory for the Growlers and offered relief due to the COVID pandemic to both teams, set a deadline by which to complete negotiations and meet conditions - including payment of monies owed to local contractors and a resolution to the outstanding litigation regarding the LED ring.
The teams were not blindsided by our decision.
The Board notified the teams in April that their exclusivity to Mile One Centre was at an end and that SJSEL would begin accepting proposals from other organizations.
The allegations of bad faith by the Board and Management of SJSEL are unfounded.
SJSEL has a mandate to operate exceptional facilities that provide value to citizens, business and visitors by attracting events and activities that generate economic benefit and enhance community vibrancy.
Practically, that means we want to reach mutually agreeable terms with potential tenants that work not only for the business owners involved, but more importantly for the taxpayers and residents of the City of St. John’s.
We are seeking the best possible lease arrangements that guarantee a good price for rent, and an opportunity to profit from concessions and corporate sponsorships, so that costs to run this facility are covered to the greatest extent possible.
The Board and Management at SJSEL have been unfairly criticized. The City stands behind them in their efforts to get the best deal possible, all the while balancing efficient operations with the need for community entertainment and economic investment.
We will not release the terms of the tentative deal until the final deal is signed.
We are still in negotiations with 2001 Investments Limited and would not jeopardize those talks by releasing details at this juncture. However, once the lease is signed, we will release the terms and, if Deacon Investments is agreeable, we would also provide the proposal from their group to the public for comparison.
There has never been a formal offer on the table to purchase Mile One.
While there has been a lot of talk in the media about an offer to buy this facility, no formal offer has ever been received. That being said, SJSEL, the owner of Mile One Centre, is not in a position to meet with and discuss a potential sale with any one individual.
Mile One is an important asset for our City. It is an economic driver and a prime location for regional entertainment. Does it cost money to run? Yes. But so do all our recreational facilities.
Right now, the process of determining the condition of the building is underway, which would impact sale price. We believe that if a decision is made to sell, we need to have the best information possible so that we can get the fairest price possible.
We are very excited about the strong proposal offered, and we hope the community supports this new league.
In July, SJSEL were approached by a local interest group about bringing a basketball team to Mile One from the American Basketball Association. The American Basketball Association was first established in 1967 and merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976. The ABA was reformed in 2000 in partnership with the NBA and has been operating in harmony with them for the past 21 years.
We anticipate many exciting nights of basketball at Mile One this season, and we are more than willing to enter into lease negotiations to get the Growlers back at Mile One.
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The Art of Magic: Budgeting for Film & Television
JULY 17 AND 19, 2018
Time: Tuesday, July 17 from 4 to 9 p.m. and Thursday, July 19 from 4 to 7 p.m.
Location: Omega Institute, 150 Lake Drive, Rhinebeck, NY. Workshop is limited to 20 participants.
Fee: $325
Two day workshop led by producer Jonathan Burkhart – “I Dream Too Much” (2015), “Peace, Love & Misunderstanding” (2011), “Baby Steps”(1999) starring Kathy Bates.
Learn the fundamentals of Movie Magic budgeting software and gain expert guidance on budgeting approach from an industry professional. This workshop will prepare you for using this industry standard platform to budget your next film or television project and cover general approach to budgeting including research, scheduling, and pro-tips from a producer with over 30 years of professional experience.
This course does not include training on Movie Magic scheduling; scheduling approach will be covered. Trial versions of Movie Magic will be provided for use during the workshop.
Pre-requisites: In order to get the most out of this workshop, attendees should have an understanding of film/TV budgeting and will need a laptop for the workshop. Some homework will be assigned in between the sessions, so please plan accordingly.
4:00pm – 6:00pm Workshop
6:00pm – 6:45pm Dinner at Omega Dining Hall
Jonathan Burkhart
A little too early in his youth, 13, Jonathan worked as a cameraman on dozens of television shows, commercials and feature films. Some feature film credits include Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” and “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Mountain View” for John Sayles, “A Better Tomorrow” for John Woo, “Dazed and Confused” for Richard Linklater, “Roommates” for Peter Yates, and “Reversal of Fortune” for Barbet Schroeder.
Having his fill in the camera department, Jonathan went on to produce independent film, television, and theater. He produced the award winning film “Baby Steps” starring Kathy Bates, written and directed by Geoffrey Nauffts. Recently Jonathan produced several feature films for BCDF Pictures. “Higher Ground,” directed by Vera Farmiga, starring Vera, John Hawkes, Josh Leonard, Norbert Leo Butz. “Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding,” directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Jane Fonda, Catherine Keener, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Elizabeth Olsen, “The Last Keepers” directed by Maggie Greenwald, starring Aiden Quinn, Virginia Madsen, and Olympia Dukakis, and “Rhymes with Banana” directed by Joe Muszynski and Peter Hutchings. Starring Zosia Mamet, Jee Young Han, and Paul Iacono. Jonathan also produced “I Dream Too Much”, starring Eden Brolin, and License Plates, starring Robert Gorrie. In development are Jan Egleson’s “Military Working Dog,” and Geoffrey Naufft’s “Next Fall.”
Television projects include “Almost There”, a scripted series for DirecTV starring Steven Pasquale, “Ivy Dreams,” a feature documentary for AZN, “Must Do Disney” for Disney World Theme Parks, “Away We Go” by Jonathan Larson, and the “Tomorrow is Tonight Show” starring Ben Stiller for Comedy Central. Jonathan has also produced commercials for Time Warner, NY1, Honda, HGTV, The Walt Disney Company, Bionorica Pharmaceutical, Chase Bank, Nintendo, American Express, Prudential Life, Verizon, and the Ford Motor Company. Jonathan prefers producing so that he’s closer to spread sheets and the accounting office.
In theater, Jonathan produced the Tony nominated Broadway production of Mario Cantone’s “Laugh Whore,” which he also produced as television special for The Showtime Networks. He also produced the award winning play “Avow” with Bill C. Davis, and the 10th anniversary production of “RENT” on Broadway with the original cast. And there was “In Search of Cleo” written by and starring Gina Gershon performed at The Box, where drinks were free at the bar!
After losing his dear friend Jenifer Estess to ALS, Jonathan joined the stunningly successful Project ALS where he is most proud of his duties as event producer.
But wait, there’s more: Jonathan is the co-founder and president of the Nantucket Film Festival, dedicated to honoring screenwriters and their craft. The Festival launched in 1996 and has honored writers including Ring Lardner Jr., Walter Bernstein, Charlie Kaufman, Jay Presson Allan, James Schamus, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Jim Taylor, Alexander Payne, Paul Schrader, Steve Martin, Judd Apatow, Harold Ramis, Barry Levinson, and Michael Arndt. The film festival is Jonathan’s only source of fun.
Lastly, Jonathan is certified as an advanced trimix scuba diver and has dived all over the world to depths as much as 250’. When he can, he spends as much time underwater as possible. Though this has nothing to do with producing, Jonathan has learned to breath efficiently under water, which in turn tends to help during long shoot days.
Stockade Works wishes to thank our sponsors for their generous support of this program.
© 2022 Stockade Works
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Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation
Reflections of African SNDs on Our Experiences in Nairobi
Peace, USA
A Verdict on Blackwater
October 23, 2014 sndden
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
It took far too long, but four former gunslingers with the Black water Worldwide security firm have at last been held accountable for the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad in September 2007. It was one of the darkest episodes of America’s long war.
The verdict on Wednesday brings a measure of justice for the innocent victims and their families and offers some assurance that private contractors will not be allowed to operate with impunity in war zones. What it does not do is solve the problem of an American government that is still too dependent on private firms to supplement its military forces during overseas conflicts and is still unable to manage them effectively.
The Federal District Court in Washington found one defendant, Nicholas Slatten, guilty of murder and three others — Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty and Paul Slough — guilty of manslaughter and weapons charges. The men said they were ambushed by insurgents and that the civilian deaths were the unintended results of urban warfare. The jury concluded that the killings, which occurred when the contractors fired into the crowd using machine guns and grenade launchers, were criminal. One former Blackwater colleague told the court he saw “people completely unarmed, people doing nothing wrong, get shot.”
The killings inflamed tensions with Iraqis, who had good reason to doubt that anyone would be punished. The State Department, which used Blackwater to guard its diplomats, gave the contractors limited immunity at one point and there was evidence it gathered shell casings after the shooting to try to protect the firm, which has since been sold and renamed.
Seven months after the killings, the department even renewed the Blackwater contract. The case was bogged down in legal battles for years. A judge threw out the charges in 2009, but the case was reinstated on appeal.
The problem goes far beyond the four men who were convicted. Over more than a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the Balkans before that, contractors accounted for 50 percent or more of the American military force, according to a 2013 report by the Congressional Research Service. Many played noncombat support roles (transportation, construction, intelligence-gathering), but thousands were used to protect convoys, diplomats and others. The security guards, in particular, operated with no real legal accountability and were often viewed as reckless.
As the Nisour Square incident and the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison showed, contractors who feel they are outside of the law damage American credibility and strategic goals, cost billions of dollars in waste and fraud and create more anti-American insurgents.
Following the Blackwater debacle, there has been a sensible international response to the problem. More than 600 private security contractors have pledged to abide by a code of conduct that in theory should encourage more professional, ethical behavior.
In the meantime, the Pentagon and the State Department, under pressure from Congress, have improved their use and oversight of contractors but not nearly enough. The C.R.S. report said defense officials expect it will take at least until 2018 to put in place fully a better system of managing contractors on the battlefield. That date should certainly be moved up.
Although there had been talk of reducing reliance on private contractors, they seem likely to continue to play a central role in new American military missions. With the Blackwater verdict, the United States must fully commit itself to making sure that modern-day mercenaries are strictly managed and held accountable for their actions.
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New Sax Instructor Joins School of Music Faculty
Heidi Radtke Siberz, an Associate Instructor of Saxophone at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music from 2010–2013, will join the Butler University School of Music faculty this fall.
Siberz will take over for Nick Brightman, who will retire at the end of the 2014–2015 school year. She is currently a saxophone instructor with Franklin Community Schools and Stafford Music Academy in Bloomington, Indiana.
A frequent performer of new works, Siberz has been featured at the Indiana State Contemporary Music Festival and the Annual Festival of New Music at Ball State University. As a chamber artist, she is the alto saxophonist with the Obsidian Saxophone Quartet and also performs regularly with the Holographic New Music Ensemble. Her recent awards include the 2012 Mrs. Hong Pham Memorial Recognition Award for New Music Performance, which is given annually by the composition faculty at Indiana University.
Siberz is a candidate for a doctor of music in saxophone performance and literature from the Jacobs School. She earned her high school diploma from Interlochen Arts Academy, and a bachelor of music in saxophone performance, a bachelor of arts in political science, a master of science in library and information science, and a master of music in saxophone performance and literature from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
On January 31, 2015, Siberz and Director of Jazz Studies Matt Pivec will lead the first Butler Saxophone Day.
School of Music Introduces Jazz Studies Major
Irwin Library Introduces Several Changes This Fall
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Dr. James Merrick
Dr. James Merrick has served as a professor at universities and seminaries on both coasts of the U.S. Before entering the Catholic Church, he was for a decade an Anglican priest in both the U.S. and the U.K. Currently, he is a Lecturer at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Instructor for the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown’s Diaconate and Lay Ecclesial Ministry Program, and Theology and Latin Teacher at St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy in Boalsburg, PA. He regularly teaches classes on Old Testament, New Testament, St. Paul, Catholic Social Teaching, Trinity, Christology, Sacraments, and Anthropology.
Dr. Merrick holds a Master of Arts in Biblical and Systematic Theology and a Master of Theology in Church History from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Under the supervision of the late Professor John Webster, he attained a Ph.D. in Dogmatic Theology at King’s College, University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
Dr. Merrick serves as the Reviews Editor for Nova et Vetera. He has published articles and reviews in the Scottish Journal of Theology, Journal of Theological Studies, Journal of Theological Interpretation, the International Journal for Systematic Theology, European Journal of Theology, and Religious Studies Review. He also contributed entries to the New Dictionary of Theology and writes regularly for Ascension Press media and the St. Paul Center blog (see his “Mass in Vain: On Not Violating the Second Commandment at Mass” and “Word and Presence: On the Importance of the Liturgy of the Word”). He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and their five children.
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Employers Curtail Health Cost-Shifting to Workers
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Published by Nils Wright on December 30, 2021
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One of the health insurance trends that went largely unnoticed in 2021 was that employers halted cost-shifting to their employees by reducing or holding steady workers’ deductibles and other cost-sharing. That’s according to a new study by consulting firm Mercer, which points out that concerns about health care affordability for lower-wage workers, coupled with a difficult hiring environment and the need to attract and retain talent, has prompted many firms to not pass on cost-sharing in the form of higher deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. Additionally, despite average group health premiums growing 6.3% in 2021, employers did not increase employee’s share of premiums significantly. The trend is the result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a hot labor market, in which most companies are struggling to find staff as well as keep current employees from seeking out new opportunities. Companies are also adding extra benefits for workers and focusing on the overall health of their staff, who are demanding improved access to mental health and substance abuse benefits, and more. Mercer found that:
Among small employers (50-499 employees), the median deductible for individual coverage in a preferred provider organization dropped to $900 in 2021 from $1,000 the year prior.
Among large employers (500 or more workers), the median PPO deductible for individual coverage remained steady at $750.
Among large employers, the median individual deductible in high-deductible health plans dropped to $1,850 in 2021 from $2,000 in 2020.
Among small employers, the median individual deductible in HDHPs stayed steady at $2,800.
The average employee share of premiums for employees enrolled in an individual PPO plan rose just $7 to $167 in 2021, and $12 for family coverage ($590 to $602).
While PPOs are still the most popular type of group health plan in the country, the percentage of workers enrolled in HDHPs continues to grow, hitting 40% in 2021, up from 38% in 2020.
The other shoe
The pandemic forced a great deal of suffering on a large swath of Americans, creating a number of personal challenges to their mental and emotional health as well as help in dealing with substance abuse problems that also increased during the pandemic. As a result, employers have been increasing access to mental health and substance abuse services, with 74% of large businesses rating improved access as important or very important in the Mercer survey. The number is even higher for employers with 20,000 or more workers, with 86% of them rating access to these services as the most important benefits issue for them. “In today’s extremely tight labor market, generous health benefits can help tip the scales in attracting and retaining staff,” says Tracy Watts, national leader for U.S. Health Policy at Mercer. “Beyond that, in the wake of the pandemic many employers committed to help end health disparities, and ensuring care is affordable for their full workforce is an important part of that.”
Managing costs with no cost-shifting
Instead of cost-shifting, many employers are absorbing the higher premiums, which have averaged 6.3% in 2021, according to the study. Mercer found that 60% of employers aren’t making plan changes of any type in order to reduce cost increases. Employers are instead looking at ways to optimize their health benefits with quality initiatives, increased use of virtual care and personalizing benefits. Firms are also tapping into ways to control drug costs for their employees. This includes more closely evaluating their spending on expensive specialty drugs, such as biologics that are injected or infused. Employers are encouraging the use of biosimilars as lower-cost, clinically effective options.
Nils Wright
Health Expenses a Major Source of Mental Health Issues for U.S. Workers
© 2022 Strongside Solutions. All Rights Reserved. Muffin group
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Student Vote 2016 Nova Scotia Municipal & School Board Elections
Municipality Profiles
School Board Profiles
District of Yarmouth
Full name: Municipality of the District of Yarmouth
Website: www.district.yarmouth.ns.ca
Geographic region: Yarmouth County
In 2011, Yarmouth (Municipal district) had a population of 10,105, representing a percentage change of -1.9% from 2006. This compares to the national average growth of 5.9%.
In 2011, the percentage of the population aged 65 and over in Yarmouth, MD was 17.9%, compared with a national percentage of 14.8%. The percentage of the working age population (15 to 64) was 66.7% and the percentage of children aged 0 to 14 was 15.4%. In comparison, the national percentages were 68.5% for the population aged 15 to 64 and 16.7% for the population aged 0 to 14.
District of Yarmouth occupies a land area of 585.75 square kilometres with a population density of 17.3 persons per square kilometre. This compares to the provincial land area of 52,939.44 square kilometres with a population density of 17.4 persons per square kilometre.
89.8% of the population reported English only as mother tongue, 8.3% reported French only, and 1.1% reported a non-official language only, in 2011. In comparison, the provincial / territorial percentages were 91.8% for English only, 3.4% for French only and 4.1% for only non-official languages.
Election Notes
Method of Voting: Paper Ballot
Voter Turnout (2012): 42.07%
Offices to be elected:
7 Councillors (7 Districts)
Warden is elected by the members of council
Find Your Candidates: www.localdecisions.ca/find_your_candidates
Total annual expenses: $9,807,685 (2015 Actuals)
Total annual revenues: $10,076,133 (2015 Actuals)
Residential tax rate: 1.16% (2016-17)
Conditional transfers from government: $99,537
Unconditional transfers from government: $812,058
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Holding (Space for) Nippy: E. Jane, Ja’Tovia Gary, and Claudrena Harold in Conversation
Studio Museum
Though Whitney's talents, in my view, are singular, her achievements are singular, I find myself increasingly drawn to Whitney Houston as a cultural archivist, a beneficiary of the opportunities that were created by the graceful grind of Cissy Houston, Dionne Warwick, and New Hope Baptist Church.
When you look at her career, it's so interesting to think about the ways in which she shunned this idea of individual exceptionalism, and that she always rooted herself in community. Through her recordings, through the film soundtracks, and especially through the live performances, she often forced for us a gathering space where we all could bear witness to what Donny Hathaway called "the pool of Black genius." Consider the soundtrack Waiting to Exhale. She could have easily made that about her, about Whitney, and of course, we know that she would sell a gazillion units. That's what Clive Davis wanted her to do, but in turn, she turned this [soundtrack] into almost a sonic analog to Toni Cade Bambara's Black Woman's Anthology (1970). She said, "No, I'm gonna bring the community in." I was looking at her liner notes for that soundtrack. She said, "Wishes do come true." When I think about Whitney as an artist, I think her wish was simple, and that was to be in community. She refused to walk alone, whether she was sharing the stage with Kelly Price and Faith Evans, mentoring Brandy and Monica, or simply singing background vocals for her friends, BeBe and CeCe Winans, rooted in community.”
—Dr. Claudrena Harold
“This moment from the archive shows me so much, and in this particular instance, we're seeing Rosie O'Donnell show the audience members of her show that Whitney is indeed present backstage because she's being captured on CCTV footage. While this moment was a gag or meant to be a joke by O'Donnell, it reflects a general culture around the consumption of Whitney as a pop star.
Whitney's audience, label, colleagues, including her family, normalized Whitney's constant surveillance and why that is somewhat normal for a pop star. Never have I seen one be portrayed as a guarded prisoner, monitored through closed-circuit television, which, for me, rubs the policing of the Black body up against the surveillance of the pop star. In general, the surveillance of Houston falls under what Simone Brown describes as, ‘Matters where blackness meets surveillance and then reveals the ongoing racisms of unfinished emancipation.’"
—E. Jane
“I’ve been gathering all these amazing photos of [Whitney] and Robyn [Crawford] because I think it is just staggering to see them together. They're both so beautiful. They have such presence. Robyn is fine and we know Whitney is gorgeous, right? If I would've seen these two, something would have shifted for my little self, watching these two women.
I often think about respectability and this kind of foreclosure on her sexuality because of her dream. Robyn talks about this in the book—how they were really good friends and they dated for a while. They were straight-up lovers for a while. All of the speculation is confirmed in Robyn's text, and I really think that beyond the confirmation of their love for one another, both in the friendship realm and in the romantic space, and the respect for each other as friends, I really feel like her text was this kind of reparative, restorative gesture. While reading it, I would just feel like, “Wow, this woman is really doing her friend justice.” She's reminding us of her friend, who her friend was, 'cause we've forgotten. Many people have forgotten. I think through that often—the powerful friendship between these two and how Robyn had her back. … I think about these two. I think about the possibilities of what it would mean for them to exist in a world where there wasn't a kind of queer antagonism––where the pressure from the family, pressure from the record label, pressure from society was not hounding them. What would their lives have looked like? Would we still have her here? A question.”
—Ja’Tovia Gary
Read A Song For You by Robyn Crawford
For more on this program, you can read the full transcript and watch the entire video.
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Home \ Daytime \ Taylor Swift Tells Katie Couric: “I Don’t Really Know That Much About Love”
Taylor Swift Tells Katie Couric: “I Don’t Really Know That Much About Love”
Taylor Swift appears on “Katie” on Friday, and the pop star opens up about her love life being in the spotlight and how some of her famous exes feel about her music.
When asked by Katie Couric whether any of those past loves have called her up to complain about her very personal songs, Swift reveals, “Well, some of them like to write really long emails.”
The singer refrains from naming names, but shares a very telling reaction when Couric points out that John Mayer said Swift “humiliated” him with her song “Dear John.”
“Oh, come on,” she replies.
Couric also tells Swift that fans concluded her single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” is about her ex Jake Gyllenhaal because of a scarf she wears in the video — and she doesn’t exactly deny it.
“I don’t read anything about myself,” says Swift, “so I didn’t know that that was a thing that people figured out.”
Swift acknowledges, however, that even though she avoids reading tabloids, the media can still impact her relationships, especially the romantic ones.
“I don’t know how to have a normal relationship because I try to act normal and love from a normal place and live a normal life, but there is sort of an abnormal magnifying glass, like [a] telescope lens, on everything that happens between me and anybody else,” she explains.
Swift adds, “I don’t really know that much about love, it turns out.”
(Source: GossipCop.com)
Ross | Daytime, Video | October 24, 2012 2:45 pm 0 Comments
Halle Berry Talks About Smoking Pot with Tom Hanks
Rachel Maddow Analyzes Pres. Debate on ‘Katie’
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Posted on February 16, 2020 February 16, 2020 by Brad Grierson
Modern Vampyre – Prologue
Contrary to popular belief, vampyres do exist. The modern interpretation, however, is so far removed from reality that one would hardly know a vampyre if it bit him to his face.
-William S. Christos
Somewhere in New England, 178X
As the rain beat down upon the roof of a horse stable with torrential might, two men looked at each other in the eyes. One was weak with a crippled leg and sallow skin. He wore an old leather hood and clothes that were worn well past their prime, yet still sufficed enough to do their job. His hands were tightly bound together with thick rope behind his back. He took long, heavy breaths that could be seen each time he exhaled. Drawing some phlegm back into his nose, he glanced down at the ground around him. Three of his fellow villagers lay dead at his feet; their warm blood soaking into the hay and dirt. With a gulp, he looked back up at the man in front of him.
“Are you going to kill me?” he asked.
The Redcoat before him pursed his lips together and paused to think for a moment. He glanced down at the bodies and then back at the man before him.
“What is your name?” the Redcoat asked.
There was a long hesitation and a trembling in the man’s jaw before he managed to compose himself and finally speak.
“Albien,” he said.
Before the war had started, Albien had been a humble farmer. He didn’t have much to his name; a small one-room house and a tiny plot of land to grow his food. Having little land was not good for a farmer. Having poor land was even worse, and his land was the poorest of the poor. Not much grew and what little did was considered of inferior quality. Oh, it was edible and nutritious, but to the eye and to the tongue, there was no delight to be found. In a general sense, there was very little flavor to the crops he grew and the majority of it was malformed. All in all, it was so unappealing that few were willing to buy his crops. This often meant selling what he could at a severely reduced rate, which afforded him very little income.
Despite his plight being the result of a poor choice of land, Albien had placed the blame solely on the British, so when the War of Independence broke out, he was quick to take up arms. In a sad twist of fate, however, this was perhaps the worst choice he could’ve made. If he had remained farming, his life would’ve likely improved as a steady supply of rations was always in need, regardless of appearance or taste. His decision to fight would, however, prove to be disastrous. Being a soldier was something he was altogether ill-equipped for. Though focused, Albien struggled through every aspect of army life.
The years of the war were hard on him and things took a turn for the worst a few months ago when he took a musket ball to the shoulder and another to the back of his leg. The one to the shoulder somehow went clean through without striking any bone. The one to the leg, on the other hand, had lodged itself in the calf muscles.
Albien was taken to a local hospital, which was little more than a large tent full of cots and curtains, where he was treated. With some remarkable luck, the doctors didn’t need to amputate. After extracting the musket-ball, the wound to the back of his leg healed surprisingly well, though it left him with a permanent limp. The shoulder wound, on the other hand, only seemed to get worse. Green pus began to ooze from the stitches while cold sweats rolled down his entire body. During this time, Albien didn’t eat. It’s not that he refused, he just didn’t have the strength to do so. As the infection from his shoulder seemed to spread and his body lacked the strength to receive nourishment, his belly began to swell and his skin began to shift to an almost pale greenish-yellow giving a ghoulish look to him.
And then, one day, the wound stopped oozing and healed, and he sat up.
Soon, he had the strength to again eat and to walk soon after that. Though the wound had healed, his complexion never changed and his belly remained bloated. While some at the hospital feared his ghoulish appearance, the staff remained ever considerate, which is why he was gracious and understanding when it came time for him to be discharged. “There is nothing more we can do, I’m afraid,” they told him. “Unfortunately, we don’t know how to fix what has happened to your body, but you are able to take care of yourself now and we need to make room for other patients. Surely you understand.” He did understand and he was grateful for all that they had done. And he returned home.
As he gimped into town with his discolored skin, bloated belly, and sunken features, few people recognized him as the man who once sold unremarkable crops and those that did let out gasps of horror. The women shooed their children into their homes while the men stared and judged. It seemed as though there was not a friendly face to show pity on an old neighbor. With a slow, yet deliberate pace, he soon made it back to the home he had left years ago to fight the British.
Albien’s home was much as he had left it, with few items except for the necessities. His crops long gone, there was nothing for him to eat, so he scrounged some coins he had hidden away in case of an emergency to purchase some bread. That would get him through the night at least. For the next few days, he got by with begging, though few would help him. Some that knew him from before the war gave him some fruit or coffee, but none would let him into their homes. The rest of the townsfolk shunned him. By the end of the week, with no money for food and so few willing to help, he was enervated and malnourished and as such, he took to the shameful tasks of survival.
Every evening after sun-fall, he would head out to the alleys with a wicker basket from home and rummage through the trash in search of food. Most of the time there was very little worth eating. On a good day, he might find a half-eaten piece of fruit or some stale bread. On a great day, maybe a bit of leftover meat. If luck was on his side, he’d catch a rat and kill it to cook and eat at home. Though he tried to be as discrete as possible, passersby would sometimes see him and turn their faces in disgust. It shamed him what he had become, but he knew he must do this to survive. Perhaps by spring, he’d be able to cultivate his crops once more and resume a more dignified life. This, however, was not meant to be.
One evening when Albien was making his rounds, he came across a body in the trash. It was naked and appeared to be male, though he couldn’t be completely sure as the genitalia was missing. Though the body seemed to have been dumped not long ago, it was quite withered in appearance, it’s flesh sunken in. He reached out with two fingers and gave it a push. The corpse’s limbs flopped over with the push fully exposing its left arm. The flesh felt dry, but not so old dry that it had been dead long. He also noted that by the way the arm flopped, rigor mortis had not yet set in. And then he noticed a peculiarity on the arm that was now exposed.
A chunk of flesh was missing from the underside of the wrist. It appeared as though it had been torn out, exposing the muscles, veins, and tendons. Splotches of desiccated blood held to the internals and edges of flesh where the tear had happened. As he leaned in for closer inspection, an ear-piercing scream broke the silence of the night.
Albien looked up to see a woman and her husband looking in his direction. He shook his head and pointed at the body saying, “No, no. This was here. I…I just found it.” As more people came to investigate the screams, he panicked and ran.
As he ran through the village, he could hear more shrieks and screams as more people came to witness the corpse he had left behind. He ran and ran as fast as he could, bounding around corners and darting through alleys, hoping to make it home unscathed when he heard another scream suddenly silenced by gunfire. This scream was different, though. It did not come from behind him where he had left the corpse, but instead from the direction he was running towards.
In an instant, Albien was frozen in his tracks, unsure of what to do. He stood still and firm like a plank, arms down to his sides, his body rigid as if it had turned to stone. He dared not even breathe. As he listened for anything at all, silence seemed to engulf the world around him. No screams. No gunshots. No footsteps. Not even the sound of the wind. It was as if the entire world stopped to prepare itself for the end of time. When it seemed like eternity had finally passed, the sky opened up and drenched the Earth in the tears of God.
The sudden downpour snapped him back to his senses. The rain was coming down so hard, that sound of it drowned out anything more than a few yards away. As a cautionary measure, he ran to a house nearby and pressed himself against the outer wall. With deliberate circumspection, he peered around the corner in the direction the gunshot rang from.
Off in the distance just on the outskirts of the village, he could see what appeared to be the body of a woman lying on the ground. He squinted a bit, attempting to get a better visual of what was happening through the rain. At first, she didn’t appear to move. She just lay there without any sign of life. He put his hand to his forehead in an attempt to shield his eyes from further rain. This allowed him to see her much more clearly. With this better view, she seemed very familiar to him.
She was young, around sixteen. Her skin was ashen and dotted with light freckles. Golden blonde hair spilled out of her cream-colored bonnet. Her dress was yellow and stained with grass in ways indicating that she had fallen somewhere nearby and either slid or rolled to her current location. Not far away was a basket with apples spilled about on the ground around it.
Oh goodness, he thought as he pulled himself back around the house. This was Harold Markinson’s daughter, Rebecca.
Albien peered back around the corner and confirmed that it was, in fact, Rebecca Markinson. She hadn’t moved in the slightest. Despite his fears, he thought it best that he should go check on her. He took a few steps out when without warning, her head turned in his direction. Stopping dead in his tracks, he looked into her eyes as she mouthed the word help. It was right then, a bayonet plunged deep into her heart and blood gurgled out from her mouth. The shock caused him to gasp loudly and at the other of the bayonet, a British soldier turned to look at him. They locked eyes and the soldier pointed at him and shouted. Albien couldn’t quite make out what the Redcoat said through the rain, but he was certain the words were Kill him!
Albien did not hesitate to see if there were more British around to follow that order; he just turned and ran with as much gusto as his crippled legs could muster up. He hadn’t crossed much distance when a musket ball cut through the air past his head and splinted the corner of a nearby house. With that, he turned into a nearby alley and began zigzagging through the streets, taking every unusual path he was able to. He wasn’t taking note of where he was heading, only that he was moving away from the British troops. If he had made note of his surroundings, he would’ve noticed that he had paused to catch his breath not far from where he initially found the naked body. However, he had not made note and had ended up a mere three houses over.
By this point in time, a sizable crowd had gathered at the scene and though many of the people were simply trying to catch a glimpse of the body, some were hunting about their surroundings for anything out of the ordinary; any sort of clue that may lead them to the murderer. Anything out of the ordinary. The crowd knew a man had been killed in a horrific and vile manner. The crowd knew that Albien was seen with the body. The crowd knew that Albien had become a scavenger and that he ran when confronted at the body. What the crowd did not know was that Redcoats were about to storm their village.
“Hey! It’s him!” a voice shouted.
Albien looked up to see a towns-person pointing in his direction. It quickly went from one towns-person to many and the many began marching to his direction. He ran, and they ran after him. Despite his crippled physique, Albien knew the streets of this town better than anyone and with a little luck, he was sure he could lose them. He wasn’t, however, sure he’d be able to return home.
Without warning, gunshots echoed in the distance and the screams of his fellow townsfolk could be heard. The Redcoats had arrived and they were offering no quarter. Albien hesitated for a moment as he considered going back to help, however, his consideration dissipated when he realized that some of the townspeople completely ignored their fellow villagers being slain to continue their hunt for him. And so he decided to run. Though at this point his ultimate goal was to escape the village lest he die by the hand of neighbor or by the hand of Redcoat, he had to make so many turns to avoid being seen that he never quite reached the outskirts.
Despite the heavy rains, Albien spent so much time running that he was becoming parched. Eventually, he had to stop and catch his breath. When a safe opportunity arose, he ducked behind a house as shots of gunfire and screams could be heard in the distance. His dry throat gasping for breath, he opened his mouth towards the sky to catch some of the rain and then slumped against the house as he reflected on his situation. He had sacrificed what little he had for his burgeoning country and now both the enemy he had fought against and his fellow countrymen were looking to kill him. He almost broke down to cry when he heard voices through the downpour.
“Come on. I think he went this way.”
Blast!, he thought. They’ve found me. And with that, he ran as best as his crippled leg could carry him. It wasn’t long before he found a small horse stable at the edge of the village. Knowing that he would be seen if he tried to leave the community with foes so close-by, it wasn’t a difficult choice to hide in one of the empty stalls and enshroud himself within the straw. Unfortunately for him, the footprints he left in the mud outside the stable led his pursuers right to him.
“Come on. Who do you think you’re fooling?” a voice asked. “Get out of there, lest we drag you out.”
Albien sat up and brushed the straw away from his face and torso. Before him stood three of his neighbors, soaking wet and with various implements to end his life. The one in front had a black mustache and held a musket with both hands at his waist. A large satchel was slung over his shoulder and lay by the opposite waist. As for the two in the back, one had a red wiry beard and carried a pitchfork. The other one was thin as a rail, clean-shaven, and carried a rope.
“Stand up.” The one in front said calm, but firm.
Albien did as he was told and most of the remaining straw slid off of his body, though some remained stuck due to his dampness. He attempted to brush it off but was interrupted by the one who told him to stand.
Albien did as he was told and adjusted his posture to make himself as presentable as he could.
“You know why we’re after you, don’t you?” the man with the musket asked.
Albien gulped and nodded before speaking.
“I didn’t do it,” he said.
“Then why did you run?”
“I panicked. I was scared. There was screaming and people were looking at me awful.”
“Because you did those awful things.”
The one with the musket curled his lip and thought for a bit before speaking.
“I’m sorry to say this,” he began before motioning to the other two to tie him up. “Under normal circumstances, we’d drag you to the courthouse to be dealt with by the law. That said, it is my regret to inform you that our current circumstances do not afford us such luxury.”
“I didn’t do it!” Albien protested.
“That may be so,” he said reaching into his satchel, “but at current, I don’t really have any choice.” His hand emerged with a small cartridge that he tore open with his teeth. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but the British have arrived and are unleashing a slaughter upon us.” Half-cocking the musket, he opened the flash pan and poured in a small bit of the cartridges black powder.
“But I fought against the British as part of the Continental Army!” Albien protested as he was being restrained with rope as another held him at bay with the pitchfork.
“And for that, we are truly grateful. That does not change the fact that you are most likely the murderer and for that, justice must be dealt.” He shut the flash pan and poured the rest of the powder down the muzzle of the musket.
“Please,” Albien pleaded.
The man inserted the musket ball into the barrel followed by the cartridge. Albien just watched as the man removed the ramrod and pushed the cartridge and musket ball in to seat the charge. After putting the ramrod back, he cocked and aimed the musket at Albien’s chest.
“For this, I am deeply sorry,” he said. “Do you have any last words before I execute sentence?”
“Oh, enough of this!” a distinct voice said from the next stall.
All four men turned to see disheveled Redcoat step out into the open. Pale skin hung on a skeletal frame with messy black hair and pronounced cheekbones. A slight red stain was visible around his mouth. His coat was opened and a torn cotton shirt revealed visible ribs. His shoulder belt was completely missing. In fact, except for his trousers, boots, coat, and shirt, he appeared to be missing every other part of his uniform. No tri-tip hat, no cartridge box or haversack or anything. Not even any weapons.
“I can’t bear to see another man go down for my crimes,” he said. “This individual you have tied up did not kill the naked man in the alley.” He paused for a moment while the others looked on somewhat perplexed at the situation unfolding before them. After an awkward silence, he said, “I did. I’m sorry. I was hungry. I haven’t had a proper meal in nearly three months. I was desperate.”
There was a long, uncomfortable silence before the one with the pitchfork twisted his face into disgust and spoke up.
“What kind of person considers another man’s penis a proper meal?” he asked.
The Redcoat was bewildered for the briefest of moments before realizing what he was talking about and gave a relaxed laugh.
“Oh, no!” he said. “No. No. No. No. Noooo. I can see why you would think that, but I assure you, I did not eat his penis.”
This time, the thin one who had brought the rope spoke. He thought for a moment to gather his words, and asked in a somewhat unsure manner, “Then……what happened to it?”
There was another uncomfortable silence in the stable. Albien had not expected to be accused of murder, yet here he was about to die at the hands of his fellow countrymen as a soldier of the people he once fought stood before them admitting the murder was his. The three accusers thought they had the murderer in their grasp, yet here was a lone Redcoat admitting the crime in a situation that would clearly get him killed. And as for the Redcoat, he was now having to explain to those who would surely kill him what happened to someone else’s penis. It was a confusing and awkward situation for all involved.
“It’s not one of my finest moments, I’ll admit,” stated the Redcoat. “The thing is, I was quite malnourished at the time of the killing and he was surprisingly strong and spry. I found him very difficult to restrain and I feared he may escape or worse, warn someone of my presence. As such, I felt it was in my best interest to disable him.” He held his tongue and then spoke his next words carefully. “I ripped his penis off to make it more difficult for him to fight back.”
The four recoiled in horror and disgust.
“I agree,” he continued. “However, this issue left me with another problem. While I had disabled the individual, he was now losing precious blood at a rapid pace. As such, I was forced to tear open his wrist with my teeth and consume as much blood as I could before he lost it all through his…..wound.” He sounded uncomfortable as he said that last part and even winced a little as he said it. “Anyhow, after I had finished eating, I needed to dispose of the husk. The first thing I did was toss his clothes into the fireplace. Then I bought the body out into the alley to hide in the rubbish. It was my hope that sanitary practices here were not any better than the part of England from which I hail and that the rats and insects would consume most of the body before it was found. It is my displeasure to say that before I could sufficiently conceal my work, I heard someone approaching and fled.”
For a few long moments, the sound of the rain seemed extra loud. The way it pounded down on the roof of the stable, the way it splashed in the puddles on the ground. Somehow, it seemed to drown out the gunshots and screams in the distance and the only thing in the world right now were these five men. All the cards and been laid out by the Redcoat and no one was quite sure what to do with the hand they had been dealt with. The sound of the proverbial table being flipped broke through that of the rain when the one with the pitchfork shouted out loud.
“You son of a bitch!” he yelled as he thrust his pitchfork into the belly of the Redcoat.
The Recoat staggered backward a few steps as a small bit of blood oozed out around the tines of the pitchfork. To the surprise of everyone, however, he seemed more annoyed than anything. He looked down at the pitchfork in his belly and frowned. With two hands, he grasped the handle and pulled it out of his body against the force of the one who had stabbed him with it. Then, with a thrust, he pushed it away, knocking the fellow to the ground.
“So,” the Redcoat said with disappointment, “this is how it is to be.”
With brutal efficiency and cat-like reflexes, the Redcoat thrust the fingers of his left hand into the stomach of the man with the gun and took his musket with the other hand. Then with the musket, he fired a musket ball into the throat of the man who had carried the pitchfork. And finally, to the man who had tied up Albien, he simply twisted the man’s head enough to snap the man’s neck.
After taking some time to survey the works of his hands, he looked up and locked eyes with Albien. Though quiet, Albien was breathing heavily through his mouth. Phlegm seemed to crawl down his sallow skin from his nostrils to his lips. The Redcoat studied him hard, as though he was trying to figure out what to make of this deformed man with a complexion he had not seen before.
“Are you some kind of ghoul?” he asked.
With a long draw, Albien pulled the phlegm back into his nose. He looked at the bodies of those around and pondered if he would be next. Swallowing the nothing in his mouth, he spoke.
“Are you going to kill me?”
The Redcoat made an audible hmm and nodded ever so slight. He put his hand to his chin and seemed to think about something for a moment, then he sighed and walked behind Albien and removed his bonds. Albien pulled his hands to his chest and rubbed his wrists as the Redcoat walked back in front of him, but never turning to look at him. Instead, he kept his back to the recently freed man and looked out into the rain.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he said. “Are you some kind of ghoul?”
Albien removed his hood revealing a head of thick, graying hair which made his pale greenish-yellow skin somehow seem more vibrant. In all truth, Albien was not nearly as deformed as people made him out to be and his deformities, for the most part, weren’t all that uncommon. He wasn’t the only person in the village with a gimp; there were others before the war and even more after it had begun. And his hunch wasn’t a hunch at all, but merely a rounding of one side of his back from the way he carried his injured shoulder up and his head down close to it. Really, the only thing that was strikingly unusual was the color of his skin that he tried to hide by wearing a hood. But with a strange twist, the hood only seemed to accentuate all three of these things which may have created the idea of a monster in people. Yet without the hood, he seemed almost completely normal.
“I don’t believe so, no,” Albien replied.
“What are you, then?”
“Man to the best of my knowledge.”
The Redcoat thought about this before speaking. Then he turned to Albien and looked him over again. He had never seen such a person, yet aside from the color, there was nothing that couldn’t easily be explained away. Through the rain, the sounds of muskets firing the screams were becoming fewer, but they were slowly getting closer. He looked at the hood in Albien’s hands and decided that he didn’t care what he was. If Albien could help him, he would be most appreciative. Pointing at the hood, he spoke to Albien.
“May I have that?” he asked.
“Uh, sure,” Albien replied.
The Redcoat snatched up the hood and pulled it over his head. He then took his coat and shirt off and began undressing the bodies as Albien just stared and watched, unsure of what to do. He noticed that Albien was just standing there and reached out to shake his hand.
“Forgive me,” the Redcoat said. “My name is Abstinence. Abstinence Jackson.”
“Abstinence?” ask Albien as he returned the handshake.
“Yes,” replied, Abstinence. “My parents were puritans who were deadset on having a girl. Then I came along and like how stubborn puritans can be, they weren’t changing the name they had picked for anything.”
“Puritans? But wouldn’t that mean you’re…”
“Look, we can discuss my family history any other time, but right now, British soldiers are making their way through the village and if we are still here when they arrive, they will kill us both. If you help me get out of here alive, I will guarantee that the remainder of your days will better than you can currently imagine. Will you help me?”
Albien didn’t really see that he had much of an option. Help the man who helped him or die. He opted to help.
“Alright,” he said. “What do you need from me?”
“Thank you,” said Abstinence. “I can’t let the rain touch me and I can’t be seen looking like a Redcoat. Help me put on whatever will cover my skin.”
Quickly and carefully, they removed the most protective clothes they could from the bodies. Leather boots and gloves, a heavy shirt and pants. Unfortunately, these were not enough to completely protect Abstinence. Scavenging through the other stalls, however, Albien managed to find a thick horse blanket and Abstienece was quick to wrap himself in it.
The gunshots grew louder as the two looked out into the rain.
“You won’t regret this, Albien,” said Abstinence. “This I swear.”
And with that, the two ran out into the rain and headed for the forest. By the time that the British arrived at the stables, they were long gone and the rain had washed away any footsteps or mud that would point to them ever being there or where they were going. All that remained were three dead bodies and a torn British uniform.
Posted in Modern VampyreTagged blood, Christian, death, evil, fear, food, history, home, horror, religious, supernatural, vampire, vampyre
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Army approves Christian soldier’s request to wear long hair for religious reasons
“I just felt utterly compelled that this is what I was being called to do.”
By Haley Britzky | Updated Jul 30, 2021 12:02 PM
Sgt. Jacob DiPietro, May 2021. (Photo via Sgt. DiPietro).
Almost two years after making his first request for a religious accommodation to grow his hair and beard out while in uniform, an Army sergeant has officially received the green light.
Sgt. Jacob DiPietro, a cargo specialist with the Florida Army Reserve’s 489th Transportation Company (Seaport Operations), was approved for a religious exemption to the Army hair standards this week.
DiPietro, who observes the Nazarite vow from the Old Testament in the Bible, first applied for the religious exemption in November 2019. The Bible explains that while someone is observing the Nazarite vow, “no razor may be used on their head.”
That isn’t exactly the Army way — the service has specific rules about hair length and styling, for men and women, including a strict no-beard policy. But the Army made policy changes in 2017 that made it easier for soldiers to receive religious exemptions to grow out their hair or beards by allowing the soldier’s brigade-level commander to approve the request.
“The soldier’s brigade-level commander will approve a request for a religious accommodation … unless the commander determines the request is not based on a sincerely held religious belief, or identifies a specific, concrete hazard that is not specifically addressed in this directive and that cannot be mitigated by reasonable measures,” Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning said at the time.
DiPietro is one of the first known U.S. service members to receive a religious exemption from hair standards due to their Christian faith, although in recent years the various service branches have granted exemptions for Sikhs, Muslims, and even Norse pagans in the ranks.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Abdul Rahman Gaitan, 821st Contingency Response Squadron aerial porter, was among the first to be granted a religious accommodation for a shaving waiver based on his Muslim faith after the Air Force released new guidance in 2016 to accommodate individuals with religious requests. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Liliana Moreno)
For years, DiPietro followed the Army standard. He joined the Army the same day he turned 18 years old in 2010, about seven years before the service allowed religious exemptions. At the time, he wasn’t observing the Nazarite vow like he is today; he just knew he wanted to be a soldier.
He’d known that much since he was in third grade when he saw the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, unfold on the television in real-time. His third grade teacher was in the Marine Corps Reserve and was quickly called away from teaching, DiPietro said. He never saw him again, but from that point on, he knew he wanted to serve.
“That seed was planted early in my life,” DiPietro said. “I knew what I was going to do.”
DiPietro joined Junior ROTC in high school and enlisted into the Army after graduation as a Shower/Laundry and Clothing Repair Specialist. It wasn’t really what he wanted to do, he said, so he quickly moved into another job as a cargo specialist.
For the next several years, things were going well, until he returned home from a deployment to Kuwait in 2017 and began going through “a really dark time” in his personal life. He married a woman he’d been dating for years, but when she was pregnant with their first child, she left. He felt like his life was starting to crumble around him, so he decided to pray.
“I noticed that by praying, I found strength,” he explained. “By finding strength, I was able to keep fighting these personal battles of mine.”
He said his quality of life was improving; he enrolled in school to get a degree in business administration and is planning to finish his bachelor’s degree this week. His life had been changed, and in the spring of 2019, he prayed to ask God what he could do to “recognize what you have done in my life.”
“I want to show my love for you,” DiPietro recalled praying. “What can I do to do that?”
The answer came just days later. DiPietro, who was a specialist assigned to the 1186th Deployment and Distribution Support Battalion at the time, said he felt a need to read the book of Numbers in the Old Testament of the Bible, and in Numbers 6, he found the Nazarite vow.
“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite … During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor may be used on their head. They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long,” the Bible says.
A close-up of a page in a Bible carried by (then) U.S. Army 1st Lt. William H. Funchess while he was a prisoner of war during the Korean War for 34 months, photographed in his home in Clemson, S.C. Sept. 21, 2016. He wrote on the page after his first night of captivity. It reads: “Battalion in defense. My platoon in rear. Battalion flanked and hit from rear. All 3rd and 4th platoons killed or captured. Shot through right foot. Painful. Surrounded and captured. Walked from 3am to 8am. Spent day in gulley. Walked all night.” Funchess was held in the same prison compound and became very close to Army Chaplain Father Emil J. Kapaun, who received the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2013 for his acts of courage and compassion as a prisoner of war. Funchess and Kapaun read from this Bible together on many occasions. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Ken Scar)
“I said, ‘Oh, this is it,’” DiPietro recounted. “I just felt utterly compelled that this is what I was being called to do.”
So DiPietro threw himself into research, reading and re-reading every applicable Army regulation before he submitted his request. He said he researched for six months because he knew if he was wrong “on anything, down to the periods at the ends of the sentences, the Army was going to use that as a reason to deny my request.” He finally spoke to his unit chaplain about his decision in November 2019.
He provided the chaplain with a memo he drafted in which he requested his religious accommodation. His chaplain then passed it to the company commander and first sergeant, who DiPietro said were “amazing” and supported the request. They then passed it up to the battalion level, which is when things got difficult.
DiPietro said his request was kicked back down to him from the battalion level because it hadn’t been formatted correctly. He re-formatted and re-submitted the request in December.
The request languished “in limbo” for months at the battalion level, he said, until he received a memo in June from Brig. Gen. Stephen Rutner, commander of the Army Reserve deployment support command. Rutner said DiPietro’s request “to wear a beard and uncut hair” was being approved and noted that there was no “specific hazard identified” by allowing it.
“Based on Spc. DiPietro’s request, the interviews with chaplains, coordinating agencies, and the chain of command recommendations, it appears that his request is based on a sincerely held religious belief,” Rutner’s memo said. “Despite the OCCH’s position that this accommodation lacks a ‘religious basis’ and is not a required tenet of the soldier’s faith, there is every indication that this moral decision to adhere to the Nazarite vow is a large and important pillar to his spiritual health and well-being.”
DiPietro remembered thinking how he expected it to be more difficult to get approval. “It was a painful process, but it was less painful than I thought it was going to be, so that’s nice,” he recalled.
But the next week, he said he received an email from an Army official in the Pentagon telling him that while his beard had been approved, the general who signed off on allowing him to grow his hair out didn’t actually have the authority to do so. It said he’d have to pursue the hair portion of his request separately.
The Pentagon with the Washington Monument and National Mall in the background.
His unit contacted him and asked if he wanted to press the issue further, but it wasn’t a matter of if for DiPietro. The religious vow he was observing had strict instructions: He was not to cut his hair or beard. It wasn’t a matter of one or the other, so he pushed the issue further. That was in June 2020.
By March 2021, DiPietro still hadn’t heard anything from the Army. He was getting tired of waiting, so he contacted his local congressional office and asked for their help. He asked chaplains he knew who worked in the Pentagon if they knew anyone who might be able to do something, to help him move his request forward.
And finally, on July 25, he saw a memo in his email inbox signed by Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, the head of Army personnel, approving his request.
“In observance with your Christian faith, you may wear uncut hair in accordance with Army uniform and grooming standards provided in Army Regulation (AR) 670-1 … You may grow your hair in accordance with the standards for long hair set forth in AR 670-1,” Brito said in the memo.
While that battle was won, and DiPietro said he was “sincerely” thankful for everyone who “helped me and counseled me throughout this process.” The experience has made him rethink his future in the Army. He’d originally planned to stay in for a full 20 years, but the difficulty he had in getting an exemption for a religious vow he takes very seriously, and the harassment he experienced from other soldiers about his beard, have motivated him to leave the service at the end of his contract next year.
It’s a bittersweet decision since DiPietro says he knows he wouldn’t be “where I am in life were it not for the Army,” and even after everything, he knows he “wouldn’t change anything.”
“But there are things that I see and I don’t like … like the way soldiers are treated when they seek an exception to policy while following Army regulation,” he explained. “If a soldier is following the rules as set by the Army, they should absolutely be free from harassment discrimination. I feel like there’s still a culture that is, truthfully, fearful and hating towards that which is different.”
As for other soldiers who are serious about their religious obligations but are scared to ask for an exception to policy, DiPietro urged them to do their research beforehand. The only way you’ll be successful, he said, is if “you know the regulations better than the Army itself.”
“If you’re serious about your request, do not give up,” DiPietro said. “I don’t care what they do, or what they say, do not stand down. If you know you’re right, the regulations will — it may not seem like it — but they will protect you. Stand by your decision.”
But for the soldiers who don’t have a religious reason to apply for an exemption but are thinking about doing so anyway just because they don’t want to shave – of which DiPietro said he’s heard from several — don’t even think about it.
“If you’re trying to fleece the system because you just don’t want to shave, or you just want to grow your hair out, I’m telling you now: It’s not gonna work.”
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Finance, Fiscal and Monetary Policy
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Artificial polymer-based neural network. The strongly nonlinear behavior of these networks enables their use in reservoir computing.
Source: TUD
TU Dresden scientists at the Chair of Optoelectronics have succeeded for the first time in developing a bio-compatible implantable AI platform that classifies in real time healthy and pathological patterns in biological signals such as heartbeats. It detects pathological changes even without medical supervision.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change medicine and healthcare: Diagnostic patient data, e.g. from ECG, EEG or X-ray images, can be analyzed with the help of machine learning, so that diseases can be detected at a very early stage based on subtle changes. However, implanting AI within the human body is still a major technical challenge. TU Dresden scientists at the Chair of Optoelectronics have now succeeded for the first time in developing a bio-compatible implantable AI platform that classifies in real time healthy and pathological patterns in biological signals such as heartbeats. It detects pathological changes even without medical supervision.
In this work, the research team led by Prof. Karl Leo, Dr. Hans Kleemann and Matteo Cucchi demonstrates an approach for real-time classification of healthy and diseased bio-signals based on a biocompatible AI chip. They used polymer-based fiber networks that structurally resemble the human brain and enable the neuromorphic AI principle of reservoir computing. The random arrangement of polymer fibers forms a so-called "recurrent network," which allows it to process data, analogous to the human brain. The nonlinearity of these networks enables to amplify even the smallest signal changes, which - in the case of the heartbeat, for example - are often difficult for doctors to evaluate. However, the nonlinear transformation using the polymer network makes this possible without any problems.
This approach will make it possible to develop further intelligent systems in the future that can help save human lives.
Matteo Cucchi
In trials, the AI was able to differentiate between healthy heartbeats from three common arrhythmias with an 88% accuracy rate. In the process, the polymer network consumed less energy than a pacemaker. The potential applications for implantable AI systems are manifold: For example, they could be used to monitor cardiac arrhythmias or complications after surgery and report them to both doctors and patients via smartphone, allowing for swift medical assistance.
"The vision of combining modern electronics with biology has come a long way in recent years with the development of so-called organic mixed conductors," explains Matteo Cucchi, PhD student and first author of the paper. "So far, however, successes have been limited to simple electronic components such as individual synapses or sensors. Solving complex tasks has not been possible so far. In our research, we have now taken a crucial step toward realizing this vision. By harnessing the power of neuromorphic computing, such as reservoir computing used here, we have succeeded in not only solving complex classification tasks in real time but we will also potentially be able to do this within the human body. This approach will make it possible to develop further intelligent systems in the future that can help save human lives."
Source: Technische Universität Dresden
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Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 217 › International Textbook Co. v. Pigg
International Textbook Co. v. Pigg, 217 U.S. 91 (1910)
International Textbook Company v. Pigg
Argued April l, 1909
Decided April 4, 1910
217 U.S. 91
The reasonable construction of a state statute relating to foreign corporations doing business within the state does not include the doing of a single act or the making of a single contract, but does include a continuous series of acts by an agent continuously within the state. Cooper Manufacturing Company v. Ferguson, 113 U. S. 727.
A foreign corporation engaged in teaching by correspondence and which continuously has an agent in a state securing scholars and receiving and forwarding the money obtained from them is doing business in the state, and such a corporation does business in Kansas within the meaning of § 1283 of the general statutes of that 1901.
Commerce is more than traffic; it is intercourse, and the transmission of intelligence among the states cannot be obstructed or unnecessarily encumbered by state legislation. Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 1; Pensacola Telegraph Co. v. Western Union Telegraph Co., 96 U. S. 1.
Intercourse or communication between persons in different states through the mails and otherwise, and relating to matters of regular continuous business, such as teaching by correspondence, and the making of contracts relating to the transportation thereof, is commerce among the states within the commerce clause of the federal Constitution.
A state statute which makes it a condition precedent to a foreign corporation's engaging in a legitimate branch of interstate commerce to obtain what practically amounts to a license to transact such business is a burden and restriction upon interstate commerce and as such is unconstitutional under the commerce clause of the federal Constitution, and so held as to the requirements of § 1283, General Laws of Kansas of 1901, when applied to a foreign corporation carrying on the business of teaching persons in that state by correspondence conducted from the state in which it is organized.
Quaere how far a foreign corporation carrying on business in a state may claim equality of treatment with individuals in respect to the right to sue and defend in the courts of that state; but where a condition precedent to a foreign corporation's doing business at all in a state is unconstitutional, the further condition that it cannot
Page 217 U. S. 92
maintain any action in the courts of the state until it has complied with such unconstitutional condition is also stricken down as being inseparable therefrom.
Where a statute is unconstitutional in part, the whole statute must be deemed invalid except as to such parts as are so disconnected with the general scope that they can be separably enforced, and so held as to the provisions in § 1283 of the General Laws of Kansas of 1901 against a foreign corporation's maintaining any action until it has complied with another provision as to filing a detailed statement which is unconstitutional as to foreign corporations engaged in interstate commerce.
76 Kan. 328 reversed.
The facts, which involve the constitutionality of 1283 of the General Statutes of Kansas of 1901, are stated in the opinion.
ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE STATE OF KANSAS
MR. JUSTICE HARLAN delivered the opinion of the Court.
This action was brought by the International Textbook Company in one of the courts of Kansas -- the court of Topeka -- to recover from Pigg, the defendant in error, the sum of $79.60, with interest, as due the plaintiff under a written contract between him and that company, made in 1905. The case was tried upon agreed facts, and judgment was rendered in favor of the defendant for his costs. That judgment was affirmed in a state district court, which held that the plaintiff was not entitled to maintain the action, and the latter judgment was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Kansas.
It is assigned for error that the final judgment -- based upon certain provisions of the statutes of Kansas, to be presently referred to -- was in violation of the company's rights under the Constitution of the United States.
The facts agreed to, using substantially the language of the parties make substantially the following case:
The International Textbook Company is a Pennsylvania corporation, and the proprietor of what is known as the International Correspondence Schools at Scranton, in that commonwealth. Those schools have courses in architecture, chemistry, civil, mechanical, electrical, and steam engineering, English branches, French, German, mathematics and mechanics, pedagogy, plumbing, heating, telegraphy, and many other subjects. It has a capital stock, and the profits arising from its business are distributed in dividends, or applied otherwise, as the company may elect. The executive offices of the company, as well as the teachers and instructors employed by it, reside and exercise their respective functions at Scranton.
Page 217 U. S. 100
Its business is conducted by preparing and publishing instruction papers, textbooks, and illustrative apparatus for courses of study to be pursued by means of correspondence, and the forwarding, from time to time, of such publications and apparatus to students. In the conduct of its business, the company employs local or traveling agents, called solicitor-collectors, whose duties are to procure and forward to the company at Scranton, from persons in a specified territory, on blanks furnished by it, applications for scholarships in its correspondence schools, and also to collect and forward to the company deferred payments on scholarships. In order that applicants may adapt applications to their needs, each solicitor-collector is kept informed by correspondence with the company of the fees to be collected for the various scholarships offered, and of the contract charges to be made for cash or deferred payments, as well as the terms of payment acceptable to the company. In conformity with the contract between the company and its scholars, the scholarship and instruction papers, textbooks and illustrative apparatus called for under each accepted application are sent by the company from Scranton directly to the applicant, and instruction is imparted by means of correspondence through the mails, between the company at its office in that city, and the applicant at his residence in another state.
During the period covered by the present transaction, the company had a solicitor-collector for the territory that included Topeka, Kansas, and he solicited students to take correspondence courses in the plaintiff's schools. His office in Kansas was procured and maintained at his own expense, for the purpose of furthering the procuring of applications for scholarships and the collection of fees therefor. The company had no office of its own in that state. The solicitor-collector was paid a fixed salary by the company and a commission on the number of applications obtained and the collections made. He sent daily reports to the company for his territory, those reports showing that for March, 1906, the aggregate collections
on scholarships and deferred payments on subscriptions approached $500.
At the date of the agreement sued on, and at the time this suit was brought, numerous persons in Topeka were taking the plaintiff's course of instruction by correspondence through the mails. The contracts for those courses were procured by its solicitor-collector assigned to duty in Kansas, and, as stated, payments thereon were collected and remitted by him to the plaintiff at Scranton.
The written contract in question, signed by the defendant at Topeka, Kansas, and accepted by the company at Scranton, showed that he had subscribed for a scholarship covering a course of instruction by correspondence in commercial law, and had agreed to pay therefor $84, in installments. When this suit was brought, there remained unpaid on the principal of that subscription the sum of $79.60.
The present action was brought to recover that sum, with interest, as due the company under the defendant's contract with it. The defendant did not deny making the contract, nor that he was indebted to the company in the amount for which he was sued. But it was adjudged, in conformity with his contention, that, by reason of the company's failure to comply with certain provisions of the statutes of Kansas, it was not entitled to maintain this action in a court of Kansas.
We will now refer to the provisions of the Kansas statute under which the Textbook Company was held not to be entitled to maintain the present action in the courts of the state. The statute, the plaintiff alleges, cannot be applied to it without violating its rights under the Constitution of the United States.
By § 1260 of the Kansas General Statutes of 1901, it is provided, among other things, that a corporation organized under the laws of any other state, territory, or foreign country, and seeking to do business in Kansas, may make application to the state charter board, composed of the attorney general, the Secretary of State, and the state bank commissioner, for "permission"
to engage in business in that state as a foreign corporation. It is necessary that the application should be accompanied by a fee of $25, and, as a condition precedent to obtaining authority to transact business in the state, a corporation of another state was required to file in the office of the Secretary of State its written consent, irrevocable, that process against it might be served upon that officer. § 1261. In passing upon the application, the charter board is authorized to make special inquiry in reference to the solvency of the corporation, and if they determined that such corporation was properly organized in accordance with the laws under which it was incorporated, "that its capital is unimpaired, and that it is organized for a purpose for which a domestic corporation may be organized" in Kansas, then its application is to be granted, and a certificate issued, setting forth the fact that "the application has been granted, and that such foreign corporation may engage in business in this state." Before filing its charter or a certified copy thereof with the Secretary of State, the corporation is required to pay to the state treasurer, for the benefit of the "permanent school fund," a specified percent of its capital stock. §§ 1263, 1264. The last-named section was the subject of extended examination in Western Union Tel. Co. v. Kansas, recently decided, 216 U. S. 1, and was held to be unconstitutional in its application to the Western Union Telegraph Company, seeking to do local business in Kansas.
But the section which controlled the decision by the state court in the present case is § 1283, which is as follows:
"It shall be the duty of the president and secretary or of the managing officer of each corporation for profit, doing business in this state, except banking, insurance, and railroad corporations, annually, on or before the 1st day of August, to prepare and deliver to the Secretary of State a complete detailed statement of the condition of such corporation on the 30th day of June next preceding. Such statement shall set forth and exhibit the following, namely: 1st. The authorized capital
stock. 2d. The paid-up capital stock. 3d. The par value and the market value per share of said stock. 4th. A complete and detailed statement of the assets and liabilities of the corporation. 5th. A full and complete list of the stockholders, with the post office address of each, and the number of shares held and paid for by each. 6th. The names and post office addresses of the officers, trustees, or directors and manager elected for the ensuing year, together with a certificate of the time and manner in which such election was held . . . and the failure of any such corporation to file the statement in this section provided for within ninety days from the time provided for filing the same shall work the forfeiture of the charter of any corporation organized under the laws of this state, and the charter board may at any time thereafter, declare the charter of such corporation forfeited, and upon the declaration of any such forfeiture, it shall be the duty of the attorney general to apply to the district court of the proper county for the appointment of a receiver to close out the business of such corporation, and such failure to file such statement by any corporation doing business in this state, and not organized under the laws of this state, shall work a forfeiture of its right or authority to do business in this state, and the charter board may at any time declare such forfeiture, and shall forthwith publish such declaration in the official state paper. . . . No action shall be maintained or recovery had in any of the courts of this state by any corporation doing business in this state without first obtaining the certificate of the Secretary of State that statements provided for in this section [§ 1283] have been properly made."
Laws 1898, c. 10, § 12, as amended by Laws 1901, c. 125, § 3.
1. In view of the nature and extent of the business of the International Textbook Company of Kansas, the first inquiry is whether the statutory prohibition against the maintaining of an action in a Kansas court by "any corporation doing business in this [that] state" embraces the plaintiff corporation. It must be held, as the state court held, that it does, for
it is conceded that the Textbook Company did not, before bringing this suit, make, deliver, and file with the Secretary of State either the statement or certificate required by § 1283, and upon any reasonable interpretation of the statute, that company, both at the date of the contract sued on, and when this action was brought, must be held as "doing business" in Kansas. It had an agent in the state, who was employed to secure scholars for the schools conducted by correspondence from Scranton, and to receive and forward any money obtained from such scholars. Its transactions in Kansas, by means of which it secured applications from numerous persons for scholarships, were not single or casual transactions, such as might be deemed incidental to its general business as a foreign corporation, but were parts of its regular business continuously conducted in many states for the benefit of its correspondence schools. While the Supreme Court of Kansas has distinctly held that the statute did not embrace single transactions that were only incidentally necessary to the business of a foreign corporation, it also adjudged that the business done by the Textbook Company in Kansas was not of that kind, but indicated a purpose to regularly transact its business from time to time in Kansas, and therefore it was to be regarded as doing business in that state within the meaning of the statute, and that it "was the intention of the legislature that the state should reach every continuous exercise of a foreign franchise," and that it should apply even where the business of the foreign corporation was "purely interstate commerce." Deere v. Wyland, 69 Kan. 255, 257-258; State v. Book Co., 65 Kan. 847; Thomas v. Remington Paper Co., 67 Kan. 599; Commission Co. v. Haston, 68 Kan. 749. In our judgment, those rulings as to the scope of the statute were correct. They were in substantial harmony with the construction placed by this Court upon a Colorado statute somewhat similar to the Kansas act. A statute passed in execution of a provision in the Colorado Constitution required foreign corporations, as a condition of their authority "to do business" in that state, to make and file with the Secretary of
State a certificate covering certain specified matters. An Ohio corporation having made in Colorado a contract for the sale of machinery, to be sent to it from the latter state to Ohio, and the vendor having failed to perform the tract, a suit was brought against him in the federal court, sitting in Colorado. One of the defenses was the failure of the Ohio corporation to make and file with the Secretary of State the certificate required by the Colorado statute before it should be "authorized or permitted to do any business" in Colorado. It became necessary to inquire whether the Ohio corporation, by reason of the above isolated contract, did business in Colorado within the meaning of the Constitution and laws of the latter state. This Court said:
"Reasonably construed, the Constitution and statute of Colorado forbid not the doing of a single act of business in the state, but the carrying on of business by a foreign corporation without the filing of the certificate and the appointment of an agent, as required by the statute. . . . The making in Colorado of the one contract sued on in this case, by which one party agreed to build and deliver in Ohio certain machinery and the other party to pay for it, did not constitute a carrying on of business in Colorado. . . . To require such a certificate as a prerequisite to the doing of a single act of business when there was no purpose to do any other business or have a place of business in the state would be unreasonable and incongruous."
Cooper Mfg. Co. v. Ferguson, 113 U. S. 727, 113 U. S. 728, 113 U. S. 734.
In view of the agreed facts and the principles announced both by the Kansas supreme court and by this Court, we hold that, within the meaning of § 1283 of the Kansas statute, the International Textbook Company was doing business in the latter state at the time the contract in question was made, and was therefore within the terms of that section.
2. But this view as to the meaning of the Kansas statute does not necessarily lead to an affirmance of the judgment below, if, as the plaintiff contends, the business in which it is regularly engaged is interstate in its nature, and if the statute,
by its necessary operation, materially or directly burdens that business.
It is true that the business in which the International Textbook Company is engaged is of a somewhat exceptional character, but, in our judgment, it was, in its essential characteristics, commerce among the states within the meaning of the Constitution of the United States. It involved, as already suggested, regular and practically continuous intercourse between the Textbook Company, located in Pennsylvania, and its scholars and agents in Kansas and other states. That intercourse was conducted by means of correspondence through the mails with such agents and scholars. While this mode of imparting and acquiring an education may not be such as is commonly adopted in this country, it is a lawful mode to accomplish the valuable purpose the parties have in view. More than that, this mode -- looking at the contracts between the Textbook Company and its scholars -- involved the transportation from the state where the school is located to the state in which the scholar resides, of books, apparatus, and papers, useful or necessary in the particular course of study the scholar is pursuing, and in respect of which he is entitled, from time to time, by virtue of his contract, to information and direction. Intercourse of that kind, between parties in different states -- particularly when it is in execution of a valid contract between them -- is as much intercourse in the constitutional sense as intercourse by means of the telegraph -- "a new species of commerce," to use the words of this Court in Pensacola Telegraph Co. v. Western Union Telegraph Co., 96 U. S. 1, 96 U. S. 9. In the great case of Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 1, 22 U. S. 189, this Court, speaking by Chief Justice Marshall, said: "Commerce, undoubtedly, is traffic; but it is something more; it is intercourse." Referring to the constitutional power of Congress to regulate commerce among the states and with foreign countries, this Court said in the Pensacola case, just cited, that
"it is not only the right, but the duty, of Congress, to see to it that intercourse among the states and the transmission
of intelligence are not obstructed or unnecessarily encumbered by state legislation."
This principle has never been modified by any subsequent decision of this Court.
The same thought was expressed in Western Union Tel. Co. v. Pendleton, 122 U. S. 347, 122 U. S. 356, where the Court said:
"Other commerce deals only with persons, or with visible and tangible things. But the telegraph transports nothing visible and tangible; it carries only ideas, wishes, orders, and intelligence."
It was said in the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, speaking by Judge Sanborn, in Butler Bros. Shoe Co. v. United States Rubber Co., 156 F. 1, 17, that
"all interstate commerce is not sales of goods. Importation into one state from another is the indispensable element, the test, of interstate commerce, and every negotiation, contract, trade, and dealing between citizens of different states, which contemplates and causes such importation, whether it be of goods, persons, or information, is a transaction of interstate commerce."
If intercourse between persons in different states by means of telegraphic messages conveying intelligence or information is commerce among the states, which no state may directly burden or unnecessarily encumber, we cannot doubt that intercourse or communication between persons in different states, by means of correspondence through the mails, is commerce among the states within the meaning of the Constitution, especially where, as here, such intercourse and communication really relate to matters of regular, continuous business, and to the making of contracts and the transportation of books, papers, etc., appertaining to such business. In our further consideration of this case, we shall therefore assume that the business of the Textbook Company, by means of correspondence through the mails and otherwise between Kansas and Pennsylvania, was interstate in its nature.
3. We must next inquire whether the statute of Kansas, if applied to the International Textbook Company, would directly burden its right by means of correspondence through the mails and by its agents, to secure written agreements with
persons in other states, whereby such persons, for a valuable consideration, contract to pay a given amount for scholarships in its correspondence schools, and to have sent to them, as found necessary, from time to time, books, papers, apparatus, and information, needed in the prosecution, in their respective states, of the particular study which the scholar has elected to pursue under the guidance of those who conduct such schools at Scranton? Let us see what effect the statute, by its necessary operation, must have on the conduct of the company's business.
In the first place, it is made a condition precedent to the authority of a corporation of another state, except banking, insurance, and railroad corporations, to do business in Kansas, that it shall prepare, deliver, and file with the Secretary of State a detailed "statement," showing the amount of the authorized, paid-up, par, and market value of, its capital stock, its assets and liabilities, a list of its stockholders, with their respective post office addresses, and the shares held and paid for by each, and the names and post office addresses of the officers, trustees, or directors and managers.
In the next place, the statute denies to the corporation doing business in Kansas the right to maintain an action in a Kansas court unless it shall first obtain a certificate of the Secretary of State to the effect that the statement required by § 1283 has been properly made.
Was it competent for the state to prescribe, as a condition of the right of the Textbook Company to do interstate business in Kansas, such as was transacted with Pigg, that it should prepare, deliver, and file with the Secretary of State the statement mentioned in § 1283? The above question must be answered in the negative upon the authority of former adjudications by this Court. A case in point is Crutcher v. Kentucky, 141 U. S. 47, 141 U. S. 56-57, often referred to and never qualified by any subsequent decision. That case arose under a statute of Kentucky regulating agencies of foreign express companies. The statute required as a condition of the right
of the agent of an express company not incorporated by the laws of Kentucky, to do business in that commonwealth, to take out a license from the state auditor, and to make and file in the auditor's office a statement showing that the company had an actual capital of a given amount, either in cash or in safe investments, exclusive of costs. These requirements were held by this Court to be in violation of the Constitution of the United States in their application to foreign corporations engaged in interstate commerce. The Court said:
"If the subject was one which appertained to the jurisdiction of the state legislature, it may be that the requirements and conditions of doing business within the state would be promotive of the public good. It is clear, however, that it would be a regulation of interstate commerce in its application to corporations or associations engaged in that business, and that is a subject with belongs to the jurisdiction of the national, and not the state, legislature. Congress would undoubtedly have the right to exact from associations of that kind any guaranties it might deem necessary for the public security, and for the faithful transaction of business, and as it is within the province of Congress, it is to be presumed that Congress has done, or will do, all that is necessary and proper in that regard. Besides, it is not to be presumed that the state of its origin has neglected to require from any such corporation proper guaranties as to capital and other securities necessary for the public safety. If a partnership firm of individuals should undertake to carry on the business of interstate commerce between Kentucky and other states, it would not be within the province of the state legislature to exact conditions on which they should carry on their business, nor to require them to take out a license therefor. To carry on interstate commerce is not a franchise or a privilege granted by the state; it is a right which every citizen of the United States is entitled to exercise under the Constitution and laws of the United States, and the accession of mere corporate facilities, as a matter of convenience in carrying on their business,
cannot have the effect of depriving them of such right, unless Congress should see fit to interpose some contrary regulation on the subject."
Again, in the same case:
"Would anyone pretend that a state legislature could prohibit a foreign corporation -- an English or a French transportation company, for example -- from coming into its borders and landing goods and passengers at its wharves, and soliciting goods and passengers for a return voyage, without first obtaining a license from some state officer and filing a sworn statement as to the amount of its capital stock paid in? And why not? Evidently because the matter is not within the province of state legislation, but within that of national legislation."
Further, in the same case:
"We do not think that the difficulty is at all obviated by the fact that the express company, as incidental to its main business (which is to carry goods between different states), does also some local business by carrying goods from one point to another within the State of Kentucky. This is probably quite as much for the accommodation of the people of that state as for the advantage of the company. But whether so or not, it does not obviate the objection that the regulation as to license and capital stock are imposed as conditions on the company's carrying on the business of interstate commerce, which was manifestly the principal object of its organization. These regulations are clearly a burden and a restriction upon that commerce. Whether intended as such or not, they operate as such. But taxes or license fees, in good faith imposed exclusively on express business carried on wholly within the state, would be open to no such objection."
To the same general effect are many other cases. Robbins v. Shelby County Taxing District, 120 U. S. 489; Leloup v. Mobile, 127 U. S. 640; Stoutenburgh v. Hennick, 129 U. S. 141; Lyng v. Michigan, 135 U. S. 166; McCall v. California, 136 U. S. 104; Norfolk & Western Railroad Co. v. Pennsylvania, 136 U. S. 114; Western Union Tel. Co. v. Kansas, 216 U. S. 1. It is true that the statute does not, in terms, require the corporation of another state engaged in interstate commerce to take
out what is technically "a license" to transact its business in Kansas. But it denies all authority to do business in Kansas unless the corporation makes, delivers, and files a "statement" of the kind mentioned in § 1283. The effect of such requirement is practically the same as if a formal license was required as a condition precedent to the right to do such business. In either case, it imposes a condition upon a corporation of another state seeking to do business in Kansas which, in the case of interstate business, is a regulation of interstate commerce and directly burdens such commerce. The state cannot thus burden interstate commerce. It follows that the particular clause of § 1283 requiring that "statement" is illegal and void.
In this connection, it is to be observed that, by the statute, the doors of Kansas courts are closed against the Textbook Company unless it first obtains from the Secretary of State a certificate showing that the "statement" mentioned in § 1283 has been properly made. In other words, although the Textbook Company may have a valid contract with a citizen of Kansas, one directly arising out of and connected with its interstate business, the statute denies its right to invoke the authority of a Kansas court to enforce its provisions unless it does what we hold it was not, under the Constitution, bound to do -- namely, make, deliver, and file with the Secretary of State the statement required by § 1283. If the state could, under any circumstances, legally forbid its courts from taking jurisdiction of a suit brought by a corporation of another state, engaged in interstate business, upon a valid contract arising out of such business, and made with it by a citizen of Kansas, it could not impose on the company, as a condition of its authority to carry on its interstate business in Kansas, that it shall make, deliver, and file that statement with the Secretary of State, and obtain his certificate that it had been properly made. This Court held in Chambers v. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co., 207 U. S. 142, 207 U. S. 148, that a state may, subject to the restrictions of the federal Constitution, "determine the limits of the jurisdiction of its courts, and the character of the
controversies which shall be heard in them." But it also said in the same case:
"The right to sue and defend in the courts is the alternative of force. In an organized society, it is the right conservative of all other rights, and lies at the foundation of orderly government. It is one of the highest and most essential privileges of citizenship, and must be allowed by each state to the citizens of all other states to the precise extent that it is allowed to its own citizens. Equality of treatment in this respect is not left to depend upon comity between the states, but is granted and protected by the federal Constitution."
How far a corporation of one state is entitled to claim in another state, where it is doing business, equality of treatment with individual citizens in respect of the right to sue and defend in the courts is a question which the exigencies of this case do not require to be definitely decided. It is sufficient to say that the requirement of the statement mentioned in § 1283 of the statute imposes a direct burden on the plaintiff's right to engage in interstate business, and therefore is in violation of its constitutional rights. It is the established doctrine of this Court that a state may not, in any form or under any guise, directly burden the prosecution of interstate business. But such a burden is imposed when the corporation of another state, lawfully engaged in interstate commerce, is required, as a condition of its right to prosecute its business in Kansas, to make and file a statement setting forth certain facts which the state, confessedly, could not control by legislation. It results that the provision as to the statement mentioned in § 1283 must fall before the Constitution of the United States, and with it -- according to the established rules of statutory construction -- must fall that part of the same section which provides that the obtaining of the certificate of the Secretary of State that such statement has been properly made shall be a condition precedent to the right of the plaintiff to maintain an action in the courts of Kansas. Section 1283, looking at the object for which it was enacted, must be regarded as an entirety. These
parts of the statute are so connected with and dependent upon each other that the clause relating to actions brought in the courts of Kansas cannot be separated from the prior clause in the same section referring to the statement to be filed with the Secretary of State, and the former left in force after the latter is stricken down as invalid. As the clause about suits in the courts of Kansas expressly refers to the prior clauses in the same section prescribing the statement to be filed with the Secretary of State, the clause relating to suits would be meaningless without reference to the latter. We cannot suppose, from the words of the statute, that the legislature would have adopted the regulation about actions in the state courts except for the purpose of enforcing the prior clause in the same section relating to the statement to be filed with the Secretary of State. The several parts of the section are not capable of separation if effect be given to the legislative intent. It is well settled that, if a statute is in part unconstitutional, the whole statute must be deemed invalid if the parts not held to be invalid are so connected with the general scope of the statute that they cannot be separately enforced, or, if so enforced, will not effectuate the manifest intent of the legislature. In Allen v. Louisiana, 103 U. S. 80, 103 U. S. 84, this Court referred with approval to what Chief Justice Shaw said on this point in Warren v. Mayor &c., 2 Gray, 84. Referring to the rule obtaining in cases of statutes in part constitutional and in part unconstitutional, that eminent jurist said:
"But, if they are so mutually connected with and dependent on each other, as conditions, considerations, or compensations for each other, as to warrant a belief that the legislature intended them as a whole, and that, if all could not be carried into effect, the legislature would not pass the residue independently, and some parts are unconstitutional, all the provisions which are thus dependent, conditional, or connected, must fall with them."
See also Poindexter v. Greenhow, 114 U. S. 270; Spraigue v. Thompson, 118 U. S. 90; Huntington v. Worthen, 120 U. S. 97.
It results that, as the part of § 1283 which relates to the statement to be filed with the secretary is unconstitutional, and as the clause in the same section relating to suits in the state court is so dependent upon and connected with that part as to be meaningless when standing alone, the section must be held inoperative in all its parts, and as not being in the way of the enforcement in any state court of competent jurisdiction of the plaintiff's right to a judgment against the defendant for the amount conceded to be due from him to the Textbook Company under his contract. The judgment must be reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
MR. JUSTICE MOODY heard the argument of this case, participated in its decision in conference, and approves the reversal of the judgment upon the grounds stated in this opinion.
Reversed.
THE CHIEF JUSTICE and MR. JUSTICE McKENNA dissent.
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Virginia Tech football recruiting: Analysis on Benji Gosnell, Gunner Givens and the Hokies’ entire 2022 class
By Andy Bitter Dec 15, 2021 7
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Justin Fuente is gone, but a pretty good recruiting class remains for new Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry, who is trying to maintain and add to the group heading into the early signing period, which starts Dec. 15. He did just that with the addition of four-star tight end Benji Gosnell on Dec. 4, though the Hokies lost a commitment from four-star running back Ramon Brown, who flipped to Maryland on Dec. 14.
The Hokies’ 20-man class ranks No. 26 in the 247Sports Composite, which would be an improvement from Tech’s past two classes, which ranked 76th and 43rd.
This recruiting tracker will be updated as Virginia Tech’s class grows. Below is a rundown of where the group stands currently. All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite unless otherwise noted, and the most recent commitments are listed first.
Benji Gosnell, TE
Hometown: Pilot Mountain, N.C.High school: Carroll CountyRanking: No. 332 overall, No. 16 TEDate of commitment: Dec. 4, 2021
Notable: Gosnell was recruited before the Hokies changed coaches, but he becomes the first commitment of the Pry era, making his pledge two days after Pry was formally introduced as the coach. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Gosnell had strong interest from North Carolina too. He was an Ohio State commitment from last November through July. He played for East Surry High his first three years of high school but moved before this season to Hillsville, Virginia, where he played quarterback, tight end and linebacker at Carroll County. He could play linebacker or tight end in college, though he probably projects on the offensive side of the ball as a big man who is nimble on his feet. As the No. 332 recruit nationally, he’s the third-highest ranked commitment in the Hokies’ class, behind only offensive lineman Gunner Givens and cornerback Cam Johnson.
Reid Pulliam, LB
Hometown: Colonial Heights, Va.
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OilersEDM
CanucksVAN
EDM 1 1 0 2
VAN 0 0 1 1
W. Foegele (1 PT, 1 G, 0 A, 2 SOG)
B. Boeser (1 PT, 1 G, 0 A, 5 SOG)
Over/Under: 6.5
Moneyline: EDM -135 VAN +113
TV: CBC
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Thomas Drance
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Wyatt Arndt
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R. Nugent-Hopkins C 0 1 0 3 1 0 2 0 0 20:17
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K. Yamamoto RW 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 16:25
T. Benson LW 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 09:16
S. Koekkoek D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12:09
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B. Horvat C 0 1 1 2 0 0 3 0 0 19:37
C. Garland RW 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 0 1 15:01
J. Miller C 0 1 1 1 0 0 4 0 2 23:53
Q. Hughes D 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 27:17
E. Pettersson C 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 22:02
T. Poolman D 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 21:43
T. Myers D 0 0 0 1 2 2 1 0 0 21:06
J. Lammikko RW 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 11:15
O. Ekman-Larsson D 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 0 0 22:22
A. Chiasson RW 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 1 08:45
N. Hoglander LW 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 12:11
L. Schenn D 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 14:13
J. Rathbone D 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 12:38
V. Podkolzin RW 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 09:23
J. Dickinson C 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 11:44
T. Pearson LW 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 14:00
J. Bailey RW 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 11:48
T. Demko G 34 2 32 0.941 55:52
1ST PERIOD 1ST 11:39 - Goal: Warren Foegele, Assists: Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard (Power Play) 1 0
2ND PERIOD 2ND 19:20 - Goal: Leon Draisaitl, Assists: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid (Power Play) 2 0
3RD PERIOD 3RD 19:53 - Goal: Brock Boeser, Assists: J.T. Miller, Bo Horvat 2 1
2 PIM 4
19 HITS 25
5 GIVEAWAYS 6
1 TAKEAWAYS 7
27 FACEOFFS WON 27
‘We’re finding ways to lose’: Oilers have no answers after blowing a two-goal lead, losing to the Senators
The Armies: Elias Pettersson’s misery, the anatomy of an elite PK, and is it Jack Rathbone time?
Harman Dayal
Lowetide: Midseason review of Oilers reasonable predictions for 2021-22
The Oilers aren’t getting a dominant Leon Draisaitl right now, a problem they’ve run into — and solved — before
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Creative Together – by Shannon Lewitsky for the BIA
by webteam | Apr 19, 2014 | Articles
Truly compassionate people with a genuinely noble cause are few and far between these days. That is why The Creative Space’s Chad Ballantyne is such an upstanding member of the Barrie community. When you first meet Chad you’re captivated with this overwhelming feeling of sincere honesty and benevolence for the community as a whole and his deep concern for the future of young minds. He has a passion and devotion to working together with other like-minded personalities, collaborating to grow as an individual, as a company, and as a community.
“They strive to give back to their community of young, talented, creative individuals.”
Chad is the founder and owner of Rhubarb Media; a small marketing company derived from his own creative ambitions and desire to help other companies grow. He is a community activist, bettering not only the creative minds, but also the expressive ones, with art projects, life encouragement, and entrepreneurial partnerships. The idea behind The Creative Space came to be as a solution to an existing problem. Chad & Rhubarb Media rented space in Downtown Barrie that was large and open, allowing for inner collaboration. When the other company had to leave the space, Rhubarb Media found themselves stuck with this huge office that they neither needed nor could they afford. Not ready to give up the space that they loved, the team decided to invite in freelancers to rent out space within their space. It became instantly apparent that sharing their space with other like-minded individuals was fulfilling on both a work and a personal level. The idea of co-working came about – working as a collective to help each company grow proved to be an excellent and efficient use of everyone’s time and talent.
Since then, The Creative Space has expanded and become more robust with up to 37 member companies. Although they are a for-profit organization, they operate as a social enterprise given back to the community at all turns with membership fees being applied to the cost of the space. They strive to give back to their community of young, talented, creative individuals. Most of the companies are small one to three member outfits, all of whom tend to have experienced growth after joining the space and collaborating with others. The Creative Space is run on the concept of coworking to help develop and grow digital economies and supporting professionals and creative minds. Chad is a huge supporter of Barrie’s Downtown revitalization and strives to help his local community by buying and promoting locally.
The Creative Space’s dedication to reconnecting people to communicate and work face to face, utilizing our minds instead of our computers, is truly an awe inspiring practice. They down play the need for competition and encourage individuals to share ideas and offer positive, constructive, criticism. As Chad puts it “do what you do best and insource the rest”. He calls it “insourcing” as most of the work goes to coworkers in the space. The Creative Space puts a premium on the local community, uplifting it as a whole not just professionally, but socially and culturally. The walls within the space are lined with art from local artists, and they host events, concerts, and film festivals to support the local talent. They are trying to be very involved with the schools in the area, offering workshops for grades 8-12 called Spark that speak to topics like fear and failure of overcoming barriers – soon to be offering coding classes for kids, 3D printing workshops, Midi and music, and open coffee clubs for entrepreneurs encouraging discussions. One program they are particular excited for and proud of is their TREP program. This program gives companies an opportunity to sponsor a desk space for young professionals, like those in the entrepreneur program at Georgian College. Their sponsored desk allows them to work on projects they might have while giving them a chance to collaborate with people in the business world. All that is required of the student is that during their time at The Creative Space they are to tweet, post, blog, and shout out daily to the company who sponsored them. This is a great opportunity to get involved in shaping our youth while also generating some social promotion and good will for your company.
It should come as no surprise that Chad has a close connection with the Church, growing up as a son and grandson of a pastor. It’s in his DNA to be a strong advocate of community collaboration and youth education and betterment. Chad went into youth ministry when he was younger, which gave him the opportunity to be creative making posters and organizing events. Later, his job was centered around creative communications for the church, where he oversaw the arts programs and worked with developing the minds of youth and adults. He is still very involved with his Church. Recently, he decided to branch out and create Pastor Pixel, a Church marketing company where Chad can encourage and help churches market themselves more professionally. (www.pastorpixel.com)
Chad’s wisdom comes from his life experience, and his constant interaction with others. He learns from his surroundings, being exposed each day to something new that allows him to progress as an individual, advance his company, help youth move forward, and ultimately create a community where everyone coexists – feeding off of one another’s energy, intelligence and creativity. The Creative Space offers numerous opportunities to get involved and support the growth and development of the community around you. Their current Indiegogo campaign is about halfway through and could use the support of the community. Chad is always willing to discuss his vision for a better future, and by sitting down with him you quickly sense his undeniable passion!
By Shannon Lewitsky
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A Property Tax Money Machine Crushes Families
(Bloomberg) — Trinity Smith lost her home in Detroit because of unfairly high property taxes—and in the process, she handed over thousands of dollars to a multibillion-dollar money machine that benefits real estate speculators, big banks and the county government that foreclosed on her.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Smith’s home was one of more than 100,000 that officials have auctioned off over the past decade in Wayne County, Michigan, which has transformed delinquent property taxes into investment opportunities. Since 2005, county officials have used the debts to back roughly $3.5 billion in bond sales—securities that pay high yields to investors and are funded by penalties, fines and foreclosure sales like Trinity Smith’s.
While issuing these so-called Delinquent Tax Anticipation Notes, or DTANs, the county has done well for itself, collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue beyond the actual tax debts. Meanwhile, Smith, who lost her entire investment in the house as part of the 2013 foreclosure, is still grappling with the consequences.
“I haven’t been able to get myself back mentally,” she said in a recent interview, wiping away tears.
Wayne County is an extreme example of a nationwide phenomenon: Local officials use fines and foreclosures or tax lien sales as cudgels against people who haven’t paid their property taxes—even though flawed tax assessments have systematically inflated tax bills for the lowest priced homes. Some municipalities’ efforts to securitize or sell the debts have led to a broad, upward transfer of wealth that’s rooted in fundamentally unfair tax systems.
New York City, where a Bloomberg News investigation found profound systemic unfairness in property taxes, has recouped billions by rolling tax liens into trusts and selling bonds, a practice that generates millions in fees for finance professionals. New York’s attorney general has recommended overhauling the practice, citing a “disproportionate impact” on minority homeowners.
And in Texas, a financial firm cofounded by a billionaire has taken a private-sector approach to financializing property-tax debt, purchasing and bundling more than 35,000 municipal liens worth nearly $300 million into securities to sell on Wall Street.
Nationwide data show that much of the debt that’s being sold never should have existed in the first place. Across the U.S., local governments collect roughly $500 billion in residential property taxes each year by applying a set tax rate to the market value of every home, making it vitally important to assess each property’s value accurately. But in county after county, studies show that unfair valuations shift the tax burden from high-priced homes to low-priced ones.
Some local officials have acknowledged the problem, citing causes that include the challenge of ascertaining the condition—and thus, the value—of thousands of individual homes. But if the causes are complex, the effects are simple: Families who have been unfairly taxed get caught in a vicious cycle of debt, and many lose their best chance at building wealth.
See also: How Unfair Property Taxes Keep Black Families From Gaining Wealth
King Smith was 11 years old when the men came to put him and his mother, Trinity, out of their two-story home in Detroit’s Rosedale Park neighborhood. He recalls his friends looking on as the workers piled their possessions on the curb. His Playstation went missing. Later, he’d learn that animal control had taken his two dogs.
“That was the childhood I was supposed to have,” says King, now 16, “but it was taken away from me.” The Smiths moved from a street with wide lawns and a canopy of trees, eventually landing in a one-story house on a block that’s pocked with abandoned properties.
Trinity Smith had purchased their home in 2011 for $22,500, but Detroit officials valued it at $85,000 for tax purposes that year. She’d applied for a property-tax exemption under a local program for low-income families, she says, and she never received a bill or any other official notice from the city. Regardless, county records show, the house racked up more than $6,000 in unpaid taxes in just a few years’ time.
Her first clue about the tax debt came in 2013, when she got a call from a company offering to buy her home; the caller mentioned the past-due amount and told her she was in danger of losing her place to foreclosure. Smith rushed to the Wayne County Treasurer’s office, where she discovered that that her property sat on two separate tax parcels. While that’s not uncommon, it had caused a mix-up with her exemption paperwork, she says.
She filed for an extension and sought aid from a social-service agency. But by that time, the county had already foreclosed. The next year, the Smiths’ house became one of more than 23,000 homes that county officials auctioned off; it fetched a price of $39,000. Trinity and King Smith lost everything. Others gained.
First, Wayne County used their tax debt and thousands of others to back its 2014 issue of DTANs. The two- to three-year notes were attractive to underwriters and investors; in an era of historically low interest rates, they offered yields that were as much as six times higher than similarly rated debt, county records and market data show. Among the largest institutional holders of the bonds were Bank of New York Mellon, a handful of insurance companies and a rural electric cooperative association.
Since 2017, Wayne County has offered DTANs through private placements, and as of this year, it had sold roughly $617 million privately. County records show that roughly $500 million of those notes were purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. A spokeswoman for the bank declined to comment for this story.
Bondholders weren’t the only beneficiaries when the Smiths lost their home. It sold for $39,000 in October 2014, far more than Trinity Smith’s $6,358 tax debt—and Wayne County pocketed the difference for a five-fold return on the unpaid taxes.
For years, Wayne County and at least seven other counties in Michigan have routinely auctioned off foreclosed homes for amounts that exceeded the homes’ tax debts and kept the difference. Last year, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the practice constitutes an unconstitutional “taking” of private property. Thus far, none of the Michigan counties have agreed to reimburse people like Trinity Smith; five class action lawsuits have been certified.
“It was just shocking to me that governments were treating people like they don’t really own their property,” says Christina Martin, an attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, a libertarian public-interest law firm that led the team that secured the state Supreme Court ruling. “They have a right to seize property to get paid for what they are owed, but they don’t have the right to keep anything more than that.” The group has challenged similar practices across the country, Martin said, including in Nebraska, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Minnesota.
In Michigan, Martin said, “it quickly became apparent that this practice was being used by some treasurers as a way to boost their budgets.”
Since 2005, Wayne County’s delinquent tax program and its foreclosures have generated roughly $715 million in revenue beyond the taxes that were owed, audited financial reports show, and the county has transferred almost $600 million from the program into its general fund.
In a written response to questions, Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree said that the county operates the delinquent tax program “in accordance with Michigan law” and that transfers to the county’s general fund “are also mandated by state law.” He added, “We are continuously analyzing and evaluating any impact of the Michigan Supreme Court ruling” and “related litigation is ongoing.”
The investor who bought the Smiths’ home also got some advantages. After buying it for $39,000 in 2014 and letting Trinity and King Smith stay for a while, the investor flipped it in 2017 for $120,000, property records show. That year, city assessors valued it at just $47,000 for tax purposes—about 39% of its market value. When Trinity Smith bought it in 2011, assessors had valued the place at 377% of its market price.
Such “regressive” assessments—meaning those that burden people at the low end of the economic scale more than people at the high end—were responsible for at least 25% of Detroit’s foreclosures of the lowest-priced homes, according to a 2019 study. One of the study’s authors, Bernadette Atuahene, a law professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago-Kent College of Law, co-founded a group that’s fighting to stop inflated property tax assessments; she has noted that the state constitution prohibits assessing homes at more than 50% of their market values. The group is seeking to suspend foreclosures until Detroit addresses the inaccuracies and to provide compensation to affected homeowners.
In a paper last year, Atuahene cited systemic flaws in the city’s assessments and the high volume of foreclosures in calling Detroit a “predatory city.” She suggested that other cities across the U.S. might also deserve the title.
“There are a lot of people making money at various levels,” Atuahene said. “The people profiting are doing what’s perfectly legal, but they are allowing a predatory system built off illegally high assessments.”
See also: How a $2 Million Condo in Brooklyn Ends Up With a $157 Tax Bill
Foreclosures are far rarer in New York City, where property tax debts have backed more than $2 billion in bonds since 1996; the most recent batch was sold Dec. 17. Because the city operates a highly regressive property tax system that shifts hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes from higher- to lower-priced properties each year, many homeowners still wind up losing.
Kevin B. Rose discovered as much after his father died in 2012. Lyndon Rose left behind the family home in the Bronx, where unpaid property taxes began piling up. By the time Kevin Rose realized what was happening, he had a heap of foreclosure warnings to sort through and a tax debt that was approaching $10,000 at interest rates as high as 18%. (In 2019, officials cut the top interest rate to 7% for properties like the Roses’.) Feeling overwhelmed, he sold the house in April 2016 for $260,000.
That sale price was $80,000 less than the value that city officials had attached to the house two months earlier, city records show, resulting in an annual tax bill of about $3,900. Based on the actual sale price, that’s an effective tax rate of 1.5%—far higher than the median rate of 0.9% for the Bronx.
(The buyer got to work rehabbing the Roses’ former home a month later, city records show, and resold the property in 2017 for $442,568. That year, city officials set its value for tax purposes at $370,000.)
“It’s incredible, it’s unbelievable,” Kevin Rose says of the experience. “They know that people like my father, he may not have a support group, a lawyer who can look this stuff over. They take advantage of your ignorance, your lack of options.”
He didn’t know it, but a chunk of the tax bill went to investors as well. Each year, New York City officials collect about $30 billion in property taxes and set up a trust to handle a comparatively tiny $75 million worth of taxes that haven’t been paid, on average. Officials transfer liens—or official, binding claims they’ve filed against properties for unpaid bills—into each trust, which then issues bonds to investors. Liens on roughly 7,000 properties were eligible for the most recent sale, city data show.
Companies hired to recoup the debt earn 1% of the trust’s assets as a base fee. Bonuses climb as they collect more; their payments can reach $3 million for larger trusts. For several years, New York’s trusts have given this collection work to South Carolina-based MTAG Services and New Jersey-based Tower Capital Management. MTAG executives didn’t respond to requests for comment, and an executive at Tower said all inquiries should be directed to New York’s finance department.
In an email, a department spokesman said the system has advantages over traditional enforcement efforts, including a decreased chance of foreclosure.
“The tax lien sale has been an effective enforcement tool to maintain a high level of voluntary compliance with property taxes,” the spokesman said. “The program is designed to prompt property owners to pay delinquent taxes and charges. It is not a blunt instrument that charts a one-way path to foreclosure.”
Those who buy the trusts’ bonds—typically, institutional investors like insurers and banks—get remarkably safe bets and yields that surpass U.S. treasuries.
The bonds generally receive AAA scores, and for good reason: Tax liens get “super-priority” in the case of a defaults; lien holders get paid even before mortgage lenders. Moreover, the value of a New York tax lien, on average, is about 10% of the property’s value, which tends to give owners an incentive to pay instead of simply walking away.
New York’s commitment to tax lien trusts may be waning. Officials didn’t create one for 2020, citing the Covid-19 pandemic. In an October letter, New York Attorney General Letitia James had called on outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio to forgo creating one this year too, describing the prospect as “alarming.” Critics say the trusts exacerbate displacement and gentrification, a societal cost that they consider too high.
De Blasio’s incoming successor, Eric Adams, has said he plans to end the trusts. Even Keith Sernick, who cofounded one of the companies that collects debt for them, says their time has probably passed.
“They’d be better off if they just did an open auction” to sell off tax liens without securitizing them, says Sernick, who now runs an economic development firm. “Because securitizations are very expensive. And the guys who do the securitization make tons of money.”
Meanwhile, a company in Texas has demonstrated that the private sector can accomplish pretty much the same process. In 2014, Propel Financial Services bundled $141 million of Texas tax debt into a trust that sold securities backed by it; and in 2017, after expanding its reach to seven more states, it launched another, with $137 million worth of notes.
Propel mostly built those trusts one lien at a time, by going directly to delinquent homeowners, often via direct mail or online marketing campaigns. In effect, the company pays off the homeowners’ back taxes, creating new loans that are still secured by the liens against their property.
For borrowers, the appeal can be hard to resist: They exchange thousands of dollars in public tax debt for comparatively manageable monthly payments. But the new debts can add up quickly. Initial fees can add $600 or more to the principal, and interest accrues at rates of 13.9% and higher, according to contracts reviewed by Bloomberg. If borrowers pay down their debts on schedule, they’ll typically have paid more than double the face value of their tax liens.
“This is one of my babies that I intend to grow into a very competitive financial services company,” Propel cofounder Red McCombs told the San Antonio Business Journal in March 2018. “In two to three years, it will be a $100 million business.” McCombs, a billionaire, built his wealth on car dealerships and Clear Channel Communications, the media company.
Propel executives didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment for this article.
Back in Detroit, prospects are looking up for some property tax debtors. The Gilbert Family Foundation has pledged $15 million to pay off the debts for 20,000 Detroit homeowners on fixed incomes. The foundation was established by billionaire Dan Gilbert, founder of Detroit-based Quicken Loans, now known as Rocket Mortgage, and his wife Jennifer. As of September, the property-tax program aided about 1,600 households.
A 2020 state law, pushed by local community groups, drastically reduced back taxes for those who receive poverty exemptions from the county. Trinity Smith would have qualified. But for her family, like tens of thousands of others, the aid came too late. Detroit officials have acknowledged overtaxing about 130,000 homeowners between 2010 and 2013. Recent research shows that the city’s system remains deeply regressive.
King Smith is now a junior in high school. A star wide receiver on his high school football team, he is working to keep his grades up and looking forward to college. A scholarship would come in handy; his mother, Trinity, says she spent much of his college fund in a futile attempt to hold on to their old home. She’s working part-time now as a contractor for Amazon, delivering packages at night. Sometimes the job takes her back to her old neighborhood.
“That’s when I feel like I didn’t do everything I could have to keep that house,” she says. “It was wealth. I thought I could pass it along to him someday. But then I realize this is big business. They wanted my house, and they took it.”
(Updates with additional background on law professor and advocacy group in 24th paragraph)
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Tags: Crushes, Families, Machine, Money, property, tax
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Articles, Film Club, Movies
Remembering Robocop
March 14, 2018 Carl Roberts Leave a comment
Carl Roberts reveals the facts behind Paul Verhoeven’s ultra-violent American satire
The year 1987 at the world box office will always be remembered for the diverse selection of films presented to us. Lethal Weapon made its bow, bringing back Mel Gibson to audiences worldwide after a few years of self exile from our screens. The Secret Of My Success, a Michael J. Fox vehicle which, to this writer, still holds a special place in his heart to this day. Innerspace, a Joe Dante directed, Steven Spielberg produced semi-remake/updating of the classic Irwin Allen film Fantastic Voyage, this time starring Dennis Quaid, Martin Short and Meg Ryan, and another personal favourite of mine, hit the silver screen to sadly mediocre box office (a shame as the film is funny, entertaining, well directed and contains a fantastic score by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith). The top grossing film of the year was Three Men and a Baby followed by Fatal Attraction and Beverley Hills Cop II respectively. Further down the list and just outside the top 10 are much loved fare Dirty Dancing (11th) and the original Predator (12th). However, the film that sat comfortably at number 16 of the year will always be regarded as a classic, mainly because it came out of nowhere and due to the fact that it resonated with audiences across the globe, beating the likes of The Living Daylights and A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 comfortably.
Media Break
Robocop is a classic film, one that embodies the 1980s. A violent futuristic film that surprised and delighted audiences and critics alike and gave the American MPAA ratings board nightmares. Not since the days of the Friday the 13th films did one film give the board such a headache. The “ultra-violence” of the film shocked the ratings board so much that the film needed extensive cuts to gain an R rating in the States. What the board didn’t take into account was the violence was of such of a cartoonish nature, that the film was a dark comedy at heart. It is played with comedic rather than serious intention. I mean, how corny is the title itself? Robocop. It even sounds like a trashy Roger Corman film. The title is so daft, it invites laughter. The thing is, that’s the point. It’s meant to be taken in jest. That was what the filmmakers and writers always intended. However, the MPAA. didn’t get the point or the joke and this created hell for the film.
The film starts with a 3 minute news programme called Media Break. This in itself is a contemporaneous parody of the media of the 1980s. What makes it all the more funny and entertaining is that 1980s TV news favourites Mario Machado and Leeza Gibbons play the two presenters, Casey Wong and Jess Perkins. Sending themselves up gloriously, the pair introduce us to TV of the future, three minute news broadcasts interspersed with fantastically hilarious advertisements. This is what lies at the heart of the film: gleeful satire of American TV. Extortionately priced heart replacements? A family game called Nukem? Gas guzzling cars like the 6000 SUX dwarfing a rampaging dinosaur? The price of gasoline was already high in America at the time and the film sends this up with aplomb. It is such a great satire on American TV that we cannot help but laugh. Lying within the violence is a send up of America at that time.
Contemporary Frankenstein
We are introduced to the character of Alex Murphy, a police officer transferred in to Metro North from Metro South. The Detroit police department is being financed and run by OCP, a corporation that has entered into a contract with the city, and its bankrupt mayor and administration. They are pulling strings behind the scenes and are moving police officers, like pawns in a never ending violent chess game, into places they need them in. They don’t really care about the police they finance, they are just expendable figures to the corporation in the long run. Their long term goal is to tear down Old Detroit and construct Delta City, a vision of the future. The design of Delta city was based on the classic British comic, 2000AD and specifically the Judge Dredd stories and Mega City One.
Murphy is paired with Officer Anne Lewis. Their first assignment is to attempt to apprehend a van full of gang members led by the psychopathic Clarence Boddicker. The gang has recently robbed a bank but one of the members has done the unthinkable. He’s used too much explosive on the vaults door and has burnt the money, marking the gang’s ill gotten gains and making it virtually unusable. To pour salt onto their wound, they have been found by Murphy and Lewis. A chase ensues where the unfortunate gang member, Bobby is shot in the leg and is summarily thrown from the fleeing vehicle onto the front of the pursuing police cruiser, slowing them down. The van flees but the police officers manage to track them to an abandoned factory where the gang has made their hideout. Again, this location demonstrates the real situation facing the city of Detroit at the time of filming. The city had taken a sad downturn in fortunes and as such, many industrial factories had been forced to close their doors, causing a surge in unemployment for the city that they couldn’t contain. It is a credit to the writers that they choose to reflect this in their screenplay.
Lewis is knocked unconscious inside the factory and Murphy is ambushed by the gang. After being taunted and abused, Boddicker blows Murphy’s hand off and gives him to his colleagues to kill at their leisure. After being shot numerous times by shotgun, Murphy is amazingly still alive. Boddicker remedies this by summarily shooting Murphy in the head, executing him. Lewis sees all of this. This scene is the one that caused both the MPAA and the filmmakers the most trouble. The version released was heavily edited several times for its brutal, extreme violence. The director’s cut reinstates all that was edited out and shows the scene as was originally intended. And make no mistake, the scene is extremely graphic. The violence and gore shown can be a hard watch for some people and I can understand why it caused such a fuss. However, the film is about Murphy’s death, rebirth, revenge and redemption. Even though the scene is disturbing, it is needed to show the context of the rest of the film. Yes, it’s graphic and violent. Yes, it is disturbing. But that is the intention. The film is a contemporary Frankenstein. Just like Shelley’s monster, Murphy doesn’t have a choice about his future fate. They are both returned from death by unscrupulous science. Both should have been left to rest in peace instead of being recreated as proof mankind knows best and to show what he is capable of creating.
Person or Product
The filmmakers do the right thing by not revealing Robo straight away. We only catch small glimpses of him,an arm here, a shot of him on a TV screen until we are treated to a full reveal. His OCP owners view him as “product,” a merchandising public relations tool. They have tried to strip away his humanity. They view Murphy’s lifeless body as their property, not as a deceased human being. To hell with morality. To hell with his family’s feelings. He belongs to them. Again, we are treated here to a dilemma. What is freedom? How far is too far? Is it ever okay to take someone that has passed on to the next phase of existence and resurrect them again? The meaning raises its head. The tale of rebirth, revenge and redemption.
Robo during the course of the film starts to regain some of his humanity, his memories and his real identity. By the film’s end, it is uncertain how much is now the man and how much is the machine. His humanity has shown itself again, hence the removal of the visor by the film’s climatic showdown. The machine would coldly process the events and rationally come up with the best solution to the problem. The man goes his own way. The machine would calmly arrest the villains. The man systematically and coldly murders his own killers. A machine can never revenge a wrong. A man can. Is the machine morally right in being rational or is the man right in his quest for vengeance? Does the machine have a soul to lose? Or does the man possess the need to regain his? It’s to the writers eternal credit that these issues are never answered in the film. You are swept up in the story and how it will conclude that these questions are left in your mind, waiting for you to answer them in your own way. At the end of it all, the film, through its violence and theme of death and resurrection tips its hat to that greatest story of them all. This is the heart of the film. In Murphy’s death and rebirth as Robocop, we are treated to a parallel symbolisation of the death of Christ and the resurrection.
Super Cop
The story was originally conceived in 1981. Writers Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner had their own ideas for a movie. Neumeier’s was titled “Robocop” and Miner’s was titled “Supercop”. Thrown together by a studio buddy-up programme, the pair merged their ideas together in 1984 and came up with the movie that we know. Both of their stories contained and were inspired by 1980s big business, individual wealth and cold war politics. The politics in their screenplay is interesting but the screenplay and the film itself have more of a cutting commentary on current affairs with a great sense of satire. Miner himself found inspiration in Blade Runner even though he asked executives at a screening of a rough cut of the film, “Okay, so what was that all about?” Getting finance for the film was tough. Miner had worked at Universal studios so offered them the chance to make the film. They declined. Every studio passed on their screenplay. That was until they met with producer Jon Davison. Davison himself was a former studio executive. He knew the studio system back to front. After reading the screenplay, he decided to take the pair and their story to Orion Pictures.
Orion Pictures was set up in 1978. It eventually became a leading light in the independent film sector. Orion Pictures producer Barbara Boyle took the meeting with Davison, Neumeier and Miner and immediately took a liking to the project. Orion looked like it was in a strong financial position after having a huge financial hit with The Terminator in 1984. However, it was in reality in dire financial trouble. A string of high profile flops had diminished their power. They were in need of a major box office hit. Their co-founder was Mike Medavoy, a former United Artists head of production. He had been in this position before. Heaven’s Gate had sunk United Artists back in the early 1980’s and things were looking grim. Yet he saw the potential in the screenplay and agreed to make the film. He did demand the film come in at under $10m budget. The filmmakers came up with a plan to make it for $9,999,999. Ultimately though, the film cost $12m to make.
The first thing needed was a director. Roger Corman and some of his protegees were considered until someone mentioned Paul Verhoeven. Verhoeven had worked with Orion before on the film Flesh and Blood. It was the first English language film from the proud Dutchman but was ultimately a box office failure. Undeterred, the filmmakers sent Verhoeven the script for the film. He wasn’t impressed. He read it on a beach at Cannes. He told his wife he was not remotely interested in making the film and went into the sea for a swim. While he was gone, his wife picked up the script, read it and, upon his return, asked him to read the screenplay again and to reconsider his earlier decision. He did. It was to become Verhoeven’s first American film.
Jon Davison decided to set up a production company solely for the film. He mischievously decided to name it Tobor Productions. When asked why he had decided to name the company Tobor, he bluntly answered, “Read the name Tobor backwards.” It was a strangely fitting name. Joining Verhoeven on set was his good friend and cinematographer Jost Vacano. The German would go on to make seven films with Verhoeven including Total Recall. His brilliance in cinematography was recognised mainly from Wolfgang Petterson’s Das Boot (The Boat) so his keen eye was a welcome and in hindsight, brilliant addition to the film.
Ordinary Officer
Casting came next. Many actors were considered for the main character. These included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris and Keith Carradine. They were considered but never formally offered the role. What went against Schwarzenegger was his size and his previous role as The Terminator. The sheer size of him made any idea of placing Robocop’s armour on him an almost impossibility. It would look like a huge man encased in armour rather than an ordinary police officer, a normal man killed in the line of duty and returned to life with cybernetic assistance. Chuck Norris’s voice was deemed as not suitable for the role (along with his beard) and Keith Carradine was so very nearly approached for the role. However, a young actor by the name of Peter Weller was brought to their attention. He was a classically trained actor and had a background comprising dance and mime. After approaching him, they convinced the actor to take on the iconic role. He didn’t know the pain he had let himself in for.
Villians, Slimeballs and Authority Figures
With their Robocop in place,they turned their attention to the supporting cast. A virtual unknown in movies but a star on stage, Kurtwood Smith was cast as the villain, Clarence Boddicker. It was a masterstroke. Smith delivered a performance that stands the test of time. What’s more amazing is the fact that Weller refused to speak to any of the cast during the first week of shooting, choosing to stay in character all the time and refusing to answer to anything but Robocop on set. Smith recognised this as method acting but thought it was atrocious. Smith and Weller didn’t even speak or communicate at all during the first week. Ultimately, Weller and Smith did meet, sit down and talk and became good friends.
Miguel Ferrer, the son of legendary actor Jose Ferrer was asked in to audition as a gang member. He dutifully did but requested he be tested for the role of the slimy, ambitious board member, Bob Morton. They allowed him to audition three times and eventually Ferrer got the role he wanted. His performance as Morton was inspired. His journey from ambitious executive to complete slimeball leaves a lingering memory. We start by feeling happy for him but our good feelings towards him quickly disappear as he slides into excess. His death at the hands of Boddicker feels like a justice has been done; he deserves his fate. It’s a fitting ending for him. Ferrer went on to have an illustrious career (including his beloved role of Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks) before his sad and early death from cancer.
Michael Miner remembered an old employee at Universal Pictures named Lou Wasserman. He became the basis for the character of the old man. The Old Man, chairman of the board of OCP was a background character in the film, but an essential one. In the original film, he was a man wanting to do good, a man wanting to cement his legacy. The sequel abandoned this to make him the token villain of the piece, a huge mistake in my eyes. The filmmakers cast legendary genre actor Daniel O’Herlihy as the character. Known for his roles to younger viewers as the villain in Halloween III and as the alien Grig in The Last Starfighter, O’Herlihy brought a warmth to the Old Man. We laughed as he delivered comedic lines with a complete straight face. How can anyone forget his performance when, after the malfunctioning ED-209 violently kills the young executive, Kinney, he quips deadpan to his number two, Dick Jones, “Dick, I’m very disappointed.” Forget that his great hope for pacifying Old Detroit has just killed a man in cold blood, he’s just upset that it could cost the company $90m in interest payments! O’Herlihy shone in his role. What’s more surprising is the fact he was Oscar nominated years before for his performance in The Adventures Of Robinson Crusoe.
Similar to the aforementioned Dick Jones, the filmmakers opted to cast veteran actor Ronny Cox. His outstanding performance in the classic thriller Deliverance alongside Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds and Ned Beatty was one for the ages. We can tell from the outset that Jones is evil; the poisonous looks he gives his fellow executives, his complete coldness towards them and the fear he instils in them leave no doubt in the viewer’s mind of his vile nature. Morton makes the mistake of stepping into the void when ED-209 malfunctions and stepping on his superiors toes. His mistake leaves him with a very dangerous enemy. Morton doesn’t realise he’s just angered a deadly snake, one whose bite is instantly fatal. He then furthers that mistake by insulting Jones in the company restroom while Jones sits in a cubicle overhearing the insults Morton utters about him. Cox is superb here. His performance leaves no doubt that Jones is a dangerous individual. When its finally revealed that he is in league with Boddicker, we are not surprised. Jones and Boddicker are made for each other. Both perform well as a team. Both will do anything to get what they want. Murder is just another tool at their disposal. To them, it’s no big deal. Nothing will stand in their way on their journey to riches and success.
Robert Doqui plays Captain Reed. Doqui was cast after the producers remembered his performance in the 1970s blaxplotation film Coffey. Again, Reed is a minor role but Doqui plays him with aplomb. The tough talking, no nonsense taking captain suited Doqui to the ground. He would appear in the two sequels, but with Robocop 3 his character was neutered and watered down.
In the Style of Ripley
Cast as Officer Anne Lewis, Murphy’s partner and eventually Robocop’s saviour was Stephanie Zimbalist. Daughter of Efram Zembalist, her casting came after the TV series Remington Steele co-starring Pierce Brosnan was cancelled. With her in place, the cast was rounded out and filming was ready to commence. Only it wasn’t.
With two weeks to go until filming started, Zimbalist pulled out of the role of Lewis. She gave no explanation as to her withdrawal. Speculation went around Hollywood as to her now non-involvement in the film, the widely accepted version being her family and friends spoke to her saying, “You’re starring in a film called Robocop? Seriously?” Her withdrawal left the film without a key role being in place. Going back through the list of actresses that had auditioned for the part originally, the producers opted to cast character actress Nancy Allen as Lewis. Allen, the former wife of director Brian DePalma, had auditioned for the role previously. She had been disappointed when she wasn’t cast. Her Hollywood resume contained performances in Carrie, Dressed to Kill alongside Michael Caine and Blow Out alongside John Travolta. Despite belief to the contrary, the character of Lewis was never written as Murphy’s/Robo’s love interest, the character was always written as a strong, independent, loveless woman. A tough lone female in the style of Ripley in the Alien films. Allen fitted the role like a glove and makes the character a memorable one. Allen had spoken with Peter Weller before filming commenced and knew of his decision to stay in character during filming so his refusal to speak while in character was not an issue or shock to her. Allen herself stated the only real complaint she had with the film was her hair! It took eight haircuts to get a style the filmmakers agreed with and Allen hated the end result. When the sequel rolled around, Allen stated she had final say over her hairstyle. Amazingly, the producers agreed. Lewis is the perfect foil to Robocop. She helps him regain his humanity, he warms to her and relies on her by the film’s climax. She comes through for him at the end despite being badly wounded and kills gang member Leon after he has dropped scrap metal onto our cyborg hero.
Toxic Wasted
Phil Tippett was tasked with bringing the film to life through his brand of special effects. Using the stop motion animation he used with his special effects for The Empire Strikes Back, Tippett designed and created ED-209. The stop motion animation fight between ED-209 and Robocop brings back memories of Tippett’s idol, the great Ray Harryhausen. Not being content with producing the film, Jon Davison decided to voice ED-209. The robot’s voice is now burned into our minds and is imitated and laughed at to this day. Head of design was Craig Hayes. He helped build the full size ED-209 model for the shots of the character standing still and the end of the film guarding OCP Tower. The model was supposed to be completely destroyed by Robo at the climax. However, the blast was so loud that it destroyed many windows and led to police being called to the set for noise complaints. And after all that, the model still stood, virtually undamaged. ED-209 lived to see Robocop 2 and 3. Hayes went on to bigger things after the two Robocop sequels, including Jurassic Park and Starship Troopers.
Tasked with designing and bringing Robocop to life was the legendary and sadly now retired Rob Bottin. Bottin started out at age 18 on the original Star Wars and graduated to being in charge of creating effects for The Howling, The Thing and Legend. He took the task of creating Robo’s armour very seriously. It originally took ten hours to fit Peter Weller into the armour for the role; small screws were needed to keep the suit together. By the end of filming, Bottin and his crew got it down to three hours. Weller demanded an easier fitting and more comfortable suit for the sequel. The most astounding makeup effect in the film was saved for the death of gang member Emil Antonowsky played by actor Paul McCrane. Emil is forced to crash into a tank of toxic chemicals and when he emerges from the back of his van, he has literally started to melt. He meets his death when Boddicker crashes into him while being chased by Lewis. Emil literally explodes into blood and guts all over the windshield. The effect is sickening but hilarious at the same time. Bottin himself was overlooked for an Oscar until he was awarded a special achievement award before his retirement.
The film’s score by Basil Poledouris is amazingly fitting. From a futuristic beginning through to the childlike, moving music when Murphy takes off the visor and sees himself as he was for the first time. Robo’s theme itself fits him well, the sound of industrial hammering contained within it makes the perfect theme for the character. It also fits the film’s central themes of death, rebirth, revenge and redemption. Poledouris would return to score Robocop 3, refining his themes and score, but the third film was unworthy. It did seem fitting, however, that the recent remake of Robocop chose to keep Poledouris’s theme at its heart even, again like the third film, it was undeserving of it. Poledouris would work with Verhoeven again, most notably with Starship Troopers before his untimely death.
Since Metropolis
After the battles with the MPAA, the film finally gained a rating and was released. It went on to gross $53m dollars at the US box office, four times its budget. It was universally praised by critics and filmmakers alike. Highly regarded film director Ken Russell described it as, “The greatest science fiction film since Metropolis.” The film’s mix of action, violence and satire spoke to audiences around the world. Its lines and catchphrases were and still are quoted.
I saw the film on it’s original release and was amazed at what it showed. The power of the satire didn’t escape me and I could see what it was saying. The violence was overwhelming but justified in its context. This is a film about death and resurrection and it powers the fact home. People have stated that the underlying association to the resurrection of Christ is an insult and shouldn’t be shown as violent. These are the same people who then state The Passion Of The Christ is totally justified in its depiction of the violence. One deals with death and resurrection within religion. The other deals with death and rebirth within a fantasy setting.
Eventually, Verhoeven’s original, fully uncut vision was released. Again, I was lucky to catch this on the big screen. This is my preferred version. Yes, it’s more violent and bloodthirsty than the original release, but its power and comedic value is more pronounced. The satire takes on more meaning and its Frankenstein roots show through more. Murphy’s execution takes on a more powerful resonance. The visuals and sound are more profound.
The film is now available on 4k Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD. It contains both the original and director’s cuts. If you’ve yet to get a copy for your collection or have never seen it, I’d advise you get one. This is a 1980s film that stands the test of time, brings joy with every viewing and (whisper it) is the perfect Saturday night film to watch with a drink and a takeaway. Sit back, relax, take the phone off the hook and let yourself be swept away in a great piece of 1980s science fiction satire.
“Your move… creep!”
1980s cinemaFilmFilm ClubMoviesPaul VerhoevenPeter WellerRobocopSatireScience Fiction
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📏 Edge#40: On the Measure of Intelligence
TheSequence is a convenient way to build and reinforce your knowledge about machine learning and AI
we dive deep into a paper that challenges some of the best-established principles of AI systems in terms of how to measure intelligence;
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Last Thursday we introduced a new format – What’s New in AI, a deep dive into one of the freshest research papers or technology frameworks that’s worth your attention. Our goal is to keep you up to date with new developments in AI in a way that complements the concepts we are debating in other editions of our newsletter.
💥 What’s New in AI: On the Measure of Intelligence is One of the Most Groundbreaking Papers in the Recent Years of Deep Learning
Francois Chollet is the creator of the Keras framework and one of the brightest minds in the artificial intelligence (AI) space. In this paper, he challenges some of the best-established principles of AI systems in terms of how to measure intelligence. Let’s discuss further:
On the Measure of Intelligence
Every once in a while, you encounter a research paper that is so simple yet so profound and brilliant that you wish you would have written it yourself. That’s how I felt when I read François Chollet’s On the Measure of Intelligence. The paper resonated with me not only because it confronts some of the key philosophical and technical challenges about artificial intelligence (AI) systems that I have spent time thinking about, but also because it does so in such an elegant way that it is hard to argue with. Mr. Chollet’s thesis is remarkably simple: for AI systems to reach their potential, we need quantitative and actionable methods that measure intelligence in a way that shows similarities with human cognition.
Mr. Chollet’s thesis might seem contradictory given the recent achievements of AI systems. After all, it is unquestionable that we are producing intelligent algorithms that are achieving superhuman performances in games like Go, Poker or StarCraft, and are capable of driving vehicles, boats and planes. However, how intelligent are those systems? Despite the tangible achievements of AI, we continue measuring “intelligence” by the effectiveness of accomplishing a single task. But is that a real measure of intelligence? Just because a system has the ability to play Go, doesn’t mean that it can understand Shakespeare or reason through economic problems. As humans, we judge intelligence based on abilities such as analytical and abstract reasoning, memory, common sense and many others. In history or science, there have been two fundamental schools of thought that marked specific definitions of intelligence.
The Inspiration: Darwin-Turing and Psychometrics
One of the fascinating things about Mr. Chollet’s paper is its deep scientific roots. Many of the ideas can be found in the historical theories of intelligence as well as in the relatively obscure field of psychometrics.
Throughout the history of science, there have been two dominant views of intelligence: the Darwinist view of evolution and Turing’s view of machine intelligence. Darwin’s theory of evolution and human cognition is the result of special-purpose adaptations that arose to solve specific problems encountered by humans throughout their evolution. A contrasting and somewhat complementary perspective of the Darwinist view of intelligence was pioneered by Alan Turing. Turing’s vision of intelligence is inspired by British philosopher John Locke’s Tabula Rasa theory, which sees the mind as a flexible, adaptable, highly general process that turns experience into behavior, knowledge, and skills.
A lot of Mr. Chollet’s theory of quantifiable intelligence has been inspired by the field of psychometrics. Conceptually, psychometrics focus on studying the development of skills and knowledge in humans. A fundamental notion in psychometrics is that intelligence tests evaluate broad cognitive abilities as opposed to task-specific skills. Importantly, an ability is an abstract construct (based on theory and statistical phenomena) as opposed to a directly measurable, objective property of an individual mind, such as a score on a specific test. Broad abilities in AI, which are also constructs, fall into the exact same evaluation problematics as cognitive abilities from psychometrics. Psychometrics approaches the quantification of abilities by using broad batteries of test tasks rather than any single task, by analyzing test results via probabilistic models.
A Quantifiable Measure of Intelligence
Using some of the ideas from psychometrics, Chollet arrives to the following definition of intelligence:
The intelligence of a system is a measure of its skill-acquisition efficiency over a scope of tasks, with respect to priors, experience, and generalization difficulty.
This definition of intelligence includes concepts from meta-learning priors, memory, and fluid intelligence. From an AI perspective, if we take two systems that start from a similar set of knowledge priors, and go through a similar amount of experience (e.g. practice time) with respect to a set of tasks not known in advance, the system with higher intelligence is the one that ends up with greater skills. Another way to think about it is that “higher intelligence” systems “cover more ground” in future situation space using the same information.
Image credit: The original paper
The previous definition of intelligence looks amazing from a theoretical standpoint, but how can it be included in the architecture of AI systems?
An intelligent system would be an AI program that generates a specific skill to interact with a task. For instance, a neural network generation and training algorithm for games would be an “intelligent system”, and the inference-mode game-specific network it would output at the end of a training run on one game would be a “skill program”. A program synthesis engine capable of looking at a task and outputting a solution program would be an “intelligent system”, and the resulting solution program capable of handling future input grids for this task would be a “skill program”.
Now that we have a canonical definition of intelligence for AI systems, we need a way to measure it 😉
Mr. Chollet is not only a great AI researcher but a stellar programmer. It was only natural that his theory of intelligence was complemented with a practical way to measure it.
Abstraction and Reasoning Corpus (ARC) is a dataset proposed by Chollet intended to serve as a benchmark for the kind of intelligence defined in the previous sections. Conceptually, ARC can be seen as a psychometric test for AI systems that tries to evaluate a qualitative form of generalization rather than the effectiveness of a specific task. ARC comprises a training set and an evaluation set. The training set features 400 tasks, while the evaluation set features 600 tasks. The evaluation set is further split into a public evaluation set (400 tasks) and a private evaluation set (200 tasks). All tasks are unique, and the set of test tasks and the set of training tasks are disjoint. Given a specific task, the ARC test interface looks like the following figure.
The initial release of ARC is available on GitHub.
The rapid growth of AI has caused an explosion in the volume of published research. Every day, there are dozens of machine learning papers published in different outlets. In that ocean of complex information, it’s hard to find papers that jump off the page. On the Measure of Intelligence can be unquestionably categorized as one of the most groundbreaking papers in the recent years of AI research. The controversial, yet clear and practical ideas expressed by Mr. Chollet are likely to play a role in the next decade of the machine learning field.
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10 things you need to know today: May 29, 2017
Angela Merkel says Europe can't "completely depend" on the U.S. any more, Takuma Sato wins the Indy 500, and more
byHarold Maass
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Germany's Merkel says Europe can no longer 'completely depend' on U.S.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday after friction-filled meetings between European leaders and President Trump that Europe can no longer "completely depend" on any ally — a clear nod to the U.S. — and "really must take our fate into our own hands." European leaders bristled over Trump's refusal to flatly endorse NATO's collective defense doctrine, or to promise to stick to the Paris climate accord. Instead, Trump chided Europeans for failing to pay what he said was their fair share for NATO's common defense. "This seems to be the end of an era, one in which the United States led and Europe followed," said Ivo H. Daalder, a former United States ambassador to NATO. On Monday, Merkel's spokesman said the chancellor is still "a deeply convinced trans-Atlanticist."
The New York TimesThe Washington Post
Takuma Sato wins the Indy 500
Takuma Sato on Sunday became the first Japanese race-car driver to win the Indianapolis 500. Sato, 40, won the 101st running of the storied Memorial Day weekend race by withstanding a challenge by Helio Castroneves in the last laps. Sato's big win came five years after he wiped out and slammed into a wall in a final-lap effort to pass Dario Franchitti, who held on to win that year. This time, it was Sato who took the traditional swig of milk and kissed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's surface. "Unbelievable feeling," Sato said by his Andretti Autosport team car. "It's beautiful. I dreamed of something like this since I was 12.
North Korea launches third ballistic missile in two weeks
North Korea continued a series of controversial weapons tests on Monday with the launch of at least one short-range ballistic missile. The apparent Scud-class ballistic missile flew about 280 miles before coming down in the sea in Japan's economic zone, South Korean officials said. The launch came after two successful tests of North Korean mid- and long-range missiles in the last two weeks. President Trump responded on Twitter that "North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China ... but China is trying hard!" North Korea's refusal to curb its missile and nuclear weapons programs in defiance of United Nations resolutions and international sanctions has ratcheted up tensions with the U.S. and other nations. The U.S. on Tuesday plans to conduct its first test of a missile defense system intended to intercept ICBMs.
Trump to mark Memorial Day at Arlington cemetery
President Trump is scheduled to speak at Arlington National Cemetery and lay a wreath on Monday to mark Memorial Day. Trump provided a preview of the address over the weekend when he told U.S. service members in Sicily that they were "warriors of freedom" and the "patriots who keep the fires of liberty burning." He also noted that he is calling for increased military spending in a sign of his "complete and unshakeable support" for members of the U.S. armed forces.
Mississippi man charged with killing relatives, deputy
A Mississippi man killed a sheriff's deputy and seven other people in a shooting spree in rural Lincoln County, authorities said on Sunday. The suspect, Willie Corey Godbolt, was wounded. He was arrested and placed under treatment at a local hospital. The killings took place at three locations. Three women were killed at a house. The deputy, William Durr, was fatally shot when he responded to an emergency call of a domestic disturbance at the house. The gunman later killed two boys at a house in a nearby city, then killed a male and a female at a third address. In a video taken minutes after Godbolt's arrest, he is shown in handcuffs saying he had argued with relatives about "taking my children home," and that he had wanted for officers to kill him. "I ain't fit to live," he said. "Not after what I've done."
Philippines forces close to retaking Marawi City from Islamist insurgents
The Philippines' military said Monday that it was close to retaking Marawi City from Islamist militants linked to the Islamic State. Hundreds of residents remained trapped in the southern Philippine city as government troops continued to battle insurgents from the Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups, which seized the city last week. The government of President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the region, saying the move was necessary to put down the Islamist insurgency. The difficulty the military has had driving out the militants is testing Duterte's government and armed forces, which have called on citizens to help battle against the militants.
The New York TimesReuters
Navy skydiver dies in Fleet Week jump
A member of the Navy's skydiving team, the Leap Frogs, died Sunday when his parachute did not open properly during a team jump into Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, during annual Fleet Week festivities. The parachutist came down in the water near the park. He was immediately retrieved by rescue crews that were standing by, and rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name was not immediately released. "Our hearts and our prayers go out to his family and I ask for all of your prayers for the Navy SEAL community who lost a true patriot today," Rear Admiral John C. "Jack" Scorby Jr. said at a news briefing. "The cause of the mishap is under investigation and his next of kin are being notified."
U.S. considering laptop ban in all international flights
The federal government is considering banning laptops from carry-on luggage on all flights into and out of the U.S. in a push to "raise the bar" on airline security, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Sunday. "That's the thing that they are obsessed with, the terrorists, the idea of knocking down an airplane in flight, particularly if it's a U.S. carrier, particularly if it's full of U.S. people," Kelly said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. The U.S. in March blocked large electronic devices in cabins on flights from 10 airports, including those in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Turkey due to what Kelly described as a "real sophisticated threat." Airlines are concerned a broad laptop ban will reduce demand for tickets, but United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz said recently the airline could comply with "whatever comes out."
British Airways restores most service after IT problem disrupts travel
British Airways and its sister airlines in Spain, Iberia and Air Nostrum, faced a third day of canceled and delayed flights on Monday due to computer problems. BA chief executive Alex Cruz said the airline was back to "near-full operation" at London's Gatwick Airport late Sunday, with all long-haul flights from London's Heathrow back in operation. The airline did, however, cancel another 27 flights and delay 58, with mostly short-haul flights in Europe affected. Iberia and Air Nostrum canceled more than 320 flights on Monday, a banking holiday in the U.K. that sees a high level of air travel. The troubles began Saturday when an IT problem blamed on a power outage forced British Airways to cancel all flights from Gatwick and Heathrow, disrupting travel for tens of thousands of passengers.
The Square wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes
The Square, a Swedish- and English-language comedy, unexpectedly won the biggest award at the 70th Cannes Film Festival, the coveted Palme d'Or. Sofia Coppola was another big winner as she became the second woman in the festival's history to take best director. Coppola won for The Beguiled, a reimagining of a 1971 film based on a novel by Thomas P. Cullinan, about a wounded Union officer in the Civil War who is found by residents of an all-girls boarding school. It stars Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, and Colin Farrell. The first and only other female director to take the honors as best director at Cannes was the Soviet director Yuliya Solntseva, who won in 1961 for her World War II film The Story of the Flaming Years.
The New York TimesSlate
Ukraine blames Russia for cyberattack
virtual warfare
2 dead from flooding in Peru as damage to Tonga remains unclear
"like a moonscape"
Synagogue hostage-taking suspect was British
a not-so-great briton
10 things you need to know today: January 16, 2022
Will 2022 bring another Miracle on Ice?
Samuel Goldman
Omicron may be headed for a sharp drop because so many people are infected
Omicron Blues
California deputy DA opposed to vaccine mandates dies of COVID-19
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Modi Government Launches National Clean Air Programme With Focus on 102 Cities
The project has a budget of Rs 300 crore for the first two years.
Representative image. A motorbike travels on a dusty, polluted road. Credit: Reuters
The Wire Staff
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has launched a five-year action plan to tackle pollution across the country. According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) will tackle “one of the biggest global environmental challenges” in a time-bound manner.
Union minister Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday that the government had taken inputs from different stakeholders. “Overall objective of the NCAP is comprehensive mitigation actions for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution besides augmenting the air quality monitoring network across the country and strengthening the awareness and capacity building activities,” the minister said.
Based on safe PM2.5 and PM10 levels as set out by national and international studies, the NCAP will attempt to reduce these levels in the country by 20-30%.
Amitabh Kant, the CEO of NITI Aayog, called the initiative “path-breaking”.
“Today cities occupy just 3% of the land, but contribute to 82% of GDP and responsible for 78% of carbon dioxide emissions; cities though are engines of growth and equity but they have to be sustainable and it is in this context that NCAP being a very inclusive program holds special relevance,” he said.
Also read: Ignoring Air Pollution Is Justice Denied
Depending on results, the programme may be extended beyond five years, the government said. The project has a budget of Rs 300 crore for the first two years. “The programme will partner with multilateral and bilateral international organisations, and philanthropic foundations and leading technical institutions to achieve its outcomes,” the government said.
The plan is focusing on 102 “non-attainment” cities in India, including 42 cities that come under the Smart Cities programme. These 102 cities were identified by the Central Pollution Control Board based on their air pollution levels between 2011 and 2015, as they consistently showed pollution levels below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
The government will also increase the number of air quality monitoring centres across the country, according to the plan.
The draft NCAP was released in April 2018. At the time, it was criticised for not laying down any tangible goals. Through the year, experts argued that the plan document was being diluted further.
Also read: A Robin Hood Climate Tax for India
“The draft’s focus remains primarily on strengthening monitoring and assessment of pollution, which is a worthy goal. However, it does little to account for the inadequate enforcement of existing industrial standards, the unchecked growth of vehicular pollution and emissions by old and inefficient thermal power plants. It is not clear why the plan doesn’t outline actionable interventions where more than enough data exists to clearly define the problem,” Sanjana Manaktala and Abhinav Verma wrote in The Wire.
Air pollution in India is now widely discussed, usually with reference to the capital city, New Delhi. However, as The Wire has reported earlier, the problem is far more widespread. According to a report released by the World Health Organisation in May 2018, in the list of the 15 most polluted cities in the world, 14 are in India.
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12 dead after fire sweeps through Bronx apartment building
Posted on December 29, 2017 December 29, 2017 by TIML Staff Posted in News, Sad News, UncategorizedTagged 12 dead, Bronx fire, Bronx zoo, Prospect ave
(TIML NEWS) The city’s deadliest blaze in more than a quarter-century killed least 12 people — including a year-old child — in a Bronx apartment building Thursday night, officials said.
Authorities feared the death toll could rise from the four-alarm fire, which began at 6:51 p.m. and gutted 2363 Prospect Ave. in the Belmont neighborhood near the Bronx Zoo.
“We’re here at the scene of an unspeakable tragedy in the middle of the holiday season, a time when families are together,” Mayor de Blasio said during a press briefing at the scene, where bone-chilling temperatures were in the teens.
“Tonight, here in The Bronx, there are families that have been torn apart. This is the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter-century.”
The fire stands to be the deadliest New York City blaze since 87 people perished in March 1990 in the Happy Land social-club arson attack, which took place less than a mile away.
About 170 firefighters worked Thursday night to control the blaze at the five-story building just a block from the Bronx Zoo, authorities said.
“Based on the information now, I’m very sorry to report 12 New Yorkers are dead, including one child as young as one-year-old,” de Blasio said.
“There are four people critically injured who are fighting for their lives. Other serious injuries as well.”
The baby was found in a bathtub — cradled in the arms of her mother, who was desperately trying to protect her child from the flames, law-enforcement and FDNY sources said.
Both had perished.
De Blasio warned that more victims could be found as investigators go through the building: “We may lose others as well.”
The mayor praised New York’s Bravest, who got to the scene about three minutes after the first report came in.
“Because of FDNY’s quick response, based on the information we have now . . . at least 12 people were rescued and will survive,” de Blasio said.
Thierme Diallo, who lives on the first floor, ran shoeless out of the burning building into the freezing night in only a bathrobe.
“I was in my bed sleeping . . . and somebody knock on the door shouting, ‘We have fire in the building. Get out! Get out!’ ” said Diallo, a security guard and native of Guinea.
“I don’t know how I get out, no socks, nothing. I left my cellphone there, I took only my wallet. I had to save myself. Then, by the exit, I saw the glass coming down like flames.”
Among the missing is 28-year-old Emmanuel Mensah, who serves in the Army and was home for the holidays, according to his dad, Kwabena Mensah.
“When they rescued [others] . . . they couldn’t find him,” the worried dad said.
Witnesses said they were amazed at how quickly the flames spread. Damn R.I.P
Did Papoose Just Reveal That Remy Ma Is Pregnant?
BAPE Drops Winter 2017 “City Camo” Collection
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Tag: Burton-upon-Trent
Travelodge Returns to Hometown
Travelodge Hotels, a UK-based company that owns and operates hotel properties, has announced the opening of its newest hotel in Burton-upon-Trent, in UK, where in 1985 it opened its first hotel.
The new Travelodge Burton-upon-Trent Central will be opened by the Mayor of East Staffordshire, Cllr Len Milner, and Judy Harper, a receptionist at the company’s first hotel, Travelodge Burton A48 Northbound, and one of the first employees of the brand.
Burton-upon-Trent Central Travelodge is offering 68 guestrooms in an iconic Midlands Grain Warehouse constructed in the late 19th Century.
Melissa Wilson, the hotel manager for Burton-upon-Trent Central, said, ‘It is an honour to manage a Travelodge hotel in Burton-upon-Trent, as everyone in the company knows the importance that the town play in our history. By attracting new visitors to Travelodge Burton-upon-Trent Central we will boost the local economy by £1.1 million. As our research shows the average Travelodge customer will spend on average £36 a day in local shops, restaurants and bars during their stay.’
Judy Harper, the Travelodge receptionist who will open Travelodge Burton-upon-Trent Central, said, ‘I couldn’t believe it when I was asked to open the new hotel, I thought someone might be winding me up. It is such a privilege to open a Travelodge hotel after all these years working for the company and I’m very honoured. I’ve seen a lot in 27 years working for Travelodge but I never thought I’d get to do something like this.’
Mayor of East Staffordshire, Cllr Len Milner, said, ‘It’s wonderful to see Travelodge coming home to Burton-upon-Trent, and continuing to invest in the town. The brand has had an incredibly successful 27 years, and we’re proud that it all started here.’
Travelodge is currently operating around 500 hotels offering 35,400 rooms in the UK, Ireland and Spain. The company expansion plans include increasing its portfolio to 1,100 hotels and 100,000 rooms by 2025. For reservations made online at travelodge.co.uk, room rates commence at £19 per night.
Author Staff WriterPosted on September 28, 2012 Categories HotelsTags Burton-upon-Trent, Travelodge
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Aug 21, 2021 – Pinewood Derby in Trenton
Anna2021-06-11T18:19:48+00:00
Todd County Chamber of Commerce
Tiffany Groves, Executive Director
1 Public Square. Elkton, KY 42220
P.O. Box 505. Elkton, KY 42220
Join Todd County Chamber
Kelli Penick is the owner/operator of Twin Pond Outdoors in Guthrie. She has been selling wood pellet grills and outdoor living areas since 2015. In addition to being a chamber member, she serves as the board secretary and on the events committee. She also serves on Farm Credit and Pennyrile Electric committees. Kelli currently serves at the Todd County Chamber Board Secretary.
Stefanie Sharp is a commercial interior designer with JKS Architecture. She received her BA in Interior Design from the University of Kentucky in 2002. After an apprenticeship she earned her license as a Certified Interior Designer. She practiced interior design in Washington DC for 7 years and then returned to Todd County to join the family business in 2009. In addition to serving on the Chamber board, she serves on the Code Enforcement Board for the City of Elkton, is a member of the International Interior Design Association, is a past Chairman of Relay for Life in Todd County and is active in her local church.
Jennifer Harris
Jen Harris is the Public Health Director for Todd County Health Department. She began her career in Public Health in 2000 as a health educator and has also working as a marketing specialist for a statewide nutrition program. She received her BA in Education in 1998, with an emphasis in Exercise Science, from the University of Kentucky; she received her MS in Public and Community Health in 2001 from Austin Peay State University. In addition to serving on the Chamber board, she serves as the western Kentucky representative for the Kentucky Health Department Association and was KHDA’s 2015-17 Legislative Chair. Jen was the Todd County Chamber President for the year 2000.
Mitzi Page
BOARD VICE PRESIDENT
Mitzi Page is owner of the Purple Daizi Day Spa and Salon. A small business owner since 2012, she has been in the beauty industry for 19 years. In addition to serving as Chamber President and previously as Vice President and Treasurer, Page serves on numerous committees and was named Chamber Volunteer of the Year in 2019.
Rhonda Caughlin Werner
Rhonda Caughlin Werner is Recruiter for Ag1Source, a nationally-based agricultural recruiting firm – a position she has held since 2007. She is a graduate of Murray State University with a degree in Agronomy. Werner has served on the Board and as Chair for the Agribusiness Association of Kentucky and on the board of the Certified Crop Advisors of Kentucky Board of Directors Locally,she is a Rotarian and served previously as president of the Rotary Club of Elkton, chairs the Republican Party of Todd County and is Leader of Girl Scout Troop 119.
Kim Mansfield
Tonya West
New Community Event Form
Please fill out this form to give details of upcoming community events for us to share on our website and social media pages.
Organization/Business Hosting the Event*
Name of the Event*
Location of the Event*
Dates & Times of the Event*
website or facebook event link
Specific Details about the Event that you would want us to share/know.*
Email to reach you if further questions:*
Camille Dillingham
Camille Dillingham is assistant superintendent for Todd County Schools. She previously served as principal at South Todd Elementary School and has worked in the school system 26 years. Dillingham served as the initial board secretary for the Todd Chamber and serves on the Petrie Memorial United Methodist Church Administrative Council. She also enjoys gardening.
Glenn Slack
Glenn Slack owns and manages commercial and residential rental property in Todd and Logan counties. A graduate of the University of Kentucky with a degree in Agricultural Communications and a minor in Public Relations, Slack previously had a career in public relations and association management, including a 12-year stint as president and CEO of the National Institute for Animal Agriculture. Locally, Slack serves as President of Historic Todd County, Inc., represents Todd County on the Southern Pennyrile Chamber Alliance (Past Chair), is a past member of the United Way of the Pennyrile Board of Directors and is a Rotarian.
Tiffany Groves
Tiffany Groves is co-owner of Something Special, a gift boutique which has been located on the Public Square in Elkton for over a quarter century. She is an active Chamber board member, serving on several committees. A military spouse, Groves also serves on the Green River Academy Board of Trustees, the Clifty School Park board and is a member of Elkton Baptist Church.
Christy Stokes
BOARD TREASURER
Christy Stokes is the Todd County Market President for United Southern Bank. She has been with the bank since 1998 and serves on the bank’s Senior Loan Committee, Compliance Committee and ALCO Committee. She is active in the community and her church, as well as volunteering her time with many local children’s groups including football, cheerleading and dance teams.
Anita Jo Powell
Anita Jo Powell is Executive Director of Blount Rural Health Center. She is a Registered Nurse and Certified Rural Health Clinic Professional. Powell has worked in health care administration for two decades with responsibilities over finance, human resources, quality assurance/risk management, marketing, and project management. She serves on the Hopkinsville Community College Advisory Board of Nursing, a member of the Champions Against Drugs Coalition, is active in her church, and is a Rotarian, having previously served as president of the Rotary Club of Elkton. Powell served as the President of the Chamber’s initial board of directors, 2018-2019.
Kelvin DeBerry
Kelvin DeBerry is a licensed realtor and auctioneer affiliated with Bolinger Real Estate & Auction. In addition to serving on the Chamber board, he is a 4-H Adult Leader and serves on the West Kentucky 4-H Camp Improvement Committee. DeBerry serves on the Todd County Tech Center Steering Committee, as Archery Coach for Adairville Elementary School, and on the Todd County Central High School Hall of Fame Selection Board.
Mark Collins
Mark Collins is an attorney with the Law Offices of Harold M. Johns. He received his Juris Doctorate from Salmon P. Chase School of Law in 1994, after receiving his undergraduate degree from Morehead State University in 1991. An Army veteran, Collins has been a practicing attorney for 25 years and has served as an Assistant County Attorney in both Todd and Christian counties. In addition to serving on the Chamber Board, Collins is active in his local church, the American Legion, and a Rotarian, among other boards and committees.
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Tufts begins replacing Trunk and TUSK with Canvas across all campuses
Kat Grellman
A student accesses Trunk, a learning management system (LMS) that is currently used by Tufts students and faculty, in the Mayer Campus Center on Oct. 19. (Ben Kim / The Tufts Daily)
Tufts has begun a three-year transition this fall to Canvas, a new learning management system (LMS) that will replace Trunk and Tufts University Sciences Knowledgebase (TUSK). The new system has already been implemented at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) and the Master of Science in Engineering Management program at the Gordon Institute, according to Director of Educational Technology and Learning Spaces Paul Bergen.
According to a tentative schedule posted on the Canvas website, the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering are scheduled to make the transition to Canvas in the fall of 2018, along with the public health programs at the School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences. The School of Dental Medicine will tentatively make the transition in summer 2018, the School of Veterinary Medicine in summer 2019 and the rest of the School of Medicine in fall 2020.
According to Christine Fitzgerald, manager of service marketing and communications for Tufts Technology Services (TTS), Trunk and TUSK will continue to be used at Tufts schools until they make their respective transitions to Canvas.
Bergen said the main reason for switching to the new system is that Canvas is a more modern LMS than Trunk and TUSK.
“Canvas is easy to use and offers a modern interface,” Bergen told the Daily in an email. “It will look and behave more like other sites out there, so it will be less like going to a museum for your course materials and then reentering the modern world when you leave for other sites.”
He explained that switching to Canvas will increase connectivity between the Tufts campuses that were previously on different systems, as well as between Tufts and other schools that use Canvas. According to the Canvas webpage, colleges that have already implemented Canvas include Boston College, Harvard University, Brown University and Emerson College.
“Fewer and fewer schools are using the software that underlies Trunk,” Bergen said. “Tufts will be far better off being able to collaborate with other schools than being alone at the table.”
Fitzgerald said that switching to a new LMS made more sense than trying to upgrade Trunk and TUSK because the sites are difficult and expensive to maintain.
“We have Trunk on the Medford campus and TUSK on the Boston campus, and most of the infrastructure with those two learning management systems is relatively out of date,” Fitzgerald said. “So rather than try to upgrade those — and with the SMFA coming in with a separate one — they looked across platforms to find one that would work for all the schools.”
According to Fitzgerald, feedback from the Tufts schools that have already started using Canvas has been very positive. Specifically, she explained, faculty liked the ability to use the system on their mobile phones.
“They like the app because they can send push notifications about assignments and announcements to themselves, so they’re getting their notifications right on their phone and don’t have to have their computer open,” Fitzgerald said. “And you can choose to get the notifications the way you want. You can get them text messaged versus emailed, so you can personalize it a little more than you could with the other [learning management systems].”
According to Bergen, the decision to switch to a new LMS was discussed over the past year with academic leadership and faculty across the university. He also said that students who were interviewed about the possible change welcomed the idea.
Isabella Kiser, a second-year Tufts-SMFA combined-degree student, is using Canvas for one of her classes, and says she prefers it over Trunk.
“I think it is a much more user-friendly site, especially compared to Trunk,” Kiser told the Daily in an electronic message. “I much prefer to use and navigate visually pleasing and well-organized websites and Canvas wins both categories this time. Canvas also has this nifty feature where it sends you emails to remember to check your upcoming assignments.”
Bergen noted another key difference between Canvas and previous systems used at Tufts.
“Also, we are not naming the system after an elephant part,” he said. “It will just be called Canvas.”
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Mayor names first city chief of staff
By Sage Daugherty — Online News Editor
Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick chose Kevin Sutherland to serve as the city’s first chief of staff. The mayor’s office announced on Oct.15 that Sutherland accepted the position. Sutherland is currently the executive assistant to Joe Mareane, administrator of Tompkins County, where he helped to formulate the annual county budget. He will begin working for the city in December.
After a 2011 study of city operations, conducted by the Novak Consulting Group, the top recommendation of how to improve city organization was to hire a chief of staff to assist the mayor and oversee internal operations. Sutherland said the mayor’s position was originally a part-time position, but Myrick works more than full-time.
The position is focused on assisting the mayor in daily operations of the city so Myrick has more time to focus on city policy and meetings with the public. The position will also include budget coordination, which Sutherland was involved in while working for Tompkins County.
Myrick said he was looking for candidates who had management, government and budget experience. The search committee consisted of Myrick; Schelley Michell-Nunn, director of human resources; Steven Thayer, the city controller; Aaron Lavine, the city attorney; and one city councilperson, Deb Mohlenhoff, and they narrowed down the applications to Sutherland.
Myrick said the search committee chose Sutherland because of his experience with the Tompkins County budget and his past experience in local government.
“As the executive assistant to the county administrator, Kevin was in charge of putting together Tompkins County’s budget, a budget that is considerably larger than the City of Ithaca’s, and he proved himself well capable of that,” Myrick said. “That experience really made him a front-runner and just getting a chance to get to know him through the interview process, we saw that he is a hardworking individual who contributes quite a lot to our city.”
Myrick said Sutherland’s responsibilities when beginning his new position will be to make the budget more transparent and accessible, to create performance measures so staff can hold themselves accountable to the public and to stay in contact with all the staff members to ensure proper oversight and access to the mayor’s office.
Sutherland said he accepted the position because it gives him a chance to become more involved with the city, and he will have more responsibility working for the city. He said he is excited to work for the City of Ithaca and with Myrick.
“I find Svante a very charismatic and caring person, really passionate about the city,” Sutherland said. “I want to get involved and work with him and work for him.”
Mareane said during Sutherland’s role as executive assistant, Sutherland helped transform the county budget into an easy-to-read document.
“He helped transform the process [and] made things much more understandable for both the community and legislators and departments,” Mareane said. “He’s really demystified the budget and made it a more effective process.”
Sutherland worked with the $164 million Tompkins County 2013 budget and said he could use financial management software that he developed at the county and apply the software to balance the city budget more effectively. The city budget for the next fiscal year is a proposed $64 million.
“Taking it from where I’ve developed [the software] here and trying to apply it to the city might be useful [for] the way I approach issues and concerns and trying to solve problems,” he said. “This is a good opportunity for me to really be able to help the city.”
Sutherland said when he begins the position in December, he will also focus on working with city departments to develop performance-measurement graphs to gauge the effectiveness of individual departments.
“If we’re putting money behind a service, we’re responsible to the public, and we should be showing them how we’re doing,” he said.
Aaron LavineChief of StaffDeb MohlenhoffithacaIthaca Collegeithacan onlineJoe MareaneKevin SutherlandMayor MyrickNovak Consulting GroupSchelley Michell-NunnSteven Thayersvante myrickThe Ithacantompkins county
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Tag Archive: avi arad
News of the Week (05/09/12) – Michael Clarke Duncan, The Hobbit and Metal Gear Solid
Filed under: News — Leave a comment
After the tragic loss of action director Tony Scott a few weeks ago this is another sad week for Hollywood. The incredible Michael Clarke Duncan has sadly passed away just two months after suffering a heart attack that he never really fully recovered from. It’s horrible news especially considering the fact that news reports have emerged that Duncan and his reality television personality girlfriend planned on getting married next year and had talked about having children together. Michael Clarke Duncan is best known for his role in The Green Mile which he was Oscar nominated for but he also starred in Sin City, The Green Lantern and Armageddon.
In other news there is yet another film in pre-production about former American president Abraham Lincoln. This follows the unique take on the 16th president Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and the upcoming Steven Spielberg biopic starring the hyphenated cast of Daniel Day-Lewis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt entitled Lincoln. The title of the new film is The Green Blade Rises and will be directed by Terrence Malick. In the past Malick has taken long gaps between his films but his schedule seems to be pretty busy for the next two or three years. It’ll be interesting to see whether the success of Spielberg’s Lincoln affects this new take positively or negatively, if even at all.
Daniel Day-Lewis as President Lincoln
As many people will know by now The Hobbit has been announced as a trilogy and there has been a release date and title change for the films. The first part, out later this year, will still be named An Unexpected Journey. The second instalment will be titled The Desolation of Smaug to be released around Christmas 2013 whilst the third and final (for now) chapter adopts the name There and Back Again (originally the title for the second film) and will hit summer 2014.
Michael Bay continued to ruin childhoods this past week. He managed to anger Transformers fans when he continued to make each film worse than the previous one and then angered Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans by deciding their new origin would be that they are aliens from another planet. Now the terrible explosion happy director has had to come out and deny that the leaked script for the new TMNT film is actually the final one because everyone who is anyone has been slating it and saying how awful it is. Michael Bay has a lot of work on his hands and is quickly becoming very very unpopular among movie fans and anyone with taste.
I actually enjoyed the most recent CGI outing of TMNT.
Finally, it has been in the pipeline for some time but it has now been announced that Metal Gear Solid, the hugely successful video game, is to be adapted into a film. Avi Arad, who has produced almost every single movie about a Marvel character, will be producing the film. Metal Gear Solid has already been integrated into a hilarious comedy routine by Dara O’Briain but will it be turned into a film just as good? The main problem is who should play main character Snake? Some of the names being touted around fan forums so far include Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Bradley Cooper and Sam Worthington. The favourite and specifically mentioned by the games creator Hideo Kojima seems to be Hugh Jackman. I think Jackman would be a great choice as he can clearly pull off being a bad ass like he has done in the X-Men films playing Wolverine. But if they are to get Jackman they need to start moving forward with the project soon before he gets too old.
Tags: 16th president, 2012, 2013, 2014, abraham lincoln, aliens, america, an unexpected journey, armageddon, avi arad, bad ass, blog, bradley cooper, celebrities, children, christian bale, christmas, daniel day lews, dara o briain, entertainment, film, gaming, green lantern, hideo kojima, hollywood, hugh jackman, joseph gordon-levitt, lincoln, marvel, metal gear solid, michael bay, michael clarke duncan, movies, news, news of the week, oscars, sam worthington, sequel, sin city, steven spielberg, teenage mutant ninja turtles, terrence malick, the desolation of smaug, the green blade rises, the green mile, the hobbit, there and back again, tmnt, tom hardy, tony scott, transformers, trilogy, vampire hunter, wolverine, x-men
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Groupthinkers
A review of Divining Desire (OR Books) by Liza Featherstone
By Bradley Babendir January 19, 2018
The story of focus groups is often popularly imagined as a story of failures. They’ve made our movies boring and our politicians cowardly. They made New Coke. The people who pay for focus groups—the corporate executives and the creatives and the politicians—also hate them for their limited vision of the world. How can one innovate under such conditions, having to listen to people who don’t know what they want? They shouldn’t be trusted. Malcolm Gladwell says so, and he’s a staff writer for the New Yorker. He’s got best-selling books. He wouldn’t have given us New Coke.
Liza Featherstone, Divining Desire: Focus Groups and the Culture of Consultation. O/R books, 2017. 304 pages.
That story is not the one Liza Featherstone, a columnist for the Nation, activist, and author, tells in Divining Desire: Focus Groups and the Culture of Consultation. Instead, she tells “a story of elite degeneration” that starts with the birth of the focus group, which served no less noble purpose than to defend democracy itself. Or that’s, at least, what the men in charge in the early 20th century would have liked to believe.
In the lead-up to the U.S.’s entrance into World War II, the Office of War Information contracted the Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia University, helmed by sociologists and left-leaning democratic socialists like Robert K. Merton and Paul F. Lazarsfeld, to “test propaganda.” The New Deal liberals and social democrats who devised the strategies were seeking “the masses’ consent for bold, ambitious plans” like going to war with Nazi Germany. From there, Featherstone shows, the mechanism of the focus group was born, not to simply record public opinion but to help control it.
In Featherstone’s description, this move stemmed from a deep belief among these elites that the people only needed information framed in the proper way and they would understand that the elites had been right about everything all along. “Leaders were beginning to grasp the gap between themselves and the masses,” Featherstone writes, “yet those same elites had a great faith in the power of persuasion. They knew the people did not always agree with them, but were confident they could be convinced.” The role of the civilian was not to help the government figure out what plan would be inherently popular among the people because it would address their needs but to submit to whatever plan the government had already devised and make it become popular.
The line between persuasion and coercion is blurry, particularly when the force of the state is involved. The New Deal liberals wanted to convince the populace, not manipulate them, but this did not mean their goal was fashioning a more democratic governance. The focus-group techniques of listening and reporting that the academics devised proved effective in prompting citizens to maintain wartime productivity and purchase war bonds. After the war, with their effectiveness now established, these techniques made their way into the advertising industry, whose patronage helped keep the Bureau of Applied Social Research afloat.
Just as in the earlier, more explicitly political use of the Bureau’s focus-group approach, the advertising uses purported to record mass opinion while actually shaping the role of the consumer. In the postwar years, focus groups played an important role not in clarifying what consumers’ desires were but in helping create the political identity of “consumer,” which was held to be necessary to combat what politicians and executives saw as that figure’s opposite: the communist.
In Featherstone’s view, this approach proved to be self-defeating. As focus groups gained prevalence, their very effectiveness seemed to undermine the ideal of consumer autonomy that they were meant to shore up. Sociologists began to be concerned about conformity and other group-oriented behavior, a worry typified by books like David Riesman’s The Lonely Crowd (1950). The anti-communistic function that the role of consumer actually served benefitted a capitalist oligarchy.
The structure of that power dynamic is important to keep in mind when considering high-profile stories about focus groups’ failures, which always involve the powerful shunting blame to the amorphous masses. For example, when the Ford Edsel flopped in 1957, critics claimed that the company had, in Featherstone’s words, “listened too long to the motivation-research people.” The story was then adopted into the pantheon of marketing clichés as proof that listening to focus groups produces inferior products. As one CEO that Featherstone quotes says, “You can’t use focus groups to create an idea . . . a focus group would create an Edsel.”
But as Featherstone shows, this distorts what happened with the Edsel. The name was tested with a group, but they rejected it because it “sounded too much like ‘weasel.’ Executives went with it anyway.” The design of the car, which was widely hated, was produced without consulting focus-group research. This story about the stupidity of the people and warmhearted elites who trusted too much, then, is actually a story about arrogant executives who wasted money on focus groups that they decided to ignore.
The same is true with New Coke, another of anti-focus-groupers’ go-to examples. As Featherstone argues, “The New Coke disaster can more accurately be blamed on the company’s failure to listen to its focus groups, which in fact revealed deep attachment to the Coke brand . . . That’s because focus groups can mirror the group effects that are an important part of the real marketplace. The groups revealed profound opposition to changing Coke, and the ways in which consumers could affect each other’s opinions about such a change.”
Both of these anecdotes reveal not only the bad faith with which the elites engage with the masses when they’re willing to engage at all but how elite skepticism of focus groups can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Featherstone establishes that what focus groups demonstrate is not the desires of a group of individual autonomous consumers but the way individuals’ desires are shaped by social groups. No consumer (or person) exists in a vacuum; focus groups point to the sociological, political, and economic value in understanding how groups have an impact on people’s actions. Featherstone sees the production of that knowledge, even when it is put to banal corporate ends, as vital.
Featherstone’s book is a fascinating history, but at times it sidelines its concerns with power structures in order to champion focus groups’ progressive potential when not being betrayed by capitalist elites. Her framing occasionally draws on capitalist criteria to establish the way focus groups are misused: It’s clear that executives arrogantly ignored focus groups because their product initiatives failed—profit is held to prove the wisdom of the people, and executives ignore it against their better interests. But when focus groups are convened by politicians and not corporations, it’s not clear by which criteria one should evaluate whether focus groups are being misused or unduly ignored.
“Ordinary people are listened to more than ever, even as they have less and less real power,” Featherstone writes, using as evidence the “Walmart Moms” focus group in 2011, which recruited mothers of children under the age of 18 who had shopped at Walmart in the last month and was conducted in Orlando, Florida; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Des Moines, Iowa. “Only in this sort of political environment could a company notorious for rendering working-class women powerless and exploited then turn around and theatrically display their voices, one in which elites ignore the actual needs of the masses, in this company’s case for living wages, healthcare, and equal treatment.” This example of insincere corporate listening and “caring” is obviously not geared toward any real change: Walmart could improve the lives of a lot of working class people any time they wanted to, and it is indeed absurd that they would put on a Potemkin focus group like this anyway. Still, Featherstone’s choice to focus mainly on that dynamic instead of what the moms in the focus group actually said is telling. She shares that their primary concern is jobs and, by proxy, money but also that they wish Congress would “bicker less and compromise more” and that they “blame themselves and other ordinary Americans like themselves . . . for living beyond their means.” These suggest that the political vision of the masses, or these masses anyway, might not align with a left policy agenda.
Featherstone’s broad diagnoses about the ailments corroding American society are spot on, but her story about the masses and the elites sometimes fails to take into account how the masses actually feel about what’s going on. She tells a compelling story about the ever widening space between politicians seeking high office and the voters who elect them, which created an ever growing need for focus groups, but there’s no accounting of what the masses actually want or the ways they’d held power in the past.
Featherstone points to the disturbing “degeneration” of democracy over the lifespan of the focus group, identifying a delicate dynamic wherein, as inequality grows, elites and the masses become more distant, increasing the need for focus-group-style mediation to allow the masses to feel more “heard,” even as their real power declines—assuming they’d had it in the first place. But this misses the ways in which established power in America from the very beginning of the nation has always worked to constrain democracy. The Constitution’s compromises—slavery, the structure of the legislative bodies, the Electoral College, and others—made the nation possible but also institutionalized systemic inequity. Featherstone correlates the decline in popular power with the rise of the focus group, which began “its ascendance in the mid-1970s,” and that structure is tough to swallow when the Voting Rights Act had only been law since 1965.
A broader interrogation of exactly how democratic the United States of America has ever been would have helped attenuate Featherstone’s examinations of how far its been degraded. Still, she’s clear on how that problem manifests as it relates to the culture of consultation: “This is what we should be mad about: that our democratic institutions can’t be trusted to represent our interests. When a focus group feels more like democracy than the real thing, we need to ask how well the real thing is functioning.”
The book’s final line suggests that these problems can be ameliorated with “organizing, persuading, and challenging.” This is not a bad idea. In fact, it’s a necessary one. It’s also one without a clear goal. It seems to rely on the questionable assumptions that the “masses” are already a unified group that shares enough interests and are just waiting to have the opportunity to speak their truth to the elites.
Featherstone is not alone in hitting this wall. Brooke Gladstone, host of WNYC’s On The Media, reached a similar impasse in her book The Trouble With Reality, released earlier this year. Gladstone focuses on an intractable problem that Featherstone tacitly acknowledges toward the end of her book: It is not just the masses and the elites who are living in different worlds. The masses themselves are fractured into groups with entirely distinct realities, and though this is largely a result of narratives put forward by elites who command large audiences through their control of or access to mass-media channels, it has entirely pervaded society, especially on social media platforms.
In Divining Desire, Featherstone mentions the disturbing phenomenon of watching a member of a televised focus group of undecided voters state with certainty that Barack Obama was a Muslim and seeing the rest of the participants nod in quiet agreement. But she doesn’t point this out to vilify focus groups but to cast herself as the villain, writing that “the hostility to focus groups is a populism of fools—which really looks more like elitism.”
That may be true, but Featherstone’s readiness to defend the practice and its participants misses the more significant problem, which Gladstone identifies, that these views and the certainty with which millions of people hold them in the face of factual evidence is a world-historic issue that has already had catastrophic consequences. Featherstone doesn’t engage with a fractured populace in her conclusion. She writes, “conversation is critical to movements but conversation without clear thought about building institutions and power can be dead end.” She’s right, but this claim rests on the assumption that the “masses” of the United States of America are already close to agreeing about what type of institutions they’d like to build or what type of power they’d like to have. If only that were true.
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