The full dataset viewer is not available (click to read why). Only showing a preview of the rows.
The dataset generation failed
Error code: DatasetGenerationError
Exception: ArrowInvalid
Message: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 16
Traceback: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 153, in _generate_tables
df = pd.read_json(f, dtype_backend="pyarrow")
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 815, in read_json
return json_reader.read()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1025, in read
obj = self._get_object_parser(self.data)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1051, in _get_object_parser
obj = FrameParser(json, **kwargs).parse()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1187, in parse
self._parse()
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1403, in _parse
ujson_loads(json, precise_float=self.precise_float), dtype=None
ValueError: Trailing data
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1997, in _prepare_split_single
for _, table in generator:
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 156, in _generate_tables
raise e
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 130, in _generate_tables
pa_table = paj.read_json(
File "pyarrow/_json.pyx", line 308, in pyarrow._json.read_json
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 154, in pyarrow.lib.pyarrow_internal_check_status
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 91, in pyarrow.lib.check_status
pyarrow.lib.ArrowInvalid: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 16
The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1529, in compute_config_parquet_and_info_response
parquet_operations = convert_to_parquet(builder)
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1154, in convert_to_parquet
builder.download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1029, in download_and_prepare
self._download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1124, in _download_and_prepare
self._prepare_split(split_generator, **prepare_split_kwargs)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1884, in _prepare_split
for job_id, done, content in self._prepare_split_single(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 2040, in _prepare_split_single
raise DatasetGenerationError("An error occurred while generating the dataset") from e
datasets.exceptions.DatasetGenerationError: An error occurred while generating the datasetNeed help to make the dataset viewer work? Make sure to review how to configure the dataset viewer, and open a discussion for direct support.
pred_label
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|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__cc
| 0.728497
| 0.271503
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Site Map » Artists » GOYA, Francisco
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Aragonese Spanish painter and printmaker.
Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown and a chronicler of history. He has been regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns. The subversive and subjective element in his art, as well as his bold handling of paint, provided a model for the work of later generations of artists, notably Manet and Picasso.
Many of Goya's works are on display in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
artistsgoya
Alicebot
Free AIML chat bot content
Machinima 138
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__label__cc
| 0.627464
| 0.372536
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Ref. No. 5498: We offer for sale a house in KABLESHKOVO, just 8 km from the sea and 20 km from the city of Burgas. Kableshkovo , Burgas property
Town / Village: Kableshkovo
A house is built on the concrete slab, it was built in 1973, consists of two floors, one of which leads to the semibasement ground floor! The old wooden windows are replaced by new PVC!
The two floors have an area of 80 m2 /total 160 sq.m./ and consist of:
* kitchen
* bedroom
* storage room
* bathroom with toilet
* vestibule;
* corridor;
* three rooms;
* kitchen that can be converted into a bathroom with toilet;
AREA UNDER THE ROOF
The plot under the house is 440 sq. m. And there is a probe, a shed and a sewer.
The house is in need of renovation and modernization.
The area is exceptionally quiet and suitable for permanent residence, close to shops, bus station, pharmacy!
If our offer is of interest to you, do not hesitate to contact us.
We Are Waiting For You!
Location: Near the Sea, In hunting area, Near spa resort, Near river, Near lake, In fishing area, Near mountain, In rural countryside, Ecological region
Sale of a massive two-storey house with a large yard in the village of Livada, just 20...
The total area of the property is about 140 sq.m. There are three rooms on the ground floor and four on the first. The house is stable and durable, but needs to be renovated. There is a batch for electricity and water. The yard is 2380 sq.m., it is situated near the center of the...
Town / Village: Livada
Buy a new house with three bedrooms and a huge yard in the village of Devetak, just 60...
The house is located in a quiet and beautiful village 60 km from Burgas and the sea, 15 km from Karnobat and 8 km from Trakia motorway. The village is one of the largest villages in the Karnobat muniсipality. Near the village, 15-16 km west of Karnobat, there is the Straldzhan lake....
Town / Village: Devetak
Three-storey villa for sale in the village of Prokhod, 35 km from the city of Burgas...
The village of Prokhod is located 35 km from Burgas at the foot of the Strandzha Mountains. The house is located right under a pine forest, and the view from there covers the entire village and the incredible landscape. The building is three-storeyed, with a total area of 180 sq.m. The...
Town / Village: Prohod
Buy a renovated house in the village of Fakia, just 55 km from Burgas and the sea,...
The house has a total area of 120 sq. m. and has three bedrooms, a bathroom and a toilet, a large kitchen with built-in appliances, a living room, three air conditioners, an internal staircase, a toilet on the first floor, a large terrace, a well-maintained courtyard, a new roof, a new...
Town / Village: Fakia
Buy a two-storey house in an ecologically clean area with unspoilt nature in the...
The property has a developed built-up area of 85 sq. m., a well-maintained and landscaped courtyard of 750 sq. m. Consists of: Ground floor: living room, kitchen, corridor, equipped bathroom with toilet, veranda, internal staircase. First floor: two bedrooms, two terraces. The...
Town / Village: Panitsovo
We offer for sale a three-storey house in the village of Laka, only 14 km from the city...
The property has a total built-up area of 200 sq.m. and a yard of 900 sq.m. It consists of three rooms, bathroom with toilet, corridor and terrace on the ground floor; entrance hall, three rooms, bathroom with toilet and a large terrace on the first floor and an attic floor with an area...
Town / Village: Laka
House in the town of Kableshkovo, 7 km from the sea
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__label__wiki
| 0.555933
| 0.555933
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Lété
Senior Fellow, Security and Defense
The German Marshall Fund,
Indrek Kannik
Philip Breedlove
Salome Zourabichvili
David Zalkaliani
Irakli Garibashvili
Maia Sandu
Bruno Lété
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Tomasz Kijewski Tomáš Petříček
Richard Youngs
Tengiz Pkhaladze
Bruno Lété currently serves as a senior fellow of security and defense at The German Marshall Fund of the United States in Brussels. He provides analysis and advice on trends in geopolitics and on international security and defense policy. He focuses primarily on the EU Common Security & Defense Policy, NATO, and developments in Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2010, Lété joined the European Union Delegation to the United States in Washington, DC, where he supported the political, security, and development section and focused on U.S. foreign policy and EU–U.S. relations. He started his career in 2007 as a program associate for the German Marshall Fund, where he helped developed GMF’s signature policy conferences such as Brussels Forum.
Lété studied at the University of Ghent in Belgium and at Collegium Civitas in Warsaw, Poland. He holds a bachelor's in communication management and a master's in international relations. He appears regularly in the media and is the author of frequent opinion pieces and policy briefs. In 2008 he was made a John C. Whitehead Fellow by the Foreign Policy Association in New York City.
Discussion on the topic - The New Transatlantic Agenda and Eastern Europe
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| 0.924719
| 0.924719
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Sale of Galvin Flying Services Spurs Expansion
Peter Anderson, president of Galvin Flying Services, sees expanded facilities, programs and growth with new owner Quantem FBO Services.
By Terry Stephens
Galvin Flying Services, based at King County International Airport (BFI), has begun work on a major expansion, just months after the 78-year-old family-owned business was sold for an undisclosed price to Quantem FBO Services in Manchester, N.H.
A 175,000-square-foot redevelopment project will upgrade an existing Galvin hangar and create new hangars on the 11.5-acre site, along with a new shop and office space near the company’s executive jet terminal and flight school. A leading FBO in the Pacific Northwest, Galvin provides aircraft sales, fuel, maintenance, hangar space, pilot training, executive jet services, business charters and aircraft rentals. Galvin reported revenues of about $40 million in 2006.
Peter Anderson, the nephew of Northwest aviation pioneer Jim Galvin, who founded Galvin Flying Services at Boeing Field in 1930, remains as president. He said all employees were kept on staff and that the Galvin name would continue to be used. Galvin operated the business for 50 years, until he retired. Anderson, who had joined the business as an aircraft groomer in 1969 and worked his way up in the company, was promoted to president in 1980.
Under Anderson’s direction, the flying service expanded in many directions, finally outgrowing its space and outpacing its investment capital as it became one of the largest and most successful fixed base operations in the Pacific Northwest. In a recent interview, Anderson said that several months ago, he and his family realized they had taken Galvin as far as they could with their cash resources. That’s when he began looking for an acquisition candidate.
In March 2007, he told Galvin’s 125 employees that he had signed an agreement for an undisclosed price to sell the family business to Quantem, a move that was finalized last October in a venture with private-equity firm WR Capital Partners of Morristown, N.J. Quantem also owns two other family-operated FBOs purchased over the past three years. Quantem executives have said they’re continuing to seek more purchase opportunities for more family-owned FBOs.
“There were growth opportunities in the industry we wanted to take advantage of but couldn’t without tapping into significant new resources,” he said. “And, we knew the buyer would have to be somebody who would start growth and expansion plans immediately.”
That’s exactly what Quantem wanted to do. For Anderson, selling the business after so many years was almost surreal.
“Being an employee for the first time, not an owner, is a whole different world,” Anderson laughed. “Now, I have to ask permission to take off a day or so. But I did take a couple weeks’ vacation for a trip to Bali last fall, after signing a two-year contract. I’m not ready to retire yet and hope to be here for quite a while.”
So far, no major changes in the operation or staffing of Galvin Flying Services have occurred, Anderson said, except that Quantum’s president and CEO, Blake Fish, visits about once a month, and the two have frequent phone conferences to stay in touch, along with email.
“By early May, architectural plans for our expansion were underway, with a groundbreaking set for late January of next year,” he said. “We’re adding what will be a net gain of 100,000 square feet of new hangar space for aircraft as large as a Global Express or a Gulfstream V. The first phase of the project should be available to move into by late September 2009. The second phase will include more new hangars that will enhance our aircraft sales.”
Galvin is the exclusive Pacific Northwest and Hawaiian dealer for Diamond aircraft, planes that are equipped with Garmin G1000 integrated glass panel GPS systems that include features typically found in airliner cockpits. That level of technology enhances flight training for pilots who plan to move into commercial flying. The flight service company also is a factory-authorized service center for Cessna, Hawker, Beechcraft and Columbia aircraft as well as Pratt & Whitney and Honeywell products.
For its extensive flight-training program, Galvin provides a fleet of four-seat Diamond aircraft, including the new twin-turbo, diesel-powered Diamond Twin Star. The company is a leading-edge provider of pilot training in technologically advanced aircraft and simulators. That distinction led to the University of Hawaii selecting Galvin Flying Services to operate its Pacific Aerospace Training Center at Honolulu Community College.
“At Boeing Field, we just added a new $300,000 simulator for the new Diamond Twin Star, and students are thrilled with it,” Anderson said. “We’re fortunate to have such an extensive flight training program for an urban airfield. Typically, it seems that FBOs in large cities will specialize in refueling and maintenance, and sometimes aircraft charters, too. But flight schools are typically outside of the cities. Nationally, only a handful of FBOs with city locations are into the full range of the traditional services.”
Since Jim Galvin began flight training in 1930, Galvin Flying Services has trained more than 17,000 pilots for recreational, business and commercial flying. In recent years, 16 of its flight instructors have earned master instructor ratings. That’s more than any other flight school in the nation, according to Sandy Hill of the 91,000-member National Flight Instructors Association.
Anderson said the multimillion-dollar Quantem expansion also would solve one of Galvin’s weaknesses.
“We’ve been very successful in recent years, and that’s created a shortage of space for customers,” he said. “The Quantem expansion will replace the existing lobby with an entirely new facility more than three times the present size within the next three years.”
He said another recent venture by Galvin is moving into business charter services, offering King Airs, Learjets, Westwinds and Hawkers. He’s also actively seeking to lease Challengers and other owners’ planes for his charter services.
“As terrible and unfortunate as the Sept. 11 attack was, it certainly has heightened a person’s awareness of the need for security and safety,” he said. “That’s been a growing area for us as corporate travelers look for options to commercial airlines. Helping the movement is the fact that five airlines have closed operations in the first quarter of this year, which helped to move people toward executive charter aircraft.”
Anderson’s aviation roles include membership on the founding board of Highline School District’s Aviation High School in Seattle, as well as positions on the King County International Airport Roundtable Committee, the Washington State Aeronautics Advisory Board and the King County Museum of Flight Authority board.
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| 0.406382
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River Ave. Blues » Brian Dozier
2016 Winter Meetings Open Thread: Monday
December 5, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment
The four busiest days of the offseason begin today. Well, three busiest days. Usually everyone heads home following the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday morning. Anyway, the 2016 Winter Meetings begin today at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The Yankees are expected to get down to business today after taking some time to review the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“I said, ‘Listen, give me at least 24, 48 more hours to see what sort of information we can get from baseball,'” said Brian Cashman to Ken Davidoff last week. “So hopefully we’ll be able to hit the ground running Monday at the latest, but it’s in our best interest to know what we’re dealing with, first and foremost … Speeding up the process and going with the youth movement is going to play an even more important part now, more than ever with what appears to be some of the restrictions in the marketplace that are occurring here.”
The Yankees picked up Matt Holliday to be their DH last night, but they’re still in the market for “pitching, pitching, pitching.” All types. Starters and relievers, so much so that they’re said to be in on the all the top free agent closers. We’ll keep track of the day’s Yankees-related rumors right here, so make sure you check back often for updates. All time stamps are Eastern Time.
10:30am: Cashman confirmed teams have asked about Clint Frazier, Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Gleyber Torres, and Justus Sheffield this offseason, among others. The GM added he is “open-minded to listen on anything.”. [Bryan Hoch]
10:30am: The Yankees have not yet made a formal offer to Rich Hill, who is said to be closing in a deal with the Dodgers. New York has been connected to Hill all offseason because he is, by far, the best available free agent starter. [Jon Heyman]
10:30am: Chase Headley and Brett Gardner both remain available, though “interest is relatively mild” at the moment. [Heyman]
11:47am: The Yankees are among the teams looking for a lefty reliever. I assume this means a matchup guy for the middle innings, not simply Aroldis Chapman. [Heyman]
12:41pm: One of the three top closers is off the board: Mark Melancon has agreed to sign with the Giants. No word on the contract terms yet. I’ll guess … four years and $60M. (Update: It’s four years and $62M.) [Buster Olney]
1:16pm: Rich Hill is off the board. The Dodgers have re-signed him to a three-year deal worth $48M, the team announced. The Yankees had been in contact with him.
1:36pm: The Yankees are one of several teams in “ongoing” talks with Luis Valbuena. He’s looking for multiple years and right now the team thinks his asking price is too high. [Joel Sherman]
1:50pm: Chapman wants a six-year deal and says he deserves $100M+. “The only thing I have expressed is that I would like a six-year contract … There are rumors out there that I requested $100M and that’s not true at all. I believe he who deserves something, does not need to demand it,” he said. [Marly Rivera]
2:45pm: The Yankees have checked in with the Twins about second baseman Brian Dozier. Interesting. He’s better and cheaper than Starlin Castro. Whether the Yankees are willing to give up pretty good prospects to get it done is another matter. [Heyman]
4:07pm: Cashman shot down the Dozier rumor. “I haven’t had any dialogue with the Twins about Dozier. That’s a false report,” he said. So much for that. [MLB Network Radio]
4:21pm: Cashman acknowledged the Yankees are after Chapman, but won’t go all out to sign him. “It’s going to be costly. We’re prepared to a degree to compete for that,” he said. [Casey Stern]
5:15pm: The Yankees are still talking to Kenley Jansen in addition to Chapman. There are also some bullpen trade opportunities, according to Cashman. [Hoch]
Reminder: Your trade proposal sucks.
Filed Under: Hot Stove League, Open Thread Tagged With: 2016 Winter Meetings, Aaron Judge, Aroldis Chapman, Brett Gardner, Brian Dozier, Chase Headley, Clint Frazier, Gleyber Torres, Justus Sheffield, Kenley Jansen, Luis Severino, Luis Valbuena, Minnesota Twins, Rich Hill
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| 0.602512
| 0.602512
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Daughters of Charity Homes
St Vincent's Home / Home of the Holy Child / Open-Air School, Dover, Kent
St Vincent's Home for Roman Catholic Boys was established in 1903 at 7 Eastbrook Place, Maison Dieu Road, Dover. It was run by the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul and was linked to their adjacent convent. The premises could accommodate up to 50 boys, aged from 3 to 14 years at their date of admission.
In April, 1903, at the request of the Southwark Rescue Society, a home for 'crippled and delicate boys' was established in the neighbouring property at 8, Eastbrook Place. The Home of the Holy Child, as it became known, could accommodate about twenty boys, with voluntary cases being admissible as well as the Rescue Society's children. By 1915, the Home appears to have relocated to 6 Eastbrook Place.
In November, 1917, towards the end of the First World War, it was reported that the Sisters were greatly suffering from the enormous increase in the prices of food and other necessaries needed for the children under their care. Their 'Convalescent Home' — presumably the Home of the Holy Child — was said to be practically closed owing to its being situated in the war zone, so that the Sisters were forced to make a public for contributions for the support of their work.
In 1927, Eastbrook Place became home to St Vincent's Open-air School for delicate children. In 1934, the School moved to new premises at St Leonards on Sea in Sussex.
6 to 8 Eastbrook Place, Dover.
None identfied at present — any information welcome.
Daughters of Charity (British Province)
Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul Services
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| 0.675857
| 0.675857
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Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific
Issue 46, December 2021
Mark McLelland and Intersections
Carolyn Brewer
Anne-Marie Medcalf and I first came across Mark McLelland when he submitted papers for consideration in Issues 3 and 4 of the electronic journal Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context, that we had inaugurated in 1998.[1] The journal was then hosted by Murdoch University in Western Australia. These papers were outside the ‘gender’ theme which we had designated for the journal, but we thought that they fitted well enough into the other two themes—history and culture. Their scholarship was meticulous. The referees gave them excellent reviews and they were published. McLelland’s articles, ‘Male homosexuality and popular culture in modern Japan’[2] and ‘Interview with Samshasha, Hong Kong’s first gay rights activist and author’[3] were to herald a new focus for the journal that we had never anticipated.
At that time, Anne-Marie and I were both writing our PhD theses. Our joint focus was firmly on gender issues and the difficulty in getting mainstream journals to take gender seriously—particularly at the conjunction of Gender Studies and Asia-Pacific Studies. Even after we had published McLelland's two articles, we did not consider adding sexuality to the main focus of the journal. Indeed, we never gave it a thought.
Mark McLelland and Peter A. Jackson, however, convinced us that getting sexuality papers published was equally as difficult as publishing on gender. They requested that we broaden the journal's focus. The first AsiaPacifiQueer (APQ) Conference was to be held on 16 February 2001 at the University of Technology, Sydney.[4] There were three panels featuring presentations on a wide range of topics that focused on 'Genders and Transgenders in the Pacific,' 'Genders and Transgenders in Asia' and 'Queering Theorisations.' McLelland and Jackson were looking for somewhere to publish some of the conference proceedings and to that end they offered to guest edit a special issue of Intersections including a selection of papers from that first AsiaPacifiQueer conference.[5] So, here we had two new branches to the journal—a focus on topics associated with sexuality and the practice of working with guest editors, both of which have enhanced the journal's reach and readership.
Anxious to see whether the journal was indeed reaching an international audience, Anne-Marie and I added an extreme tracking device to the journal's front page and were fascinated to watch the number of readers who visited the site each day and where that readership was located. To our amusement, the US Military followed the journal closely in those early years. The publication of the AsiaPacifiQueer issue boosted our readership enormously and confirmed McLelland and Jackson's suggestion that there was a real need for scholars to have access to scholarship on sexuality as well as gender.
Mark then approached us with a new suggestion—a more tightly focused issue on 'Queer Japan,' which he offered to guest edit.[6] Along with James Welker, Katsuhiko Suganuma and others, Mark translated many of the articles from Japanese, and the issue was published in January 2006.[7] It continues to be the issue that attracts the highest number of readers, and McLelland's paper, 'A short history of hentai,' is the most read paper we have ever published.[8]
Japanese Transnational Fandoms and Female Consumers
edited by Mark McLelland
Figure 1. Mark McLelland (ed.), 'Japanese Transnational Fandoms and Female Consumers,’ special issue of Intersections 20 (April 2009).
Featuring Papers from the first AsiaPacifiQueer Conference
edited by Mark McLelland and Peter Jackson
Figure 2. Mark McLelland and Peter Jackson (eds), 'Papers from the first AsiaPacifiQueer Conference,' special issue of Intersections 6 (August 2001).
Around this time Anne-Marie resigned from the journal to focus on other things and I moved to the Gender Relations Centre in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at The Australian National University. The journal was relocated to a new website at the ANU. Given the success of the two previously published guest edited issues focusing on sexuality, the title of the journal was changed to Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific.
Mark, not content to rest on his laurels, approached me with another suggestion—'Japanese Transnational Fandoms and Female Consumers.'[9] This theme, he said, would blow the readership numbers out of the water and reach an audience that would not normally be interested in academic papers. Published as issue 20, in April 2009, it delivered as promised.
Anne-Marie and I feel honoured to have known Mark, with his determined intellect and quiet wit. I am most grateful to have been associated with his enduring legacy and his influence on the focus of the electronic journal, Intersections, Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific.
[1] Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific (previously Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context), URL: intersections.anu.edu.au/, accessed 15 September 2021.
[2] Mark McLelland, 'Male homosexuality and popular culture in modern Japan,' Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context 3 (January 1999), URL: intersections.anu.edu.au/issue3/mclelland2.html, accessed 15 Sep. 2021.
[3] Mark McLelland, 'Interview with Samshasha, Hong Kong's first gay rights activist and author,' Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context 4 (September 2000), URL: intersections.anu.edu.au/issue4/interview_mclelland.html, accessed 15 Sep. 2021.
[4] See Peter A. Jackson's reflections on the AsiaPacifiQueer project in this issue.
[5] Mark McLelland and Peter Jackson (eds), 'Featuring Papers from the first AsiaPacifiQueer Conference,' special issue of Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context 6 (August 2001), URL: intersections.anu.edu.au/issue6_contents.html, accessed 15 Sep. 2021. See also Fran Martin, Peter A Jackson, Mark McLelland and Audrey Yue (eds), AsiaPacifiQueer: Rethinking Genders and Sexualities, Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2008.
[6] Mark McLelland (ed.), 'Queer Japan,' special issue of Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context 12 (January 2006), URL: intersections.anu.edu.au/issue12_contents.html, accessed 17 May 2021.
[7] On Mark McLelland's influence as an editor, translator and convenor of workshops, see Vera Mackie’s essay in this issue.
[8] Mark McLelland, 'A short history of hentai,' in 'Queer Japan,' special issue of Intersections: Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context 12 (January 2006), URL: intersections.anu.edu.au/issue12/mclelland.html, accessed 17 May 2021.
[9] Mark McLelland (ed.), 'Japanese Transnational Fandoms and Female Consumers,' special issue of Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific 20 (April 2009), URL: intersections.anu.edu.au/issue20_contents.htm, accessed 17 May 2021.
Published with the support of Gender and Cultural Studies, School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University.
URL: http://intersections.anu.edu.au/issue46/brewer.html
Page constructed by Carolyn Brewer
Last modified: 18 Dec. 2021 1001
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Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal publishes new data of geophysical sciences and practice, theoretical developments, scientific generalizations, results from studies in geophysical complexes, phenomena and deposits of mineral resources, methodological and instrumental developments, comprehensive study of the deep structure of the lithosphere, modern geodynamics and earthquake prediction, discussion problems, new concepts, hypotheses etc. There are such sections: geophysics, geophysical methods of exploration and prospecting of mineral deposits, the theoretical aspects of the geophysical sciences, tectonics, oil, gas, geological problems etc.
Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal follows a double-blinded process of peer review. The manuscript is reviewed anonymously by two leading specialists in the corresponding field of biochemistry. Authors may suggest candidatures of independent reviewers for their work (the Editorial Board regards such wishes with understanding, though reserves the right to assign reviewers capable for the most qualified analysis of the work).
Our reviewers are aware that submitted manuscripts are the authors’ private property and are not the subject to unauthorized disclosure.
A reviewer’s decision is not final. Authors have a right to appeal against a reviewer’s decision. In this case the paper will be sent to the independent referee or to adjudicating member of the Editorial Board for assessment. A final decision on the appeal remains with the Editorial Board.
The Editor makes the decision on the paper, and informs the authors on the decision.
Once reviewer reports have been received, authors are given 3 weeks to revise the paper. The revised paper along with a point-by-point response to the reviewer reports and with the explanations on any changes made in the paper should be returned to the Editorial Office within 3 weeks.
The revised paper, approved and signed by reviewers and Scientific Editor, is considered as the final version. Any changes in the text, figures or tables are not permitted thereafter.
Reviewing procedure
Submitted manuscript is registered by Editorial Staff at the time of receipt of a hard copy by mail or electronic version by e-mail.
Scientific Editors make a decision as to who will be assigned to review a manuscript, following a field of research.
A manuscript is send to the assigned reviewers.
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Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal in its work endorses policy of Elsevier publishing house (Publishing Ethics) aimed at providing the highest standards of publishing ethics and follows the guidelines on ethics of research publication (Committee on Publication Ethics — COPE; http://publicationethics.org). Adherence to the regulations on publication ethics by all of involved in publication process provides protection of authors’ intellectual property right, credibility of a journal in the eyes of international scientific community and excludes the possibility of illegal use of author’s materials for benefits of particular persons. The reviewing and publication processes of the Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal follow the recommendations developed by Elsevier publishing house.
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Publication decision is always based on the study’s validity and importance to readers and researchers. The Editor-in-Chief should not be involved in the decision about paper, in which he/she has a conflict of interest. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for final decision which articles submitted to the journal shall be published. At that the Editor-in-Chief is guided by the journal policy and legal requirements for preventing libel, plagiarism and copyright infringement. In making final decision Editor-in-Chief can consult with members of the Editorial Board or reviewers.
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Unpublished data from submitted manuscripts must not be used by the Editor-in-Chief, the Editorial Board members or Editorial staff for personal advantage or be transferred to third parties (without written consent of the authors).
The Editor-in-Chief should not allow to publish the materials if there is every reason to believe that it is plagiarism. Accepted papers are published under Open Access route, authors’ copyrights are reserved.
"Public trust in the peer review process and the credibility of published articles depend in part on how well conflict of interest is handled during writing, peer review, and editorial decision making. Conflict of interest exists when an author (or the author’s institution), reviewer, or editor has financial or personal relationships that inappropriately influence (bias) his or her actions (such relationships are also known as dual commitments, competing interests, or competing loyalties). These relationships vary from those with negligible potential to those with great potential to influence judgment, and not all relationships represent true conflict of interest. The potential for conflict of interest can exist whether or not an individual believes that the relationship affects his or her scientific judgment. Financial relationships (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony) are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest and the most likely to undermine the credibility of the journal, the authors, and of science itself. However, conflicts can occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion.”
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The Editor-in-Chief along with the publisher should not remain the claim relating to submitted or published manuscripts unanswered. If there is a disagreement, they will make all reasonable efforts to restore the violated rights and if errors are detected, to publish correction or refutation. Each case of declared publication misconduct will be thoroughly investigated (even if it has been detected years after publication).
RESPONSIBILITIES OF REVIEWERS
Contribution to Editorial Decision
Peer-review process assists the Editor-in-Chief in making final decision and through editorial communication with author also contributes to improvement of the paper. Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal endorses the Elsevier believes that all researches, who are striving to publish their own papers, have a moral duty to contribute to peer review process (http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/intro.cws_home/publishing).
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Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that is an observation, derivation or argument that has been reported in previous publications should be accompanied by the relevant reference. A reviewer should also notify the Editors of any substantial similarity or overlap between the reviewed manuscript and any other published article of which they have personal knowledge.
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Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed, reliable results, as well as an objective discussion of the significance of the work. The manuscript should contain sufficient details and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are considered as unethical behavior and unacceptable.
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Authors should ensure that they submit only entirely original works. If they have used the work and/or statements of others, this must be appropriately cited or referenced. Plagiarism in any forms, including quotations or paraphrasing of substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution), “passing off” another’s paper as the author’s own or claiming results from research conducted by others, constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Articles that are a compilation of published previously materials of other authors (without their own creative and authoring interpretation) are not accepted for publication.
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Authors should not submit for consideration a manuscript that has already been published in another journal. It is sometimes justifiable the publication of some kinds of articles (such as translations) in more than one journal provided that certain conditions are met: the authors and editors of the journal must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.
Authors must properly acknowledge the contribution of all persons who relevant to the research or determining the nature of the reported work. Publications that have been influential in the course of research must be properly referenced in the paper. Information obtained privately (from conversation, correspondence or discussion with third parties) must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of providing confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, should not be used without the explicit written permission of the author(s) of the work involved in these services.
Only persons who have made substantive intellectual contributions to the conception, design, execution, or analysis of the study should be listed as authors. All co-authors who have made significant contributions to execution, data acquisition or interpretation of the work should be included in the author list. Other participants, who provide technical help, writing and editing assistance, general support, should be acknowledged in the “Acknowledgments” section. The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication. All persons named in the paper as authors are responsible for content of the work. If the article is a multi-disciplinary work, co-author may be responsible for his/her personal contribution, reserving a collective responsibility for the general result. Person who has not participated in research must not be listed as an author.
Authors should disclose in the manuscript all research funding, any conflicts of interest that may influence the results, their interpretation or reviewers’ opinion. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include: employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria payment, paid expert testimony, patent arrangements, educational grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed as soon as possible.
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When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their submitted or published work, they must promptly notify the journal’s editor and cooperate with them either to nullify or to correct the paper as soon as possible. If the Editorial Board learns from a third party that a published work contains significant errors, the authors must promptly correct the paper or provide evidence to the journal editor of the correctness of the paper.
Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal takes responsibility to assist a scientific community in all aspects of publication ethics policy, particularly in case of multiple submission/publication and plagiarism.
Publication Frequence
The journal is published bimonthly.
Planning out the journal include:
submitting articles for publication in the next issue - before the 20th of every odd month, the publication of the article - before the 30th of the next (even) month.
Thus, the release of the numbers by months: February, April, June, August, October, December
Subbotin Institute of Geophysics, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Geophysical journal publishes original high-quality articles in all brunches of geophysical research, including theoretical, experimental and applied aspects, computer data processing and the geophysical monitoring results for various objects
Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal
ISSN: 2524-1052 (Online), 0203-3100 (Print)
Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Geofizicheskiy Zhurnal is indexed/abstracted:
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← Tracing the “Peopling of the World” (The Great Human Diaspora) through genomics
Wild plan is taking shape to visit the nearest planet outside our Solar System !!! →
Evidence for “the prion” (common to mammals) actually existing in a bacterium !!
A “PRION” is an infectious agent comprised only of protein, called PrP (abbreviation for “Prion Protein”). Prions are remarkable in that they can fold in multiple, structurally distinct, means –– at least one of which is transmissible to other prion proteins, leading to diseases that are similar to viral infections. They are believed to be the cause of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), among other “”slow-virus” diseases.
Prions were initially identified as the causative agent in bovine spongiform encephopathy (BSE; commonly called “mad cow disease”) — and “scrapie” in sheep. Human prion diseases include Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and a variant form of CJD (vCJD), Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome, fatal familial insomnia, and kuru. A 2015 study [Prusiner et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112: E5308–5317] concluded that multiple system atrophy (MSA) –– a rare human neurodegenerative disease that was fatal (2o12) in my golfing buddy –– is caused by a misfolded version of a protein called alpha-synuclein, and is therefore also classifiable as a prion disease. Several yeast proteins have been identified as having prionogenic properties as well.
A protein –– as an INDEPENDENT infectious agent –– stands in contrast to all other known infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. All of these contain nucleic acids (DNA, RNA, or both). For this reason, a small number of researchers still consider the prion/TSE hypothesis “unproven.” The mechanisms by which prions are self-propagating protein aggregates –– that act as protein-based elements of inheritance –– will require further studies.
Although prevalent in eukaryotes (i.e. organisms having pairs of chromosomes), including yeast and fungi, prions have not been identified in bacteria. In the attached intriguing paper, authors found that a bacterial protein, transcription terminator Rho of Clostridium botulinum (Cb-Rho), could form a prion. Authors identified a candidate prion-forming domain (cPrD) in Cb-Rho and showed that it conferred amyloidogenicity (ability to generate amyloids) on Cb-Rho and could functionally replace the PrD of a yeast prion-forming protein..!!
Moreover, its cPrD enabled Cb-Rho, in Escherichia coli, to access alternative conformations — a soluble form that terminated transcription efficiently and an aggregated, self-propagating prion form that was functionally compromised. The prion form caused genome-wide changes in the transcriptome. Thus, Cb-Rho functions as a protein-based element of inheritance in bacteria, suggesting that the emergence of prions predates the evolutionary split between eukaryotes and bacteria (i.e. organisms having a single set of chromosomes).
Science 13 Jan 2o17; 355: 198–201
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Talib Kweli - Scoot Inn - October 7, 2010
From the extraterrestrial department... Talib Kweli @ Scoot Inn tomorrow night, Oct 7th!
Talib Kweli Greene (born October 3, 1974)[1], better known as Talib Kweli, is an American emcee from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker"; his middle name in Swahili means "truth". Kweli first gained recognition through Black Star, a collaboration with fellow MC Mos Def.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Kweli grew up in a highly educated household in Park Slope. His mother, Brenda Greene, is an English professor at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York[2] and his father a sociology professor. His younger brother, Jamal Greene, is a professor of Constitutional Law at Columbia Law School, and former clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court. As a youth, he was drawn to Afrocentric rappers, such as De La Soul and other members of the Native Tongues Posse whom he had met in high school. Talib Kweli was a student at Cheshire Academy, a boarding school in Connecticut. He was also a student at Brooklyn Technical High School, before he was kicked out. He later studied experimental theater at New York University (NYU).[3] When he was 14, his family moved to Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
BBoy City Presents... Trick For Treatz - Ruta Maya...
The Cipher - Red 7 - October 29, 2010
illscene.com Presents... RHYMEFEST - Beauty Bar - ...
DJ Protege - It's My Birthday - A Fundraiser for t...
ScoreMore Presents... Chiddy Bang - Republic Live ...
Free Tix: Heroes of Hip Hop with Prince Paul & Ace...
Terp2It: "Half Man Half Beard" - 4 days left
Rakim - Aces Lounge - October 17, 2010
PlanetRTH Presents... Heroes of Hip Hop with Princ...
Phranchyze - Klub Krucial - October 12, 2010
Terp2It: "Half Man Half Beard" - 11 days left
Luckyiam - District - October 8, 2010
Ninjasonik - Beauty Bar - October 8, 2010
The Smokers Club Tour - Aces Lounge - October 10, ...
Killah Priest - Ruta Maya - October 3, 2010
Texas Battle League - Karma Lounge - October 2, 2010
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The Top Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Projects in 2018
There’s been a change in the outlook for cryptocurrency during the past few months. People seldom talk about the markets or the price of Bitcoin. Volatility has been causing a lot of uncertainty, and mainstream adoption came to a virtual standstill.
Nonetheless, the cryptocurrency space showed remarkable resilience as blockchain projects continue to expand its borders with more lateral thinking and “out-of-the-box” blockchain solutions. We’ll explore some of their use-cases and find out whether these currencies and platforms are the next big thing.
Why People Invest in These Projects
Despite the recent lull in cryptocurrency trading and mining, blockchain projects and ICOs are very much in the business for 2018. Investors and tech companies remain optimistic about the future of the cryptocurrency space amidst tightening restrictions and negativity. In fact, according to Coindesk, the amount of money raised in ICOs in the first quarter alone exceeded the total amount last year.
Most ICOs and blockchain projects didn’t end up well for a lot of investors (more than 90% failed to deliver). However, there are a few examples like Binance and EOS which turned out as good investments. Binance became one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges with a BNB market cap of over $1 billion – the second most valuable token on Coinmarketcap. EOS, on the other hand had a successful, albeit controversial mainnet launch, and is now a full-fledged decentralized application platform second only to Ethereum.
Smart investors consider the current state of affairs as a golden opportunity to hunt for new projects with the greatest potential, particularly in their early stages when they are mostly undervalued. Investing early on has the advantage of maximum gains with the least amount of exposure. For instance, a hundred dollars’ worth of investments at ten cents per token won’t break the bank if things go south. But if it turns out to be a real investment, gains will be exponential (e.g., BNB and EOS tokens are worth a hundred times more than their initial price in 2017)
Blockchain Projects to Watch for in 2018
Finding a good investment can be a real challenge since we’re dealing with dozens of new blockchain projects and ICOs every month. If you’re lucky enough, you might be able to land on some big winners from a list of projects. But before anything else, please bear in mind that this is not investment advice, and you are solely responsible for any gains or losses. That said, here are five of the most talked-about blockchain projects in 2018.
Zilliqa (ZIL). Launched in January, the project puts a lot of work in building a highly scalable decentralized platform using a method known as “sharding.” Unlike in Bitcoin, each node will be working in parallel within a group of nodes called “shard,” verifying a subset of all the transactions occurring at the same time (also called parallel processing). Sharding works perfectly in many centralized systems (Ultima Online, Google, etc.). However, it presents an immense technical challenge when applied on a decentralized environment. Ethereum has been working hard on it as part of its on-chain scaling solution in hopes of solving the security/scalability/decentralization trilemma. Zilliqa’s entry into the whole sharding scene threatens to steal the thunder from Ethereum by becoming the first to come up with a workable solution. Some estimates it to be around January 2019. Key features include:
faster transaction throughputs (speed improves as the network grows)
employs practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance as a consensus mechanism
reduced energy consumption (mining is spaced a hundred blocks apart)
maintains a decentralized network structure (a new shard is created for every 600 nodes)
Basic Attention Token (BAT). Cutting the middleman goes beyond peer-to-peer transactions to include decentralized, blockchain-based digital advertising in the form of an open-source, ad-free browser with its own currency. Brave Browser is one of today’s hottest Internet browsing software because it allows users to block ads and trackers completely free. In fact, as many as 3 million people have already been using Brave, becoming one of Google Play’s top ten in the Android browser category. The project is moving towards the creation a decentralized advertising platform using its own currency – Basic Attention Token – to incentivize both content creation and user attention. It works in some ways like Google Ads but in a more transparent and decentralized manner. The key advantages of BAT from an investor’s point of view include:
good potential for adoption (sold out BAT worth $35 million in 30 seconds)
strong support from the community (Brave browsing experience receive a lot of positive feedback from users)
a solid team of experienced developers (founded by no less than the co-founder of Mozilla, Firefox, and creator of JavaScript)
Kin (KIN). Canadian messaging app company Kik Interactive is making headway into cryptocurrency adoption with the launching of Kinecosystem. The company hopes to build a community of users and developers sharing resources, and making digital goods and services. However, unlike most blockchain startups with no real users, Kin’s integration into the Kik Messenger meant its value could potentially rise with over 300 million active users. The company is now moving towards the next phase, inviting all developers and content creators in building the ecosystem for large KIN payouts. Gains will take time, but you might want to consider its advantages, namely:
KIN’s practical use-case as a digital currency on an existing application (Kik has been in use since 2010)
user base is mostly made up of digital-natives (teens, millennials, and active mobile users)
Kik’s emphasis on anonymity
DeepBrain Chain (DBC). Blockchain companies like DeepBrain Chain sees decentralization as the future of the AI industry. Development of AI applications use up a huge amount of computing power. DeepBrain Chain works by utilizing computational resources across millions of nodes on the neural network in building AI applications which are then published onto the blockchain. Nodes that successfully deploy mirror images will receive payouts in DBC. It plans on migrating out of NEO to its own mainnet in Q4, with its own consensus algorithm (proof of importance and delegated proof of stake). The goal is to become the deep learning machine for the AI industry. Successful adoption is achievable through:
growth in people’s interest in the AI industry
reduced computational cost of AI companies through resource-sharing
secure, decentralized method of storing AI information.
Wormhole. Bitcoin Cash might soon be able to run smart contracts through its proposed protocol layer known as Wormhole. Developers plan on forking the Omni Layer to create a platform for smart contracts on top of Bitcoin Cash. Much of it is still in the works as of this moment, but news is, they’re going to issue a token named “Wormhole Cash.” Investors and crypto-enthusiasts are keeping track of its progress since it is expected to have a very high demand upon release.
The cryptocurrency space has been constantly evolving even as the noise and the hype surrounding cryptocurrency have mostly faded. Cryptocurrency is here to stay, and we’ll be seeing more projects in the near future that will bridge the gap between the average user and blockchain technology.
Facebook’s Update on Crypto-related Ads – Why Should It Matter?
Facebook hit the news when it back peddled on its decision to ban cryptocurrency ads outright from the social media platform. This has now made technology companies, cryptocurrency and blockchain communities optimistic this move will set off a precedent for other advertisers to follow, particularly Google and Twitter, who earlier warned of a similar ban on cryptocurrency ads.
What are the implications of Facebook’s reversing its view on cryptocurrency, and what are we to expect about the future of blockchain technology?
What Changed After the Update?
Facebook now accepts cryptocurrency ads, but only from pre-approved advertisers who filed their cryptocurrency products and services onboarding request. ICOs and promotions associated with deceptive high-yield investment programs are still banned from advertising.
The update took effect after a six-month hiatus in cryptocurrency ads on Facebook. Apparently, the tech giant have found compelling reasons for reversing some of its decision after being dismissive on anything crypto-related. (uhhh… money of course!) There are also some rumblings Facebook plans on stepping into the cryptocurrency space with their own initial coin offering.
So far, legitimate cryptocurrency businesses like Cointelegraph.com have not been able to boost their posts a day after the ban was lifted. It’s very likely that Facebook is implementing more stringent rules and are, indeed, checking on the advertiser’s credentials with painstaking effort. We’ll learn more about the specific details of the screening process as they unfold.
Not a Complete Turnabout
Facebook didn’t go all the way, and instead chose to “loosen” some its policy on cryptocurrency advertising. A recent post from the product management director indicates an eligibility check, which takes into account licenses and pertinent documents submitted by each applicant. Facebook wants to avoid another Bitconnect incident or turn it a breeding ground for ICO scams (70% of advertised ICOs failed to materialize).
There’s no guarantee that every cryptocurrency and blockchain businesses would receive their stamp of approval. The least they can do for now is hope they don’t get screened out or send the wrong signal to the management and mistake them for ICOs or HYIPs. Facebook is open to the idea of revising this policy as they see fit and encourages everyone to give their feedback.
More KYCs and Background Checks on Advertisers
All advertisers in cryptocurrency must be “pre-approved” before posting ads on Facebook. To do so, they have to disclose information about their company such as:
purpose and nature of their business
Facebook ad account ID
website domain
licenses and credentials
You can apply for your pre-approval HERE
Facebook, basically, performs due diligence on advertisers on behalf of its users, which is a good thing for cryptocurrency. Done right, this might actually boost investor confidence. With stricter regulation in place, Facebook hopes to open more opportunities which could further mass adoption for cryptocurrency, and significantly increase ad revenue to the company.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency and ICO scams might have a hard time after the update, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Facebook won’t have any of those. In fact several cryptocurrency and ICO scams were still able to get through, ironically, even after the ban on cryptocurrency ads.
What Changed Their Mind?
Facebook wasn’t so clear about the reason for partially lifting the ban on crypto-related ads. People have their own views and offer some explanation as to why this is the case.
Missing Out On Revenue. At times, Facebook is more worried about optics then revenue. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but when it comes to crypto, Facebook has constantly missed the boat. This is evident when Facebook took a massive hit in market value recently. One of the main reasons for the price dip is the lack of awareness in its underlying technology; censoring out everything crypto-related from their platform could only serve to aggravate the situation. By encouraging users to learn more about the cryptocurrency through ads and meaningful social interaction, they might as well rack up huge profits along the way.
Facebook’s Launching Its Exploratory Blockchain Group. For a tech company this huge, it’s not difficult to imagine Facebook having its own native currency in the near future. Their announcement about the launching of an exploratory blockchain group has led to some rumours about their future involvement in the cryptocurrency space. If true, then this could mean adoption on a massive scale with its two billion plus users worldwide.
Facebook’s decision to lift the ban on crypto-related ads is a statement on cryptocurrency’s future utility as a store of value, or even as a medium of exchange. There’s no denying that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology has become a major force in shaping our current financial system. They might, as well, be a part of it instead of closing doors on an opportunity which could probably give them a decisive edge along the way.
If you’d like to know more about cryptocurrency, blockchain and minning, you can pick up the Living Book HERE
What’s Next? Pushing the Boundaries of Blockchain Technology
Cryptocurrency could be running on a “different” blockchain, far better than its predecessors. Ethereum, became the first to have a “programmable” blockchain which made the currency in a class of its own. Today, we are entering into a new era of blockchain technology which promises scalability, interoperability, and sustainability with a first-of-its-kind third generation decentralized currency, Cardano.
We’ll explore the possibilities as well as the challenges in this new development in blockchain technology – what can it do to solve the prevailing issue of scalability and how far can it push the boundaries.
Blockchain Scaling and Its Challenges
Blockchain redefined the meaning of currency as a “trust-less” and “decentralized” medium of exchange allowing people to exchange value on a peer-to-peer network without a third party. It also solved the problem of double spending and fraud when dealing with digital assets in a virtual space with the combined strength of cryptographic functions and distributed consensus. But having such a high level of security also comes at the expense of speed and computing power.
Blockchain is difficult to scale because the exponential growth of the ever-increasing size, the necessary bandwidth to update all the ledgers across the network, and the proof of work algorithm which is self-limiting in terms of the number of transactions it can accommodate at a given time.
Some of the proposed solutions are, to take mining out of the picture, and use an alternative method of confirmation such as proof of stake and consensus protocol. Unfortunately, any attempt to improve scalability which takes mining and proof of work out of the way also tends to become convoluted and unsecure. There seems there is no way to create a blockchain that is both scalable, secure, and decentralized without losing some of its properties, one way or the other, or, writing a blockchain protocol from the ground up using an entirely different programming language.
Tinkering with the block size could only worsen the situation as bigger blocks would increase the blockchain size exponentially, thus consuming more bandwith and slowing down the network even more. The Bitcoin Cash hard fork of August 2017 attempts to solve Bitcoin’s scalability problem by following this route. However, it is doubtful that such measure could sustain the impact of mass adoption.
Some developers are now taking a different approach in their efforts to make a scalable, interoperable (communicates with other blockchains), and sustainable blockchain.
Making Blockchain a Lot “Smarter”
The simplicity of Bitcoin’s algorithm proved to be its greatest strength in terms of security. It is less prone to have errors and is more secure compared to other complex systems. Consequently, this would also mean less room for innovation within the blockchain itself (scripting used in Bitcoin is not “Turing-complete”). Moreover, developers couldn’t make drastic changes to the code without causing a fork in the blockchain. In such a case, the best scalability solution is to have a second layer for micro-transactions which “clears” each time these bundled transactions are broadcasted as one to the first layer, i.e. the blockchain. This is the idea behind Lightning Network.
However, to make this work, it should remain “trust-less,” secure, and shouldn’t involve a third party by adding a set of rules on top of the Bitcoin network to ensure that every transaction between two parties is settled upon meeting the conditions, or they can be rolled back if one of them refused to cooperate. Some of these rules include opening and pre-funding off-chain payment channels (or side-chains), “time-locks,” and having a “refund addresses” in case it fails to execute the agreement.
Ethereum accomplished the task with the idea of a “smart contract” between two or more people. After mining, the contract comes into force and becomes an immutable part of the blockchain. It uses a proprietary programming language (Solidity) which is more flexible than the script used by Bitcoin, and is primarily used for ICOs to fund projects and issue tokens to contributors. Some developers can make some interesting use of smart contracts such as the popular online blockchain game, Cryptokitties, where people can buy, sell, or breed virtual kittens on the Ethereum blockchain for profit.
Ethereum is regarded by developers as the second generation of blockchain technology for making such remarkable achievement. Blockchain technology is no longer just a method of making secure payments and storing value like Bitcoin, but also a more secure way of creating immutable, automated contracts without requiring a mediator in a physical sense. This opens up a world of possibilities for blockchain as a versatile platform for business and everyday use.
The Third Generation of Blockchain Technology
Cardano is considered by some as the third generation of blockchain technology for several reasons. First of all, it has a blockchain built with scalability in mind and uses a programming language known only to a few developers (Haskell and Plutus). Unlike the programming languages used in second generation blockchain which goes through a number loops and procedures one string at a time, it deals with the process of creating smart contracts and verification using a functional language which is more efficient. In other words, instead of commands, it uses mathematical formulas, i.e. functions.
An Ethereum smart contract, for instance, can go through a hundred iterations and procedures before coming up with a single output. This results in higher computational cost and could easily overload the network without some sort of regulatory mechanism that limits the number of loops or strings on a given contract. Ethereum came up with the idea of “gas”, which is the equivalent of mining fees for Bitcoin. This way, users cannot arbitrarily overload the network with excessive number of iterations. However, like Bitcoin, it also brings up the issue of scalability, computational cost, and sustainability
Cardano seeks to address this problem by revising the way blockchains should work. However, nothing is set in stone as of the moment and we couldn’t know for certain whether such proposal will have enough support from developers and the cryptocurrency community. Haskell and Plutus programming language is not so popular but can be extremely useful when applied to blockchains because it offers more flexibility.
There’s also a learning curve, should developers choose to support Cardano’s vision of a scalable blockchain, and it would have to compete with the developers’ attention who are fully engrossed in perfecting Lightning Network for Bitcoin, and the proof of stake scalability solution for Ethereum. One possible scenario is that all three of them will come to fruition about the same time, and by then we would have three or more fully scalable currencies which use different methods in achieving the same goal. Or, we may come up with just one solution that would annihilate other currencies and become the gold standard of future blockchain-based currencies. Could it be Cardano, Ethereum’s updated proof of stake version, or Bitcoin running on Lightning Network? The world watches as the story continues to unfold.
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The End of Currency as We Know It?
The growing optimism of financial institutions with blockchain technology has spurred a lot of interest within the cryptocurrency community. They’re now exploring the possibility of using cryptocurrency as a global currency, much like its real-world counterpart, but without the need for governmental intermediaries.
This, however, requires nothing short of a compromise since the technology used in cryptocurrencies, which were meant to cut off intermediaries, will now be used in the interest of banks and financial institutions they initially sought to eliminate.
Financial Institutions on the Use Blockchain Technology
The challenge with decentralized currency is the way which central banks create money. Cryptocurrency protocols which gave birth to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin uses “proof of work”, hashpower/electricity to mine currencies until they reach a fixed limit. And, unlike central banks, anyone with adequate resource and hashpower can participate in the process of increasing money supply.
But not all cryptocurrencies follow this convention. Some currencies are neither mineable nor obtainable by any other means except through exchanges. Ripple (XRP), for instance, is one of those few currencies with such peculiar characteristics.
First, it has no need of miners to keep the system stable and secure, and does the exact opposite each time transactions are made: a specific unit of XRP is “destroyed” (around 0.00001 XRP or 10 “drops”) per transaction. Accordingly, this would discourage people from spamming the system. Maximum supply is programmed at 100 billion XRP, 55% of which is held in escrow.
Although “decentralized,” Ripple is backed by big institutions primarily Google (Google Ventures), and other venture capitalists such as Standard Chartered, Siam Commercial (SCB Digital Ventures), Japan’s SBI Holdings, CME Group, Seagate Technology, and Venture 51. The focus of blockchain adoption was not so much on creating a global decentralized currency envisioned by Bitcoin, but in making transactions “frictionless” and resistant to hacking.
Banks and financial institutions loved the concept and saw in Ripple the potential of using blockchain technology to make money transfers many times faster, a lot cheaper, and more secure than conventional banking and money service business. In fact, Ripple protocol is already supported by hundreds of banks and financial businesses across the globe, including American Express and SBI Holdings.
Use Cases of Blockchain Technology in Business
Banking & Money Service
Blockchain technology is the key to solving the age-old “Byzantine General’s Problem” when it comes to trust-based peer-to-peer transactions, one of which is the problem of “double spending.” In a traditional banking system, transactions between accounts and different banks have to be cleared to preclude the possibility of fraudulent transactions going through, especially now that most transactions involve digital cash and electronic money transfers over the Internet.
Although quite secure, they’re not essentially 100% hack-proof. The Bangladesh Bank Heist of February 2016 proves the vulnerability of a centralized method of transaction over the Internet (hackers employed the Dridex malware to send instructions to the Bangladesh Bank at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York through the SWIFT network.)
Banks and financial institutions are now looking to adopt a decentralized, consensual way of confirming transactions – one of the defining features of cryptocurrencies and distributed ledgers – to make cross-border, bank-to-bank transactions that are virtually hack-proof. To address the issue of congestion due to slow rate of confirmations, they’ve opted for cryptocurrency protocols which take mining out of the equation, i.e. pre-mined currencies.
The fact that tech giants, like Google, have invested in blockchain technology could be a strong indication that we are, indeed, looking into the future of cashless transactions. IBM also works with a pre-mined cryptocurrency, Stellar (XLM), to make cross-border payments more efficient and secure. Using this platform, they hope to eliminate the “costly, laborious, and error-prone process of making global payments.”
Microsoft retracted in their previous decision to stop accepting Bitcoin payments. Volatility and high transaction fees during peak hours can make Bitcoin payments troublesome for most businesses. But because of its high-yield potential for long-term investment, some businesses prefer Bitcoin over much stable but dormant pre-mined cryptocurrencies like Ripple and Stellar.
Several countries in North America, Europe, and Asia have brick-and-mortar businesses that accept Bitcoin payments with the same goal in mind. Since Bitcoin is regarded as a rare, highly-prized commodity, accepting them as payments is a viable way to make long-term cryptocurrency investments.
Some people went as far as using Bitcoin to acquire properties like one of Malaysia’s top entrepreneur who bought a piece of land for half a Bitcoin, and a property developer in the UK who sold two luxury homes for Bitcoin.
Internet Sites & Social Media
Blockchain technology can also have a positive impact on Internet sites and social media because of the massive traffic they generate. Having a cryptocurrency for users and subscribers seems to be the way forward. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg recognized the potential of having a cryptocurrency for its 2 billion users and subscribers.
Online stores and online services would also benefit from cryptocurrency payments for the very same reason banks and money service business are using it with the Ripple currency/protocol.
Implications of Institutionalizing Cryptocurrencies – Two Sides of the Story
Based on these observations, two possible scenarios are starting to emerge. Blockchain technology is undoubtedly the next generation of secure, peer-to-peer transactions. But as to the control of money supply and the ability of users to store value outside the realm of government regulation, the issue of decentralization could reach a stalemate between institutionalized cryptocurrency like Ripple, and a truly decentralized cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
In such a case, we might be seeing two types of cryptocurrencies serving two different purposes – one as a fast and secure method of payment and money transfer (akin to fiat currency), and another as a store of value. Ripple has its merits as a payment method because of its liquidity, stability, and abundant supply. Bitcoin could also be used for the same purpose, but until it creates a permanent solution to scalability issues, transaction fees, and slow transactions, it might be best to keep it as a store of value or as an investment option.
Another possibility would be one of them prevails over the other. In the case of Ripple taking the lead as the dominant cryptocurrency, we might see a resurgence of centralized money in the form of a peer-to-peer currency based on trust. If Bitcoin, however, stays on top and manages to solve the issue, the other type of cryptocurrency could weaken or fall into disuse.
Should You Use Libra? – Understanding the True Intentions behind Facebook’s Cryptocurrency
Decentralization Is the Way Forward for Cryptocurrency Mining – Here’s Why
Should You Be Worried About The State of Cryptocurrency?
Banks and Blockchain Transactions – Which Is Better?
A WordPress Commenter on How to Buy Cryptocurrency – Basic Guide for Beginners
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Blighted Cities Prefer Razing to Rebuilding (The New York Times)
BALTIMORE — Shivihah Smith’s East Baltimore neighborhood, where he lives with his mother and grandmother, is disappearing. The block one over is gone. A dozen rowhouses on an adjacent block were removed one afternoon last year. And on the corner a few weeks ago, a pair of houses that were damaged by fire collapsed. The city bulldozed those and two others, leaving scavengers to pick through the debris for bits of metal and copper wire.
“The city doesn’t want these old houses,” lamented Mr. Smith, 36.
For the Smiths, the bulldozing of city blocks is a source of anguish. But for Baltimore, as for a number of American cities in the Northeast and Midwest that have lost big chunks of their population, it is increasingly regarded as a path to salvation. Because despite the well-publicized embrace by young professionals of once-struggling city centers in New York, Seattle and Los Angeles, for many cities urban planning has often become a form of creative destruction.
“It is not the house itself that has value, it is the land the house stands on,” said Sandra Pianalto, the president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. “This led us to the counterintuitive concept that the best policy to stabilize neighborhoods may not always be rehabilitation. It may be demolition.”
Large-scale destruction is well known in Detroit, but it is also underway in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Buffalo and others at a total cost of more than $250 million. Officials are tearing down tens of thousands of vacant buildings, many habitable, as they seek to stimulate economic growth, reduce crime and blight, and increase environmental sustainability.
A recent Brookings Institution study found that from 2000 to 2010 the number of vacant housing units nationally had increased by 4.5 million, or 44 percent. And areport by the University of California, Berkeley, determined that over the past 15 years, 130 cities, most with relatively small populations, have dissolved themselves, more than half the total ever recorded in the United States.
The continuing struggles of former manufacturing centers have fundamentally altered urban planning, traditionally a discipline based on growth and expansion.
Today, it is also about disinvestment patterns to help determine which depopulated neighborhoods are worth saving; what blocks should be torn down and rebuilt; and based on economic activity, transportation options, infrastructure and population density, where people might best be relocated. Some even focus on returning abandoned urban areas into forests and meadows.
“It’s like a whole new field,” said Margaret Dewar, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan, who helped plan for a land bank in Detroit to oversee that city’s vacant properties.
In all, more than half of the nation’s 20 largest cities in 1950 have lost at least one-third of their populations. And since 2000, a number of cities, including Baltimore, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Buffalo, have lost around 10 percent; Cleveland has lost more than 17 percent; and more than 25 percent of residents have left Detroit, whose bankruptcy declaration this summer has heightened anxiety in other postindustrial cities.
The result of this shrinkage, also called “ungrowth” and “right sizing,” has been compressed tax bases, increased crime and unemployment, tight municipal budgets and abandoned neighborhoods. The question is what to do with the urban ghost towns unlikely to be repopulated because of continued suburbanization and deindustrialization.
“In the past, cities would look at buildings individually, determine there was a problem, tear them down and then quickly find another use for the land,” said Justin B. Hollander, an urban planning professor at Tufts University. “Now they’re looking at the whole DNA of the city and saying, ‘There are just too many structures for the population we have.’ ”
Cleveland, whose population has shrunk by about 80,000 during the past decade to 395,000, has spent $50 million over the past six years to raze houses, which cost $10,000 each to destroy, compared with $27,000 annually to maintain.
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Some neighborhoods have lost two-thirds of their residents since 2000. There are so many vacant lots that the city, now home to more than 200 community gardens and farms, zones for urban farms and allows people to keep pigs, sheep and goats in residential areas. A vineyard has popped up as well.
Two miles northwest of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, which has at least 6,000 vacant buildings, is an uninhabited deciduous forest where a sprawling 74-acre housing development once stood before the city demolished it because so few people lived there.
Philadelphia, which has 40,000 vacant lots, has promoted the benefits of lower-density living by allowing people in largely vacant neighborhoods to spread out to the lot next door — where a neighbor’s home once was. The city has been studying a plan to sell $500 leases to urban farmers. One such farm, Greensgrow, which was built on a former Superfund site, sold $1 million in produce in 2012.
Baltimore has begun to turn over vacant lots to groups of amateur farmers. Boone Street Farm, boxed in by abandoned rowhouses on an eighth of an acre, is completing its third season of growing tomatoes, spinach, sweet potatoes and other fruits and vegetables in the city’s Midway neighborhood. It sells produce to restaurants, has a table at a local farmers market and delivers $10 boxes of produce weekly to members of its community-supported agriculture program.
But even as they bulldoze thousands of vacant houses, Baltimore and other shrinking cities have continued to seek new people.
“I’m trying to grow the city, not get smaller,” said Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore’s mayor, about the notion that the city could be fine with between 500,000 and 600,000 people. “I’m not the first to say that a city that’s not growing is dying.”
Baltimore lost nearly 110,000 jobs from 1990 to 2010, about 23 percent, and has seen its population drop from 950,000 in 1950 to 621,000 today. The city has 20,000 vacant buildings and lots, and more than one house in eight is vacant.
Mayor Rawlings-Blake wants to attract 10,000 families to the city within a decade and has reached out to immigrants, gays and lesbians (Maryland allows same-sex marriage), and Orthodox Jews who might want to buy newly refurbished three-story rowhouses that the city is selling for as little as $100,000.
At least one city that has taken a pioneering approach to confronting diminution has found that accepting shrinkage does not mean problems go away. Youngstown, Ohio, once a bustling steel city of 170,000 but now with only 66,000 people, has sought to head off collapse by tearing down thousands of vacant houses — 3,000 so far and 10 more each week.
But while the city had planned on a stable population of 80,000, more than 1,000 people move away every year, leaving behind 130 additional empty homes in addition to the city’s 22,000 vacant properties and structures. Four thousand of those homes are in dangerous condition, according to the city, but each demolition costs $9,000 and the city has yet to decide whether to close nearly abandoned neighborhoods to try to save money.
“It’s almost anti-American to say our city is shrinking,” said Heather McMahon, the executive director of the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative, a Youngstown community group.
“But if we’re going to survive as a city and not go bankrupt like Detroit,” she said, “we’re going to have to figure something out.”
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Waste Space to Public Space
By Matt Tarleton, Project Manager.
This past weekend I traveled to New York City to visit friends and family. It was a wonderful trip. While I can’t quite picture myself living there, it is such an incredible place to explore, especially for someone that is interested in cities and food (that’s me). There are countless lessons to be learned in every borough and corner of the city and the larger metropolitan area. I wish I had more time to explore the transformation happening at Governor’s Island, the degree to which Little Italy has been overtaken by Chinatown, and the impact of the High Line on redevelopment in Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. There’s always next time. But on this most recent trip, I did get to experience Socrates Sculpture Park, an impressive story of environmental remediation, revitalization, and community engagement.
Located along the East River in Long Island City (Queens), the park is filled with multiple large installations by various artists, with exhibitions rotating throughout the year. Adjacent to the park is a large area where resident artists and sculptors can design, weld, and assemble their pieces, some of which are as large as your average American home. It possesses and incredible view of the Upper East Side. On a slightly chilly and breezy Sunday afternoon, I think we were the only non-residents. This is not a destination; it is a place for the community. It’s a place for residents, their children, and their dogs; dogs like Nero, an English Mastiff that, according to his owner, could speak five languages.
In 1986, a group of artists and community leaders developed a vision for the Socrates Sculpture Park. At the time it was an abandoned landfill and illegal dumpsite. Twenty five years later it has grown into more than simply a park. It is an artist residency program, an operator of arts education programs for local youth, and a provider or community employment and training programs. It is home to bike rehabilitation programs, international film screenings, and a farmers market. Its Community Works Initiative Program teaches landscaping and horticultural skills to local residents, including those in nearby Astoria and Queensbridge housing projects, and provides employment to program participants as grounds maintenance workers.
Perhaps the most remarkable achievement is simply the vision to transform a previously dilapidated and hazardous space into such a vibrant public space. The park was primarily the vision of Mark di Suvero, a sculptor and founder of the Athena Foundation. As a former landfill turned illegal dumpsite, the nearly five acre site required a year to clean up and prepare for public use. The site was leased from the Department of Ports and Trade for one dollar each year. After roughly seven years of operation as a sculpture garden, the area was officially designated as a park within the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in 1993. Since that time, Socrates has received numerous awards for its transformative effect on the neighborhood and its successful transition from waste space to public space.
There are sites like this all over the country that have tremendous potential. Communities simply need to have the vision and the will. New York City saw that the nearly five-acre Socrates Sculpture Park was a successful project. Today, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation is working ardently to transform the 2,200 acre Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island into a public park. Yes, you read that correctly. At 2,200 acres it was the largest landfill in the world. Upon completion the park will be nearly three times as large as Central Park. But it’s a project that should take thirty years to finish. I guess that won’t be on the agenda for next year’s trip.
Labels: Arts, Matthew Tarleton, Parks and greenspace, Quality of Life, Sustainable Development, Urban development
Sensory Overload: Or, How to Get a Geek to Run
By Evan D. Robertson, Project Associate.
It’s 8:07. I am standing on a cold, dark street with a street lamp flickering on and off at irregular intervals. The pavement beneath is soaking wet from a thunderstorm that just passed, another is on its way. On my way home I checked Doppler radar on an app and realized that I could fit in a twenty minute run before the next thunderstorm hit. Normally, I wouldn’t be so daring, however, my watch tells me that I am 1.83 miles behind my goal of 30 in four weeks. Having never run 30 miles in the 27 years I’ve been alive, this causes me undue anxiety. After stretching for five minutes, I hold a button on my watch. The display flashes with a satellite symbol, letting me know that it is trying to connect to one of twenty-four orbiting the earth at precise locations. Once it connects, the satellite transmits the time held on its internal clock to my watch which then compares the satellite’s time with the time it holds. With the difference calculated, my watch knows exactly where I am located on the earth. Time to begin my run.
After I get home, I download the Global Positioning System (GPS) data from my watch. The data is automatically uploaded to a website that tracks my distance; shows how long it took me to run the first mile, the second, and so forth; plots my path on Google Maps as well as flags the location of my fastest and slowest paces. I sit absolutely amazed. If the information technology revolution of the 1990s was about transforming communication between people, transmitting and storing vast amounts of data, and making calculations at near the speed of light then the IT revolution of the 2010s variety is about ubiquitous, singularly-omniscient sensors taking readings of the surrounding environment and our interactions with it. It is what Waldrop and Lippel call the sensor revolution. A revolution entailing tiny GPS units tracking your whereabouts (for your use only, of course…), gyroscopes and accelerometers checking the subtle way you tilt your phone so as to make sure your app stays on track, sensors detecting minute details of your driving habits and taking over when necessary and it’s perhaps a revolution where things go a little too far.
The sensor revolution is extending its reach to our urban environments. Traffic signals are being upgraded to give a green light to emergency vehicles, trucks, and buses. Sensors are also being used to track the more mundane aspects of urban life. A project out of MIT’s SENSEable City Lab used location aware sensors to track trash, giving researchers greater insight into a city's waste management system. Indeed, these tiny objects will have profound ramifications for how we interact with our urban environments, how we live our daily lives.
The question remains whether the current iteration of the IT revolution will be able to positively impact the lives of those less fortunate or whether it will simply create another digital divide, further segregating technology from those could benefit from it the most. Being able to track your habits can have a transformative effect on habits themselves. But, the resources required to track them (the watch, the computer, the internet connection) places the technology out of reach to many. And it is still unclear how sensors will integrate the qualitative, compassionate aspects of human life so necessary to creating a viable livable space where everyone can flourish.
Labels: Evan Robertson, Fitness Technology
QWI Release for the Data Geek
By Ranada Robinson, Senior Project Associate.
Recently, the U.S. Census Bureau rolled out new data features in its Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) Online database. Before now, employment data were available by state, in-state metro area, and county. Within that data, users could splice out employment and wage data by sex, business sector up to 4-digit NAICS, private versus all ownership levels, and by age group, including 14-18, 19-21, 22-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, and 65-99. Here at Market Street, we’ve used this data to examine workforce aging issues and young professional trends.
Now, QWI enables users to splice out employment data by educational attainment and race and ethnicity. This is an exciting new feature, as it allows users to delve into the data to seek trends that were much more difficult to grasp before. Educational attainment data is available by sex and by four distinct levels of education: less than a high school diploma, high school diploma or equivalent, some college or an associate degree, and a bachelor’s degree or higher. This means that for a specified geography, a user can find out if a business sector is heavily employed by a certain level of education. This data can also be used to determine how males compare to females as related to educational attainment within sectors. For instance, here in metro Atlanta, according to third quarter 2010 data, women ($40,908) earn on average less than men ($63,732). This data were already available prior to this new release. But now, we can look and see that across all educational levels this is true. There is a lower percentage of women who don’t have at least a high school diploma (10.7%) than men, and they earn $11,388 less than men at the same attainment level ($25,860 vs. $37,248). The percentage of women with at least a bachelor’s degree (30.1%) is on par with that of men (30.6%). These women on average earn $56,592 annually, compared to $68,424 for men with at least a bachelor’s degree.
Employment and wage data are also available by race and ethnicity. In metro Atlanta, the average worker earns $48,936 annually. With this data, we can take a look at how much of the workforce is comprised by various racial or ethnic groups and we can compare the annual wages that group earns. Whites make up 57.9 percent of the metro workforce and earn on average $57,240. Asians make up only 4.5 percent, and are the second highest earners of the four groups I examined ($50,796). Hispanics, who represent 6.5 percent of the regional workforce, come in at third, earning $35,436. Finally, Blacks represent 30.2 percent and earn $35,400.
These data are very useful, and our team looks forward to utilizing it to find added value to our reports and understanding of community trends.
Labels: Ranada Robinson, Research and Analysis
Listen Up!
By Kathy Young, Director of Operations.
Do you ever find yourself in a conversation and while the other person is talking, instead of listening, thinking about what you're going to say when it's your turn to talk? According to numerous communication experts, quite a few of us do this on a pretty regular basis. While this is natural, and seems to serve the purpose of helping us make our point, in reality, our inability to listen effectively is counterproductive.
I was recently in a group that was discussing The Communications Catalyst, a book by the co-founders of Conversant, a communications consulting firm. Full disclosure - I haven't read the entire book...but, I was intrigued by the examination of the various "positions" that we adopt while in dialogue with others. The authors employ a gauge approach that puts Pretense on one end of the spectrum and Authenticity on the other end. In between are Sincerity and Accuracy...which confounded me at first because initially, I didn't see how sincerity could be that far from the ideal approach (authenticity).
I would do the authors and the concept a huge disservice if I tried to summarize the nuances and lessons outlined in the book, so for that, I suggest you check it out yourself. However, the point that the discussion that resonated with me most was about how important it is to listen and really try to understand the perspective of your conversational partner(s). In our work in communities, with steering committees, work groups, and community input participants, it's vitally important that our teams listen effectively. In fact, our professional group facilitation training for new team members emphasizes this point, and can easily be applied to interpersonal conversations as well.
There are basically four core points that we adhere to when facilitating focus groups:
Start with a blank piece of paper (literally... we love our flip charts).
Give the group your undivided attention and encourage them to do the same.
Talk as little as possible so that you can hear the concerns and ideas the group has.
Confirm and clarify what is being said, using each speaker's own words.
Even after working in hundreds of communities and understanding that there are some fundamental economic development "building blocks" that help make every community successful, we are committed to the idea that every place is different. After 14 years doing this work, we know we'll only be able to develop a strong strategy if we listen to the people who live and work in the community. Its relatively easy to appreciate the differences between a Joplin, Missouri and an Austin, Texas, but less so in communities that look to be similar on the surface. Our job in every conversation is to listen effectively and determine what will help each individual community be more competitive.
As has been recalled many times in the past two weeks since his death, Steve Jobs often differentiated between inventing and discovering. Considering that Jobs inspired and excited entrepreneurs and fans worldwide, but seemed to perch above us mere mortals, it can be easy to overlook how empowering andtransferable that notion of discovery is in any situation. From my perspective, the act of discovery occurs when any individual takes their capacity to create change and improves upon the current situation by forcefully applying imagination. On the community level, thinking creatively and listening to everyone in your conversation is where new ideas and solutions are discovered.
Two of our teams recently conducted stakeholder input sessions in Jackson, Mississippi and Madison, Wisconsin and came back with new ideas and a better understanding of these communities. These trips are always at the beginning of our processes so we can be sure we hear from a diverse group of community members even before we've drawn any conclusions from the research or begun to make recommendations. Whether your community is going through a strategic planning process or continuing to implement previously developed strategies, be sure that you take breaks from the daily work to listen to your partners and stakeholders. It can make a world of difference.
Labels: Client communities, Kathy Young, Leadership, Organizations
It Ain’t Easy Being Green
By Jonathan Miller, Project Associate.
Green has become the new black, whatever that means. There is little question that the green economy has taken the nation by storm and is heralded as a key economic driver that will help lead us out of the current economic malaise. However, the discussion on green jobs seems to me to be imprecise. Defining a job as green must consider whether the process or product is green; does green refer to environmental benefit, energy efficiency, or a specific business sector; and how should firms be classified if they are indirectly related to the green economy.
In order to provide some semblance of common ground, I compiled 11 definitions of green jobs and green industries. Definitions were obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*Net (a national repository of occupation descriptions), the Brookings Institution, and state statutes (DC, TX, CO, VA, IL, NM, LA, CT). Rather than reading all definitions and proving a detailed comparison, I submitted the definitions to Wordle.net, which analyzes the occurrence of words in a string of text and creates graphic representations. The following word cloud is the visual created from the definitions of green jobs and green industries.
Clearly, the most important word in all the definitions is energy. While “sustainability” and “environmental” are certainly important aspects of the green economy, they do not command as much consensus. Of course, these words are not at odds with energy efficiency or alternative forms of energy, and in most cases are complementary. Other notable words include products, materials, and renewable.
From a policy standpoint, recognizing that green jobs and the green economy are inherently concerned with energy issues is not a radical stance, but may provide more clarity when it comes to identifying strategies to bolster, increase, and stimulate growth of green jobs.
While Kermit the Frog could never have known that his most famous line would one day be applied to a debate on national energy policy, someone should really update his Wikipedia page description to include “enduring political pundit”…oops, I mean puppet.
The following definitions are a sample of those analyzed:
Washington, D.C. statute:
“Green collar jobs” means jobs in the environmental sector of the economy which jobs may involve the implementation of environmentally-conscious design, policy, or technology.
Colorado statute:
“Green jobs” means occupations or employment positions in the wind, solar, energy efficiency, or renewable energy industries.
Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources.
Jobs in which workers' duties involve making their establishment's production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.
New Mexico statute:
“Green industries” means industries that contribute directly to preserving or enhancing environmental quality by reducing waste and pollution or producing sustainable products using sustainable processes and materials and that provide opportunities for advancement along a career track of increasing skills and wages.
Green industries include:
(1) energy system retrofits to increase energy efficiency and conservation; (2) production and distribution of biofuels, including vehicle retrofits for biofuels; (3) building design and construction that meet the equivalent of best available technology in energy and environmental design standards; (4) organic and community food production; (5) manufacture of products from nontoxic, environmentally certified or recycled materials; (6) manufacture and production of sustainable technologies, including solar panels, wind turbines and fuel cells; (7) solar technology installation and maintenance; (8) recycling, green composting and large-scale reuse of construction and demolition materials and debris; and (9) water retrofits to increase water efficiency and conservation;
Brookings Institution:
The clean economy is economic activity—measured in terms of establishments and the jobs associated with them—that produces goods and services with an environmental bene?t or adds value to such products using skills or technologies that are uniquely applied to those products.
Labels: Green Business, Jonathan Miller, Strategies, Sustainable Development, The Economy
A One-Stop-Shop Facility for Health Care Training
I have seen the future of health education and it resides in Kansas City at Metropolitan Community College’s new (2009) state-of-the-art Health Science Institute (HSI). Now, we’re not talking about the training of physicians; we’ll leave that to medical schools. But just about every other health career has a presence at HSI. A Market Street colleague and I were in KC for a tour of the city’s economic development assets to coincide with the launch of a strategic process there. On our list was a visit to HSI at MCC’s Penn Valley campus in Midtown Kansas City.
Notwithstanding its 190,000 square feet worth of modern facilities, simulation stations, and classrooms, what is unique about HSI is its mission to co-locate all of the regional MCC system’s two-year certificate and degree health training programs in one building. This enables the college to purchase, for example, one wheelchair for multiple campuses and degree programs rather than a wheelchair each for every MCC campus and occupationally-specific training program. Not only are thousands of dollars saved, but the co-location of multiple training specializations ensures cross-programmatic interaction between students preparing for an A to Z list of health careers. These interactions mimic what professionals will experience in a real hospital or medical-office environment and teaches interpersonal and “soft skills” along with the technical skills of their chosen career. Add to that the presence of co-located four-year-degree programs from Kansas City area colleges and universities, “2+2” programs with local high schools, resident physicians polishing their skills, and contract services provided to regional hospitals, and you’ve got quite a dynamic hub for all things health care.
Possibly the coolest area at HSI is the Institute’s 10,000 sq. ft. Virtual Hospital, a simulation center that includes learning areas that mirror a hospital’s clinical environments and 12 life-like computer-operated human patient simulators that mimic scenarios such as trauma, shock, cardiac arrest, and many others. Professors operate the simulators in rooms separated by two-way glass. Visitors and interested students can “sit in” on training taking place in the rooms via glass walls and an intercom system broadcast into the adjacent hallway. As one walks through the Virtual Hospital, you start to forget you’re in a training institution and really feel like you’re strolling down a hospital corridor. Except of course that the patient-simulator manikins aren’t watching “Wheel of Fortune.”
In addition to the Virtual Hospital, HSI has simulated environments where students use real clinical equipment and tools to practice patient-care scenarios for dental, EMS, OT/PT, nursing, radiology, and surgery scenarios. There is even a fully furnished “simulated” apartment with a working kitchen and bathroom for students to practice home-care procedures for wheelchair-bound patients.
Needless to say, HSI administrators report that the Institute’s true-to-life learning environments have a powerful and positive effect on student learning. They hear from regional hospitals that graduates of HSI programs are not only technically skilled, but more ready to thrive in the frenzied environment of a real health care facility where professionals in multiple fields must interact and work together.
While I’m not familiar with every community college health care training facility across the U.S., I can’t imagine that any can top the learning environment offered by MCC’s Health Science Institute. If you’re ever in Kansas City, I would inquire about checking it out. Who knows, you might even get motivated to pursue a career change.
Labels: Alex Pearlstein, Education Health care, Innovation, Kansas City
If You Build It, They Will Come (Higher Ed in North Dakota)
By Ellen Cutter, Director of Research.
Ok, this article has been sitting on my desk for a while.
In July, the Wall Street Journal did a fascinating profile on North Dakota’s higher education strategies. Their leaders have, for a long time now, been aggressively investing in its public institutions’ capacity and quality while using state revenue surpluses (generated by a booming oil industry) to keep in-stateand out-of-state tuitions low. Of course, what makes this interesting is that this has happened while other university systems have slashed programs, increase class sizes, and raised tuitions as their state governments grapple with staggering budget shortfalls.
The most notable of these systems is California, which has increased its share of out-of-state students from 12 percent in 2009 to 18 percent in fall 2011 as a way to increase its revenues. Non-resident students pay an additional $23,000/year for tuition and fees. Earlier this year, the New York Timesbrought to light how some students at UC-Berkeley have gotten married (in some instances, to near perfect strangers) to qualify as in-state students. The article notes that, “U.C. students from out of state must meet three requirements to establish residency — physical presence, intent to stay and financial independence — a complicated process that takes at least two years. The independence test is the hardest to pass. When students marry, they can automatically claim themselves as independent, provided their parents do not claim them as dependents on their taxes. After that, gaining in-state tuition is a breeze.” One woman noted that by marrying another out-of-state tuition paying student (who she found on Facebook), she saved over $50,000 in would-be student loans. California’s ratio of out-of-state students, while growing, is not in the top tier. Vermont (67%), Rhode Island (56%), Arizona (49%), New Hampshire (46%), Wyoming (45%), North Dakota (45%), and Iowa (41%) represent the states with the largest proportions of out-of-state residents.
Less extreme than marriage, some students raised in California (or Connecticut or Kolcutta for that matter) are opting to locate where they can get the best value for their money, meaning lower out-of-state tuition than their in-state tuition options and smaller classes taught by tenured-faculty. For many, this means relocating to North Dakota. Who would have thought 10 year ago that North Dakota (NORTH DAKOTA!?) would become a talent magnet?
Years ago, when state leaders were faced with closing down universities due to population loss and a declining number of homegrown students, its leaders decided to aggressively invest in its system. Fargo, home of North Dakota State University, has redefined itself as a booming college town attracting students from around the country and the world. The state’s association with a consortium of 20 other states gives students from these states a break on the already low out-of-state tuition (ranging from $9,000 - $17,000, depending on the school), charging only 1.5 times the in-state-tuition (which ranges from ($5,000 - $7,500 (or $7,500 - $11,500 for out-of-state reciprocity students).
It’s a fascinating article; one that shows communities (and states) can reinvent themselves. In a time when high-cost for-profit universities have stepped in to fill student demands, North Dakota’s strategy proves to be leading edge.
Labels: Education, Migration, Strategies
If You Build It, They Will Come (Higher Ed in Nort...
What Video Games Can Teach Us About Innovation
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Tiffany reduced sales in the festive season by 6%
Moscow. On 19 January. American Tiffany & Co., the second largest chain of retail jewelry trade, has reduced sales this past holiday season (November-December) by 6% compared with the previous year to $961 million, according to a press release from the company.
Excluding currency fluctuations, the index dropped 3%. Comparable sales in stores open at least a year, declined 5%.
Tiffany expects for the financial year ending 31 January 2016, the fall of net profit per share by about 10% versus the previously expected decline of 5-10%. The company expects “minimal sales growth and net income” the following fingado, the report says.
Holiday sales in the Americas decreased by 7% to $505 million Is due, including a reduction in tourist spending in new York and other regions of the United States due to the strengthening of the dollar.
In the Asia-Pacific region sales fell by 11%, to $187 million Strong indicators in China were more than offset by weak markets in Hong Kong and Singapore, said in a press release.
In Japan sales grew by 9%, reaching $123 million
In Europe the figure was $128 million, 4% below the volume in November-December 2014.
At December 31, Tiffany operated 307 stores, including 125 in North and South America, 39 in Europe and one in Russia, compared to 296 stores a year earlier.
Tiffany plans to publish full accounts for the fourth fiscal quarter and year on March 18.
The company’s shares in the market on Tuesday has fallen in price on 4,3%.
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The price of oil from North Dakota has dropped below zero
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CFR's "Arc of Crisis"
As the 9th anniversary of 9/11 nears, and the war on terror continues to be waged and grows in ferocity and geography, it seems all the more imperative to return to the events of that fateful September morning and re-examine the reasons for war and the nature of the stated culprit, Al-Qaeda.
The events of 9/11 pervade the American and indeed the world imagination as an historical myth. The events of that day and those leading up to it remain largely unknown and little understood by the general public, apart from the disturbing images repeated ad nauseam in the media. The facts and troubled truths of that day are lost in the folklore of the 9/11 myth: that the largest attack carried out on American ground was orchestrated by 19 Muslims armed with box cutters and urged on by religious fundamentalism, all under the direction of Osama bin Laden, the leader of a global terrorist network called al-Qaeda, based out of a cave in Afghanistan.
The myth sweeps aside the facts and complex nature of terror, al-Qaeda, the American empire and literally defies the laws of physics. As John F. Kennedy once said, “The greatest enemy of the truth is not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth – persistent, pervasive, and unrealistic.”
This three-part series on “The Imperial Anatomy of Al-Qaeda” examines the geopolitical historical origins and nature of what we today know as al-Qaeda, which is in fact an Anglo-American intelligence network of terrorist assets used to advance American and NATO imperial objectives in various regions around the world.
Part 1 examines the origins of the intelligence network known as the Safari Club, which financed and organized an international conglomerate of terrorists, the CIA’s role in the global drug trade, the emergence of the Taliban and the origins of al-Qaeda.
The Safari Club
Following Nixon’s resignation as President, Gerald Ford became the new US President in 1974. Henry Kissinger remained as Secretary of State and Ford brought into his administration two names that would come to play important roles in the future of the American Empire: Donald Rumsfeld as Ford’s Chief of Staff, and Dick Cheney, as Deputy Assistant to the President. The Vice President was Nelson Rockefeller, David Rockefeller’s brother. When Donald Rumsfeld was promoted to Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney was promoted to Chief of Staff. Ford had also appointed a man named George H.W. Bush as CIA Director.
In 1976, a coalition of intelligence agencies was formed, which was called the Safari Club. This marked the discreet and highly covert coordination among various intelligence agencies, which would last for decades. It formed at a time when the CIA was embroiled in domestic scrutiny over the Watergate scandal and a Congressional investigation into covert CIA activities, forcing the CIA to become more covert in its activities.
In 2002, the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Turki bin Faisal gave a speech in which he stated that in response to the CIA’s need for more discretion, “a group of countries got together in the hope of fighting Communism and established what was called the Safari Club. The Safari Club included France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Iran [under the Shah].”[1] However, “The Safari Club needed a network of banks to finance its intelligence operations. With the official blessing of George H.W. Bush as the head of the CIA,” Saudi intelligence chief, Kamal Adham, “transformed a small Pakistani merchant bank, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), into a world-wide money-laundering machine, buying banks around the world to create the biggest clandestine money network in history.”[2]
As CIA director, George H.W. Bush “cemented strong relations with the intelligence services of both Saudi Arabia and the shah of Iran. He worked closely with Kamal Adham, the head of Saudi intelligence, brother-in-law of King Faisal and an early BCCI insider.” Adham had previously acted as a “channel between [Henry] Kissinger and [Egyptian President] Anwar Sadat” in 1972. In 1976, Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia formed the Safari Club “to conduct through their own intelligence agencies operations that were now difficult for the CIA,” which was largely organized by the head of French intelligence, Alexandre de Marenches.[3]
The “Arc of Crisis” and the Iranian Revolution
When Jimmy Carter became President in 1977, he appointed over two-dozen members of the Trilateral Commission to his administration, which was an international think tank formed by Zbigniew Brzezinski and David Rockefeller in 1973. Brzezinski had invited Carter to join the Trilateral Commission, and when Carter became President, Brzezinski became National Security Adviser; Cyrus Vance, also a member of the Commission, became Secretary of State; and Samuel Huntington, another Commission member, became Coordinator of National Security and Deputy to Brzezinski. Author and researcher Peter Dale Scott deserves much credit for his comprehensive analysis of the events leading up to and during the Iranian Revolution in his book, “The Road to 9/11”,* which provides much of the information below.
Samuel Huntington and Zbigniew Brzezinski were to determine the US policy position in the Cold War, and the US-Soviet policy they created was termed, “Cooperation and Competition,” in which Brzezinski would press for “Cooperation” when talking to the press, yet, privately push for “competition.” So, while Secretary of State Cyrus Vance was pursuing d�tente with the Soviet Union, Brzezinski was pushing for American supremacy over the Soviet Union. Brzezinski and Vance would come to disagree on almost every issue.[4]
In 1978, Zbigniew Brzezinski gave a speech in which he stated, “An arc of crisis stretches along the shores of the Indian Ocean, with fragile social and political structures in a region of vital importance to us threatened with fragmentation. The resulting political chaos could well be filled by elements hostile to our values and sympathetic to our adversaries.” The Arc of Crisis stretched from Indochina to southern Africa, although, more specifically, the particular area of focus was “the nations that stretch across the southern flank of the Soviet Union from the Indian subcontinent to Turkey, and southward through the Arabian Peninsula to the Horn of Africa.” Further, the “center of gravity of this arc is Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer and for more than two decades a citadel of U.S. military and economic strength in the Middle East. Now it appears that the 37-year reign of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi is almost over, ended by months of rising civil unrest and revolution.”[5]
With rising discontent in the region, “There was this idea that the Islamic forces could be used against the Soviet Union. The theory was, there was an arc of crisis, and so an arc of Islam could be mobilized to contain the Soviets. It was a Brzezinski concept.”[6] A month prior to Brzezinski’s speech, in November of 1978, “President Carter named the Bilderberg group’s George Ball, another member of the Trilateral Commission, to head a special White House Iran task force under the National Security Council’s Brzezinski.” Further, “Ball recommended that Washington drop support for the Shah of Iran and support the fundamentalist Islamic opposition of Ayatollah Khomeini.”[7] George Ball’s visit to Iran was a secret mission.[8]
Throughout 1978, the Shah was under the impression that “the Carter administration was plotting to topple his regime.” In 1978, the Queen and Shah’s wife, told Manouchehr Ganji, a minister in the Shah’s government, that, “I wanted to tell you that the Americans are maneuvering to bring down the Shah,” and she continued saying that she believed “they even want to topple the regime.”[9] The US Ambassador to Iran, William Sullivan, thought that the revolution would succeed, and told this to Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General under the Johnson administration, as well as professor Richard Falk, when they were visiting Sullivan in Iran in 1978. Clark and Falk then went from Iran to Paris, to visit Khomeini, who was there in exile. James Bill, a Carter adviser, felt that, “a religious movement brought about with the United States’ assistance would be a natural friend of the United States.”[10]
Also interesting is the fact that the British BBC broadcast pro-Khomeini Persian-language programs daily in Iran, as a subtle form of propaganda, which “gave credibility to the perception of United States and British support of Khomeini.”[11] The BBC refused to give the Shah a platform to respond, and “[r]epeated personal appeals from the Shah to the BBC yielded no result.”[12]
In the May 1979 meeting of the Bilderberg Group, Bernard Lewis, a British historian of great influence (hence, the Bilderberg membership), presented a British-American strategy which, “endorsed the radical Muslim Brotherhood movement behind Khomeini, in order to promote balkanization of the entire Muslim Near East along tribal and religious lines. Lewis argued that the West should encourage autonomous groups such as the Kurds, Armenians, Lebanese Maronites, Ethiopian Copts, Azerbaijani Turks, and so forth. The chaos would spread in what he termed an ‘Arc of Crisis,’ which would spill over into the Muslim regions of the Soviet Union.”[13] Further, it would prevent Soviet influence from entering the Middle East, as the Soviet Union was viewed as an empire of atheism and godlessness: essentially a secular and immoral empire, which would seek to impose secularism across Muslim countries. So supporting radical Islamic groups would mean that the Soviet Union would be less likely to have any influence or relations with Middle Eastern countries, making the US a more acceptable candidate for developing relations.
A 1979 article in Foreign Affairs, the journal of the Council on Foreign Relations, described the Arc of Crisis, saying that, “The Middle East constitutes its central core. Its strategic position is unequalled: it is the last major region of the Free World directly adjacent to the Soviet Union, it holds in its subsoil about three-fourths of the proven and estimated world oil reserves, and it is the locus of one of the most intractable conflicts of the twentieth century: that of Zionism versus Arab nationalism.” It went on to explain that post-war US policy in the region was focused on “containment” of the Soviet Union, as well as access to the regions oil.[14] The article continued, explaining that the most “obvious division” within the Middle East is, “that which separates the Northern Tier (Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan) from the Arab core,” and that, “After World War II, Turkey and Iran were the two countries most immediately threatened by Soviet territorial expansionism and political subversion.”[15] Ultimately, “the Northern Tier was assured of a serious and sustained American commitment to save it from sharing the fate of Eastern Europe.”[16]
While Khomeini was in Paris prior to the Revolution, a representative of the French President organized a meeting between Khomeini and “current world powers,” in which Khomeini made certain demands, such as, “the shah's removal from Iran and help in avoiding a coup d'�tat by the Iranian Army.” The Western powers, however, “were worried about the Soviet Union's empowerment and penetration and a disruption in Iran's oil supply to the west. Khomeini gave the necessary guarantees. These meetings and contacts were taking place in January of 1979, just a few days before the Islamic Revolution in February 1979.”[17] In February of 1979, Khomeini was flown out of Paris on an Air France flight, to return to Iran, “with the blessing of Jimmy Carter.”[18] Ayatollah Khomeini named Mehdi Bazargan as prime minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government on February 4, 1979. As Khomeini had demanded during his Paris meeting in January 1979, that western powers must help in avoiding a coup by the Iranian Army; in that same month, the Carter administration, under the direction of Brzezinski, had begun planning a military coup.[19]
Could this have been planned in the event that Khomeini was overthrown, the US would quickly reinstate order, perhaps even place Khomeini back in power? Interestingly, in January of 1979, “as the Shah was about to leave the country, the American Deputy Commander in NATO, General Huyser, arrived and over a period of a month conferred constantly with Iranian military leaders. His influence may have been substantial on the military's decision not to attempt a coup and eventually to yield to the Khomeini forces, especially if press reports are accurate that he or others threatened to withhold military supplies if a coup were attempted.”[20] No coup was subsequently undertaken, and Khomeini came to power as the Ayatollah of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
As tensions increased among the population within Iran, the US sent “security advisers” to Iran to pressure the Shah’s SAVAK (secret police) to implement “a policy of ever more brutal repression, in a manner calculated to maximize popular antipathy to the Shah.” The Carter administration also began publicly criticizing the Shah’s human rights abuses.[21] On September 6, 1978, the Shah banned demonstrations, and the following day, between 700 and 2000 demonstrators were gunned down, following “advice from Brzezinski to be firm.”[22]
The US Ambassador to the UN, Andrew Young, a Trilateral Commission member, said that, “Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint,” and the US Ambassador to Iran, William Sullivan, said, “Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure,” while Carter’s adviser, James Bill, said that Khomeini was a man of “impeccable integrity and honesty.”[23]
The Shah was also very sick in late 1978 and early 1979. So the Shah fled Iran in January of 1979 to the Bahamas, allowing for the revolution to take place. It is especially interesting to understand the relationship between David Rockefeller and the Shah of Iran. David Rockefeller’s personal assistant, Joseph V. Reed, had been “assigned to handle the shah’s finances and his personal needs;” Robert Armao, who worked for Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, was sent to “act as the shah’s public relations agent and lobbyist;” and Benjamin H. Kean, “a longtime associate of Chase Manhattan Bank chairman David Rockefeller,” and David Rockefeller’s “personal physician,” who was sent to Mexico when the shah was there, and advised that he “be treated at an American hospital.”[24]
It is important to note that Rockefeller interests “had directed U.S. policy in Iran since the CIA coup of 1953.”[25] Following the Shah’s flight from Iran, there were increased pressures within the United States by a handful of powerful people to have the Shah admitted to the United States. These individuals were Zbigniew Brzezinski, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, John J. McCloy, former statesman and senior member of the Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, who was also a lawyer for Chase Manhattan, and of course, David Rockefeller.[26]
Chase Manhattan Bank had more interests in Iran than any other US bank. In fact, the Shah had “ordered that all his government’s major operating accounts be held at Chase and that letters of credit for the purchase of oil be handled exclusively through Chase. The bank also became the agent and lead manager for many of the loans to Iran. In short, Iran became the crown jewel of Chase’s international banking portfolio.”[27]
The Iranian interim government, headed by Prime Minister Bazargan, collapsed in November of 1979, when Iranian hostages seized the US Embassy in Teheran. However, there is much more to this event than meets the eye. During the time of the interim government (February, 1979 to November, 1979), several actions were undertaken which threatened some very powerful interests who had helped the Ayatollah into power.
Chase Manhattan Bank faced a liquidity crisis as there had been billions in questionable loans to Iran funneled through Chase.[28] Several of Chase’s loans were “possibly illegal under the Iranian constitution.”[29] Further, in February of 1979, once the interim government was put in power, it began to take “steps to market its oil independently of the Western oil majors.” Also, the interim government “wanted Chase Manhattan to return Iranian assets, which Rockefeller put at more than $1 billion in 1978, although some estimates ran much higher,” which could have “created a liquidity crisis for the bank which already was coping with financial troubles.”[30]
With the seizure of the American Embassy in Iran, President Carter took moves to freeze Iranian financial assets. As David Rockefeller wrote in his book, “Carter’s ‘freeze’ of official Iranian assets protected our [Chase Manhattan’s] position, but no one at Chase played a role in convincing the administration to institute it.”[31]
In February of 1979, Iran had been taking “steps to market its oil independently of the Western oil majors. In 1979, as in 1953, a freeze of Iranian assets made this action more difficult.”[32] This was significant for Chase Manhattan not simply because of the close interlocking of the board with those of oil companies, not to mention Rockefeller himself, who is patriarch of the family whose name is synonymous with oil, but also because Chase exclusively handled all the letters of credit for the purchase of Iranian oil.[33]
The Shah being accepted into the United States, under public pressure from Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski and David Rockefeller, precipitated the hostage crisis, which occurred on November 4. Ten days later, Carter froze all Iranian assets in US banks, on the advice of his Treasury Secretary, William Miller. Miller just happened to have ties to Chase Manhattan Bank.[34]
Although Chase Manhattan directly benefited from the seizure of Iranian assets, the reasoning behind the seizure as well as the events leading up to it, such as a hidden role for the Anglo-Americans behind the Iranian Revolution, bringing the Shah to America, which precipitated the hostage crisis, cannot simply be relegated to personal benefit for Chase. There were larger designs behind this crisis. So the 1979 crises in Iran cannot simply be pawned off as a spur of the moment undertaking, but rather should be seen as quick actions taken upon a perceived opportunity. The opportunity was the rising discontent within Iran at the Shah; the quick actions were in covertly pushing the country into Revolution.
In 1979, “effectively restricting the access of Iran to the global oil market, the Iranian assets freeze became a major factor in the huge oil price increases of 1979 and 1981.”[35] Added to this, in 1979, British Petroleum cancelled major oil contracts for oil supply, which along with cancellations taken by Royal Dutch Shell, drove the price of oil up higher.[36] With the first major oil price rises in 1973 (urged on by US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger), the Third World was forced to borrow heavily from US and European banks to finance development. With the second oil price shocks of 1979, the US Federal Reserve, with Paul Volcker as its new Chairman, (himself having served a career under David Rockefeller at Chase Manhattan), dramatically raised interest rates from 2% in the late 70s to 18% in the early 80s. Developing nations could not afford to pay such interest on their loans, and thus the 1980s debt crisis spread throughout the Third World, with the IMF and World Bank coming to the “rescue” with their Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), which ensured western control over the developing world’s economies.[37]
Covertly, the United States helped a radical Islamist government come to power in Iran, “the center of the Arc of Crisis,” and then immediately stirred up conflict and war in the region. Five months before Iraq invaded Iran, in April of 1980, Zbigniew Brzezinski openly declared the willingness of the US to work closely with Iraq. Two months before the war, Brzezinski met with Saddam Hussein in Jordan, where he gave support for the destabilization of Iran.[38] While Saddam was in Jordan, he also met with three senior CIA agents, which was arranged by King Hussein of Jordan. He then went to meet with King Fahd in Saudi Arabia, informing him of his plans to invade Iran, and then met with the King of Kuwait to inform him of the same thing. He gained support from America, and financial and arms support from the Arab oil producing countries. Arms to Iraq were funneled through Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.[39] The war lasted until 1988 and resulted in over a million deaths.
This was the emergence of the “strategy of tension” in the “Arc of Crisis,” in particular, the covert support (whether in arming, training, or financing) of radical Islamic elements to foment violence and conflict in a region. It was the old imperial tactic of ‘divide and conquer’: pit the people against each other so that they cannot join forces against the imperial power. This violence and radical Islamism would further provide the pretext for which the US and its imperial allies could then engage in war and occupation within the region, all the while securing its vast economic and strategic interests.
The “Arc of Crisis” in Afghanistan: The Safari Club in Action
In 1978, the progressive Taraki government in Afghanistan managed to incur the anger of the United States due to “its egalitarian and collectivist economic policies.”[40] The Afghan government was widely portrayed in the West as “Communist” and thus, a threat to US national security. The government, did, however, undertake friendly policies and engagement with the Soviet Union, but was not a Communist government.
In 1978, as the new government came to power, almost immediately the US began covertly funding rebel groups through the CIA.[41] In 1979, Zbigniew Brzezinski worked closely with his aid from the CIA, Robert Gates (who is currently Secretary of Defense), in shifting President Carter’s Islamic policy. As Brzezinski said in a 1998 interview with a French publication:
According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise: Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention.[42]
Brzezinski elaborated, saying he “Knowingly increased the probability that [the Soviets] would invade,” and he recalled writing to Carter on the day of the Soviet invasion that, “We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war. Indeed, for almost 10 years, Moscow had to carry on a war unsupportable by the government, a conflict that brought about the demoralization and finally the breakup of the Soviet empire.” When asked about the repercussions for such support in fostering the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, Brzezinski responded, “What is most important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Moslems or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?”[43]
As author Peter Dale Scott pointed out in, The Road to 9/11:*
For generations in both Afghanistan and the Soviet Muslim Republics the dominant form of Islam had been local and largely Sufi. The decision to work with the Saudi and Pakistani secret services meant that billions of CIA and Saudi dollars would ultimately be spent in programs that would help enhance the globalistic and Wahhabistic jihadism that are associated today with al Qaeda.[44]
Hafizullah Amin, a top official in Taraki’s government, who many believed to be a CIA asset, orchestrated a coup in September of 1979, and “executed Taraki, halted the reforms, and murdered, jailed, or exiled thousands of Taraki supporters as he moved toward establishing a fundamentalist Islamic state. But within two months, he was overthrown by PDP remnants including elements within the military.”[45] The Soviets also intervened in order to replace Amin, who was seen as “unpredictable and extremist” with “the more moderate Barbak Karmal.”[46]
The Soviet invasion thus prompted the US national security establishment to undertake the largest covert operation in history. When Ronald Reagan replaced Jimmy Carter in 1981, the covert assistance to the Afghan Mujahideen not only continued on the path set by Brzezinski but it rapidly accelerated, as did the overall strategy in the “Arc of Crisis.” When Reagan became President, his Vice President became George H.W. Bush, who, as CIA director during the Ford administration, had helped establish the Safari Club intelligence network and the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in Pakistan. In the “campaign to aid the Afghan rebels ... BCCI clearly emerged as a U.S. intelligence asset,” and CIA Director “Casey began to use the outside – the Saudis, the Pakistanis, BCCI – to run what they couldn’t get through Congress. [BCCI president] Abedi had the money to help,” and the CIA director had “met repeatedly” with the president of BCCI.[47]
Thus, in 1981, Director Casey of the CIA worked with Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal who ran the Saudi intelligence agency GID, and the Pakistani ISI “to create a foreign legion of jihadi Muslims or so-called Arab Afghans.” This idea had “originated in the elite Safari Club that had been created by French intelligence chief Alexandre de Marenches.”[48]
In 1986, the CIA backed a plan by the Pakistani ISI “to recruit people from around the world to join the Afghan jihad.” Subsequently:
More than 100,000 Islamic militants were trained in Pakistan between 1986 and 1992, in camps overseen by CIA and MI6, with the SAS [British Special Forces] training future al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in bomb-making and other black arts. Their leaders were trained at a CIA camp in Virginia. This was called Operation Cyclone and continued long after the Soviets had withdrawn in 1989.[49]
CIA funding for the operations “was funneled through General Zia and the ISI in Pakistan.”[50] Interestingly, Robert Gates, who previously served as assistant to Brzezinski in the National Security Council, stayed on in the Reagan-Bush administration as executive assistant to CIA director Casey, and who is currently Secretary of Defense.
The Global Drug Trade and the CIA
As a central facet of the covert financing and training of the Afghan Mujahideen, the role of the drug trade became invaluable. The global drug trade has long been used by empires for fuelling and financing conflict with the aim of facilitating imperial domination.
In 1773, the British colonial governor in Bengal “established a colonial monopoly on the sale of opium.” As Alfred W. McCoy explained in his masterful book, The Politics of Heroin:
As the East India Company expanded production, opium became India’s main export. [. . . ] Over the next 130 years, Britain actively promoted the export of Indian opium to China, defying Chinese drug laws and fighting two wars to open China’s opium market for its merchants. Using its military and mercantile power, Britain played a central role in making China a vast drug market and in accelerating opium cultivation throughout China. By 1900 China had 13.5 million addicts consuming 39,000 tons of opium.[51]
In Indochina in the 1940s and 50s, the French intelligence services “enabled the opium trade to survive government suppression efforts,” and subsequently, “CIA activities in Burma helped transform the Shan states from a relatively minor poppy-cultivating area into the largest opium-growing region in the world.”[52] The CIA did this by supporting the Kuomintang (KMT) army in Burma for an invasion of China, and facilitated its monopolization and expansion of the opium trade, allowing the KMT to remain in Burma until a coup in 1961, when they were driven into Laos and Thailand.[53] The CIA subsequently played a very large role in the facilitation of the drugs trade in Laos and Vietnam throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s.[54]
It was during the 1980s that “the CIA’s covert war in Afghanistan transformed Central Asia from a self-contained opium zone into a major supplier of heroin for the world market,” as:
Until the late 1970s, tribal farmers in the highlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan grew limited quantities of opium and sold it to merchant caravans bound west for Iran and east to India. In its decade of covert warfare against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the CIA’s operations provided the political protection and logistics linkages that joined Afghanistan’s poppy fields to heroin markets in Europe and America.[55]
In 1977, General Zia Ul Haq in Pakistan launched a military coup, “imposed a harsh martial-law regime,” and executed former President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (father to Benazir Bhutto). When Zia came to power, the Pakistani ISI was a “minor military intelligence unit,” but, under the “advice and assistance of the CIA,” General Zia transformed the ISI “into a powerful covert unit and made it the strong arm of his martial-law regime.”[56]
The CIA and Saudi money flowed not only to weapons and training for the Mujahideen, but also into the drug trade. Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq appointed General Fazle Haq as the military governor of Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), who would “consult with Brzezinski on developing an Afghan resistance program,” and who became a CIA asset. When CIA Director Casey or Vice President George H.W. Bush reviewed the CIA Afghan operation, they went to see Haq; who by 1982, was considered by Interpol to be an international narcotics trafficker. Haq moved much of the narcotics money through the BCCI.[57]
In May of 1979, prior to the December invasion of the Soviet Union into Afghanistan, a CIA envoy met with Afghan resistance leaders in a meeting organized by the ISI. The ISI “offered the CIA envoy an alliance with its own Afghan client, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,” who led a small guerilla group. The CIA accepted, and over the following decade, half of the CIA’s aid went to Hekmatyar’s guerillas.[58] Hekmatyar became Afghanistan’s leading mujahideen drug lord, and developed a “complex of six heroin labs in an ISI-controlled area of Baluchistan (Pakistan).”[59]
The US subsequently, through the 1980s, in conjunction with Saudi Arabia, gave Hekmatyar more than $1 billion in armaments. Immediately, heroin began flowing from Afghanistan to America. By 1980, drug-related deaths in New York City rose 77% since 1979.[60] By 1981, the drug lords in Pakistan and Afghanistan supplied 60% of America’s heroin. Trucks going into Afghanistan with CIA arms from Pakistan would return with heroin “protected by ISI papers from police search.”[61]
Haq, the CIA asset in Pakistan, “was also running the drug trade,” of which the bank BCCI “was completely involved.” In the 1980s, the CIA insisted that the ISI create “a special cell for the use of heroin for covert actions.” Elaborating:
This cell promoted the cultivation of opium and the extraction of heroin in Pakistani territory as well as in the Afghan territory under Mujahideen control for being smuggled into Soviet controlled areas in order to make the Soviet troops heroin addicts.[62]
This plan apparently originated at the suggestion of French intelligence chief and founder of the Safari Club, Alexandre de Marenches, who recommended it to CIA Director Casey.[63]
In the 1980s, one program undertaken by the United States was to finance Mujahideen propaganda in textbooks for Afghan schools. The US gave the Mujahideen $43 million in “non-lethal” aid for the textbook project alone, which was given by USAID: “The U.S. Agency for International Development, [USAID] coordinated its work with the CIA, which ran the weapons program,” and “The U.S. government told the AID to let the Afghan war chiefs decide the school curriculum and the content of the textbooks.”[64]
The textbooks were “filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings,” and “were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines.” Even since the covert war of the 1980s, the textbooks “have served since then as the Afghan school system's core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books.” The books were developed through a USAID grant to the “University of Nebraska-Omaha and its Center for Afghanistan Studies,” and when the books were smuggled into Afghanistan through regional military leaders, “Children were taught to count with illustrations showing tanks, missiles and land mines.” USAID stopped this funding in 1994.[65]
The Rise of the Taliban
When the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, the fighting continued between the Afghan government backed by the USSR and the Mujahideen backed by the US, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, so too did its aid to the Afghan government, which itself was overthrown in 1992. However, fighting almost immediately broke out between rival factions vying for power, including Hekmatyar.
In the early 1990s, an obscure group of “Pashtun country folk” had become a powerful military and political force in Afghanistan, known as the Taliban.[66] The Taliban “surfaced as a small militia force operating near Kandahar city during the spring and summer of 1994, carrying out vigilante attacks against minor warlords.” As growing discontent with the warlords grew, so too did the reputation of the Taliban.[67]
The Taliban acquired an alliance with the ISI in 1994, and throughout 1995, the relationship between the Taliban and the ISI accelerated and “became more and more of a direct military alliance.” The Taliban ultimately became “an asset of the ISI” and “a client of the Pakistan army.”[68] Further, “Between 1994 and 1996, the USA supported the Taliban politically through its allies Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, essentially because Washington viewed the Taliban as anti-Iranian, anti-Shia, and pro-Western.”[69]
Selig Harrison, a scholar with the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars and “a leading US expert on South Asia,” said at a conference in India that the CIA worked with Pakistan to create the Taliban. Harrison has “extensive contact” with the CIA, as “he had meetings with CIA leaders at the time when Islamic forces were being strengthened in Afghanistan,” while he was a senior associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. As he further revealed in 2001, “The CIA still has close links with the ISI.”[70] By 1996, the Taliban had control of Kandahar, but still fighting and instability continued in the country.
Osama and Al-Qaeda
Between 1980 and 1989, roughly $600 million was passed through Osama bin Laden’s charity front organizations, specifically the Maktab al-Khidamat (MAK), also known as Al-Kifah. The money mostly originated with wealthy donors in Saudi Arabia and other areas in the Persian Gulf, and was funneled through his charity fronts to arm and fund the mujahideen in Afghanistan.[71]
In the 1980s, the British Special Forces (SAS) were training mujahideen in Afghanistan, as well as in secret camps in Scotland, and the SAS is largely taking orders from the CIA. The CIA also indirectly begins to arm Osama bin Laden.[72] Osama bin Laden’s front charity, the MAK, “was nurtured” by the Pakistani ISI.[73]
Osama bin Laden was reported to have been personally recruited by the CIA in 1979 in Istanbul. He had the close support of Prince Turki bin Faisal, his friend and head of Saudi intelligence, and also developed ties with Hekmatyar in Afghanistan,[74] both of whom were pivotal figures in the CIA-Safari Club network. General Akhtar Abdul Rahman, the head of the Pakistani ISI from 1980 to 1987, would meet regularly with Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, and they formed a partnership in demanding a tax on the opium trade from warlords so that by 1985, bin Laden and the ISI were splitting the profits of over $100 million per year.[75] In 1985, Osama bin Laden’s brother, Salem, stated that Osama was “the liaison between the US, the Saudi government, and the Afghan rebels.”[76]
In 1988, Bin Laden discussed “the establishment of a new military group,” which would come to be known as Al-Qaeda.[77] Osama bin Laden’s charity front, the MAK, (eventually to form Al-Qaeda) founded the al-Kifah Center in Brooklyn, New York, to recruit Muslims for the jihad against the Soviets. The al-Kifah Center was founded in the late 1980s with the support of the U.S. government, which provided visas for known terrorists associated with the organization, including Ali Mohamed, the “blind sheik” Omar Abdel Rahman and possibly the lead 9/11 hijacker, Mohamed Atta.[78]
This coincided with the creation of Al-Qaeda, of which the al-Kifah Center was a recruiting front. Foot soldiers for Al-Qaeda were “admitted to the United States for training under a special visa program.” The FBI had been surveilling the training of terrorists, however, “it terminated this surveillance in the fall of 1989.” In 1990, the CIA granted Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman a visa to come run the al-Kifah Center, who was considered an “untouchable” as he was “being protected by no fewer than three agencies,” including the State Department, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the CIA.[79]
Robin Cook, a former British MP and Minister of Foreign Affairs wrote that Al-Qaeda, “literally ‘the database’, was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians.”[80] Thus, “Al-Qaeda” was born as an instrument of western intelligence agencies. This account of al-Qaeda was further corroborated by a former French military intelligence agent, who stated that, “In the mid-1980s, Al Qaida was a database,” and that it remained as such into the 1990s. He contended that, “Al Qaida was neither a terrorist group nor Osama bin Laden's personal property,” and further:
The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaida. And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the 'devil' only in order to drive the 'TV watcher' to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US and the lobbyists for the US war on terrorism are only interested in making money.[81]
The creation of Al-Qaeda was thus facilitated by the CIA and allied intelligence networks, the purpose of which was to maintain this “database” of Mujahideen to be used as intelligence assets to achieve US foreign policy objectives, throughout both the Cold War, and into the post-Cold War era of the ‘new world order’.
Part 2 of “The Imperial Anatomy of al-Qaeda” takes the reader through an examination of the new imperial strategy laid out by American geopolitical strategists at the end of the Cold War, designed for America to maintain control over the world’s resources and prevent the rise of competitive powers. Covertly, the “database” (al-Qaeda) became central to this process, being used to advance imperial aims in various regions, such as in the dismantling of Yugoslavia. Part 2 further examines the exact nature of ‘al-Qaeda’, its origins, terms, training, arming, financing, and expansion. In particular, the roles of western intelligence agencies in the evolution and expansion of al-Qaeda is a central focus. Finally, an analysis of the preparations for the war in Afghanistan is undertaken to shed light on the geopolitical ambitions behind the conflict that has now been waging for nearly nine years.
* [Note on the research: For a comprehensive analysis of the history, origins and nature of al-Qaeda, see: Peter Dale Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire and the Future of America, which provided much of the research in the above article.]
Andrew Gavin Marshall is a Research Associate with the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is co-editor, with Michel Chossudovsky, of the recent book, "The Global Economic Crisis: The Great Depression of the XXI Century," available to order at Globalresearch.ca.
[1] Peter Dale Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America. University of California Press: 2007: page 62
[2] Ibid, page 63.
[4] Ibid, pages 66-67.
[5] HP-Time, The Crescent of Crisis. Time Magazine: January 15, 1979:
[6] Peter Dale Scott, op. cit., page 67.
[7] F. William Engdahl, A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order. London: Pluto Press, 2004: page 171
[8] Manouchehr Ganji, Defying the Iranian Revolution: From a Minister to the Shah to a Leader of Resistance. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002: page 41
[10] Ibid, page 41.
[12] F. William Engdahl, A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order. London: Pluto Press, 2004: page 172
[13] Ibid, page 171.
[14] George Lenczowski, The Arc of Crisis: It’s Central Sector. Foreign Affairs: Summer, 1979: page 796
[17] IPS, Q&A: Iran's Islamic Revolution Had Western Blessing. Inter-Press Service: July 26, 2008:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43328
[18] Michael D. Evans, Father of the Iranian revolution. The Jerusalem Post: June 20, 2007:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813077590&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
[19] Peter Dale Scott, op cit., page 89.
[21] F. William Engdahl, op cit., page 172.
[27] Ibid, pages 85-86.
[37] Andrew Gavin Marshall, Controlling the Global Economy: Bilderberg, the Trilateral Commission and the Federal Reserve. Global Research: August 3, 2009:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14614
[38] Peter Dale Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America. University of California Press: 2007: page 89
[39] PBS, Secrets of His Life and Leadership: An Interview with Said K. Aburish. PBS Frontline:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saddam/interviews/aburish.html
[40] Michael Parenti, Afghanistan, Another Untold Story. Global Research: December 4, 2008:
[41] Oleg Kalugin, How We Invaded Afghanistan. Foreign Policy: December 11, 2009:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/12/11/how_we_invaded_afghanistan
[42] ‘'Le Nouvel Observateur' (France), Jan 15-21, 1998, p. 76:
http://www.ucc.ie/acad/appsoc/tmp_store/mia/Library/history/afghanistan/archive/brzezinski/1998/interview.htm
[50] Ibid,.
[51] Alfred W. McCoy, The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. (Lawrence Hill Books: Chicago, 2003), page 80
[54] Ibid, pages 283-386.
[58] Alfred W. McCoy, op cit., page 475.
[64] Carol Off, Back to school in Afghanistan. CBC: May 6, 2002:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/afghanistan/schools.html
[65] Joe Stephens and David B. Ottaway, From U.S., the ABC's of Jihad. The Washington Post: March 23, 2002:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A5339-2002Mar22?language=printer
[66] Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, From the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. Penguin Books, New York, 2004: Page 328
[67] Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, From the Soviet Invasion to September 11, 2001. (London: Penguin, 2005), page 285
[68] Steve Coll, “Steve Coll” Interview with PBS Frontline. PBS Frontline: October 3, 2006:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/taliban/interviews/coll.html
[69] Robert Dreyfuss, Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam. (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2005), page 326
[70] ToI, “CIA worked in tandem with Pak to create Taliban”. The Times of India: March 7, 2001:
http://www.multiline.com.au/~johnm/taliban.htm
[71] Robert Dreyfuss, Devil’s Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam. (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2005), pages 279-280
[72] Simon Reeve, The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden, and the Future of Terrorism. (London: Andr� Deutsch Ltd, 1999), page 168
[73] Michael Moran, Bin Laden comes home to roost. MSNBC: August 24, 1998:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3340101/
[74] Veronique Maurus and Marc Rock, The Most Dreaded Man of the United States, Controlled a Long Time by the CIA. Le Monde Diplomatique: September 14, 2001: http://www.wanttoknow.info/010914lemonde
[75] Gerald Posner, Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11. (New York: Random House, 2003), page 29
[76] Steve Coll, The Bin Ladens. (New York: Penguin, 2008), pages 7-9
[77] AP, Al Qaeda Financing Documents Turn Up in Bosnia Raid. Fox News: February 19, 2003:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,78937,00.html
[78] Peter Dale Scott, The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America. University of California Press: 2007: pages 140-141
[80] Robin Cook, The struggle against terrorism cannot be won by military means. The Guardian: July 8, 2005:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/jul/08/july7.development
[81] Pierre-Henri Bunel, Al Qaeda -- the Database. Global Research: November 20, 2005:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BUN20051120&articleId=1291
"Europe's nations should be guided towards the super state without their peoples knowing what is happening. This can be accomplished by successive steps, each disguised as having an economic purpose, but which will eventually and irreversibly lead to federation." Jean Monnet
"To Achieve World Government it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism, their loyalty to family traditions and national identification" Brock Chisholm - Director of the World Health Organization
"A society whose citizens refuse to see and investigate the facts, who refuse to believe that their government and their media will routinely lie to them and fabricate a reality contrary to verifiable facts, is a society that chooses and deserves the Police State Dictatorship it's going to get." Ian Williams Goddard
The fact is that "political correctness" is all about creating uniformity. Individualism is one of the biggest obstacles in the way of the New World Order. They want a public that is predictable and conditioned to do as it's told without asking questions.
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." Thomas Jefferson
Knowledge is the key to good health!
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Health, Demographic Change and Its Impact on the Economy
Prof. David Bloom, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography, School of Public Health, Harvard University delivering the lecture.
Professor David Bloom, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics and Demography, Department of Population and International Health, Harvard School of Public Health, made an insightful presentation on ‘Health, Demographic Change and Its Impact on the Economy’ at a Public Lecture organised by ICRIER.
Professor Bloom’s lecture elucidated in a graphic way the effects of public health and demographic changes on economic growth. He explained how better public health could increase the productivity, incentive for acquisition of education and investment. He further emphasised that the improved health would also lead to a demographic transition and the so-called demographic dividend. One of the surprising implications of his analysis is that about 3/4th of the difference between China’s and India’s growth rate during the last 25 years is due to the fact that China had encashed its demographic dividend. In the next 25 years, he suggested, it would be India’s turn to have the benefit of this dividend.
The Lecture was attended by a number of demographers and eminent persons from academia, policy makers, media and various research institutes. It was chaired by Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Chairperson, Board of Trustees, IFPRI and Board Member, ICRIER.
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HomeKnowledge centreNews and StoriesCats and small island conservation
Cats and small island conservation
Domestic cats have been in the news recently in Europe. Conservationists have been trialling some new techniques to try to limit the depredations of pets and feral cats on different wildlife species. There is no dispute about the volume of wildlife killed by cats, but what is not always clear is the extent to which this results in population declines of the species they are killing. Most species are able to tolerate the impact of this depredation, because they are evolved to cope with it.
The situation is different in small islands, especially those in which evolution has taken place in the absence of cats, or any other land mammals for that matter. It is plain that cats and small-island conservation do not mix. Worldwide, domestic cats have been responsible for the extinction of at least 33 bird species. This has often happened on small islands, with domestic cats becoming semi-wild, or feral, and finding the local birds and other wildlife easy prey.
Cats on the islands of Seychelles have dramatically reduced the range of and have been responsible for the extinction of species endemic to our islands. It has been suggested that the feral cat was the cause of the extinction of Magpie-robins on Aride and Alphonse islands, as well as serious declines on Fregate, which became the last refuge of the Magpie-robin. On Aldabra, feral cats have been observed to take turtle hatchlings.
Across the world, domestic and feral cats have now been removed from at least 48 islands, including four in Seychelles: Fregate, Cousine, Aride and D’Arros. They were removed from Cousine in 1986, helped by funding from BirdLife International and the support of the Seychelles Government and the island’s owner. On Cousine, cat density had reached an extraordinary 243 cats per square kilometre, three times the density that has been recorded on most other islands of the world.
The experience of Cousine Island has shown just how rapidly cats can multiply in a seabird island situation, spelling doom for the native and endemic birds, reptiles and other animals. Removing cats even from a relatively small island like Cousine is a major undertaking, require much skill, planning, resource and commitment. But the rewards for conservation are great, and Cousine has been testimony to that.
For successful cat removal on larger islands, it is now recognised within conservation circles that new and more efficient techniques used in combination with current techniques will likely be needed. This presents new challenges for conservation, for which the lessons learned from Cousine and other islands will stand us and our colleagues elsewhere in the world in very good stead.
In Seychelles, the SSPCA provides a free cat neutering service, for pets and strays. This service is invaluable both for animal welfare and for conservation, and provides at least some level of control of the ecological impact of cats.
Nature Seychelles, published on Regar Newspaper, 26 September 2005.
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pickett's charge generals
Robert E. Lee, The South's Faithful Servant . ATTORNEY-GENERALS OF THE CIVIL WAR Tuesday, September 5, 2017. Close ... A sergeant in Lt. Alonzo Cushing's A Battery, 4th Artillery, is firing his last charge of shot directly into the wall of advancing troops while tugging the lanyard from behind his back to protect his face from misfire. Originally organized as a part of Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, they were the only unit of that army to swear allegiance to the Crown upon the restoration of the Monarchy. Much of the Southern controversy about Gettysburg centers around Longstreet's decisions during the battle, some that would haunt him until the last of his days. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia began its Retreat from Gettysburg on July 4, 1863. Regular price $5.99 Sale price $2.99 Sale View. Pickett's Charge was an infantry attack ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee against Maj. Gen. George G. Meade's Union positions. Also included are Posey and Wright's brigades that were planned as support troops. Pickett's Charge became a symbol of the valor, the heroism, and the common bond of soldiering shared by the troops on both sides. I think it's a good way of doing it. Pickett’s Charge and Why It Happened. Regular price $5 Sale price $1.99 Sale View. Overview: Confederate General Robert E Lee ordered Pickett’s Charge in order to attack Maj. Gen. George G. Meade’s Union Army during the last day of Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Can't for the life of me remember which one, pretty sure it's not ACW though. The Generals of The Union. Jan 26, 2020 - Picketts Charge. Lasting about an hour on the afternoon of July 3, 1863, it pitted 12,000 Confederates—including three brigades of Virginians under George E. Pickett—against half that number of Union troops. Picketts charge on the Union centre at the grove of trees about 3 PM. Pickett's Charge is compared to Gaines' Mill, Chickamauga, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Franklin, and more. He was immediately sent to participate in the Mexican-American War where he received to brevet promotion for being the first to climb a parapet at the Battle of Chapultepec. Longstreet had serious misgivings about Lees plan and tried futilely to talk him out of it. Six of these generals (Cleburne, Carter, Adams, Granbury, Gist, and Stahl) were killed or mortally wounded in the Civil War’s deadliest attack for general officers. The general was in charge of the main Southern attack on the last day of the battle, even though he did not believe in its success. Account. Along with maps of battles and pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Lee, Longstreet, Pickett and Porter Alexander like you never have before. George Edward Pickett, Confederate army officer during the American Civil War, known for Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. Close. ... Confederates, sustained particularly high casualties--more than 6,000 of which 12 were suffered by generals. General George E. Pickett. Pickett's Charge was the pinnacle of the Battle of Gettysburg (1863), and one of the most famous infantry attacks of the American Civil War (1861–1865). The memory of Pickett's charge helped reunite the United States. Pickett's Charge, July 3, 1863. casualties: 600 killed, 1,220 wounded, 1,080+ missing, 2,900+ total Sources differ on Pickett’s birth date, though a baptismal record indicates that he was born on Jan. 16, 1825. Pickett's Charge is named after Maj. Gen. George Pickett, one of three Confederate generals who led the assault under Longstreet, and the names of the places associated with the charge are deeply indented on the American conscience. "Pickett’s Charge" actually consisted of three Confederate divisions: Major General George Pickett’s division formed the right of the assault line; that of Brigadier General James Johnston Pettigrew, supported to the rear by two brigades of Maj. Gen. Isaac Trimble’s division, comprised the left. After graduating last in his class from the U.S. View cart and check out. George Pickett’s fresh division consisted of about 5,500 Virginians in three brigades, commanded by Generals Lewis Armistead, James Kemper and Richard Garnett. He’s viewed that … Though it is now known as Picketts Charge, named after division commander George Pickett, the assignment for the charge was given to General James Longstreet, whose 1st Corps included Picketts division. Pickett’s Division Major General George E. Pickett strength: 5,475 men. About 8 or 9 A.M. we reached the vicinity of the field, and the guns were halted in a wood, and I reported in person to Generals Lee and Longstreet, who were together on a hill in rear of our lines. What impact did this "grand charge" have on the Confederate cause? Close. Item added to cart. Facts, information and articles about Pickett’s Charge, an important event in the Battle Of Gettysburg. Provided the figure is close or attached to a unit under fire of course! The attack took place on Cemetery Ridge on July 3, 1863. Account. More than 150 firsthand accounts of the American Civil War, many of them long forgotten and previously unpublished Includes accounts from Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, Meade, and Hancock Maps pinpoint each writer's location on the battlefield At Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, Confederate soldiers launched one of history's most famous infantry assaults: Pickett's Charge. George E. Pickett (1825–1875) Contributed by Lesley J. Gordon. American Battlefield Trust’s map of the Battle of Gettysburg - Pickett’s Charge. Lt. Gen. James Longstreet (who was in charge of attack) believed that it would fail. Tell you what though you could make a double one a dead General. The description of the Confederate attack as "Pickett's Charge" is misleading on two counts. The Confederates amassed approximately 135 cannon and at one o'clock in the afternoon unleashed about an hour-long bombardment of the Union position. Major General Isaac R. Trimble and Brigadier General J. Johnston Pettigrew each commanded a unit of the attack. Six generals and 1,750 soldiers were lost in Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. Artillery batteries are included if they fired at least one round. These fields are where "Pickett's Charge", the last Confederate attack of the battle occurred.Almost one mile of open ground lay between Seminary Ridge in the distance and Cemetery Ridge in the foreground. Other articles where Pickett’s Charge is discussed: Battle of Gettysburg: The third day and Pickett’s Charge (July 3): …has been immortalized as “Pickett’s Charge,” that general’s only overall responsibility was to form the divisions of Brig. View cart and check out. George E. Pickett was a Confederate general during the American Civil War (1861–1865) and one of the most controversial leaders in the Army of Northern Virginia.Described by his admirers as swashbuckling, he was famous for his tailored uniforms, gold spurs, and shoulder-length brown hair. Taken from Richard Rollins' Pickett's Charge: Eyewitness Accounts Included are infantry units which participated in the charge or fired against it. George Edward Pickett was born in Richmond, Virginia. Who had lost Gettysburg? Thank you for shopping the Gettysburg Heritage Center online store! It was part of the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. General Armistead at the guns The Generals of The Union. The Confederate infantry marched at around two o'clock, emerging from the woods below Seminary Ridge and urged on by Pickett's cry, "Don't forget today that you are … Army of Northern Virginia General Robert E. Lee. There are a number of rules that hit Generals on a certain die roll. The Men Who Ordered Pickett’s Charge profiles the lives, careers, and legacies of the four generals who commanded the famous attack, looking at their entire Civil War records, their relationships with each other, and more. PICKETT'S CHARGE THROUGH THE EYES OF AN ENGLISH OFFICER The Coldstream Guards are the oldest regiment in the British Army. Rather than one continuous circular panel, “Pickett’s Charge” features eight separate panels that tell a story moving nearly 400 feet in a clockwise direction around the gallery. First, Major General George Pickett was the commander of only one of the three Confederate units that took part in the assault. Regular price $5 Sale price $1.99 Sale View. The charge provided the opportunity for the Union army to chase the Confederates back to Virginia. It was the final assault on the Union lines during the Battle of Gettysburg. General Pickett's Buffet, Gettysburg: See 839 unbiased reviews of General Pickett's Buffet, rated 4 of 5 on Tripadvisor and ranked #33 of 109 restaurants in Gettysburg. Item added to cart. Confederate General Robert E. Lee is regarded both as a great man and as one of the greatest military generals in American history. He received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at the age of 17, and graduated last in his class at West Point in 1846. Final assault on the Union centre at the Battle of Gettysburg or attached to a unit fire! Afternoon unleashed about an hour-long bombardment of the Civil War, known for Pickett pickett's charge generals., September 5, 2017 map of the last day of the three Confederate units took! Units that took part in the British army, Franklin, and.. 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Tagged: Capitals Hockey
Capitals / D.C. Sports / NHL / Other Sports
NHL’s First Star of the Month – Alex Ovechkin
Alex Ovechkin entered his 17th season in the NHL this year at the age of 36. After signing a five year extension in the summer, he has come out on fire to start this season....
Capitals / NHL
Caps Rout Rangers 5-1 in Season Opener
In front of a sold out crowd at Capital One, the Caps scored early and often to embarrass the Rangers in the 2021-2022 season opener. In classic Caps fashion, TJ Oshie kicked off the scoring...
Capitals Fall to Bruins in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs
The Washington Capitals came into tonight’s game hoping to stave off elimination against the Boston Bruins. Early in the first, the Bruins had a few good chances but the Capitals were able to hold them...
Capitals Fall in 2OT, Go Down 2-1 in Series
Game three in the series between Washington and Boston and once again, it was entertaining. Coming into the game, the two teams had played 11 straight one goal playoff games. Then, with the game entering...
Bruins Even Series with Capitals 1-1
This season, the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins have played hard fought, physical games over and over again. Game two of the series provided much of the same. Tight checking and a ton of shots...
Capitals Beat Bruins, Take 1-0 Series Lead
After splitting the season series 4-4, the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins matched up for game one of the first round playoff series. A back and forth game provided physical play, goals and a lot...
Capitals Victorious in Season Finale
Tonight’s matchup featured the final game of the regular season. The Washington Capitals faced off against the Boston Bruins, previewing the first round playoff matchup that will begin on Saturday night. The Capitals secured a...
Capitals Fall to Flyers
After the last two games on the road in New York, the Capitals returned home to face the Philadelphia Flyers. This was the seventh matchup between the two teams this season with the Capitals winning...
Capitals Win Heavyweight Bout in NYC
After Monday night’s game and the events that occurred in that one, tonight’s game between Washington and New York was bound to be interesting. Right off the bat, three fights at the drop of the...
Capitals Win a Wild Game in New York
Both Washington and New York came into tonight’s game after being shutout in their previous games. However, that was not the case tonight as the offenses broke out for both teams in an epic battle....
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Posts Tagged ‘march madness’
Congressional March Madness
Friday, April 1st, 2011 by Vbhotla
As March Madness winds down and we are left with only four teams standing, we took a look at Roll Call‘s “Men’s March Madness in the House” bracket, which matches each school in the tournament with its House representative, to see which Congressmen (and issues) are coming out on top.
Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Ky.) fought his way out of the East. Not only is Chandler the representative for the University of Kentucky’s district, he also obtained his B.A. and J.D. from the school (in 1983 and 1986, respectively). Positioned on the House Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, he is perched to address his concerns over national security and the fight against terrorism and reducing forces in Iraq and increasing economic development to maintain stability in Afghanistan. He will also influence further U.S. action in Libya and throughout the ever-crumbling middle East. The fourth term representative of Kentucky’s sixth district will be paired with….
Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) in the playoff game to decide who will advance to the title game. Though Kentucky is a two-point favorite over U-Conn to win Saturday, Courtney, who graduated from the university’s law school in 1978, may not be ready to concede victory after only three congressional terms. Expect a tough fight from the school whose representative has been a strong advocate for healthcare, veterans, and small businesses.
In a time that is equally troubled by foreign conflict and a domestic economy that we desperately want to peg as recovering, it will be interesting to see which represented issue, er school, advances to the next round (of priority).
The two underdogs in the competition, VCU semenax in australia and Butler, are represented by Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Andre Carson (D-Ind.). Scott, now in his 10th term, is a strong proponent of education and youth programs. He is the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security and sits on the Subcommittee on the Constitution (both under the Committee of the Judiciary), and is a member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Education issues have been pushed out of the forefront of most conversations recently, apparent only in President Obama’s discussion of the budget (particularly, his desire to increase education funding while appropriators continue to push for cuts across the board, including to education spending).
Just as Scott’s legislative agenda is the underdog on the congressional slate, so is the school he represents, with Butler afforded a 2.5 point advantage on the books. However, expect a fight out of VCU (and Scott) as they prepare to go up against Butler, who has won each of its tournament games with a close margin. Butler has been great at rallying from behind (see Southeast regionals), and pulling out the win in the end. Carson, whose committee assignments are all related to financial matters — with seats on the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprise and the Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade — will face a similar come-from-behind fight in Congress as he battles against budget-slashing zealots in the House. Even if he beats out Scott to advance to the title game, he (like Butler) is not favored to win a toe-to-toe stand down against House Republicans.
But you never know. That is, after all, the beauty of March Madness.
Tags: andre carson, ben chandler, bobby scott, Congressional bracket, joe courtney, march madness, U.S. House of Representatives
Posted in Just for Fun | Comments Off on Congressional March Madness
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Filters: Author is Gough, L. [Clear All Filters]
Cleland EE, Clark CM, Collins SL, et al. Species responses to nitrogen fertilization in herbaceous plant communities, and associated species traits. Ecology. 2008;89:1175 -. doi:10.1890/07-1104.1.
Collins SL, Suding KN, Cleland EE, et al. Rank clocks and plant community dynamics. Ecology. 2008;89:3534 -3541. doi:10.1890/07-1646.1.
Cleland EE, Clark CM, Collins SL, et al. Patterns of trait convergence and divergence among native and exotic species in herbaceous plant communities are not modified by nitrogen enrichment. Journal of Ecology. 2011;99:1327 -1338. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01860.x.
Gross KL, Whiles MR, Gough L, Inouye R, Cox SB. Patterns of species density and productivity at different spatial scales in herbaceous plant communities. Oikos. 2000;89:417 -427. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.890301.x.
Gough L, Gross KL, Cleland EE, et al. Incorporating clonal growth form clarifies the role of plant height in response to nitrogen addition. Oecologia. 2012;169:1053 -1062. doi:10.1007/s00442-012-2264-5.
Smith MD, La Pierre KJ, Collins SL, et al. Global environmental change and the nature of aboveground net primary productivity responses: insights from long-term experiments. Oecologia. 2015;177(4):935 - 947. doi:10.1007/s00442-015-3230-9.
Komatsu KJ, Avolio ML, Lemoine NP, et al. Global change effects on plant communities are magnified by time and the number of global change factors imposed. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2019;116(36):17867-17873. doi:10.1073/pnas.1819027116.
Suding KN, Collins SL, Gough L, et al. Functional and abundance based mechanisms explain diversity loss due to nitrogen fertilization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2005;102:4387 -4392. doi:10.1073/pnas.0408648102.
Gough L, Osenberg CW, Gross KL, Collins SL. Fertilization effects of species density and primary productivity in herbaceous plant communities. Oikos. 2000;89:428 -439. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.890302.x.
Clark CM, Cleland EE, Collins SL, et al. Environmental and plant community determinants ofspecies loss following nitrogen enrichment. Ecology Letters. 2007;10:596 -607. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01053.x.
Pennings SC, Clark CM, Cleland EE, et al. Do individual plant speciesshow predictable responses to nitrogen addition across multipleexperiments?. Oikos. 2005;110:547 -555. doi:10.1111/j.0030-1299.2005.13792.x.
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Grant Initial Request Form
Pennsylvania Veterans Assistance Fund
Member Combined Federal Campaign CFC No. 99987
"The mission of the Pennsylvania Veterans Assistance Fund is to foster, encourage and promote the improvement of the condition of all veterans and their families by helping existing or future programs work toward this goal."
Under our "Articles of Incorporation" the corporation is organized, and shall be operated exclusively for scientific, charitable and educational purposes:
to help foster, encourage, and promote the improvement of the condition of all veterans.
to promote physical and cultural improvement, growth and development, self-respect, self confidence, and usefulness of veterans.
To help homeless veterans and eliminate homelessness for our proud heroes and their families.
To help incarcerated veterans improve, overcome whatever issues they have, including substance abuse, and restore their dignity so they become active contributors to our society.
to eliminate discrimination suffered by veterans and to develop channels of communication which will assist veterans to maximize self-realization and enrichment of their lives and enhance life fulfillment.
to improve the social welfare and quality of life of veterans especially in the areas of employment, education, training and health.
to conduct and publish research, on a non-partisan basis, pertaining to the relationship between veterans and the American society, the role of the United States in securing peaceful co-existence for the world community, and other matters which affect the social, economic, educational, or physical welfare of veterans.
to assist disabled and needy veterans and their dependents, and the widows and orphans of deceased veterans.
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InTheatres
**Exclusive**
A Star is Born (2018)
Bradley Cooper,
Lady Gaga,
Sam Elliott,
Andrew Dice Clay,
Drama,
In Theatres:
A Star is Born has always had a habit of attracting some of the biggest stars to its cast. The original 1937 film starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, followed by Judy Garland and James Mason for the 1954 musical and Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson in the 1976 remake. Four decades later and Bradley Cooper is remaking the film for the fourth time in his ambitious directorial debut. Opposite Cooper is Lady Gaga, who doesn’t hold back in the slightest in what will no doubt be a career defining moment of an already monumental career. A Star is Born sings loud and is one of the best films of the year.
Singer Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) is as talented as artists come, regularly selling out stadiums to adoring fans, but his constant drinking often gets him in trouble. Following a gig one night, he decides to randomly stop off at the closest bar for a drink and where he sees Ally (Lady Gaga) singing on stage. Jack is immediately taken in by both her talent and her beauty and believes that she has what it takes to be a star. The two quickly strike up a fiery romance, and while Ally’s career begins to skyrocket, Jack’s starts to tumble when his drinking and drug use gets out of hand. Despite their troubles, the two are determined to stay true to each other, whatever the cost may be.
Both Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga absolutely shine in A Star is Born. I knew they were talented, Cooper as an actor and Gaga as a singer, but the film showcases just how far their skills branch out. It’s both of them literally out there in the spotlight singing just as you would expect at any concert or show. There’s no trickery or awkward camera angles to hide what isn’t there. As a director, Cooper clearly put his trust in the talents of his cast and it pays off tenfold. I knew Gaga could sing but she shows a vulnerability rarely seen on screen. Their relationship feels real and is driven by the attention to detail in the little things like how Jack likes to run his finger down Ally’s nose. The stellar performances don’t just stop at Cooper and Gaga either. Sam Elliott stars as Jack’s older brother and manager Bobby, and he absolutely steals every scene he’s in. There’s an intimacy to every scene as you become attached to these characters and their stories.
Music has been vital to every iteration of A Star is Born after the original and this one is no different. All of the songs are amazing but “Shallow” in particular is something special. Its lyrics are emotional and enhanced by the powerful voices of Gaga and Cooper. The way the music connects to and enhances their characters brings it to life like nothing else. It’s an extension of their thoughts and emotions and gives us another window into their state of being throughout the film.
Everything about A Star is Born is phenomenal but it’s Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga who truly shine the brightest. Even though we’re now on the fourth remake of this film, I can’t imagine it with anyone else. That’s just how good they are. From the directing and the cinematography to the acting and the music, every element of A Star is Born is tailored to perfection. Oscars season has officially arrived.
Review by Matt Rodriguez
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Sam Elliott
Andrew Dice Clay
A Star is Born (Official Trail...
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