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Tag: Heath Hembree
Giant Pride
Even in last place, a win against the Dodgers feels good. Friday night, Madison Bumgarner topped Clayton Kershaw. The Giants never beat Kershaw. Last night, the Giants obliterated Ricky Nolasco. The Giants never beat Nolasco. 19 runs on 22 hits from a last-place team, on the road against its first-place archrivals? We’ll take that any day.
I’m not writing this to try and stir anything up with the Dodgers. The records are what they are, and LA will be the ones playing in October this year. The Giants are simply trying to move out of the cellar in the season’s final weeks. But I’ll tell you this: when your last-place rival comes into your house, prevents you from clinching the division, and sets a stadium-record for runs scored while beating you up and down the diamond, it can’t feel good. And for a season like the one the Giants are having, you take small victories where you can find them.
The Giants were awful in the month of June, and it ruined their season. Most of us know that. But it was their play in July and August that frustrated me even more. After falling out of contention mid-season, there was no way they could’ve played any worse. But in all honesty, they didn’t play a whole lot better either. Think about it; when is the last time the Giants went on a nice winning streak this season? Frankly, they soured me with their lifeless play in July and August more than they did with their terrible defense and pitching in June.
I point all of this out not to frustrate anyone, but to make a point that the Giants are finally playing better baseball in the month of September. Not amazing baseball, but better. They’ve won 5 of their last 7, and they’ve been very competitive in Los Angeles this weekend. Everything came together last night for a Giants’ offense that has been looking better of late as well.
Giants 19, Dodgers 3. The most runs by one team (including the Dodgers) in Dodger Stadium history. A grand slam and career high 7 RBI for Hunter Pence, who should have been locked up in August, and will now likely cost the Giants at least $80 million over 5 years. That’s a lot of money. Pence in the month of September? 54 AB, .407, 7 HR, 22 RBI. He’s a streaky son of a gun, but he can play, and the Giants would be fools to let him enter free agency without signing a deal. Sounds like they’ve begun talks, and Hunter has all the leverage in this one.
Brandon Belt came to the party last night too. 5 hits, a home run, and 6 RBI in a SUPPORTING act from Belt, who’s a .289 hitter with 16 HR for the season. I was frustrated with Belt for quite a while, and I’ll admit I feel very foolish about it now. When a guy hits .352 with 23 HR in his first minor league season, you start envisioning big things. I think big things are coming for Belt, it just took him a little longer to get going than the impatient fans (myself included) expected. With an offseason to rest and a fresh slate heading into 2014, a 1-5 lineup of Pagan, Scutaro, Belt, Posey, and Pence could do some real damage. If Pablo can put together a healthy season and Brian Sabean can find a regular to man LF, that could be a dangerous lineup. But Belt is my 3-hitter going forward, and he’s become a different hitter in the second half. Good for him.
The highlight of the night for me was the late innings, when the Giants’ backups continued to tack on runs. 7 of them in the last 3 frames, to be exact. Ehire Adrianza had his first hit as a big leaguer, as did Johnny Monell. Great to see from a couple of guys who rode the bus for a long time down in the minors. Adrianza looks like he can handle the bat a bit, and we all know he’s got the glove-work. I think Monell’s bat can play a bit too, and he didn’t look awful behind the dish to me, as his scouting reports would lead one to believe.
Heath Hembree continues to look good on the mound in his debut action. Hasn’t given up a run yet, although the plus velocity hasn’t been there yet. Maybe he works 93-94 now? But I was hoping to see some 97’s as well.
Overall, this was a night to feel proud if you’re a Giants fan, and we haven’t had many of those this season. If they can win today and take 3 of 4 from the Dodgers in LA, it’ll feel very, very good.
Author Kyle GoingsPosted on September 15, 2013 September 15, 2013 Categories The BigsTags Brandon Belt, Ehire Adrianza, Heath Hembree, Hunter Pence, Johnny Monell, Los Angeles Dodgers, Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants2 Comments on Giant Pride
Organization Pitching Depth Recap
Over the past few weeks, we broke down some of the top pitchers for each team in the Giants’ minor league system. We covered a lot. 70 arms to be exact. 48 righties, 22 southpaws. There are others in the organization, but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere. Even after profiling 70 guys, I’m sure I still missed a few potential sleepers in there, but I think we’ve covered most of the meat.
I learned a ton about the organization while doing this series. I hope you did as well, or at least enjoyed catching up on a few guys you hadn’t given much attention recently. I’ll say this about the Giants: They have pitching. Not a ton of it is major league ready, which was definitely a factor in this season’s struggles. But they do have a wealth of arms below AAA, and it’ll be interesting to see who makes the jump to the next level. Are Cody Hall and Edwin Escobar in the bigs next year? Does Hembree win a spot out of Spring Training? Will the San Jose rotation of 2013 be as successful as the Richmond rotation of 2014? Is Kyle Crick in Fresno this time next season? How about the Augusta staff? Who separates themselves from this year’s draft class? Are Mella and Ysla for real? Lots of questions, and all good ones. You can’t have too much pitching, ever.
I decided to write this recap of the entire pitching series because I felt like there should be a place where we can tie all these posts together. Also, I wanted a spot where each of these pieces could be easily found. So here are the team links if you need a refresher.
AAA Fresno
AA Richmond
A+ San Jose
A Augusta
A-ss Salem-Keizer
Rookie Leagues
So, 70 pitchers that may or may not be the future of Giants baseball. One potential ace (Crick), lots of potential valuable pieces, both starters and relievers. The overlying trend for the top starters tends to be control above velocity, while some of the bullpen guys can definitely dial up the heat.
If I had to rank the top guys right now, it’d probably look something like this:
RH Starters
Sleeper: Joan Gregorio
LH Starters
Sleeper: Luis Ysla
RH Pen
Dan Slania
Stephen Johnson
Sleeper: Ian Gardeck
LH Pen
Mason McVay
Nick Jones
Sleeper: Nick Gonzalez
There’s your top 24. If you can get 4-6 regular players and a few trade pieces out of that crop (which I think the Giants can), I’d consider it a successful group. Next season should be a big one for the hurlers, that’s for sure. As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated. I’m hoping to do a few more of these throughout the winter, looking at position-player depth in the organization. Thanks for reading, and go Giants.
Author Kyle GoingsPosted on September 11, 2013 October 9, 2013 Categories The FarmTags Adalberto Mejia, Bryce Bandilla, Chris Stratton, Clayton Blackburn, Cody Hall, Heath Hembree, Josh Osich, Kuery Mella, Kyle Crick, Luis Ysla, Martin Agosta, Mason McVay, San Francisco Giants, Ty Blach2 Comments on Organization Pitching Depth Recap
Minors Roundup: Fresno
Minor League regular seasons are winding down (the rookie leagues have already finished), and many of the Giants’ affiliates are headed for the postseason. There’s a lot going on in general with the farm these days, so I thought we’d play a little catch-up for each squad.
A quick side note: I haven’t finished the series on pitching in the organization, as I’ve yet to cover the short-season teams. Once you get down to those levels, though, basically everyone except for the occasional 24 year-old who’s never made it out of rookie ball is a realistic prospect. I say this because most of these guys are new draft picks or international signings. They haven’t really had any time to either improve or blow their stock yet. Keeping this in mind, I’ll probably find a way to look at just a few of the noteworthy pitchers at these levels, rather than logging stats for all 50-60 of them. So… maybe we’ll look at 5 or 6 from Salem-Keizer and 3 or 4 from the rookie league clubs. Anyway, I hope the pitching series has been as much of a learning experience for you as it has been for me, and I hope to have it wrapped up soon.
Back to the MiLB updates:
Fresno: 65-74, Eliminated from playoff contention.
The AAA Griz have four games left to play this year. At that point, they’ll send a handful of players up to San Francisco for expanded roster season, or Christmas for last place MLB teams. Among the group, Heath Hembree and Ehire Adrianza will be making their Major League debuts. Hembree had a very rough outing last week, surrendering 5 hits and 3 ER in 1.2 IP. That’s the only blip he’s had on his radar this month, though. The hard-throwing righty has 30 saves this season for Fresno, and it’s about damn time his blazing heater gets a look on a big league mound. Adrianza was once a top 10 prospect in the system. He’s always had elite defensive skills, but it’s his bat that’s finally come to the party this season. I’ll admit I had all but written this kid off until recently. Taking a closer look, I realize that was a mistake. Yes, he’s been in the system for ages, but Adrianza is still only 24. He likely won’t ever hit for power, but he’s got an OBP of .342 over his MiLB career. In 41 games with Fresno this summer, he’s hitting .297 with 23 BB and 31 K. If he can hit a little bit at the big league level, he’ll be a valuable player.
So, Hembree and Adrianza (both 24) are headed for the show, along with Juan Perez, Nick Noonan, Jake Dunning… Alex Pavlovic says you can probably add Surkamp and Kontos to that list. No stars, but a lot of role players. Hembree has shown he can close at every level of the minors. The Giants need more velocity in that pen. Adrianza can pick it. Can he hit? Perez may be the best defensive CF in the entire system, with a cannon attached to his right shoulder. Can he hit? Surkamp needs a few big league starts down the stretch. Dunning has been lights out in Fresno, and looked good in San Francisco earlier in the year.
Those are your September reinforcements. Who does that leave on the 40-man?
Pitchers – Dan Runzler and Edwin Escobar, as well as the injured (Affeldt, Cain, Gaudin). Runzler hasn’t really earned a promotion this season. Escobar is the one to dream on here, but I’d say a call-up is pretty wishful thinking. MLB spring training next year? Yes, please.
Infield – Tony Abreu, Angel Villalona. Abreu is technically still on the DL, but he’s been rehabbing in Fresno. He should be promoted at some point next month. Villalona has put himself back on the map this year with his bat. 21 HR between San Jose and Richmond. Big power, but very little plate discipline. In 49 games at AA: 55k/8bb. The Giants are sending Angel to the Arizona Fall League. Can you imagine if he takes a couple of top pitchers deep?
Outfield – Tanaka is the only one left here, and he’s not really even an OF. He’s worked hard all year, but I think the Giants saw all they needed from him in July. Does he get one final chance? There’s just not enough room these days. Big league dreams may be over.
Gary Brown entered the season as Fresno’s top prospect by a pretty wide margin. Where does all of this leave him? Try this on for size… in 40 games post All-Star break, he’s hitting .201 with 8 extra base hits (2 HR) and 4 RBI. He’s stolen 4 of 6 bases, and struck out 37 times. Ouch. Brown is hitting .230 for the season (.217 vs. righty’s), and needs to completely regroup this offseason.
A couple of guys who had nice seasons at the plate, but likely won’t make their MLB debuts this year:
Chris Dominguez: 128 g, .296/.337/.799 (ops), 14 hr, 5 3b, 60 rbi, 23 bb, 110 k – Dominguez has tons of power and a very strong arm at third base. Contact has always been his big issue, although he did very well to keep his average around .300 this year. The power numbers are down, but the average is up. He seems to be of the Francisco Peguero, Juan Perez plate discipline group though… hack, hack, hack.
Johnny Monell: 117 g, .281/.370/.876, 20 hr, 63 rbi, 57 bb, 102 k, 6 sb – Monell is a 27 year-old catcher who’s been in the organization since 2007. He’s always been known for his left-handed bat, but this was his best season as a professional. The 57 walks are nice to see, as is the long-ball power. Why isn’t he a major leaguer? Defense. He’s a catcher who doesn’t catch all that well, and I don’t know that he can really play anywhere else on the diamond either. Like Dominguez, though, he deserves a shot, and I wonder how his bat would play in the show.
Wow, this went on a little longer than I was expecting. I think that gives us a pretty good look at things in Fresno. I’ll have to get to Richmond later.
Author Kyle GoingsPosted on August 30, 2013 August 30, 2013 Categories The FarmTags Angel Villalona, Chris Dominguez, Dan Runzler, Edwin Escobar, Ehire Adrianza, Francisco Peguero, Gary Brown, Heath Hembree, Jake Dunning, Johnny Monell, Juan Perez, Nick Noonan, San Francisco GiantsLeave a comment on Minors Roundup: Fresno
A few odds and ends here, as we haven’t really talked about the 25 men on the big league squad much lately… have they really given us much to talk about? Not so much. Anyway, August is coming to an end, and barring a complete flip of the switch, the Giants will finish in the bottom 10 in MLB. That could be a good thing come draft time next June. Right now, though, they’re a lousy club that’s very tough to watch.
Good news is, we may have a few more reasons to tune in when the calendar turns to September. Word is that Angel Pagan will be back some time around the 1st, with more backup coming from Fresno on the 3rd when the AAA season ends. Pagan’s return should give the team a nice boost, but I highly doubt Bochy runs him out there every night. After missing as much time as he has, and the team sitting in the cellar, it would seem inappropriate to push him. The Giants also have plenty of young outfielders to look at. Kieschnick and Peguero are already on the roster, and Alex Pavlovic reported today that Juan Perez will be joining them when rosters expand. Seems likely that Perez will see time in CF while Peguero and Roger K share LF. Can’t forget about Blanco, who will surely get some starts down the stretch as well. I’ll be very intrigued to see how the OF playing time is passed around.
From Pavlovic’s report, the other Fresno call-ups will include Nick Noonan, Jake Dunning, probably George Kontos, possibly Eric Surkamp… None of these are big surprises. However, it sounds like the Giants have confirmed Heath Hembree and Ehire Adrianza will be on their way to the show as well. If you’re a prospect guru, there’s your excitement. Hembree is a little overdue, and I hope he shows something. I’d love to see that big fastball at AT&T next spring.
Adrianza is the big surprise here. He’s on the 40-man, so he wasn’t a tremendous long shot, but I certainly didn’t see him as a lock to get a call. In fact, he was near the very bottom of my list of possible September call-ups that I wrote about in July. His elite glove at shortstop has been talked about for a few years now, but his bat just wasn’t cutting it. He’s definitely put together a nice second half this year, earning a promotion from Richmond to Fresno mid-season. He’s got a .407 OBP in 40 games at AAA, and a .357 mark for the season. I’m excited to see his glove, but I don’t know how much time he’ll take from Crawford at short.
One last piece of good news from today: Baggarly wrote a piece about the Giants involvement in international scouting today. He mentions Masahiro Tanaka, Japanese phenom pitcher who I’d never heard of before, as well as Cuba’s big slugger Jose Abreu. Top talent like that will pull some big money, but the fact that the Giants are finally ready to get in on some of the fun is a great sign. It’s going to take some creativity to build this team up again, and the foreign market is producing a lot of talent these days.
Author Kyle GoingsPosted on August 30, 2013 August 30, 2013 Categories The BigsTags Angel Pagan, Ehire Adrianza, Eric Surkamp, George Kontos, Heath Hembree, Jake Dunning, Juan Perez, Nick Noonan, San Francisco GiantsLeave a comment on Help on the Way
Walking (Off)
When you’re 17 games out and you steal a win from a first-place team like the Red Sox, I think that’s cause for a little celebration. The Giants definitely stole one last night, gutting out three runs to overcome a 2-0 deficit. Buster tied it with a sac fly in the 8th, and Scutaro walked on a very close pitch with 2 outs and the bases loaded, and the Sox left the field pouting. I’m not sure when the Giants last walked off, but it feels like it was probably back in May. A literal “walk” off is kind of awkward, and the Giants almost didn’t know how to react at first. Scooter didn’t even think the pitch was a ball. I’m guessing the Red Sox didn’t think so either, but the whole ordeal just made the win that much sweeter.
Ryan Vogelsong still didn’t have his normal fastball velocity, but he threw over 100 pitches while working 7 strong. That’s the Vogey we’ve all become accustomed to over the past couple years, digging in and working himself out of trouble. It’d sure be nice to see a few more starts like this from him down the stretch. Sabean needs someone to step up and lock down a rotation spot for next season, and the Giants would gladly pick up his option in a heartbeat if he finishes the year strong.
Another 3-hit night for Belt, and this one may have been the most impressive to me. He hit a mammoth triple off the wall in right-center in the 4th, then doubled down the line in right in the 6th. Belt’s bat has been strong all month, but he crushed those pitches last night. I can’t help but think he’s found that next level as a hitter that many players spend their entire career striving for. If he really has turned the corner, that’s a huge positive for the Giants going forward.
Speaking of 3-hit nights, Roger Kieschnick went 3-4 last night with 2 runs, including the game-winner on Scutaro’s walk (off). Roger K. continues to gain confidence at the plate. He still only has one extra base hit in the big leagues, but he’s taken 6 walks to only 4 strikeouts over the last 10 days. After starting his career with a bb/k ratio of 1/16, he’s starting to make nice adjustments. We know the guy has power in his bat, and I think we’ll start to see it as he gains more confidence. For now, he’s taken a pretty nice hold on the everyday left field spot.
Roster News:
Francoeur DFA’d; Machi and Kickham recalled; Dunning and Hembree are probably pissed.
Zito moves back into the rotation… and I can’t find any good reasons why. Not one.
Angel Pagan is getting close to returning from the DL. Pagan’s presence could make the Giants a much happier (and more competitive) team closing out this season.
Francisco Peguero and Juan Perez should be back September 1. I’d think Nick Noonan will be as well. Andres Torres should be sent the way of Francoeur… and that’s that.
Author Kyle GoingsPosted on August 21, 2013 August 21, 2013 Categories The BigsTags Andres Torres, Angel Pagan, Barry Zito, Buster Posey, Francisco Peguero, Heath Hembree, Jake Dunning, Jean Machi, Jeff Francoeur, Juan Perez, Marco Scutaro, Mike Kickham, Nick Noonan, Roger Kieschnick, Ryan Vogelsong, San Francisco GiantsLeave a comment on Walking (Off)
Org Pitching Part II: Richmond
Continuing the look at the noteworthy arms in the Giants’ system… Flying Squirrel edition.
Edwin Escobar – L (21): 2.78 era, 116.2 ip, 8.0 h/9, 1.8 bb/9, 10.2 k/9 – First of the San Jose starters to get the bump to AA. Low 90’s fastball with excellent control, could be in Major League camp next spring.
Cody Hall – R (25): 9 sv, 1.31 era, 55 ip, 4.1 h/9, 2.3 bb/9, 11.5 k/9 – Big, power arm has thrived in the closer role since his promotion from SJ. May move quickly.
Josh Osich – L (24): 14 sv, 3.84 era, 61 ip, 8.0 h/9, 2.8 bb/9, 10.0 k/9 – Flame-throwing lefty was dominant in SJ, but has struggled since moving to AA.
Jose Valdez – R (25): 4.74 era, 49.1 ip, 9.7 h/9, 7.7 bb/9, 8.8 k/9 – 6 foot 7 monster. 78 K’s in 57 IP last year at San Jose. Major control issues this season.
Scott Shuman – R (25): 25 g, 10.55 era, 21.2 ip, 5.9 h/9, 16.5 bb/9, 15.6 k/9 – Rule 5 draft pick who throws serious heat, gives up few hits, but has absolutely no idea where the ball is going.
Edwin Quirarte – R (26): 10 sv, 2.67 era, 60.2 ip, 8.6 h/9, 3.6 bb/9, 5.3 k/9 – Former 5th round pick, doesn’t have amazing stuff, but induces tons of grounders. May be a useful bullpen arm for a Major League team one day.
Phil McCormick – L (24): 3 sv, 3.44 era, 49.2 ip, 7.8 h/9, 5.3 bb/9, 8.9 k/9 – Crafty lefty with sink and deception. Big groundball rates, but the walks have inflated this season.
Chris Gloor – L (26): 3.56 era, 139 ip, 8.9 h/9, 2.5 bb/9, 6.9 k/9 – 6 foot 6, big-bodied lefty. Second year in AA, first full season as a starter. Should get a chance in Fresno next year.
Overview: A team that began the season with little high-end pitching talent has seen three of the top arms in the system promoted from San Jose. Escobar may be the Giants’ breakout candidate of the year, and he seems to be getting stronger. Will he compete for a big league rotation spot next spring? Hall and Osich are two of the organization’s big bullpen arms. Hall may surpass Heath Hembree, while Osich needs to work out some kinks. All 3 are big bodies that feature elite velocity. The rest of these guys are long shots. Valdez and Shuman are wildcards – big arms with no control. Quirarte was once a future closer candidate, but he doesn’t seem to have the stuff to strike out professional hitters. Maybe he gets a shot in a middle-relief role someday. If McCormick can continue to induce the grounders, could he work himself up as a situational lefty? Gloor is a grinder who should be in AAA next season.
Author Kyle GoingsPosted on August 18, 2013 August 18, 2013 Categories The FarmTags Chris Gloor, Cody Hall, Edwin Escobar, Edwin Quirarte, Heath Hembree, Jose Valdez, Josh Osich, Phil McCormick, Richmond Flying Squirrels, San Francisco Giants, Scott Shuman3 Comments on Org Pitching Part II: Richmond
Organizational Pitching Depth: Grizzly Edition
The Giants have learned the hard way this season that there’s no such thing as too much pitching. Viewed as pitching gurus over the past few seasons, the Giants’ brass saw their 2013 staff fall far short of expectations due to a combination of inconsistency and injury, with fatigue almost certainly lending a hand as well. While we’ve seen first-hand that there aren’t any major impact arms on the way to San Francisco at the current time, the organization is still loaded with pitching talent in the lower minors. That being said, I thought we’d take a look at some of the noteworthy pitchers from each level in the Giants’ farm system, beginning with Fresno. I’ve added their current stats, as well as a quick blurb and a positional overview at the end. I hope this series will show that the Giants do still know how to find and develop pitching talent, and still have as many solid prospects as ever in the system – even a few at the higher levels as well. As always, I appreciate any feedback, and would love your response to my thoughts.
*The player’s name is followed by the arm they throw with, followed by their age in parenthesis. Statistics are for the entire season and combine levels.
Heath Hembree – R (24): 27 sv, 4.07 era, 48.2 ip, 8.9 h/9, 2.8 bb/9, 10.7 k/9 – Still throws the big fastball by hitters, but he’s giving up too many hits. Needs a 40-man spot to open up before he can get a call to the show.
Mike Kickham – L (24): 5.36 era, 122.2 ip, 9.5 h/9, 4.0 bb/9, 7.5 k/9 – Electric but wild. ML debut didn’t go so well. Pitching better in Fresno of late.
Eric Surkamp – L (26): 3.65 era, 66.2 ip, 8.2 h/9, 2.3 bb/9, 7.3 k/9 – Recovering nicely from TJ surgery. Knocked around in emergency ML start against Cincy. Hoping to challenge for SF rotation spot next spring.
Jake Dunning – R (25): 1.95 era, 60 ip, 8.5 h/9, 2.5 bb/9, 7.5 k/9 – Looked good in his time with the big club this summer. Could be back in SF next month.
Dan Runzler – L (28): 5.81 era, 48 ip, 9.4 h/9, 5.8 bb/9, 8.4 k/9 – High velocity arm from the left side, but can’t seem to control it anymore. How much longer will the Giants keep him in the system?
Justin Fitzgerald – R (27): 3.74 era, 91.1 ip, 9.8 h/9, 3.3 bb/9, 8.7 k/9 – Started season in AA. Pitch to contact guy from UC Davis. Long shot, but he’s made adjustments at every level.
Brett Bochy – R (25): 1 sv, 4.12 era, 48 ip, 8.2 h/9, 2.6 bb/9, 9.2 k/9 – Manager’s kid has advanced through each level in the system, but needs to keep making adjustments if he wants a shot someday.
Overview: The Giants’ top pitching talent is obviously in the lower minors, but there are still some guys on the Fresno staff who could impact the Giants as soon as September. Surkamp and Kickham will certainly be given an opportunity to earn a roster spot next spring. Surkamp looks to follow the path of another crafty lefty on his way out of the Bay Area, Zito. Kickham needs to harness his control, otherwise I see him as a poor man’s Johnathan Sanchez. Hembree should be in San Francisco at this point, and I’m really not sure why he wasn’t put on the 40-man. He’s still very much a top prospect, but you don’t throw high 90-s your whole career, so it’s time to see what he’s got. Dunning will likely be back soon, fighting for a pen spot next year. Bochy and Fitzgerald are long shots. Runzler is runzling out of time.
Author Kyle GoingsPosted on August 16, 2013 August 16, 2013 Categories The FarmTags Brett Bochy, Dan Runzler, Eric Surkamp, Heath Hembree, Jake Dunning, Justin Fitzgerald, Mike Kickham, San Francisco Giants3 Comments on Organizational Pitching Depth: Grizzly Edition
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ADEKEYE Olujide A.
Factors Influencing Attitude of Artisans towards Human Immunod...
Human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immune-deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a global problem and its emergence has introduced new dimensions to health care delivery worldwide. One of these dimensions is voluntary counselling and testing (VCT).
Published at Local Book/Book Chapter:In Education: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Improving Quality of Life. A book of Readings in honour of Professor Emmanuel Aderemi Akinade. A Publication of the Faculty of Education, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria. p. 72-91. (ISBN: 978-33331-2-9)
Adekeye, O. A.
ADEKEYE Olujide A. » Prof. Olujide A. Adekeye is a professional counsellor and lectures in the Department of Psychology. He practices as a counsellor in the University Counselling Center (CUCC). He is also involved in the partnership of Covenant University with the Prison Fellowship of Nigeria and SMEDAN tagged the “Onesimus Project” where psychosocial, therapeutic and rehabilitation services are rendered to... view full profile
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Professionals and Non-Professionals Perception of Child Labour in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Assessment of Alcohol and Substance Use among Undergraduates in Selected Private Universities in Southwest Nigeria
PERVASIVENESS OF CONDUCT DISORDER IN SPECIAL CORRECTIONAL CENTRES IN LAGOS, NIGERIA
Attitude and Knowledge of First Year University Students towards Sexually Transmitted Infections and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (STI/HIV) in Ogun State, Nigeria
Differential Effect of Behavioural Strategies on the Management of Conduct Disorder among Adolescents in Correctional Centres in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Employers’ Perception of Covenant University Graduates
Health Workers’ Commitment in Delta State: Influence of Personality and Workplace Experiences
Influence of Guidance and Counselling on Students Motivation and School Adjustment among Covenant University Students, Ogun State
Knowledge, Attitude and Barriers towards Children Immunization among Women in Selected Rural Primary Health Centres
Predictability of Continuous Assessment scores on Academic Performance of Students in Junior School Certificate Examination in Ilorin: An Indicator of Purposive Education in Nigeria
Relationship between Religiosity and Citizenship Behaviours in Organizations: Empirical Evidence from Selected Organisations in Lagos State
Psychosocial Health of Adolescent living in Urban Slum Nigeria
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Tag Archives: attu
Therefore choose life…
Attu Island; Photo credit: CBS News
60 Minutes, the news program on CBS, did a great story on Attu Island this past Sunday.
Screen shot of 60 Minutes Attu story
I’m not sure which surprised me more: The fact that I even caught the story as I travel about the Niagara area, or the fact that broadcast television did a story on Attu at all.
Anti-aircraft gun on Attu today
The episode, on an all but forgotten battle of WWII ,at a far corner of the globe, is well worth the 20 minutes to watch. Sorry, no spoilers.
1 Comment | tags: 60 Minutes, attu, history, japan, photo, WWII | posted in Alaska
Attu 75
Jarmin Pass, Attu Island; Photo Credit: USFWS
Long before WWII and the Japanese invasion of the two islands in the Aleutian Chain, Attu Island was part of the earliest Federally protected wildlife areas.
This year is the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Attu, and the National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are both commemorating the battle with several discussions, gatherings and art displays. Unfortunately, most are being held in Anchorage, but the big city, that’s a little closer to Alaska, has its merits too.
Their website: https://www.attu75.org
Leave a comment | tags: Alaska, Aleutians, attu, photo, video, WWII | posted in history
Battle of Attu
Operation Landcrab
75 years ago:
Map of the Aleutian Chain
On 7 June 1942, the Japanese Northern Army landed, unopposed, on Attu Island. The island of Kiska had been invaded the day before. Allied command for the Aleutian Campaign spent the better part of the next year preparing to repel the Japanese from the Aleutian Islands.
Attu Island with 1943 Battle descriptions
On the morning of 11 May 1943, visibility off the coast of Attu was estimated at a “ship’s length”, due to the heavy fog blanketing the island. The 7th Division’s Northern Force was to land at Beach Red, a few miles north of Holtz Bay. Beach Red was a narrow strip, maybe 100 yards long, and surrounded by 250′ walls of rock. The Japanese had no defenses nearby, because they never considered it a viable landing point.
Captain William Willoughby had 244 men in his Scout Battalion. They came up to Attu in two submarines: the Narwhal and Nautilus. They shoved off in their rubber boats with 1-1/2 days rations, landing at Beach Scarlet in Austin Cove. The air temperature was 27 degrees.
The 7th Division’s Southern Force was the largest of “Operation Landcrab”. They landed at Massacre Bay All three landings were unopposed. The beach heads were secure and all forces had made gains, but they were now stalled. The Americans could not see the Japanese up in the fog, but the Japanese could see down out of it.
The very first shot fired by American land forces was a 105 mm howitzer. The big guns had been mired on the beach. Cat tractors tried to maneuver them, but their treads broke through the muskeg, and were quickly spinning uselessly in the black muck underneath. A Japanese mortar crew was spotted on a ridge, and a howitzer was moved into position by brute strength. The howitzer fired, and the recoil of the big gun slammed the gun’s sled 18 inches into the muskeg.*
Massacre Bay, Attu Island 12 May 1943
The following day, men and equipment streamed onto the beaches. The Navy ships bombarded the ridges. The Battleship Nevada unloaded her 14″ guns onto the mountain tops above Massacre Valley. The Japanese positions were heavily entrenched, the progress for the Allied forces was slow. The Arctic conditions were brutal, and exposure-related injuries common. Travel over the island was through mud, snow, ice and the unforgiving muskeg. After two weeks of endless fighting, the Japanese were finally pushed up against Chichagof Harbor.
Japanese troops lie at the bottom of Engineer Hill after the banzai charge
With no hope of victory, and little hope of rescue, Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki led his Japanese troops in one final banzai charge. The Japanese broke through the front lines, and rear echelon troops suddenly found themselves in hand to hand combat with the Japanese. The Japanese charged Engineer Hill in an attempt to gain control of the big guns set up there. The 50th Engineers held their ground, however, and the charge failed. Almost all of the Japanese in the charge were killed, many by suicide by grenade after the charge failed. The failure of the banzai charge effectively ended the Battle for Attu.
American troops making their way across Attu
Officially, the Battle of Attu ended on 30 May 1943, but isolated Japanese troops continued to fight until early July.
549 men of the U.S. 7th Division were killed on Attu, 1148 wounded, and over 1200 suffered severe cold weather related injuries, 614 disease, 318 other casualties: accidents, drowning, self-inflicted.
The Japanese lost over 2350 men. Only 28 were taken prisoner.
The Battle of Attu, when considering numbers of troops engaged, would rank as the second most costly battle for the United States in WWII – second only to Iwo Jima.*
The Battle of Attu was the only battle of World War Two to have taken place on U.S. territory. It was also the only battle between the U.S. and Japan to have taken place in Arctic conditions.
The Japanese had assembled a massive fleet in Tokyo Bay to repel the Americans from retaking Attu. The fleet had 4 carriers, 3 battleships, 7 cruisers and 11 destroyers. The Allies captured Attu before the fleet could leave the bay.
*The Thousand Mile War by Brian Garfield
Leave a comment | tags: Alaska, Aleutians, anniversary, attu, cold, ice, photo, snow, WWII | posted in history
Attu Island
Attu Village on the island of Attu in 1937
A force of 1140 Japanese infantry, landed on Attu Island in the Aleutians. The island had been occupied by 45 Aleut villagers, a school teacher, and her husband. The school teacher’s husband was shot, and the others made prisoners of war, and shipped to Japan.
Ski troopers of the Japanese Imperial Army, Attu Island
Construction began immediately on an airbase and fortifications.
Japanese seaplanes in Holtz Bay, Attu Island, November 1942
3 Comments | tags: Aleutians, attu, history, japan, photo, WWII | posted in Alaska
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Apollo 11: Day 3
Image taken on the third day of Apollo 11’s flight. Earth seen from 162,400 nautical miles away; Africa, with the Sahara Desert, is quite clear. Image credit: LPI
Aldrin: “Houston, Apollo 11. We’ve got the continent of Africa right facing toward us right now, and of course, everything’s getting smaller and smaller as time goes on. The Mediterranean is completely clear. The Sun looks like it’s about to set around Madagascar. The equatorial belt of Africa stands out quite clearly. We’re seeing a dark green or a muddy colored green, compared to the sandier colors of the southern tip of Africa and, of course, the Sahara northern coast of Africa. There’s a rather remarkable cloud that appears in the vicinity of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It’s just about to go into the sunset now. It is casting quite a large shadow. It’s isolated. There don’t seem to be any other clouds. The band of clouds near the tropical convergent clouds down around the equator clearly separate the clockwise and the counter-clockwise cloud formations. Over.”
This was the final day of preparations for the lunar landing scheduled for the following day. The spacecraft approached the moon, and went behind it, putting Apollo 11 in a blackout with Earth. The crew used that time to prepare for their first lunar orbit insertion maneuver: To position themselves to orbit the moon.
Leave a comment | tags: Apollo 11, earth, moon, NASA, photo, travel, vehicle | posted in history
Earth as seen from 113,500 miles away, on Day 2 of Apollo 11’s journey. North is up, with Greenland visible, South America can also bee seen. Image credit: LPI
Collins: “Rog. I’ve got the world in my window for a change and looking at it through the monocular, it’s really something. I wish I could describe it properly, but the weather is very good. South America is coming around into view. I can see on the – what appears to me to be upper horizon, a point that must be just about Seattle, Washington, and then from there I can see all the way down to the southern tip – Tierra del Fuego and the southern tip of the continent.”
Armstrong and Aldrin, while on live TV, put on their spacesuits and went down the docking tunnel from Columbia to the Lunar Module (LM). They gave viewers on Earth a short tour of the vehicle that would take them to the lunar surface.
To break away from the Earth’s gravitational field, Apollo 11 needed a speed of 7 miles per second. By the close of the second day, Apollo 11 would leave the Earth’s gravitational field, and enter the moon’s. The Columbia and Eagle would then slow to 2400 mph at this time.
The Saturn V
The Saturn V Rocket of the Apollo 4 mission, stands at the launch pad in November 1967; Photo credit: NASA
The Saturn V rocket was developed under the direction of Wernher von Braun, the German-born engineer, and Adolph Hitler’s star rocketeer. The Saturn V went from idea on paper to actual flight in a period of six years. The rocket’s first flight was the unmanned Apollo 4 mission in 1967. It’s first manned flight was Apollo 8 in 1968.
The Saturn V had a height of 363 feet, and a width of 33 feet. It weighed 6,540,000 lbs, with a payload of 310,000 lbs to (low earth orbit) and a payload of 90,000 lbs to the moon. The Saturn V was a three stage rocket: The first stage was powered by five F-1 engines, the second stage by five J-2 engines, and the third stage by a single J-2 engine.
The first stage of the Saturn V, saw the five F-1 engines use 20 tons of fuel a second, producing 7.5 million pounds of thrust. When Charles Lindberg crossed the Atlantic in 1927 in his Spirit of St. Louis, the small plane used 450 pounds of fuel for the entire flight. The Saturn V used 10x that amount in it’s first 1/10 of a second.
The five F-1 engines of the Saturn V; Photo credit: space.com
The Saturn V remains the tallest, heaviest and most powerful rocket to launch. It holds the record for heaviest payload launched. Fifteen Saturn V rockets were built, but only thirteen saw flight, with all 13 launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. To this date, it remains the only vehicle to transport humans beyond low earth orbit. 24 astronauts were sent to the moon on the Saturn V. Of its thirteen missions, the Saturn V saw no loss of life or loss of payload. However, the rocket was tested by Mother Nature during Apollo 12, when lightning struck the vehicle moments after launch. Other than some strange warning lights within the cockpit, there was no major damage, and they went on to land in the moon’s Ocean of Storms. Which seems more than appropriate.
The Saturn V saw it’s final flight on May 14, 1973, when it carried Skylab into orbit.
Leave a comment | tags: apollo 4, apollo 8, Apollo Program, F-1, NASA, photo, saturn v, travel | posted in history
Apollo 11 Liftoff
Apollo 11’s Saturn V rocket lifts off from Kennedy Space Center; Photo credit: NASA
The crew of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, launched from Kennedy Space Center on this date in 1969.
Leave a comment | tags: anniversary, Apollo 11, NASA, photo, video | posted in history
“Gasoline on a Stick”
One reason the Shovel Creek Fire has been such a persistent pain for firefighters and locals alike, is that much of the forested area surrounding Murphy Dome is saturated with black spruce. The resins in the black spruce makes the trees highly flammable; once flames hit the boughs, the flames race up the tree with amazing ferocity and speed. A wildfire can double in size very quickly. That is why black spruce has earned the nick-name: “Gasoline on a Stick”.
A firefighting crew on Old Murphy Dome Road, fighting the Shovel Creek Fire; Photo credit: AKFireInfo
The past few days have been brutal, air quality-wise. Fairbanks was way past double the unhealthy level of particulates in the air, and the Murphy Dome area was way past triple on Wednesday. The smoke has been bad enough for my UPS driver to show up wearing a dust mask this week.
Rain is on everyone’s mind, but the forecast is for more lightning than rain drops this coming weekend.
This season, 1.28 million acres have been burned by wildfires. That’s one Rhode Island, every 10 days.
For the first time since records have been kept, NOAA analysis has the July-June (2018-2019) average temperature for the entire state of Alaska at above freezing.
Leave a comment | tags: climate, Fairbanks, fire, heat, history, photo, video | posted in Alaska
Land Rover’s Pink Panther
Land Rover’s “Pink Panther”; Photo credit: Atlantic British
In 1968, Britain’s Ministry of Defense ordered 72 Series IIa 109’s from Land Rover. They were destined for the SAS, Britain’s elite commando unit, for use in the deserts of the Persian Gulf region.
The SAS had been using Land Rover 88’s, but they proved to be a bit small for the task. The 109’s were refurbished for the desert terrain. Fuel capacity was increased to 100 gallons, reservoirs for spare water and oil were added. The chassis and suspension were both upgraded to handle heavy artillery. Sand tires were installed and the spare tire mount was taken off the hood, and built onto the front of the vehicle. A bead breaker, for changing tires, was even added to one wing. The ’68 Land Rover also came with a sun compass, which had become standard equipment, after North Africa’s Long Range Desert Group in WWII.
The sparse Pink Panther interior; Photo credit: Atlantic British
But the unique feature of the SAS Land Rover was the color scheme. It was painted a mauve-pink. The experiences of the Long Range Desert Group showed that the pink color was remarkably good camouflage in the desert, especially at dawn and dusk.
For armament, the Pink Panther carried a machine gun on the left side of the hood, smoke canisters and grenades, anti-tank weaponry and rifles. The vehicle when fully loaded, weighed 3 tons.
Pink Panther; Photo credit: Dunsfold Collection
The Series Pink Panther served the SAS from 1968 to 1984, when a modified Land Rover Defender 110 took over. Of the original 72 Pink Panthers, only 20 are known to still be around, with most in private collections. The Dunsfold Collection owns the one above. It has become one of the most sought after Land Rovers ever built.
Leave a comment | tags: driving, history, land rover, MOD, photo, pink panther, SAS, series, WWII | posted in vehicle
Malemute Saloon
Ester, Alaska
The Malemute Saloon: “Service with a Smile”
On our tour of uniquely Interior Alaska, we made the drive out to the Republic of Ester. The first stop was the Golden Eagle Saloon, where you grill your own burgers. We sat out on the front porch, mingling with the regulars. But we didn’t venture out to Ester for a “grill your own”. We came out for the Malemute.
Gold was discovered in Ester Creek in 1903. By 1907, Ester had become a thriving mining community with a population of 200. Ester Gold Camp developed into a support facility for the F.E. Company’s gold dredges operating in the Cripple Creek & Ester Creek areas.
With dredging winding down, the F.E. Company sold the gold camp to local investors who turned the historic camp into a resort in 1958.
“Service with a Smile”, inside the Malemute
The F.E. Company used the old building as a garage, but the new resort owners turned it into the “Malemute Saloon”. Robert Service, the poet whose works include “The Shooting of Dan McGrew”, became an honorary patron of the Malemute. The bar inside the Malemute is circa 1900, and came from the Royal Alexandra Hotel in Dawson, YT. It was barged down the Yukon River and up the Tanana.
At its peak, the Ester Gold Camp had all you can eat crab, and meals were taken on long tables like the miners of the F.E. Company. It allowed visitors to interact, and residents were as common as the tourists. The Malemute would be packed to the rafters, with shows dedicated to Robert Service and life in the Interior of Alaska. I took my Dad out there a few times, and it became one of his favorite Alaska hangouts. With sawdust on the floor, Alaskana on the walls, and cold beer flowing, it was a favorite of many locals as well.
On this night in 2019, we ordered our beer at the historic bar, then went outside to sit on the deck, which had a significant lean down & away from the building.
The Gold Camp and the Malemute closed in 2008, although the Malemute Saloon does open on occasion. This year, it was open, serving Alaskan brews for the month of June.
The Ester Camp Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
The Shooting of Dan McGrew
A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon;
The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time tune;
Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew,
And watching his luck was his light-o’-love, the lady that’s known as Lou.
When out of the night, which was fifty below, and into the din and the glare,
There stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty, and loaded for bear.
He looked like a man with a foot in the grave and scarcely the strength of a louse,
Yet he tilted a poke of dust on the bar, and he called for drinks for the house.
There was none could place the stranger’s face, though we searched ourselves for a clue;
But we drank his health, and the last to drink was Dangerous Dan McGrew.
There’s men that somehow just grip your eyes, and hold them hard like a spell;
And such was he, and he looked to me like a man who had lived in hell;
With a face most hair, and the dreary stare of a dog whose day is done,
As he watered the green stuff in his glass, and the drops fell one by one.
Then I got to figgering who he was, and wondering what he’d do,
And I turned my head — and there watching him was the lady that’s known as Lou.
His eyes went rubbering round the room, and he seemed in a kind of daze,
Till at last that old piano fell in the way of his wandering gaze.
The rag-time kid was having a drink; there was no one else on the stool,
So the stranger stumbles across the room, and flops down there like a fool.
In a buckskin shirt that was glazed with dirt he sat, and I saw him sway;
Then he clutched the keys with his talon hands — my God! but that man could play.
Were you ever out in the Great Alone, when the moon was awful clear,
And the icy mountains hemmed you in with a silence you most could hear;
With only the howl of a timber wolf, and you camped there in the cold,
A half-dead thing in a stark, dead world, clean mad for the muck called gold;
While high overhead, green, yellow and red, the North Lights swept in bars? —
Then you’ve a hunch what the music meant. . . hunger and night and the stars.
And hunger not of the belly kind, that’s banished with bacon and beans,
But the gnawing hunger of lonely men for a home and all that it means;
For a fireside far from the cares that are, four walls and a roof above;
But oh! so cramful of cosy joy, and crowned with a woman’s love —
A woman dearer than all the world, and true as Heaven is true —
(God! how ghastly she looks through her rouge, — the lady that’s known as Lou.)
Then on a sudden the music changed, so soft that you scarce could hear;
But you felt that your life had been looted clean of all that it once held dear;
That someone had stolen the woman you loved; that her love was a devil’s lie;
That your guts were gone, and the best for you was to crawl away and die.
‘Twas the crowning cry of a heart’s despair, and it thrilled you through and through —
“I guess I’ll make it a spread misere”, said Dangerous Dan McGrew.
The music almost died away … then it burst like a pent-up flood;
And it seemed to say, “Repay, repay,” and my eyes were blind with blood.
The thought came back of an ancient wrong, and it stung like a frozen lash,
And the lust awoke to kill, to kill … then the music stopped with a crash,
And the stranger turned, and his eyes they burned in a most peculiar way;
Then his lips went in in a kind of grin, and he spoke, and his voice was calm,
And “Boys,” says he, “you don’t know me, and none of you care a damn;
But I want to state, and my words are straight, and I’ll bet my poke they’re true,
That one of you is a hound of hell. . .and that one is Dan McGrew.”
Then I ducked my head, and the lights went out, and two guns blazed in the dark,
And a woman screamed, and the lights went up, and two men lay stiff and stark.
Pitched on his head, and pumped full of lead, was Dangerous Dan McGrew,
While the man from the creeks lay clutched to the breast of the lady that’s known as Lou.
These are the simple facts of the case, and I guess I ought to know.
They say that the stranger was crazed with “hooch,” and I’m not denying it’s so.
I’m not so wise as the lawyer guys, but strictly between us two —
The woman that kissed him and — pinched his poke — was the lady that’s known as Lou.
— Robert Service
From: Songs of a Sourdough; 1907
2 Comments | tags: Alaska, driving, ester, ester gold camp, F.E. Company, Fairbanks, history, malemute saloon, photo, poetry, robert service, ruins, the shooting of dan mcgrew | posted in travel
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Nick is a founder, editor and the pop culture expert at Cypher Avenue. Serving as the designer and webmaster of the site, he is the architect of The Cypher Avenue Matrix.
VIDEO: Charlamagne Tha God Would Sign a Gay Rapper
I promise you that not an hour after I made a post about DJ Vlad and his obsession with homosexuality by asking Maino, The Game and Fat Joe about Gay Rappers, I found yet ANOTHER video that he uploaded yesterday. This time he brings…
Nick Delmacy, 8 years ago 2 1 min read
VIDEO + RANT: Fat Joe and the Gay Mafia
This is old news since it was originally spread around a week ago, so many of you may have already seen this. I was hesitant to even post about it, hence the delay. But here it is…DJ Vald recently interviewed Rapper Fat Joe and…
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VIDEO: “The D.L. Chronicles” Web Series Episode #1
As we’ve previously posted, the creators of “The D.L. Chronicles” are gearing up for a return of the series with new episodes beginning in 2012. They’ve launched a fundraiser with a goal of $125,000 and as of this posting they’re $23,000 closer to reaching…
Film, Television
VIDEO: The Return of THE D.L. CHRONICLES
Deondray Gossett and Quincy LeNear, creators of the awesome yet short lived series “The D.L. Chronicles”, are on a mission to produce new episodes of the series beginning in 2012! We’re fans of these guys as we’ve spoken about them before, so this was…
Photo Break
PHOTO BREAK: Food For Thought
The “old heads” have their numerous negative views of the youth in regards to masculinity, behavior, style of dress, music, slang, etc…but the one thing we can’t deny is the fact that there are more young people accepting of gays than older people. Case in…
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The Definition of “Gay Face”
Disclaimer: The following text is satire and is not meant to encourage division, homophobia or even be taken seriously, for that matter. “GAY FACE” gā fās1. “GAY FACE” is a descriptor given to homosexual men when lustfully starring at another man for…
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CYPHER AVE APPROVED: Devin Thomas
Whether wearing a Washington Redskins, Carolina Panthers or New York Giants uniform, the impressive sculpted tatted arms of Wide Receiver Devin Thomas are unmistakable. Really what more can be said about this 24-year-old man that hasn’t already been mentioned on countless…
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WATCH: Gay Sports Documentary “FLAG FOOTBALL”
Admittedly I’m not a huge football fan. Not because I’m Gay, though. It’s because I just find the sport kinda boring. Think about it: Fifteen minutes for a bunch of guys to move a mere ten yards? Finally a First down! Okay…time for a…
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WATCH: Clips From Black Gay Mystery/Thriller “Strange Fruit”
I’ll start off by saying that I’ve always had a little crush on 40-year-old actor Kent Faulcon. He’s not a star by any means or even really recognizable for that matter. He’s just one of those working class actors that you see in…
WATCH: Clips from documentary “On The Downlow”
We’re going to try not to bombard you with too many posts about black gay films but with so few out there, we have an urge to at least make you aware of some of them.This brings me to “On The Downlow”, a…
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Masculine Black Gay Men Are Already Among You!
Little did I know, “The Campaign for Black Gay Men’s Lives” has been running an ongoing campaign to fight homophobia and the spread of HIV in the black community since 2007. The ads are a series of billboards in subways, bus shelters (and…
WATCH: Clips from Black Gay Film “Rivers Wash Over Me” [VIDEO]
In my last post I listed the Masculine Gay Man’s Bill of Rights. It was a satirical list that I wrote a year ago in response to a series of feminine guys calling me insecure for not being attracted to them and the “Gay Lifestyle.”But…
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Disclaimer: The following text is satire and is not meant to encourage division, homophobia or even be taken seriously, for that matter. ARTICLE ONE: You have the right to NOT be Out if you do not choose to be. Discretion about who and…
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Does HIV STATUS on FACEBOOK = GAY?
One thing that I’ve observed recently was that none of the “mainstream” social media and dating websites out there (Facebook, Twitter, Match.com, etc) have a default section for declaring your HIV status…Only on the GAY sites.On one hand, I thought it was commendable…
CYPHER AVENUE ESSENTIALS: The Messiah – A Novel by Lee Hayes
I’m an avid book reader, especially fiction. Unfortunately there are not gonna be too many novels written by gay/bisexual men of color endorsed by this website because many of them either perpetuate stereotypes, do not feature characters that we can relate with or, quite frankly,…
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Visit New York? Hell, No!
New York City is doing its damnedest to displace California as the Nuthouse of the USA.
...New York is requiring people to actually say words that convey a message of approval of the view that gender is a matter of self-perception rather than anatomy, and that, as to “ze,” were deliberately created to convey that a message.
What’s more, according to the City, “refusal to use a transgender employee’s preferred name, pronoun, or title may constitute unlawful gender-based harassment.” The label “harassment” is important here because harassment law requires employers and businesses to prevent harassment by co-workers and patrons and not just by themselves or their own employees ...
And this isn’t just the government as employer, requiring its employees to say things that keep government patrons happy with government services. This is the government as sovereign, threatening “civil penalties up to $125,000 for violations, and up to $250,000 for violations that are the result of willful, wanton, or malicious conduct” if people don’t speak the way the government tells them to speak....Volokh, quoted at Grim's Place
Remind me again: why do people go to NYC when there are public zoos all around the country?
Posted by Dad29 at 7:48 AM No comments: Links to this post
Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin....Yoo Hoo, Cdl Dolan!!
Some of you are not acquainted with the writings of Fr. George W. Rutler.
You should be. Go find, "He Spoke to Us"--a book filled with short essays--as a starter.
That's just prelude. Now we have today's essay, in which Fr. Rutler is clear about voting for Hildebeeste AND what he thinks of the Al Smith Money-Grubbing Dinner.
...It is incorrect to say that the coming election poses a choice between two evils. For ethical and aesthetic reasons, there may be some bad in certain candidates, but badness consists in doing bad things. Evil is different: It is the deliberate destruction of truth, virtue, and holiness.
While one may pragmatically vote for a flawed candidate, one may not vote for anyone who advocates and enables evil acts — and that includes abortion. “In the case of an intrinsically unjust law, such as a law permitting abortion or euthanasia, it is therefore never licit to obey it, or to ‘take part in a propaganda campaign in favor of such a law, or vote for it'” (Evangelium Vitae, 73)....
...It is also the duty of the clergy to make this clear and not to shrink, under the pretense of charity, from explaining the church’s censures. Wolves in sheep’s clothing are dangerous, but worse are wolves in shepherd’s clothing....The illusion of indifference cannot long be perpetuated by lame jokes and synthetic laughter at banquets — for there is handwriting on the wall.
It should not surprise you that when Cdl. Dolan arrived in NYC, Fr. Rutler was transferred to a parish in Hell's Kitchen.
This column will probably get him transferred to New Jersey.
And Now, CDW (Liturgy)
It appears that the 'reform of the reform' movement is now toes-up at the Vatican.
In combination with Pp. Francis' (apparent) acceptance of SSPX, this would seem to mean that the Roman Catholic church will become even more 'bi-ritual'--and never the twain shall meet.
Here's the question: will the new CDW regime squelch the wacko-liturgy gang, or let them run? We have seen the inevitable progression from Wacky Mass to demi- or full-blown heresy too often to regard it as 'chance.'
Posted by Dad29 at 8:31 AM 1 comment: Links to this post
A Note on My Combox
Some 'anonymous' keeps sending comments with links to essays which are either off-topic or not interesting to me.
Those comments are rejected.
If you want to run a blog, get your own. It's free, although we know the Thought Police will be coming at some point in the future.
Why Breitbart Loves Trump
Interesting little side-note here, which may portend a lot in a Trump Administration.
...Trump is not responding to attacks by ignoring them in favor of continuing a theatrical script other people, people on the professional production crew, hand him. He is fighting back, and against specifics. And contrary to the standard political approach, he is not pretending to fight for his supporters. Instead, and as his supporters understand, he is fighting with them -- because they have all been, and continue to be, targets....
You may recall one of Breitbart's famous dictums: "Fuck You!! WAR!!"
Birds, feathers, etc.
That's not all bad, ya'know. If RoJo--or Paul Ryan--or even Sensenbrenner--had decided to fight rather than to roll over, an 'establishment' candidate might be the nominee. But they did not. They decided that comity was more important than their voters. And here we are. The castrati: McConnell, Boehner, McCarthy, and all those neo-con scribbler-twits are sidelined.
They deserve it.
It's particularly instructive to see where RoJo is: he's likely to win, but he's had a helluva scare against a Complete Asshole who RoJo crushed last time around.
Why? Because RoJo did not fight, as he had promised. He rolled over.
The Polls: Watch the TREND
We believe that "the trend" (or 'momentum') is a lot more important than a 1- or 5-day snapshot.
So watch the trend, friends.
Arkancide Looming
Taking bets....
WHO will suffer Arkancide? Put your pick into the combox.
WHEN will they get it? Again, the com-box, and you may use a range of time.
HOW will they get it? Shot to the head? Airplane accident? Car "malfunction"? Poison? THE RUSSIANS???? A candlestick?
Won't go with "where." As Vince Foster proved, bodies can be moved around.
Obozo: Thug Then, Thug Now, With Creamer as Instructor
There's a good reason that we Cheeseheads refer to them as F.I.B's. (Yah, the last two initials stand for "Illinois Bozos.")
Violence is just part of the (D) machine's game, and Obozo has been soaked in it since 1985.
His teacher was Creamer, husband to Schakowsky, another (D).
Posted by Dad29 at 6:22 PM 1 comment: Links to this post
Another Way to Raise the Finger
Letting Gummint(s) know what they can do with themselves takes a few different forms.
One of them was demonstrated in Oregon just yesterday.
The jury told the Feds to 'jam it'. Yes, that's a euphemism.
HT: Grim
Belling's Whining Again
For a "conservative," Belling spends a lot of time pushing his very favorite regulations.
Apparently he's blind. Can't see 3,000 lb. objects in front of his car.
So he whines and wails.
So If It Be War.....
If it be war (political or shooting), then we must remember St Crispian's Day.
......band of brothers....
So much of Western Civilization is illuminated by Shakespeare--who was a closet Catholic.
Posted by Dad29 at 7:29 AM 3 comments: Links to this post
Our Masters Want Another War
You've heard the drumbeat. Hillary blames them for everything, Obozo blames them for everything, and the War Party Pubbies blame them for everything, too.
The New (Again) Permanent Enemy is The Russians. And Our Masters want war.
What considerations should the United States take in its approach to Syria? ...if there's one thing that unites the Washington foreign policy establishment right now, it's that we need another regime change campaign: this time in Syria, an unnecessary, dangerous escalation. I used to worry we were sleepwalking towards war with Russia. Now we seem to be outright lunging.
Syria's Assad is backed by The Russians. So do the math.
...As one anonymous senior foreign policy official told the Washington Post, "You can't pretend you can go to war against Assad and not go to war against the Russians." Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford said outright that attempts to control Syrian airspace "would require us to go to war against Syria and Russia."...
Kremlinologists understand that politically, Russian dictators needs the US as an enemy. Those politics have been successful at least since the Cuban missile crisis for all the Russian leaders. So the US is 'Oceania' to the 'Eurasia' of Putin & Co. The major Russian proxies have been Eastern Europe, Palestine, and (to a lesser degree) Vietnam--and currently, Syria.
Since GWBush, US policy has been wavering. We took on the Russian proxies in Afghanistan, Palestine, and Iraq, and then body-checked the Russians with NATO in Eastern Europe. None of those actions resulted in a direct shooting match with the Bear.
But with the White House now occupied by SCOAMF (an idiot), and Hillary in desperate need of a Cause, and with the War Party Establishment Republicans sharing Hillary's need, things are deteriorating rapidly. Putin needs a 'win' to offset the loss of Eastern Europe, so he's pushing buttons and is near to getting a response.
...Russia's interests in the Syrian conflict are weightier than ours are, from the Tartus naval facility to the possibility of a lucrative oil pipeline to Putin's need for an overseas conflict that will keep his people in line. The Tartus base is especially relevant: it's one of Russia's very few foreign military installations and its only naval refueling point in the Mediterranean....
Much as I despise Trump, he may actually 'get it' better than all the others. If he is actually running against The Establishment, which hankers for war, he knows that the US electorate is not willing to drop 30,000 troops into Syria.
You can hope so, anyway. Ingraham has more on the topic at this link.
On the Planet of Tammy Baldwin
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madistan), in her best soft whine, tells a local reporter-ette that 'if we repeal Obamacare, think of how the costs will go up.'
That's on Planet Tammy.
Here, in the real world, we HAVE Obamacare, and the costs went up. Waaaaayyyy up.
Posted by Dad29 at 9:37 PM No comments: Links to this post
David Schippers Is Going to Wake Up Dead....Soon
David Schippers, as you may recall, was the House's hired prosecutor in the Clinton impeachment proceedings.
He's said a few things about that case, and will probably wake up dead whether or not Hildebeeste gets elected. And no matter how it's described, it will NOT be a 'natural death.'
60,000 documents that YOU can NOT see, folks.
Posted by Dad29 at 3:09 PM 3 comments: Links to this post
It's Not "Coming;" It's Here: the Persecution
Anthony Esolen is a calm, cool, and collected one. So this little offering of his should make you think. If it does not, well, at least you were warned.
I know there are plenty of Catholics who are, in one way or another, looking forward to the relentless institutional persecution that is coming our way unless we surrender the One Thing Needful to the secular left, and that is the family-destroying and state-feeding beast called the Sexual Revolution, with its seven heads and ten horns and the harlot squatting atop it. As I see it, these Catholics belong to four groups.
First are the Persecutors. These people hate the Church, and that is why they remain ostensible members of it....In all conflicts between the State and the Church, the Persecutor will not only side with the State; he will be glad to lead the charge....But why do I use the generic masculine pronoun here? She—she will want to compel Catholic interns to assist in abortions, or even to perform one; she will want to compel Catholic parishes to allow their grounds and their halls to be used for the celebration of pseudogamy. Religious freedom? The Persecutor respects neither God nor the conscience of man....
Second, the Quislings. The Quisling does not hate the Church, but he does not love her, either. He is a worldling and craves the approval of the world. He believes in “the future,” and that means he is easy prey for the peddlers of ideological fads...
...Then comes the Avenger. He has tried to live in accord with the Church, and has received mainly contempt from her, or neglect, or persecution. That has curdled him within, and he now hates the Church such as she is more than he loves her as the bride of Christ....The Avenger enjoys rejection, enjoys loss, because that gives him a fine opportunity to meditate upon his courage. Sometimes the Avenger is a traditionalist. Sometimes he is a hater of the traditionalist. Whether he is one or the other, he does not aim his rifle at the terrible enemies of the Church from without: he does not fight the materialist, the sexual revolutionary, the radical secularist, the globalist, the corrupter of children, or the hawker of filth. He aims his rifle at Catholics...
Yes, thank God, there is a 'good guy' in the mix:
...Last we have the Soldier. The Soldier complains about his superiors not because they give him bad orders, but because they give him no orders at all. ...The Soldier does not say, “I will fight, but my generals must be perfectly wise.” Generals are never perfectly wise or perfectly anything else. The Soldier does not say, “I will fight, but only if I do not have to share the field with these others,” which others may be traditionalists, the ecumenically minded, Protestants friendly to the Catholic Church, or Catholics who disagree with him on some political point. The Soldier is grateful for his brothers in arms, and if their uniforms are a little different from his, he figures that the Lord of Hosts will sort the matter out in the end.
The Soldier does not make light of the desperate situation. His name is not Pollyanna. But he remembers the words of Jesus: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.”...
Oremus. Flectamus genua.
"The Russians, The Russians!!" So What? (UPDATED)
Some radio-pundits seem to think that when "the Russians!!!" penetrate email accounts and release the information to the US public, that's a......terrible....awful....horrible.........NASTY.....thing. The fact that the information helps Trump (at this time) seems to be more important than the actual content of the materials. Hmmmm.
Let's get a little further into this thing.
First off, it seems that US Government sources---all controlled by Obama, we remind you--are the 'reliable' sources which pin the tail on the Russkis. That includes the FBI's "reliable" Mr. Comey. (Nuff said). The revelations (at present) point to an utterly corrupt, totally self-serving (D) candidate, who happens to be Obama's favored successor. In fact, they underline and support the contentions that Hillary is exactly that.
One radio pundit makes the irrelevant point that 'Trump invited the Russians to do this.' As though the Russians would NEVER have thought of it before that. Right-o! (The Chinese Communists are laughing uncontrollably. There's a reason: with a Hillary presidency, the ChiComs win, the Russkis lose. And if you're fool enough to think that the ChiComs don't have this--and all sorts of other goodies--you need a long rest in a padded room.)
Finally: I don't give a damn where the information came from, IF the information is valid. Just as in the case of Project Veritas, we note that there are no flat-out, documented DENIALS of the case presented.
So. What's the harm, other than to HRC?
And why is THAT worthy of denunciation?
Some radio-pundits used to say that 'the answer to flawed speech is MORE speech.' Have things changed?
UPDATE: Denninger absolutely destroys the "Russians" bullshit. While it could have been the Russkis, it could also have been a bored high-school kid.
Posted by Dad29 at 11:26 AM No comments: Links to this post
"The Money" or "The Citizens"? The Results in France
History matters, quite a bit, while discussing "free trade" and its effects.
...France and Britain were longtime rivals and both countries were committed to Mercantilism, yet they struck one of the first “free trade “deals or at least the first deal premised on philosophy of free trade. Even today, many free market types will argue that trade can overcome even the bitterest of rivalries. People like making money more than they like making trouble, so the theory goes. This trade deal is proof of that.
The most notable part of the deal is that it was a disaster for France. Soon after the deal was signed, there was a flood of British manufactured goods into France. Importation of British goods doubled. This put enormous pressure on the already distressed French industries, setting off riots and revolts. Naturally, this put pressure on the already strained relations between the provinces and the crown. Most historians count the Eden Treaty as one of the contributing factors leading up to the French Revolution.
What the French government did not understand when negotiating the treaty is that trade is not a static thing. Even if the French could vastly increase their sale of wine and linens to Britain, in order to offset the import of British manufactured goods, there would still be significant economic dislocation in the French economy. The wine merchants would be happy, but the French cotton mills in Normandy would be devastated, which is why riots broke out there soon after the deal was implemented.
Trade between nations can be a very good thing for both nations. It can be a terrible thing too. It’s not always easy to know in advance....
(You really should read all of the linked essay, which has lots of other useful information!)
Umnnnhhhh, yah. When one of the effects is a revolution, well,....
Last week, another pundit (regrets--I forget which one) noted that 'economics' must be governed by 'politics,'--not the other way around. IOW, while Gummints can make all sorts of trade deals on behalf of their moneyed-interest friends, demolishing the livelihoods of vast numbers of citizens is NOT in the country's best interests. Or, as the Froggy King found out, not in the best interests of the regnant rulers.
We would not, of course, suggest that the guillotine is a remedy.
Indy Star "Newspaper" Not Up on the News
The Indiana Secretary of State--and the Indiana State Police--have found multiple instances of the setups for vote-fraud in that State.
The "newspaper" report on the story leaves out actual news, of course.
In Veritas' second video, released BEFORE the dateline on the Indy Star story, one of the (D) criminal conspirators tells the Veritas spy that 'Indiana is a target' for vote-fraud activities because--like Michigan--it has very loose registration laws. (No kidding!! Read the story; a second-grader could game Indiana's system.)
The reporter for the Indy Star is well on his way to a career at CNN where anchorettes have proclaimed that the US already has term-limits on Congresscritters.
O tempora!! O mores!!!
Milwaukee In the Headlines!!
Always nice to see Milwaukee highlighted in a news video, right??
Yup. Part Two of Project Veritas' documentary on Democrat Crooks (I repeat myself) was filmed right in Milwaukee. Mostly. There were side trips to Chicago to visit with a genuine FIB and then to NYC.
But yah. Tom Barrrett's Milwaukee. John Chisholm's Milwaukee.
David Clarke will not be amused.
HRC's Governing Style
Don't say you weren't warned about a Hillary presidency.
A Clinton campaign “Forward Together” bus has been caught dumping foul-smelling human waste into the street and down a storm drain in Lawrenceville, Georgia, according to several reports.
“Police say when they arrived on the scene, toilet paper was scattered everywhere and there was a foul smell,” reported Atlanta’s WGCL-TV 46.
Local businessman Mike Robins snapped several photos of the bus dumping the stinky waste into the street.
Dump crap all over, wherever, whenever. That's our Hillary!!
Is the Mood Surly? Or Just Worried?
This is not really surprising.
For the 17th time in a row, the record for the amount of background checks conducted by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in a single month has been broken. Additionally, the FBI stated in their report that there was a 32 percent increase in background checks during the first half of 2016 compared to the same time period in 2015....
NRA (the source) goes on to speculate--with foundation--that it's likely the records will be broken in November and December, too.
Imagine that! The Feds won't control the border, nor take care that immigrants are amenable to the US' living arrangements, and the cops are not controlling criminals.
Then there's the spectre of Hildebeeste in the background....
So, Charlie Sykes, Riddle Me This....
Charlie doesn't like David Clarke's rhetoric.
OK. I'm not a fan, either.
So Charlie: reconcile your prim distaste with the evidence shown at the post below.
Just exactly WHO is starting the riots, Charlie? What's "unacceptable," or--as your MSNBC host-ette phrased it, "unconscionable"??
Hmmmm?
(Well, then, how about this, Charlie: will MSNBC run that clip from Veritas?
Will they?? You know, and I know, they will not.)
Look, Charlie (and all the rest of you who sniff at Clarke): Clarke's rhetoric is over the top, but his frustration--which gave birth to the rhetoric--is shared by a lot of people, and not just Trump people.
Boys in the girls' rooms? Queer marriage? ObozoCare is a tax-fee-tax--fee--whatever? Refugees, and we don't know their real names? The collapse of US manufacturing with the bail-outs of banks and the auto industry? Shall we get into the collapse of right order that we see in the schools and cities? Shall we??
Puh Leeze.
Think Podesta's a Dirtball? You Are RIGHT!!!
Gee. Who'da thunk that Podesta, Hillary, and the DNC are dirtballs?
Here's the proof. On video.
It won't be covered by the lame-streams, and it certainly won't be prosecuted by the Department of Injustice.
Citizen counter-actions come to mind.
How "Catholic" Is the Catholic Campaign for Human Development?
Earlier, we mentioned that Judas has a successor in the person of John Podesta, a "Catholic" who organized and fund-raised for a couple of anti-Catholic organizations which claimed to be "Catholic."
Turns out that our modern-day Judas has a lot of acolytes--a number of whom were employed by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, as we learn from Anne Hendershott.
Alexia Kelley, for example, brought a decade (1993-2002) of experience of working on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development for the Bishops Conference—during which time she helped funnel more than seven million dollars to ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).
But that's not all.
...Kelley was joined at Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good by other colleagues from the USCCB, including John Gehring, Tom Chabolla and Francis Xavier Doyle...
Not only are these traitors to the Faith graduates of CCHD, they play dirty.
...During the time Korzen led Catholics United as a lobbying organization (501c4), he used bullying tactics against faithful Catholic writers who attempted to expose his questionable activities. Korzen was instrumental in triggering the political audit of William Donohue, the leader of the Catholic League. Donohue found out about Korzen’s role in triggering the audit from a CNN reporter. It is likely that Korzen also played an important role in triggering my IRS audit also—although the Obama administration has refused to respond fully to three Freedom of Information Act requests from Atty. Charles LiMandri on my behalf....
(S'pose the John Chisholm persecution of conservatives was inspired by these cretins? Remember, Chisholm and his associate Francis Schmitz are both nominally Catholic. Just sayin'....)
Now, of course, this leads to a question: how many OTHER Judases are on the payroll of CCHD?
And that leads to ANOTHER question: does CCHD deserve your support if you're a Catholic?
There are plenty of Catholic (and not-Catholic) 501c3's that deserve your charitable dollars and efforts.
Maybe CCHD is not one of them.
The Indispensable Cold Fury
This guy would be a riot at dinner, with or without booze.
Just the link here. It's a VERY short post.
See? You read it already!!! And I see that s*&^-eating grin on your face, too.
"Moral Considerations"??
Yah, MORAL considerations vis-a-vis this damn election.
I've had three Stages of Trump. The first was along the lines of "Huh? He's a TV twit with bad hair! You're kidding, right?"
The second was "The guy has some interesting things to say, but he says them very badly."
The third was "NEVER THIS IDIOT!!" You remember: 'judges write laws', 'those NRA people' (not 'we'), the crass (look up the word!) braggadocio, the serial-monogamy stuff, the mouth-and-brain-in-gutter stuff....we could go on.
Yah, well.
Now it's possible that I'm in the fourth stage: "It can NOT be Hillary."
Most of you do not remember the size of the original American Spectator, but I was reading it when it was about 12" X 18" and still headquartered in Indiana. They ran a multi-part, exhaustive, series on Bill and Hill. There are some differences between those two and La Cosa Nostra, but not many. Actually, La Cosa members might be insulted to read that, so I'll ameliorate it a bit: La Cosa Nostra was not into baby-killing and they did not dare to dream with the avarice of Hillary and Bill. That's only possible when the US Armed Forces, the FBI, the CIA, and the IRS are at your disposal as was (and is) the case with the Clintons.
But given all that, Bill Clinton was a damn good politician. He knew when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em (except with women).
Hillary, on the other hand, has zero political smarts. Outer space is warmer and angry cobras are more empathetic. She will never fold 'em; she'll simply Schmeiss her opponents (look that up, too.) And the courts will find it to be legal.
There's something else: the last four years of Bush and all eight of Obozo separate the 'good old days' of Bill Clinton-ism from today. The State has grown exponentially due to those two. SCOTUS is completely out of control; Earl Warren and John Kennedy would be puking blood at what the courts and the Presidency have become. (What remains of the Mafia is green with envy.) Finally--and even more frightening, if that's possible--Hillary would love to have a war with Russia. Wars always increase the power of the President, even without a declaration of martial law. Ask George Bush, or FDR.
Trump has no cohesive plan for anything, of course. He's a 'transaction' guy, buying today what he'll sell tomorrow and maybe he'll buy it back in a few years, too. There is no linear progression to his plans, and no principled foundation to the man, nor what he will do as President. The worst part of a 'deal-maker' President is that he's 'dealing' with your money (and your country). But that's offset by the fact that no matter who has a majority in whichever house of Congress, Trump will ALWAYS have opposition. He'll be pushed and/or forced to play nice, at least some of the time.
It will be a tumultuous four years and--frankly--if nothing happens in DC, that's a win compared to what HRC will do, which is anything to get what she wants. And she can do it to you, your family, and your friends just like she did it to our men in Benghazi. With a smile, eyeballs jumping from their sockets and coughing uncontrollably like any proper witch.
So, morals.
If I know that an HRC Presidency will take the country into oblivion with odds of 4 to 1, (a reasonable bet), and I know that a Trump Presidency will take the country into oblivion with odds of 50/50, (also reasonable), which is the better choice?
First, a word from Gelernter:
...A vote for anyone [other than Trump] or for no one might be an honest, admirable gesture in principle, but we don’t need conscientious objectors in this war for the country’s international standing and hence for the safety of the world and the American way of life. It’s too bad one has to vote for Mr. Trump. It will be an unhappy moment at best. Some people will feel dirty, or pained, or outright disgraced....(HT: RenMan)
How about "all of the above," Mr. G.?
I'm not done yet.
The forces who find it convenient to have the President of the U.S. cornered, or in their pocket, will not disappear with the election of Trump. They will simply put on different faces and clothing and find the weakness (with Obozo, it was streaming from every pore.) If you haven't read "A Man in Full" by Tom Wolfe, you should read it now, because Wolfe laid it out plain. Theirs is a long game, and Trump's is a short one--which is what I meant by 'transactional.' Thus, it is even more important to get many more men like Cruz, Lee, and Jordan into Congress, with the fervent hope that they will hold their ground and prevent disaster.
For Trump is really a disaster-in-waiting. HRC is disaster-now. It's like the Army's gas warfare: CN, or CS. (Cry now/Cry sooner.)
Your choice!
We Have to Admit Trump's Right (Here)
Well, The Donald is finally getting back to what actually matters. And--surprise!!!--he sounds a lot more like Ted Cruz.
...The political establishment that is trying to stop us is the same group responsible for our disastrous trade deals, massive illegal immigration and economic and foreign policies that have bled our country dry.
The political establishment has brought about the destruction of our factories, and our jobs, as they flee to Mexico, China and other countries all around the world. Our just-announced job numbers are anemic. Our gross domestic product, or GDP, is barely above 1 percent. And going down. Workers in the United States are making less than they were almost 20 years ago, and yet they are working harder.
It’s a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities....
...The Clinton machine is at the center of this power structure. We’ve seen this first hand in the WikiLeaks documents, in which Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends and her donors.
Honestly, she should be locked up....quoted at ColdFury
Admitted: Cruz never got around to stating the obvious about The Hildebeeste; but that wasn't on the radar in the primaries. Maybe it should have been.
More to follow on this thing, in the line of moral options for the election.
How Jihadists Will Disarm Americans
Well, it won't start with "jihadists." It will start with Hildebeeste.
...the next Democratic president -- be it Hillary Clinton or someone else -- will sign into law a sweeping, foreign-style gun ban.
The legislation has already been written. H.R. 4269 would enact a national, permanent ban on the manufacture and sale of so-called “assault weapons” and all firearm magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. The bill, introduced last December, already has149 Democratic co-sponsors (218 are needed to pass the House).
H.R. 4269 would ban all AR-15 and AK-type rifles and all civilian versions of military rifles produced anywhere in the word within the past 60 years or so. The bill would also ban all parts kits, stripped receivers, “bump-fire” stocks, thumbhole stocks, trigger cranks, so-called “compliant” rifles, and “any… characteristic that can function as a [pistol] grip.”...
No surprise here. But that doesn't exactly eliminate AR's, does it?
Well, THAT can be arranged.
...The impetus to push such legislation through Congress would likely come from a high-profile shooting or terrorist act that, like the Reichstag fire, would receive extensive media attention and provide the propaganda necessary for gun controllers like Chuck Schumer, the next Democratic Senate Majority Leader, to enact their pre-existing agenda. Republicans might find themselves accused of being “soft on terrorism” if they voted against gun control after such an event. Indeed, President Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, has already stated publicly that domestic gun control is necessary as an anti-terrorism measure....
There you are. One (or several) Muzzies will take their cue and act, killing off a number of folks at a sporting event, parade, or picnic.
They will have succeeded in disarming Americans, except those who break the law. Now the only problem will be to find and persecute the lawbreakers.
That might be dicey, of course.
Posted by Dad29 at 10:29 AM 2 comments: Links to this post
Podesta's Stooges
We've had John Podesta on the radar since he was in the Clinton administration yammering loudly about being "Catholic."
As it turns out, Podesta has his very own faith and he intends to implement that through a few front-groups. (However, he was baptized into the Catholic Church, so there's that.)
One of them is "Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good." Board members there include James Zogby (Zogby Polling), Alfred Rotondaro, (no actual jobs in his background), Benjamin Palumbo, a well-traveled political hack, and James Salt, another political hack. Staffers are found on another page of the website--the usual bunch of Beltway hangers-on, 'reporters', and propaganda pushers/manufacturers.
The other outfit is "Catholics United" which does not appear to have a webpage. James Salt shows up again as one of the two principals, and a "community organizer" named Chris Korzen is the other name. This organization specializes in lying like Hell about ObozoCare.
It is a spiritual work of mercy to pray for Podesta's re-conversion to the Catholic faith.
The War-Mongers, Hillary, Putin, and The Election
Vox Day presents an interesting war-game theory.
What's worst about it is the fact that the War-Monger Pubbies remain extremely influential--and that the Hildebeeste agrees with them.
That, my friends, is genuinely frightening.
The REAL "Republican" Problem
This is excerpted from a story of a Wisconsin woman who was sexually assaulted by Bill Kramer, now an ex-Legislator of the (R) persuasion. The woman was a very active Republican for quite some time.
...As the years progressed though, I began to see evidence of the GOP turning its back on people who did the right thing, instead of the “right thing for the party”. I was becoming disillusioned. But the straw that broke the camel’s back and turned me away from my party all together was how I was treated when I finally decided to come forward after being sexually assaulted by one of our elected officials....
The woman identified the REAL problem in the first sentence above. She provides plenty of personal evidence afterwards in the story.
It has long been clear that "Republican" is not congruent with "Conservative." The (R) Party is, in many ways, merely a co-conspirator with the (D) Party in taking your money; the only difference is who gets the money afterwards.
Since this is not an encyclopedia, I will not dig up examples. But if you think that Donald Trump is any different from the rest of them, your faith is seriously mis-placed.
The Hillary Kind of Catholic
But this guy is certainly not a "deplorable." (Story from 2015)
Eric McFadden, 46, the former head of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives for Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland, was arrested this morning and faces two counts of promoting prostitution, two counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, two counts of pandering obscenity involving a nude minor and one count of compelling prostitution, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien told the Springfield News-Sun....
...McFadden’s faith outreach has not been limited to the Ohio governor’s office. In 2004, McFadden worked for Catholics for Kerry and in 2005, served as the president for the organization, Catholics for Faithful Citizenship. In 2006, he was a spokesperson for Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, and more recently, he was Hillary Clinton’s lead Catholic outreach organizer as the State Faith & Values Outreach Director during the race for the Democratic presidential nomination....
Trump talks. Democrats DO.
I'm Even MORE Deplorable!!
We're pleased to be part of that Deplorables Club! Not only do we get points for owning a gun and opposing unlimited/un-vetted Muslim immigration; we get points for being Actually Catholic!
“Conservative Catholics” are the latest Americans to be smeared by members of Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign, leaked emails revealed on Tuesday show.
Catholic beliefs are bashed as “backwards” and conservative Catholics are termed responsible for “an amazing bastardization of the faith” in one of the more than 1,000 hacked emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta released Tuesday afternoon by WikiLeaks....
We should note that Podesta is (nominally) Catholic. I'm sure that his Bishop is pleased with this.
John Podesta's Very Own Fever-Swamp
Podesta lives in his own fever-swamp.
The chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign got upset because the Miss America pageant had so many finalists from former Confederate states, newly-released emails show.
“Do you think it’s weird that of the 15 finalists in Miss America, 10 came from the 11 states of the CSA?”...
Who the Hell--other than fever-swamp-dwellers--thinks that way?
Frankly, I don't pay much attention to those contests; but if I did, my attention would NOT focus on the residences of the winning girls. Nor, for that matter, their shoe-size.
Krauthammer: Wrong
Krauthammer, an Establishment guy if there ever was one, read the line provided for him by the Clinton mob. They came up with it after Trump said he'd prosecute Hildebeeste for her blatant violation of Federal law relating to her use of a private email account to transmit Top Secret/Compartmentalized information.
..."That's banana republic," said Charles Krauthammer....
With all due respect, Charles, screw yourself. That old bitch should really be shot at dawn for treason--except treason requires intent, which will be difficult to prove.
Those Electricity Prices? ObozoNomics!!!
Recently, a group of large Wisconsin industrials complained that Wisconsin's electricity prices were increasing, making Wisconsin less competitive. They should look at Obozo and the supine (R) Congress, just as YOU should when you open your electric bill.
...“It is particularly troubling to note in a state whose economy is built on manufacturing that in 2015, not only did Wisconsin have the highest average industrial rate when compared to surrounding states, the Midwest and U.S. averages respectively, but the growth rate from 2001 to 2015 was the highest as well,” the groups said....
No surprise there. Wisconsin utilities--like those in other States--are complying with the Obozo Green Weenies, whose wind-and-solar Unicorn Farts-dreams cost a helluvalot of money. As you can see with the chart at this link, electricity prices have gone straight up during the regime of this President, except in States where natural gas is readily available (and in D.C., Maryland, and Delaware, by some strange co-incidence.)
A big chunk of those price increases is due to utilities building windmills; another is from utilities building new gas-fired plants or installing extremely expensive "scrubbing" equipment on their existing coal-fired plants. Windmills are next-to-useless, of course. As you can see in the chart, States which have large windmill installations ALSO have large electric-price increases.
“President Obama openly ran in 2008 on a platform of making electricity rates ‘skyrocket’ and bankrupting anyone who dared to build a coal plant in the United States,” Travis Fisher, an economist at the Institute for Energy Research, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Now, more than seven years into his presidency, it should come as no surprise that his efforts have taken a widespread toll in the form of higher electricity rates for nearly every state in the union.”...
What has the (R) Congress done about Obozo's Green-Weenie-Unicorn-Farts orders?
Thanks, boys.
"Just One (Fraudulent) Vote", eh, Tommy?
Little Tommy Barrett, the Missing (and Do-Nothing) Mayor, asked for "just one example" of vote fraud.
How about "thousands" of (D) fraud-votes in New York City, Tommy?
As the HotAir writer mentions, this is a gift to Donald Trump and, if he loses, may have repercussions. It's clear that the FedGov is lawless and that vote-fraud not only exists, it is standard practice with the (D) Party.
So if "lawlessness" will be the law of the land.....well.....
Posted by Dad29 at 10:06 PM 1 comment: Links to this post
HRC's Server Was On the Cloud (!!?)
If true, this should be the basis for a criminal indictment of the Hildebeeste. Not that it will happen; the Department of Selective Justice will never, ever, prosecute a high ranking Democrat for any criminal activity. Never.
Someone claiming to be associated or affiliated with Anonymous has, it appears, discovered that at least one of Hillary's "private-cum-private" servers is on a public cloud....
Aaaaannnnd, the update:
...Update: That was fast -- Anon now claims in a Twitter post that the server has been penetrated and imaged. Here it comes Hillary; this is what you get for hiring incompetent people who do blatantly-stupid things....
So. Will "Anonymous" release all those Top Secret/Compartmentalized emails that the old bitch sent--illegally? Or will we only learn what size dress the brat-daughter wears for her wedding?
Curious minds want to know.
HT: Ticker
New "How to Hire a Cop" Guidelines!!
The now-notorious Federal Department of Justice-for-Some has emitted new guidelines for hiring local cops. The guidelines fit very well with "hiring Democrat voters", by the way.
...Researchers and practitioners have also highlighted that the use of criminal background checks, which are a regular part of the screening process for many agencies, is likely to disproportionately impact racial minority applicants since, for a variety of reasons [actually, for one reason: they commit more crime], individuals from those communities are more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system.... (NB: editorial clarification from our source, Moonbattery)
It gets better!!
...Allowing work-authorized non-U.S. citizens to work in state and local law enforcement, particularly in jurisdictions with large immigrant populations, can enable agencies to more closely represent the diversity of their community. Especially as agencies work to serve communities with a large percentage of limited English proficient (LEP) residents, excluding officers who are not U.S. citizens may significantly limit the number of applicants who speak languages other than English....
Can't wait to see how Ed Flynn implements those suggestions.
Posted by Dad29 at 10:14 AM 1 comment: Links to this post
WWJD?
So here we are, with a Presidential election hanging on the REAL issue: dirty talk from a professional-and-proud-of-it lecher.
Umnnhhhh, yah.
A great deal of bilious mouth-farting is coming from various elements of the Republican establishment, all of whom seem to forget the question: WWJD?
Well, here's the answer: the Republicans Pharisees caught a woman in the act of adultery and were preparing to denounce stone her. Jesus came upon the scene and challenged them: "....let those among you without sin punish her....."
And they all walked away. Except the Republicans, who were all sinless.
The Embarrassment of America
One more vignette from our sojourn!
On the way back, we overnighted in Kentucky and found a nearby establishment which was showing the Packer game. Unfortunately, it was also showing the "debate" on other screens.
There were two other couples watching, one from Canada, and one from England. When we had gone through the polite small-talk about travel, homes, and the football game, both of those couples gently said something about the candidates. They were gentle, but clearly understood the problem.
Here's what they did not say, but what they hinted at knowing:
...both major American political parties have seen fit to nominate for President of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald J. Trump. The Democrats have nominated a brazenly corrupt, decades-long scandalized, quasi-socialistic, national security-undermining, should-be felonious septuagenarian plutocrat. The Republicans, in committing something closely akin to Jonestown-esque mass suicide at their nominating convention in Cleveland, have seen fit to nominate a borderline-deranged, spiteful, grossly uninformed, quasi-fascistic, Kremlin-tainted, anti-American exceptionalism, Mafia-connected, monstrously vulgar, malcontent tangerine buffoon....
It's a very odd feeling to have to acknowledge the truth to foreign guests in our country. It's very odd to be ashamed of the US' political system.
But that's what it is.
(FWIW, the English folks seemed to be sympathetic to Conservatism; the Canadians, not so much--perhaps because our English guests run their own business and the Canadians were both on Government payrolls.)
The Catholic World Is Small, Indeed
Another vacay observation....
We were in a Southern city which has recovered very nicely from a roasting administered by a Northern General and his army about 90 years ago. Went to Mass and fell into conversation with a wonderful lady, an attorney, and ex-Episcopalian.
I mentioned that in the past I had been somewhat active on FreeRepublic and there 'met' a woman, attorney, Episcopalian, with a certain "handle."
Lo and behold! The woman with whom we were conversing worked in the very same law-firm as did my FR correspondent, has maintained contact with her, and reported that the other woman had swum the Tiber about 10 years ago or so.
In the Catholic world, it's not seven degrees. It's often only 3.
Posted by Dad29 at 10:35 PM No comments: Links to this post
Female Clinton Staffer Posts Obscene Pic
I think Fox6 covered this very well.
It's NEVER going to hit the national MSM, of course.
The Fainting Couch for Democrats? Not on your life.
You Are Stupid. Shut Up and Sit Down!
Our friends at Convention of States dug up an interesting survey.
...Among the federal bureaucrats, think tank leaders, and congressional staff members surveyed, 72 percent believe the public has no knowledge about policies to aid the poor and 71 percent believe the public doesn’t understand science and technology. Among the eight different policy areas surveyed, no more than 6 percent believed the public had “a great deal” of knowledge on the topic....
It must be true, because D.C. people SAY it is true.
WI GOP "Forward Agenda": The Usual, and One Klinker
The Wisconsin GOP has put forth a 30 page PDF of their agenda.
Tax reform, check.
Sales tax holiday. What BS.
Lotsa smoke, mirrors, and foofoodust about "transportation." Vos still wants to raise gas-tax and/or registration fees, Walker doesn't. Get the popcorn. (By the way, that 3-lane area on I-94? Terrible traffic problem. Was forced to hold speed down to 79 MPH through the horrible jams. /off sarcasm)
Cut red tape, reform administrative rules--only 73% of the AdminCode left to go, check.
Improve veteran's services, "fight" FedGov over-reach, check. (Good luck with that, boys and girls. Either Presidential nominee is a hard-left Statist.)
Promote trade, optimize exports, check.
Study Dep't of Public Instruction, kill off bloodsuckers doing what individual school districts should do, check.
Support Choice, encourage STEM, check.
HERE IS THE WTF:
Give every HS freshman their very own laptop or tablet.
Are you serious? The Little Darlings cannot make it through HS without their very own computer? Ours had to come up with an HP calculator (price: $85.00++) on their own (or parents') dime.
WHO ARE YOU KIDDING?
And by the way, since you are in effect handing out libraries--are you going to buy back all those books? Require Districts to make the libraries into classroom space? Get rid of the school librarians?
Moving on...
Offer additional training for 'urban environment' teachers. (Such as pistolcraft, blade-fighting, karate, and free flak-jackets?)
Time-to-degree/degree completion, check. (Won't happen because UW System admits anyone, no matter if they can read, write, or add/subtract.) Want a better idea? Close 3 UW campuses and restrict admissions to "top 20%" ACT grades--and anyone from another State who pays full-boat.
Moving on, again....
Fight crime, strengthen families, fight Alzheimers, get more medical professionals, check check check check.
Protect the environment, reduce welfare fraud, stop heroin/opioid, yadayada, check, check, check.
That's a lot of "doing" for a single session. Nice goals!
Vacay Observations
Spent some quality time with She Who Must Be Obeyed and one of the chilluns, SIL's, and g'kids.
The bypass in Chicago is finally done. Expensive, too.
Roads in Wisconsin are just as good as roads in TN, GA, and IN.
Indiana I-65 reconstruction is a pitiable hot mess. Two years running.
I-24 at Chat'nooga needs another lane. But that requires moving a big chunk of mountain.
Gasoline here is mid-price compared to 5 other States.
Holiday Inn at Franklin, TN is an exceptionally nice facility. Pricey, but nice.
Comfort Suites/Airport in Louisville is a very good value. Older facility but VERY clean, spacious.
Wisconsin cigarettes are significantly over-taxed.
God is good. Weather was perfect every single day, going and coming.
Chrysler mini-van will get 27MPG with the hammer down.
Next Book on The List
Huntington's Clash of Civilizations.
Vox pulls three quotes, all of which are indisputable, period.
Ryan Whines Like a Little.....
Paul Ryan:
“I’m tired of divided government. It doesn’t work very well,” Ryan said. “We’re just at loggerheads...."
Victor D Hanson:
Congress has proven woefully inept at asserting its constitutional right to check and balance Obama’s executive overreach.
Speaker Ryan, don't blame the American voter for your woeful ineptitude.
Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin....Yoo Hoo, Cdl Dolan!!...
Obozo: Thug Then, Thug Now, With Creamer as Instr...
"The Russians, The Russians!!" So What? (UPDATED)...
"The Money" or "The Citizens"? The Results in Fra...
How "Catholic" Is the Catholic Campaign for Human ...
WI GOP "Forward Agenda": The Usual, and One Klink...
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Posts Tagged ‘The Forward’
Jewish Communal CEO Salaries: Did the Forward’s Coverage Take a Step Backwards?
During these days when we are seeing how social media is fueling a Persian revolution in the Middle East, we can quickly forget that not too long ago Jews used the original form of social media, the newspaper press, to help revolutionize the quality of life of trade workers in the lower east side of New York. The Jewish Daily Forward, originally a Yiddish only newspaper and the ‘conscience of the ghetto’ was (and still is) an important voice of Jewish America. It has maintained a vigorously independent and socially responsible voice of the Jewish press for over one hundred years. It’s reporting has constantly and consistently challenged its readers to look back at a reflection of the Jewish challenges of the time, while encouraging a forward-looking approach to solving those challenges.
Which is why the Forward’s recent reporting on the compensation of executives of major Jewish organizations is so dismaying. Its coverage raises numerous questions regarding the balance of the its reporting on the issue, and by raising those questions may actually have resulting in an unintended step backwards rather than its typical forward progress.
For those who have not read the article and editorial, in summary it was a report focusing on how several executives of major Jewish organizations did not take a pay cut or pay freeze notwithstanding the layoffs of numerous employees in their respective organizations. Accompanying the news article, the Forward editorial board wrote “[t]his is not the time to withhold support out of anger or disgust; the needs today are too urgent. Instead, it’s the time to demand accountability from Jewish organizations and their governing boards.”
Now to be clear, I too believe that there is a need for shared sacrifice, and I think that the questions about executive compensation at Jewish organizations merit serious questions and conversations about accountability. I also believe that these questions cannot be ignored. However, the reporting of news (as opposed to editorializing) about compensation practices at charitable organizations needs to be thoughtful regarding the context of the facts reported. Each of the Jewish organizations mentioned in the Forward article are large sophisticated organizations with substantially sophisticated professional and volunteer leadership and it is hard to imagine that each of those organizations didn’t consider the issue of executive compensation thoughtfully. We may not all like the answers, but we should not (as the Forward article seems to) assume some of the questions were not asked. We may demenad accountability, but does the Forward survey really demonstrate a lack of accountability? Or did it identify a lack of sensitivity? There is a difference, and thoughtful journalism should distinguish between the two – even when editorializing.
However, even if one takes issue with the Forward’s line of reasoning, there is no question that a role of an independent press is to ask the questions the Forward asked, as well as opine as to its own independent analysis on the answers to those questions. But in my mind, this recent reporting also raises some important questions to be asked of the Forward, and questions it should be asking itself.
1. Was the story fully reported in a manner that gave complete context to its subject? The Forward focused on only select data (number of employees, total compensation, and personal compensation reduction). Are there other factors that should have been included in the sampled data that would have given a more complete picture of the fact patter the Forward was reporting? For example, are those individual executives subject to performance for pay evaluations? What impact does the decrease in staff have on the increase in executive responsibility? What was the fundraising performance of the respective organizations and what percentages of contributions of those respective organizations are solicited specifically by the chief executive/executive director? I’m not sure exactly what all of the relative data points are, but it seems like the Forward picked the smallest data set to make the most inflammatory statement.
2. Was the news report sufficiently neutral when compared to the subjective comments in the editorial analysis? Rereading the article, one is struck by the first paragraph with its tragic/poetic description of waves of crimson lapping below the suites of chief executives. Far from a basic factual framing of the context of the article, that language establishes the critical tone of the entire reporting effort. While the reporting does provide a balance of perspectives, one can’t help but find the rhythm and the layout of the story to have a prejudicial orientation. I am not a journalism expert, but it did raise the question in my mind of whether what should have been an objective price of reporting tilted more towards a purposeful lead-in to a subjective editorial.
3. Did the Forward live up to its own expectations of open disclosure? While highlighting the lack of responsiveness from some executives, it is hard not to wonder if the Forward’s own self-disclosure was sufficient. A close read of its self- disclosure reads that its executives took a 10% paycut of compensation in excess of $80,000. If the publisher took that cut, based on the Forward’s information, it means the publisher took a approximately a $13,000 pay cut against an approximate $211,000 salary, a little over a 6% paycut. That 6% is less than the 10% cuts taken by several community executives identified in the article. My point is not to judge the pay cut, but rather to query whether even the Forward, by making readers do the math, was as forthcoming as it expected its respondents to be. In an article regarding accountability, transparency and leadership, did the Forward sufficiently walk its own talk?
4. In responding to the factual reporting, did the Forward’s editorial outweigh its criticism over constructive suggestions about CEO compensation practices? The editorial commentary made some valid observations about the need for key executives of non-profits to be responsible regarding compensation in challenging times. But rather than propose measures to help reinforce that responsibility, the editorial board missed an opportunity to be constructive, as opposed to just being critical. Interestingly, it punctuated its editorial with a reminder of its offer to create a public conversation between community members and community leaders – an important offer indeed. But while wondering why more leaders haven’t taken it up on the offer, did it consider whether it has adequately created an appearance that the conversation would be balanced and unbiased? And did this editorial help or hinder that appearance?
5. Lastly, how did the Forward balance its Jewish responsibilities regarding the use of speech in the public forum with its reporting on an issue of community tzedakah? Again, I am not a journalism expert, nor an expert on Lashon Hara. However, it strikes me that when the Forward makes statements that it knows may result in consequences that are damaging (to individuals, to organizations and to communities of need) then it is fair to ask the question of how the Forward balanced its Jewish responsibilities regarding proper speech. The editorial is quick to argue that the CEO compensation is not enough of a reason for individuals to withhold their support of otherwise worthy charities, but a review of the reader comments suggests that some felt otherwise after reading the story and editorial. What is the Forward’s responsibility in this regard? Is its editorializing of the topic possibly Rechilut, in that it may incite ill feelings regarding otherwise noble charitable causes? These are questions that I would hope the Forward considered, especially given that the financial impact of its use of language may be very real.
To be clear, the Forward (and other Jewish news outlets, including even blogs) serve an important role, and shine an important light on community affairs, even when what we see in that light makes us uncomfortable. But that role is a powerful one that comes with great responsibility. As readers, we too have a responsibility – to ask the questions that challenge our news sources to serve their role in a fair and excellent manner.
Indeed, when we all ask the hard questions, even about those charged with the responsibility of asking hard questions, then we only move in one direction –
Posted in Jewish Leadership, Other Writings | Tagged CEO Salaries, Jewish Journalism, The Forward | Leave a Comment »
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The Return of Keynes
There's more to John Maynard Keynes than the idea that governemtn spending can end depressions -- but that's a good place to start.
"It is, it seems, politically impossible for a capitalistic democracy to organize expenditure on the scale necessary to make the grand experiments which would prove my case -- except in war conditions."
-- John Maynard Keynes, July 1940
The New York Times has named our present economic condition the Great Recession. But a recession, as usually defined, is a modest downturn, which will be righted by either natural economic forces or mild government intervention. A "great" recession, therefore, is a contradiction. Moreover, a recession technically ends when durable growth turns positive. Unfortunately, while growth has been positive for more than a year, stagnation obviously persists.
A depression, by contrast, is a prolonged, self-perpetuating slump. Today, as in the 1930s, the elements include a vicious circle of depressed wages, reduced demand, damaged banks hesitant to lend, and businesses reluctant to invest. In a depression, gross domestic product is the wrong test of restored health. Growth was positive for most years after 1933, but the economy remained in what the economist John Maynard Keynes called an "underemployment equilibrium," something impossible in the classical economic theory that he challenged.
Despite a less dire unemployment rate, the deeper dynamics of our present situation are closer to depression than recession. And Keynes' insights are as fresh, relevant, and insurgent as ever. This is another Keynesian moment.
Or is it? Keynes was, above all, a consummate outsider whose laurels far exceeded his practical influence. His career as a statesman began with his prophetic (and ignored) warnings that the draconian terms of the 1919 Versailles settlement would destroy Germany's economy and bring depression and renewed conflict to the rest of Europe. Keynes' career ended, shortly before his death in 1946, with Keynes being outmaneuvered by American diplomats in the implementation of the Bretton Woods arrangements. These turned out to be far less "Keynesian" in practice than in Keynes' design.
In between those years, Keynes achieved uneasy celebrity within the economic profession. For a brief period after his death, nearly everyone was a self-proclaimed Keynesian. Yet his remedies, "on the scale necessary," were accepted only by the historical accident of World War II. As the power of today's austerity crusaders attests, what Keynes attacked in his day as the "Treasury View" has exact counterparts in the undertow of fiscal conservatism among opinion elites, on Wall Street, and for that matter, in the world's treasury departments.
While a partial American Keynesian governed in the person of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Barack Obama is no FDR. And unlike in the 1930s, Wall Street has survived a financial crash of its own making with its political influence and financial structure largely intact. So Keynes is as radical as ever, still substantially a prophet with honor but without influence, though events keep vindicating his prophecy.
This is a good time to revisit what Keynes actually wrote and argued. For the most part, his own writings are witty and non-technical and exhibit dazzling range. As Keynes once said, lecturing in Stockholm in the late 1930s, "What I have to say [is] intrinsically easy. ... It is only to an audience of economists that it is difficult."
For those seeking a precis rather than the sublime original, two new briefs provide a lucid recapitulation that is also pleasurable reading. Robert Skidelsky, Keynes' definitive biographer, and Peter Clarke, an eminent historian who has published extensively on Keynes, have both written deft books of little more than 200 pages of text. These might have been the same book, but happily Skidelsky goes more deeply into a Keynesian assessment of the current crisis, while Clarke does a more comprehensive job on the arc of Keynes' life, career, arguments, and relevance. Each nicely complements the other.
Clarke and Skidelsky both remind us that deficit spending in emergencies was a small part of the Keynesian revolution. Keynes was equally concerned about avoiding inflation at full employment. His deeper purpose in the use of deficit spending was to promote investment and enterprise, not just consumption. His was not an economics only for emergencies; Keynes' challenge to the economic orthodoxy was systematic, not merely tactical, demolishing the classical premise that markets were self-regulating, that savings necessarily equaled investment, and that the sum of individual preferences aggregated to an efficient whole. He was also deeply concerned about the curse of austerity policies, the role of uncertainty in undermining the premise of economic rationality, and financial speculation in undermining the real economy -- all insights urgently relevant today.
Keynes was dismayed at the watered down and overly mechanical version of his work that passed for "Keynesianism" in much of the economics profession, especially in the United States. Clarke writes, "After dining with a group of American Keynesian economists in Washington, DC, in 1944, Keynes said at breakfast the next morning, 'I was the only non-Keynesian there.'"
Skidelsky picks up the story with an excellent, concise account of the turning away from Keynes as the postwar era evolved and the abrupt reversion to a quintessentially Keynesian crisis in 2007. The crisis, he writes, combines three interconnected failures that would be all too recognizable to Keynes: an institutional failure -- "banks mutated from utilities into casinos"; an intellectual failure of the new classical economics and the older theory on which it rests; and a "moral failure: that of a system built on money values."
Keynes, as brought to life by Clarke and Skidelsky, was far more than a renegade economist -- he was a liberal in the best sense of the word, as well as a pamphleteer, popular and scholarly educator, and statesman. Neither book, interestingly enough, offers a detailed blueprint of how to apply Keynesian teachings to the present mess. But the inferences are all there in these elegant accounts of Keynes' own work.
I began with Keynes' observation about World War II -- written well before the U.S. entered the war and before the wartime buildup fully cured the Great Depression -- because the point is so chillingly apt. Today, the Federal Reserve is out of tricks. Deficits of about 10 percent of GDP are plainly not curing the slump, but they are giving politicians hives and inviting new austerity crusades. In the four years of World War II, we incurred annual deficits of nearly 30 percent of GDP, damned the torpedoes, and blasted out of depression into durable recovery. As Clarke quotes Keynes speaking a decade earlier, "You will never balance the Budget through measures which reduce the national income. ... Look after unemployment, and the Budget will look after itself."
With the postwar boom, the huge debt ratio indeed came nicely down. A similar burst of public investment and deficit spending, but without the war, is the obvious and perhaps the only cure for today's mess. But we do not have anything like the political leadership to make that case to the public.
If the Times' "Great Recession" is misleading, a better phrase is the Great Stagnation. Though the dynamics are all too similar, to call it Great Depression II would be, well, too depressing. If we revisit Keynes and take his insights to heart, we may still avoid that fate.
At Last, Legislation to Stop Private Equity Abuses
The bill to break the back of the worst thieves on Wall Street is sponsored by—no surprise—Elizabeth Warren.
Pelosi, AOC, Trump, Bannon—and the Stakes
Trump has thrown the Democrats a lifeline. Will they take it?
Legal, Safe, Rare—and Bad Advice
Beware of zealots pushing their own views posing as friendly strategic advisers.
Robert Kuttner is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, and professor at Brandeis University's Heller School. His latest book is Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism? In addition to writing for the Prospect, he writes for HuffPost, The Boston Globe, and The New York Review of Books.
Follow Bob at his site, robertkuttner.com, and on Twitter.
Follow @kuttnerwrites
Articles By Robert Kuttner
RSS feed of articles by Robert Kuttner
Steal This Author
The Experience Gap
Winning Ugly
Back to Deadlock
Repeat Performance
The Stalemate State
Higher Expectations
Changing Faiths
In the Loophole
The Enforcement Paradox
Is Obama Too Calm Before the Storm?
Social Security and the Deficit
The Bipartisan Attack on Medicare
Budget Cuts and Our Children's Future
The Federal Reserve We Need
On the Economics of Deficits
Economic Recovery and Fiscal Balance
Deficit-Attention Disorder
Austerity: The False Cure
The Investment Deficit
The Debate We Should Be Having
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Label: ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM- atorvastatin calcium tablet, film coated
View Drug Photos
NDC Codes:
0378-3951-05, 0378-3951-07, 0378-3951-09, 0378-3951-77, 0378-3952-05, 0378-3952-07, 0378-3952-09, 0378-3952-77, 0378-3953-05, 0378-3953-07, 0378-3953-09, 0378-3953-77
Packager: Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Category: HUMAN PRESCRIPTION DRUG LABEL
Marketing Status: Abbreviated New Drug Application
These highlights do not include all the information needed to use ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM TABLETS safely and effectively. See full prescribing information for ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM TABLETS.
ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM tablets, for oral use
Atorvastatin calcium tablets are an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor indicated as an adjunct therapy to diet to:
Reduce the risk of MI, stroke, revascularization procedures, and angina in adult patients without CHD, but with multiple risk factors ( 1.1).
Reduce the risk of MI and stroke in adult patients with type 2 diabetes without CHD, but with multiple risk factors ( 1.1).
Reduce the risk of non-fatal MI, fatal and non-fatal stroke, revascularization procedures, hospitalization for CHF, and angina in adult patients with CHD ( 1.1).
Reduce elevated total-C, LDL-C, apo B, and TG levels and increase HDL-C in adult patients with primary hyperlipidemia (heterozygous familial and nonfamilial) and mixed dyslipidemia ( 1.2).
Reduce elevated TG in adult patients with hypertriglyceridemia and primary dysbetalipoproteinemia ( 1.2).
Reduce total-C and LDL-C in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) ( 1.2).
Reduce elevated total-C, LDL-C, and apo B levels in pediatric patients, 10 years to 17 years of age, with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) after failing an adequate trial of diet therapy ( 1.2).
Limitations of Use:
Atorvastatin calcium tablets have not been studied in Fredrickson Types I and V dyslipidemias (1.3).
Dose range: 10 to 80 mg once daily ( 2.1).
Recommended start dose: 10 or 20 mg once daily ( 2.1).
Patients requiring large LDL-C reduction (> 45%) may start at 40 mg once daily ( 2.1).
Pediatric patients with HeFH: starting dose: 10 mg once daily; dose range: 10 to 20 mg/day for patients 10 years to 17 years of age ( 2.2).
Tablets: 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg of atorvastatin (3).
Active liver disease, which may include unexplained persistent elevations in hepatic transaminase levels ( 4).
Hypersensitivity to any component of this medication ( 4).
Pregnancy ( 4, 8.1, 8.3).
Lactation ( 4, 8.2).
Skeletal muscle effects (e.g., myopathy and rhabdomyolysis): Risks increase when higher doses are used concomitantly with cyclosporine and strong CYP 3A4 inhibitors (e.g., clarithromycin, itraconazole, HIV protease inhibitors). Predisposing factors include advanced age (> 65), uncontrolled hypothyroidism, and renal impairment. Rare cases of rhabdomyolysis with acute renal failure secondary to myoglobinuria have been reported. Advise patients to promptly report to their physician unexplained and/or persistent muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness. Atorvastatin calcium tablet therapy should be discontinued if myopathy is diagnosed or suspected ( 5.1, 8.5).
Liver enzyme abnormalities: Persistent elevations in hepatic transaminases can occur. Check liver enzyme tests before initiating therapy and as clinically indicated thereafter ( 5.2).
A higher incidence of hemorrhagic stroke was seen in patients without CHD but with stroke or TIA within the previous 6 months in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg group vs. placebo ( 5.5).
The most commonly reported adverse reactions (incidence ≥ 2%) in patients treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets in placebo-controlled trials regardless of causality were: nasopharyngitis, arthralgia, diarrhea, pain in extremity, and urinary tract infection (6.1).
To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Mylan at 1-877-446-3679 (1-877-4-INFO-RX) or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.
Drug Interactions Associated with Increased Risk of Myopathy/Rhabdomyolysis (2.6, 5.1, 7, 12.3)
Interacting Agents
Prescribing Recommendations
Cyclosporine, HIV protease inhibitors (tipranavir plus ritonavir), hepatitis C protease inhibitor (telaprevir)
Avoid atorvastatin
HIV protease inhibitor (lopinavir plus ritonavir)
Use with caution and lowest dose necessary
Clarithromycin, itraconazole, HIV protease inhibitors (saquinavir plus ritonavir, darunavir plus ritonavir, fosamprenavir, fosamprenavir plus ritonavir)
Do not exceed 20 mg atorvastatin daily
HIV protease inhibitor (nelfinavir)
Hepatitis C protease inhibitor
(boceprevir)
Other Lipid-Lowering Medications: Use with fibrate products or lipid-modifying doses (≥ 1 g/day) of niacin increases the risk of adverse skeletal muscle effects. Caution should be used when prescribing with atorvastatin calcium tablets ( 7).
Digoxin: Patients should be monitored appropriately ( 7.8).
Oral Contraceptives: Values for norethindrone and ethinyl estradiol may be increased ( 7.9).
Rifampin should be simultaneously co-administered with atorvastatin calcium tablets ( 7.7).
Hepatic impairment: Plasma concentrations markedly increased in patients with chronic alcoholic liver disease ( 8.6, 12.3).
Females of reproductive potential: Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with atorvastatin calcium tablets ( 8.3).
1.1 Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Adults
1.2 Hyperlipidemia
1.3 Limitations of Use
2.1 Hyperlipidemia and Mixed Dyslipidemia
2.2 Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Pediatric Patients (10 Years to 17 Years of Age)
2.3 Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia
2.4 Concomitant Lipid-Lowering Therapy
2.5 Dosage in Patients with Renal Impairment
2.6 Dosage in Patients Taking Cyclosporine, Clarithromycin, Itraconazole, or Certain Protease Inhibitors
5.1 Skeletal Muscle
5.2 Liver Dysfunction
5.3 Endocrine Function
5.4 CNS Toxicity
5.5 Use in Patients with Recent Stroke or TIA
7.1 Strong Inhibitors of CYP 3A4
7.2 Grapefruit Juice
7.3 Cyclosporine
7.4 Gemfibrozil
7.5 Other Fibrates
7.6 Niacin
7.7 Rifampin or Other Inducers of Cytochrome P450 3A4
7.8 Digoxin
7.9 Oral Contraceptives
7.10 Warfarin
7.11 Colchicine
8.3 Females and Males of Reproductive Potential
8.6 Hepatic Impairment
14.1 Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease
14.2 Hyperlipidemia and Mixed Dyslipidemia
14.3 Hypertriglyceridemia
14.4 Dysbetalipoproteinemia
14.5 Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia
14.6 Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Pediatric Patients
17.1 Muscle Pain
17.2 Liver Enzymes
17.3 Embryofetal Toxicity
17.4 Lactation
Therapy with lipid-altering agents should be only one component of multiple risk factor intervention in individuals at significantly increased risk for atherosclerotic vascular disease due to hypercholesterolemia. Drug therapy is recommended as an adjunct to diet when the response to a diet restricted in saturated fat and cholesterol and other nonpharmacologic measures alone has been inadequate. In patients with CHD or multiple risk factors for CHD, atorvastatin calcium tablets can be started simultaneously with diet.
In adult patients without clinically evident coronary heart disease, but with multiple risk factors for coronary heart disease such as age, smoking, hypertension, low HDL-C, or a family history of early coronary heart disease, atorvastatin calcium tablets are indicated to:
Reduce the risk of myocardial infarction
Reduce the risk of stroke
Reduce the risk for revascularization procedures and angina
In adult patients with type 2 diabetes, and without clinically evident coronary heart disease, but with multiple risk factors for coronary heart disease such as retinopathy, albuminuria, smoking, or hypertension, atorvastatin calcium tablets are indicated to:
In adult patients with clinically evident coronary heart disease, atorvastatin calcium tablets are indicated to:
Reduce the risk of non-fatal myocardial infarction
Reduce the risk of fatal and non-fatal stroke
Reduce the risk for revascularization procedures
Reduce the risk of hospitalization for CHF
Reduce the risk of angina
Atorvastatin calcium tablets are indicated:
As an adjunct to diet to reduce elevated total-C, LDL-C, apo B, and TG levels and to increase HDL-C in adult patients with primary hypercholesterolemia (heterozygous familial and nonfamilial) and mixed dyslipidemia ( Fredrickson Types IIa and IIb);
As an adjunct to diet for the treatment of adult patients with elevated serum TG levels ( Fredrickson Type IV);
For the treatment of adult patients with primary dysbetalipoproteinemia ( Fredrickson Type III) who do not respond adequately to diet;
To reduce total-C and LDL-C in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH) as an adjunct to other lipid-lowering treatments (e.g., LDL apheresis) or if such treatments are unavailable;
As an adjunct to diet to reduce total-C, LDL-C, and apo B levels in pediatric patients, 10 years to 17 years of age, with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) if after an adequate trial of diet therapy the following findings are present:
LDL-C remains ≥ 190 mg/dL or
LDL-C remains ≥ 160 mg/dL and:
there is a positive family history of premature cardiovascular disease or
two or more other CVD risk factors are present in the pediatric patient
Atorvastatin calcium tablets have not been studied in conditions where the major lipoprotein abnormality is elevation of chylomicrons (Fredrickson Types I and V).
The recommended starting dose of atorvastatin calcium tablets is 10 or 20 mg once daily. Patients who require a large reduction in LDL-C (more than 45%) may be started at 40 mg once daily. The dosage range of atorvastatin calcium tablets is 10 to 80 mg once daily. Atorvastatin calcium tablets can be administered as a single dose at any time of the day, with or without food. The starting dose and maintenance doses of atorvastatin calcium tablets should be individualized according to patient characteristics such as goal of therapy and response. After initiation and/or upon titration of atorvastatin calcium tablets, lipid levels should be analyzed within 2 to 4 weeks and dosage adjusted accordingly.
The recommended starting dose of atorvastatin calcium tablets is 10 mg/day; the usual dose range is 10 to 20 mg orally once daily [see Clinical Studies (14.6)]. Doses should be individualized according to the recommended goal of therapy [see Indications and Usage (1.2) and Clinical Pharmacology (12)]. Adjustments should be made at intervals of 4 weeks or more.
The dosage of atorvastatin calcium tablets in patients with HoFH is 10 to 80 mg daily. Atorvastatin calcium tablets should be used as an adjunct to other lipid-lowering treatments (e.g., LDL apheresis) in these patients or if such treatments are unavailable.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets may be used with bile acid resins. The combination of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) and fibrates should generally be used with caution [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) and Drug Interactions (7)].
Renal disease does not affect the plasma concentrations nor LDL-C reduction of atorvastatin calcium tablets; thus, dosage adjustment in patients with renal dysfunction is not necessary [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) and Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)].
In patients taking cyclosporine or the HIV protease inhibitors (tipranavir plus ritonavir) or the hepatitis C protease inhibitor (telaprevir), therapy with atorvastatin calcium tablets should be avoided. In patients with HIV taking lopinavir plus ritonavir, caution should be used when prescribing atorvastatin calcium tablets and the lowest dose necessary employed. In patients taking clarithromycin, itraconazole, or in patients with HIV taking a combination of saquinavir plus ritonavir, darunavir plus ritonavir, fosamprenavir, or fosamprenavir plus ritonavir, therapy with atorvastatin calcium tablets should be limited to 20 mg, and appropriate clinical assessment is recommended to ensure that the lowest dose necessary of atorvastatin calcium tablets is employed. In patients taking the HIV protease inhibitor nelfinavir or the hepatitis C protease inhibitor boceprevir, therapy with atorvastatin calcium tablets should be limited to 40 mg, and appropriate clinical assessment is recommended to ensure that the lowest dose necessary of atorvastatin calcium tablets is employed [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) and Drug Interactions (7)].
Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets, USP are available containing atorvastatin calcium, USP equivalent to 10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg or 80 mg of atorvastatin.
The 10 mg tablets are white to off-white, film-coated, oval, unscored tablets debossed with 10 on one side of the tablet and blank on the other side.
Active Liver Disease, Which May Include Unexplained Persistent Elevations in Hepatic Transaminase Levels
Hypersensitivity to Any Component of This Medication
Pregnancy [see Use in Specific Populations (8.1) ].
Lactation [see Use in Specific Populations (8.2)].
Rare cases of rhabdomyolysis with acute renal failure secondary to myoglobinuria have been reported with atorvastatin calcium tablets and with other drugs in this class. A history of renal impairment may be a risk factor for the development of rhabdomyolysis. Such patients merit closer monitoring for skeletal muscle effects.
Atorvastatin, like other statins, occasionally causes myopathy, defined as muscle aches or muscle weakness in conjunction with increases in creatine phosphokinase (CPK) values > 10 times ULN. The concomitant use of higher doses of atorvastatin with certain drugs such as cyclosporine and strong CYP 3A4 inhibitors (e.g., clarithromycin, itraconazole, and HIV protease inhibitors) increases the risk of myopathy/rhabdomyolysis.
There have been rare reports of immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM), an autoimmune myopathy, associated with statin use. IMNM is characterized by: proximal muscle weakness and elevated serum creatine kinase, which persist despite discontinuation of statin treatment; muscle biopsy showing necrotizing myopathy without significant inflammation; improvement with immunosuppressive agents.
Myopathy should be considered in any patient with diffuse myalgias, muscle tenderness or weakness, and/or marked elevation of CPK. Patients should be advised to report promptly unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, particularly if accompanied by malaise or fever or if muscle signs and symptoms persist after discontinuing atorvastatin calcium tablets. Atorvastatin calcium tablet therapy should be discontinued if markedly elevated CPK levels occur or myopathy is diagnosed or suspected.
The risk of myopathy during treatment with drugs in this class is increased with concurrent administration of cyclosporine, fibric acid derivatives, erythromycin, clarithromycin, the hepatitis C protease inhibitor telaprevir, combinations of HIV protease inhibitors, including saquinavir plus ritonavir, lopinavir plus ritonavir, tipranavir plus ritonavir, darunavir plus ritonavir, fosamprenavir, and fosamprenavir plus ritonavir, niacin, or azole antifungals. Physicians considering combined therapy with atorvastatin calcium tablets and fibric acid derivatives, erythromycin, clarithromycin, a combination of saquinavir plus ritonavir, lopinavir plus ritonavir, darunavir plus ritonavir, fosamprenavir, or fosamprenavir plus ritonavir, azole antifungals, or lipid-modifying doses of niacin should carefully weigh the potential benefits and risks and should carefully monitor patients for any signs or symptoms of muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, particularly during the initial months of therapy and during any periods of upward dosage titration of either drug. Lower starting and maintenance doses of atorvastatin should be considered when taken concomitantly with the aforementioned drugs [see Drug Interactions (7)]. Periodic creatine phosphokinase (CPK) determinations may be considered in such situations, but there is no assurance that such monitoring will prevent the occurrence of severe myopathy.
Prescribing recommendations for interacting agents are summarized in Table 2 [see Dosage and Administration (2.6), Drug Interactions (7), and Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)].
Table 2. Drug Interactions Associated with Increased Risk of Myopathy/Rhabdomyolysis
Use with caution and with the lowest dose necessary ( 12.3)
Clarithromycin, itraconazole, HIV protease inhibitors (saquinavir plus ritonavir* , darunavir plus ritonavir, fosamprenavir, fosamprenavir plus ritonavir)
Hepatitis C protease inhibitor (boceprevir)
Cases of myopathy, including rhabdomyolysis, have been reported with atorvastatin co-administered with colchicine, and caution should be exercised when prescribing atorvastatin with colchicine [see Drug Interactions (7.11)].
Atorvastatin calcium tablet therapy should be temporarily withheld or discontinued in any patient with an acute, serious condition suggestive of a myopathy or having a risk factor predisposing to the development of renal failure secondary to rhabdomyolysis (e.g., severe acute infection, hypotension, major surgery, trauma, severe metabolic, endocrine and electrolyte disorders, and uncontrolled seizures).
Statins, like some other lipid-lowering therapies, have been associated with biochemical abnormalities of liver function. Persistent elevations (> 3 times the upper limit of normal [ULN] occurring on 2 or more occasions) in serum transaminases occurred in 0.7% of patients who received atorvastatin calcium tablets in clinical trials. The incidence of these abnormalities was 0.2%, 0.2%, 0.6%, and 2.3% for 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg, respectively.
One patient in clinical trials developed jaundice. Increases in liver function tests (LFT) in other patients were not associated with jaundice or other clinical signs or symptoms. Upon dose reduction, drug interruption, or discontinuation, transaminase levels returned to or near pretreatment levels without sequelae. Eighteen of 30 patients with persistent LFT elevations continued treatment with a reduced dose of atorvastatin calcium tablets.
It is recommended that liver enzyme tests be obtained prior to initiating therapy with atorvastatin calcium tablets and repeated as clinically indicated. There have been rare postmarketing reports of fatal and non-fatal hepatic failure in patients taking statins, including atorvastatin. If serious liver injury with clinical symptoms and/or hyperbilirubinemia or jaundice occurs during treatment with atorvastatin calcium tablets, promptly interrupt therapy. If an alternate etiology is not found, do not restart atorvastatin calcium tablets.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets should be used with caution in patients who consume substantial quantities of alcohol and/or have a history of liver disease. Active liver disease or unexplained persistent transaminase elevations are contraindications to the use of atorvastatin calcium tablets [see Contraindications (4)].
Increases in HbA1c and fasting serum glucose levels have been reported with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, including atorvastatin calcium tablets.
Statins interfere with cholesterol synthesis and theoretically might blunt adrenal and/or gonadal steroid production. Clinical studies have shown that atorvastatin calcium tablets do not reduce basal plasma cortisol concentration or impair adrenal reserve. The effects of statins on male fertility have not been studied in adequate numbers of patients. The effects, if any, on the pituitary-gonadal axis in premenopausal women are unknown. Caution should be exercised if a statin is administered concomitantly with drugs that may decrease the levels or activity of endogenous steroid hormones, such as ketoconazole, spironolactone, and cimetidine.
Brain hemorrhage was seen in a female dog treated for 3 months at 120 mg/kg/day. Brain hemorrhage and optic nerve vacuolation were seen in another female dog that was sacrificed in moribund condition after 11 weeks of escalating doses up to 280 mg/kg/day. The 120 mg/kg dose resulted in a systemic exposure approximately 16 times the human plasma area-under-the-curve (AUC, 0-24 hours) based on the maximum human dose of 80 mg/day. A single tonic convulsion was seen in each of 2 male dogs (one treated at 10 mg/kg/day and one at 120 mg/kg/day) in a 2-year study. No CNS lesions have been observed in mice after chronic treatment for up to 2 years at doses up to 400 mg/kg/day or in rats at doses up to 100 mg/kg/day. These doses were 6 to 11 times (mouse) and 8 to 16 times (rat) the human AUC (0-24) based on the maximum recommended human dose of 80 mg/day.
CNS vascular lesions, characterized by perivascular hemorrhages, edema, and mononuclear cell infiltration of perivascular spaces, have been observed in dogs treated with other members of this class. A chemically similar drug in this class produced optic nerve degeneration (Wallerian degeneration of retinogeniculate fibers) in clinically normal dogs in a dose-dependent fashion at a dose that produced plasma drug levels about 30 times higher than the mean drug level in humans taking the highest recommended dose.
In a post-hoc analysis of the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) study where atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg vs. placebo was administered in 4,731 subjects without CHD who had a stroke or TIA within the preceding 6 months, a higher incidence of hemorrhagic stroke was seen in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg group compared to placebo (55, 2.3% atorvastatin vs. 33, 1.4% placebo; HR: 1.68, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.59; p = 0.0168). The incidence of fatal hemorrhagic stroke was similar across treatment groups (17 vs. 18 for the atorvastatin and placebo groups, respectively). The incidence of non-fatal hemorrhagic stroke was significantly higher in the atorvastatin group (38, 1.6%) as compared to the placebo group (16, 0.7%). Some baseline characteristics, including hemorrhagic and lacunar stroke on study entry, were associated with a higher incidence of hemorrhagic stroke in the atorvastatin group [see Adverse Reactions (6.1)].
The following serious adverse reactions are discussed in greater detail in other sections of the label:
Rhabdomyolysis and myopathy [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1)]
Liver enzyme abnormalities [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2)]
Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, the adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in clinical practice.
In the atorvastatin calcium tablets placebo-controlled clinical trial database of 16,066 patients (8,755 atorvastatin calcium tablets vs. 7,311 placebo; age range 10-93 years, 39% women, 91% Caucasians, 3% Blacks, 2% Asians, 4% other) with a median treatment duration of 53 weeks, 9.7% of patients on atorvastatin calcium tablets and 9.5% of the patients on placebo discontinued due to adverse reactions regardless of causality. The five most common adverse reactions in patients treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets that led to treatment discontinuation and occurred at a rate greater than placebo were: myalgia (0.7%), diarrhea (0.5%), nausea (0.4%), alanine aminotransferase increase (0.4%), and hepatic enzyme increase (0.4%).
The most commonly reported adverse reactions (incidence ≥ 2% and greater than placebo) regardless of causality, in patients treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets in placebo-controlled trials (n = 8,755) were: nasopharyngitis (8.3%), arthralgia (6.9%), diarrhea (6.8%), pain in extremity (6.0%), and urinary tract infection (5.7%).
Table 3 summarizes the frequency of clinical adverse reactions, regardless of causality, reported in ≥ 2% and at a rate greater than placebo in patients treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets (n = 8,755), from seventeen placebo-controlled trials.
Table 3. Clinical Adverse Reactions Occurring in ≥ 2% in Patients Treated with Any Dose of Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets and at an Incidence Greater Than Placebo Regardless of Causality (% of Patients).
Adverse Reaction ≥ 2% in any dose greater than placebo.
Adverse Reaction*
Any Dose
N = 8,755
Pain in extremity
Dyspepsia
Pharyngolaryngeal pain
Other adverse reactions reported in placebo-controlled studies include:
Body as a Whole: malaise, pyrexia;
Digestive System: abdominal discomfort, eructation, flatulence, hepatitis, cholestasis;
Musculoskeletal System: musculoskeletal pain, muscle fatigue, neck pain, joint swelling;
Metabolic and Nutritional System: transaminases increase, liver function test abnormal, blood alkaline phosphatase increase, creatine phosphokinase increase, hyperglycemia;
Nervous System: nightmare;
Respiratory System: epistaxis;
Skin and Appendages: urticaria;
Special Senses: vision blurred, tinnitus;
Urogenital System: white blood cells urine positive.
Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial (ASCOT)
In ASCOT [see Clinical Studies (14.1)] involving 10,305 participants (age range 40-80 years, 19% women; 94.6% Caucasians, 2.6% Africans, 1.5% South Asians, 1.3% mixed/other) treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg daily (n = 5,168) or placebo (n = 5,137), the safety and tolerability profile of the group treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets was comparable to that of the group treated with placebo during a median of 3.3 years of follow-up.
Collaborative Atorvastatin Diabetes Study (CARDS)
In CARDS [see Clinical Studies (14.1)] involving 2,838 subjects (age range 39-77 years, 32% women; 94.3% Caucasians, 2.4% South Asians, 2.3% Afro-Caribbean, 1.0% other) with type 2 diabetes treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg daily (n = 1,428) or placebo (n = 1,410), there was no difference in the overall frequency of adverse reactions or serious adverse reactions between the treatment groups during a median follow-up of 3.9 years. No cases of rhabdomyolysis were reported.
Treating to New Targets Study (TNT)
In TNT [see Clinical Studies (14.1)] involving 10,001 subjects (age range 29-78 years, 19% women; 94.1% Caucasians, 2.9% Blacks, 1.0% Asians, 2.0% other) with clinically evident CHD treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg daily (n = 5,006) or atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg daily (n = 4,995), there were more serious adverse reactions and discontinuations due to adverse reactions in the high-dose atorvastatin group (92, 1.8%; 497, 9.9%, respectively) as compared to the low-dose group (69, 1.4%; 404, 8.1%, respectively) during a median follow-up of 4.9 years. Persistent transaminase elevations (≥ 3 x ULN twice within 4-10 days) occurred in 62 (1.3%) individuals with atorvastatin 80 mg and in nine (0.2%) individuals with atorvastatin 10 mg. Elevations of CK (≥ 10 x ULN) were low overall, but were higher in the high-dose atorvastatin treatment group (13, 0.3%) compared to the low-dose atorvastatin group (6, 0.1%).
Incremental Decrease in Endpoints through Aggressive Lipid Lowering Study (IDEAL)
In IDEAL [see Clinical Studies (14.1)] involving 8,888 subjects (age range 26-80 years, 19% women; 99.3% Caucasians, 0.4% Asians, 0.3% Blacks, 0.04% other) treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg/day (n = 4,439) or simvastatin 20-40 mg daily (n = 4,449), there was no difference in the overall frequency of adverse reactions or serious adverse reactions between the treatment groups during a median follow-up of 4.8 years.
Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL)
In SPARCL involving 4,731 subjects (age range 21-92 years, 40% women; 93.3% Caucasians, 3.0% Blacks, 0.6% Asians, 3.1% other) without clinically evident CHD but with a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) within the previous 6 months treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg (n = 2,365) or placebo (n = 2,366) for a median follow-up of 4.9 years, there was a higher incidence of persistent hepatic transaminase elevations (≥ 3 x ULN twice within 4-10 days) in the atorvastatin group (0.9%) compared to placebo (0.1%). Elevations of CK (> 10 x ULN) were rare, but were higher in the atorvastatin group (0.1%) compared to placebo (0.0%). Diabetes was reported as an adverse reaction in 144 subjects (6.1%) in the atorvastatin group and 89 subjects (3.8%) in the placebo group [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5)].
In a post-hoc analysis, atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg reduced the incidence of ischemic stroke (218/2,365, 9.2% vs. 274/2,366, 11.6%) and increased the incidence of hemorrhagic stroke (55/2,365, 2.3% vs. 33/2,366, 1.4%) compared to placebo. The incidence of fatal hemorrhagic stroke was similar between groups (17 atorvastatin calcium tablets vs. 18 placebo). The incidence of non-fatal hemorrhagic strokes was significantly greater in the atorvastatin group (38 non-fatal hemorrhagic strokes) as compared to the placebo group (16 non-fatal hemorrhagic strokes). Subjects who entered the study with a hemorrhagic stroke appeared to be at increased risk for hemorrhagic stroke [7 (16%) atorvastatin calcium tablets vs. 2 (4%) placebo].
There were no significant differences between the treatment groups for all-cause mortality: 216 (9.1%) in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg/day group vs. 211 (8.9%) in the placebo group. The proportions of subjects who experienced cardiovascular death were numerically smaller in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg group (3.3%) than in the placebo group (4.1%). The proportions of subjects who experienced non-cardiovascular death were numerically larger in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg group (5.0%) than in the placebo group (4.0%).
Adverse Reactions from Clinical Studies of Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets in Pediatric Patients
In a 26-week controlled study in boys and postmenarchal girls with HeFH (ages 10 years to 17 years) (n = 140, 31% female; 92% Caucasians, 1.6% Blacks, 1.6% Asians, 4.8% other), the safety and tolerability profile of atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 to 20 mg daily, as an adjunct to diet to reduce total cholesterol, LDL-C, and apo B levels, was generally similar to that of placebo [see Use in Special Populations (8.4) and Clinical Studies (14.6)].
The following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of atorvastatin calcium tablets. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.
Adverse reactions associated with atorvastatin calcium tablet therapy reported since market introduction, that are not listed above, regardless of causality assessment, include the following: anaphylaxis, angioneurotic edema, bullous rashes (including erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and toxic epidermal necrolysis), rhabdomyolysis, myositis, fatigue, tendon rupture, fatal and non-fatal hepatic failure, dizziness, depression, peripheral neuropathy, pancreatitis and interstitial lung disease.
There have been rare reports of immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy associated with statin use [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].
There have been rare postmarketing reports of cognitive impairment (e.g., memory loss, forgetfulness, amnesia, memory impairment, confusion) associated with statin use. These cognitive issues have been reported for all statins. The reports are generally nonserious, and reversible upon statin discontinuation, with variable times to symptom onset (1 day to years) and symptom resolution (median of 3 weeks).
The risk of myopathy during treatment with statins is increased with concurrent administration of fibric acid derivatives, lipid-modifying doses of niacin, cyclosporine, or strong CYP 3A4 inhibitors (e.g., clarithromycin, HIV protease inhibitors, and itraconazole) [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) and Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)].
Atorvastatin is metabolized by cytochrome P450 3A4. Concomitant administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets with strong inhibitors of CYP 3A4 can lead to increases in plasma concentrations of atorvastatin. The extent of interaction and potentiation of effects depend on the variability of effect on CYP 3A4.
Atorvastatin AUC was significantly increased with concomitant administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg with clarithromycin (500 mg twice daily) compared to that of atorvastatin calcium tablets alone [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)]. Therefore, in patients taking clarithromycin, caution should be used when the atorvastatin calcium tablet dose exceeds 20 mg [see Dosage and Administration (2.6) and Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].
Combination of Protease Inhibitors
Atorvastatin AUC was significantly increased with concomitant administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets with several combinations of HIV protease inhibitors, as well as with the hepatitis C protease inhibitor telaprevir, compared to that of atorvastatin calcium tablets alone [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)]. Therefore, in patients taking the HIV protease inhibitor tipranavir plus ritonavir, or the hepatitis C protease inhibitor telaprevir, concomitant use of atorvastatin calcium tablets should be avoided. In patients taking the HIV protease inhibitor lopinavir plus ritonavir, caution should be used when prescribing atorvastatin calcium tablets and the lowest dose necessary should be used. In patients taking the HIV protease inhibitors saquinavir plus ritonavir, darunavir plus ritonavir, fosamprenavir, or fosamprenavir plus ritonavir, the dose of atorvastatin calcium tablets should not exceed 20 mg and should be used with caution [see Dosage and Administration (2.6) and Warnings and Precautions (5.1)]. In patients taking the HIV protease inhibitor nelfinavir or the hepatitis C protease inhibitor boceprevir, the dose of atorvastatin calcium tablets should not exceed 40 mg and close clinical monitoring is recommended.
Atorvastatin AUC was significantly increased with concomitant administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets 40 mg and itraconazole 200 mg [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)]. Therefore, in patients taking itraconazole, caution should be used when the atorvastatin calcium tablet dose exceeds 20 mg [see Dosage and Administration (2.6) and Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].
Contains one or more components that inhibit CYP 3A4 and can increase plasma concentrations of atorvastatin, especially with excessive grapefruit juice consumption (> 1.2 liters per day).
Atorvastatin and atorvastatin-metabolites are substrates of the OATP1B1 transporter. Inhibitors of the OATP1B1 (e.g., cyclosporine) can increase the bioavailability of atorvastatin. Atorvastatin AUC was significantly increased with concomitant administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg and cyclosporine 5.2 mg/kg/day compared to that of atorvastatin calcium tablets alone [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)]. The co-administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets with cyclosporine should be avoided [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].
Due to an increased risk of myopathy/rhabdomyolysis when HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors are co-administered with gemfibrozil, concomitant administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets with gemfibrozil should be avoided [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].
Because it is known that the risk of myopathy during treatment with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors is increased with concurrent administration of other fibrates, atorvastatin calcium tablets should be administered with caution when used concomitantly with other fibrates [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].
The risk of skeletal muscle effects may be enhanced when atorvastatin calcium tablets are used in combination with niacin; a reduction in atorvastatin calcium tablet dosage should be considered in this setting [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].
Concomitant administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets with inducers of cytochrome P450 3A4 (e.g., efavirenz, rifampin) can lead to variable reductions in plasma concentrations of atorvastatin. Due to the dual interaction mechanism of rifampin, simultaneous co-administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets with rifampin is recommended, as delayed administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets after administration of rifampin has been associated with a significant reduction in atorvastatin plasma concentrations.
When multiple doses of atorvastatin calcium tablets and digoxin were co-administered, steady state plasma digoxin concentrations increased by approximately 20%. Patients taking digoxin should be monitored appropriately.
Co-administration of atorvastatin calcium tablets and an oral contraceptive increased AUC values for norethindrone and ethinyl estradiol [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)]. These increases should be considered when selecting an oral contraceptive for a woman taking atorvastatin calcium tablets.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets had no clinically significant effect on prothrombin time when administered to patients receiving chronic warfarin treatment.
Cases of myopathy, including rhabdomyolysis, have been reported with atorvastatin co-administered with colchicine, and caution should be exercised when prescribing atorvastatin with colchicine.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets are contraindicated for use in pregnant women since safety in pregnant women has not been established and there is no apparent benefit of lipid lowering drugs during pregnancy. Because HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors decrease cholesterol synthesis and possibly the synthesis of other biologically active substances derived from cholesterol, atorvastatin calcium tablets may cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Atorvastatin calcium tablets should be discontinued as soon as pregnancy is recognized [see Contraindications (4)]. Limited published data on the use of atorvastatin are insufficient to determine a drug-associated risk of major congenital malformations or miscarriage. In animal reproduction studies in rats and rabbits there was no evidence of embryo-fetal toxicity or congenital malformations at doses up to 30 and 20 times, respectively, the human exposure at the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) of 80 mg, based on body surface area (mg/m2). In rats administered atorvastatin during gestation and lactation, decreased postnatal growth and development was observed at doses ≥ 6 times the MRHD (see Data).
The estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated population is unknown. In the U.S. general population, the estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage in clinically recognized pregnancies is 2-4% and 15-20%, respectively.
Human Data
Limited published data on atorvastatin calcium from observational studies, meta-analyses and case reports have not shown an increased risk of major congenital malformations or miscarriage. Rare reports of congenital anomalies have been received following intrauterine exposure to other HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. In a review of approximately 100 prospectively followed pregnancies in women exposed to simvastatin or lovastatin, the incidences of congenital anomalies, spontaneous abortions, and fetal deaths/stillbirths did not exceed what would be expected in the general population. The number of cases is adequate to exclude a ≥ 3 to 4-fold increase in congenital anomalies over the background incidence. In 89% of the prospectively followed pregnancies, drug treatment was initiated prior to pregnancy and was discontinued at some point in the first trimester when pregnancy was identified.
Animal Data
Atorvastatin crosses the rat placenta and reaches a level in fetal liver equivalent to that of maternal plasma. Atorvastatin was administered to pregnant rats and rabbits during organogenesis at oral doses up to 300 mg/kg/day and 100 mg/kg/day, respectively. Atorvastatin was not teratogenic in rats at doses up to 300 mg/kg/day or in rabbits at doses up to 100 mg/kg/day. These doses resulted in multiples of about 30 times (rat) or 20 times (rabbit) the human exposure at the MRHD based on surface area (mg/m2). In rats, the maternally toxic dose of 300 mg/kg resulted in increased post-implantation loss and decreased fetal body weight. At the maternally toxic doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg/day in rabbits, there was increased post-implantation loss, and at 100 mg/kg/day fetal body weights were decreased.
In a study in pregnant rats administered 20, 100, or 225 mg/kg/day from gestation day 7 through to lactation day 20 (weaning), there was decreased survival at birth, postnatal day 4, weaning, and post-weaning in pups of mothers dosed with 225 mg/kg/day, a dose at which maternal toxicity was observed. Pup body weight was decreased through postnatal day 21 at 100 mg/kg/day, and through postnatal day 91 at 225 mg/kg/day. Pup development was delayed (rotorod performance at 100 mg/kg/day and acoustic startle at 225 mg/kg/day; pinnae detachment and eye-opening at 225 mg/kg/day). These doses correspond to 6 times (100 mg/kg) and 22 times (225 mg/kg) the human exposure at the MRHD, based on AUC.
Atorvastatin calcium tablet use is contraindicated during breastfeeding [see Contraindications (4)]. There is no available information on the effects of the drug on the breastfed infant or the effects of the drug on milk production. It is not known whether atorvastatin is present in human milk, but it has been shown that another drug in this class passes into human milk and atorvastatin is present in rat milk. Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in a breastfed infant, advise women that breastfeeding is not recommended during treatment with atorvastatin calcium tablets.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets may cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with atorvastatin calcium tablets [see Use in Specific Populations (8.1)].
Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (HeFH)
The safety and effectiveness of atorvastatin calcium tablets have been established in pediatric patients,10 years to 17 years of age, with HeFH as an adjunct to diet to reduce total cholesterol, LDL-C, and apo B levels when, after an adequate trial of diet therapy, the following are present:
LDL-C ≥ 190 mg/dL, or
LDL-C ≥ 160 mg/dL and
a positive family history of FH, or premature CVD in a first, or second-degree relative, or
two or more other CVD risk factors are present.
Use of atorvastatin calcium tablets for this indication is supported by evidence from [see Dosage and Administration (2.2), Adverse Reactions (6.1), Clinical Pharmacology (12.3), and Clinical Studies (14.6)]:
A placebo-controlled clinical trial of 6 months duration in 187 boys and postmenarchal girls, 10 years to 17 years of age. Patients treated with 10 mg or 20 mg daily atorvastatin calcium tablets had an adverse reaction profile generally similar to that of patients treated with placebo. In this limited controlled study, there was no significant effect on growth or sexual maturation in boys or on menstrual cycle length in girls.
Advise postmenarchal girls of contraception recommendations, if appropriate for the patient [see Use in Specific Populations (8.1), (8.3)].
The long-term efficacy of atorvastatin calcium tablet therapy initiated in childhood to reduce morbidity and mortality in adulthood has not been established.
The safety and efficacy of atorvastatin calcium tablets have not been established in pediatric patients younger than 10 years of age with HeFH.
Additional pediatric use information is approved for Pfizer’s LIPITOR (atorvastatin calcium) tablets. However, due to Pfizer’s marketing exclusivity rights, this drug product is not labeled with that pediatric information.
Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (HoFH)
Clinical efficacy of atorvastatin calcium tablets with dosages up to 80 mg/day for 1 year was evaluated in an uncontrolled study of patients with HoFH including 8 pediatric patients [see Clinical Studies (14.5)].
Of the 39,828 patients who received atorvastatin calcium tablets in clinical studies, 15,813 (40%) were ≥ 65 years old and 2,800 (7%) were ≥ 75 years old. No overall differences in safety or effectiveness were observed between these subjects and younger subjects, and other reported clinical experience has not identified differences in responses between the elderly and younger patients, but greater sensitivity of some older adults cannot be ruled out. Since advanced age (≥ 65 years) is a predisposing factor for myopathy, atorvastatin calcium tablets should be prescribed with caution in the elderly.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets are contraindicated in patients with active liver disease which may include unexplained persistent elevations in hepatic transaminase levels [see Contraindications (4) and Pharmacokinetics (12.3)].
There is no specific treatment for atorvastatin calcium tablet overdosage. In the event of an overdose, the patient should be treated symptomatically, and supportive measures instituted as required. Due to extensive drug binding to plasma proteins, hemodialysis is not expected to significantly enhance atorvastatin clearance.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets, USP are a synthetic lipid-lowering agent. Atorvastatin is an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. This enzyme catalyzes the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate, an early and rate-limiting step in cholesterol biosynthesis.
Atorvastatin calcium is [R-(R*, R*)]-2-(4-fluorophenyl)-ß,δ-dihydroxy-5-(1-methylethyl)-3-phenyl-4-[(phenylamino)carbonyl]-1H-Pyrrole-1-heptanoic acid, calcium salt (2:1) trihydrate. The molecular formula of atorvastatin calcium is C66H68CaF2N4O10•3H2O and its molecular weight is 1209. Its structural formula is:
Atorvastatin calcium, USP is a white to off-white crystalline powder that is insoluble in aqueous solutions of pH 4 and below. Atorvastatin calcium is very slightly soluble in distilled water, pH 7.4 phosphate buffer, and acetonitrile; slightly soluble in ethanol; and freely soluble in methanol.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets for oral administration contain 10, 20, 40, or 80 mg of atorvastatin and the following inactive ingredients: anhydrous lactose, anhydrous sodium carbonate, colloidal silicon dioxide, croscarmellose sodium, hydroxypropyl cellulose, L-Arginine, magnesium stearate and microcrystalline cellulose. The film coating of the tablets contains polyvinyl alcohol, talc and titanium dioxide, and may contain polyethylene glycol or lecithin and xanthan gum.
Meets USP Dissolution Test 4.
Atorvastatin is a selective, competitive inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme that converts 3-hydroxy-3methylglutaryl-coenzyme A to mevalonate, a precursor of sterols, including cholesterol. In animal models, atorvastatin lowers plasma cholesterol and lipoprotein levels by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase and cholesterol synthesis in the liver and by increasing the number of hepatic LDL receptors on the cell surface to enhance uptake and catabolism of LDL; atorvastatin also reduces LDL production and the number of LDL particles.
Atorvastatin, as well as some of its metabolites, are pharmacologically active in humans. The liver is the primary site of action and the principal site of cholesterol synthesis and LDL clearance. Drug dosage, rather than systemic drug concentration, correlates better with LDL-C reduction. Individualization of drug dosage should be based on therapeutic response [see Dosage and Administration (2)].
Atorvastatin calcium tablets are rapidly absorbed after oral administration; maximum plasma concentrations occur within 1 to 2 hours. Extent of absorption increases in proportion to atorvastatin calcium tablets dose. The absolute bioavailability of atorvastatin (parent drug) is approximately 14% and the systemic availability of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitory activity is approximately 30%. The low systemic availability is attributed to presystemic clearance in gastrointestinal mucosa and/or hepatic first-pass metabolism. Although food decreases the rate and extent of drug absorption by approximately 25% and 9%, respectively, as assessed by Cmax and AUC, LDL-C reduction is similar whether atorvastatin calcium tablets are given with or without food. Plasma atorvastatin concentrations are lower (approximately 30% for Cmax and AUC) following evening drug administration compared with morning. However, LDL-C reduction is the same regardless of the time of day of drug administration [see Dosage and Administration (2)].
Mean volume of distribution of atorvastatin is approximately 381 liters. Atorvastatin is ≥ 98% bound to plasma proteins. A blood/plasma ratio of approximately 0.25 indicates poor drug penetration into red blood cells. Based on observations in rats, atorvastatin is likely to be secreted in human milk [see Contraindications (4) and Use in Specific Populations (8.2)].
Atorvastatin is extensively metabolized to ortho- and parahydroxylated derivatives and various beta-oxidation products. In vitro inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase by ortho- and parahydroxylated metabolites is equivalent to that of atorvastatin. Approximately 70% of circulating inhibitory activity for HMG-CoA reductase is attributed to active metabolites. In vitro studies suggest the importance of atorvastatin metabolism by cytochrome P450 3A4, consistent with increased plasma concentrations of atorvastatin in humans following co-administration with erythromycin, a known inhibitor of this isozyme [see Drug Interactions (7.1)]. In animals, the ortho-hydroxy metabolite undergoes further glucuronidation.
Atorvastatin and its metabolites are eliminated primarily in bile following hepatic and/or extra-hepatic metabolism; however, the drug does not appear to undergo enterohepatic recirculation. Mean plasma elimination half-life of atorvastatin in humans is approximately 14 hours, but the half-life of inhibitory activity for HMG-CoA reductase is 20 to 30 hours due to the contribution of active metabolites. Less than 2% of a dose of atorvastatin is recovered in urine following oral administration.
Specific Populations
Plasma concentrations of atorvastatin are higher (approximately 40% for Cmax and 30% for AUC) in healthy elderly subjects (age ≥ 65 years) than in young adults. Clinical data suggest a greater degree of LDL-lowering at any dose of drug in the elderly patient population compared to younger adults [see Use in Specific Populations (8.5)].
Apparent oral clearance of atorvastatin in pediatric subjects appeared similar to that of adults when scaled allometrically by body weight as the body weight was the only significant covariate in atorvastatin population PK model with data including pediatric HeFH patients (ages 10 years to 17 years of age, n = 29) in an open-label, 8-week study.
Plasma concentrations of atorvastatin in women differ from those in men (approximately 20% higher for Cmax and 10% lower for AUC); however, there is no clinically significant difference in LDL-C reduction with atorvastatin calcium tablets between men and women.
Renal Impairment
Renal disease has no influence on the plasma concentrations or LDL-C reduction of atorvastatin; thus, dose adjustment in patients with renal dysfunction is not necessary [see Dosage and Administration (2.5) and Warnings and Precautions (5.1)].
Hemodialysis
While studies have not been conducted in patients with end-stage renal disease, hemodialysis is not expected to significantly enhance clearance of atorvastatin since the drug is extensively bound to plasma proteins.
Hepatic Impairment
In patients with chronic alcoholic liver disease, plasma concentrations of atorvastatin are markedly increased. Cmax and AUC are each 4-fold greater in patients with Childs-Pugh A disease. Cmax and AUC are approximately 16-fold and 11-fold increased, respectively, in patients with Childs-Pugh B disease [see Contraindications (4)].
Table 4. Effect of Co-administered Drugs on the Pharmacokinetics of Atorvastatin
Data given as x-fold change represent a simple ratio between co-administration and atorvastatin alone (i.e., 1-fold = no change). Data given as % change represent % difference relative to atorvastatin alone (i.e., 0% = no change).
See Sections 5.1 and 7 for clinical significance.
The dose of saquinavir plus ritonavir in this study is not the clinically used dose. The increase in atorvastatin exposure when used clinically is likely to be higher than what was observed in this study. Therefore, caution should be applied and the lowest dose necessary should be used.
Greater increases in AUC (up to 2.5-fold) and/or C max (up to 71%) have been reported with excessive grapefruit consumption (≥ 750 mL-1.2 liters per day).
Single sample taken 8-16 h post dose.
Due to the dual interaction mechanism of rifampin, simultaneous co-administration of atorvastatin with rifampin is recommended, as delayed administration of atorvastatin after administration of rifampin has been associated with a significant reduction in atorvastatin plasma concentrations.
Co-administered Drug and Dosing Regimen
Dose (mg)
Change in AUC*
Change in Cmax*
†Cyclosporine 5.2 mg/kg/day, stable dose
10 mg QD for 28 days
↑ 8.7 fold
↑ 10.7 fold
†Tipranavir 500 mg BID/ritonavir 200 mg BID, 7 days
10 mg SD
†Telaprevir 750 mg q8h, 10 days
↑ 7.88 fold
†, ‡Saquinavir 400 mg BID/ritonavir 400 mg BID, 15 days
40 mg QD for 4 days
†Clarithromycin
500 mg BID, 9 days
†Darunavir 300 mg BID/ritonavir 100 mg BID, 9 days
†Itraconazole 200 mg QD, 4 days
↑ 20%
†Fosamprenavir 700 mg BID/ritonavir 100 mg BID, 14 days
†Fosamprenavir 1400 mg BID, 14 days
†Nelfinavir 1250 mg BID, 14 days
†Grapefruit Juice, 240 mL QD§
Diltiazem 240 mg QD, 28 days
Erythromycin 500 mg QID, 7 days
Amlodipine 10 mg, single dose
Cimetidine 300 mg QID, 2 weeks
10 mg QD for 2 weeks
↓ Less than 1%
Colestipol 10 mg BID, 28 weeks
40 mg QD for 28 weeks
Not determined
↓ 26%¶
Maalox TC® 30 mL QD, 17 days
Efavirenz 600 mg QD, 14 days
10 mg for 3 days
†Rifampin 600 mg QD, 7 days (co-administered)#
†Rifampin 600 mg QD, 5 days (doses separated)#
↓ 40 %
†Gemfibrozil 600 mg BID, 7 days
†Fenofibrate 160 mg QD, 7 days
↑ 3%
Boceprevir 800 mg TID, 7 days
Table 5. Effect of Atorvastatin on the Pharmacokinetics of Co-administered Drugs
See Section 7 for clinical significance.
Drug/Dose (mg)
Change in AUC
Change in Cmax
Antipyrine, 600 mg SD
*Digoxin 0.25 mg QD, 20 days
Oral contraceptive QD, 2 months
-norethindrone 1 mg
-ethinyl estradiol 35 mcg
Tipranavir 500 mg BID/ritonavir 200 mg BID, 7 days
Fosamprenavir 1400 mg BID, 14 days
Fosamprenavir 700 mg BID/ritonavir 100 mg BID, 14 days
In a 2-year carcinogenicity study in rats at dose levels of 10, 30, and 100 mg/kg/day, 2 rare tumors were found in muscle in high-dose females: in one, there was a rhabdomyosarcoma and, in another, there was a fibrosarcoma. This dose represents a plasma AUC (0-24) value of approximately 16 times the mean human plasma drug exposure after an 80 mg oral dose.
A 2-year carcinogenicity study in mice given 100, 200, or 400 mg/kg/day resulted in a significant increase in liver adenomas in high-dose males and liver carcinomas in high-dose females. These findings occurred at plasma AUC (0-24) values of approximately 6 times the mean human plasma drug exposure after an 80 mg oral dose.
In vitro, atorvastatin was not mutagenic or clastogenic in the following tests with and without metabolic activation: the Ames test with Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli, the HGPRT forward mutation assay in Chinese hamster lung cells, and the chromosomal aberration assay in Chinese hamster lung cells. Atorvastatin was negative in the in vivo mouse micronucleus test.
In female rats, atorvastatin at doses up to 225 mg/kg (56 times the human exposure) did not cause adverse effects on fertility. Studies in male rats performed at doses up to 175 mg/kg (15 times the human exposure) produced no changes in fertility. There was aplasia and aspermia in the epididymis of 2 of 10 rats treated with 100 mg/kg/day of atorvastatin for 3 months (16 times the human AUC at the 80 mg dose); testis weights were significantly lower at 30 and 100 mg/kg and epididymal weight was lower at 100 mg/kg. Male rats given 100 mg/kg/day for 11 weeks prior to mating had decreased sperm motility, spermatid head concentration, and increased abnormal sperm. Atorvastatin caused no adverse effects on semen parameters, or reproductive organ histopathology in dogs given doses of 10, 40, or 120 mg/kg for 2 years.
In the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial (ASCOT), the effect of atorvastatin calcium tablets on fatal and non-fatal coronary heart disease was assessed in 10,305 hypertensive patients 40-80 years of age (mean of 63 years), without a previous myocardial infarction and with TC levels ≤ 251 mg/dL (6.5 mmol/L). Additionally, all patients had at least three of the following cardiovascular risk factors: male gender (81.1%), age > 55 years (84.5%), smoking (33.2%), diabetes (24.3%), history of CHD in a first-degree relative (26%), TC:HDL > 6 (14.3%), peripheral vascular disease (5.1%), left ventricular hypertrophy (14.4%), prior cerebrovascular event (9.8%), specific ECG abnormality (14.3%), proteinuria/albuminuria (62.4%). In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, patients were treated with anti-hypertensive therapy (Goal BP < 140/90 mm Hg for non-diabetic patients; < 130/80 mm Hg for diabetic patients) and allocated to either atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg daily (n = 5,168) or placebo (n = 5,137), using a covariate adaptive method which took into account the distribution of nine baseline characteristics of patients already enrolled and minimized the imbalance of those characteristics across the groups. Patients were followed for a median duration of 3.3 years.
The effect of 10 mg/day of atorvastatin calcium tablets on lipid levels was similar to that seen in previous clinical trials.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets significantly reduced the rate of coronary events [either fatal coronary heart disease (46 events in the placebo group vs. 40 events in the atorvastatin calcium tablets group) or non-fatal MI (108 events in the placebo group vs. 60 events in the atorvastatin calcium tablets group)] with a relative risk reduction of 36% [(based on incidences of 1.9% for atorvastatin calcium tablets vs. 3.0% for placebo), p = 0.0005 (see Figure 1)]. The risk reduction was consistent regardless of age, smoking status, obesity, or presence of renal dysfunction. The effect of atorvastatin calcium tablets was seen regardless of baseline LDL levels. Due to the small number of events, results for women were inconclusive.
Figure 1. Effect of Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets 10 mg/day on Cumulative Incidence of Non-Fatal Myocardial Infarction or Coronary Heart Disease Death (in ASCOT-LLA)
Atorvastatin calcium tablets also significantly decreased the relative risk for revascularization procedures by 42% (incidences of 1.4% for atorvastatin calcium tablets and 2.5% for placebo). Although the reduction of fatal and non-fatal strokes did not reach a pre-defined significance level (p = 0.01), a favorable trend was observed with a 26% relative risk reduction (incidences of 1.7% for atorvastatin calcium tablets and 2.3% for placebo). There was no significant difference between the treatment groups for death due to cardiovascular causes (p = 0.51) or noncardiovascular causes (p = 0.17).
In the Collaborative Atorvastatin Diabetes Study (CARDS), the effect of atorvastatin calcium tablets on cardiovascular disease (CVD) endpoints was assessed in 2,838 subjects (94% white, 68% male), ages 40-75 with type 2 diabetes based on WHO criteria, without prior history of cardiovascular disease and with LDL ≤ 160 mg/dL and TG ≤ 600 mg/dL. In addition to diabetes, subjects had 1 or more of the following risk factors: current smoking (23%), hypertension (80%), retinopathy (30%), or microalbuminuria (9%) or macroalbuminuria (3%). No subjects on hemodialysis were enrolled in the study. In this multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial, subjects were randomly allocated to either atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg daily (1,429) or placebo (1,411) in a 1:1 ratio and were followed for a median duration of 3.9 years. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of any of the major cardiovascular events: myocardial infarction, acute CHD death, unstable angina, coronary revascularization, or stroke. The primary analysis was the time to first occurrence of the primary endpoint.
Baseline characteristics of subjects were: mean age of 62 years, mean HbA1c 7.7%; median LDL-C 120 mg/dL; median TC 207 mg/dL; median TG 151 mg/dL; median HDL-C 52 mg/dL.
The effect of atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg/day on lipid levels was similar to that seen in previous clinical trials.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets significantly reduced the rate of major cardiovascular events (primary endpoint events) (83 events in the atorvastatin calcium tablets group vs. 127 events in the placebo group) with a relative risk reduction of 37%, HR 0.63, 95% CI (0.48, 0.83) (p = 0.001) (see Figure 2). An effect of atorvastatin calcium tablets was seen regardless of age, sex, or baseline lipid levels.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets significantly reduced the risk of stroke by 48% (21 events in the atorvastatin calcium tablets group vs. 39 events in the placebo group), HR 0.52, 95% CI (0.31, 0.89) (p = 0.016) and reduced the risk of MI by 42% (38 events in the atorvastatin calcium tablets group vs. 64 events in the placebo group), HR 0.58, 95.1% CI (0.39, 0.86) (p = 0.007). There was no significant difference between the treatment groups for angina, revascularization procedures, and acute CHD death.
There were 61 deaths in the atorvastatin calcium tablets group vs. 82 deaths in the placebo group (HR 0.73, p = 0.059).
Figure 2. Effect of Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets 10 mg/day on Time to Occurrence of Major Cardiovascular Event (Myocardial Infarction, Acute CHD Death, Unstable Angina, Coronary Revascularization, or Stroke) in CARDS
In the Treating to New Targets Study (TNT), the effect of atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg/day vs. atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg/day on the reduction in cardiovascular events was assessed in 10,001 subjects (94% white, 81% male, 38% ≥ 65 years) with clinically evident coronary heart disease who had achieved a target LDL-C level < 130 mg/dL after completing an 8-week, open-label, run-in period with atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg/day. Subjects were randomly assigned to either 10 mg/day or 80 mg/day of atorvastatin calcium tablets and followed for a median duration of 4.9 years. The primary endpoint was the time-to-first occurrence of any of the following major cardiovascular events (MCVE): death due to CHD, non-fatal myocardial infarction, resuscitated cardiac arrest, and fatal and non-fatal stroke. The mean LDL-C, TC, TG, non-HDL, and HDL cholesterol levels at 12 weeks were 73, 145, 128, 98, and 47 mg/dL during treatment with 80 mg of atorvastatin calcium tablets and 99, 177, 152, 129, and 48 mg/dL during treatment with 10 mg of atorvastatin calcium tablets.
Treatment with atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg/day significantly reduced the rate of MCVE (434 events in the 80 mg/day group vs. 548 events in the 10 mg/day group) with a relative risk reduction of 22%, HR 0.78, 95% CI (0.69, 0.89), p = 0.0002 (see Figure 3 and Table 6). The overall risk reduction was consistent regardless of age (< 65, ≥ 65) or gender.
Figure 3. Effect of Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets 80 mg/day vs. 10 mg/day on Time to Occurrence of Major Cardiovascular Events (TNT)
Table 6. Overview of Efficacy Results in TNT
HR = hazard ratio; CHD = coronary heart disease; CI = confidence interval; MI = myocardial infarction; CHF = congestive heart failure; CV = cardiovascular; PVD = peripheral vascular disease; CABG = coronary artery bypass graft
Confidence intervals for the Secondary Endpoints were not adjusted for multiple comparisons
Atorvastatin 80 mg: atorvastatin 10 mg
Secondary endpoints not included in primary endpoint
Component of other secondary endpoints
Atorvastatin 10 mg
(N = 5,006)
HR* (95% CI)
PRIMARY ENDPOINT
First major cardiovascular endpoint
0.78 (0.69, 0.89)
Components of the Primary Endpoint
CHD death
Non-fatal, non-procedure related MI
Resuscitated cardiac arrest
Stroke (fatal and non-fatal)
SECONDARY ENDPOINTS†
First CHF with hospitalization
First PVD endpoint
First CABG or other coronary revascularization procedure‡
First documented angina endpoint‡
All-cause mortality
Components of All-Cause Mortality
Cardiovascular death
Noncardiovascular death
Other non-CV death
Suicide, homicide, and other traumatic non-CV death
Of the events that comprised the primary efficacy endpoint, treatment with atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg/day significantly reduced the rate of non-fatal, non-procedure related MI and fatal and non-fatal stroke, but not CHD death or resuscitated cardiac arrest (Table 6). Of the predefined secondary endpoints, treatment with atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg/day significantly reduced the rate of coronary revascularization, angina, and hospitalization for heart failure, but not peripheral vascular disease. The reduction in the rate of CHF with hospitalization was only observed in the 8% of patients with a prior history of CHF.
There was no significant difference between the treatment groups for all-cause mortality (Table 6). The proportions of subjects who experienced cardiovascular death, including the components of CHD death and fatal stroke, were numerically smaller in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg group than in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg treatment group. The proportions of subjects who experienced noncardiovascular death were numerically larger in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg group than in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg treatment group.
In the Incremental Decrease in Endpoints Through Aggressive Lipid Lowering Study (IDEAL), treatment with atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg/day was compared to treatment with simvastatin 20-40 mg/day in 8,888 subjects up to 80 years of age with a history of CHD to assess whether reduction in CV risk could be achieved. Patients were mainly male (81%), white (99%) with an average age of 61.7 years, and an average LDL-C of 121.5 mg/dL at randomization; 76% were on statin therapy. In this prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded endpoint (PROBE) trial with no run-in period, subjects were followed for a median duration of 4.8 years. The mean LDL-C, TC, TG, HDL, and non-HDL cholesterol levels at Week 12 were 78, 145, 115, 45, and 100 mg/dL during treatment with 80 mg of atorvastatin calcium tablets and 105, 179, 142, 47, and 132 mg/dL during treatment with 20-40 mg of simvastatin.
There was no significant difference between the treatment groups for the primary endpoint, the rate of first major coronary event (fatal CHD, non-fatal MI, and resuscitated cardiac arrest): 411 (9.3%) in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg/day group vs. 463 (10.4%) in the simvastatin 20-40 mg/day group, HR 0.89, 95% CI (0.78, 1.01), p = 0.07.
There were no significant differences between the treatment groups for all-cause mortality: 366 (8.2%) in the atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg/day group vs. 374 (8.4%) in the simvastatin 20-40 mg/day group. The proportions of subjects who experienced CV or non-CV death were similar for the atorvastatin calcium tablets 80 mg group and the simvastatin 20-40 mg group.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets reduce total-C, LDL-C, VLDL-C, apo B, and TG, and increase HDL-C in patients with hyperlipidemia (heterozygous familial and nonfamilial) and mixed dyslipidemia (Fredrickson Types IIa and IIb). Therapeutic response is seen within 2 weeks, and maximum response is usually achieved within 4 weeks and maintained during chronic therapy.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets are effective in a wide variety of patient populations with hyperlipidemia, with and without hypertriglyceridemia, in men and women, and in the elderly.
In two multicenter, placebo-controlled, dose-response studies in patients with hyperlipidemia, atorvastatin calcium tablets given as a single dose over 6 weeks, significantly reduced total-C, LDL-C, apo B, and TG. (Pooled results are provided in Table 7.)
Table 7. Dose Response in Patients with Primary Hyperlipidemia (Adjusted Mean % Change From Baseline)*
Results are pooled from 2 dose-response studies.
Apo B
Non-HDL-C/HDL-C
In patients with Fredrickson Types IIa and IIb hyperlipoproteinemia pooled from 24 controlled trials, the median (25th and 75th percentile) percent changes from baseline in HDL-C for atorvastatin calcium tablets 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg were 6.4 (-1.4, 14), 8.7 (0, 17), 7.8 (0, 16), and 5.1 (-2.7, 15), respectively. Additionally, analysis of the pooled data demonstrated consistent and significant decreases in total-C, LDL-C, TG, total-C/HDL-C, and LDL-C/HDL-C.
In three multicenter, double-blind studies in patients with hyperlipidemia, atorvastatin calcium tablets were compared to other statins. After randomization, patients were treated for 16 weeks with either atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg per day or a fixed dose of the comparative agent (Table 8).
Table 8. Mean Percentage Change From Baseline at Endpoint (Double-Blind, Randomized, Active-Controlled Trials)
Significantly different from lovastatin, ANCOVA, p ≤ 0.05
A negative value for the 95% CI for the difference between treatments favors atorvastatin calcium tablets for all except HDL-C, for which a positive value favors atorvastatin calcium tablets. If the range does not include 0, this indicates a statistically significant difference.
Significantly different from pravastatin, ANCOVA, p ≤ 0.05
Significantly different from simvastatin, ANCOVA, p ≤ 0.05
(Daily Dose)
Non-HDL-C/ HDL-C
Atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg
-27*
Lovastatin 20 mg
95% CI for Diff†
-9.2, -6.5
-10.7, -7.1
-1.7, 2.0
-25‡
Pravastatin 20 mg
-29§
Simvastatin 10 mg
95% CI for Diff †
The impact on clinical outcomes of the differences in lipid-altering effects between treatments shown in Table 8 is not known. Table 8 does not contain data comparing the effects of atorvastatin calcium tablets 10 mg and higher doses of lovastatin, pravastatin, and simvastatin. The drugs compared in the studies summarized in the table are not necessarily interchangeable.
The response to atorvastatin calcium tablets in 64 patients with isolated hypertriglyceridemia (Fredrickson Type IV) treated across several clinical trials is shown in the table below (Table 9). For the atorvastatin calcium tablet-treated patients, median (min, max) baseline TG level was 565 (267-1502).
Table 9. Combined Patients with Isolated Elevated TG: Median (min, max) Percentage Change From Baseline
-12.4 (-36.6, 82.7)
-2.3 (-15.5, 24.4)
-28.2 (-44.9, -6.8)
-34.9 (-49.6, -15.2)
3.6 (-31.3, 31.6)
-26.5 (-57.7, 9.8)
13.8 (-9.7, 61.5)
VLDL-C
non-HDL-C
The results of an open-label crossover study of 16 patients (genotypes: 14 apo E2/E2 and 2 apo E3/E2) with dysbetalipoproteinemia (Fredrickson Type III) are shown in the table below (Table 10).
Table 10. Open-Label Crossover Study of 16 Patients with Dysbetalipoproteinemia (Fredrickson Type III)
Median % Change (min, max)
Median (min, max) at Baseline (mg/dL)
Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets
442 (225, 1320)
-37 (-85, 17)
-58 (-90, -31)
-39 (-92, -8)
IDL-C + VLDL-C
-32 (-76, 9)
In a study without a concurrent control group, 29 patients ages 6 to 37 years with HoFH received maximum daily doses of 20 to 80 mg of atorvastatin calcium tablets. The mean LDL-C reduction in this study was 18%. Twenty-five patients with a reduction in LDL-C had a mean response of 20% (range of 7% to 53%, median of 24%); the remaining 4 patients had 7% to 24% increases in LDL-C. Five of the 29 patients had absent LDL-receptor function. Of these, 2 patients also had a portacaval shunt and had no significant reduction in LDL-C. The remaining 3 receptor-negative patients had a mean LDL-C reduction of 22%.
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study followed by an open-label phase, 187 boys and postmenarchal girls 10 years to 17 years of age (mean age 14.1 years) with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) or severe hypercholesterolemia, were randomized to atorvastatin calcium tablets (n = 140) or placebo (n = 47) for 26 weeks and then all received atorvastatin calcium tablets for 26 weeks. Inclusion in the study required 1) a baseline LDL-C level ≥ 190 mg/dL or 2) a baseline LDL-C level ≥ 160 mg/dL and positive family history of FH or documented premature cardiovascular disease in a first or second-degree relative. The mean baseline LDL-C value was 218.6 mg/dL (range: 138.5-385.0 mg/dL) in the atorvastatin calcium tablets group compared to 230.0 mg/dL (range: 160.0-324.5 mg/dL) in the placebo group. The dosage of atorvastatin calcium tablets (once daily) was 10 mg for the first 4 weeks and uptitrated to 20 mg if the LDL-C level was > 130 mg/dL. The number of atorvastatin calcium tablet-treated patients who required uptitration to 20 mg after Week 4 during the double-blind phase was 78 (55.7%).
Atorvastatin calcium tablets significantly decreased plasma levels of total-C, LDL-C, triglycerides, and apolipoprotein B during the 26-week double-blind phase (see Table 11).
Table 11. Lipid-altering Effects of Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets in Adolescent Boys and Girls with Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia or Severe Hypercholesterolemia (Mean Percentage Change From Baseline at Endpoint in Intention-to-Treat Population)
Apolipoprotein B
The mean achieved LDL-C value was 130.7 mg/dL (range: 70.0-242.0 mg/dL) in the atorvastatin calcium tablets group compared to 228.5 mg/dL (range: 152.0-385.0 mg/dL) in the placebo group during the 26-week double-blind phase.
The long-term efficacy of atorvastatin calcium tablet therapy in childhood to reduce morbidity and mortality in adulthood has not been established.
The 10 mg tablets are white to off-white, film-coated, oval, unscored tablets debossed with 10 on one side of the tablet and blank on the other side. They are available as follows:
bottles of 90 tablets
bottles of 500 tablets
Store at 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F). [See USP Controlled Room Temperature.]
Dispense in a tight, light-resistant container as defined in the USP using a child-resistant closure.
Patients taking atorvastatin calcium tablets should be advised that cholesterol is a chronic condition and they should adhere to their medication along with their National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)-recommended diet, a regular exercise program as appropriate, and periodic testing of a fasting lipid panel to determine goal attainment.
Patients should be advised about substances they should not take concomitantly with atorvastatin [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1)]. Patients should also be advised to inform other healthcare professionals prescribing a new medication that they are taking atorvastatin calcium tablets.
All patients starting therapy with atorvastatin calcium tablets should be advised of the risk of myopathy and told to report promptly any unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness particularly if accompanied by malaise or fever or if these muscle signs or symptoms persist after discontinuing atorvastatin calcium tablets. The risk of this occurring is increased when taking certain types of medication or consuming larger quantities (> 1 liter) of grapefruit juice. They should discuss all medication, both prescription and over the counter, with their healthcare professional.
It is recommended that liver enzyme tests be performed before the initiation of atorvastatin calcium tablets and if signs or symptoms of liver injury occur. All patients treated with atorvastatin calcium tablets should be advised to report promptly any symptoms that may indicate liver injury, including fatigue, anorexia, right upper abdominal discomfort, dark urine, or jaundice.
Advise females of reproductive potential of the risk to a fetus, to use effective contraception during treatment and to inform their healthcare provider of a known or suspected pregnancy [see Contraindications (4) and Use in Specific Populations (8.1, 8.3)].
Advise women not to breastfeed during treatment with atorvastatin calcium tablets [see Contraindications (4) and Use in Specific Populations (8.2)].
The brands listed are trademarks of their respective owners.
Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets, USP
(a tor″ va stat′ in kal′ see um)
Read the Patient Information that comes with atorvastatin calcium tablets before you start taking them and each time you get a refill. There may be new information. This leaflet does not take the place of talking with your doctor about your condition or treatment.
If you have any questions about atorvastatin calcium tablets, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
What are atorvastatin calcium tablets?
Atorvastatin calcium tablets are a prescription medicine that lowers cholesterol in your blood. They lower the LDL-C (“bad” cholesterol) and triglycerides in your blood. They can raise your HDL-C (“good” cholesterol) as well. Atorvastatin calcium tablets are for adults and children over 10 whose cholesterol does not come down enough with exercise and a low-fat diet alone.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets can lower the risk for heart attack, stroke, certain types of heart surgery, and chest pain in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease such as:
age, smoking, high blood pressure, low HDL-C, heart disease in the family.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets can lower the risk for heart attack or stroke in patients with diabetes and risk factors such as:
eye problems, kidney problems, smoking, or high blood pressure.
Atorvastatin calcium tablets start to work in about 2 weeks.
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol and triglycerides are fats that are made in your body. They are also found in foods. You need some cholesterol for good health, but too much is not good for you. Cholesterol and triglycerides can clog your blood vessels. It is especially important to lower your cholesterol if you have heart disease, smoke, have diabetes or high blood pressure, are older, or if heart disease starts early in your family.
Who should not take atorvastatin calcium tablets?
Do not take atorvastatin calcium tablets if you:
are pregnant or think you may be pregnant, or are planning to become pregnant. Atorvastatin calcium tablets may harm your unborn baby. If you get pregnant, stop taking atorvastatin calcium tablets and call your doctor right away.
are breastfeeding. Atorvastatin can pass into your breast milk and may harm your baby.
have liver problems.
are allergic to atorvastatin calcium tablets or any of their ingredients. The active ingredient is atorvastatin. See the end of this leaflet for a complete list of ingredients in atorvastatin calcium tablets.
Atorvastatin calcium tablet dosing has not been established in children under 10 years of age.
Before you start atorvastatin calcium tablets:
Tell your doctor if you:
have muscle aches or weakness
drink more than 2 glasses of alcohol daily
have diabetes
have a thyroid problem
have kidney problems
Some medicines should not be taken with atorvastatin calcium tablets. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Atorvastatin calcium tablets and certain other medicines can interact causing serious side effects. Especially tell your doctor if you take medicines for:
your immune system
HIV or AIDS
Know all the medicines you take. Keep a list of them with you to show your doctor and pharmacist.
How should I take atorvastatin calcium tablets?
Take atorvastatin calcium tablets exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Do not change your dose or stop atorvastatin calcium tablets without talking to your doctor. Your doctor may do blood tests to check your cholesterol levels during your treatment with atorvastatin calcium tablets. Your dose of atorvastatin calcium tablets may be changed based on these blood test results.
Take atorvastatin calcium tablets each day at any time of day at about the same time each day. Atorvastatin calcium tablets can be taken with or without food.
Don't break atorvastatin calcium tablets before taking.
Your doctor should start you on a low-fat diet before giving you atorvastatin calcium tablets. Stay on this low-fat diet when you take atorvastatin calcium tablets.
If you miss a dose of atorvastatin calcium tablets, take it as soon as you remember. Do not take atorvastatin calcium tablets if it has been more than 12 hours since you missed your last dose. Wait and take the next dose at your regular time. Do not take 2 doses of atorvastatin calcium tablets at the same time.
If you take too many atorvastatin calcium tablets or overdose, call your doctor or Poison Control Center right away. Or go to the nearest emergency room.
What should I avoid while taking atorvastatin calcium tablets?
Talk to your doctor before you start any new medicines. This includes prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Atorvastatin calcium tablets and certain other medicines can interact causing serious side effects.
Do not get pregnant. If you get pregnant, stop taking atorvastatin calcium tablets right away and call your doctor.
What are the possible side effects of atorvastatin calcium tablets?
Atorvastatin calcium tablets can cause serious side effects. These side effects have happened only to a small number of people. Your doctor can monitor you for them. These side effects usually go away if your dose is lowered or atorvastatin calcium tablets are stopped. These serious side effects include:
Muscle problems. Atorvastatin calcium tablets can cause serious muscle problems that can lead to kidney problems, including kidney failure. You have a higher chance for muscle problems if you are taking certain other medicines with atorvastatin calcium tablets.
Liver problems. Your doctor should do blood tests to check your liver before you start taking atorvastatin calcium tablets and if you have symptoms of liver problems while you take atorvastatin calcium tablets. Call your doctor right away if you have the following symptoms of liver problems:
feel tired or weak
upper belly pain
dark amber colored urine
yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes
Call your doctor right away if you have:
muscle problems like weakness, tenderness, or pain that happen without a good reason, especially if you also have a fever or feel more tired than usual. This may be an early sign of a rare muscle problem.
muscle problems that do not go away even after your doctor has advised you to stop taking atorvastatin calcium tablets. Your doctor may do further tests to diagnose the cause of your muscle problems.
allergic reactions including swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and/or throat that may cause difficulty in breathing or swallowing which may require treatment right away.
nausea and vomiting.
passing brown or dark-colored urine.
you feel more tired than usual
your skin and whites of your eyes get yellow.
stomach pain.
allergic skin reactions.
In clinical studies, patients reported the following common side effects while taking atorvastatin calcium tablets: diarrhea, upset stomach, muscle and joint pain, and alterations in some laboratory blood tests.
The following additional side effects have been reported with atorvastatin calcium tablets: tiredness, tendon problems, memory loss, and confusion.
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you have side effects that bother you or that will not go away.
These are not all the side effects of atorvastatin calcium tablets. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for a complete list.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
How do I store atorvastatin calcium tablets?
Store atorvastatin calcium tablets at room temperature, 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F).
Do not keep medicine that is out of date or that you no longer need.
Keep atorvastatin calcium tablets and all medicines out of the reach of children. Be sure that if you throw medicine away, it is out of the reach of children.
General information about atorvastatin calcium tablets
Medicines are sometimes prescribed for conditions that are not mentioned in patient information leaflets. Do not use atorvastatin calcium tablets for a condition for which they were not prescribed. Do not give atorvastatin calcium tablets to other people, even if they have the same problem you have. They may harm them.
This leaflet summarizes the most important information about atorvastatin calcium tablets. If you would like more information, talk with your doctor. You can ask your doctor or pharmacist for information about atorvastatin calcium tablets that is written for health professionals. Or you can call Mylan at 1-877-446-3679 (1-877-4-INFO-RX).
What are the ingredients in atorvastatin calcium tablets?
Active Ingredient: atorvastatin calcium
Inactive Ingredients: anhydrous lactose, anhydrous sodium carbonate, colloidal silicon dioxide, croscarmellose sodium, hydroxypropyl cellulose, L-Arginine, magnesium stearate and microcrystalline cellulose. The film coating of the tablets contains polyvinyl alcohol, talc and titanium dioxide, and may contain polyethylene glycol or lecithin and xanthan gum.
Manufactured for:
Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Morgantown, WV 26505 U.S.A.
Mylan Laboratories Limited
Hyderabad — 500 096, India
MX:ATOR:R11ppt/MX:PL:ATOR:R8p/MX:PL:ATOR:R8pt
PRINCIPAL DISPLAY PANEL
PRINCIPAL DISPLAY PANEL - 10 mg
Tablets, USP
10 mg*
Rx only 90 Tablets
*Each film-coated tablet contains
atorvastatin calcium, USP
equivalent to 10 mg of atorvastatin.
Usual Dosage: See accompanying
prescribing information.
Keep this and all medication out of
the reach of children.
Store at 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F).
[See USP Controlled Room
Temperature.]
Mylan.com
RM3950MM2
Dispense in a tight, light-resistant
container as defined in the USP
using a child-resistant closure.
Keep container tightly closed.
Code No.: MH/DRUGS/25/NKD/89
atorvastatin calcium tablet, film coated
ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM TRIHYDRATE (UNII: 48A5M73Z4Q) (ATORVASTATIN - UNII:A0JWA85V8F) ATORVASTATIN 10 mg
ANHYDROUS LACTOSE (UNII: 3SY5LH9PMK)
SODIUM CARBONATE (UNII: 45P3261C7T)
SILICON DIOXIDE (UNII: ETJ7Z6XBU4)
CROSCARMELLOSE SODIUM (UNII: M28OL1HH48)
HYDROXYPROPYL CELLULOSE, UNSPECIFIED (UNII: 9XZ8H6N6OH)
MAGNESIUM STEARATE (UNII: 70097M6I30)
MICROCRYSTALLINE CELLULOSE (UNII: OP1R32D61U)
POLYVINYL ALCOHOL, UNSPECIFIED (UNII: 532B59J990)
TALC (UNII: 7SEV7J4R1U)
TITANIUM DIOXIDE (UNII: 15FIX9V2JP)
ARGININE (UNII: 94ZLA3W45F)
May contain XANTHAN GUM (UNII: TTV12P4NEE)
May contain LECITHIN, SOYBEAN (UNII: 1DI56QDM62)
May contain POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL, UNSPECIFIED (UNII: 3WJQ0SDW1A)
Color WHITE (white to off-white) Score no score
Shape OVAL Size 9mm
Flavor Imprint Code 10
NDC:0378-3950-77 90 in 1 BOTTLE, PLASTIC; Type 0: Not a Combination Product 09/19/2013
NDC:0378-3950-05 500 in 1 BOTTLE, PLASTIC; Type 0: Not a Combination Product 10/03/2013
NDC:0378-3950-09 90 in 1 BOTTLE, PLASTIC; Type 0: Not a Combination Product 09/19/2013 01/31/2020
NDC:0378-3950-07 500 in 1 BOTTLE, PLASTIC; Type 0: Not a Combination Product 05/09/2016 01/31/2020
ANDA ANDA091226 09/19/2013
Shape OVAL Size 11mm
Labeler - Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (059295980)
ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM- atorvastatin calcium tablet, film coated
Apr 10, 2019 18 (current) download
Sep 25, 2018 17 download
Aug 6, 2018 16 download
Jul 28, 2017 15 download
May 10, 2017 14 download
Apr 6, 2016 13 download
Oct 6, 2015 12 download
Dec 16, 2013 9 download
Jul 31, 2013 8 download
Jun 10, 2013 7 download
1 259255 atorvastatin calcium 80 MG Oral Tablet PSN
2 259255 atorvastatin 80 MG Oral Tablet SCD
3 259255 atorvastatin (as atorvastatin calcium) 80 MG Oral Tablet SY
10 617312 atorvastatin calcium 10 MG Oral Tablet PSN
11 617312 atorvastatin 10 MG Oral Tablet SCD
12 617312 atorvastatin (as atorvastatin calcium) 10 MG Oral Tablet SY
https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/labelrss.cfm?setid=d0a0feb6-84f0-4693-a11f-eb4f7ae0a87d
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| 0.789224
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LOKELMA- sodium zirconium cyclosilicate powder, for suspension
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP
These highlights do not include all the information needed to use LOKELMA™ safely and effectively. See full prescribing information for LOKELMA™.
LOKELMA™ (sodium zirconium cyclosilicate) for oral suspension
LOKELMA is a potassium binder indicated for the treatment of hyperkalemia in adults. (1)
Limitation of Use
LOKELMA should not be used as an emergency treatment for life-threatening hyperkalemia because of its delayed onset of action. (1)
Recommended starting dose is 10 g administered three times a day for up to 48 hours. (2.1)
For maintenance treatment, recommended dose is 10 g once daily. (2.1)
Adjust dose at one-week intervals as needed (by 5 g daily) to obtain desired serum potassium target range. (2.1)
For oral suspension: 5 g per packet (3)
For oral suspension: 10 g per packet (3)
None. (4)
Gastrointestinal Adverse Events in Patients with Motility Disorders. (5.1)
Edema. (5.2)
Most common adverse reactions with LOKELMA: mild to moderate edema. (6.1)
To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact AstraZeneca at 1-800-236-9933 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.
In general, other oral medications should be administered at least 2 hours before or 2 hours after LOKELMA. (2.2, 7, 12.3)
See 17 for PATIENT COUNSELING INFORMATION.
2.2 Reconstitution and Administration
5.1 Gastrointestinal Adverse Events in Patients with Motility Disorders
5.2 Edema
6.1 Clinical Studies Experience
14.1 Study 1
14.3 Eleven-Month Extension Study
LOKELMA is indicated for the treatment of hyperkalemia in adults.
LOKELMA should not be used as an emergency treatment for life-threatening hyperkalemia because of its delayed onset of action [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.2) and Clinical Studies (14)].
For initial treatment of hyperkalemia, the recommended dose of LOKELMA is 10 g administered three times a day for up to 48 hours. Administer LOKELMA orally as a suspension in water [see Dosage and Administration (2.2)].
For continued treatment, the recommended dose is 10 g once daily. Monitor serum potassium and adjust the dose of LOKELMA based on the serum potassium level and desired target range. During maintenance treatment, the dose may be up-titrated based on the serum potassium level at intervals of 1-week or longer and in increments of 5 g. The dose of LOKELMA should be decreased or discontinued if the serum potassium is below the desired target range. The recommended maintenance dose range is from 5 g every other day to 15 g daily.
In general, other oral medications should be administered at least 2 hours before or 2 hours after LOKELMA [see Drug Interactions (7)].
Instruct patients to empty the entire contents of the packet(s) into a drinking glass containing approximately 3 tablespoons of water or more if desired. Stir well and drink immediately. If powder remains in the drinking glass, add water, stir and drink immediately. Repeat until no powder remains to ensure the entire dose is taken.
For oral suspension: 5 g or 10 g of white powder in a foil-lined packet.
Avoid use of LOKELMA in patients with severe constipation, bowel obstruction or impaction, including abnormal post-operative bowel motility disorders, because LOKELMA has not been studied in patients with these conditions and may be ineffective and may worsen gastrointestinal conditions.
Each 5 g dose of LOKELMA contains approximately 400 mg of sodium. In clinical trials of LOKELMA, edema was generally mild to moderate in severity and was more commonly seen in patients treated with 15 g once daily. Monitor for signs of edema, particularly in patients who should restrict their sodium intake or are prone to fluid overload (e.g., heart failure or renal disease). Advise patients to adjust dietary sodium, if appropriate. Increase the dose of diuretics as needed [see Adverse Reactions (6)].
The following adverse reactions are discussed in greater detail elsewhere in the label:
Edema [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2)].
Because clinical studies are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical studies of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical studies of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.
The total exposure to LOKELMA in the safety and efficacy clinical trials of patients with hyperkalemia was 1,760 patients with 652 patients exposed to LOKELMA for at least 6 months and 507 patients exposed for at least one year.
The population (n=1,009) in the placebo-controlled trials included patients aged 22 to 96 years, females (n=454), Caucasians (n=859) and Blacks (n=130). Patients had hyperkalemia in association with comorbid diseases such as chronic kidney disease, heart failure and diabetes mellitus.
In placebo-controlled trials in which patients were treated with once daily doses of LOKELMA for up to 28 days, edema was reported in 4.4% of patients receiving 5 g, 5.9% of patients receiving 10 g and 16.1% of patients receiving 15 g LOKELMA compared to 2.4% of patients receiving placebo. In longer-term uncontrolled trials in which most patients were maintained on doses <15 g once daily, adverse reactions of edema (edema, generalized edema and peripheral edema) were reported in 8% to 11% of patients.
Laboratory Abnormalities
In clinical trials, 4.1% of LOKELMA-treated patients developed hypokalemia with a serum potassium value less than 3.5 mEq/L, which resolved with dosage reduction or discontinuation of LOKELMA.
LOKELMA can transiently increase gastric pH. As a result, LOKELMA can change the absorption of co-administered drugs that exhibit pH-dependent solubility, potentially leading to altered efficacy or safety of these drugs when taken close to the time LOKELMA is administered. In general, other oral medications should be administered at least 2 hours before or 2 hours after LOKELMA [see Dosage and Administration (2.2) and Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)]. LOKELMA is not expected to impact systemic exposure of drugs that do not exhibit pH-dependent solubility and so spacing is not needed if it has been determined that the concomitant medication does not exhibit pH-dependent solubility.
LOKELMA is not absorbed systemically following oral administration and maternal use is not expected to result in fetal exposure to the drug.
LOKELMA is not absorbed systemically following oral administration, and breastfeeding is not expected to result in exposure of the child to LOKELMA.
Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients have not been established.
Of the total number of subjects in clinical studies of LOKELMA, 58% were age 65 and over, while 25% were 75 and over. No overall differences in safety or effectiveness were observed between these patients and younger patients.
LOKELMA is a powder for oral suspension. The active ingredient in LOKELMA is sodium zirconium cyclosilicate, a potassium binder. Sodium zirconium cyclosilicate is a non-absorbed zirconium silicate that preferentially exchanges potassium for hydrogen and sodium. LOKELMA is a free flowing, odorless, insoluble white powder for oral suspension. It has a mean particle size of 20 µm and includes no more than 3% of particles with a diameter below 3 µm. Each 5 g of sodium zirconium cyclosilicate contains 400 mg of sodium.
The chemical formula of sodium zirconium cyclosilicate is Na~1.5H~0.5ZrSi3O9•2–3H2O.
Figure 1: Crystal Structure of Sodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate
LOKELMA (sodium zirconium cyclosilicate) is a non-absorbed zirconium silicate that preferentially captures potassium in exchange for hydrogen and sodium. In vitro, LOKELMA has a high affinity for potassium ions, even in the presence of other cations such as calcium and magnesium. LOKELMA increases fecal potassium excretion through binding of potassium in the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract. Binding of potassium reduces the concentration of free potassium in the gastrointestinal lumen, thereby lowering serum potassium levels.
In a study in healthy adult subjects, LOKELMA administered as 5 g or 10 g once daily for four days caused a dose-dependent increase in fecal potassium excretion. Corresponding dose-dependent decreases in urinary potassium excretion and serum potassium were also observed.
In patients with hyperkalemia treated with LOKELMA 10 g three times a day for up to 48 hours, reductions in serum potassium were observed one hour after initiation of therapy; serum potassium concentrations continued to decline over the 48-hour treatment period [see Clinical Studies (14.2)]. In patients not continuing LOKELMA, potassium levels increased. Patients with higher starting serum potassium levels or receiving a higher dose have greater reductions in serum potassium.
LOKELMA causes a small dose-dependent increase in serum bicarbonate concentrations (1.1 mmol/L at 5 g once daily, 2.3 mmol/L at 10 g once daily and 2.6 mmol/L at 15 g once daily as compared with a mean increase of 0.6 mmol/L in patients treated with placebo). The clinical significance of this finding is unclear.
LOKELMA is an inorganic, insoluble compound that is not subject to enzymatic metabolism. In a clinical study in patients with hyperkalemia in which zirconium concentrations were measured in the urine and blood, zirconium concentrations were similar in treated and untreated patients (i.e., either undetectable or around the lower limit of quantification of the assay). An in vivo mass balance study in rats showed that LOKELMA was recovered in the feces with no evidence of systemic absorption.
Thirty-nine (39) drugs were tested to determine potential interactions with LOKELMA.
Sixteen (16) drugs tested did not show an in vitro interaction with LOKELMA (allopurinol, apixaban, aspirin, captopril, cyclosporine, digoxin, ethinyl estradiol, lisinopril, magnesium, metformin, phenytoin, prednisone, propranolol, quinapril, spironolactone and ticagrelor).
Nine (9) of the 23 drugs that showed an in vitro interaction were subsequently tested in vivo in healthy volunteers. Losartan, glipizide and levothyroxine did not show any changes in exposure when co-administered with LOKELMA. However, there was an increase in systemic exposure to weak acids such as furosemide and atorvastatin, and a decrease in systemic exposure to weak bases such as dabigatran when co-administered with LOKELMA, as shown in Figure 2. These changes are consistent with the hypothesis that LOKELMA, by elevating gastric pH, affects the systemic exposure of co-administered drugs whose solubility is pH-dependent [see Drug Interactions (7)].
Figure 2: Effects of LOKELMA on the Pharmacokinetic Exposures of Other Orally Administered Medications
The following tests for mutagenic potential of sodium zirconium cyclosilicate were negative: (1) the Ames (S. typhimurium and E. coli) test; (2) chromosomal aberration assay in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells; and (3) in vivo rat micronucleus assay. Given that zirconium cyclosilicate is not genotoxic, not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, and did not cause local gastrointestinal alterations in a chronic toxicity study in dogs, carcinogenicity studies in animals to evaluate tumorigenic potential of sodium zirconium cyclosilicate were not deemed to be necessary.
Fertility in male and female rats has been assessed at doses up to a Human Equivalent Dose (HED) of 58 g per day (the maximum feasible dose) with no adverse effects.
The effectiveness of LOKELMA in lowering serum potassium was demonstrated in a two-part, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial (NCT01737697) in patients with hyperkalemia (5 to 6.5 mEq/L, mean potassium 5.3 mEq/L), Study 1.
In the first phase of the trial (the acute phase), 753 patients were randomized to receive one of four doses of LOKELMA (1.25, 2.5, 5, or 10 g) or placebo, administered three times daily for the initial 48 hours with meals.
The mean age of patients was 66 years, 59% of patients were men, and 86% were Caucasian. Approximately 60% of patients had chronic kidney disease, 10% had heart failure, 62% had diabetes mellitus, and 67% were on renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitor therapy at baseline.
The primary endpoint in the acute phase was the difference in the exponential rate of change in serum potassium levels during the initial 48 hours of study drug treatment, comparing placebo-treated patients and LOKELMA-treated patients. The study met its primary endpoint demonstrating a greater reduction in serum potassium levels for the 2.5, 5, and 10 g (three times a day) dose groups compared to the placebo group (p < 0.001). As displayed in Table 1 for the secondary endpoint of potassium change from baseline, LOKELMA showed dose-dependent reductions in serum potassium at 2.5, 5, and 10 g. In patients administered 10 g TID, the mean serum potassium reduction was -0.7 mEq/L at 48 hours. Patients with higher starting potassium levels had a greater response to LOKELMA. LOKELMA was effective in lowering potassium levels in patients with chronic kidney disease, heart failure, diabetes mellitus and those taking RAAS inhibitor therapy.
Table 1: Study 1 - Potassium Change from Baseline to 48 hours
Mean Serum Potassium Change mEq/L
(95% Confidence Intervals)
1.25 g TID
2.5 g TID
5 g TID
10 g TID
All Patients
(-0.3, -0.2)
n=158
Baseline Serum Potassium
>5.5 mEq/L
Patients who achieved a potassium level between 3.5 and 5 mEq/L after receiving LOKELMA during the acute phase were re-randomized to receive once daily placebo or 1.25, 2.5, 5, or 10 g of once daily LOKELMA for 12 days together with breakfast.
The primary endpoint in the maintenance phase was the difference in the exponential rate of change in serum potassium levels over the 12-day treatment interval, comparing patients receiving LOKELMA and patients receiving placebo. The study met the primary efficacy endpoint at the 5 and 10 g doses when compared with their respective placebo groups (p<0.01 and p<0.001).
The efficacy of LOKELMA was also demonstrated in a two-part trial with an open-label acute phase and a month-long randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled withdrawal phase (Study 2; NCT02088073).
In the open-label acute phase of Study 2, 258 patients with hyperkalemia (baseline mean 5.6 mEq/L, range 5.1 to 7.4 mEq/L) received 10 g of LOKELMA administered three times daily with meals for 48 hours. As shown in Figure 3, left, average serum potassium levels decreased from 5.6 to 4.5 mEq/L during treatment with LOKELMA in the acute phase.
Following the acute phase of the study, there was a double-blind randomized withdrawal phase where patients who achieved potassium levels between 3.5 and 5 mEq/L were randomized to one of three doses of LOKELMA administered once-daily for 28 days, or placebo just before breakfast. Of the patients enrolled in the acute phase, 92% achieved a potassium level within this range and were enrolled into the second phase of the trial.
The primary endpoint in the randomized withdrawal phase was the mean serum potassium value over the period from Day 8 to Day 29, comparing LOKELMA treated and placebo treated patients. All three doses (5, 10, and 15 g) of once daily LOKELMA maintained mean potassium at lower levels than placebo (mean serum potassium was 4.8, 4.5, and 4.4 mEq/L for the 5, 10, and 15 g dose groups, respectively, vs. 5.1 mEq/L in the placebo group, p≤0.001 for all doses, Figure 3, right). A greater proportion of patients had mean serum potassium levels in the normal range (3.5 to 5 mEq/L) while on LOKELMA than while on placebo (80%, 90%, and 94% at the 5, 10, and 15 g doses, respectively, vs. 46% on placebo).
Figure 3: Study 2 - Mean Serum Potassium Levels in the Acute and Randomized Withdrawal Phases
Intent-to-Treat population includes subjects with at least one valid serum potassium measurement on or after Day 8
Patients who completed the 28-day randomized withdrawal phase had the option to continue treatment with LOKELMA, taken just before breakfast, in an open-label extension phase for up to 11 months (n=123; NCT02107092). Figure 4 shows that the treatment effect on serum potassium was maintained during continued therapy.
Figure 4: 11-Month Open-Label Extension Phase of Study 2 - Mean Serum Potassium (mEq/L)
LOKELMA was evaluated in an open-label 12-month study in 751 hyperkalemic patients (NCT02163499). The mean baseline potassium level in this study was 5.6 mEq/L. Following the acute phase treatment of LOKELMA 10 g three times a day, patients who achieved normokalemia (3.5-5.0 mEq/L) within 72 hours (n=746; 99%) entered the maintenance phase. For maintenance treatment, the initial dosage of LOKELMA was 5 g once daily and was adjusted to a minimum of 5 g every other day up to maximum of 15 g once daily, based on serum potassium level. The treatment effect on serum potassium was maintained during continued therapy.
LOKELMA (sodium zirconium cyclosilicate) for oral suspension is supplied as a white powder in foil-lined packets as follows:
LOKELMA (grams)
Single Packet
Box of 11 Packets
Store LOKELMA at 15°C-30°C (59°F-86°F).
Instruct the patient how to reconstitute LOKELMA for administration. Inform the patient that it is necessary to drink the full dose [see Dosage and Administration (2.2)].
Advise patients who are taking other oral medications to separate dosing of LOKELMA by at least 2 hours (before or after) [see Drug Interactions (7)].
Advise patients to adjust dietary sodium, if appropriate [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2)].
U.S. Patent No: 6332985, 8808750, 8877255, 8802152, 9592253
© AstraZeneca 2018
Manufactured by: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Wilmington, DE 19850
PACKAGE/LABEL PRINCIPAL DISPLAY PANEL – 5 g
NDC 0310-1105-30 Contains 30 packets
LOKELMA™
(sodium zirconium cyclosilicate)
for oral suspension
5 g per packet
PACKAGE/LABEL PRINCIPAL DISPLAY PANEL – 10 g
10 g per packet
LOKELMA
sodium zirconium cyclosilicate powder, for suspension
SODIUM ZIRCONIUM CYCLOSILICATE (UNII: D652ZWF066) (ZIRCONIUM - UNII:C6V6S92N3C) SODIUM ZIRCONIUM CYCLOSILICATE 5 g in 5 g
NDC:0310-1105-30 30 in 1 BOX 09/04/2018
NDC:0310-1105-01 5 g in 1 PACKET; Type 0: Not a Combination Product
NDA NDA207078 09/04/2018
SODIUM ZIRCONIUM CYCLOSILICATE (UNII: D652ZWF066) (ZIRCONIUM - UNII:C6V6S92N3C) SODIUM ZIRCONIUM CYCLOSILICATE 10 g in 10 g
NDC:0310-1110-01 10 g in 1 PACKET; Type 0: Not a Combination Product
NDC:0310-1110-98 30 in 1 BOX 09/04/2018 07/31/2021
Labeler - AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP (054743190)
Registrant - AstraZeneca PLC (230790719)
Document Id: 6e4d67e2-8b1f-4927-8af4-21f52618a43b
Set id: 90bf8e28-748d-4e4b-a19f-9cf483370eff
Effective Time: 20180731
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‘Merc with a Mouth’ Kidnaps Fred Savage for PG-13 Once Upon a Deadpool
Deadpool wants Fred Savage as his sidekick to make his PG-13 Once Upon a Deadpool a success
By Aamnah Jawad On Nov 19, 2018
PG-13 and Deadpool. These are two words we thought would never go together. However, the wildly popular Merc with a Mouth-a cussing one, is set to appear in a PG-13 movie. It’s a Christmas movie no less. He’s getting a little help for the project as well. Or rather, he is kidnapping the help. The former child star, Fred Savage.
Once Upon a Deadpool Trailer
Here is something we never thought was possible. A Christmas movie starring Deadpool. And a PG-13 movie no less. What is the world coming to? Deadpool is a 20th Century Fox franchise. Co-produced by the lead actor Ryan Reynolds, the movie took liberties with the content. Especially the language, and the nudity, and let’s not forget violence. However, it did not bomb on the box office. It became a super hit. Two movies have already released in the franchise. While fans are waiting for the third movie in the series, they were surprised. A trailer for a Christmas special Deadpool movie came out.
The trailer starts with rhyming narration from Reynold’s Deadpool,
Right before Christmas, a good guy in red, is coming to theatres, with his new sidekick Fred.
Cue in Fred Savage
There comes Fred Savage in bed, in his pajamas. He is bewildered and asks why he is there? Wade Wilson aka Deadpool tells him that he is in a PG-13 version of Deadpool. The anti-hero tells him that the movie is;
…filtered through the prism of child like innocence.
Fred is still unable to understand why he’s there. He defends himself saying he’s a grown man. Wade tells him that nobody does child like innocence like Fred. It is interesting to know that 20th Century Fox has stated that they are including Fred in the movie to;
“pay an homage to Savage’s starring role in the 1987 bedtime-story classic ‘The Princess Bride.’”
Wade tells Fred that he needs him. As much as Fred needs him. Wade says he he will untie him when they are done.
What’s so Deadpool?
Following that is a montage of clips. They are reportedly behind the scenes, and deleted scenes from the Deadpool 2 movie.
Fred Likes Marvel
Fred confesses that he likes Marvel movies. Deadpool points out that they are Marvel. However, Fred has his own musical analysis for the 20th Century Fox produced ‘Deadpool’. He called it a poorly produced Beatles song by Nickelback.
Once Upon a Deadpool Coming Near You
The PG-13 movie will have a limited release from 21st to 24th December. The PG-13 range will allow a family audience to go enjoy the movie.
Aamnah Jawad 85 posts
Aamnah is an author that specializes in uncovering the inside information about Hollywood and its people.
Priyanka Chopra Mixes it Up in Her Amazon Wedding Registry
Logan Paul Joins Flat Earth Society?
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Personalized medicine: a shared infrastructure is crucial
Newsletter articles: Data4lifesciences news #1
In this first newsletter, we would like to introduce you to The Netherlands Federation of UMCs programme Data4lifesciences: what is Data4lifesciences, why do we need this programme, who is involved, and what is the status? Also in this newsletter more information about HANDS, a product of Data4lifesciences. This Handbook for Adequate Natural Data Stewardship will assist every researcher in their research and provides both guidelines and pratical tools, infrastructure and expertise for handling research data.
Data4lifesciences: towards a national data infrastructure for biomedical research
A handbook for data stewardship
An easier life for researchers
Scientific breakthroughs and technological innovations create opportunities to tailor healthcare to the individual patient. However, it often takes long before innovations translate into personalised medicine in practice. ‘An important obstacle is the lack of an efficient national data infrastructure for biomedical research’, says Dr. Jan-Willem Boiten. He is the programme manager of Data4lifesciences.
Personalised medicine tailors healthcare (i.e., prevention, diagnostics, prognostics, or treatment) to the individual patient based on his or her molecular characteristics. These may be biomarkers such as DNA variations that predict the success of a treatment. But personalised medicine is more than biomarkers. It is often called P4 medicine: personal, preventive, predictive, and participatory. The holy grail of P4 medicine is preventing disease and managing one’s personal health rather than managing disease.
‘P4 medicine is a wonderful prospect, but we still have quite a long way to go before the scientific progress can be applied in clinical practice’, says Jan-Willem Boiten. ‘The technological advances that have made personalised medicine possible have also resulted in an explosive growth of complex research data. And a personalised approach calls for large groups of study subjects. At the same time, there are privacy issues and discussions about data ownership. These data-related challenges ask for collaboration and an adequate infrastructure. That is what the Data4lifesciences programme aims to deliver.’ (Read more about the envisaged infrastructure.)
Data4lifesciences is coordinated by the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centres (NFU). Jan-Willem Boiten: ‘Programmes such as TralT, BBMRI-NL, Parelsnoer, and DTL have made the first important moves towards better research infrastructures. But the UMCs cannot afford to rely on these programmes alone because their long-term funding is uncertain. We need coordinated action to sustain and expand these founding infrastructures, so that we can guarantee their continuity.’
Additional urgent reasons for adapting the current infrastructure are the upcoming EU privacy regulations, the implementation of new electronic health records, and more stringent requirements for the quality of data management and reusability of data by important research sponsors (e.g., the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development ZonMW, and the Dutch Cancer Society KWF).
Jan-Willem Boiten: ‘Collaboration is the only way forward. An example of our collaborative efforts is the conference Empowering Personalised Medicine and Health Research that was held on 4 November 2015. This conference was an initiative of BBMRI-NL, DTL/ELIXIR-NL, and EATRIS. An impressive list of organisations joined the initiative (e.g., Federa/COREON, FHI, FMS, and NFU) and it was supported by large research funders such as NWO, ZonMW, and KWF.
‘The people involved in Data4lifesciences are really enthusiastic’, says Jan-Willem Boiten. ‘There is broad support for collaboration. This is truly special, because these people are former competitors. And it is a bottom-up initiative, i.e., people from the work floor are actively involved in the programme. The time is right to bridge the gap between technological progress and personalised medicine in clinical practice.’
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St. Martin (French part) (6635)
Women who believe a husband is justified in beating his wife when she neglects the children (%): Q2
Percentage of women ages 15-49 who believe a husband/partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife/partner when she neglects the children. Each wealth quintile represents one fifth of households with quintile 1 being the...
Percentage of women ages 15-49 who believe a husband/partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife/partner when she neglects the children. Each wealth quintile represents one fifth of households with quintile 1 being the poorest 20 percent of households and quintile 5 being the richest 20 percent of households.
Code: SG.VAW.NEGL.Q2.ZS Data Type: Time Series Periodicity: Annual Dataset: Gender Statistics Source: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), and other surveys: STATcompiler (http://www.statcompiler.com/) as of November 22, 2016, UNICEF global databases (http://www.data.unicef.org/) as of November 2015. MICS Compiler (http://www.micscompiler.org/) as of June 12, 2016. Last Updated: Jul 16, 2019 License: CC-BY 4.0 (details) Access Options: Query Tool API Download CSV XML EXCEL
Women who believe a husband is justified in beating his wife when she neglects the children (%): Q1 (lowest)
Women who believe a husband is justified in beating his wife when she goes out without telling him (%): Q5 (highest)
Percentage of women ages 15-49 who believe a husband/partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife/partner when she goes out without telling him. Each wealth quintile represents one fifth of households with quintile 1...
Percentage of women ages 15-49 who believe a husband/partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife/partner when she goes out without telling him. Each wealth quintile represents one fifth of households with quintile 1 being the poorest 20 percent of households and quintile 5 being the richest 20 percent of households.
Code: SG.VAW.GOES.Q5.ZS Data Type: Time Series Periodicity: Annual Dataset: Gender Statistics Source: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), and other surveys: STATcompiler (http://www.statcompiler.com/) as of November 22, 2016, UNICEF global databases (http://www.data.unicef.org/) as of November 2015. MICS Compiler (http://www.micscompiler.org/) as of June 12, 2016. Last Updated: Jul 16, 2019 License: CC-BY 4.0 (details) Access Options: Query Tool API Download CSV XML EXCEL
Women who believe a husband is justified in beating his wife when she goes out without telling him (%): Q4
Women who believe a husband is justified in beating his wife when she goes out without telling him (%): Q1 (lowest)
Women who believe a husband is justified in beating his wife when she burns the food (%): Q5 (highest)
Percentage of women ages 15-49 who believe a husband/partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife/partner when she burns the food. Each wealth quintile represents one fifth of households with quintile 1 being the poorest...
Percentage of women ages 15-49 who believe a husband/partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife/partner when she burns the food. Each wealth quintile represents one fifth of households with quintile 1 being the poorest 20 percent of households and quintile 5 being the richest 20 percent of households.
Code: SG.VAW.BURN.Q5.ZS Data Type: Time Series Periodicity: Annual Dataset: Gender Statistics Source: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), and other surveys: STATcompiler (http://www.statcompiler.com/) as of November 22, 2016, UNICEF global databases (http://www.data.unicef.org/) as of November 2015. MICS Compiler (http://www.micscompiler.org/) as of June 12, 2016. Last Updated: Jul 16, 2019 License: CC-BY 4.0 (details) Access Options: Query Tool API Download CSV XML EXCEL
Women who believe a husband is justified in beating his wife when she burns the food (%): Q4
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Encouraging Flexibility from Social Media Giants: How We Get Private Platforms to Support Public Speech
by mstem|Published April 11, 2013
There are many problems with using commercial technology platforms to host democratic, social, or activist content and communications. These problems came up in multiple sessions at the National Conference on Media Reform last weekend. There are also obvious reasons to continue using these platforms (audience reach, most notably), and so we do. Some activist efforts that silo communications on more open, but relatively unknown platforms strike me as irresponsible, if the goal is to reach as many people as possible (but this is a fine line). The more I think about this issue, though, the more I see potential solutions and a future in working with the platform providers to build some degree of flexibility into their products and policies.
The spot on the carpet reserved for public ranting at #NCMR13
Social media giants do not have immediately obvious incentive to participate in such compromise. First of all, supporting individual humans doesn’t scale at anywhere near the order of magnitude they seek with their software. This model of customer support is perhaps best illustrated by Google, where serious and eminently solvable problems are routed through static FAQ pages, or, if you’re lucky, a forum page where a Google developer or superuser might stumble across your concern and provide some hint of illumination as to its origin or any hope of forthcoming resolution.
Policies dictating which user generated content crosses the line are designed to protect good taste, not free speech. These commercial operations want to maintain a culture that delivers the most revenue, which can often translate to offending the fewest users. As Rebecca MacKinnon noted talking about her book, Consent of the Networked, it’s sort of a lucky accident that Twitter is as good as they have been on free speech (and maybe we shouldn’t rely on lucky accidents).
Minimalist design values also demand that product managers strike unnecessary features and superfluous checkboxes from the user experience. Technology companies test this stuff, and can show you the very real, very empirical costs of those additional features. But I think that if we think creatively, there are some solutions that can scale without expensive back-and-forth with users.
A golden exception, and maybe one of the few exceptions, is YouTube’s partnership with WITNESS (site). At NCMR, I got to sit on a panel with WITNESS’s Human Rights Channel curator, Madeleine Bair. WITNESS was founded on the idea that a planet populated by billions of people with billions of networked-connected cameras would reshape our discovery and consumption of media documenting human rights violations.
WITNESS is also one of the few advocacy organizations I’m aware of that has successfully convinced a major social media platform (the second most popular search engine in the world) to become aware of their work and alter policies to support its dissemination. For a while, when videos full of the graphic content comprising human rights violations were uploaded to YouTube, they were soon taken down for violating YouTube’s (generally understandable) policies to ensure the platform is used in good taste. WITNESS had developed their own video hosting site, but, as in so many other cases, YouTube’s crazy reach and engineering advantage surpassed the home-grown effort with regards to reaching people.
Educate the People Who Make the Decisions
On our panel, Madeleine pointed to the need to help educate technology companies on your issue. WITNESS has apparently done a great job of this; in addition to the policy revision, YouTube linked to the organization’s Cameras Everywhere report when they announced YouTube’s new facial blur feature. But for most of the social organizations I know, the challenge is finding a human being to talk to in the first place. I don’t know the specifics of how WITNESS got YouTube on board, but I’m guessing it involved conversations with human rights champions within the company itself.
Update: Last year, Sameer Padania wrote up his firsthand experience at WITNESS developing the partnership with YouTube. It’s basically a much more informed version of this post. Go read it.
The major hurdle to other advocacy organizations arranging similar agreements is that talking to activists all day doesn’t scale for these companies. And when we say scale, remember, we’re talking about billions of posts a day, and in the case of video, more footage than any number of commercially-supported human beings will ever be able to review. To begin to make sense of this torrent, YouTube has introduced algorithms that can automatically determine if a video of a song is a concert, a living room cover, or a music video. They’re now using humans to improve and refine how these algorithms rank hard-for-computers topics like humor and cuteness. As algorithms sort more and more of our content, a little transparency would go a long way.
In an email with Madeleine afterwards, she sees hope for finding ways to work with these companies to help them out of the delicate situations they increasingly find themselves in:
Of course, there need to be allies within that entity to invite you to the table, but I think as communication companies like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are finding themselves in the middle of critical international debates about the freedom of speech, protection of human rights, and safety of activists, they would rather make informed decisions, which is where advocates can find an opportunity to engage in discussions about the potential impacts of those decisions.
Companies Respond More Quickly to Press than Users
Mothers have organized for year against Facebook’s “community guidelines” that initially banned photos of breastfeeding. If the areola is visible in a photo, Facebook takes the photo down and can even ban the user who posted it. After rounds of negative publicity, the company now aspires to support such photos, but still makes mistakes regulating decency in the billions of photos hosted on their site.
Some Issues are Easier to Gain Consensus than Others
We’re probably going to have more luck winning these platform and policy tweaks that support more universally agreeable issues like human rights rather than divisive topics. The degree to which your issue is universally agreeable is a larger battle (e.g. the sea change in Americans’ opinion on gay marriage – driven largely by cultural and interpersonal changes). In a recent story on this topic, NPR quoted law professor Jeffrey Rosen on the problematic practice of regulating speech based on community norms:
“If Facebook had existed in the 1970s, Rosen says, rules like these could have easily made organizing around, say, gay rights difficult or impossible. He says by definition, transgressive movements, at their founding, are going to offend people.”
But I see reason for hope for progress if we can encourage policy flexibility on the part of technology companies, education provided by social activists, and creativity on behalf of each.
Features that Embed Values into the Technology Itself
We can also work to encourage proactive values-supporting features, rather than just fight restrictive content policies. An example of this is Flickr and YouTube’s support, if not promotion, of Creative Commons licenses. The Creative Commons site has a variety of its own media search engines, but in my communications work, YouTube and Flickr’s pool of CC-licensed content cannot be beat. The thing is, many amateur producers are more than happy to share the media they’ve produced — that’s often why they’re posting it on the internet in the first place. Whether or not they know what Creative Commons licenses are, or how restrictive formal copyright system is, or that they can change Flickr and YouTube’s default settings when they upload media, directly affects the size of the pool of reusable content. Facebook’s decision not to support such licenses makes getting permission to use any of the gajillions of photos posted there trickier.
Both Sides Should Work with Realities
The world is complicated and if our speech is going to occur on platforms run by private corporations rather than public squares, we’re going to have to push these companies to respect the complicated realities of the world we live in. It’s time to start thinking about carrots and sticks at our disposal, while bearing in mind the crazy scale at which these platforms operate.
P.S. Nate Matias helpfully points out the Global Network Initative, which seeks to help ICT companies navigate this space.
P.P.S. WITNESS is in the running for a Webby for their Voices of the Genocide project. Vote for them!
Previous post Building the NGO Tech Network in China
Next post Building peace with technology in Sudan and Cyprus
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Lord Gallaway’s Delight (CD review)
An Excellent Collection of Dances & Gaelic Laments. Les Witches, with guest Siobhan Armstrong. Alpha Productions 534.
Quoting from a very old music publication, the French ensemble Les Witches describes the present album as “An Excellent Choice of the most celebrated Irish tunes, the finest English Country Dances & the best Scotch Humours, with several additional Fancies and Divisions never before recorded!”
OK, you might say, what’s a group of French musicians doing playing traditional Irish, English, and Scottish music? I suppose you could say the music transcends the boundaries of place and time, and Les Witches do as good a job as any I’ve heard of bringing this kind of music to life. The group comprises five members: Pascale Boquet, lute and guitar; Odile Edouard, violin; Freddy Eichelberger, harpsichord and cistre (a sort of ancient mandolin); Claire Michon, flutes; and Sylvie Moquet, viola da gamba. Joining Les Witches is guest Siobhan Armstrong on the Irish harp because, as they say, you cannot have Irish music without a harp. And what better an exponent of the Irish harp than Ms. Armstrong, the head of the Historical Harp Society of Ireland.
Still, this kind of music is a bit of an acquired taste. All of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth-century Irish, Scottish, and English instrumental tunes on the album appear tinged with melancholy, either a quality of the people who wrote them or a predilection of the musicians who chose to include them. In either case, it doesn’t change the eighteen tracks on the disc, which are delightful in their way but whose mood tends to sound slightly the same after a while. A little goes a long way? It helps, of course, that the players use historical instruments, which makes it all the more authentic and fun.
Anyhow, on the opening number, “She Rose and Leit Me In,” the six instruments enter one at a time, creating a surprisingly rich and complex texture. And so it goes.
Flutist Claire Michon tells us in a booklet note that “with traditional musicians we share the pleasures of variation, ornamentation and improvisation, so expect to hear a bit of each style. Expect mainly, though, to hear gentle, committed, expressive playing, be it in dances or Gaelic laments. The music is melodic, sometimes rhapsodic, lilting, lyrical, and haunting. Most of all, it’s lovely, played with plenty of sweet, loving care.
While in fairness, I could not single out a “best tune” in the bunch, I know I strongly enjoyed the first number above, plus “Mary O’Neill,” “On the Cold Ground,” “Mary Halfpenny” (which sounds faintly of tinkling wind chimes), “Siege of Limerick,” and the closing air “Da Mihi Manum” (a melody that will have you close to tears). Yet, for that matter, they’re all gems, which, as I say, take a little getting used to. Once you acquire the taste, however, it’s hard not to want more.
Les Witches concocted their brew in 2012, with sound that is every bit as fascinating as the music. Indeed, the sonics steal the show. The highs sparkle, the midrange glows with clarity, and the bass, what there is of it, shows commendable tautness. There is a fine separation of instruments and a quick transient response, too. Most important, the recording venue imparts a sweet, natural resonance to the occasion, making the performances warmly lifelike.
To hear a brief excerpt from this album, click here:
Labels: Collections
Classical Music News of the Week, March 31, 2013
Mendelssohn: Violin Concertos (CD review)
Declarations: Music Between the Wars (CD review)
Falla: El Amor Brujo (HQCD review)
Raff: Symphony No. 2 (SACD review)
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor (CD r...
The Strauss Family (CD review)
Berlioz: Overtures (SACD review)
Schubert: Trout Quintet (CD review)
Elgar: Cello Concerto (CD review)
Hear Here!
Prokofiev: Piano Concertos 2 & 3 (HQCD review)
Beethoven: Symphonies No. 4 & 7 (CD review)
Wilms: Symphonies Nos. 6 and 7 (CD review)
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 21 and 22 (CD review)...
Exiles’ Cafe (CD review)
Classical Music News of the Week, March 3, 2013
Al Combate (CD review)
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« North American Upper Treeline #1
North American Upper Treeline #2 »
Unthreaded #8
Continuation of Unthreaded #7
This entry was written by John A, posted on Apr 5, 2007 at 2:05 PM, filed under General. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.
James Erlandson
Posted Apr 5, 2007 at 3:34 PM | Permalink
Back in Unthreaded Number 6 (entry 319 and following), there was some discussion of a Lobell and Field (2007) paper on the effect of temperature on cereal crop yields. Readers may find this abstract by Schlenker and Roberts (2006) interesting.
There has been an active debate whether global warming will result in a net gain or net loss for United States agriculture. With mounting evidence that climate is warming, we show that such warming will have substantial impacts on agricultural yields by the end of the century: yields of three major crops in the United States are predicted to decrease by 25-44% under the slowest warming scenario and 60-79% under the most rapid warming scenario in our preferred model.
Andrew Gelman has some comments at his blog.
John Baltutis
ANDREW C. REVKIN states, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/science/earth/05climate.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
The latest United Nations assessment of the role of humans in global warming has found with “high confidence” that greenhouse gas emissions are at least partly responsible for a host of changes already under way, including longer growing seasons and shrinking glaciers.
Nothing wishy-washy about that.
Cold March in Alaska
RSS satellite global temperature anomaly for March continues the no-increase pattern of the last six years. Global warming has flatlined.
There was nothing extraordinary about the March northern polar temperatures either.
South Pole anomalies actually give a hint of cooling.
I think the recent cooling of tropical SST will lead to a slight downtrend in the coming months.
By the way, snow flurries are possible in the far northern suburbs of Houston (US) this weekend, which would be extraordinary.
Here’s a very simple way to estimate climate sensitivity (I hope not simplistic :)) Without any greenhouse gases, it is generally estimated that the planet’s average temperature would be -18 deg. C. But due to greenhouse gases (mainly HOH) it averages 32 deg. So the change is 18 + 32 = 50 degrees. Dividing this by the usually cited average solar radiation of 343 w/m2 gives a sensitivity of 0.15 deg/wm-2. Dang, my other empirical estimates for various locations averages only 0.11. But I’ve only considered the USA, Aand who knows how close the -18, 32, and 343 figures are to reality.
Ken Fritsch
Re: #4
I noted in another thread here that my tulips were earlier than I could remember and I was going to be mowing my grass at significantly earlier date also. That was all related to a warm late March we had here in Northern IL — even though the remainder of our late winter was normal. Guess what folks. I mowed my grass and nearly froze my bu?? off and my poor beautiful tulips are drooping to the ground blooms and all. We call that weather here and not all that unusual either.
Lubo Motl
If you haven’t seen the Canadian 2004 CBC documentary “Doomsday called off”, you should see it. It talks about the hockey stick, too (starting at the very end of the first part among five).
http://motls.blogspot.com/2007/04/cbc-global-warming-doomsday-called-off.html
Interesting news, it came to my attention a French politico recently carped about the American failure (so far) to institute carbon trading markets. He pointed out that it was Americans who pushed “emissions trading” into the evolving Kyotos protocols.
I checked into this, and lo and behold, it was Americans that did such, in 1998, and guess who was the person personally intervening for it? No less than Al Gore. So we have now Gore pushing crypto-Kyoto carbon trading markets under the cover of apocalyptic propaganda, the very same person who pushed carbon trading markets into Kyoto!
So far cannot find who the person/s who invented the idea of this trading, but wouldn’t be surprised if they were connected to Goldman Sachs. As an American, and with a little guilt, I feel impressed our scammers can devise bigger scams than the Western European politicos with their mere green taxes.
The 2006-2007 typhoon season in the Southern Hemisphere is about over. To-date ACE (accumulated cyclone energy) for this season is 210, versus a normal season total of 225.
Season: normal
Apocalypse: postponed
mzed
I’m not sure why I’m bothering, but:
#4 here’s a question: if global warming has “flatlined” AND the primary driver of climate is solar radiation…then why have temperatures been “flatlining” over the last seven years while the 11-year solar irradiance cycle has been decreasing? For that matter, why wouldn’t you expect warming to increase when the 11-year cycle ticks back up (beginning right around now)?
For that matter, why don’t you think that there would still be extremes in a warmer climate? Record lows, cold seasons, even temporary downward trends?
#5: actually you’re not the first to make this estimate. The problem you face is that the empirical data don’t seem to support this sensitivity. Therefore, something else must be going on, i.e. climate must be more complicated than that. (This is why people argue about sea temperature measurements.)
#6: see my comments to #4. Why should your local temperature reflect the global average? (For that matter, why should March in northern Illinois tell us anything about even the US average for the entire year? Why should it even tell us about the northern Illinios average for the entire year?) Of course there would still be cold Aprils in Illiniois, even in a warmer world.
DeWitt Payne
#5 jae,
The gray body temperature of an earth without greenhouse gases in the atmosphere but with the same albedo (0.3) is 255 K. The average temperature is normally quoted as 288 K for a difference of 33 degrees, not 50. Total incoming radiation at the surface is about 490 watts/sq.m. including sunlight and long wave IR from the atmosphere. The earth’s surface radiates 390 W/sq.m. of IR and loses an additional 100 W from latent heat loss (related to evaporation of water) plus sensible heat loss due to convective transfer to the atmosphere (wind, e.g.) to balance the energy input. But these are averages over the full year and the full surface of the earth. And that’s the end of the simple part. It’s not sufficient information to derive a climate sensitivity for a doubling of atmospheric CO2. Too many things are unknown.
It’s fairly easy to construct a crude one-dimensional mathematical model in Excel of a stationary atmosphere (no sensible heat transfer) containing a non-condensible greenhouse gas (no latent heat transfer) using the ideal gas law, the Stefan-Boltzman equation and Beer’s law and assuming a constant temperature lapse rate with altitude to get an idea of how the greenhouse effect really works. In that model, changing the concentration and hence the fraction of IR absorption and emission of the greenhouse gas by only 5% changes the surface temperature 1 degree Kelvin. I’m still working on a model that includes water vapor but no clouds. That’s a lot harder. It might be more interesting to do a two dimensional model from pole to pole first. But even that would be quite difficult.
10 mzed: You are correct; others have done similar calculations. However, there are probably 20 empirical demonstrations that climate sensitivity is below 0.3 deg/wm-2. So please tell me why I should believe in voodoo climate models, which seem to be the only alternative source for information on climate sensitivity. Or tell me just how the IPPC derives such high sensitivity levels. Steve M. has been asking this question for a long time, and the climate scientists either don’t have an answer, or they won’t talk to us. LOL.
mzed 10 says:
Back at you, man: why is it “flatlined” if CO2 has anything to do with temperature?
11, DeWitt: better look at my calculation again. The DIFFERENCE caused by GHG is 50 degrees.
Tim Ball
As I recall, the US proposed offsets such as credits for forests as a trade off for signing Kyoto. Ironically, the Europeans rejected the idea because they said we don’t know the role of forests in CO2 and the carbon cycle. At that time people were looking for the ‘missing sink’ and many believed it was the boreal forest. It exceeded the human production in most years. This huge gap in knowledge didn’t present them pushing ahead with a seriously flawed treaty because it never was about the science, it was a political document that provided for a transfer of wealth. We only began measuring input and output of the boreal forest in North America a few years ago, about the time the bargaining was occurring. Of course, Its possible Gore saw this as a way around a recalcitrant Senate that eventually voted 95-0 against the Protocol.
Re thread 7, #428
Interesting sea ice paper , John. It’s enjoyable to look at older (1978) papers – I sometimes wonder what those earlier, less-ideological minds could have done using higher-quality modern data.
The paper shows big interannual ice extent changes, as you note. Those swings don’t seem to be in the Cryosphere Today data. Also, the relatively warm Arctic temperature in the early 1950s, and the large drop from then until 1965, don’t clearly appear in today’s NOAA temperature reconstructions.
The Arctic portrayed in the 1978 paper is dynamic and variable. Modern reconstructions, however, seem to show the 1953-1977 era as rather tame.
I noticed their attempt to correlate air temperature and sea ice extent over 1953-1977 gave, at best, r= -0.2 (unsmoothed data, Figure 13). Not strong. To me, that supports the idea that other factors, like winds and currents, play a major role in Arctic ice extent variability.
I did look at your calculations. They’re wrong. You’re saying the average temperature of the earth’s surface is plus 32 C. That’s 90 F. I don’t think so. It’s more like 15 C or 59 F. That gives 18 + 15 or 33 degrees difference. The greenhouse effect makes the planet 33 degrees warmer than it would be without the greenhouse not a temperature of 33 (or 32) C.
There’s also the fact that the EU population was flat or declining while the US was expected to continue to expand. By putting an absolute limit on emissions rather than a per capita limit, the EU would gain a substantial economic advantage over the US if we had been stupid enough to implement Kyoto. The treaty was more mercantilist in intent than environmental.
Posted Apr 5, 2007 at 10:02 PM | Permalink
In my readings (via google books), your memory is correct. At the same time of the market advocacy, the Americans were advocating “sinks.” Most mentioned was farms – surely our clever agribusiness thought up another way to be paid not to grow food. Forests were often mentioned too – we got a lot of them relative to many nations – and owners would like to get some free money.
RE #10 Hello, mzed. I’m agnostic on solar cycle / climate connections (= no opinion), so someone else would have to answer your initial, specific question. (By the way, I’m also a believer in AGW, but that’s an AGW that is much milder in impact than the apocalyptic visions of Mr Gore.)
On your second question, there would certainly be variability in a generally-warming world, meaning that periods of natural cooling would still occur despite a background trend of rising temperatures.
By the same reasoning, one should also expect periods of natural warming “piggybacking” on a trend of generally-rising temperatures, exaggerating the overall warming. Could it be that the post-1976 warming is a combination of a natural oscillation (PDO, ENSO, etc) plus AGW, creating an apparent rate-of-rise that is higher than the AGW portion alone?
The anecdotes on cold local weather, like Ken’s tulips and my snow flurries and Sadlov’s ice bridges, are in the spirit of poking fun at those in the media who turn every warm weather phenomena into scare-stories. They are weather, not climate, nad we’ve labeled them as such in the past.
Best regards, mzed, and thanks for the questions as they help the discussion.
I didn’t realize RC could be so entertaining…
In our town GHG committee, we’re working hard on mitigation [IPCC-style], to measure what we’re doing, prioritize things to do, figure out how to help education, and when necessary, think about changing town laws. Many of us have already been over the houses with Watts-Up, started using compact fluorescents years ago, use solar heating for pools, PV solar (when possible;, this town adores trees, but they can get in the way :-)), use geothermal, etc, etc. Some people are building new houses that are not only energy neutral in operation, but try to minimize the carbon load from materials and construction.
I would never argue against any of this; many of these have fine ROIs.
My point was that even if everybody on the planet magically did all this tomorrow, the temperature and sealevel will still go up for a while [just slower], and we’ll still have to spend money on adaptation/extra maintenance. For instance, in CA, there will almost certainly have to be some serious engineering works ($, energy), and these will be necessary, but just to avoid worse disasters, and they will cost $$, and they do compete with other uses for the money. It is definitely better to fix levees ahead of time, but it still costs $, and it is still sometimes hard to get people to pay for the bond measures… even in a rich place that usually plans for disasters. I have no idea how well the economists are modeling all this, although I’m certainly sure that some efforts better start earlier rather than later. For instance, we ought to get really serious about where people can build new houses at low altitudes.
Barry B.
Posted Apr 6, 2007 at 12:20 AM | Permalink
Re: #421 thread #7
Ken, I’m increasingly of the opinion that research such as Lobell & Field’s and especially Schlenker & Roberts’ is not worth much more than the paper it is printed on.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that there are some major flaws in their research – not the least of which is attempting to correlate high temperatures with yield loss. In my opinion this is the wrong approach because temperature is not the predominant factor for yield loss. Longstanding knowledge about corn and soybeans tells us that both of these crops can withstand temperatures in the upper extremes without loss of yield – if there is an ample supply of moisture.
As I referenced to you earlier, the Purdue publication shows the heat tolerance of corn to be 95 degrees F at the upper limit. I was looking through the Illinois Agronomy Handbook today and it puts the upper limit at 100 degrees F (without yield loss) for both corn and soybeans. Of course, these tolerances are wholly dependent upon an ample supply of moisture being available to the plant but it should however be a strong indicator that moisture availability is the principle component of yield loss and any research should be focused on moisture first.
This presents an inconvenient problem for these scientists because of the enormous difficulty in identifying and quantifying the numerous soil types and their differing water holding capacities throughout the major grain producing regions, but failing to do so is a disservice to the science.
Another inconvenient problem is that global warming is inextricably linked to rising temperatures and any attempt at fueling the debate needs to be focused upon this particular variable. I guess this is why we are seeing study after study aimed in on temperature as the sole driver, but again, this is bad science.
You also touched on a couple of other “problems” that are certainly worthy of discussion. One of these is CO2 fertilization. There is sufficient evidence that increased CO2 concentrations decrease evapotranspiration rates within the plant which in turn increases drought tolerance. But as you said, these researchers dismiss this as controversial yet there’s enough data to suggest otherwise. Any reasonable attempt at making future yield predictions should include some type of accounting for CO2 and it’s effects.
I am also puzzled over Schlenker and Robrts’ failure to account for an extended growing season and earlier planting in a warmer environment. If you follow the link here:
http://agron.scijournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/98/6/1544
this paper shows that since the early 1980’s, corn planting is occurring approximately 2 weeks earlier because of the warming we have experienced. This should be an important consideration in any research focused on predicting future yields in a warmer world because it allows us the ability to mitigate the effects of higher temps at the crucial points in the plants development. At some point in time we may be planting in January but the point is we will be able to adapt. Who knows, there might come a point in time that we are raising two crops in a season. Now wouldn’t that bake the AGW alarmist’s noodle!
Finally, you asked about the large spread on soybean yields. As you move South here in the U.S., diseases do become more predominant. However, this in itself is not the sole yield limiting factor because losses due to disease is almost always linked to other stresses on the plant. This is what I refer to as “stress on stress” and given the soil limitations in the Southern states, I would guess the two combined is why you’re seeing greater variability. Here in Illinois in 2003 we experienced much the same type of situation. Soybean yields that year surprised a lot of people because they were so low. Looking back there were a multitude of problems which developed and it was hard to pin the blame on any one factor. In the end it was the stress on stress I referred to and this quote from Dean Malvick in the U of I Crop Bulletin sums it up nicely:
He said, “So what caused the low yields in 2003? Unfortunately, we don’t have data to suggest the relative impact of disease, drought, and aphids (or other factors). All of these were important in some areas in Illinois, and there were interactions. The root rots increased problems with drought, drought increased charcoal rot, and we are not sure yet about possible interactions with the soybean aphid. We cannot focus just on one problem because, as has often been said, causality is multiple.”
jcspe
stupid question — is there any place where a complete statement of assumptions underlying the AGW postulate is listed in a concise way? That is, does anyone know where to review a listing of assumptions written in some form like:
1. atmospheric nitrogen is assumed to have no effect –
2. the atmosphere is assumed to be a control mass —
3. the atmosphere is assumed to occupy larger volumes at higher global average temperatures –
4. CO2 is assumed to behave in the atmosphere in the same manner as demonstrated in the ________ chemical laboratory experiment (citation). All variations in results due to pressure, temperature and excitement due to direct radiation are assumed to comply the results of the ______ experiment. The ideal gas law is assumed to apply in all cases.
5. it is assumed that gravity alone produces pressure in the atmosphere, although pressure is not uniform at uniform elevations due to known, quantifiable effects that include _________, ______, _______, ______ —
6. all solar cycles at every recurrence interval are assumed to be known and therefore all possible superpositions created by overlapping solar cycles are also known and can be plotted —
7. etc. — to end of assumptions list ???
An engineer assigned to the AGW challenge would be likely to maintain an up-to-date statement of assumptions at the forefront of the work, and to reassess each assumption on a continuous or regular basis. Has anyone seen such a thing? No, I am not trying to make some great point. I don’t have any special expertise, and I have no argument to offer. I am just curious.
Posted Apr 6, 2007 at 6:33 AM | Permalink
17: DeWitt. OK, I guess I goofed on the difference deal. But 33 degrees gives even a better answer= sensitivity of 0.096, same as Idso, almost same as my average 0.11.
Michael Jankowski
re#8:
Interesting news, it came to my attention a French politico recently carped about the American failure (so far) to institute carbon trading markets. He pointed out that it was Americans who pushed “emissions trading” into the evolving Kyotos protocols
Enron was the big pusher for “emissions trading.”
Mzed,
I think you will have to reference the Russians on solar activity. When they speak of increased solar activty, they are not speaking of the 11 year solar cycle, but a small (1-2%) increase in solar radiation sustained over several decades if not centuries. They measure small variations in the size of the sun (using satellites) to plot these increases. Thier arguments deal with long term changes, not decade long oscilations. Dr Habibullo Abdusamatov, of the Pulakov Observatory is one of thier leading scientists on this field.
It looks like The Cryosphere Today has updated their databases.
As feared, although the dataset anomalies from 2007 were fixed, the historical sea ice extent database was also completely restated.
In particular, the trend has now been adjusted so that it shows a more-or-less continous decline over the entire record Historical Arctic Sea Ice Data Completely Changed .
By way of comparison, yesterday, the data showed that 1999 was the lowest sea ice extent year and 2006/7 were higher than even 1990 for example. Not anymore.
Reminds me of some other restatements done by the Hadley Centre and the GISS. It is disturbing that data which is considered “climate history” can be so easily just done away with and a completely new set of data just inserted.
#27. Did you save any of the prior data in case you want to re-visit this issue?
Steve, this is the sort of thing that makes me want to start a third-party archiving site. Wouldn’t it be great if people wrote little scripts to import data from various other public domain databases and store it permanently? Each version could have a time stamp attached, Then you could look at the state of the data at any particular time, and examine what has changed. Also, scripts which download & process the data would be guaranteed to produce identical results in future, as you could download the specific version of the data you use initially.
I really think data should never be deleted or replaced. Rather, a new version should be created, if necessary. That would be the paradigm I would use.
Unfortunately, while such a project would not be terribly difficult, it would require some spare time… and since I haven’t retired yet I don’t have much 😦
Steve Sadlov
RE: #15 – In the humid continental and humid subtropical climate zones of North America, I suspect that the peak in actual use of arable land must have been reached back some time around WW2. Since then, as agriculture has been taken up by the Southwestern US and other irrigation oriented areas of Western North America, major portions of the former earlier Eastern “breadbaskets” have gone fallow and in many cases succeeded back to forest. This is especially true in New England, where the quality of the soil was marginal to begin with. All up and down the Eastern Seaboard, succession has occurred to an extent. You have to get down into Georgia to see really robust ag. That has got to have had an impact on carbon sequestration.
I didn’t archive the chart, but I have saved some of the movies.
I don’t know if this will work but I went to Wayback Machine and they have archived the chart from May 15th, 2006.
It looks like the entire archive has been changed considerably. You can go back and forth between these two images to see the “extent” of it. 2006/7 has been lowered by 1.25 million km2 (wow.)
May 15, 2006 Historical Sea Ice Chart
Today’s Historical Sea Ice Chart
IPCC:
http://www.ipcc.ch/press/prwg10apr07.htm
The approved Summary for Policymakers will be released during the PRESS CONFERENCE on FRIDAY, 6 April, at 10 am
Another SPM? Much more evidence has accumulated since the last SPM?
#29. Nicholas, I agree entirely. I have dozens if not hundreds of little retrieval scripts that, in and of theselves are not newsworthy. However, for anyone wanting to study one of these papers – and mostly I don;t get the impression that anyone ever reads most of these papers beyond the abstract – little retrieval scripts of the type that the author should have archived in the first instance would be useful. Some of the things that you and I have corresponded on retrieving temperature data are of this sort. I think that a Wiki format would work. It would need to be organized by article. I’ve got lots and lots of material. John A is busy for a while earning a living and can’t attend to it
RE: #31 – What’s both interesting and shocking about that is that for over one year, from ~ July 2005 to ~ November 2006, I made daily comparisons between Cryosphere Today’s visuals of ice extent, and, the NWS Anchorage office’ own ice maps. Now I realize Anchorage office’ maps are only a small sliver of Cryosphere’s. But still, it was telling. In fact, even using whatever old method they were using, Cryosphere routinely UNDERREPORTED extent, in the aforementioned area of observation, versus the far more trustworthy NWS charts (which are made using a combination of visual band from satellites, reports from seamen and fishermen, aircraft and observations from seaside communities). There is something innately wrong with the satellite data and how it’s used (and abused) by the various global cryo sites.
Steve McIntyre – Yes, I remember you mentioned wiki. I thought you were suggestion that it should be used to share scripts for downloading the data. Are you suggesting that the wiki could be used to also store copies of interesting data for posterity? I suppose that’s a possibility, but could be a little haphazard. At least, if you store data on a wiki, even if someone changes it you have a history and you can go back and see the original – that’s worth something.
The advantage of actually writing some specific software for such an archive would be, I think, to have a consistent download format (or formats) that are easy to import into languages like R, as well as a search tool, and a way to submit data from languages like R too. I guess you might as well try the wiki approach, if it doesn’t work there’s always a chance to go another route later.
Here in Illinois in 2003 we experienced much the same type of situation. Soybean yields that year surprised a lot of people because they were so low. Looking back there were a multitude of problems which developed and it was hard to pin the blame on any one factor. In the end it was the stress on stress I referred to and this quote from Dean Malvick in the U of I Crop Bulletin sums it up nicely…
Thanks, Barry B., for your replies about and insights into the climate-crop yield issue. I think we agree that the relationship is more complicated than some of these authors imply in their papers on the subject matter.
I found your comment on the 2003 soybean yields was most appropriate to this situation. I was familiar with it from reading the crop reports that my recently deceased father used to send me (they ended with his death at 94 years old and his long time subscription). The corn crop was surprisingly excellent that year while the soybeans yields were off significantly. It was one of those outlier points on my IL soybean yield versus the moisture/temperature product plot that when I went back to the reports for that year mentioned soybean aphids (I think). I knew that the situation was closer to what you described and it was what put off my attributing these negative deviations to outliers statuses — as unrelated to temperature/moisture conditions. I do not want to be guilty of over simplifying as I accuse some of the recent papers’ authors.
I continue to see articles about the surprisingly low soybean yields of 2003 and questions being asked about the adequacy of “farm management” to handle that situation and whether more aggressive actions could have been taken to avoid it. I get the idea that it remains a bit of a mystery but “stress on stress” fits with my recollections
Basil Copeland
#32 UC… this is an SPM for WGII. The last SPM was for WGI. You can see the new one here.
KevinUK
#7 Lubos
Thanks for your links to the ‘Doomsday called off’ videos on YouTube. I’ve just finished watching them and what struck me most (given that these were made in 2004) is how little has changed in the three years or so since they were made. I think they deserve a re-run so to speak in the MSM in parallel with ‘The Inconvenient Truth’ so that joe-public can decide who is being reasonable and who isn’t, who is presenting the facts in a balanced way and who is cherrying picking and being deliberately alarmist.
RE#4 and 6 – You do realize that such “extreme” and “unexpected” weather events are consistent with global warming?
Interesting Yahoo headline here – southwest drought may be “permanent” due to global warming. A researcher goes on to say, “…By 2020, rain estimates show ‘very unusual’ agreement among climate projections, with the Southwestern states facing permanent drought…
…The finding aligns with past studies that suggest “the Southwest is ‘ground zero’ for a drying effect…”
Yet according to the Hadley and Canadian climate model projections for the US from a few years back:
“…For the 21st century, the Canadian model projects that percentage increases in precipitation will be largest in the Southwest and California…In the Hadley model, the largest percentage increases in precipitation are projected to be in the Southwest and Southern California…
…The Hadley and Canadian models project strong increases in soil moisture in the Southwest…”
Color me confused.
RE: #40 – read the link I posted on the Water Vapor thread. These people among the hysterical set making such statements regarding SW drought don’t know their ….. from a hole in the ground. Funny they don’t bring up PDO, AMO, El Nino, La Nina, etc. Even the most cursory review of the body of literature, regarding drought in the Western US, will feature lots of references to such factors. For what it’s worth, I personally believe that the current (and spreading) drought is attributable to a series of La Ninas, and, the emerging (in fits and starts since 1998) Negative PDO. Part of living in the SW US. Deal with it folks.
RE: #40 Maybe they are both right. The models should show a high likelyhood for permenant drought – because the whole southwest is a desert. In a normal year we are in drought conditions most of the time just about anywhere below 7,000 feet elevation.
Some people find this hard to believe, but it is true. Even longtime residents forget this is a desert. I live in the southwest, and work as a forester. Being a forester people are always asking me to come over and look at the dying tree in their yard. My most common diagnosis? : overwatering.
That is a bit of a facetious reply. In truth, I would not have a very strong confidence in any prediction at this point. So much goes into determening whether we are in a serious drought or not (including changes in winter precip driven by the PDO and el nino, evapotranspiration rates, summer clouds during the monsoon, etc), and one part of the southwest can have gains while another loses – especially in a scenario where warmer temps cause the summer monsoons to shift northward.
Just noting that La Nina conditions really strengthened in the last week.
#42. Nordic, it seems to me that even dendroclimatologists seem to forget that upper treeline trees in a desert are still in a desert. They assert that they are temperature proxies, but the limitations on such trees (bristlecones, foxtails, Dulan junipers etc) seem much more complicated to me.
The Aussies will be pleased as it should mean the drought should break.
Colorado Springs is considered an alpine desert. Much, if not most, of CO is that way. Southern Cal, too. Grass grows because people put it there and take care of it. It is an endless struggle to keep my brown (or browning) lawn from simply blowing away in the wind. 🙂
george h.
In case you missed it, the IPCC WGII has put its paranoid, the-end-is-nigh fantasies of flooding, famine, drought, plagues and the arrival of the four horsemen of the apocalypse in print: http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM6avr07.pdf
RE: #46 and previous similar. In my area, there are many Coast Live Oaks. These are evergreen oaks with small waxy, hollyesque, spikey leaves. There is a disease known as sudden oak death syndrome, fungal in nature. We had a massive wave of it after the 98 El Nino. There are ongoing cases of it where people put in lawns and other Eastern vegetation completely surrounding the oaks on their property. DOH!
When I was a bit younger, I lived at the NW fringe of the LA megasprawl. During the 80s, we had a drought which started at the end of the 82 – 83 El Nino and had yet to break when I left in 87. I think it lasted until 91. There was a gradation as you went north. Norcal only was in true drought from 89 to 91. No drought in Oregon during that time.
Yep, it’s a fact of life.
In my copy of the Economist that arrived today, there is an article on the Canadian seal hunt, which it claims is endangered by global warming. It states “thanks to an unusually warm winter, the ice is melting early in the southern Gulf of Saint Lawrence, where hunting began this week. The seal pups on which the hunt preys are reared on the ice until they are old enough to swim. So the premature thaw has drowned them — before the hunters had the chance to kill many.”
Was the eastern Canadian winter really that mild overall? I believe it started out mild, but I thought on average it was pretty typical.
What makes you think that was not my point — which I have made a few times here previously? Evidently climate/weather is like a MA congressman used to say about politics: its local. And I’ll add varied and even local average temperatures with a changing global temperature.
RE #49 Curt, the 90-day global temperature anomaly is shown on the bottom map of this link . The southern Gulf of St Lawrence (which I take to be near Prince Edward Island) looks like it had a rather normal winter, at least since Christmas.
Only a denialist, and one in very deep denial at that, could possibly even image anything good coming out of AGW. It’s evidently all bad according to the consensus of scientists doing the FAR, and while, if that were coming from politicians and/or advocates, I’d say they were in over-sell mode — but scientist –well scientist don’t act like that — do they?
Was the eastern Canadian winter really that mild overall?
Toronto had a near-record stretch of below-zero days. Toronto harbor froze over this winter; a sailor told me that he sailed all winter long in 1972 or 1973, I forget which. It snowed today – which is unusual. Yeah, I know it’s just weather, but claims of extreme overall warmth don’t make sense for this locale anyway.
Gulf of St. Lawrence sea ice was negatively impacted by strong winds out of the directional quadrant 270 – 360 degrees. This created leads near shore, preventing access to the ice.
Here’s an interesting article for those of us who believe that nature sometimes oscillates. I had forgotten about the Warm Pool Oscillation, which is one of those that has emerged from the data only in recent years.
The article is well-written and worth a ten-minute read.
#55. Nice find. Interesting that the expanded Warm Pool coincided with the warm 1930s.
crosspatch
Seal pup mortality is a problem even in California where there is no ice. Storms can (and often do) wipe out entire populations of pups on some beaches and sweep them out to sea. Looking at a plot of Jan,Feb, Mar average temps in the US from 1990 to 2007, there appears to be a downtrend and 2007 was colder than 2006.
Link to plot. Not sure how long that link will remain good.
Curt, Steve, #49, #54
The stories about the seal pups were oh so predictable.
They contained real scientists talking about the wind pattern pushing the ice seaward, copled with some AAGW NGO spokesman insinuating global warming and melting ice.
The stories thereafter mention only the global warming angle.
John A.: Can’t you set up the caching so that pages are regenerated whenever a new comment is submitted rather than doing it at some set time interval? That would eliminate the annoying divide between what shows up in the recent comments in the sidebar and what you actually get when you click on a topic without putting a huge load on the DB server.
Curt,
Two comments: 1]Since its change in editor-in-chief about a year ago, a good number of readers have observed that the Economist has unfortunately lost a good bit of the factual approach and analytical rigour that were its hallmarks for decades. As evidenced by several articles, its science editor since the mid-1990s, has convinced his editorial board to espouse “prima facia” the IPCC’s view of AGW. Thus the type of articles you refer to above. 2] I can report from the other side of the North American continent [British Columbia, Canada], that by all available accounts [day-to-day living and best current stats], we have just come through a rigorous winter, with below seasonal temperatures along the West Coast and record precipitation and snow coverage from Alaska down to California. In BC, this is the third similar winter in a row.
Re #59 JMS:
John A.: Can’t you set up the caching so that pages are regenerated whenever a new comment is submitted rather than doing it at some set time interval?
Actually that was part of the problem. We get so many hits that if I allowed the system to update every time a comment was posted, the server would fall over – which is why we have caching in the first place. I don’t have the money to upgrade the server to 2GB of RAM (I’m still waiting for that mythical Exxon check) so the 15 minute delay is an economic as well as performance compromise.
My suggestion would be to use the RSS Comment feed if you want to stay up to date.
#37, 47
It has been no1 front-page news, third day in a row. Media hype / substance ratio is again unprecedented 🙂
Nordic,
Speaking of the PDO, the PDO was mostly in a negative phase from 1940 through 1974. El Nino events were weak and spread out. During this period, a lot of returning GIs flocked to Southern California. The exodus to Southern California occured when much of the Desert Southwest had a somewhat “cooler”, wetter climate than what is normal. From the early 80s onward, the Desert Southwest has gotten drier and hotter mainly due to the PDO going into a sustained warm phase. Since 1976, El Nino events have driven much of thier climate. I think many people assumed the 35 year wet cool period was normal. THe Desert Southwest is after all a desert -and it is very difficult to sustain a modern population of 30 million in a desert.
I think many enviormentalists ignore this fact. Unless, you believe the PDO is driven by GHG, there isn’t much people can do in the Desert Southwest other than moving away from it.
Dear KevinUK #38,
that’s interesting – I had a feeling that it has changed significantly. First of all, some of the key facts – about the ice core lag etc. – were not mentioned. Second, the criticism of the hockey stick would look pretty different today and the mathematical subtleties of the statistical analysis – and M&M plus its echoes – would certainly play a role. They should have been there already in 2004.
Also, dramatic pictures and music would be added to compete with various other documentaries. To summarize, I think that the Global Swindle, albeit not perfect, is much better a piece of work. Of course that the climate science is stagnating to a large extent – that’s in fact the very desire of the debate-is-over people. But I would recognize it’s not a 2007 documentary.
I hope you have seen the Swindle – it’s a must.
http://motls.blogspot.com/2007/03/great-global-warming-swindle.html
#64 Lubos
What I meant when I posted that I didn’t think much had changed in the intervening time was in regard to the MSM and how they present the science of AGW as being settled. Where was the coverage of the whole HS debacle in the MSM? As DaleC has said on the Hughes Australian ABC interview, the NAS Panel report and the subsequent Congressional testimony by North and Cicerone was pretty damining of the whole affair yet this receive dlittle if any significant coverage in the MSM. IMO as a consequence the Hockey Team (Briffa and Osbourne, hergerl, Wahl and Ammann etc) continue to ‘repeat the lie’ in the knowledge that if the MSM continue to support it, it will become established fact. There’s hardly a week goes by when I dont still get to see the Hockey Stick plaster on some outlet of the MSM despite all of Steve and Ross’s hard work. This is not right. Just recently in the UK I had to suffer listening to David Milliband talking about it during a TV interview as if it where still valid. As we all know on this blog, the HS is a contrived piece of propaganda and propaganda of the worst kind at that.
I have seen the Channel 4 Global warming Swindle several times now. I personally think the Doomsday called off documentary was better. Sallie Balliunas and John Christy came across particularly well to me as reasonable, sincere and honest people albeit somewhat untidy in Sallie’s case. I was less convinced by Nils-Axel Morner and ‘the skull and the tree’. It must be a hard life when you have to travel to the Maldives to help present a documentary on global warming.
First I’d like to apologize for the cranky tone of my post #10. I was feeling grumpy.
#12: If there are 20 empirical demonstrations that climate sensitivity is below .3deg/wm^2, then great–name them. One problem though I think is that there are few demonstrations for sensitivity of long-term effects. Solar radiation varies strongly over the course of the year, for example, but this may not tell us very much about the effects of one warmer year after another.
#13: First of all, CO2 certainly does have *something* to do with temperature! My point is just that if you’re going to use the sun as the primary driver of climate, you need a model at least as complex as the agw models–so, where is the evidence that I should pick a solar model (and I don’t think there actually are any yet!) over a gg model? In other words, if warming is “petering out”, why is that evidence against a gg model, but in _favor_ of a solar model?
(Besides, warming has “petered out” more than once over the last 30 years–the first time during the early 80s, the second time during the early 90s. Both times it just eventually grew warmer anyway. I’m not saying we therefore know it will get warmer again, but it doesn’t look like “petering out” is good enough evidence to doubt agw just yet.
#20: Very interesting. What’s your rough estimate of the climate sensitivity? (Or, how much warmer do you think the average global temperature will grow over the next x decades?) And yes, you are certainly correct! 🙂 Even in a warming world, climate will still fluctuate.
There certainly could be a natural (i.e. non-man-made) warming contributing to the last thirty years. Several recent studies have suggested that the solar contribution IIRC could be as high as 50%, though more likely around 20-40%. None that I have seen, however, conclude that solar warming is the primary driver of recent climate (i.e. responsible for >50% of current temperatures).
Nothing wrong with poking fun at the media, of course 🙂 Even though I think most skeptics are wrong about global warming, they still serve a useful purpose by deflating the more dubious claims of their opponents.
#26: I assume Abdusamatov is talking about the Suess cycle? IIRC (I looked into some of this stuff, but it was a while ago) it’s not enough to explain current warming. There’s another he could be talking about, I guess, but these cycles…it’s hard to say, but my impression is that there’s a lot of debate about them. Some of them, everyone agrees on (The sunspot cycle, the Suess cycle, orbital cycles, etc). Others, well–one researcher thinks he sees them, another thinks he doesn’t, so…it’s an area where we need to see really excellent, consistent research that supports it, and from what I can tell “some guy in Russia said so” just doesn’t quite meet the bill. Now, I’m not saying that there couldn’t be some solar cycle we haven’t detected yet that might switch modes so to speak and start to add a cooling influence in the future. But why should I believe “It’ll happen 50 years from now” without good evidence?
Of course I welcome further research, but until we get convincing results, it’s just one more hypothesis among many thousands.
#50: sorry, I just couldn’t tell what you were trying to say.
Willis Eschenbach
mzed, you say:
#12: If there are 20 empirical demonstrations that climate sensitivity is below .3deg/wm^2, then great’€”name them. One problem though I think is that there are few demonstrations for sensitivity of long-term effects. Solar radiation varies strongly over the course of the year, for example, but this may not tell us very much about the effects of one warmer year after another.
I don’t know about 20, but there are 10 here … you can start with those. I’d be very interested in your comments, as usually when I refer people to this paper, it is followed by a long silence …
Re #66 mzed, if I was forced to guess about the causes of the warming of the last 30 years, I would say it’s driven in part by CO2 and in part by natural oscillations and maybe in part by solar-related phenomena (or maybe not). I have no clue as to what proportion to assign to each contributor.
However, I would guess that natural oscillation(s) were dominant, because the atmosphere’s temperature jumped, which is not what I’d expect from CO2. As evidence, I offer this plot (200mb geopotential height of the globe) which basically shows that the atmosphere suddenly expanded (warmed) in 1976 and again about 2000. Surface temperatures followed the atmospheric trend.
If the jumps were caused by CO2, I’d like to hear the mechanism.
My argument in all of this is not with the idea of AGW or with developing alternate energy sources, it’s with scare-mongering and sloppy science.
Anyway, best wishes to you, mzed, and please continue to post.
Just noticed on the news that the Eastern US peach and strawberry crops are in danger of being lost in some areas due to record low temps for this late in the season. Yeah, I know that it is weather … but the idea struck me that a peach tree might not produce a single fruit because of late frost yet if the conditions are right later in the year, might produce a record wide tree ring.
You are correct; there isn’t anyone who claims that the only mechanism related to climate change is sloar activity; however, it isn’t the “skeptics” who claim to have found the Rosetta Stone of climate change.
A number of climate indicators were noted to have changed in 1976, especially around the Pacific Basin. Prior to 1976, El Nino and La Nina occurred with about equal frequency, each at intervals of about 3-7 years. Since 1976, there have been 9 El Ninos (using a 6-month average of the Southern Oscillation Index of -0.50 as the criteria), or one every 2.2 years. There has been just one moderate La Nina in that interval (1988-89) and a rather weak La Nina (not even counted by some) in 1996-97. Longer perspectives, since 1860, indicate that the 1976-1997 period is quite unlike any other in the record. This is a source of considerable puzzlement at this time.
Some warming of the Pacific could have caused the ocean to hold less CO2 meaning more of it is in the atmosphere. Not sure what went on in 2000, but 1976 was a year that a lot of things changed and I am not sure they have been completely explained. I believe 2000 was near a solar maximum.
JohnA:
How much for the 2G of RAM? Put it in terms of $20s and see what happens. I just put mine in, the equivalent of 2 movies tickets to the Al Gore movie that I didn’t see.
#70. if you read Hughes’ interview, he says that late frosts are a particular cause of very narrow ring widths.
Val La Marche, mentioned in the Hughes interview, was a pioneer in the study of frost rings. I wonder what he would have thought of a colleague manufacturing data from 1400-1404 so that a certain 1404+ chronology would be not be overlooked by a data-crunching algorithm? I bet he would have been horrified.
Kahlessa
I need some help please.
On April 12, I will be attending a Great Decisions lecture and discussion on climate change. The speaker will be Donald J. Wuebbles, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In a recent speech “Facing the Realities of Human-Induced Climate Change”, Dr. Wuebbles talked about the near unanimity in the science community that global warming is primarily being caused by humans. According to an article about the speech, Wuebbles was responsible for much of the research presented in Al Gore’s documentary and book, An Inconvenient Truth, though I haven’t found any evidence of that yet.
I’m doing my homework to get ready for this discussion. I’m planning to wear the State of Fear T-shirt I found on Ebay. On the front it reads, “I’m Living in a State of Fear!” It should be a very interesting evening.
Here’s the link for Great Decisions Climate Change topic:
href=”http://www.fpa.org/topics4707/topics_show.htm?doc_id=415862″
“How much are human practices contributing to substantial and irreversible changes to the environment? What effect are changes to the climate having in different areas of the planet? What response can the international community adopt to lessen the impact of dramatic climate change?”
Here’s a link for information on Donald J. Wuebbles:
href=”http://www.atmos.uiuc.edu/people/wuebbles.html”
And here’s the link for the article I found on him:
“U. of I. scientist localizes a hot issue”
By Hayley Graham Print, The Chronicle, March 12, 2007
http://www.columbiachronicle.com/paper/campus.php?id=3543
Here are some excerpts from the article:
Don Wuebbles, executive director of the School of Earth, Society and Environment at the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, visited Columbia to lead the panel discussion “Facing the Realities of Human-Induced Climate Change.” He spoke to students and faculty who nearly packed the Ferguson Auditorium in the Alexandroff Campus Center, 600 S. Michigan Ave., on March 1.
Wuebbles started the discussion by talking about the near unanimity in the science community that global warming is primarily being caused by humans. Wuebbles was responsible for much of the research presented in Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, which won an Academy Award for best documentary, on Feb. 25.
“The biggest culprit, the only one that matches up, is what we’re doing to the atmosphere,” said Wuebbles, who is a leading author of global and Midwest assessments on the effects of greenhouse gases.
Wuebbles said that there won’t be many more changes in this lifetime, but if nothing is done, Illinois could have summers similar to those in eastern Texas with 120-degree temperatures. The rise in temperatures could cause severe weather and droughts that would adversely impact the economy of Illinois, which is largely driven by agriculture.
“The cost of not doing something about climate change is going to be much higher than doing something about climate change,” Wuebbles said.
This was something interesting that I found on the web:
Can We Estimate the Likelihood of Climatic Changes at 2100?
An Editorial Comment by Stephen H. Schneider, Climatic Change 52: 441’€”451, 2002.
http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Publications/PDF_Papers/SHSClCh2100ed.pdf
In this, Dr. Schneider refers to articles by Hansen and Wuebbles in the same issue of Climatic Change. Does anyone have that journal and can you tell me what the articles said?
Hansen, J. E.: 2002, A Brighter Future: A Response to Donald Wuebbles’, Climatic Change 52.
Wuebbles, D. J.: 2002, Oversimplifying the Greenhouse: An Editorial Essay’, Climatic Change 52.
I will probably only have a few minutes to speak in the discussion, as they will want to give as many people a chance to contribute as possible.
If anyone could give me a few brief points about that would be the most effective, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much.
#49, #60:
I noticed a sudden deterioration in standards at The Economist in the late 80’s. They had decided to go mass market in the U.S around that time and I believe there was a change at the helm. I still read it occasionally but dropped my subscription years ago.
Back to the future, I wonder where they get this claim about minimum temps and climate change at the poles:
“But many of the ill effects hinge on changes in the minimum temperature, which has been rising twice as fast. This trend is particularly strong near the poles, where the climate is changing fastest. Winters no longer get cold enough in many places to kill off different pests and diseases.”
http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8966271
Weather note: snow and sleet are occurring down to the US Gulf Coast this evening (8 April) in what is an unprecedented event for April. One area between Houston and Dallas reported two inches of snow in the last several hours.
Snow/sleet near the Gulf Coast is rare, occurring once ten or fifteen years, and never in April.
Temperatures are within a few degrees of all-time lows for the month of April.
Back to climate…
snow in Toronto today as well and very cold.
Cold at Augusta today. Such harsh conditions that the golf scores were unprecedented in sevvvv-en years.
MarkR
Coldest April Easter in 57 years
Better grab your insulated bonnets; we’re in for the coldest Easter Sunday in years.
That didn’t stop a group of early Easter egg hunters in Anoka this afternoon. They bundled up for the holiday tradition, despite the cold.
“That’s Minnesota for you. But we still have our Easter spirit,” said Sarah Oftelie.
Easter Sunday’s high temperature will struggle to make 40 degrees, barely higher than Christmas day. In fact, we haven’t seen April temperatures like this in almost 60 years.
Other parts of the country are freezing, too. Friday’s Twins game is canceled in Chicago, and Atlanta could see its coldest Easter Sunday in 120 years.
This is what happens when IPCC fantasy runs into the buffers of reality.
Alan Woods
Now, now, people. We all know that extreme weather events are predicted to become more commonplace in an AGW world. So you guys are just listing more evidence of human influence on the climate!
I am nearing 50 years old. I remember (vaguely) my grandfather telling me of a spring that had been very warm and the sap had risen in the trees and the blossoms had “popped” when a severe cold snap set it causing the sap to freeze. He said you could hear trees splitting open and sometimes they would boom like cannon. Now I am not sure if he actually experienced this or if it was told to him by an elder, but the temperature reports I am hearing from that same region (mid-Atlantic … MD, VA, PA, DE) reminded me of that story. I notice temperatures in the 20’s tonight in that region and temps to be even lower tomorrow night. 100 years ago temperatures this low this late in the season would have been a disaster. I am thinking fruit tree crops in this region are probably lost and possibly early corn and maybe other field crops.
T J Olson
Kahlessa (#78) –
Hello there, and thanks for the event notice with all the links and details!
As to your query, Schneider, Hansen, and Weubbles are among the True Believers in anthropocentic climate warming alarmism – except for when Schneider was a global cooling alarmist in the 1970s!
What would be a good comment or question?
I would cite the satellite temp record of the past nearly 30 years. (For chart, please see Unthreaded #7- people, please correct me here if I’m wrong (I have a week WWW link at the moment)! It shows virtually flat Southern Hemisphere temps, and slight Northern Hemisphere temp rise since 1990. I would ask, since C02 is a well mixed gas, why is there a temperature divergence between hemispheres in our best data set?
Now, for specialists, there are a number of possible responses. But I expect Wuebbles, since he’s in administration now – ie, PR mongering for money – will take the easiest way out and say this: “there used to be a debate about the satellite temps versus ground data, but that recent corrections have resolved this matter and now favor man-made global warming.”
Notice: this isn’t really a direct response! But it is a very adequate political one, resting on a dodge and ongoing debate in science: are the satellite data corrections two-thirds closer to ground data? Or as NASA’s Roy Spencer and John Christy maintain, closer to only one-third?
But maybe someone wants to wiegh in with a Hockey Stick question – there could be several! – since it plays such a large role in Al Gore’s movie and book, as well as in IPCC FAR?
Oh, here’s a stab: “Since the Hockey Stick shaped temperature graph – showing graph temperature shooting up in recent decades compared with the last 1,000 years – plays such a prominant role in IPCC’s Third Assessment Report (2001), and in the current Fourth Assessment Report (2007) – have you considered what Dr Gerald Notrh, climatology professor at Texas A&M University who headed last summer’s NAS report, and the Wegman report in August concluded: that it was unreliable temperature history and methodology. Have you revised your opinion? Or it it the same in light of this authoritative contradiction?
( “CHAIRMAN BARTON:Dr. North, do you dispute the conclusions or the methodology of Dr. Wegman’s [NAS stats chair] report [which conluded that the Hockey stick is unscientific]?’€¨DR. NORTH. No, we don’t. We don’t disagree with their criticism. In fact, pretty much the same thing is said in our report.”
http://www.climateaudit.org/?p=1337#comment-102100(
Well, obviously I’m too tired to frame it well at this hour – Beuler? Beuler? anyone to help us out, please?
And Kahlessa, please report back here sometime.
Interesting short video from ABC (Australia) Media Watch on the famous polar bears on ice. This link is from Kristen’s website.
http://motls.blogspot.com/2007/04/richard-lindzen-in-newsweek-why-so.html
you find an article of Lindzen in Newsweek 4/16/07 (future), and a radio program on climate skeptics from a New Zealand radio today (Sunday). It also talks about the hockey stick, claiming that Wegman went well further than MM. 😉
Stan Palmer
This is the first paragraph of a leader from April 7 in the The Times:
Facts, not emotion, should inform discussion of climate change. Few scientists or rational politicians doubt that global warming is a serious issue that poses long-term dangers to the planet. The scientific evidence that the world’s climate has changed and that this change is accelerating is convincing. But it is also beyond doubt that the world is in danger of being held captive by powerful lobby groups that have distorted data, made unjustified extrapolations and attempted to stifle debate on one of the most important issues of our time.
This is pretty strong stuff.
On the Consensus Science thread Andre Bijkerk alerted us and provided a link to a paper by E-G Beck “180 years of atmospheric CO2 gas analysis” in the current Energy and Environment (vol.2, 2007).
I am a long-term GG sceptic, believing that fundamental science shows that 0.038% CO2 cannot provide sufficient energy transfer, but even I could hardly believe my eyes, jaw on the floor, when I saw the following screen:
http://www.biokurs.de/treibhaus/180CO2_supp.htm
Am I being uncritical, or does not this one paper blow sky-high the entire concept of CO2 driving global warming/climate change/changes of average planetary temperature?
An average 19th.century temperature of 341ppmv, ranging from 440PPMV IN 1820 to LESS THAN 300PPMV in the early 1880s! And so many sources, all broadly in agreement.
Beck has done climatolgy a great service with some good, old-fashioned painstaking science – but why has such relatively easily available data been so long coming to light? Someone has not been doing their homework!
I cannot wait to see how the IPCC reacts to this !
#88. Peter, I am very wary of Beck’s CO2 stuff. I do not endorse every “skeptic” cause. I don’t have time to examine everything under the sun and I don’t want this blog to get involved with this topic.
Andre Bijkerk
I have been directly involved by Beck’s study. I translated the 1943 Kreutz paper to show his scrutiny of methods.
The intention of Ernst was merely to show the plethora of data and assess it’s validity
and to challenge the refutal grounds of Callendar and Keeling. Not to discuss carbon cycles or possible causes of spikes.
The motto was that theory should be based on data and not that data should be based on theory.
Respecting Steve wishes we could discuss the details here or here.
Hans Erren
Andre, Beck presented the observations of Misra, Kreutz and Dürst as if they were something new, in fact they wertre already known and rejected by Fonselius in 1956.
http://www.someareboojums.org/blog/?p=25
Fonselius, S., F. Koroleff and K.E. Wärme, Carbon Dioxide Variations in the Atmosphere, Tellus 8 (1956), 176-183
re 89:
#89 Steve
Why are you wary of this work by Beck. Given how much time and personal resources you’ve devoted thus far to auditing various dendro studies, isn’t it worth your efforts to audit this study also? The issue of whether or not CO2 follows temperature or temperature follows CO2 is critical to the whole AGW debate much more so than most of the dendro stuff you’ve audited thus far. Given its significance to the whole AGW debate why are you wary of this work?
Bob Koss
I think it would be a mis-use of Steve’s valuable time to get involved with the Beck paper at this time. If the consensus-loving media can find any scientific errors in Beck’s work they’ll play it for all it’s worth. If they can’t find anything wrong with the science, they’ll either bury any mention of it, or they’ll attack the person and not the argument.
The dendro posts have been very enlightening as to the state of that particular branch of science, and since it also has policy implications through the reconstructions, I’m glad to see Steve spending time with it. No sense biting off more than you want to try to chew.
Also, hurricane season will soon be upon us and he might like to spend more time on that subject.
The Beck paper isn’t ever likely to affect policy given the motley crew we have running this world. If it ever becomes important to how decisions are made, that would be the time to do it.
Anyway. That’s my two cents.
re: 89
Sorry, Steve, didn’t mean to get in your way – this is your site, you have enough on your plate and are right to be as selective as you like about what you get involved in.
I think the fast response of CO2 to influences shown even by Mauna Loa data does not tie in with the alleged long residence time of CO2 in the atmosphere and therein is a fundamental weakness in the GG argument – but will pursue this interest elsewhere!
To: T J Olson
As to your query, Schneider, Hansen, and Wuebbles are among the True Believers in anthropocentric climate warming alarmism – except for when Schneider was a global cooling alarmist in the 1970s!….
Thank you so very much! I’ll certainly give a full account. I do know that many people in the organization hosting the event are very skeptical. I’m the newsletter editor of the organization and I seem to have the respect of a good number of the members. I wonder if Dr. Wuebbles thinks he’s just going expound on the “imminent catastrophe” and expect the discussion to be where we all wring our hands and try to figure out how to atone for what we’ve done to the earth. Well, we’ll just see about that.
I am also unconvinced by the Beck curve. However, I will say in passing that if I were going to establish an observatory for carbon dioxide, then I wouldn’t put it on the flanks of an active volcano, near from a large number of volcanic vents.
This is Moana Loa erupting in 1984:
#97 and #98 John A
I am also bemused by the fact that they chose to sight this CO2 observatory so close to an active volcano but then occasional trips to Hawaii isn’t an unpleasant experience I suppose?
Why are you also unconvinced by the Beck curve? Pray tell? What are the problems in auditing this paper? Why are they any more onerous than those that Steve has had to put up from the dendro community?
If I were going to establish a CO2 observatory then Hawaii is nice but I would have put it well away from the Big Island – probably Kauai’s Na Pali coast which is unpopulated and isolated and where the prevailing winds are from the northeast (from the sea). Or on one of the unpopulated islands in the Pacific like Palmyra or Jarvis Island.
I’m not convinced by the Beck curve because there’s too much supposition in it that all measurements are equally accurate or valid. Unless there are measurements taken around the world, I find it difficult to believe that carbon dioxide is that well-mixed in the atmosphere (this applies to the Moana Loa measurements as well).
The answer is: we don’t know how carbon dioxide has varied before 1958. The much larger issue is not the Beck curve but how is atmospheric carbon dioxide measured and how are the data treated?
#99. Kevin, I’m limited in the amount of time that I have and I already have dozens of unfinished topics. So I’m not going to spend the time right now to wade through CO2 measurement issues and see what the problems are. Please take the discussion elsewhere as I do not wish this board to get involved in this discussion, as I’ve said before.
As to the volcano issue, John A, I think that your point is merely a debating point as eruptions would simply cause spikes that would be readily noticed. From the data, it doesn’t look like any such spikes are material. Again, I don’t want to discuss the issue here.
This website has links to the data from various CO2 sampling sites across the world. They all show basically the same figures as Mauna Loa.
http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/co2/contents.htm
Please, for those who want to challenge Beck’s paper come to the links I gave earlier in #90 and I will address all challenges.
Here or here
May need to sign in for discussing.
MarkW
Mauna Loa has been in eruption for the last decade or so. More or less continuously.
Jason L
There’s an interesting quote from Lindzen in the recent Newsweek
Ten years ago climate modelers also couldn’t account for the warming that occurred from about 1050 to 1300. They tried to expunge the medieval warm period from the observational record’€”an effort that is now generally discredited.
That sounds like an acknowledgment of your work, Steve.
RE: #60 – You have described classic strong negative PDO conditions. Snow cover only good down to about Susanville, CA. South of that latitude, lacking. We had a very cold and dry winter further south. Again, classic strong negative PDO …
Not Mauna Loa, Kilauea. Mauna Loa hasn’t erupted since ’84.
For anybody else, outgassing from the Mauna Loa caldera is readily detectable and such data is removed from the monitoring record.
Here is the current sea surface temperature (SST) forecast from NOAA.
* La Nina (the blue region along the Pacific Equator) is well underway by August/September
* the horseshoe shape in the North Pacific (warm in the middle, cool along the eastern edge) is consistent with the cool phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO).
* the tropical Atlantic hurricane development region SST is shown as at, or slightly below, normal in August/September. In fact, much of the Atlantic looks anomalously cooler as the year progresses.
Here is the current rain anomaly forecast for North America. Mostly dry in the US and moist in Canada, which I believe is consistent with the ENSO and PDO forecasts.
If it comes true then I bet we’ll hear global warming = drought, even though the causal chain includes an anomalously cool Pacific.
RE: #108 – Looks to be nearly a dead ringer for 1975. I hope I am wrong.
Re # 107, 108
I predict 2007 will be much colder than expected by the warmers. Now I realize that my prediction has no skill but neither does the prediction(scenario) of the Oracle at NCAR.
#109, 110. April in Toronto has been very cold – we’ve had snow, very unusual in April, and multiple cold days with light snow (it hasn’t stayed). For comparison, they showed pictures of the first Blue Jays’ game back in 1977 (the now famous winter of 1976-77) when there was light snow in the outfield as well.
RE: #111 – 1977 – Right at the end of the last Cold PDO phase … or even, during the transition to Warm … arguably, the “ringing” from the most recent state change from Warm back to Cold phase is still decaying ….
A good pre-McIntyre article here on millenial reconstructions, the MWP, LIA, and problems with Mann’s studies. Does the following sound familiar:
Third, although 12 additional
proxies were added to allow Mann et al. (1999) to reconstruct back to 1000 A.D., as
opposed to 1400 A.D. in Mann et al. (1998), the positive calibration/variance scores
are carried solely by the first principal component (PC #1), which consists of highelevation
tree growth proxy records from Western North America (Mann et al. 1999).
This fact has led Mann et al. (1999) to report that the spatial variance explained by the
distribution of their proxy “networks” in the calibration and verification process is
only 5%, and that it is the time component, not the spatial detail, that is “most
meaningful” for their millennial reconstruction results. (It is then easy to see that
Mann et al’s 1000-year reconstructed Northern-Hemispheric mean temperature’ is
dominated by relative changes in the western North America time series ‘€” compare
Figures 2a and 2b in Mann 2001b). Mann et al. (1999) also specifically emphasized
that their calibration/verification procedure fails if they remove the one crucial
Western North American composite tree ring series from the list of 12 proxies.
re #113: where?
Sorry, hope this link works.
Article from Smerican paper that addresses carbon trading in Europe:
Europe’s Problems Color U.S. Plans to Curb Carbon Gases
Re #106
Jack, could you point me to where and how the outgassing from Moana Loa is so easily removed? I’m just curious as its an area that I don’t yet understand.
SHOCKING NEW GLOBAL WARMING STUDY! NORTHERN FORESTS MAY INCREASE TEMPERATURES BY 10 DEGREES BY 2100, NEW STUDY SAYS; DEFORESTATION COULD COOL THE PLANET Let’s start cutting ’em down now, before it’s too late. Redwoods first.
RE: #118 – Already, in NoCal, there is growing hysteria based on the recent IPCC statement and media spin. Many here assume that all the redwoods and oaks will perish, to be eventually replaced by saguaro and mesquite. Would hate to have dead oaks and redwoods hanging over one’s $2M home. How much to cut this baby down? Permit?…. you want to see my permit, I ain’t got no permit, I don’t need no stinking permit! (LOL …..)
From the Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1626728.ece
A ⡲ billion project to answer some of the biggest mysteries of the universe has been delayed by months after scientists building it made basic errors in their mathematical calculations.
The mistakes led to an explosion deep in the tunnel at the Cern particle accelerator complex near Geneva in Switzerland. It lifted a 20-ton magnet off its mountings, filling a tunnel with helium gas and forcing an evacuation.
It appears Fermilab made elementary mistakes in the design of the magnets and their anchors that made them insecure once the system was operational.
Last week an apparently furious and embarrassed Pier Oddone, director of Fermilab, wrote to his staff saying they had caused “a pratfall on the world stage”. He said: “We are dumb-founded that we missed some very simple balance of forces. Not only was it missed in the engineering design but also in the four engineering reviews carried out between 1998 and 2002 before launching the construction of the magnets.”
Also from the Times article
The design was peer reviewed
Re: 120
Well, so much for getting CLOUD experiment data to verify (or not) Svensmark et. al. any time soon. If only we had built the SSC in Texas instead of that colossal boondoggle otherwise known as the International Space Station. Oh, and we might have found the Higgs boson too.
For any fellow stormheads with an interest in Atlantic hurricane climatology, Jim Kossin has a link to a new paper titled, “The Atlantic Meridional Mode and Hurricane Activity”. This is an in-press (GRL) paper dated 6 March and in draft form, so it’s about as new as it gets.
In a week or so I’ll try to summarize this Kossin paper and an earlier paper by Knaff (1997) , both of which examine the AMO.
And on an entirely different note, here’s a news story that likely won’t make the New York Times or BBC:
Richard Sharpe
And on a different front: Sunspots reach a peak not seen for thooooouuuusands of years.
Posted Apr 10, 2007 at 12:51 AM | Permalink
and http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2831.htm
During an unprecedented solar eruption last December, researchers at Cornell University confirmed solar radio bursts can have a serious impact on the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other communication technologies using radio waves.
Posted Apr 10, 2007 at 1:08 AM | Permalink
Re: #120
Are these the same guys propounding M-theory and “brane-world scenarios”?
No. Those are the string theoretical physicists who only dirty their hands with chalk. Well, I guess they probably use white boards and fiber tip markers now. The mistake was made by some of the people on the huge teams of experimentalists who will be out of work for a few years more now. Somehow, though, Im sure they’ll blame it on the engineers.
Aileni Noyle
Monbiot is sounding off in the Guardian this morning. He complains bitterly that the ‘deniers’ have censored the IPCC and corporate interests are behind it. It is news to me – I am under the impression that the alarmists have the lion’s share of the media attention to the detriment of any reasonable discussion.
M claims that the IPCC works so hard to achieve concensus that their pronouncements are actually timid…!
The Kerry/Gingrich Global Warming Debate mentioned earlier will be carried by C-SPAN this morning at 10:00 eastern time. It should be available on-line.
Global Warming Debate
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Fmr. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich debate the government’s role in confronting global warming. The event is sponsored by New York Univ.’s John Brademas Center for the Study of Congress. This is part of the Center’s series on the way Congress makes long-term policy decisions.
I don’t have a lot of hope, Gingrich is pretty “green”. He even voted to make ANWR a wilderness area so that exploration would be
permanently banned. I’m betting it will be more of a debate on how to handle the coming “catastrophe”.
There’s an article in the current issue of Newsweek by Richard Lindzen, the meteorologist from MIT who was on Michael Crichton’s team for the global warming debate in March.
In the article, he says that the effects of global warming probably won’t be as bad as the alarmists predict.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17997788/site/newsweek/
Unfortunately, the “consensus” scientists don’t really care about “old school” scientists such as Lindzen anymore. “Old school” apparently means “one who actually revises hypothesis when results to not agree with it.”
Let’s see. We’re at 130 posts in 5 days. Assuming the average unthreaded was allowed to reach 390 posts we’d have a new Unthreaded twice a month. So in a year we’ll be on Unthreaded #33. In twenty years approximately we’ll be on Untreaded # 666 and the world will come to an end just as the AGW people predict. QED.
133, 134: I think the fact that Newsweek, of all publications, is giving Lindzen some space is a good sign that some media folk are waking up. I don’t see how any reasonable person could listen to the extreme hype from the likes of Al Gore without laughing. The American public is far less gullible than many of the radical leftists think.
With a bit of imagination it could well be a story for the NYT or BBC. These animals are pushed to live on the extreme boundaries of their existence by AGW and then the weather changes (reminding that extreme events are the calling card of AGW) and these poor animals are in trouble. You make the story fit the conclusion and remind those forgetful and not always alert readers of the connections.
RE: #130 – I’m corporate. My peers have largely drunken the Koolaid. We are wasting lots of money on CO2 reduction (or as the case may be, wasted efforts which are well meaning but unlikely to have the intended effect).
RE: #136 – You are far more of an optimist than me. I see CEOs, and other mucketymucks, embracing “Green thought.” Family and friends are similarly smitten. Mass hysteria is aparently the norm.
Jim Edwards
#131, 132 Re: Gingrich v Kerry
Kerry argued about 2/3 “Science tells us the world is ending” and 1/3 “We need a regulatory mandate to get the market to work to fix the problem”
Gingrich mentioned briefly that science is not a voting process, it’s a truth process. He mentioned there is real ‘consensus’ only that we’ve been warming for 400 years and humans have something to do with it. He, more than Kerry, followed the format of the debate b/c he was basically saying, “Let’s assume some of these more aggressive scenarios are true, how can we as public policymakers get India and China on board and actually have the greatest postive impact on the environment ?” He spent almost all of his effort promoting the idea that the market works better by providing carrots, rather than sticks. He made no attempt to respond to Kerry’s use of the Stern report, or the 1000 yr proxy record of tree rings, for example.
Gingrich didn’t even challenge simple economic mischaracterizations made by Kerry like: Solar is better than fossil fuel b/c solar produces 2.5x more jobs. Presumably, that’s one of the reasons solar is less economically viable and that multiplier will undoubtably fall if / when solar achieves price parity. Kerry also mentioned, for example, that Gingrich wants “the government to pay for it” by using incentives but Kerry wants “the market to invest in” the solutions after government sets the standard. Of course, it’s us who pays either way [taxpayers / consumers]. Gingrich said nothing to correct this classic misdirection. Newt appears to be attempting to stop specific legislation. As he said at one point, “The fix is in for carbon cap and trading…” He was on message –> don’t do this through regulation.
RE: #140 – No offense to anyone here who is my age or older …. Gingrich is yet another Baby Boomer who was brainwashed with the Green ecology “e” sign during the 1970s. Ecology man, cooooooool, man, farrrrrrr out, man!
Gingrich is an extremely bright politician, and he was playing that role in the debate. I doubt that you can discern what he really believes from the exchange.
Posted Apr 10, 2007 at 12:03 PM | Permalink
You are far more of an optimist than me. I see CEOs, and other mucketymucks, embracing “Green thought.”
A lot of that is for PC/PR and $$$ reasons. Gotta cash in.
Newt appears to be attempting to stop specific legislation. As he said at one point, “The fix is in for carbon cap and trading…” He was on message ‘€”> don’t do this through regulation.
No one ever said Newt was stupid.
Ralph Baskett
RealClimate has started a topic entitled “Learning from a Simple Model.” It would be interesting if someone were to start a parallel, uncensored thread on the same topic. It might produce some revealing feedback and amplification.
Lame attempt at humor:
What the world needs is a coal company that sells “pre-mitigated” coal. The way you would do this is purchase old abandoned coal mines and strip-mine sites. You then take paper, pulp it, compress it to near the density of coal and put it back into these old mines. For every ton of carbon you take out in the form of coal, you replace it with a ton of carbon from paper. Simply take all the paper waste from municipal solid waste, pulp it, and bury it. Then you can provide the market with carbon “pre-mitigated” coal that can be burned without the purchase of carbon offsets. Sure, it would cost a little more, but people would feel a lot less guilty burning it.
Bill F
Posted Apr 10, 2007 at 1:35 PM | Permalink
I get the joke…I think.
But if you are compressing the paper to near the density of coal, why not just burn the paper and leave the coal in the ground? Or is burning trash for energy not as sexy as “clean coal technology”?
Shipping the carbon to China in the form of coal is a lot easier.
Besides, coal is useful for creating a wide array if things besides just burning it for heat production. Paper probably isn’t. In this case we are only worried about the carbon itself, so we take out the coal, and replace the carbon with paper. The idea is basically that paper recycling (something the “greens” really love) contributes to atmospheric buildup of CO2. If people stopped recycling paper and sent it to the landfill, tons of carbon would be put back into the ground every day … but that chews up landfill space … so the logical idea is to put it back where the carbon came from. Into the coal mine. So you pull out coal, burn it, put the carbon in the air, plat a tree, turn the carbon into paper, it serves a useful purpose in the economy and when that purpose is done, you put it back into the ground where you got the carbon from to begin with.
Next week I will talk about using asbestos mines as the perfect place to dispose of waste asbestos.
For premitigation, the Canadain government attempted to meet its Kyoto target by argueing that the natural gas that it sold to the US was cleaner than the coal it offset and so the putative difference should be counted. This would be a form of negative matter that was previously unknown to science.
Considering the size of China’s coal reserves, I think this falls under the category of shipping coal to Newcastle (pre-Thatcher anyway).
burying paper could mitigate the burning of gasoline. You could design an engine to run on compressed paper, but I would want to be
the guy assigned to refueling it. (Think Stanley Steamers. I don’t mean the carpet cleaning guys.)
On doing some background reading with regards to crop models and the effects of climate variables on crop yields, I have come to appreciate just how complicated these relationships can be. With soybeans and corn, they talk about 6 major divisions in the annual growing season and each with its own model of growth (yields). They discuss issues such as minimum, maximum and mean temperatures in these processes and the interaction of temperature with moisture variables. Some models also include the separate and interactive effects of solar radiation. They also consider secondary effects such as the effect of temperature on plant stresses based on what those temperatures to which the plants have previously been exposed and allowed to adjust. Some of what I have read comes from here, here and here and include the deterministic models called CROPGRO and CERES-Maize.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/2006/2006110623607.html
http://www.agry.purdue.edu/climate/dev/publications/J44.pdf
http://www.cimmyt.org/english/docs/proceedings/nrgGIS_0301.pdf
I see recent papers such as Lobell and Field, (2006), attempting to single out temperature and specifically increasing temperatures as having a significant and detrimental effect on crop yields. I find these papers, much as some here at this blog have found papers by dendroclimatologists and dendrochronologists, tending to over simplify the underlying plant phenology when relating it to temperature effects and to be getting out ahead of the better understanding of plant physiology that appears required.
My question coming out of this is: Are there large numbers tree phenologists and physiologists (or whatever they are called) who are working and publishing papers in attempts to better understand the basic sciences or are most of the efforts in the direction implied from posts at this blog, i.e. the race to publish more temperature proxies and chronologies?
True. And there is also a lot to be said for side-stepping a frenzy. Given the ongoing incessent propaganda there is a significant risk that a victim or two will be thrown down some figurative volcanos to appease the earth gods. Note that Al Gore and others are already happily being fitted for a hollywood parody of a polynesian headdress. CEOs are politically astute enough to recognize the risk. In short, if one can’t do the backstroke in lava it pays to find a way to blend in with the mob.
CEOs are paid for several reasons and perhaps the biggest one is keeping their firms out of trouble. They see the positive feedback loop in the present propaganda and they know enough about the madness of crowds to respect the danger to their firms when they see it.
No offense to anyone here who is my age or older …. Gingrich is yet another Baby Boomer who was brainwashed with the Green ecology “e” sign during the 1970s. Ecology man, cooooooool, man, farrrrrrr out, man!
So you’re offending those here who are younger and think ecology is cooool? BTW, that’s “kewl” to us.
I just read news of a new study showing temperate forrestation creates more CO2, does not act as a sink.
Prediction: in two weeks max the “news” will report studies from Canada, New Zealand and Sweden refuting that finding.
Uhm, maybe not.
China Shenhua Energy will start to import coal from Indonesia and Australia to southern China, the South China Morning Post reported. The import plan, announced by Shenhua Chairman Chen Biting, is seen as a response to domestic coal prices becoming more competitive than international prices. Chen said that shipping coal from overseas costs far less than moving it south from the northern coal-producing regions of China. He stressed that this move would not affect Shenhua’s export volume, which came to 23.9 million metric tons out of total sales of 171 million metric tons last year. Beijing has pushed to keep domestic sales high by abolishing the 8% rebate on value-added tax collected on imports and imposing a 5% export tax. Coal import duty has gone from 3-6% to zero. China’s coal exports fell to 63.3 million metric tons last year from 94 million metric tons in 2003 and the country became a net coal importer for the first time in at least five years during the first two months of 2007.
Here is something else from the current issue of Newsweek: a column by Fareed Zakaria, the international news editor.
The Case for a Global Carbon Tax:
The only way to slow climate change is to make coal more expensive and alternatives cheaper.
By Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, April 16, 2007
http://www.fareedzakaria.com/articles/newsweek/041607.html
Back in February, Zakaria wrote this column:
Global Warming: Get Used to It
By Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, February 19, 2007
Now if every building in the world could have its roof painted white, then maybe we would get somewhere. I wonder how much that would change urban albedo.
RE: #154 – True enough. But beyond all that, a significant percentage of execs are actually “true believers” in the Church of the Goracle. Just to allude to some possible sociological proxies, LOL, it might be interesting to do the following research. Attendance at “fundamentalist” Churches by middle income people versus execs. And also the following additional one – membership rates in environmentalist interest groups by execs vs middle income. I think we probably all know the likely outcomes, but the numbers would be interesting. I digress …. 😉
#157 –
That Zakaria article is all over the place. But at least he is thinking…but talking about what Cheney thinks or says is near irrelevant.
Along the way, industrial societies will earn tax revenues that they can use, in part, to subsidize clean energy for the developing world. It is the only way to solve the problem at a global level, which is the only level at which the solution is meaningful.
Why just “in part?” He seems earnest, yet is he in on the “green taxes scam”, or recognizes politicians must be paid off to do good?
Congress is currently considering a variety of proposals that address this issue. Most are a smorgasbord of caps, credits and regulations. Instead of imposing a simple carbon tax that would send a clear signal to the markets, Congress wants to create a set of hidden taxes through a “cap and trade” system.
Spot on. But it’s worse – the “taxes” don’t go anywhere near the solution, and the brokerages take a big chunk of the action for profit.
“The Europeans have adopted a similar system, which is unwieldy and prone to gaming and cheating. (It is also unsustainable if Brazil, China and India don’t come onboard soon.)”
It’s unsustainable, eventually, whoever joins it. The Euros are just delaying the final crash with hopes of coopting suckers in America.
“A carbon tax would also send the market a clear and powerful signal to develop alternative energies.”
No it wouldn’t. And isn’t the point of the article to clean up coal?
Daniel Esty, a Yale environmental expert whose new book, “Green to Gold,” is a blueprint for new thinking about the environment, argues that the only way forward is a “transformational approach that creates incentives for innovation and alternative energy. The way we think about these issues is old-fashioned. We’re still trying to limit, regulate, control and inspect.
It’s not complicated – the government needs to spend money on the technologies. The “market” doesn’t want them.
“”We need to become much more market-friendly. Put in place a few simple rules, and let the market come up with hundreds of solutions. We’re not even 10 percent of the way down such a path.””
The problem with “market solutions” is that reasoning is the very stuff fueling the cap and trade scams.
In the end, everyone realizes that innovation is the only real solution to the global-warming problem. And that’s where Cheney is right. Conservation and energy efficiency are smart policies, but not enough. In America over the last three decades, almost all machines and appliances we use to power our lives have become significantly more efficient (with the exception of cars). And yet we consume three times as much energy as we did 30 years ago. Why?
Because rising living standards mean rising energy use. We can slow down the growth, but some increase is inevitable. We have more efficient air conditioners. But now we air-condition our whole houses. Our bed lamps conserve power. But we also plug in two phones, a BlackBerry and three iPods.
And yet the Bush administration’s record on energy and the environment is shameful. While they may have the right critique of Kyoto, they have used it as an excuse to do nothing, surrendered energy policy to special interests, subsidized polluters and killed or watered down every measure that would spur innovation or create a new energy framework for the future. They have been weak leaders, bad policymakers and poor stewards of the world we live in. That’s not a sign of “personal virtue,” it is personal and public vice.
RE: #155 – As a tweaner not quite “born in the 50s” (but a bit after), I can go either way … LOL. There are many things I still like about the 1970ish hard core enviro roots. But, age and experience have taught me there is much there which is illogical. So, I pick and choose.
#159, I think you would find it hard to separate which CEOs are members of env. orgs for personal reasons and which ones are there to boost the image of their corporation. Ken Lay was a big philanthropist around Houston, and as a result, Houston’s press was the last to buy into the idea that Enron might have been doing something wrong (not that Houston’s major newspaper is worth a flip anyways…). I think what was being said in #154 is that it is obvious from the Greenpeace vs Apple fight that there is a mob out there lighting torches and growing restless and in such cases, it is a good idea to put away the pointy black hat and the broomstick and light a torch yourself, lest you be accused of witchcraft. Companies and their senior leadership give political contributions to politicians who they may personally despise all the time, because it is part of doing business and protecting the interests of the company. I don’t have any doubt that lots of corporate boards are searching for a way to fly a green flag over their company in some way or another in order to take advantage of the prevailing atmosphere.
The reason corp CEOs will jump on the ‘green’ bandwagon is that it’s good for business – but only if the government regulates it. The tagline you’ll most often hear is “a level playing field.” Small business almost invariably complains about getting government off its back; corporations are often fine with taxes, fees, and rules as long as they apply to everyone. This is because, as long as they apply to everyone, the corps can simply pass the costs along to their customers with an additional markup.
Regulation is inherently anti-consumer because it forces customers to pay for things they don’t want or have nothing to do with. Corps are generally unaffected. The alternative is to let business do what it wants but punish actual bad behavior. Why not actually allow Exxon to go bankrupt paying for their misdeeds if they have an oil spill ? Absent regulation, if only ‘bad’ companies pay fines, they have to pay for those losses out of retained earnings.
The answer to improving our energy use / utilization is not to punish petro- nor favor alternatives. The solution is simply to stop subsidizing oil. Then the free market will work. Oil is a commodity with highly variable price. Businesses hate unpredictable costs. One reason we use so much oil is both parties have pursued this middle east and other expensive policies for decades with the explicit goal of promoting STABLE oil prices [no, not cheap oil, stable prices].
Get out of the oil subsidy business and allow the price to jump up and down and I guarantee businesses will start structuring their operations to minimize exposure. The market works, if government will stop meddling.
Amid the alarmism, some thoughtful, reasoned comments from Professor Bob Carter in the Telegraph today:
…”In the present state of knowledge, no scientist can justify the statement: “Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperature since the mid-20th century is very likely due [90 per cent probable] to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations,” as stated in the 2007 SPM.”… More:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/04/08/nrclimate08.xml&page=3
DaleC
re#164, george h,
A much fuller account of Carter’s position is at
http://ff.org/centers/csspp/pdf/20070330_carter.pdf
He has a lot to say about the media and dubious behaviour in general, ending with a summary of scientific objections/uncertainties.
As a curio for readers here, it includes a (credited) chart by Willis E.
Another good one from Carter…
Attempting to “stop climate change” is an extravagant and costly exercise of utter futility.
Rational climate policies must be based on adaptation.
Much of the anger of consumers and industries has been aimed at the continent’s utility companies. Like other firms, the utilities were given slightly fewer allowances than they needed. But instead of charging customers for the cost of buying allowances to cover the shortfall, utilities in much of Europe charged customers for 100 percent of the tradable allowances they were given — even though the government handed them out free. Electricity rates soared.
The chief executive of one utility, Vattenfall, which owns a coal plant that is one of the continent’s biggest carbon emitters, defended the decision. Lars G. Josefsson, who is also an adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said higher electricity prices are “the intent of the whole exercise. . . . If there were no effects, why should you have a cap-and-trade system?”
But consumers ask why four big utilities that dominate the German market got to keep the money.
http://tinyurl.com/39mkux
Michel Le Normand
John A writes: I edited this for formatting and paragraphs to make it more readable. Not a single word has been altered
Apart from the political debate as old layman (born 1938) I am very glad to learn many scientific things on this site. So here is a couple of questions to physicists, because weather is not climate but which interests us is climate in the lowest troposphere where wheather is for it a kind of proxy.
I have been troubled by an account in Wegman report on HS where they consider, as a consensus for everybody in the Team and outside, that heavy isotopes ice contents are proxies for polar zones climates.
They say:
“Ice cores are the accumulation of snow and ice over many years that have recrystallized and have trapped air bubbles from previous time periods. The composition of these ice cores, especially the presence of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes, provides a picture of the climate at the time. The relative concentrations of the heavier isotopes in the condensate indicate the temperature of condensation, allowing for ice cores to be used in global temperature reconstruction.”
If this is true, since the “saturated vapor pressure” of heavy water is a little less than that of normal water, then snow and ice condensed during a lower temp period should contain more D or 18O. But it is not what happens, it is strictly the inverse situation which is observed, there is less heavy isotopes in ice of colder periods.
For me, to get the right situation we must consider the first phase transition, in the evaporation zones (mainly oceans) where higher temps (SST) leads to higher contents of heavy isotopes in vapor > clouds > snow > polar ice. This is assessed by transient deficit in these same isotopes in sea surface water from where foraminifers get part of their O for calcareous tests (CaCO3) and organic maters, the other part coming from dissolved CO2. These tests and organic maters constitute sediments proxies which series have well been dealt with SST in the Sargasso sea you discussed here last November (Lloyd D Keigwin, Science 274, 1996). In these sediments, less heavy isotopes is related to higher temperature (SST). And if the abundance (number of cell-test) is counted (G. bulloides), as it should be related to dissolved CO2, it should be higher with cool temps, but with perhaps a time lag for dissolution to occur.
Am I completely wrong when I say that “The relative concentrations of the heavier isotopes in the condensate phase indicate the temperature of vaporisation” in the zones where this happens?
If I am right then ice core proxies supported by sediment cores, are proxies for SST and not for polar zones climates, no need for TR to get false closer sight to global temperatures.
Another puzzling question is the denomination of gas with “greenhouse effect” like CO2 and CH4. Such a term should at least describe what happens in a greenhouse. A physicist of my University School talk me some years ago, that in a greenhouse, the active component is the transparent ceiling and walls which are made of glass that has a high “heat capacity” that is to say it “absorbs” much energy to get one °C up than materials (such as plastics). The much the energy is retained in the glass, the better is the greenhouse effect. The formula is : dt = M*Cp*dT (M=mass “specific mass*volume” ; Cp=heat capacity at constant pressure for solids, Cv for gasses at constant vol ; dT=temperature variation)
In a heat flux, the higher Cp or v, the much greenhouse effect we have. The flux in a greenhouse comes from soil as much by IR as by convection, the ceiling inside is cooler with glass than with plastics. The cooler it is, the better is greenhouse effect, the hotter is inside the greenhouse.
In our earth system, the homologous active part of the transparent ceiling seems to be our atmosphere (99,9% O2+N2) with high M and Cv relatively to Water vapor, CO2, CH4 …
These later gases which warm a little the “ceiling” should be better named “anti-glasshouse effect” substances. Don’t they?
I have read in La Recherche, a French review that for #170 W/m2 dissipated from earth surface toward space, 65 W/m2 are radiated (IR), 65 W/m2 contribute to warm atmosphere by convection and the remaining 40 W transform liquid water to vapour and are restituted to the atmosphere with condensation. Are these proportions complete fantasy?
In the same paper (Lambert LR, 18, 189, p778) a chart shows large seasonally variations in CO2 (years 1980, 81, 82, 83, more than 20ppmv, max in winter) in Northern hemisphere not in Southern one. The original work is attributed to : RH Gammon et al., CO2, DOE/ER, 1985. The alleged cause are boreal forest activity and to a lesser extend ocean temperature variation effects on phytoplankton production. To my knowledge no boreal forest 3000 km around the pole, where max variation is. Does anyone know this work and which confidence can be given to global measures of CO2 around the world?
If I am completely wrong and mis-reasoning because of my layman understanding of physics and maths, I’d be very glad of any light from physicists.
Many thanks to all of you, here in France, truth is walking slowly but it walks.
@168 Michel,
For icecore trapped gas as proxies, you might be interested by this essay the construction of the “Greenhouse Effect Global Warming” dogma : http://folk.uio.no/tomvs/esef/ESEF3VO2.htm It talks about Jaworowski and you can find things related to this in this Beck’s article translated in French here : http://skyfall.free.fr/?p=97
For radiative balance, pls consult “Les dossiers du CNRS”, for example this one: http://www.cnrs.fr/cw/dossiers/dosclim/sysfacte/effetserre/index.htm
As to the truth “walking in France”, I’d say its walks, but on its head. In Europe in general, we have “moved on”, scientists have spoken, the AGW science is settled, now it’s up to politicians to sermon the world and to invent new regulations.
P.S. For another climate websites, don’t forget to consult climat-sceptique.com of Charles Muller.
I have been saying for years that we need to be spending more on our roads and bridges. (New and maintenance)
Raising gas taxes to pay for that would pass muster with me.
There are many reasons for us to be in the Gulf, oil is just one of them. If there were no oil in the Gulf, we wouldn’t be there, that’s
true. But it would be because the bad guys in the Gulf wouldn’t have the resources to cause problems, so could be ignored.
#170 etc. On this “Unthreaded” thread, I don’t interfere much and it keeps the more political comments off the other threads. I just want to re-iterate my own position briefly: if I had a big policy job, I would be guided by the views of official institutions like IPCC rather than fringe dissident groups; also business people make decisions all the time without perfect certainty and I have no problem with politicians making decisions based on best available information. However, I strongly disagree that service towards a “big picture” policy objective is a relevant metric for scientific validity. My own interests are in the scientific issues. In the proxy area anyway, it is untrue that the “scientific debate is over”. Or if it is “over”, it is not because the scientific work is of impeachable calibre, but because the field is relatively small and of one mindset.
This column from the Toronto Globe and Mail puts the “Peak Oil” issue in perspective:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070411.wrreynolds11/TPStory/Business/columnists
Re:#112
SteveM said:
April in Toronto has been very cold – we’ve had snow, very unusual in April, and multiple cold days with light snow (it hasn’t stayed).
Using the Pearson (GTAA?) data set the first ten days of April 2007 were the 11th coldest first ten days of April since
the record started in 1938. Coldest to warmest were; 1972, 1975, 1982, 2003, 1996, 1939, 1943, 1938, 1995, 1979 and 2007.
If you assume the Weather Network’s forecast up to the 15th is reasonably correct then the first half of April 2007 will become the 5th coldest first half of April in the record.
Or rather the uncorrected record. Comparison of the Pearson, Island Airport and Mount Bridges temperature records suggest that between 1980 and 2006 Pearson’s temperature records for April have been biased upwards about 0.9°C. This is probably the result of the massive airport development heat island effect.
Assuming you could correct for this bias using this +0.9°, the first ten days of April 2007 would become the 4th coldest first ten days of April in the record.
Just for contrast, the warmest first ten days of April were in 1981.
April is on the cusp between winter and summer anything can (and does) happen. Apparently we may be getting a burst of summer like weather towards the end of the month.
The US 6 to 10 day temperature forecast is here while the 8 to 14 day outlook is here .
These are usually pretty reliable indicators.
Looks like Toronto will be near to slightly below normal for the next week or two. April will be a cool month.
April is on the cusp between winter and summer anything can (and does) happen
Yes, even astronomically improbable 5 sigma events 😉
UC,
Possibly, but not here at least not yet.
April average = 6.4°C (1938 to 2007)
σ = 7.5°C
max = 31.1°C
min = -17.2°C
+5 σ = 44°C
-5 σ = -31°C
You need use (1961-1990) means (“ybar”) and standard deviations (“sd”), or take any other subsample.
In the “consensus science” thread, gb asked:
The partial pressure of CO2 has increased. Does this not imply an increased amount of CO2 in the ocean? I thought the oceans were a sink, not a source, of atmospheric CO2. Perhaps some basic thermodynamics would not be so bad, indeed.
Yes indeed, it has increased, though the partial pressure is pretty low to begin with. Temperature has also increased. The ocean is also dynamic in that it circulates, i.e. it dredges up stored carbon from the ocean floor. As a whole, the ocean is a sink, though simply viewing it that way is rather disingenuous as it constantly transfers both ways (hence your astute thermodynamics comment). Whether it is absorbing less or releasing more CO2 due to warming is indistinguishable, and simple surface observations won’t tell the whole story.
There have been a few posts from folks that understand the actual relationships better than most (include me in the “most”), though I do not recall where (too lazy to search right now).
LOL. Gore’s Concert Series is under fire because of its carbon footprint.
Here are recent temperature rankings for the continental US:
Aug 06: 11’th warmest / 113 years
Sept 06: 82
Oct 06: 84
Nov 06: 14
Dec 06: 11
Jan 07: 49
Feb 07: 110
Mar 07: 2
April 07: cool?
Those are strong month-to-month swings. In some systems such strong swings signal a mode shift – maybe we are about to experience a climate oscillation (warmer or cooler) and leave the flatline global temperature pattern of the last six years.
RE: #172 – As I’ve noted before, my observation has been that Peak Oilers seem to be, if not a coincident set, certainly an intersecting set, with Malthusians/Erlichians. The story is always the same – in affront to the actual reality of a pending population flattening and subsequent inception of Euro like negative trend, world wide (depending on who you believe, either as soon as next year or as late as 2050), and in spite of the proven, demonstrated effective continuous improvement and ever increasing efficiencies in resource and energy consumption, and, in ignorance of the amazing abundance of crustal prospects – there remains an almost cultish fascination with the notion of population “overshoot” and subsequent “extinction” (or at very least, the mother of all “plagues” / famines) beating humanity back into the Stone Age. Of course, those who favor the death of all development and urbanity, and the return of the reign of the wild beasts and unfettered wilderness across the entire globe, relish such notions. Ah, the return to nobel savagery – Rousseau would beam an ear-to-ear grin.
RE: #180 – like any “digital” signal in fact consisting of a broad frequency spectrum / superposition of myriad analogue oscillation modes, the change from Warm to Cold phase PDO must have produced and still must be producing all sorts of “ringing” on either side of the state change. The same would “ring” true for other oscillations such as ENSO, AMO, etc … etc … etc (BTW – I am indeed tending toward Rama IV like hairlessness at my highest elevations! LOL… )
I caught a short interview with Joe Bastardi yesterday evening. He mentioned that his father was also a meteorologist and that he’d started to forecast during the 1930s. His dad has stated and Joe concurs, that current conditions appear in similar-to-1930s mode, evolving toward similar-to-1940s mode. In light of the past few posts, I find that anecdote interesting. He closed by stating that, like me, he’s actually more concerned about the global impacts of cooling (hello John A!) than he is about global warming.
The global satellite-derived temperature for March is here . This is the UAH product. As expected, the El Nino effect was short-lived and is now gone except for a possible lingering impact in the temperate Northern hemisphere .
The Arctic continued the roughly flat movement of the last five years while the Antarctic continued its flat to slightly colder trend of the last twenty-five years.
That’s a registered site. Can’t read it.
But those who attribute the price rise of recent years to “Peak Oil” are wrong.
A new investing phenomenon transpired in that period – the interest of hedge funds, market funds, pension funds in commodities speculation. Oodles of money have been parked in the commodity markets which drove up the price. There is no precedent for this conduct. Just weeks ago CALPERS, the enormous California public employees pension fund, announced it would be investing in commodities markets. This actually might be a good sign, a sign that the “big boys” – private investors – have created the situation where public funds are parked in the markets, softening their leaving of the same. The “publics” usually are the suckers entering at the end of a bubble.
This new phenomenon effects commodity markets other than oil. The US govt. could bar fund speculation in commodities markets, that would lower the price of oil quickly. But you have two factions against this – the oil side, who have the Republicans in their pocket, and the financial firms and interests, who have the Democrats in their pocket. Here the interests are united in these current markets, opposed to the AAGW/carbon trading where they are opposed, but trying to reconcile some corrupt scheme all can be relatively happy with.
As my title says, “follow the money”
With the following contributors (some who have posted to this blog), please consider adding the following link to “Weblogs and resources” – ICECAP
Re #185 “A new investing phenomenon transpired in that period – the interest of hedge funds, market funds, pension funds in commodities speculation. Oodles of money have been parked in the commodity markets which drove up the price.”
I believe this analysis is 100% wrong. It confuses speculation with real demand which is consumption. If speculators buy into oil futures and real demand doesn’t match their hunch they will lose money. In the oil markets nobody has the financial resources to corner the market like Hunt did to the silver market in 1980. And since futures are usually extremely leveraged the loses can be huge. Many hedge funds have lost billions speculating on oil and gas futures.
Speculators can only effect the price of oil for a very short period. The money speculators make comes out of another speculators pocket.
The current high oil prices are due to a geopolitical risk premium.
fFreddy
Re #187, Reid
And increasing demand, particularly from China.
Tonight is the Great Decisions lecture and discussion on climate change. The speaker will be Donald J. Wuebbles. Wish me luck! Right now, it’s 30 degrees F and snowing’€”the perfect weather to discuss global warming.
#184 — Thanks, David. I always appreciate your updates.
For all those visitors here who don’t visit Numberwatch (and why not?) here is a very amusing link to a Rory Bremner skit on our resident (but not for much longer) “Pro American Guy” here in the UK.
Pro American Guy
Hope you appreciate the light relief from the dendro stuff.
From this comment by MarkW:
I’ve debated a number of alarmists who declare that when NAS stated that Mann’s claim that the climate is currently warmer than at any
time in the last 1000 years was “plausible”, that the NAS had declared that Mann’s claim was correct. IE, plausible meant
one small step away from proven.
I was wondering if the alarmists would still feel that same way about this use of “plausible”.
It was plausible that Saddam Hussein had an active nuclear program. I have a feeling that when you point that out to the type of person who would take this position, you will find that they do not feel the same way about taking radical action to combat a plausible scenario in that case.
Numberwatch – A great website. One of the best.
Mingy says:
Hans Erren says:
At most, 5% of the carbon dioxide in the air comes from human sources such as power plants, cars, oilsands, etc.
The author is confusing cash flow and profit. 5% of the annual flow may be antropogenic, but 95% of the net decadal flow is antropogenic. The fossil CO2 accumulates, the biological co2 circulates. It’s a classic straw man.
I’m pretty sure that part of the natural carbon cycle includes sequestering, including via calcium carbonate (sea shells), clathrates, oil, natural gas, and coal. Not an expert in the field, but these processes did not stop happening in the distant past. They still happen today, especially the carbonates as you notice the seashells on the beach. Shells of mollusks, and especially phytoplankton, which die and fall to the deep stay there for millions of years. The ocean is a big place, and this adds up to a tremendous amount of carbon. As I understand it, natural carbon sinks do not play a role in most climate models, despite the massive amounts of CO2 removed thereby. Although burning fossil fuels adds to CO2, so does outgassing from from oceans, volcanoes, and so on. the oceans may be a major source as CO2 solubility goes down as temperature goes up (the warm Coke experiment’). Therefore, and I’m sure I’ll be corrected here, it is not immediately clear where the bulk of the new’ CO2 comes from.
Mark T. says:
the oceans may be a major source as CO2 solubility goes down as temperature goes up (the warm Coke experiment’). Therefore, and I’m sure I’ll be corrected here, it is not immediately clear where the bulk of the new’ CO2 comes from.
Don’t let Boris read this. He’ll insist on a reference to some basic chemistry text, or, perhaps, WIKIPEDIA.
Bernie #48, you and others on here seem to me to want a rigidly polarized debate. It is worth remembering, however, that AGW can be real and not that big a deal at one and the same time and that many of the lower end projections of future temperature change would be consistent with that sort of analysis of the situation. It doesn’t have to be a case of two mutually antagonistic sides constantly saying “it isn’t happening at all” vs. “we are all doomed, doomed I tell you”. Given the limited duration of past interglacials and the length of the current one, there is actually a case that could be be made that having significantly more CO2 in the atmosphere could delay or even eliminate the next ice age and the associated climate change that would make most of North America and Europe uninhabitable and much of the rest of the planet arid desert.
Mann’s hockey stick provided a simplistic visual snapshot that could be spread through the electronic media to convince people with a limited degree of scientific knowledge that drastic action is required. Removing the wavy line aspect in the graphics of past temperature in the earlier ICPP report due to the LIA and MWP no doubt helped silence some potentially awkward questions about natural cycles. Proving Mann’s HS is a propaganda exercise does not make the issue of AGW suddenly go away, however, because it isn’t the key piece of science on which future temperature projections are based. It is worth remembering that many scientists regarded AGW as a serious issue that would require drastic action long before Mann ever reported those data.
Isn’t the “Concensus” something mandated every 10 years by the US Constitution to
count the numbers of populations of proxies that support AGW?
DeWitt Payne says:
Given the limited duration of past interglacials and the length of the current one, there is actually a case that could be be made that having significantly more CO2 in the atmosphere could delay or even eliminate the next ice age and the associated climate change that would make most of North America and Europe uninhabitable and much of the rest of the planet arid desert.
William Ruddiman thinks this has already happened.
http://www.nyas.org/ebrief/miniEB.asp?ebriefID=524
I think something may be wrong with the Link button.
Ken Fritsch says:
This does not fit the current PC thinking on AGW and you should consider recanting. Please consider the following before broaching this subject again:
For the purposes of proposing mitigations for AGW we limit the appeal to the future of the globe and our coming generations to approximately 50 to 100 years out and do not even want to consider what will happen in 1,000 to 10,000 years out.
If man interferes with the climate and delays the next ice age that is unnatural and that is automatically bad regardless of mans’ selfish interests.
Interference with the climate to correct a man made change is acceptable practice but only to the extent of getting things back to normal.
Choices between polar bears and humans should not automatically be biased towards the latter.
Pat Frank says:
#62 ‘€” “The fossil CO2 accumulates, the biological co2 circulates.”
Fossil CO2 circulates, too, Hans. Once it’s in the air, plants and cyanobacteria can’t tell the difference. The only question is whether the photosynthetic biomass will catch up to the slowly increasing atmospheric concentration. It’s almost certain the oceans will catch up by way of dissolution chemistry, but the biosphere could potentially adapt much faster. On the other hand, no one really believes a century hence we’ll still be generating most of our energy by burning carbon, do they?
Andrey Levin says:
Re#60, GW causes tsunamis.
Jeremiah Magan, Managing Editor of Fullerton College (California) newspaper, 21 March 2007:
”Despite the fact that Fullerton set record high temperatures for the month of March, people still have a hard time believing that global warming is real. The weather patterns are rapidly changing and becoming more extreme all over.
The tsunami in the South Pacific, Hurricane Katrina and the unseasonable heat in late winter and early spring are all signs that the weather is just going to continue changing.
It will change in such a way that this place we call home will no longer be inhabitable by those that helped ruin it.”
http://media.www.fchornet.com/media/storage/paper921/news/2007/03/21/Opinion/Global.Warming.A.Real.Problem-2784635.shtml
Devastating visual images of tsunami are too powerful to be ignored by AGW promoting media. I heard by my own ears that “GW causes tsunamis” on major Canadian CTV news cast. I am actually waiting to hear that
“Al Gore walks on CO2”.
There is nice web site with compilation of all things caused by GW:
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
I showed it to my son’s high school friend, and reaction of some was serious concern, but from most of them ‘€” hysterical laugh.
Re # 70,71:
Diodor says:
Due to climate inertia the carbon warming is yet to affect us fully, yet that sunspots peaked around 1990 and the earth is still warming proves solar warming is negligible.
MarkW says:
Interesting, #79 declares that the earth has inertia to heating caused by CO2, but no inertia to heating caused by the sun.
I might add that the earth’s temperature has been essentially unchanged since 1998, so the claim that heating continues is not borne
out by the facts.
kchua says:
Unnatural – do you take antibiotics? cook your food? use the internet? watch the television? use the telephone – is not all of this unnatural? This is all automitically bad so you should avoid them all.
Selfish interests – define “selfish” – why live at all?
What do you mean by “normal”? Explain why your statement is at all valid other than as a purely ideological statement.
Why not? If it was between myself (my family, indeed any human being including you) and the polar bear I know which I would choose.
What you are spouting is ideology unsupported by any reason, nothing more and nothing less.
re 24.
It’s plausible!!! where have I heard that word before!
In the cited CO2 ‘science’ article, the Idsos quote the abstract as saying:
“These results clearly suggest, in his words, “that 20th century warming trends are plausibly a continuation of past climate patterns” and, therefore, that “anywhere from a major portion to all of the warming of the 20th century could plausibly result from natural causes.””
Here, however, is what the abstract actually says:
“These results suggest that 20th Century warming trends are plausibly a continuation of past climate patterns. Results are
not precise enough to solve the attribution problem by partitioning warming into natural versus human-induced components.
However, anywhere from a major portion to all of the warming of the 20th Century could plausibly result from natural causes
according to these results.”
Note that the Idsos leave out (and misrepresent by implication) that middle sentence. Once again, a clearly dishonest bit of quote mining on CO2 Science.’ Loehle repeats the we can’t use these data to attribute’ qualification in the last paragraph of the paper as well – he is making the point very clear, but he Idsos leave it out.
Note also that the data analyzed in the Loehle paper ENDS AT 1900. He intentionally leaves out 20th century data. The 20th century reports are derived from fits of periodic models to the previous data. His study BY DESIGN does not compare temps of the last decade to earlier temps – he doesn’t have that data.
This is an interesting paper, but if it forms the standard to which acceptable papers must rise, then y’all don’t have a lot to criticize anywhere else. And it once again shows – don’t believe a damn thing the Idsos say without checking it out for yourself.
BTW, Loehle makes on important incorrect statement:
“The standard assumption in climate research, in-
cluding the IPCC reports, is that over a century time
interval there is not likely to be any recognizable trend
to global temperatures (Risbey et al., 2000) and thus
the null model for climate signal detection is a flat tem-
perature trend with some autocorrelated noise. Any
warming trends in excess of that expected from normal
climatic variability are then assumed to be due to an-
thropogenic effects. ”
For GCM-based attribution statements, the baseline is NOT a flat signal. It is (to oversimplify a bit) model output in the absense of an anthropogenic greenhouse gas component, compared to output with anthropogenic gasses, compared to actual temperatures..
fFreddy says:
Re #25, Lee
Note that the Idsos leave out (and misrepresent by implication) that middle sentence.
Stop fantasising. There is no misrepresentation here.
For GCM-based attribution statements, the baseline is NOT a flat signal. It is (to oversimplify a bit) model output in the absense of an anthropogenic greenhouse gas component, compared to …
So what does this “model output in the absense of an anthropogenic greenhouse gas component” look like ?
How much does it differ from a flat signal ?
JohnM,
You claim that those “in the know”, know which papers are faulty and don’t cite them, so there is no need to tell the rest of the world.
The problem is that the rest of the world assumes that any paper that is peer reviewed must be good. Then they use these faulty papers
as a basis for their own work. Such as the in the climate change debate.
The result is that your desire to protect your peers from criticism that might hurt their feelings ends up being support for bad policy
based on bad data.
That’s not good. The implications of Kyoto go way beyond the feelings of a handfull of dendroclimatologists.
#24 writes: “The standard assumption in climate research, in-
It is assumed that over a century the climate is stable, therefore any changes must be caused by man.
All one has to do is look at the record over the last few hundred years to see that the above assumption is garbage.
I don’t see a significant difference between the two quotes.
Jeff Norman says:
Re:#29
I agree with MarkW. They pretty much say the same thing to me. I wonder if it has something to do with how we are interpreting the word “plausible”.
It is plausible that current climate trends are just a continuation of past climate trends. We don’t have enough information. We just don’t know.
It is plausible that climate reconstructions going back more than 400 years may reveal something about past climates. We just don’t know.
It is plausible that Lee will read #29 and this post and respond in a collegial manner. We just don’t know though we can guess and call the guess a scenario.
bender says:
Not to feed the trolls, but …
Lee, did you listen to the ABC interview with Hughes, where he indicated he agreed with Graybill & Idso that there’s something unusual affecting bristlecone pine growth, some sort of “fertilization” effect above and beyond temperature & precip? And of course, you are aware of the extent to which these samples influence all of the multiproxy reconstructions. But you’re ok with that?
FWIW I agree that, of the CO2 science abstracts I’ve read, they distort the original abstracts. I think it’s obvious that that is intentional. That’s why the site exists: to interpret and synthesize the data from a particular viewpoint. Mind, there’s nothing dishonest about this. All datasets, all research domains have gaps. Thus there is often room for data re-interpretation, and always a need for perspective-oriented synthesis. I think it’s ridiculous to criticize a website as a whole, when there is so much real content to bite into.
Gary #23: use the search tool to explore the blog. Or work through it systematically. There’s a lot of interesting content here with answers to all your questions. General questions like this should go to “Unthreaded” so they don’t become a permanent fixture (or lead the discussion astray) in the more topical threads.
Craig Loehle says:
Re 24, 25, 26, etc.
It is nice to have my work held up as an example of due diligence because I carefully compared my results to past studies of cycles, MWP etc.
My use of “plausible” was in contrast to the implicit dismissal of solar effects by the IPCC et al.
The fact that I only had 2 data sets of course constrained my precision. At the time (5 yrs ago) few data sets were archived that met my criteria. I now have a ms with much more data but GRL sent it back unreviewed because they were “tired of seeing this kind of study”. I sure you are all shocked. They didn’t understand my key point that when you leave out tree rings you might get a completely different answer. I have sent it elsewhere and await reviews.
bender, I have said many times now on this site – and to you directly, I believe – I am currently reserving judgement on the pre-500-years-or-so dendroclimate results. I am essentially accepting the NAS evaluation of the statistical weight of the evidence, pending the outcome of the current wars in the area and evidence from additional proxies and studies. This is for many reasons, one of which you allude to.
I’ve also said many times that I read this site specifically because I seek out opinions that challenge what I think to be true. This site is becoming less and less useful for that – SteveM’s continuing descent into snark about pictures from regions that are kind of near regions where data was gathered as just one example.
CO2Science is a propaganda vehicle. The Idsos mislead, they quote mine, they misrepresent data, they leave out relevant data and qualifiers of data, they cherry pick – why do you think they choose 1930 as the start of their misleading temp of the week. EVERY paper I’ve followed up from a CO2Science article has been misrepresented in some key way. Every one.
In the quote I look at, leaving out that middle sentence changes the implication from “This data isn’t sufficient to partition, but possibly its all natural – or possibly not’ to there’s a good chance its all natural.’ When I see people defending that kind of quote mining, I know to throw them out the window as intellectually solid challenges to my thinking. Its right up there with pretending that one can report a line fit to a time series with a confidence interval of +- zero, even when the line fit is different for any arbitrarily chosen period of years, or with pretending that the sig figs of the data sets an equivalent upper limit on the sig figs of the slope of a line fit to the data.
Craig Loehle,
An honest question here – When you compare temps derived for MWP with current (not 20th century, but over the last decade or so) temps what does it look like? How recent are you able to go with the actual proxy data available, as opposed to having to compare to current instrumental record?
Do you have a preprint available anywhere?
Are the graphics from your 2004 paper available online? I have been unable to find an online pdf, and the html version I’ve looked at munges the graphics.
they quote mine, they misrepresent data, they leave out relevant data and qualifiers of data, they cherry pick
Sorta like the Team, eh?
Note that those are not flat, and more important for the quote I dispute, they are not ASSUMED to be flat.
From page 11 of the SPM4.
UC says:
5’€”95% range for 19 simulations from 5 climate models using only the natural forcings due to solar activity and volcanoes.
How did they calculate the blue bands?
Minimise solar and multidecadal effects.
How did they calculate the pink bands?
Exaggerate water feedback and aerosol effects.
Dave Dardinger says:
#34 Lee,
In the quote I look at, leaving out that middle sentence changes the implication from “This data isn’t sufficient to partition, but possibly its all natural – or possibly not’ to there’s a good chance its all natural.’
You really need to learn the meaning of terms. To say someting is “possible” by definition means that it also may not be the case. To say something is plausible is even weaker than possible. The difference is that something that’s plausible is to say that it “appears possible.” But it doesn’t claim that there’s clear evidence that it’s true. It really means “not impossible” that is, there’s no real showstopper off the top.
That’s why when the NAS report said the Hockeystick was plausible those here recognized that they were damning with faint praise. That is, there was still nothing which presented the actual case to be something like a hockey stick, but the NAS said there was no solid evidence now in play.
So, your claim that leaving out the middle sentence made the implication that there was a “good chance” the results were from natural causes, comes from a misreading of what plausible vs possible mean in this context. The Idso’s were saying that this paper showed that it could be all or partly natural but only in the sense of not having been shown that all-natural was impossible.
Now, I know you can respond, “but it seems to me….” but so what? To continue this discussion, you need to show that your way of interpreting the terms is correct. I don’t think you can.
jae says:
Lee, Loehle’s paper is here.
Dardinger,
If that sentence is meaningless, why did the author include it right there between the two sentences that the Idsos quoted? This is not it seems to me.’ This is quote mining, and it is one of very many instances of such on that site. When the Idsos connect those two quotes with “and therefore that” they create the strong implication that this data is evidence for the latter sentence. But the sentence they left out, which occurs at precisely that place, explicitly says that it is not good enough evidence for that.
The Idsos are good at this crap, I’ll give em that.
Big spring snow possible Sunday/Monday for the US, Canada (just east of Toronto)
Accuweather story
Some of the wind prognostications have been upwards of 50 knots over the Atlantic.
Brrr…
Pat Frank
#33 transferred — Craig, did you ever reply to Richard Swanson’s criticism of your 2004 “Climate change: detection and attribution of trends from long-term geologic data” Ecol. Model. 171, 433’€”450 paper?
Note = post 195, the transfer post, was moved her without the original post to which I was replying. That original post is currently post 24 on the “Reply to an Angry Dendrochronologist” thread. that original post 24 cited an article on CO2Science. steveM on that other thread says this was moved becasue i was ‘hijacking’ the thread by criticising the Idsos. Apparently, it is ok to cite the Idsos, but not to criticise the cite, in that thread.
US cold weather did as much damage as a hurricane last week ( link ). More cold coming.
Record daily snow in Chicago ( link )
RE: #196 – I’ve got to give you kudos for making the call that we’d get more rain in California after all. Not only that, but it came straight down from the north. We are, like last year at this time, in a classic Siberia Express set up, albeit, sadly, a drier one than last year. At least one more of these fast moving Arctic storms is proged for the weekend. After that, who knows, we’ll take anything we can get. I hope, like last year, the fronts continue until the Solstice. No way we’ll make up the deficit we have, but every bit will help. Late snowpack helps more than early snowpack.
Moving those posts also removed graphics I had posted specifically responding to a substantive discussion regarding a statement in the Loehle paper.
Good on ya, Steve.
Snowed all day here in the Springs. There was 3″ on my car, but the ground was warm enough that a lot melted. More on the way. This is not unusual for CO in April. My folks refuse to visit on my son’s bday (next Wednesday) due to repeated snows, including the day he was birthed. 🙂
Meanwhile, posts left in place on that thread include the following. Apparently, generalized attacks on the climate science community are ok, but pointing out flaws in the Idsos work is hijacking and worth removing accompanying substantive commentary and graphics?
I would be hard-pressed to think up a complimentary adjective to describe the 1960 truncation of the Briffa et al 2001 reconstruction in IPCC TAR
How about “surprising” or “novel”? and if anyone complains that it’s been done before, you can fall back on “I meant novel in the sense of the opposite of non-fiction.”
Standard (flawed) debate tactic: claim your “rival” isn’t looking at the big-picture, or only selectively reviewing evidence, then dismiss his entire argument by noting there are other “better” methods in spite of the fact that none can be cited. It is sort of a sleight of hand.
If the angry dendro’s arguments are so compelling, why do they not address the arguments Steve M. has made head on? IMO, they can’t.
BTW, if they think Rutherford and Mann’s RegEM method is “recent work that surpasses” the PCA (non-standard or otherwise) nonsense, they are mistaken.
C_G_K says:
Re#2
Yes, this is a very common tactic used to defend bad science. Another related tactic is to say or imply that the science that proves something is so complex that only a select few can understand it. The RC blog seems to have this approach down to an art form where they present arguments with virtually incomprehensible language and technical jargon, while liberally throwing around words like debunked, refuted, etc., to characterize arguments from critics.
Actually, come to think of it, I used to do that when I was a kid. When my little brother would figure out that something I said was wrong (and this bugged me), I would try to dress up my language with words and bafflegab he didn’t understand to try and make my argument sound more authoritative… like I really knew what I was talking about. Didn’t take him long to get wise to this tactic.
Steve Sadlov says:
RE: #13 and #9 – The simple fact is that in the so called “Climate Sciences” field, poor, exagerated publications, using dumpster dived or manipulated “data” tend to be in the majority. So much low hanging fruit, so little time ….
while other key fields that relate to the issue of climate change like the IR spectroscopy of atmospheric CO2 are ruled as being completely inadmissible in terms of commenting on this blog
This topic has been discussed at length here, so the statement is completely without merit. Try doing a search.
RE: #203 – Quit yer whining. If you want to fight blog injustice, go over to RC, where they are completely totalitarian.
Sadlov, I’m not whining, I’m laughing. At all y’all.
My kids knew by age 3 that they couldn’t get away with arguing ‘but he did it…”
Lloyd’s: Prepare for severe climate change
TOKYO, April 12 (UPI) — Climate change is increasing in severity and should be part of every company’s risk analysis, Lloyd’s of London Chairman Peter Levene said in Tokyo
http://tinyurl.com/2zbl8o
Jonathan Schafer
#195 (Transfer of comments including Lee)
I’ve also said many times that I read this site specifically because I seek out opinions that challenge what I think to be true. This site is becoming less and less useful for that – SteveM’s continuing descent into snark about pictures from regions that are kind of near regions where data was gathered as just one example
I hereby declare that this site is now totally useless for you Lee. You can leave now. It won’t improve either so no need for you to return in the future.
My kids knew by age 3 that they couldn’t get away with arguing but he did it…”
Then your kids are brighter than you are. Just what do you think you do here except loudly exclaim, “Steve did it!”?
Actually the “Unthreaded” threads have been quite useful in that they allow Steve to keep messages around that otherwise would clog up serious threads.
http://www.friendsofscience.org/index.php?ide=3
Friends of Science has a new series of short videos entitled “Climate Catastrophe Cancelled: What You’re Not Being Told About the Science of Climate Change”, which I think are quite good. Not quite as slick a production as “Swindle”, but nevertheless worth a few minutes. As a bonus, Steve and Ross are prominently featured in discussing the hockeystick.
Gaudenz Mischol
There is an interesting new paper about RSS and UAH trends in the tropics, discussed on the blog of Roger Pielke Sr.
Lee, I don’t want to take time to transfer posts. I have to manually edit the threads and it takes time.
george h. says:
Mann and company went out of their way to use a tree ring chronology (Bristlecone Pines) which as originally described by Graybill and Idso was responsive to CO2 fertilization and, as I understand it, NOT so much to temperature ‘€” a perfect proxy for the team, but as Graybill-Idso stressed, a poor climate proxy. We all know the results: a famous graph which erased just about everything we know about global temperatures from recorded human history (Until they were found out by Steve and Ross). Here is an interesting paper which examines two proxies in detail which does the opposite’€” it validates or better is validated by what we know from the historic record: http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO2ScienceB2C/articles/V7/N4/EDIT.jsp We should all be suspicious of any proxy study coming from the dendro community which does not rise to this standard.
Steve McIntyre says:
Lee, the mere use of the word “plausible” by a poster is insufficient grounds to hijack a thread to discuss the Idsos. I’ve transferred this to Unthreaded.
John Baltutis says:
Re: #41 & 43
Go to http://esnips.com/, type Loehle in the search box, and get three results (links are there, not here):
Loehle(2004)EnergyEnvironment.pdf in climate
Loehle(2004)EcologicalModelling.pdf in climate
Loehle(2005)MathGeol.pdf in climate
I did not say the sentence was meaningless. It is, in fact, another way of saying what the other two sentences say. In addition it also goes further in showing why there’s more “wiggle room” since they say there’s not sufficient evidence to determine how much of the warming is natural and how much AGW. The third sentence then goes on to expand and say that it’s even “plausable” (i.e. not impossible) that it’s all natural.
The point is you can’t quote the entire abstract. The Idsos got the gist of it and you’re just being obstinate trying to claim they did anything wrong. Anyone interested can simply google for the paper, which they cite, and read the entire abstract. BTW, unlike you warmers, we skeptics don’t just stop with reading a pull quote. If something’s interesting we want to see more of it.
Whoops!!! Steve, please move #27 and then delete this one.
SteveM, the posts you moved contained substantive commentary on and criticisms of the paper underlying the statement in post 24. Post 24 links directly to that article on CO2Science – I offered commentary on both inaccuracies – with my substantiating evidence – in the CO2Science article directly linked, and comment on the underlying paper. You left post 24 referring to the CO2Science article here. You moved my posts – with commentary this is in many places substantive on the topic of the underlying paper, and in many places is responding to without including post 24, dissociating it from the post it was criticizing. In other words, you left the originating post 24, but removed my criticisms into a context where they don’t point at that initiating post.
I am more or less forced to conclude that your problem isn’t discussion of the Idsos in this thread – post 24 initiated that, and is still here – it is criticism of the Idsos in this thread, or criticism of a paper cited via the Idsos site.
Unlike us warmers, perhaps you denialists aren’t observant enough to realize that since I quoted the entire three sentences including the part left out, referred to a reinforcing sentence in the last paragraph of the paper, and further discussed data and analysis from the paper itself, I obviously read the entire paper.
IOW, Dardinger, Shox Css and stop trolling.
For insurance companies, like Lloyds, the best thing to increase renewals, coverages and premiums (and, ergo, profits) is an actual catastophe. An even more profitable occurence is the heightened belief that a catastrophe will occur. Again, when these statements are made without substantial and objective assessment of the available data, one has to ask “Cui bono?” and then assess the objectiveness of the assertion.
RE: #206 – I don’t know how financially transparent Lloyds are, but it sure would be interesting to know whether or not they are significant investors in …. but of course …. the carbon trading Ponzi scheme. Of course, if Lloyds are in it, they are way up there toward the top of the pyramid.
Re: #197 by Pat Frank
“#33 transferred ‘€” Craig, did you ever reply to Richard Swanson’s criticism of your 2004 “Climate change: detection and attribution of trends from long-term geologic data” Ecol. Model. 171, 433’€”450 paper?”
Swanson was objecting to some of the dating in the data I used. Very geological & technical. When I asked him for a corrected timeline on the data, I got a very snippy answer that this was not his job. Clearly if the dating is off this might affect my model but it depends on how much it is off. This just highlights the difficulties in using proxy data as if they were dated with perfect accuracy.
Re: another question about my papers: here are citations:
Loehle, C. 2006. Climate change in the context of long-term geologic data. Pages 1-39 in Burk, A. R., ed. Focus on Ecology Research. Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge NY
Loehle, C. 2005. Estimating Climatic Timeseries from Multi-Site Data Afflicted with Dating Error. Mathematical Geology 37:127-140
Loehle, C. 2004. Using Historical Climate Data to Evaluate Climate Trends: Issues of Statistical Inference. Energy & Environment 15:1-10
Loehle, C. 2004. Climate Change: Detection and Attribution of Trends from Long Term Geologic Data. Ecological Modelling 171:433-450
Re: requests to see my new results: I never show results until the paper is accepted in press. Sorry
GCMs are large and complex programming efforts. Such large efforts are prone to have many undetected and undesirable interactions between their components. These interactions can create unexpected operations that can create disastrous error. The Mars Global Surveyor satellite suffered total failure which resulted in the end of the mission because of such interactions
“The loss of the spacecraft was the result of a series of events linked to a computer error made five months before the likely battery failure,” said board Chairperson Dolly Perkins, deputy director-technical of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt , Md.
On Nov. 2, after the spacecraft was ordered to perform a routine adjustment of its solar panels, the spacecraft reported a series of alarms, but indicated that it had stabilized. That was its final transmission. Subsequently, the spacecraft reoriented to an angle that exposed one of two batteries carried on the spacecraft to direct sunlight. This caused the battery to overheat and ultimately led to the depletion of both batteries. Incorrect antenna pointing prevented the orbiter from telling controllers its status, and its programmed safety response did not include making sure the spacecraft orientation was thermally safe.
The board also concluded that the Mars Global Surveyor team followed existing procedures, but that procedures were insufficient to catch the errors that occurred. The board is finalizing recommendations to apply to other missions, such as conducting more thorough reviews of all non-routine changes to stored data before they are uploaded and to evaluate spacecraft contingency modes for risks of overheating.
A GCM programmer visited this blog for a while and courteously answered many questions. I mentioned the interaction problem to him and asked him what software methodology did hid group use to detect and prevent them. He relied by pointing me to the system user manual, which I took to mean that no methodology was followed.
The NASA report indicated that the error produced by an unexpected interaction resulted in complete mission failure. This was in spite of all required procedures being carried out. One can then well wonder about the quality of the output of the GCMs. They may or may not have modeled the underlying physics properly. However if no attention is paid to the effect of software interactions, then the output must be treated with caution. One does not know if the output is the result of the modeled physics or of the errors caused by the un-modeled software interactions.
RE: #215 – No doubt, only a small percentage of academic and research institution programmers have anywhere near the hands on experience in unit testing, let alone integration testing, of software deployments that their peers in commercial enterprises have. In most cases in the non commercial world, there are minimal to no processes for designing for, assuring and testing for quality.
Paul Linsay
One does not know if the output is the result of the modeled physics or of the errors caused by the un-modeled software interactions.
It’s probably worse than that. There are a lot of documented problems with the temperature measurements of the ground based weather stations that make their validity a teeny bit doubtful. Despite that the models “hindcast” the temperature quite well.
re 217
Software that gets the “right” answer from questionable data processed by code not regourously written and tested is a sign of grave danger. Testing to get the “right” answer is the wrong way of testing. Although, as I was told, this is how GCMs are tested.
#215 — I ran across a paper some time ago that pointed out exactly the sort of problem you describe: O. Pauluis and K Emanuel (2004) “Numerical Instability Resulting from Infrequent Calculation of Radiative Heating” Mon. Weath. Rev. 132, 673-686.
Periodic radiative heating updates in climate calculations were having the effect of a cyclic input into the calculated climate itself. From the sbstract: “In the worst case, this lag gives rise to an exponential numerical instability with a growth rate proportional to the time interval between radiative calculations.“
To Lubos regarding #7 above:
I don’t know if you had a chance last week to watch CBC’s (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) journalism in action in Alexandria, Egypt?
“It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.”
I refer you to the link http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/climatechange/roadstories.html for replays. The CBC was doing a week-long special on Climage Change leading up to the release of the detailed report from the IPCC this past weekend.
Please pay special attention to the clips on SINKING ALEXANDRIA and SALTY FARMERS.
“Responsible journalism” seems to have become an oxymoron when it comes to discussions of Climate Change. I think we need a separate on-going thread just dealing with the way journalists cover this issue.
If you have ever read anything about the Nile Delta or if you were ever awake during your geography class in high school, you would likely have learned that the Nile Delta was in danger as soon as the average annual deposition of 100 million tons of silt into that delta was PERMANENTLY LOST upon the completion of the High Aswan Dam in the late 1960-s (which now entirely sequesters this silt well upstream from that dam).
And yet not even ONE mention of this very real FACT amongst the presentation of the other “facts” — such as that regarding the newly “aggressive” and rising Mediterranean which is now causing the Nile Delta to disappear and the soil to be despoiled by salt. Would any thinking person have expected the delta to magically survive in the absence of the deposition of all that silt? Maybe the CBC needs to ask itself how the delta got there in the first place ‘€” did space aliens build it?
This is science?
This is unbelievable!
C’est vraiment incroyable!
The only excuse that I could imagine the CBC coming up with is that their researchers have been getting their science from the Guardian.
#220 Hans:
Of course, a similar effect is in play in New Orleans as well, but from channeling, not damming, of the river. It’s a key reason why the city was/is so vulnerable.
RE: #221- Quite a few dams on some of the large tributaries.
Greenhouse conspiracy (1990):
It’s amazing that even in 1990 they knew about the lag of CO2 after temperature – see around 24:00 of the documentary. This “subtlety” has been carefully hidden for 16 years.
The progress in understanding since 1990 seems very small to me…
Nice article on methane trends in World Climate Report.
If I recall correctly, methane accounts for 18% of the to-date anthropogenic greenhouse effect. Flatlining, or a decline, is significant.
In the worth-a-quick-look category is the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) map for the last 30 days. This is derived by satellites, which measure the IR leaving Earth.
Note the high IR values (yellows and reds) in the tropics and subtropics. Much of this occurs in the descending parts of the Hadley-Walker cells where the air radiates away its heat, cools and sinks towards the surface. Values are especially high in the hot African desert and India – my friends in Mumbai will be glad when the monsoon arrives.
Note the blues in the Amazon basin and extending east from Indonesia. These are areas of heavy tropical rain, where air ascends. There is also a trace of the ITCZ in the Atlantic and west Africa. These are regions of cloudiness, where surface IR meets a lot of resistance on its journey to space.
Points to anyone who caught the reference to Global Warming in tonight’s Law and Order episode.
A question for the geologists:
I was researching the cited evidence for a climate porn article on Kiribati, and was struck by this piece of information:
“These low-lying coral atolls, (33 in all) are the protruding tips of undersea volcanoes, and extend only a few feet above sea level.”
Why, if the atolls began as volcanoes, are they all within a metre of the sea surface? That 33 volcanoes should all be the same height by chance is not reasonable. Same issue with the Maldives, and many other low-lying island groups. So what is it that makes them all basically the same height above sea level? Surely this is a dynamic process of some sort, but if just simple weathering, what stops them from eventually disappearing entirely?
Also, if mostly comprising coral, won’t the incessant wave action, occasional storms, king tides and even tsunamis eat them away at the edges?
Any advice much appreciated.
Steve: I think the world will have cooled by the time we see it in Australia
Wolfgang Flamme
Recent Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice Corrections in % by by arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu
Recent Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice Corrections absolute by by arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu
Do these guys have a clue wether NH summer sea ice is a hoax or not?
Re #227, DaleC
? The coral is growing on top of the volcanoes, which are of varying height/depth below the surface; when the coral reaches the surface, it stops growing.
Further to David Smith’s #224 post on Methane. The figures for 2005 and 2006 (and the other greenhouse gases) are updated in the charts at this link.
Methane actually fell in 2005 and was flat in 2006. The chart shows that Methane concentrations in the atmosphere have stabilized.
RE #229 Interesting graphs. When they say “correction”, does that mean a correction to the existing sea ice anomaly reports? And, do they explain the year 2000 discontinuity? Thanks
re #230, fFreddy,
Thanks for the info. Does this imply that with respect to sea levels (the porno line of course being that Kiribati is doomed doomed doomed), that coral atolls are basically self-adjusting, at least in the long term?
Help me understand the impact of this technology .
CO2 from burning coal is converted into ethanol and animal feed. But those materials are converted back into CO2 by cars and animals and released into the atmosphere.
I guess the reasoning is that some ethanol and animal feed originate from (or displace) fossil fuels, and that production will be displaced if the economics are right (which they probably are not, without government subsidy). But my impression is that most ethanol is from organic sources and there is, or will be, an ethanol surplus, even with blending into gasoline. Animal feed seems to be from existing natural sources, unless it’s fertilizer that gets displaced.
It would be interesting to see a material and energy balance on this.
Re 227, coral reefs can grow vertically at 3 mm per annum, which also happens to be what sea level is doing right now. Please bear in mind that all the coral reefs you see now were dead 20,000 years ago, when sea level was 120 metres lower and the reefs were a line of cliffs. They got killed off in every ice age for the last 2.5 million years, at least 20 of them. After the volcano moves off the hot spot that formed it, the volcano starts sinking. If the coral can’t keep up with the rate of sinking, the coral reef drowns. This is exemplified by the Hawaiin Islands which have a string of seamounts to the northwest.
C_G_K
Re #215, Stan Palmer,
As a software engineer who has worked on applications that are made up of millions of lines of code, I can tell you that the complexity level can become extreme. Obviously, it is impossible for one person to be familiar with all the code, which of course means many individuals and/or teams become involved, further complicating matters. When designing complex programs, it is important to consider the architecture carefully before you get started writing any code. A good design usually limits the interaction between components as too much interaction is almost always bad and makes modifications and extensions to the program difficult (as an example, look how long it took for Microsoft to finally get Vista out the door).
As for testing, we always had a clear idea of exactly what the program behavior should be. Our main problem was that is was difficult due to the size and complexity of the program to “exercise” all the program code and run through all the possible usage scenarios to ferret out any errors. For climate models, what would be the “expected” behavior I wonder? I think it would be easy to tweak the program to produce almost any output. Also, many software applications are filled with hacks and cludges where shortcuts and assumptions are made or where the output is just plain forced to be something that you want (throwing your elegant algorithms out the window). As for peer review, I think it is important for the code to be reviewed to look for any hacks that may compromise the value of the output.
I can tell you, as someone who knows a lot about a computers ability to model complex systems, I have no faith in the predictions they make about climate, especially over long periods of time. It appears to me that the earths atmosphere is a poor candidate for modelling, either with mathematical models comprised of a number of variables and constants, or with computers that add algorithms and vast amounts of data to the mix. Models have their place in predicting the weather over short periods of time, but they are limited in scope for predicting climate long term.
One more thought about testing. I have a feeling that past climate is used as a benchmark for testing. In other words, the model is used to predict “past” climate since it can be compared to the actual documented climate for accuracy. The problem with this approach is that all you have proven is your model is a good “predictor” of past climate which doesn’t mean it will be a good predictor of future climate. Also, as we can see on this website, reconstruction of past climate using proxies is a controversial area of science, especially as you try to go further back in time.
#223 Lubos
Thanks for the link. I’ve just watched it and one thin that struck me immediately is the fact that it showed interviews with scientists from both sides of the AGW debate e.g. Wigley, Schneider etc as well as Lindzen, Michaels etc. In that regard it was more balanced than the recent Durkin ‘Swindle’ documentary. I also like the use of the ‘pillars of AGW’ metaphor which I’ve recently used on another thread. Perhaps I now need to persuade a TV/Film producer to use the Wizard of Oz as a metaphor for the AGE debate? Its looks like this was made in the late 80s/early 90s soI presume some of those interviewed have now retired? What ever happened to Peren from the BAS? I wonder if he knows ‘Will of the Wiki’ and what he thinks of him? I also liked the brief exerprt of Maggie T back in 1990 (no Sir Crispin Tickell though!).
Re #235, David Archibald
Excellent, someone who knows what he is talking about.
After the volcano moves off the hot spot that formed it, the volcano starts sinking. If the coral can’t keep up with the rate of sinking, the coral reef drowns.
Can I ask, how fast does a volcano sink once it moves off its hot spot ?
And when you say the coral drowns, is it that there isn’t enough light for photosynthesis once it gets too deep ?
In #227, David Archibald said:
fFreddy replied in #239:
fFreddy, you might be a bit more careful about assuming that people know what they are talking about.
The process of coral atoll formation was first discovered by a scientist who made his name in another field entirely, Charles Darwin. At the time, atoll existence was a puzzle, because although coral only grows in the upper 50 m or so of the ocean, the coral under atolls is thousands of meters thick. Darwin deduced that the ring shape of an atoll exists because the corals have grown up as the ground underneath them subsided. He described the discovery in his autobiography:
“No other work of mine was begun in so deductive a spirit as this; for the whole theory was thought out on the west coast of S. America before I had seen a true coral reef. I had therefore only to verify and extend my views by a careful examination of living reefs. But it should be observed that I had during the two previous years been incessantly attending to the effects on the shores of S. America of the intermittent elevation of the land, together with the denudation and deposition of sediment. This necessarily led me to reflect much on the effects of subsidence, and it was easy to replace in imagination the continued deposition of sediment by the upward growth of coral. To do this was to form my theory of the formation of barrier-reefs and atolls.” (Darwin, 1887, p. 98, 99)
Thus as Darwin discovered, although the ground beneath them has subsided, and thus the sea level relative to the ground has risen greatly, the processes that build coral atolls have ensured that the atoll islands always stayed above sea level. However, David’s claim that coral reefs can only grow 3 mm per year is too small. Even if the sea level rise were to double, the coral can keep up. Coral growth rates have been measured at 280 mm/year in the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal (Sewell 1935), and 414 mm/year in the Celebes (Verstelle 1932). When I lived on a coral atoll in the Solomon Islands, we had to clear out the coral in the pass between the ocean and the lagoon every ten years or so, because about 600 mm of coral would have grown up in that time, and the boats couldn’t get in and out.
In waters which are not as warm as the Celebes, the Solomon Islands, or the Bay of Bengal, coral growth rates are of course slower. Here in Hawaii there is a drowned reef. It survived the rapid sea level rise during the early part of the deglaciation, but succumbed to sea level rise and drowned during Meltwater Pulse 1A, during the transition from the last glacial to the Holocene. During that time, the average sea level rise was ~ 40 – 70 mm/yr, an order of magnitude greater than the current rate. However, in the warmer waters, the atolls survived even this rapid rate of sea level rise, which is why atoll islands like Tuvalu and Kirbati exist today … because they didn’t drown.
Finally, contrary to David’s claim, volcanoes sink when they are on the hot spot (because the lithosphere bends from the increasing weight of the volcano), and stop sinking once the volcano move off the hot spot. I live on the Big Island in Hawaii, an active volcano which is over the hot spot. According to the US Geological Service, it is sinking at about 2 mm per year. Maui, the next island to the east, off the hot spot and no longer active, is sinking at about 0.9 mm/year, less than half the rate of the Big Island. Oahu and Kauii, even further east away from the hot spot, are only subsiding at about 0.1 mm/year.
When it comes to getting information off the web … caveat emptor …
Darwin, C., The Autobiography of Charles Darwin 1809-1882, 1887
Sewell, R.B.S. (1935) Studies on coral and coral-formations in Indian waters Geographic and Oceanographic Research in Indian Waters No. 8, Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 9:461-539.
Verstelle, J. Th. (1932) The growth rate at various depths of coral reefs in the Dutch East Indian Archipelago, Treubia, 14:117-126.
#67–sorry I’m only just now getting around to this, but I have been incredibly busy recently.
I have sen these before in fact–and there are actually only eight of them.
Here are my humble responses to Idso’s “natural experiments”.
1, 2, and 3’€”
In general, it seems that climate scientists feel that Idso errs by leaving out all other factors and feedbacks from his original experiments. As Richard Kerr writes in Science magazine (I will quote briefly since the article appears to be copyrighted, though I will cite it) 13 Aug 1982:
“…observations from a single site, a single country, or one part of the ocean cannot suffice to verify what is a global process. A major failing, they say, is the omission of the ocean from Idso’s natural experiments…Those experiments extend over only a few months, while the surface layer of the ocean requires 6 to 8 years to respond significantly to a change in radiation. A part of that response is to send more water vapor into the atmosphere, which traps even more radiant energy, just as carbon dioxide does.”
Also, FWIW
“Stephen Schneider of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and James Hansen of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies limited their models geographically and temporally in order to duplicate Idso’s observations. Their models’ responses were comparable to that calculated by Idso.”
RealClimate also makes a different point, though the math is I must admit still a little technical for me, and for most people, probably:
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/04/learning-from-a-simple-model/#more-411
These seem to replicate Idso’s earlier assumption that sensitivity can be calculated simply by a land surface flux. 4 in particular seems to assume that the warming from a no-atmosphere Earth to a present-atmosphere Earth describes the same curve as one from our present atmosphere to one with a doubled CO2 concentration.
My sense, based on what I’ve read on the Web, is that this is a mistaken connection. Since CO2 proportions are very different between Mars and Venus on the one hand, and Earth on the other, no direct comparison can be made. The interactions between the various greenhouse gases and the various contributions to equilibrium temperatures (remember that Earth also has oceans, and Venus and Mars do not!) probably make this an irrelevant analysis.
I do not know what the current state of thinking about the early faint sun is, but the Wikipedia entry on it notes that most likely methane was responsible for a much higher greenhouse effect, so once again I am not sure how relevant Idso’s analysis is.
Well, again, this is a measurement of sensitivity without system feedback, but the warming models whose results I’ve seen indicate that warming is expected to be greater at the northern pole than at the equator.
#69: I am totally baffled by your claim that “the atmosphere’s temperature jumped, which is not what I’d expect from CO2….If the jumps were caused by CO2, I’d like to hear the mechanism.”
The mechanism is…increased temperatures, which is to be expected from co2, because it is a greenhouse gas.
#126:
Read the article carefully–it merely confirms what climate scientists already know and acknowledge:
“They say that over the last century the number of sunspots rose at the same time that the Earth’s climate became steadily warmer.”
This is a century-wide measure. Solar radiation has not increased since the mid-century as fast as temperatures. The only way any solar hypothesis can account for this is to hand-wave and argue for a delayed response in climate to solar radiation. But I have not seen any evidence for this other than their wishful thinking. (And FWIW we are currently at the nadir of a sunspot cycle. It will be interesting to see what temperature does over the next 6-8 years.)
Re #240, Wilis – thanks !
#232 (@ David Smith)
Frankly, I don’t know. I just used Engauge Digitizer to derive mins and maxs from the current and previous version and compared them to one another (which is absolute:=(V07-V06) and relative:=(V07-V06)/V06).
But what these recent corrections have led to is quite obvious:
V06 revealed a sea ice decline from the 80ies to the 90ies but almost no trend afterwards. In the corrected V07 however the decline continues.
mzed, thanks for your comments. The statements by Kerr about items 1, 2, and 3 are mostly based on Stephen Schneider’s criticism of Idso’s work, published in Science Vol 210. Idso’s response to Schneider’s criticism from the same issue explains clearly why Schneider’s claims are mistaken.
Also, Kerr provides no citation for the statement that:
Do you have any citation for those claims? I am generally skeptical of uncited allegations that “models show” something or other, as we all know that models can show whatever their programmers want them to show. In particular, I don’t see how in 1980 (the date of the claims) the climate models would have that kind of local resolution, as the regional estimates of even modern climate models vary wildly.
Andrey Levin
Re#223
Lubos, thanks, stunning documentary. The best one.
US federal government runs world-wide program to reduce vent-off of methane from NG extraction and transporting, and from oil extraction. According to numerous estimates, Russian NG emissions were significantly reduced thanks to mutual US (and some Germany) and Russia efforts. Still, went-offs are accounting for about 5% of all Russian NG extracted and delivered. Considering that methane is about 30 times (in real world) more potent GHG than CO2, these efforts are quite substantial and are, actually, win-win situation from any (including economical) perspective.
There is quite interesting article on corals:
http://www.ipa.org.au/files/IPABackgrounder17-1.pdf
David, google “algae biodiesel”. It is currently uneconomical, yet very promising technology.
On coral atolls, thanks to fFreddy #230, David #235 and Willis #240.
RE #245 My confidence in Arctic ice cover reports is dropping sharply.
Yes, thank you’€”I knew I had read that exchange in Science before, but I was unable to track it down.
The claim about Schneider and Hansen’s GCM replication of Idso’s localized results is just an aside, and I have no idea where, when, or how this was done. I have no desire to defend it; I just thought it was an interesting claim.
Idso claims that his sensitivity is “a result of all those feedback processes’€”known and unknown’€”that operate in the real atmosphere.” But the point that his critics are trying to show is that this is simply not true’€”he is not examining feedbacks for more than a brief period of time’€”in other words, he is missing all those feedbacks which may only arise when a forcing is maintained within the system for periods of years’€”or even one year. Part of that analysis involves examining the role the atmosphere plays in the entire climate system’€”this is what Idso in fact admits he is leaving out. Indeed, Idso himself seems to have doubts that his results can be applied over the long term:
“It also remains for future experiments to establish the validity of applying a relatively short-term response function, such as I have measured, to a long-term problem, such as the CO2-climate connection.” (Idso, Science 210:8)
Finally’€”and I cannot help but be amused by this’€”he quotes directly from Madden and Ramanathan’s abstract, but fails to note that the conclusion, “It is not”, which he quotes, is but the first clause of a much longer sentence that qualifies the negative result’€”I will, unlike Idso, quote it in full:
“It is not, possibly because the predicted warming is being delayed more than a decade by ocean thermal inertia, or because there is a compensating cooling due to other factors.” (Madden and Ramanathan, Science 209:763)
This is exactly why Idso is (rightly) criticized! He fails to account for the relationship of the atmosphere with the larger climate system. This is why people (including the proprietor of this website) argue about ocean temperatures. Indeed, if Idso had read more deeply into Madden and Ramanathan’s article, he might have read the following similar sentence (or maybe he did, I don’t know):
“The analysis of observed temperature variability at 60degN indicates that the surface warming predicted by current general circulation models of climate…should be evident now or at least within the next decade, depending on the seasonal dependence of the warming and on the ocean thermal inertia of the climate system. Since a recent 2-year average is not higher than a 20-year average from 1906 through 1925, we conclude that either such models overpredict the signal, or other compensatory climate changes are occurring. If the latter is not a serious problem and the warming is occurring at a rate lower than that predicted by GCM’s but higher than that predicted by zero-feedback models, then it should be detectable anytime from the present to about the year 2000.” (Madden and Ramanathan, Science 209:767)
Well, lo and behold: contemporary GCM’s not only include compensatory climate changes such as the overabundance of aerosols in the atmosphere from about 1940-1975, but they have also most definitely detected the signal prior to the year 2000!
All of this goes to show why Idso’s experiments are not taken seriously.
mzed, thank you for your thoughtful reply. You say:
Idso’s comment about the relationship of experiments 1-3 with the larger climate system is worth quoting.
Consider the differences among these three situations. Different atmospheric constituents are involved (dust and water vapor), as well as different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (solar and thermal wavelengths), different time scales (hours to many months), and different magnitudes of forcing functions. Yet all situations yield essentially the same value for the near-surface air temperature response function – except for the last approach, where a dozen stations on the Pacific Coast yielded a result that was only half as great; I took that value to be an upper limit for the world’s ocean surfaces. Thus, although the data base I worked with was admittedly not global, the good agreement among the results of such diverse experiments suggests that the atmospheric response function thus elucidated may be globally applicable. Obviously, more experiments of this nature would be helpful in establishing the validity of this supposition.
I note that you seem to ignore part of the sentence as well. Ramanathan say one of the two possible reasons they did not detect the warming is that it is not happening because of feedbacks or other factors in the natural system …
In addition, while a greater than decadal scale “ocean thermal inertia” is cited all the time as a possible reason for lack of change in air temperatures, I have yet to read an explanation of exactly how that works. Bearing in mind that heat is not mixed downwards in the ocean and that the overturning of the oceans is on the scale of thousands of years, what would be the mechanism for a two or three decadal delay?
In addition, if there were such a delay, it would be readily visible in the instrumental record. Here are the land (CRUTEM) and sea (HadSST2) temperatures for the last 150 years:
Perhaps you can find a two or three decade “ocean thermal inertia” in those figures … I fear I can’t. Next, you quote Ramanathan as saying:
Indeed, if Idso had read more deeply into Madden and Ramanathan’s article, he might have read the following similar sentence (or maybe he did, I don’t know):
Here you completely misunderstand Ramanathans point. It was not that GCMs would detect the effect of CO2 by the year 2000. It was that Ramanathan’s analysis should be able to detect the warming. His analysis depends solely on the climate sensitivity to a doubling of CO2 as calculated by the GCMs. But that has not changed (or grown any more accurate) in thirty years – it is still given as 1.5° – 4.5° for a doubling of CO2.
Finally, you are repeating the AGW mantra about aerosols as though it were established. We have very little information on the amount of airborne aerosols during the period in question, and we have even less information on the effect of the aerosols. The fact that we can cherry-pick values for both of those variables and force a GCM to match the historical record means nothing.
The aerosol hypothesis fails because during the time in question (~ 1945-1980), the Southern Hemisphere cooled more than the North (not possible with aerosols) and the global land temperatures and sea temperatures decreased at the same rate (also not possible with aerosols).
I wonder if Chris Landsea is aware that he featured on a programme on BBC2 this evening called the “Science of Superstorms” where the view was promoted that global warming (i.e. SST) and hurricane intensity are linked? I thought this was the reason that he resigned from the IPCC? The programme is presenting the science behind the fictional drama on BBC1 called “Superstorm”. In addition to Chris Landsea the programme also featured Kerry Emanuel, Roelof Bruintjes and Greg Holland. Greg Holland presented the conclusions of his study of storm intensity from 1970 – which showed the link.
Here’s an excellent article that appears in the May issue of Liberty magazine:
Global Warming, Global Stifling
by Gary Jason, Liberty magazine, May 2007
http://libertyunbound.com/archive/2007_05/jason-warming.html
I am not a climate scientist, but as I understand it, climate is different than weather.
Lorenz described weather prediction as “a pattern of infinite complexity”
1) What time frame are the computer climate models applicable to? Ex. 1 year, a decade, a hundred years or longer?
2) I believe hurricanes are a weather phenomena, so how can an increase of hurricane activity be made in 2005 for 2006?
3) The prediction was wrong. Is a prediction of “increased hurricanes, floods, droughts etc. for the next 10 years any better?
There is no difference between climate models and weather models, climate models are weather models that calculate a long time. Weather models are constraned with observations so they are fairly accurate. Climate models are constrained with parametrisations: eg rising temperature leads to drought in the tropical rain forests, because it is observed that rising CO2 correlates with drier rainforests (but unfortunately that is caused by deforestation) . So the problem with climate models is digging out the underlying assumptions in the non-physical parametrisations. the most important one being clouds and precipitation as function of increasing CO2.
Hello, Gord. Those are sizeable questions and opinions may vary of course.
On #2, there’s little value to a hurricane season prediction made a year in advance. About a month in advance of a season (April/May) it may be possible to discern certain weather patterns that will hold true three or four months later, but that’s about it.
The best guess is to forecast the climatological mean, but even that varies as one can choose either the long-term value (57 years, about 9 or 10 per year) or the active-phase value (about 14 or 15 since 1995). The for-fun collection of 2007 forecasts on another thread has the parties clustered around those two climatological means.
On #3, if you believe in climate oscillations, in particular one (AMO) that affects the Atlantic, then there is a basis for thinking that hurricanes will stay active for another several decades. But that’s driven by nature, not AGW.
On floods and droughts, in an AGW world there are plausible physical arguments for greater humidity (more fuel for rain) and larger regions of subsiding air in the subtropics (an expansion of the dry subtropical areas) yet, on the other hand, less temperature contrast (less energy for storms). How does all that play out? No one knows. I think those get mentioned mainly for emotional impact, because a 1C or 2C increase in temperature but itself has little meaning to most people.
richardT
Climate models are constrained with parametrisations: eg rising temperature leads to drought in the tropical rain forests
Care to give a reference for this?
re 257:
Look at the projected runoff in the amazon basin:
http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg2/031.htm#41
Re#258,
That’s quite interesting. According to your link, the current Hadley model predicts much of the US to suffer from severe decreases in precipitation (-150 to -50 mm/yr), most of the US suffering from a slight but possibly important decline in precipitation (-25 to 0 mm/yr) and only a few spots where the precipitation is projected to increase.
According to a previous Hadley model used in the 2000 US Nat’l Assessment, almost all of the US was expected to see increases in precipitation across the 20th century, with some sections seeing substantial increases.
I find this basically to be a complete reversal of model results, and it only took a few model revisions and years to get there. What does that say for the credibility of climate models?
Additionally, thanks apparently to 20th century warming, according to the Nat’l Assessment: “Significant increases in precipitation have occurred across much of the US in the 20th century.” So exactly what is going to produce the opposite results in the US with warming in the 21st century?
This is the output of the model, not the parametrisation. There’s a big difference.
Here are two interesting forecasts from NOAA.
First, the forecast of global surface temperature anomaly is here . Note the cooling as 2007 progresses, even in the Arctic regions.
That’s consistent with the second forecast ( here ) of global sea surface temperature anomaly . The cooling is evident but not as noticeable, due to the greater ocean heat capacity I assume.
I wonder what their computer models are locking onto.
Paolo M.
Willis E., you say:
I don’t know if your statement is still correct. Let me explain. If you consider the new version of the HadCRUG data set, it is hard to claim that SH cooled more than NH. Here is the plot:
It seems to me that SH temperature rised quasi monotonically since 1910 to 1975, except a warm noise around 1940. That has a big consequence also in the global composite.
In my point of view, they got rid of the ’45-80 cooling. The previous version is published in TAR 2001.
To add to #259, the disagreement in #259 is between the 2000 US Nat’l Assessment with the US portion of the (b) figure. HadCM2 was used to generate the predictions for the Nat’l Assesment. Intereestingly, the “ensemble mean” of HadCM2 is what generated the (a) figure. The polar opposite results of HadCM2 vs HadCM3 for the US, especially in the context of HadCM3 producing precipitation changes with 21st century warming which are the opposite of those observed under 20th century warming, would seem to raise some big red flags.
Comparing Fig (a) to Fig (b), similar results are observed in large portions of West Africa, India, western “former USSR,” etc. One model iteration goes from predicting huge precipitation increases to huge precipitation decreases, or vice versa, for these large areas.
253: [snip]
[Steve: Boris, those comments were not made at this blog and do not pertain to any scientific topic topics discussed here. I’m not interested in this sort of baiting.]
I apologize for snarkily commenting on the link provided in 253. But, perhaps you should remove it if you don’t want it to be discussed?
Friends of Science has a new series of short videos entitled “Climate Catastrophe Cancelled: What You’re Not Being Told About the Science of Climate Change”, which I think are quite good.
I watched the first of these and I was not impressed by the apparent use of uncorrected satelite data. Though I think the production is just as “slick” as “swindle.”
It also mentions UHI. For those in the UHI camp, how exactly does UHI warm Siberia/glaciers/the arctic?
For those in the UHI camp, how exactly does UHI warm Siberia/glaciers/the arctic?
Sounds like a non-sequitor to me. Either Jones et al, correctly estimated the UHI bias or not. This can conceivably be determined without considering phenomena outside the areas from which the data was sampled.
S. Hales
Well I guess its complete the 1930s and 1940s warming is almost expungned from the intrumental record. The cooling in the 1970s is also expungned from the NH record. I am waiting for further revisions to the SH record to bring it more in line with the NH. RSS has already done that with the satellite record. This will largely remove the need to invoke ‘deus ex machina’ aerosols and whatnot from model parameterizations. Models trump data.
#266. Boris, I’ve made it quite clear on a number of occasins that there is ample evidence that the 20th century is warmer than the 19th century. In western Canada, moraines from 19th century glaciers were very advanced. All I’m trying to do right now is figure out what Jones did. Can you find out what stations he used in HadCRU – that would simplify the exercise? Surely the AGW effects are substantial enough that this information can be disclosed? The Jones 1990 stations are just a start. How do you, Boris, justify the secrecy?
For those in the UHI camp, how exactly does UHI warm Siberia
Not saying this is the root cauase, but are any of the temp stations near these cities? That’s some substantial growth, to say the least.
RE #268 I expect that we’ll see removal of the 1935-1945 “hump”. The hump will probably be attributed to bad data from the World War Two era that needs some adjustment.
Lubos calls for criminalizing climate science:
“More seriously, I think it’s just awful to manipulate children in this way – in this case to support entirely insane policies to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 percent. Half of children between 7 and 11 years lose sleep because of this panic.
The people who are selling cigarettes to kids are treated as criminals: are the acts of the alarmists better for the kids’ health? Let me say in advance that when the hysteria is over, I will think it is a good idea to prosecute the authors of this insanity.”
http://motls.blogspot.com/2007/04/inconvenient-truth-or-convenient.html
241, mzed: more empirical and theoretical derivations of sensitivity here and here. And some information that indicates rather trivial effects of CO2 here.
Steve M,
I know you are trying to keep this site focused strictly on the science involved. However, in reading your more recent posts about Phil Jones, Climate Dynamics, NSF, Thompson, etc. and their constant and seemingly pervasive attempts to prevent anybody else from gaining access to their data or their methods, combined with the many seemingly inexplicable statistical gyrations, truncations of data, and cherrypicked datasets, I have a question for you that I wonder if you are willing to answer.
You frequently reach back to your mining background and refer to prospectuses and assay reports and the efforts of unscrupulous entrepreneurs to misrepresent the findings of exploration programs. At what point do you think you will find yourself unable to continue assuming that there is no motive behind all the seemingly inexplicable actions by the researchers and journals who are the subjects of your posts? You seem to have endless patience and a willingness to give the benefit of the doubt to these guys, and perhaps I am just misreading your efforts to avoid saying something for which you could be sued, but it seems like their actions and unwillingness to cooperate with even the most basic examination of what they are claiming to have done with their research at some point have to lead you to the conclusion that they are pursuing an agenda and their motive in doing what they are doing is to drive that agenda forward, regardless of what reality is.
Do you think you will reach a point where you are unable to continue assuming the best intentions but flawed execution by these individuals and organizations? Or is there a point where you have to give up and take the accumulated evidence and make an accusation of scientific misconduct to an appropriate authority?
I really don’t have an agenda in asking that or even a specific individual or group in mind. It just seems that in the face of continued obfuscation and misrepresentation by the individuals and the various journals and research organizations, at some point the odds of innocence on their part have to eventually decline to zero. Any thoughts?
Of course that is the danger of researchers going under the assumption that the science surrounding AGW is settled. Whenever they see data that doesn’t seem to fit in, there will be a temptation to always assume the numbers just need some “adjustment”, since it can’t be the theory and/or models that are wrong. Just keep trying to adjust the numbers until you find a way to make them fit, and then stop.
#274. Bill F, I understand the question. However, the underlying motives are irrelevant for the analyses that I do, so I don’t discuss them. If these folks don’t want to disclose things, then they aren’t going to sue, where they would not be able to evade discovery.
In one of our articles (EE 2005), we observed that prospectus standards require disclosure of adverse results and commented unfavorably on the MBH failure to disclose adverse results that were within their knowledge. The NAS panel evaded these issues and did not even follow up Mann’s denial that he had even calculated a verification r2 statistic.
I did make a complaint of academic misconduct against Ammann, who issued a UCAR press release that all our claims were unfounded, even though their results had a verification r2 of 0 as we had reported, and was adamant in person that he would not report these adverse results. While the institution did nothing to Ammann, the adverse verification results were included in the final version of the paper and were cited by the NAS Panel (after we drew the revision to their attention.) So the complaint had a positive impact in this case.
Fair enough…but do you ever foresee a point where you would write a post suggesting that combination of cherrypicked data set X, truncated a certain way by scientist A coupled with the unwillingness of scientist A to provide the data and the use of improperly justified incorrect statistical procedure Y in a paper promoting Z as a conclusion would lead you to suspect that scientist A is intentionally attempting to massage his data to justify a false conclusion Z for some motive? Or at the point where you have reached the end of your means to obtain the data and verify the methods and results or justify the conclusion drawn, do you just shrug your shoulders and walk away?
I only ask, because it seems as though the stakes for climate science have become extremely high in recent years. This field is no longer one where scientists are merely competing for scarce grant money…it is a potential multi-billion dollar business for financial firms, governments, etc. all waiting in line for the carbon trading/tax gravy train to start rolling down the tracks. The old incentive for fudging data used to be the potential for a few thousand more dollars to fund your extra grad student for an extra year of thesis work. Now these guys are the gate keepers of potentially billions of dollars in economic activity.
I know when you started this, you were simply looking to audit the data…but I think you have built a pretty compelling case that at least a few of the scientists out there are clearly driven by their own agenda to commit acts that are either very close to or are over the line. The willingness of people in their own fields to turn away and refuse to even consider questioning the methods and/or data choices of the few “rock stars” suggests that they may recognize the damage that could come to their entire field if the most influential among them is found to be “wearing no clothes” I guess I just see taking the cases you have built against some of these people somewhere where it could be acted upon as the logical extension of your work to date…but I understand completely if you have no interest in taking it there yourself.
Anyway, I enjoy the site very much and appreciate your tireless efforts to dig beneath the surface of these issues. I would have long since given up in disgust were I in your shoes, so I admire your dogged determination to force these guys to toe the line of proper scientific practices.
Aha, a controlled experiment on the effect of temperature on plant growth.
The response of plants to temperature has gained renewed interest as researchers speculate on the biotic response to climate change. It is of particular interest in the Arctic, due to recent warming trends and anticipated continued warming for the region. This long-term, multispecies study confirms that changes in temperature affect the functioning of plants in their natural environment. It also demonstrates that the influence of temperature should be considered in the context of natural variability within a given location. The study examined natural temperature gradients, interannual climate variation, and experimental warming at sites near Barrow (71°18′ N, 156°40′ W) and Atqasuk (70°29′ N, 157°25′ W) in northern Alaska, USA. At each of the four sites, 24 plots were experimentally warmed for 5-7 years with small, open-top chambers, and plant growth and phenology were monitored; an equal number of unmanipulated control plots were monitored. The response of seven traits from 32 plant species occurring in at least one site is reported when there were at least three years of recordings. Plants responded to temperature in 49% of the measured traits of a species in a site. The most common response to warming was earlier phenological development and increased growth and reproductive effort. However, the total response of a species, for all traits examined, was individualistic and varied among sites. In 14% of the documented responses, the plant trait was correlated with thawing degree-day totals from snowmelt (TDD[sm]), and temperature was considered the dominant factor. In 35% of the documented responses, the plant trait responded to warming, but the interannual variation in the trait was not correlated with TDD[sm] and temperature was considered subordinate to other factors. The abundance of temperature responses that were considered subordinate to other factors suggests that prediction of plant response to temperature that does not account for natural variability may overestimate the importance of temperature and lead to unrealistic projections of the rate of vegetation change due to climate warming.
Lubos’ statement refers to “alarmists,” not those who practice “climate science.”
re 279 – Lubos comments refer to criminalizing strong statements about which he has a diffferent opinion. I like how he managed to bring it in a context of “but think of the children.”
I recall not all that long back here, claims were being made that ‘alarmists” were proposing to criminalize ‘deniers” and there was much outrage about it.
Here is the March NCDC global report.
March, 2007 was, globally, the fourth warmest in their records while January-March was the second-warmest.
One chart of interest is the March Northern Hemisphere snow cover . Snow cover has not decreased over the last twenty years, with March 2007 being less than 3% below the 1967-2007 mean.
Speaking of NH snow cover, there is a correlation between the wintertime Arctic Oscillation (a weather pattern) and NH snow cover . A negative AO is associated with greater snow cover (and, snow cover lags AO).
For example, the charts show that, in the late-1980s, the AO turned strongly positive and snow cover decreased.
The AO appears to be returning to a more normal value in recent years. Besides snow cover, the AO is thought to affect Arctic ice age (and extent), with negative values favoring ice.
I recall not all that long back here, claims were being made that alarmists” were proposing to criminalize deniers” and there was much outrage about it.
I would hope that he was making that comment with tongue in cheek and putting a bit of fun onto those who would use “but think of the children” to restrict rights of individuals.
#266 Boris
Few question 20th century warming, but UHI effects have clearly contaminated the surface data. How much, I don’t know. It’s an important question awaiting a definitive study. Hard when scientists hide data. Here is an interesting comparison of two stations from Japan, one rural and one urban; data to 2001 courtesy of John Daly (r.i.p.): http://www.john-daly.com/stations/osaka.gif.
#281. DAvid, you’ll notice that some of the most lurid red dots are in the China area around Dulan and nearby gridcells that I’ve been looking at.
For your enjoyment, Tim Lambert owned:
Re: #281 David Smith
Thanks for the link to the monthly NCDC global report – it’s the ultimate slow motion replay event!
Note that globally March 2007 is described as the fifth warmest on record – transciption error, cooling or website revisionism?
Whoops. I’ll try that again:
http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2007/04/a_new_flavour_of_global_warmin.php
AlanW,
You know from the first paragraph that the article you point to is nothing but a hit piece.
MarkW,
read the comments section below the article where Lambert trys to take on Sinclair Davidson and you will realise what I mean by ‘owned’.
In the midst of this discussion at Pielke’s Climate Science blog Bloom said the following
“Roger, are you happy to be attracting this sort of denialist commenter?”
To which I replied, I know this is naughty, but I couldn’t help it…
Why don’t you just call them heretics and be done with the charade? Can I interest you in a piece of halibut?
Is there suddenly a shift in assesment? Al Gore won’t like this
Here is the missing link I wanted to post with my remarks about Al Gore
Copy and paste, seems to be easier to get it through
Joe Ellebracht
After reading the link in #294, to get the earlier opinion on Kilimanjaro glacier from a few months ago, click on the top story on the list to the right in the BBC piece, or this:
article from BBC page
I’ve read elsewhere that the drying around Mt. K is due to the forests being cut down.
Sorry, my link to John Daly’s records from Osaka (city) and Maizura (rural) a few miles apart didn’t work. Try this if your’re interested in UHI comparisons: http://www.john-daly.com/stations/osaka.gif
Since all climatological trends are attributed to anthropogenic global warming, I’d like to add severe tornadoes to the list.
Uh, never mind… since it’s a good trend, it’s gotta be due to Mother Nature.
RE: #249 – By comparing those satellite reports with more “up close and personal” ones such as those of the Anchorage NWS ice desk (done using aircraft, boats and people observing from shore) you start to gain an appreciation for the likelihood of underreporting by the satellites. For their little slice of the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea, the ice desk consistently showed greater extent over the past year or so.
new GRL study says AGW may DECREASE hurricanes…at least all the bases are covered now!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070417/sc_nm/weather_hurricanes_shear_dc_1
next, “they” will say AGW causes an average number of hurricanes…
Bob Weber
I realize that this blog is mostly dedicated to tree rings and temperature proxies but has anyone read Dr. Hug’s piece at
http://www.john-daly.com/artifact.htm that shows the effects of CO2 are 1/80 of what is claimed in the IPCC?
Yes, the problem with Hug is that he doesn’t consider the sidelobes, where most of the absorption increase happens, with increasing co2. He limits himself to the 14-16 micron band, where the spectrum is already saturated.
See this graph
Weather, not climate …. California, upper 30s N latitude … we have been in a dry Siberia Express pattern. Even at that, we’ve continued to have fast moving showery cold fronts. The NWS got faced yesterday by a “dry” front which managed to squeeze out a few hundreths here at the coast …. meanwhile a foot of new snow in the eastern highlands. Expecting another fast mover tomorrow into Friday then, incredibly, for this late in the year, an occluded front with both Siberia Express and Pineapple Express quadrants. NWS are actually considering advisories, possibly a few warnings, for Saturday. Goes without saying, we’ve had some cold records the past couple of mornings – the only thing preventing frost in more sheltered inland valleys has been the wind.
#302. How about the H2O absorption spectrum at the same wavelengths for 2, 3, and 4% water vapor? I seem to remember that H2O is dominant above 15 um.
And thank you in turn for your reply, Mr. Eschenbach. Let me see if I can format my reply properly.
I fail to see how Idso’s response is adequate. The crucial criticisms remain; even though he has measured the effects from “hours to many months”, that still doesn’t give us the story over the course of a year, or over many years’€”which is precisely what we are concerned about. For that matter, the fact that he has not accounted at all for ocean currents, for example, also does not give me confidence that his results are meaningful for anywhere besides the land area of the extreme SW US over the course of a single season. Of course they “may” be globally applicable; but they are probably not, and the point of the multiple critics of Idso is that few, if any, climate scientists share his confidence, based on the crucial limitations of his experiments that I have just repeated.
And those feedbacks and factors are accounted for in the GCMs’€”largely having to do with the predominance of the aerosol component through the 1970s (see below), though also including other forcings such as the solar variation.
Ironically, the mechanism is the warming itself’€”infrared from ggs warms the “skin” of the ocean (that is a technical term), thus slowing the release of past warmth from the ocean into the atmosphere. It also helps trap new warmth caused by sunlight. Here is an
explanation from our friends at RealClimate 🙂
In addition, if there were such a delay, it would be readily visible in the instrumental record. Here are the land (CRUTEM) and sea (HadSST2) temperatures for the last 150 years
That graph is not too surprising, since HadSST2 records surface temperatures. The “lag” is not in the time series/”secular trend”; it’s in the vertical distribution of heat in the ocean. Deep-sea temperatures have indeed been growing faster than surface temperatures over the last 30-40 years’€”here’s
Levitus et al 2005 You’re looking for Figure 1 (assuming you can see the article.) Note the change in the system around 1970’€”not just in terms of temperature, but in terms of heat distribution. Yes, there was arguably a release of heat during the 1980s, which the authors acknowledge (but surface temperatures, not on this graph, rose during that period) though maybe not’€”could be within error range. Besides, the point is that the lower levels are retaining more heat than they used to, relative to the upper layer. And heat content went back up again anyway, and as you can see, the deep-sea layers continue to contain more heat than the surface. In fact, although there was a recent report that the sea had once again lost temperature from 2003-2005, the authors of that report (Lyman et al 2006) have (as of 4/9/07) revised their data and withdrawn their conclusion.
I concede that I may have misunderstood Ramanathan. However, I am not sure that I understand your point. Ramanathan is talking about the absence of empirical confirmation in 1980 of warming due to CO2. He admits that there could be factors for this which his analysis does not take into account–maybe the model over-predicts the signal, or maybe there are other factors. He then says that taking into account both possibilities, we should detect the warming any time prior to 2000. As he says on page 4 (Science 290:766)
“We interpret fig. 5 as giving an approximate range of time when we might expect to be able to establish statistically that model predictions are correct. That range extends from the present if the positive-feedback models are correct to near the year 2000 if the zero-feedback models are correct.”
He is using “detect” to refer to the data’€”as he says on page 5 (Science 290:767) immediately following the quotation I provided in my last post:
“In addition, we conclude that it will be easiest to detect effects in summer data.”
I am by no means a scientist and Ramanathan’s technical analysis is well over my head, but I do not think this is a misreading of his conclusion.
Although the aerosol story is a complicated one, the data, as I understand it, are mostly based on 1) the global dimming data, which is rather well-attested and directly measures the effect at least in terms of reduced incident surface solar radiation, and 2) volcanic data, which is also rather well-documented. Together the aerosol effects of these two forcings, when added into GCMs, do a pretty decent job of simulating the temperature curve. I agree with everyone who says that the proof really lies in its predictions; but since they have been predicting increased temperatures since the early 1980s, and have so far been right (whereas no other hypotheses have made any confirmed predictions at all) I see little negative evidence so far. I also agree that the role of clouds should be better-understood, and presumably aerosols would be involved with that. Fortunately, climate scientists are collecting cloud data as we speak and should have results within the next few years.
The aerosol hypothesis fails because during the time in question (~ 1945-1980), the Southern Hemisphere cooled more than the North (not possible with aerosols)
Yes, it is possible with aerosols. It is due to 1) the larger land area of the Northern Hemisphere, and 2) differing ocean dynamics. In addition, the Southern Hemisphere is more heavily affected by sea ice effects, and the Northern Hemisphere is affected by an arctic feedback. Here is some helpful information
and the global land temperatures and sea temperatures decreased at the same rate (also not possible with aerosols).
I am not sure why you make this claim. Why do you think aerosols would not affect the oceans?
In fact, although there was a recent report that the sea had once again lost temperature from 2003-2005, the authors of that report (Lyman et al 2006) have (as of 4/9/07) revised their data and withdrawn their conclusion.
Their adjustment removes the conclusion of a rapid and significant 2003-2005 cooling trend…but the expected warming trend from 2003-2005 is still not there.
The correction also notes that data from the “warm-biased” XBT instruments “make up a significant fraction of historical ocean temperature measurements” and that the author’s found further downward correction is required to remove this warm bias from the historical record.
A positive aspect of Climate Change is posited.
mzed: FWIW, I agree that the heat content of the oceans is the best parameter that gives us an idea how much warming there is, and I’m very interested in this. Relative to sensitivity, can you explain why temperatures at low elevations in the Desert Southwest are 2-3 degrees hotter in July than temperatures in the Deep South (same latitude, almost same elevation). I keep asking this over at RC, and nobody will answer the question directly–they keep conflating heat content with temperature. I know the atmosphere has more heat in the South, but this does NOT translate to temperature, which suggests a negative water vapor feedback to me.
Julian Flood
Re 271 and 268:
People are using the HadCRU data and I wonder why. Isn’t this the bucket adjusted data? The corrections are wrong and so the data is corrupt. I notice this because it distorts the Kreigsmarine effect during the years of WWII. I appreciate the fact that we have to use what data we are given, but there must be a better set in this case, for example by taking off the bucket correction. This will leave the WWII hump where it belongs, squarely on top of the oil spills caused by the Battle of the Atlantic and not mysteriously rising two years before.
mzed, good to hear from you. You say:
mzed, you weaken your argument terribly when you appeal to consensus. Yes, I know that the majority of climate scientists agree with you … but that means nothing except that the person making the consensus argument is lacking in substantive arguments. In any case, the objection is that the long term effects of say oceanic warming, etc., are not included. But Idso is not talking about the long term climate response here, he is talking about the so-called “instantaneous” forcing. He discusses longer term, global forcing in some of his other “natural experiments”.
As you seem to truly believe that “feedbacks and factors are accounted for in the GCMs”, allow me to let you down gently.
1) Some feedbacks are unknown, and thus cannot be “accounted for in the GCMs”.
2) Many known feedbacks (e.g. DMS from plankton, methane from plants, effects of melting of permafrost) are not included in most GCMs.
3) Some known feedbacks (e.g. clouds), are not well enough quantified to even say whether they are positive or negative, but are included in GCMs nonetheless.
4) The interaction of the feedbacks is very poorly understood. A recent NASA study showed that, contrary to expectations, the reduction in Arctic snow and ice cover did not reduce the albedo as expected. This was because it was almost entirely negated by a simultaneous (and likely related) increase in cloud cover. Not one of the GCMs predicted that.
5) The mechanics of the largest known feedback, clouds, is so poorly understood that cloud cover is not calculated in GCMs, but is parameterized.
FACTORS (FORCINGS)
1) As with the feedbacks, we must assume that there are unknown forcings.
2) Many GCMs do not include even the known forcings. In the Santer study of tropospheric temperatures, he listed the forcings of the 19 models used, the cream of the crop of GCMs. In his list we find:
79% did not include mineral dust
74% did not include sulfate aerosol indirect effects
74% did not include sea salt
63% did not include organic carbon
63% did not include land use change
53% did not include black carbon
53% did not include volcanic aerosols.
42% did not include solar irradiance
37% did not include tropospheric and stratospheric ozone
Since 42% don’t include the sun!!, and 63% don’t include land use change!!, this alone disproves your contention that the “feedbacks and factors are accounted for in the GCMs.”
3) The level of scientific understanding of most of the forcings, including in some cases even the sign, is rated by the IPCC as “Low” or “Very Low”.
4) The model are “tuned” to give the desired results. Yes, a forcing may be included as you say … but that by no means indicates that it is correct.
Ironically, the mechanism is the warming itself’€”infrared from ggs warms the “skin” of the ocean (that is a technical term), thus slowing the release of past warmth from the ocean into the atmosphere. It also helps trap new warmth caused by sunlight. Here is an explanation from our friends at RealClimate
While the folks at RealClimate may be your friends, they are not mine. They are so afraid of dealing with real scientific questions that they routinely censor mine as well as scientific questions posed by others, which is something friends, or even honest scientists who are not friends, do not do … but I digress. More to the issue at hand, the link you posted says absolutely nothing about a 1-2 decade delay in the ocean response. All it shows is that a one W/m2 change in forcing warms the ocean surface by two thousandths of a degree … I fear I don’t understand your point here.
That graph is not too surprising, since HadSST2 records surface temperatures. The “lag” is not in the time series/”secular trend”; it’s in the vertical distribution of heat in the ocean. Deep-sea temperatures have indeed been growing faster than surface temperatures over the last 30-40 years’€”here’s Levitus et al 2005 You’re looking for Figure 1 (assuming you can see the article.) Note the change in the system around 1970’€”not just in terms of temperature, but in terms of heat distribution. Yes, there was arguably a release of heat during the 1980s, which the authors acknowledge (but surface temperatures, not on this graph, rose during that period) though maybe not’€”could be within error range. Besides, the point is that the lower levels are retaining more heat than they used to, relative to the upper layer. And heat content went back up again anyway, and as you can see, the deep-sea layers continue to contain more heat than the surface. In fact, although there was a recent report that the sea had once again lost temperature from 2003-2005, the authors of that report (Lyman et al 2006) have (as of 4/9/07) revised their data and withdrawn their conclusion.
Yes, HadSST2 records surface temperatures … but for the atmosphere to have a 2 decade delayed response to forcing, the ocean would have to heat up the atmosphere. The only way this could happen is for the ocean surface temperature to rise. But look at the graph – the ocean surface stops cooling and starts rising at the same time as the atmosphere, not two decades later. Where is the mechanism, and the evidence, for a two-decade ocean driven delay?
I concede that I may have misunderstood Ramanathan. However, I am not sure that I understand your point. Ramanathan is talking about the absence of empirical confirmation in 1980 of warming due to CO2. He admits that there could be factors for this which his analysis does not take into account’€”maybe the model over-predicts the signal, or maybe there are other factors. He then says that taking into account both possibilities, we should detect the warming any time prior to 2000. As he says on page 4 (Science 290:766)
I’ll leave this as a matter upon which honest men can disagree.
I have posted elsewhere on the global dimming, which did not occur during the period in question. Volcanic data is very different, and unrelated to aerosols such as SO2, because it is injected into the stratosphere and thus has different effects than low-lying aerosols.
Temperatures have been increasing for four centuries at this point. You are free to think that predicting increasing temperatures says something about the climate models, but I find it totally unconvincing.
I fear that the link was less than helpful. There is a lot of handwaving, but he glosses over the important question – why should the south cool more than the north, when virtually all of the aerosols are in the north?
Because by and large, the anthropogenic aerosols are found over the land, as that is where they are generated … there is a good image of the location here. As you can see, they are centered over the land, and should therefore cool the land much more than the ocean … but this has not happened.
Willis, do you have a link? I’m not familiar with that study.
And the NASA website still has several multimedia examples where they claim melting ice will reduce the albedo and increase warming.
Here’s today’s odd article .
312: Why the cardboard?
Indeed, but that doesn’t matter as the terrestrial infrared spectrum peaks at 10 micron, where water vapour transmission is lowest.
I was wondering when it would come up, but there it is.
Re #313 Good point. Rather than a cardboard container, it seems like a old burlap bag would make a more environmentally-friendly container for the dearly-departed.
I would also toss in a bag of 13-13-13 fertilizer.
#314, Hans,
Compare your two plots in 314 and the one refered to in 302.
Above 15.5um additional CO2 has absolutely no effect since transmission is already zero due to the H2O.
Below 13.0 um additional CO2 has little effect since transmission is dominated by H2O.
There’s a little window between 13.5 and 14 um where CO2 is more important than H2O in blocking IR.
Hug’s not far off.
For those with guilty consciences and out of carbon credits, a burial in burlap bag under a tree might work, but for Heaven sakes do not even contemplate a man made bag of 13-13-13. How about buried in burlap bag under the old oak tree on a bed made from my compost pile? That could even make Al proud.
you can do the sums here:
http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~archer/cgimodels/radiation.html
A doubling of CO2 with watervapour in a tropical environment still gives extra forcing:
CO2Science Today.
On their front page:
Medieval Warm Period Record of the Week
This issue’s Medieval Warm Period Record of the Week comes from Iceberg Lake, Alaska, USA. To access the entire Medieval Warm Period Project’s database, click here.
Leads to this short article:
Iceberg Lake, Alaska Reference
Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P. and Reimer, P.J. 2006. A 1500-year record of temperature and glacial response inferred from varved Iceberg Lake, southcentral Alaska. Quaternary Research 66: 12-24.
The authors “present a varve thickness chronology from glacier-dammed Iceberg Lake [60°46’N, 142°57’W] in the southern Alaska icefields,” where “radiogenic evidence confirms that laminations are annual and record continuous sediment deposition from AD 442 to AD 1998,” and where “varve thickness increases in warm summers because of higher melt, runoff, and sediment transport.” This work revealed “a clear manifestation of the Medieval Warm Period” between AD 1000 and 1250, the peak warm-season temperature of which (“smoothed with a 40-year lowpass Butterworth filter”) was clearly higher than it was at the end of the 20th century.
And here is the actual abstract of that paper. Note the jökulhlaup evidence and the correspondence between varve thickness and local tree ring chronology, which the Idsos somehow failed to mention, and also the fact that the authors make a radically different claim than the Idsos represent.:
Titre du document / Document title
A 1500-year record of temperature and glacial response inferred from varved Iceberg Lake, southcentral Alaska
Auteur(s) / Author(s)
LOSO Michael G. ; ANDERSON Robert S. ; ANDERSON Suzanne P. ; REIMER Paula J. ;
Résumé / Abstract
We present a varve thickness chronology from glacier-dammed Iceberg Lake in the southern Alaska icefields. Radiogenic evidence confirms that laminations are annual and record continuous sediment deposition from A.D. 442 to A.D. 1998. Varve thickness is positively correlated with Northern Hemisphere temperature trends, and more strongly with a local, ‘ˆ¼600 yr long tree ring width chronology. Varve thickness increases in warm summers because of higher melt, runoff, and sediment transport (as expected), but also because shrinkage of the glacier dam allows shoreline regression that concentrates sediment in the smaller lake. Varve thickness provides a sensitive record of relative changes in warm season temperatures. Relative to the entire record, temperatures implied by this chronology were lowest around A.D. 600, warm between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1300, cooler between A.D. 1500 and A.D. 1850, and have increased dramatically since then. Combined with stratigraphic evidence that contemporary jökulhlaups (which began in 1999) are unprecedented since at least A.D. 442, this record suggests that 20th century warming is more intense, and accompanied by more extensive glacier retreat, than the Medieval Warm Period or any other time in the last 1500 yr.
Anybody have more details on the Loso, M.G., Anderson, R.S., Anderson, S.P. and Reimer, P.J. article? What else can impact varve
in glacier lakes beside glacial meltwater? Does the article cover precipitation rates?
Re #318 The 13-13-13 fertilizer bag said it was “from plants”, but it didn’t dawn on me until now that it meant DuPont and Dow plants.
I better go start digging.
#319, Hans
We’re only going to 560 ppmv CO2, the effect is going to be smaller.
BTW, what do the buttons and knobs on the MODTRAN site mean? I’ve poked around and never found any instructions.
Doesn’t look like it; “precipitation” is covered only w.r.t. “the regional equilibrium line altitude”
polar.alaskapacific.edu/mloso/Manuscripts/Losoetal2006.pdf
Ian Blanchard
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6570723.stm
Canadian Arctic ice as good news for seals. Rather different from the front page picture and story in the UK papers a couple of weeks ago of a baby seal apparently drowning due to melting of the sea ice.
bernie (#321) I think you missed Lees’ (#320) point.
CO2Science stated:
This work revealed “a clear manifestation of the Medieval Warm Period” between AD 1000 and 1250, the peak warm-season temperature of which (”smoothed with a 40-year lowpass Butterworth filter”) was clearly higher than it was at the end of the 20th century.
This is different from the portion of the report quoted by Lee:
Relative to the entire record, temperatures implied by this chronology were lowest around A.D. 600, warm between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1300, cooler between A.D. 1500 and A.D. 1850, and have increased dramatically since then. Combined with stratigraphic evidence that contemporary jökulhlaups (which began in 1999) are unprecedented since at least A.D. 442, this record suggests that 20th century warming is more intense, and accompanied by more extensive glacier retreat, than the Medieval Warm Period or any other time in the last 1500 yr.
I think that the difference between the two is that the passage quoted by Lee refers to the period since/around 1999 where as the information inferred(?) by the Idso’s is to data that is “smoothed with a 40-year lowpass Butterworth filter” which would suggest the period 1959 to to 1998.
In fact they could both be right and only a thorough and independent read of the paper would tell one way or the other.
I was curious about the “jökulhlaups” and decided to look into it (expecting to fond a northern branch of the jackalope family). I found an interesting article,Southeast Alaska Jökulhlaups.
Jökulhlaup, an Icelandic term pronounced YO-kul-hloip, refers to a flood resulting from the breaching of a glacier-dammed lake (jökull meaning “glacier,” hlaup meaning “flood burst”). There are at least two locations in Southeast Alaska where these events are known to occur with regularity: the Tulsequah Glacier near Juneau and the Salmon Glacier near Hyder.
Glacier-dammed lakes in Southeast Alaska are a lingering result of the Little Ice Age. Fluctuations in the ice field, that still grips the Coast Mountain Range, create these lakes which may be located between glacier and valley walls, beneath or inside the glacier, or on top of the glacier.
The article suggests that upstream Jökulhlaups may be precipitated by changes in downstream Jökulhlaups.
You can see Iceberg Lake on Goggle Maps.
#320, 326.
If some one emails me a copy of the Loso article, I’ll post up this graphic today (otherwise, I’ll retrieve a copy of the paper the next time I go to the U of Toronto).
I don’t think that one varve series hot off the press is likely to conclusively resolve the medieval-modern relationship. However, just to re-state a point, I do not exclude the possibility that proxy evidence could show to a reasonable person that the modern period is warmer than the medieval period. However, I don’t think that present reconstructions have done so – because they are compromised by bristlecones addiction and/or biased selection and/or other methodological flaws.
Thanks SteveM (#327).
Further to this discussion, if you got to the CO2Science web site they say:
Our Medieval Warm Period Project is an ongoing effort to document the magnitude and spatial and temporal extent of a significant period of warmth that occurred approximately one thousand years ago. Its goal is to ultimately provide sufficient real-world evidence to convince most rational people that the Medieval Warm Period was: (1) global in extent, (2) at least as warm as, but likely even warmer than, the Current Warm Period, and (3) of a duration significantly longer than that of the Current Warm Period to date.
Regardless of which quote you quarry this referenced paper supports the Idso’s fist contention about the Medieval Warn Period in that is was, “global in extent” or at least not limited to Europe/Greenland/the North Atlantic and runs counter to the MBH99 conclusion for the Northern Hemisphere.
Further to the authors’ supposition regarding:
contemporary jökulhlaups (which began in 1999) are unprecedented since at least A.D. 442, this record suggests that 20th century warming is more intense, and accompanied by more extensive glacier retreat, than the Medieval Warm Period or any other time in the last 1500 yr.
This may be spurious conclusion if you superimpose the jökulhlaup observation on a continuous long term glacial retreat since the end of the last ice age (of the non-little variety). If I recall correctly, there were still glaciers in Quebec as little as 7,000 years ago. I’ll see if I can rediscover the link for this.
Mikel Marià±elarena
If you consider the new version of the HadCRUG data set, it is hard to claim that SH cooled more than NH. Here is the plot:
Not at all. Even in that plot you get to see a deeper cooling in the SH after the mid 40s. But the raw data the plot is derived from (available at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/CR_data/Monthly/HadCRUG.txt) clearly show, as in HadCRUT3, that the mid-century cooling was more pronounced in the SH:
NH SH
1945 -0.02 0.06
1946 0.34 -0.20
1947 -0.25 -0.10
1950 -0.43 -0.27
1970 -0.02 0.13
(Anomalies relative to their
respective 1961-1990 means)
Apart from this a couple of things should be noted:
1) The important thing is that the SH, in spite of increasing GHGs and no meaningful anthropogenic aerosol forcing, did not WARM during this period. The fact that it cooled even more than the NH only reinforces the idea that the sulphate aerosols / mid-century cooling connection has litle basis, as they played no role in the SH.
3) Before the HadCRUT correction all the above was also pretty clear but that didn’t stop AGW proponents from claiming that models did a good job at hindcasting the mid-century cooling by taking into account the aerosol forcing. That could be “true” for the global temperature but surely not for the SH regional record.
Yes, it is possible with aerosols.
No it isn’t. The NH can warm more due to increasing GHGs than the SH. But the SH cannot cool more than the NH due to sulphate aerosols released to the NH troposphere that are washed out downwind in approx. 2 weeks.
Oops, sorry for the messy table above. It showed fine in the preview. Anyone knows the equivalent to the ‘pre’ tag that will work here??
Those here who are not regular BBC Radio 4 listeners may be interested in the following ‘Dano linkies’.
Radio 4 – Material World Thursday 19-April 2007
Managing Uncertainty in Complex Models
The first gives some details about the TWO MILLION POUNDS project funded by Research Councils UK and the EPSRC to look into ways of assessing and reducing the uncertainties in complex computer models (including GCMs).
Here is a snippet from the projects aims page
“Modelling is fundamental to research across all areas of science, industry and decision-making, yet uncertainty in model predictions is poorly understood at best; more often it is just ignored. The potential impact for both modellers and model users of having a technology that is accessible, and can routinely quantify and analyse uncertainty, even in complex computer-intensive models, is enormous. It will become possible for the first time to validate computer intensive models in a principled statistical framework, to compare models and to gauge their adequacy for specific purposes. For instance, it will for the first time be possible to say whether a complex model is genuinely better than a simpler one that represents reality less accurately but is less sensitive to misspecification of its inputs. We will be able to examine the role of ensembles of models in gauging model structure uncertainty. It will also become possible for the first time to quantify the value of model calibration and data assimilation in improving the accuracy of model predictions. We will even be able to target research or observational studies to address unacceptable levels of uncertainty, and to predict the ways in which such research will change uncertainty.”
These aims seem laudable but as a UK tax payer I’ll reserve judgement on whether or not this is value for money or not but I’m interested in what other visitors to this web site think given its relevance to GCMs and what has been posted on other threads on this blog (requests for a full assessment of the unceratintie sin GCMs). At present the ‘Listen Again’ audio is not yet available but as and when it is I’ll post a link to it here.
Maybe were just seeing another effect of “teleconnections.”
Grim:
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/climo.html
At least, it’s grim from where I sit. And will be for many in North America. Jury’s out on what it will mean for the rest of the world.
Re #331 – Managing Uncertainty in Complex Models
Translation: Climate science can predict the future so listen to the Oracle at NCAR.
Alternate Translation: Does anybody have a few billion for a few climate modeling supercomputer centers?
Here’s another field where statistics is probably being misused or abused by reporting meaningless statistics and possibly spurious correlation.
Now that you have humorously reminded me that fertilizers with a designation as precise as 13-13-13 can have “organic” origins, I am seriously wondering how they can do that. I still say to be completely correct and comfortable one should use one’s own compost pile.
Re #312,#313 #315 Cremation article
Prof Roger Short is barking mad.
Six weeks ago he gave a seminar on global warming. In his abstract he wrote:
“James Lovelock, in his masterly review “The Revenge of Gaia” (Penguin, 2006), points out that continued global warming will lead to drought, deforestation and desertification, which will make the Earth an increasingly inhospitable environment for man. The human population, currently 6.5 billion, is predicted to rise to 9.1 billion by 2050. But Lovelock suggests that by the end of this century, we may only be able to feed 0.5 ‘€” 1 billion. What happens to the remainder? Malthus, thou should’st be living at this hour!
China is the only great nation to have seen the light, and implemented a One Child Family Policy. The United States, the world’s most affluent and most effluent nation, has a rapidly increasing population which may exceed half a billion by 2050, about twice the current figure. The situation is not helped by the fact that one of the world’s major religions refuses to approve of contraception. Doesn’t the Pope realize that condoms help prevent Global Warming?”
RE: “The human population, currently 6.5 billion, is predicted to rise to 9.1 billion by 2050. ”
Not! This is the problem. There is a whole subculture out there still playing the old late 1960s – early 1970s Erlichian tape. The “Soylent Green” vision of the future. They were predicting that we’d be over 10B by now (if not extinct). They sure got that wrong. They assumed that the large post WW2 families in Western countries would continue to be the norm through the end of the century and that birth control would never take hold in the 3rd world. When in fact, by the 1980s, in the West, it was already obvious we’d soon hit our peak of natural growth and start falling so rapidly that we’d hear calls to import labor to do jobs “we won’t do.” But instead of acknowledging their error, they now hang their hats on the third world. Funny thing is, beyond a handful of those countries, natural increase has also slowed much more rapidly than anyone would have ever imagined. Once a person gets a cell phone or otherwise tinged by modernity, the whole big family thing loses its appeal and bourgeoisification starts to set in. The whole world will be on the Euro like negative trend within a generation if not sooner. I expect the peak in population prior to ’50.
RE: #338 – “A cancer is an uncontrolled multiplication of cells; the population explosion is an uncontrolled multiplication of people. Treating only the symptoms of cancer may make the victim more comfortable at first, but eventually he dies — often horribly. A similar fate awaits a world with a population explosion if only the symptoms are treated. We must shift our efforts from treatment of the symptoms to the cutting out of the cancer. The operation will demand many apparently brutal and heartless decisions. The pain may be intense. But the disease is so far advanced that only with radical surgery does the patient have a chance of survival” = Paul Ehrlich
Karl Schmidt
I’ve been following the Spensor and Christy data at the following URL:
http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/MSU/msusci.html
It seems to have disappeared – anyone know why?
You can contact me directly at karl(at)xtronics(dot)com
#340. trY ftp://ghrc.nsstc.nasa.gov/pub/data/msu/t2lt/uahncdc.lt
Re: #314 and #319
Question: Aren’t the water vapor and CO2 spectra in #314 transmission spectra? In which case water vapor transmission is indeed highest at about 9 micrometers. That is backed up by the emission spectrum in #319 which is a close match to the 20 C black body curve at 10 micrometers with the exception of the dip for the ozone absorption band.
Also, the total column absorption may be misleading because the partial pressure of water vapor falls off more rapidly with altitude than does carbon dioxide. So assuming a constant lapse rate, which I’m not altogether sure is really justified, increasing carbon dioxide can possibly still have a significant influence on surface temperature even though the total column absorption doesn’t change much.
Spain, Italy, and maybe France have birth rates that are so low they are already lost. They can’t sustain their indigenous populations given their current birth rates.
If some one emails me a copy of the Loso article
I posted link in 324 (though it wasn’t hot):polar.alaskapacific.edu/mloso/Manuscripts/Losoetal2006.pdf
Your link is still broken. Maybe this one will work(it did for me):
http://polar.alaskapacific.edu/mloso/Manuscripts/Losoetal2006.pdf
The twentieth century peak is a whole lot higher than anything previous.
Thanks. Blog hot-link button techniques vary and sometimes break — combining that with my own HREF delimiter errors, is why I often just post the link (w/o making it hot), as in 324.
Steve S., you raise an interesting issue when you say:
There’s a couple of ways to estimate future populations. We have good data from 1961 – 2004. The growth rate has been steadily dropping. By my calculations, if we extend the average drop in growth rates linearly, by 2050 the population will be 9.17 billion. For comparison, the UN Median Estimate is 9.19 billion in 2050.
Or we can look at the post-1990 drop, which has been slightly steeper. Extending that drop gives us a peak in 2042, with a 2050 population of 7.88 billion The UN Low Estimate for 2050, for comparison, is 7.79 billion. So my estimates are very close to the UN estimates, which gives some confidence in the figures.
The UN high estimate is 10.76 billion, I’d throw that out as unrealistic. I’d say that the 2050 population will likely be around eight and a half billion, plus or minus a billion.
While these numbers are large, from 1961 to 2006 the world population more than doubled (~210%). There’s more than twice as many people on the planet than when I was in high school, and yet people are living better and eating better than they were in the sixties, even the poorest people.
On the other hand, from now to 2050 we’re only looking at a population increase of about 17-38%, not 210% … me, I think we’ll deal with that without calamitous problems or meltdowns, but YMMV …
Correct, although I would call it an absorption spectrum (dark lines in a continuum).
Richard Hill
re. 333 Steve S “grim” E Pacific cooling
thanks for the link
is it unprecedented? if not when was the last time?
My personal guess is that we will see the population peak within 10 years. We already have two major countries, Russia and Japan, with falling populations. (I’g going to leave out discussions of how AIDS is devastating many African countries, because that could turn around if a cure is found.) In Europe, birthrates have been below replacement for over a generation, only immigration keeps their populations growing. There are only a handfull of countries left with birthrates higher than 3 or 4 per woman, and even those are falling fast.
Willis,
One of the big problems with the UN estimates is that they assume that all countries whose population is currently dropping, will have their rates stabilize when they hit replacement. (2.1 live births per woman) Problem with that assumption is that it has never happened. To date, every country whose birthrates have hit replacement, have had their birthrates continue to fall.
The UN also assumes that countries with birthrates below replacement will over the next decade, return to replacement. Once again, that has not happened either. Countries in Europe have had their birthrates well below replacement for decades now, with no evidence that they are moving upwards. Despite growing govt efforts to increase the rates.
What we are seeing here is an accelerating trend.
Fred Harwood
Also see “Ultimate Resource II” by Julian Simon (RIP)
crmanriq
I’m passing along a request that I had from my son. He’s in a college level biology course, and for some reason they are covering global warming as a topic. He’s looking for two articles – one on each side of the global warming issue. Can anyone point to something that gives general overviews of the arguments on each side?
More on aerosols (point 2) by Richard Lindzen, with a lot of additional food for thought:
http://www.physics.harvard.edu/%7Emotl/lindzen-nature-of-arguments.pdf
It may do for the request in comment 353 too.
This page has been loading slowly for a couple days. Might want to consider another unthreaded.
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The Football Manager Youth Academy Challenge
By darren1983, October 19, 2018 in Challenges, Sign-Ups & Experiments
enigmatic
Cesar Vallejo 2019 Season Review.
The good news was that my side performed spectacularly well, the bad news was a comparatively mediocre youth intake that didn't give me players in any positions I wanted, and the ugly news is that the playoff system in Peru is horrendously bugged, so the game is on hold at least until after an update
Torneo de Verano
I thought my starting squad was more than strong enough to compete in Peruvian football, and this was confirmed with the early-season Torneo de Verano tournament. Instead of a cup, two pools of teams play each other home and away in mini-leagues, and a champion is determined by a playoff between the two pool winners. With Peru's biggest teams in the other group, I breezed through to top the table which set up a final against the giants of Alianza. I actually dominated the opening leg but was pegged back from long range and then needed a penalty to level. The second leg of the final saw both sides hit the woodwork, but Alianza created clearer chances and shut me out for the win they probably just about deserved. First chance at continental football after just 17 games, but I didn't get it!
The league proper proved to be tougher, with my side struggling for goals and getting turned over on the counter. Alianza dominated, but they didn't have to play me until the final game, and their late season wobble meant that I could win the Apertura by beating them. This time, I totally dominated the game but struggled to find a way through. The hero was Diego Pizarro, the considerably-less talented brother of former Bayern star Claudio who scored a spectacular strike from outside the area, to put me top of the table on goal difference for the first and most important time. I don't think this even counts as silverware, but it did mean I'd secured qualification for the Copa Libertadores, as well as a place in the playoff to determine the overall champion.
Hilariously, Alianza were so shell-shocked by losing the league opening stage on the final day, they failed to win the next seven games of the closing stage. Cristal, however, were a model of consistency. When I failed to beat them thanks to a referee sending two of my players off (one actually rescinded) and awarding the opposition a penalty I assumed the Clausura title was theirs, especially when Alianza held me to a draw on the final day of the season and their unbeaten side needed only a point from their game. Which they failed to secure after losing in the 95th minute to a side that only had two shots on target all game, leaving me top on goal difference on the final day again
Winning both the opening and closing stages put me straight into a playoff final. A home leg and an away leg against Alianza to determine the champion.
Or as SI preferred to interpret it, two home legs with the aggregate scores being interpreted the wrong way round, followed by an away tie that may or may not count for something. AAAAARGGH
Torneo de Verano (runners up)
League (Apertura and Clausura winners)
League champion: it's a long story...
National C licence and B licence secured and training and youth facilities on the way
The team played consistently well, but the titles were down to giant Andy Pando, who hasn't let losing his pace dent his goalscoring ability. Quinteros is another who hasn't let rapid decline affect his performances, providing plenty of goals and assists despite now being the slowest winger in the league. Unlike the other veterans, I'm keeping those two.
Medrano is the real surprise package with over 20 goals from the ML position. Goals and dribbles of real quality and bely his apparent status as a one dimensional pace merchant and show the virtues of consistency and two footedness.
Top prospect Osis 18A was surprisingly average for much of the season. He waited a long time for a goal, a long range free kick, and promptly scored a mirror image later in the same game. He's also barely improved his attributes, but at least that means I'm not fending off transfer offers.
Alvaro Diaz 18B had a good season, improved and would have started even more if my other left back wasn't excellent.
Israel Rojas 18E was the surprise package - he looked like nothing at the start of the season but appeared to have a growth spurt, improved insanely fast and will be an important rotational player next season.
Youth intake day was disappointing enough for me to forget to take a screenshot. Less so because of the low star levels - a 3* player can do a very good job in the Peruvian top tier but I didn't get the players I needed. I badly needed a striking prospect ready to be phased into the first team, and a couple of central defenders to stop the squad being unhappy at the lack of depth, and any half decent keeper. I got none of the above. In particular Galvez isn't going to be the answer in goal (thankfully Siancas has shown some signs of improvement and more potential than originally thought) but I signed him up because he can't be worse than being stuck with outfield players!
Julio Diaz 19A has potential, a great personality, intelligence and pace, just a shame he can't seem to kick a ball. If his finishing wasn't truly appalling I'd teach him to play up front
Delgado 19B is a good long term prospect at left back, the one position I definitely don't need, though I'm now retraining my first choice left back to cover the centre
Horna 19C has some room to develop and may end up providing central defensive cover next season, though I worry about his lack of height
Farro 19D was picked out as the top prospect, but the star ratings differ and his personality is horrible. Still could be useful
Robles 19E was the best striker I got, but he's a long way from the first team and I don't like his consistency issues
Mindful of the improvements in Rojas 18E, I signed up some of the borderline prospects despite reservations over their personality and potential. Since I have an abundance of talent in midfield and nothing much up front I'm also retraining Osis as an AM. First game he played there he scored twice
An outstanding season overall, but due to bugs corruption in Peruvian football, who knows whether there'll be a future
Edited February 19 by enigmatic
optimusprimal82
Thanks all, much appreciated - will await the full 19.3 I think before getting started but my clicking finger is itching (I mean from excitement, not from scratching somewhere dodgy!)
10 hours ago, dkouv said:
@XaW Just saw your completion - congrats! Nice one! And in England too - that's a pretty hardcore way to do the first challenge completion Now, Wales........
I've usually tried this is smaller countries, but failed because the CL proved too much. With England, the struggle was going to the top nationally. When I were in the CL I were already a good team.
Wales, huh? Now, that might be interesting...
Man, how I'd wish to have the time to play this again... Oh, real life getting in the way of my FM glory.
Braumiller
Team: Leicester City
Managing: Vastra Frolunda
Domestic League : Allsvenskan - 7th
A second consecutive 7th place finish and overall that is a solid consolidation in the top flight. This felt more comfortable than last year and we rarely felt the pressure of a relegation fight, unlike last year. We did have a worrying wobble in the middle of the season. After a full month of June off due to Euro 2028, we played several top teams in July and picked up just a solitary draw with 3 losses. Thankfully with that tough stretch out of the way we only lost another 3 in our final twelve games.
Domestic Cup : 2027-2028 edition - Already knocked out
Domestic Cup : 2028-2029 edition - Qualified for the Group Stages next year
Our struggles in the qualifying round (technically called the 2nd Round) of the cup against lower league teams continues. This time IK Oddevold took us to extra time at our place before we won with the only goal of the game
Europe : n/a
Youth Intake
A very nice intake indeed, giving us needed depth in quality prospects and also providing an instant impact kind of player.
Viktor Lilja-Ekeros (10A) - Oh yes! This may finally signal the end of Sebastian Hansson's grip on our left full back spot after a 10 year run! He has almost everything I would want, and to be honest I have half thought about trying to convert him full time to a left sided midfielder. A very well rounded kid with a professional personality. There is one huge worry, noted in the General section below.
Jesper Sandberg (10B) - An interesting central defender, who can also play central midfield. That alone gives hope he can turn into a more classy DC than the current crop (low bar!). Hopefully he can progress.
Mathias Bohlin-Larsson (10C) - Another interesting looking player. Natural at DM, which I we have been moving away from recently, but has options at retraining at DC or MC. He feels a little small and lacking in physicals for DC, so I am thinking of trying to turn him into an MC. If successful, it would be a great addition for me as his tackling is already far superior to other CM options at my disposal. If his teamwork rises, also possible future captain / vice captain considerations.
Niklas Oscarsson (10D) - I do like prospects who can play multiple positions for me. Niklas has the well rounded physicals to give chances in the senior squad to, just not sure what to make of that personality....
Joakim Berglund (10E) - A second natural forward but with other positions available to play. Joakim needs more development that Niklas, but I like the potential look of him.
Christer Eriksson (10F) - A good looking GK prospect
Well, this was going to be another 'lots of loans' one line entry and then the day after our Swedish transfer deadline passed something unexpected happened..... Juventus came in for Joakim Groundstroem (08B) with an initial offer in the 400k range. After a lot of haggling, we managed to get them up to 800k immediately and another 1m in payments over the next 2 years. I felt my hand was forced here as the signs were not boding well if I turned them down. The downside is that while this is great money for us, it did not fix our mounting money issues. On the plus side, Joakim was not playing overly well anyway, so his departure didn't hurt us too much in the short term (long term, if he filled his potential he would of obviously been great for us)
Squad Stats - Season Awards
1st - Anders Hall (04C) 35% - A first showing in the awares for Anders. He is a typical no nonsense defender who can win the ball and then do nothing with it! But he won the ball well for us this year and then fans appreciated that! Our vice captain in waiting for when Abdoulie Jobe moves on and Selim Ari (03B) gets promoted to captain.
2nd - Ivan Vukcevic (06B) 28% - Our right winger with a good season in the books
3rd - Selim Ari (03B) 23% - Our Mr Consistent
This year felt like we belonged in the top flight as players began to settle down and perform better.
So, Viktor Lilja-Ekeros (10A). Granted he did not really shine at all during his first 5 games of his career, but he has a lot of potential. Sadly, he knows this as is evidenced by our contract negotiations. He signed a 4 year youth deal on intake day and as the season wound down I tried to get him to sign a full time deal. He is already stating that he doesn't think Vastra Frolunda can field a team on the level he wants to play for..... So, at best I might have a 4 year 'loaner' type player, but chances are he might starting causing an issue well before then
Edited February 21 by Braumiller
speeling
gibbo11
Managing: Hunan Billows
Newcomer to this challenge, will be starting later on. Just a quick question on existing players at the club you join.. Do you keep these on for as long as possible (i.e. able to offer contract) or do you have to offload these as soon as you can?
theBlackPrince
1 hour ago, gibbo11 said:
Keep them on for as long as possible (if you like them). In some places like Germany it'd be literally impossible without them in the first few seasons. Of course, most of the time your youth products will eventually end up a lot better anyway,
thomas_e
Real Jean FC
Season Update 2026-2027
A fantastic season for us, a huge step up from last years 11th place finish. We made the Champions League, finishing 4th! Media prediction was as expected that we finished dead last, what a year!
After a very unstable season last year I decided to make some changes. I decided to train our 3rd choice centre back, Lolo Vargas, as a right back, in a try to get some consistency in that position. That worked well, and was a big strengthening of our back line. I also replaced my long serving left back, Felipe Alfonso, a player who has been great for us, but really only on the offence. His defensive skillset is awful, and he was turning into a liability.
The remaining squad took some good steps forward, especially in the goalkeeping department. Khalid Naim has really proven worthy of being our first choice at only 16 years old, and he is already close to La Liga standards.
I dont know what it is about Real Jean and season openers, but we almost always do well. This time we beat Real Madrid 4-1 (!!), and that set the tone for the rest of the season. Although we were not fighting for a CL spot until the end of the season we were always in the top half, and we really never got one of our classic terrible run of forms, which has been the case in the previous seasons. Coming close to the end we were looking really good, even fighting for a medal. But a couple of weak draws against weak teams and an expected loss to Barcelona, everything was wide open. In the last round of the season we were fighting against Valencia, Getafe and Rayo Vallecano, all four teams had the opportunity for a medal.. We were up against Racing Santander, a weak injury plagued team sitting in 18th place.. All we had to do was win. We were shockingly bad.... We drew the game 3-3 but deserved to lose.... But for some reason, Getafe drew 0-0 at Alaves and Rayo Vallecano lost 2-0 to Betis. Valencia beat Osasuna 3-1 and secured 3rd place, but we managed with our draw to maintain 4th place and secure Champions League!!
We are so far away from a Champions League team that I its laughable, but it doesnt matter. We will get extremely valuable experience and our club reputation will take a big jump.
Santiago Sanchez, our leading striker, finally turned chances into goals this year, and that was really key. He ended on 14 goals, third place in the "Top Goalscorer" table, and won the Spanish Top Goalscorer of the Year. Our best player, Jorge Vela, made Team of the Year. I won Manager of the Year.
We also got a pretty decent left back in the Youth Intake, Sebastian Tejero. Unfortunately the only good player in our entire intake. I got so mad i fired our HOYD, after less than a year in the job. Tejero went straight into the team. His stats shown in the screenshot underneath tells you everything you need to know when I say we are far away from CL quality...
Goals for next season:
- Mid table finish
- Finish 3rd (or better) in CL group stages
- Qtr final in Copa del Rey
Season | League | Position | Copa Del Rey | Europe | Notes
2019/20 | Segunda Division B | 9th | 2ns round | N/A | Okay start up season
2020/21 | Segunda Division B | 2nd | 3rd round | N/A | Promoted through play off
2021/22 | La Liga 123 | 7th | 3rd round | N/A | Promoted through play off, back-to-back
2022/23 | La Liga | 10th | 2nd round | N/A | Great first season, finishing mid table
2023/24 | La Liga | 14th | 2nd round | N/A | No progress to speak of, managed to get worse
2024/25 | La Liga | 8th | 5th round | N/A | Solid season, finished 8th
2025/26 | La Liga | 11th | 4th round | N/A | Decent season, good club progress if not so much on the pitch
2026/27 | La Liga | 4th | 4th round | N/A | Amazing year, predicted 20th, finished 4th!
keeper#1
Managing: Stockport County
AC BELLINZONA 2022-23 SEASON REVIEW
Standings -- Fixtures 1 -- Fixtures 2 -- Transfers -- Statistics -- Commercial Summary
Another year where we were picked dead last by the media and another year where we finished in 8th place. We are always beat the newly promoted teams and then poach enough points off the established teams to keep our heads above water. But now, our "golden generations" are starting to move into the senior team. A few of them are moving into starting roles. As a result, we are no longer the worst team across all the attributes. We are starting to beat out team in some categories. Maybe in a season or two, the media will pick us to finish 9th! That said, we still struggle in the basic fundamentals of the game. We don't score many goals (35 or 0.97 per game) and we allow too many goals (57 or 1.58 per game). Need to get those numbers to get to even and then flip around before we can start making some noise in the league.
Players of the Season:
LW Alain Ott (48%): Ott became the first player besides Luca Quadri to lead the team in assists. Ott had eight helpers this season. He may see some reduced playing time, next season, as we move to more narrow formations. May look to sell high in the off-season.
GK Ulisse Pelloni (26%): Pelloni had a lot of work this season and did the best that he could. He got most of the starts in the league matches while still giving the young Christian De Marco 21B playing time to aid his development. Pelloni probably has one or two more years before he gets supplanted by De Marco as the starter.
CF Christian Giacchetti (16%): Giacchetti rebounded a little in 2022-23. He got back to double digit goals with 13 to lead the team. He could see himself working as a target man in either a 4-1-2-1-2 or 4-1-3-1-1 formation next year.
The most exciting time of the year is youth intake day. This year, we put out Golden Generation III: The Center Forwards Strike Back. Two of the best talents are center forwards which is something that we desperately need. We need center backs too and we didn't get that lock-down center back that we have a dire need for. We got a center back who could eventually provide some depth in Raffaele Croci (our G talent - 6th best player). Combining the two new center forwards which the three 'A' talents, who are all midfielders, from our previous three intakes, we may go narrow next year and try to outscore the bottom teams and hold on for dear life against the top teams.
CF Stefano Gentile 23A: A hard-working center forward who is already one of our fastest forwards at 11 pace. He's our best finisher and has a driven personality. Somebody is going to go right from the youth team to the 2023-24 senior team roster.
CF Roger Boumal 23B: Boumal is our fastest forward with 16 pace. Doesn't have the finishing that Gentile has or the hard-working personality. It is likely that Boumal will spend a year with the youth team before getting a call-up for the 2024-25 roster.
RW Raffaele Borghesi 23C: Borghesi fits a need on the right wing that we have. Our current right winger Luca Quadri is starting to slip already at age 29. GIl 20L has moved into a more prominent right wing role. Borghesi has the potential to be better than both Quadri and Gil 20L. Just needs some time to develop.
DMC Nemanja Petric 23D: Petric is our best central midfielder from this class. He's not in the same ability class as our current midfield intakes. That's okay, I want those three players (more on them in a minute) to develop in their starting senior team roles while Petric develops with the youth team and is ready to move into their place in the senior team if/when they get sold.
Current Youth Developments:
AMC Antonio Garguilo 22A: Called up to the Swiss U20 team for the summer Toulon Tournament. Has played in the three group stage matches thus far.
CM Daniele Vitali 20A: Vitali earned his first Swiss U21 team call up in March
DMC Paul Quentin 21A: Earned three U21 caps during the season
Finances have improved somewhat mainly because I didn't pour our sponsorship revenue into facility upgrades. I'm not going to upgrade the facilities again this season since we are still churning out Golden Generations. I am planning on upgrades to the junior coaching and youth recruitment if the board will allow. That will impact the bottom line but not to the extreme that the facility upgrades will which should allow to continue to save for a new stadium in the future.
Fadedaf
Team: FC Barcelona
Oppsal Season 2026 Report
Another update from your favourite Norwegian yo-yo club. In our last 3 seasons we have been relegated, promoted and relegated again, so i'll give you one guess as to what happened this season. Yes, the yo has yo'd yet again.
Cup- Another early exit to a lower league team. This time it was to Vidar and despite going ahead twice the game finished 2-2 and we lost on penalties. Our finances have definitely suffered as a result.
League- we started off with 4 draws in our first 5 games, but did extend that unbeaten streak to 10 games with a few more wins thrown in. From then on, we only lost 3 games which were all away at our top of the table rivals. This meant that with one game to go, we were top of the league on goal difference. However, the problem was there were still 4 teams with a genuine chance of winning it all and we were playing away at KFUM, who were another team who could win the league with a win. We went ahead early thanks to Pål Langåker 19A but they pulled one back after half time and we couldn't push on for a winner, meaning we sunk down into 2nd place with a draw. Moss, our mortal nemesis, managed to win their game so took the title ahead of us frustratingly. Fram Larvik, the 4th team in contention managed to lose their game meaning we still snuck into the playoffs. We faced UII/Kisa first and dominated the whole tie. Our ball-winning midfielder Jørgen Solvang Nilsen scored 4 goals across the two legs including 2 free kicks in the first leg, leading us to a 6-0 aggregate win. We then faced Raufoss from the division above for a spot in the First Division. The away leg was very close but they managed to scrape a 3-2 win with a 93rd minute winner, but I was still confident in us at home. We delivered in the return leg, winning 2-0 meaning a 4-3 win on aggregate. I am very familiar with this playoff, I hope I never have to play in it again!
Best Players-
Top goalscorer: Pål Langåker 19A (17 goals) A pretty solid season for Pål as he also won the league's top goalscorer award and became the club's all time top goalscorer with 81 goals.
Most assists: Glenn Harviken (11 assists) the RM position has been firmly seized by the untagged Glenn, who beat out two 'B' tagged players for the starting role and he's done really well. He equalled the record assist tally for the club in a season. He is also one of the first players to have spent time at our lower league affiliate Skjetten and then break into the first team.
Highest avg rating: Arve Granhaug 19B (7.58) This guy keeps getting better every year, the CM position is a real strength for us. The class of '19 (which includes Harviken) sweeps the first 3 awards!
Most POM: Jørgen Solvang Nilsen (6) Another really good season from our ball winning midfielder. He's probably nearing the age where we look at giving his starting spot to a younger talent but I think he still has a few years of top quality left.
MVP: Arve Granhaug 19B
Best U23 Player: Pål Langåker 19A is still 23 apparently so he wins this for probably like a 5th time, I'm too lazy to go back and check. Last time for him however, so we'll see who steps up next season.
Results Results 2 (no) Transfers
Academy Players that played over 1000 minutes this season:
Rasmus Nilsen 20A (2 assists 11 clean sheets)
Henrik Kaasa 19C (1 goal, 2 assists)
Pål Langåker 19A (17 goals, 8 assists, 4 POM, League top goalscorer, Club all-time top goalscorer)
Glenn Harviken (6 goals, 11 assists, 1 POM)
Stian Sollien 21A (3 assists)
Arve Granhaug 19B (8 goals, 7 assists, 2 POM)
Vidar Andersen 26A (2 goals, Club youngest ever player and youngest ever goalscorer)
Henrik Butterud (1 goal, 4 assists)
We did accomplish our goals for this season. As well as getting promoted, we moved on 3 or 4 more old, low determination players. This means that only 3 of our starting 11 are not academy graduates and only 5 players still remain at the club from when I started. Next season I just really, really want to survive. I have had enough of yo-yoing, please.
| League | Pos. | Cup | Europe | Top scorer | Top assists | Highest avg rating| Notes
2019 2nd Division 3rd 2nd Round - Bransdal(22) Bransdal(8) Bright-Taylor(7.41) PROMOTION
2020 1st Division 11th 1st Round - Langåker(11) Östman/Nilsen(7) Bright-Taylor(7.06) Survived
2021 1st Division 9th 3rd Round - Langåker(14) Rosendal/Nilsen(6) Kristiansen(7.20) Mid Table
2022 1st Division 9th 2nd Round - Langåker(18) Rosendal/Paulsberg(6) Bright-Taylor(7.07) Mid Table
2023 1st Division 14th 1st Round - Bransdal(9) Nilsen(5) Nilsen(7.08) Relegated
2024 2nd Division 2nd 3rd Round - Langåker(17) Nilsen(9) Bright-Taylor(7.51) PROMOTION
2025 1st Division 15th 2nd Round - Langåker(10) Harviken(7) Nilsen(7.14) Relegated
2026 2nd Division 2nd 1st Round - Langåker(17) Harviken(11) Granhaug(7.58) PROMOTION
13 hours ago, gibbo11 said:
I tend to keep them as long as they are useful in any way, shape, or form. If they are good enough to play, then they stay. If they are content to be a decent backup, they stay. If they are leaders in the dressing room, then they stay (this seems to matter much more now! A team without leaders will fold under pressure much more often than others. Be warned!).
I also keep them quite long if they have high determination an/or good personality. Since most of the players you get through will have poor personalities or low determination, this can help with squad mentality and keep determination from dropping and hopefully nudge the players into better hidden mentals.
Oppsal Youth Intake 2027
We've hit the jackpot! no less than 6 players with 5 star potential as well as the best player to come through my academy yet.
Here is Tryggvason, who will be going straight into the first team and potentially into the starting lineup:
Here are the other 5 top prospects: Espegren 27B Mathisen 27C Auklend 27D Haradinaj 27E Kristiansen 27F
They weren't lying when they said 'golden generation' this time, and I'm sure most of these 6 will see first team game time in the next season or two. Hopefully these new youngsters can help us survive this season!
@Fadedaf, great fun following your journey. I guess you are Norwegian, like me, since you're playing with Oppsal. Must be a mental test more than anything to do this challenge with Oppsal. Can't wait to see you try and complete it in the Champions League
So, I just can't stay away from this challenge... So I've started again, this time in a small country (but not Wales, sorry @dkouv!).
I'm heading to Iceland! For my third attempt to do this on the saga island far out in the Atlantic.
I'm taking over the same club I tried this with last year (or the year before, I can't really recall when), Fjarðabyggð! For those of you who don't quite get the "ð", it's and old character called "Eth" that were used in several languages in the Middle Ages, including Old English. It's pronunciation is very close to "th" in word like "the". So it's something like Fjarthabygddth and it means something like "Town by the fjord" if Google translate is to be believed. I believe it, since my native tongue of Norwegian have some of the same words and "Fjordbygd" would be a fairly similar name in Norwegian.
The town itself is located on the west side of Iceland.
And if Google earth is to believe then this is their home ground:
So, I'll have a go at this season, and update whenever appropriate.
Hrósa fyrir Íslandi!
@thomas_e I am actually not Norwegian, just thought it would be a fun place to attempt the challenge. I am incredibly familiar with the Norwegian lower leagues by now, but hopefully I'll get into the champions league someday. This season is finally looking pretty promising!
tomay
Managing: FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt
FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt
Season 2039/2040
Erfurt news:
- manager contract to 30.06.2042
- stadium 54 638, average attendance 53 331, by capacity 97%, 9 stadium sellouts
- finances: balance +579M
- tactic: 4-4-1-1
- european ranking: 6th, domestic reputation: 4th
Transfers: [Transfers]
As usual i am selling players which gained their max potential, and putting in 1st team younger players with lower abilities but higher potential.
+ 6,5M DR. Günther Drost 91/1
+ 6,0M MR. Herbert Bartz 23/2
+ 2,9M MC. Armin Reck 128/18
+ 1,4M GK. Florian Gruber 131/-
League: rules - players under 17yo not allowed to play
predicted 10th - odds 36.00
position 5th [table] - Europa League qualification
Boring season, was close to CL qualification, bad finish, lot of points lost with weaker teams, we dropped from 3rd to 5th.
Cup: 3rd round
1st r. - won A[6-0] with SSV Markranstädt (non-league)
2nd r. - won A[3-2] with FC Schalke 04 (Bundesliga)
3rd r. - lost H[0-1] with Hertha BSC (Bundesliga)
Europa League: 2nd round
Group stage: 1st place, all games won
1st r. - won A[4-0], H[6-0] with Zorya Lugansk
2nd r. - lost [2-0], A[0-3] with Borussia Dortmund - felt FM'ed, after 2-0 win home, we lost 3 goals away in very even match, goals from long shot, corner and own goal.
Another bad year, signed few but noone looks good. I don't know how he can by 5 start rated.
[intake] - [Stefan Schultz]
Top goalscorer: Cristian Matera (FC) - 20 goals - 29yo
Most assists: Fabian Wähling (AMC) - 14 assists - 26yo
Highest average rating: Jonas Hanske (DL) - 7,49 - 21yo
Most POM: Tino Schau (AMC) - 8 - 30yo
Int.Cup
Top scorer
Top assists
Highest avg. rat.
YF
3.rd
A.Shala [15]
R.Gladrow [7]
M.Kaffenberger [7.33]
lost promotion in play-offs
1st r.
D.Geurts [17]
T.Hasse [10]
N.Lorenzoni [7.34]
1 pt behind play-off
2nd r.
J.Lewejohann [20]
R.Gladrow [7.43]
promotion!
2.nd
R.Gladrow [15]
R.Stapelfeld [8]
L.Novy [7.20]
R.Stapelfeld [12]
R.Stapelfeld [7.25]
safe position
S.Wentzel [12]
N.Wollitz [7]
close to play-off spot
N.Wollitz [16]
J.Fitzner [16]
D.Strobel [7.37]
promotion! after playoff
1.st
L.Aicher [20]
K.Majewski [10]
H.Meier [7.33]
3rd r.
L.Aicher [7.20]
EL qualification
EL 2nd r.
C.Matera [14]
H.Schneider [10]
D.Backhaus [7.18]
middle table
L.Aicher [9]
V.Fuß [7.22]
F.Wähling [8]
EL QF
T.Schau [12]
D.Bigger [7.33]
CL qualification
CL QF
C.Nagel [7.36]
CL SF
T.Schau [7.51]
EL won
F.Wähling [7.48]
won EL!
CL F
D.Röppnack [22]
F.Wähling [23]
won Euro SuperCup!
J.Hanske [7.55]
T.Schau [9]
Diego D10S
Team: IK Start
Managing: Romagna Centro Cesena
Season 2024 / 25
Table Transfer History
A breakthrough season !! Competed for the league win and big improvement in performance.
Knocked out in the 3rd round promotion playoff on penalties.
Manager of the year second season in a row
Finances : £ 746K Projected end of 2025/26 : £ 32K
New owners at the end of the season decided to take a £ 900K bank loan.
Nice to see green numbers but the board are not willing to improve facilities or youth recruitment.
Youth intake was very good with 3 players already in the senior squad. Alessandro Farina , Gabriele Steffanelli and Enea Vezzani
Season Div Pos Goals Assist Avg Rating Traning Facilities Youth Facilities Youth Recruitement Stadium Average Attendance
2019/20 Serie C 15th Rrasa 10 Zeqiri 8 Gasperi 6.95 Average Below average Fairly basic 5.500 ( 601 )
2020/21 Serie C 17th Rrasa 11 Trupia 5 Pasquini 6.90 Average Belowe average Established 5.500 ( 714 )
2021/22 Serie C 11th Gasperi 15 Tedesco 9 Gasperi 7.19 Average Belowe average Established 5.500 ( 714 )
2022/23 Serie C 5th Gancitano 11 Tedesco 10 Pasquini 7.06 Average Belowe average Fairly basic 5.500 ( 841 )
2023/24 Serie C 6th Ghirardi 16 Tedesco 6 Ferrari 7.15 Average Belowe average Fairly basic 5.500 ( 895 )
2024/25 Serie C 4th Ghirardi 22 Tedesco 16 Piccinni 7.22 Adequate Belowe average Fairly basic 5.500 ( 1121 )
My goal going forward is to fight for promotion.
Squad growing stronger and the youngsters from my 2 first intakes start to look like quality players for the league.
GL to you all !!
Edited February 25 by Diego D10S
Paul Quentin 21A becomes my first academy product to leave the nest for a bigger club as he moves to Dortmund for €2,500,000 up front with an additional €1,000,000 in three installments and €500,000 when he makes his first appearance for Dortmund. Plus, Bellinzona get 40% of his next transfer and Dortmund come to our place for a friendly.
57 appearances for the club mainly as our starting defensive midfielder so €3,500,000 with the potential for €4,000,000 is a nice sale for the club. He is our only quality defensive midfielder on the roster. I've called up Nemanja Petric 23D to replace Quentin but as you can see, he isn't the quality of Quentin.
So, our third attempt at the Norwegian First Division, could we survive? or would the yo-yoing continue. A fresh injection of talented youngsters from the intake as well as the continued development of more established players made me feel optimistic.
Cup- We comprehensively beat lower league Gjelleråsen IF in the first round then narrowly scraped by Tynset on penalties in the next round. We then drew Arendal who are one of the better teams in our division so lost out 3-1. Reaching the 3rd round gives us 100K+ of prize money so i'm going to set that as the benchmark for future seasons.
League- A pretty solid performance throughout, especially at home. We hovered in and out of the playoff places for the first 2/3 of the season before dropping off slightly, but we still avoided relegation with 5 matches remaining and finished in our best ever position of 8th! We never seriously challenged for the playoffs but I am very satisfied with a mid-table finish.
Top goalscorer: Pål Langåker 19A (9 goals) I switched Pål to the deep lying forward role this season in order to give our other talented young strikers game time as advanced forwards, meaning he didn't rack up as many goals. He was still solid however and had a good season.
Most assists: Jørgen Solvang Nilsen (7 assists) Another fantastic season from our ball-winning midfielder who is defying his age to still be one of our best players despite all the talented youngsters coming through.
Highest avg rating: Jørgen Solvang Nilsen (7.21)
Most POM: Vegard Dyvik 25F (3) A pretty surprising winner here. I threw this guy into our starting RB spot as Henrik Kaasa 19C had basically topped out as a 2 star player and Dyvik had much higher potential. He did okay overall but had a couple of fantastic games. He definitely looks pretty promising.
MVP: Jørgen Solvang Nilsen
Best U23 Player: Glenn Hoel. This guy managed to win the starting LB role over Stian Sollien 21A as an untagged player and has actually turned into a really good player. I actually remember almost not signing this guy from the intake as he only had 3 star potential and didn't look that great but he's now rated 4 star ability with 4.5 potential. Just goes to show that initial reports on intake day can be wildly off, especially at this level.
Rasmus Nilsen 20A (9 clean sheets, 1 POM)
Stian Rustand (4 goals, 1 assist, 1 POM)
Pål Langåker 19A (9 goals, 2 assists, 2 POM)
Glenn Hoel (1 goal, 6 assists, 1 POM)
Vidar Andersen 26A
Glenn Harviken (5 goals, 2 assists, 1 POM)
Vegard Dyvik 25F (4 assists, 3 POM)
Sigve Iversen 24A (3 goals, 1 assist)
Christian Tryggvason 27A (6 goals, 2 assists, 1 POM, Youngest ever appearance maker and goal scorer for the club)
Torjus Krogstad 25A (7 goals, 1 assist, 1 POM)
Magnus Berg 22A (1 assist)
Henrik Butterud (1 goal)
So we accomplished our goals for another season. Survival and a comfortable mid-table position to go with it. Next season I think we are good enough to at least challenge for the playoffs if not make it in. Only 4 players still remain from when I took over and they are slowly being phased out as new more talented youngsters come through.
2027 1st Division 8th 3rd Round - Langåker(9) Nilsen(7) Nilsen(7.21) Mid Table
Oppsal 2028 Youth Intake
Well, nothing could hope to live up to last year, but I definitely can't complain about this years intake. More quantity over quality compared to last year but there definitely look to be some talented players in here and I'd be surprised if at least 3 or 4 didn't turn into first teamers eventually.
We've got another player who is very talented this year and will be thrust straight into the first team and will certainly get some starts. He's also in a position we needed at CB which is great. Here is Glenn Fritzøe Östman 28A (who shares a last name with a club legend)
And here is the other guy with 5* potential, who is definitely a bit raw and will need a few years of development before breaking into the first team:
We spent most of the 2023-24 season down in a battle for 8th place. That all changed in the month of April when we had our first unbeaten month in the Super League. The month opened with a comeback draw against Young Boys, who had a tough season finishing in the middle of the table. We followed that with a 5-1 thrashing of Grasshoppers and then a key 3-0 win over fellow relegation battlers, Thun. The game of the month was a 1-1 home draw against Super League Champions, Basel. The month closed with a 2-0 win over Neuchatel Xamax. 11 points from a possible 15 and we moved from 8th place into a battle for 6th place which we claimed. The 6th place finish is the highest ever finish for the club. I bounced around using a lot of different formations trying to see what would fit. By the end of the season, I settled on a 4-4-1-1 which played to most of our team strengths. This year, our offense improved by a lot. We scored 50 goals in league competitions. Last year, we scored only 35. The defense stayed about the same allowing 56 goals. The defense needs to improve if we want to be consistently better.
AMC Antonio Gargiulo (38%): Gargiulo is the spark behind our offensive improvement. He played at the linked between our lone striker and midfield band. As the season went on, he started to contribute with a goal every now and then as well. Gargiulo finished the season with six goals and a team-high nine assists. Gargiulo has some big Italian clubs looking at him for the summer transfer window. He should easily top the 4 million euros we got for Quentin 21A.
CF Christian Giacchetti (27%): Giacchetti returned to his form from previous seasons and led the squad with 15 goals. A lot of that came as a result of better service from the midfield led by Gargiulo. At age 21, he's almost topped out his ability since he is one of the original players and not from a youth intake. The intake players are starting to breathe down his neck for that starting place.
CM Daniele Vitali 20A (22%): Vitali played in a holding midfield role in the 4-4-1-1 formation and played it well especially after Paul Quentin 21A was sold to Dortmund during the winter window. He even chipped in the offensive attack with five goals.
February 2024 brought me The Golden Generation IV: A New Hope. Four 5* potential players and another three 4.5* potential players. Some of the seven even fit positions that we need too especially at center back with two 5* potential players. Normally, I only focus on the top four players from the intake but with this group, I'll provide screenshots of all seven.
AMC Diego Di Flippo 24A: Di Filippo is one of two attacking midfielders that came in with this intake. He is more determined than the other AMC in this group but his overall mental attributes are weaker than the other AMC. Di Filippo is a better goalscorer than Gargiulo 22A but Gargiulo 22A is a better passer of the ball. Still a good option to have on the roster when Gargiulo 22A gets bought by a bigger club.
CB Ernst Galli 24B: Galli is one of two quality center backs to come in through the intake. Galli is going to need some time to grow into his body before he moves into the senior team. He's 5'10" but only weighs 136 lbs. (9.71 stone/61.7 kg). He will get pushed around by older and more experienced players. When he grows into his body, he will be a solid defender. I just need to survive a season or two before he arrives.
CB Filipe Saraiva 24C: Saraiva is the other center back to come through the intake. He provides a different type of center back than Galli. Saraiva is more comfortable on the ball and a much better passer which is something that we need from our defense. We have a lot of wildly cleared balls that go right to the opposition. Hopefully, Saraiva can stop that from happening as much. On the flip side, he is not as strong in the air as Galli and Galli is a much better marker. These two could complement each other very well going forward.
AMC Nevenko Markus 24D: Markus is another attacking center midfielder but a much different one than Di Filippo 24A. Markus is more balanced mentality compared to Di Filippo 24A but Markus is a much more technically sound player especially in front of net. We need a player like this with Giacchetti topping out and the young strikers not quite ready to be starters.
CM Branko Jerkovic 24E: Jerkovic is a good holding midfielder and provides us with another option in the midfield especially if someone comes in for Vitali 20A. Not great at any one thing but potentially good at a lot of things. A nice midfielder to have on the roster.
CM Thomas Conte 24F: Conte has the potential to be one of the passers at the club. The problem with Conte is his unambitious personality. I've had mixed success with turning this type of player around. Some have seen their abilities improve others have seen their abilities languish. He may get an early call-up to the senior team to see if senior matches push his game to his maximum.
GK Giacomo Tonetto 24G: Tonetto adds to the number of potentially good and great goalkeepers coming into the club. The 2024-25 season looks like the season where DiMarco 21B replaces Pelloni has the starter. DiMarco moved into the starting role at the end of the season. This will cause a chain reaction as one of the U21 goalkeepers will move up into the senior team. Pelloni has already grumbled about wanting a new challenge and won't like getting moved into a back-up role.
The club made money this season mainly from the sale of Quentin 21A to Dortmund. With the current youth set-up, we are losing around 400k euros per month. I asked the board about building a new stadium and were denied because the board doesn't think we have the fanbase to support a new stadium. At this point, we need to be a club that builds up youngsters, sell them for a good chunk of money and puts that money into youth infrastructure improvements. The current owner has gone from "enjoying life at the club" to "happy to stay" which means I'm a few seasons away from a club sale. Hopefully, a new owner will be more interested in building a new stadium than the current owner but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying to convince the current owner into building a new stadium.
Youth intake 2019
A reasonable youth intake, but we still have some glaring holes in the squad. At least we get some backups now, so I don't have to play matches without any players on the bench!
I'm really happy we got a talented goalkeeper. We only have one in the squad and he is, well, crap. So this kid will most likely be first choice asap!
Well this was annoying. I don't actually have a U19 team, nor any other team except the first team squad. So I have to have all the youths in the main squad. Quite annoying, even so much that I don't think I'll keep the save. I think I'll start somewhere else...
Training question. I have just now started to regulate the "Rest" section of team training. I have now set it to double intensity for the players that are above 90% condition. Not doing this before might have cost me a lot in terms of development. What are you guys doing here?
IFK Eskilstuna – Season 6
Season 6 – 2024 – First Division Elite (2nd tier)
League: A good season, and together with the youth intake it finally feels like we may be on the way up rather than trying to stay where we are. We were typically inconsistent but still decent in the first half of the season, floating round between mid-table and relegation playoff places. But a turn of form in June saw us go on a great run that saw us finish 6thin the end, with a far higher points total than before and a solidly positive GD.
Cup: In line with the more successful season, I’m through to the group stage for the first time after beating Härnösands FF.
Star players: Kristoffer Juhlin 20b (AMLC/ST) has been our best player, developing nicely and finishing the league’s top scorer with 18 goals in 25 apps. Sam Östling (MC) and Eric Hallberg 19a (MC/AMC) continue to play solidly at center mid, but this season it’s mostly been about the youngsters finally coming through.
Youth watch: A number of players from the last few intakes have suddenly established themselves in the first team, most notably Peter Wahlström 22b (DC/DM/MC) at both center back and center mid, Rasmus Johannson 21b (DRL) and Jimmy Arvidsson 23a (DRL, MR) at fullback, and Daniel Käck (ML/AMLC/ST) in midfield and attack. The most notable improvement is that now our defense can at least try and cope with the other teams, meaning I can play more attacking tactics, which is both nicer on the eye and brings better results.
Youth intake: Looks like I hit the jackpot this year! Lots of 5* prospects - ok our team quality is pretty rubbish, but notable quite a few of them can go into the team straight away, and have already improved our results. Henrik Gustafsson 24a (AMLC/ST) immediately becomes our second-best striker, with Jan Mahlio 24b (AML/ST) on rotation, and Johan Palm (WBR/MR/AMR) as back-up to Milde. Dimitris Papadoupoulos (MC/ST) has broken the league record for youngest goalscorer.
Finances: made enough prize money to start a youth facility upgrade, but the board are still refusing coaching and recruitment improvements.
Transfers: The most notable ones are not showing up on this page – Anders Gustavsson 19b, our best defender, refused to sign a new deal and left on a free, and Cirak got too old so also was released. I have a few good young defenders coming through but still, Gustavsson is quite a big loss – I forgot to offer him a new contract last year and now it was too late.
Next season’s aim: mid-table or play-offs
Season | League | Pos. | Cup | CL | EL | Top scorer | Top assists | Top rating | Notes
2019 | Div 2 S. Svea | 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | Cirak (22) | Milde (15) | Alkoyun (7.7) |
2020 | Div 2 S. Svea | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | Cirak (22) | Milde + 2 more (10) | Milde (7.8) | Promotion
2021 | Div 1 North | 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | Cirak (21) | Milde (14) | Cirak (7.7) | Promotion
2022 | Div 1 Elite | 11 | R2 | n/a | n/a | Cirak (17) | Hallberg 19a (9) | Cirak (7.4) | Survived
2023 | Div 1 Elite | 9 | R2 | n/a | n/a | Juhlin 20b (12) | Milde (11) | Milde (7.1) |
2024 | Div 1 Elite | 6 | ongoing | n/a | n/a | Juhlin 20b (20) | Milde (9) | Östling (7.4) |
Season | Finances | Coaching | Recruitment | Training Fac. | Youth Fac. | Stadium
2019 | £23k | Fairly Basic | Basic | Poor | Poor | 7800
2020 | -£9k | Average | Fairly Basic | Poor | Poor | 7800
2022 | £55k | Adequate | Average | Poor | Poor | 7800
2023 | £42k | Adequate | Average | Basic | Poor | 7800
@Fadedaf well done on promotion + staying up, hope that puts a stop to the yo-yo-ing. Otherwise this had an eery feel of your Ultimate Challenge ACON attempts a couple of years back :z @XaW that U19 team thing is annoying, I was looking forward to the Iceland adventure! Maybe there is a nation even smaller that one could try...
19 minutes ago, thomas_e said:
Assistant manager runs senior training. HoYD runs U21 team training.
Our first year playing in Europe, and handling La Liga and the CL at the same time proved a great, but fun, challenge. We started really bad, only winning 2 out of our first 9 league games. For a long time we were floating around 12th to 17th place, and never finding any real form. At one stage the captain called a team meeting, not satisfies with my management. After I told them it was all their fault things started to get better. We did a few tactical changes, mostly individual instructions, and it paid off. We finished the season really strong and for the last remaining games we were fighting for a European spot. Unfortunately we finished the season with a dreadful 2-5 loss to Valencia, after being 2-0 up after 10 minutes... We finished 8th place, one single point from a European spot. But, to be fair, it its not Champions League, it doesnt matter that much. This gives me more time to rest players, and we have plenty of money.
The Champions League was a tough experience for us, ending with 2 points and a knockout from the group stage. We got drawn against Bayern Munchen, Liverpool and Benfica, so not an easy group. In the first game we were down 0-3 to Bayern at home after 14 minutes... the game actually ended 3-4, Bayern scoring the winner in the 89th minute...
All in all a pretty decent season. We managed to get a couple of points from a very tough CL group, and I cant be to unhappy with 8th place in the league. The media predictions had us again at 20th place, so what more can I ask really. Some of our young players took big steps this year, especially Senoussi and Tejero. Our stadium is being upgraded at the end of the season, and my training/youth facilities are once again being upgraded.
Our youth intake was, as last year, quite dissapointing. No real stand out players, which is a shame!
Goals for next season: Top 10
Season | League | Position | Copa Del Rey | Europe | Notes
2019/20 | Segunda Division B | 9th | 2ns round | N/A | Okay start up season
2020/21 | Segunda Division B | 2nd | 3rd round | N/A | Promoted through play off
2021/22 | La Liga 123 | 7th | 3rd round | N/A | Promoted through play off, back-to-back
2022/23 | La Liga | 10th | 2nd round | N/A | Great first season, finishing mid table
2023/24 | La Liga | 14th | 2nd round | N/A | No progress to speak of, managed to get worse
2024/25 | La Liga | 8th | 5th round | N/A | Solid season, finished 8th
2025/26 | La Liga | 11th | 4th round | N/A | Decent season, good club progress if not so much on the pitch
2026/27 | La Liga | 4th | 4th round | N/A | Amazing year, predicted 20th, finished 4th!
2027/28 | La Liga | 8th | 5th round | Group Stage | Pretty good year, tough start to CL
@dkouv The ACON from the Ultimate Challenge still haunts me! I never seem to do these challenges the easy way
9 hours ago, dkouv said:
@XaW that U19 team thing is annoying, I was looking forward to the Iceland adventure! Maybe there is a nation even smaller that one could try...
Like Northern Ireland?
I am thinking about Wales, but since I just played in England for so many seasons, I kind of look away from the British Iles when deciding were to go. I've started a couple of saves to get a feel for the leagues, but not made a decision yet, though I'm thinking about Hungary perhaps...
Btw, @darren1983, add me to the hall of fame!
darren1983
Team: Brentford
6 hours ago, XaW said:
I thought I had, I know I went to do it the day I saw you completed it but must have clicked out without saving, may bad. Updated now. Congrats.
15 minutes ago, darren1983 said:
Thanks! Felt a bit cheeky pushing myself into the hall of fame, though!
Haha, nah you were right too, I was going to smugly point out I'd added you already nut thankfully double checked and turns out I must have cancelled it
I was going to suggest Hungary.
So... I went for Hungary. I just love the names and the league. I did manage to win the Champions League with Budafok several years ago, but since they now play in the 2nd tier I had to find someone else. So I picked:
Yes, I picked Erzsébeti Spartacus Munkás Testgyakorlók Köre Labdarúgó Egyesület. The name really runs of the tongue.... ahem. The name should mean something along "Erzsébet Spartacus Worker Body Exercise Circle Football Association" according to google translate. Luckily, they are more commonly called ESMTK. I can't wait to hear the chants:
Oooohhhhh Up the Erzsébeti Spartacus Munkás Testgyakorlók Köre Labdarúgó Egyesület!
Anyway, I've just taken over the club and look forward to the glory I can bring to the club.
Edit: There seems to have been a transfer already in order when I took over.
Edited February 25 by XaW
andershs
Team: AGF, Aarhus, Denmark
Managing: Scarborough Athletic FC
Scarborough Athletic FC (England)
Season 1 - 2019/20
A very decent midtable finish and a respectable showing in the FA Cup.
League (Results 1 | Results 2 | Results 3 | Cups) - 10th in our first season in the Vanarama National League North was more than we could hope for. Very good start. I started optimistically with a tactic, I have
used in Chile and Colombia with great success, but it turned out, that the tactic did not fit to the ability of my players. After six games, I switched to a simple 4-4-2, and since that we stabilized.
We were not very good or very bad and avoided long losing streaks. Also satisfied to reach the first round of the FA Cup. Ended up as Manager of the Year as well.
Team - We lack some ability and quality in general. Two of my best players are my 32 year old striker Michael Coulson who had a strong season once he recovered from an injury and Will Annan who has been
out of contract the entire season. When Coulson retires and/or we lose Annan, I am worried what might become of this squad because we have no one nearly good enough to take over for either.
Other players from the spine of my team are Ross Killock and Matty Dixon.
Facilities - No upgrades. But we will move into a new, rented stadium for next season.
Finances - Our decent attendances and our low wage bill, means that the finances are decent. I am a bit worried what effect the new stadium in Kingston-Upon-Hull might mean for our main source of income gate
receipts next year.
Youth Intake - OK youth intake. Peter Walker looks good. Unfortunately no beast of a striker.
Goal next season: Survive again. Better intake facilities.
CHAMPIONS !!!!
A tight title race with alot of twists and turns. 8 rounds left I was leading with 5 points. But 4 rounds later I was 2nd, 2 points behind my old team Cesena just before playing them at home.
A great atmosphere with at record attendance of 4291 witness a very dramatic match with my boys finishing strong with a 5-2 win
I was back in the lead and managed to win my last two matches to secure the title
Have made a couple of sales to keep me floating atleast in the short term.
Doesnt seem like the promotion will give me any financial muscles. I will just see after the season how it looks.
But improved facilities still seems far away.
Youth intake was pretty good with again a couple of players that will improve my squad. Lorenzo Vitale and Vito Tagliani being the most promising.
2025/26 Serie C 1st Ghirardi 18 Tedesco 10 Rossatti 7.19 Adequate Belowe average Farly basic 5.500 ( 1228 )
Crossing my fingers I'm strong enough to stay in the Serie B. Also looking forward to play the Italian Cup, a competition I for some reason have been left out of.
GL too you all !!
I am flying through the seasons now, as it is a lot more fun when you aren't yo-yoing between the same two divisions! This year we were aiming at mounting a challenge for the playoffs and continuing our youth development.
Cup- We convincingly beat lower league Vestbyen in the first round 4-1, then upstaged Hønefoss BK from our division with a counterattacking 1-0 win away. We then faced 3rd division Skarp and a pretty poor performance, including a 92nd minute penalty save by my new backup GK, meant it went all the way to penalties where our heroic keeper saved another one and we went through to the 4th round. We faced Stromgodset, who were one of the worst teams in the premier league and I smelled an upset brewing. This was somewhat quelled by them going up 4-0 in the first half. My team realised they were playing a football game after I gave them the old hairdryer treatment at half time and we managed to pull back 3 goals but it wasn't enough. Still, I'm definitely pleased with making it to the 4th round.
League- Very similar to last year, we were pretty good but not great. A pretty poor start is ultimately what cost us, as we hovered in and out of the final playoff spot before finishing 3 points off in 8th. It was an encouraging season however and we should be able to improve next season. We lost no less than 9 league games by 1 goal so if our defence can develop a bit more we will start looking a lot better. Even then, if we just started reasonably instead of only managing 4 points from our first 6 games we would have made the playoffs.
Top goalscorer: Pål Langåker 19A (17 goals) Another solid and consistent season from our number 1 striker. He has now surpassed 100 goals for the club and is still just 25. He's going to end up setting quite a total for anyone to beat.
Most assists: Jørgen Solvang Nilsen (7 assists) The only player still left from when I took over, who is now 33 years old, is still playing incredibly well. I tried to rotate him out of the starting 11 for a few matches this season and he responded by scoring 4 goals in 2 games after I put him back in. He is definitely a legend of the club.
Highest avg rating: Nilsen (7.23)
Most POM: Nilsen (6)
MVP: Has to be Jørgen Solvang Nilsen
Best U23 player: Sigve Iversen 24A. This was a breakout season for 20 year old Sigve, who I really like as a player because he is so versatile. He is naturally a CM but usually plays as a LM for us. He's also a capable RM, AM and even RB where I've played him once. He also has 19 teamwork which is potentially the highest stat of anyone at the club.
Vidar Andersen 26A (Capped by Norway U19s)
Pål Langåker 19A (17 goals, 5 assists, 4 POM)
Rasmus Nilsen 20A (8 clean sheets)
Glenn Hoel (2 goals, 4 assists, 1 POM)
Torjus Krogstad 25A (10 goals, 4 assists, 1 POM)
Sigve Iversen 24A (5 goals, 6 assists, 2 POM)
Glenn Fritzøe Östman 28A (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 POM, Youngest ever appearance maker for the club)
Magnus Berg 22A (6 goals, 1 assist, 1 POM)
Overall I'm pretty satisfied with this season and I think we can definitely do even better next season where my aim is for us to make the playoffs. We're starting to get serious interest for a few of our players from Premier League teams, especially for Vidar Andersen 26A who has developed into a 4.5* beast of a CB at the age of 18 so need to work hard to keep them.
2028 1st Division 8th 4th Round - Langåker(17) Nilsen(7) Nilsen(7.23) Mid Table
Edited February 27 by Fadedaf
Things are looking good in Hungary.
Lost another "A" player in the winter transfer window.
AMC Antonio Gargiulo 22A leaves us for AC Milan for €6,250,000 with no future fee clauses. I was able to negotiate a 40% of next sale clause and arranged a friendly with AC Milan next summer. It wasn't the deal I wanted but it was the deal was stuck accepting. Nobody was going over €6,250,000 with the clauses that AC Milan (and Inter Milan) were offering. Napoli was offering €6,500,000 with no clauses but I turned that one down which upset Gargiulo.
Gargiulo appeared in 70 Super League matches and 78 matches in all competitions. He scored 11 goals and added 13 assists in those matches. Nevenko Markus 24D has already been called up as Gargiulo's replacement. Markus has more of a nose for goal than Gargiulo.
Our bank balance is now over €12 million. I'm undecided on if I want to keep this money in the bank account or do I spend some of it on more facility upgrades.
Edited February 26 by keeper#1
After two excellent intakes I wasn't expecting too much this year, and compared to the last two it is a bit disappointing. We did however get one very promising player and you never know if any of the others will develop into anything decent. I seem to have forgotten to take a screenshot on intake day so here's one from a few days later with a few other randoms from earlier intakes sprinkled in:
And here is the gem of this intake, Knudtzon:
The squad is already pretty stacked in the CM department, which is likely where this guy will play, so he may have to wait a few years before getting any match experience.
A pretty good youth intake with two standout players. I will still keep more since we have a distinct lack of backups in the squad.
Ticián Gál 20b is a very nice midfielder. Good physicals and impressive mental stats for his age. Needs a bit of work, but a real talent.
Statistics (only players with 1,000+ minutes b/c I screwed up the edit) -- Fixtures 1 -- Fixtures 2 -- Table-- Transfers -- Finances -- Commercial Summery
This was a tale of two seasons. The first half: we looked like a competent team. There was offensive movement. Goals were scored. The defense wasn't under constant pressure. Then, the winter break came and Antonio Garguilo 22A was sold to AC Milan. After the winter break, we played and looked like crap. The offense went in the tank. The defense was under constant pressure. Any goals and results we obtained felt like minor miracles. The strong first half put into a solid 6th place position. The terrible second half meant we couldn't push for a European place. This season, we got close to even went it came to goals scored and goals allowed. Hopefully, we can make it through the 2025-26 season without a player sold to be a big European club and we can have some season-long consistent play.
Players of the Season
LW Giulio Dini 22B (44%): Dini had a breakout season for us this season. This was Dini's first season with the senior team and he did not disappoint. He led the team with 10 assists while adding five goals. He is a physical and athletic beast. Needs to work on the mental side of his game if he wants to fully develop his game and help push us to better league finishes.
GK Christian Di Marco 21B (23%): Di Marco took over the starting goalkeeper job from Pelloni and ran with it. He struggled toward the end of the season when he was in a shooting gallery facing 15-25 shots per game. His breakout season earned a call-up to the Switzerland U21 team for the UEFA U-21 Championship.
RW Gianluca Barrasso 21D (20%): Barrasso on the right and Dini on the left gave us a lot of strength on the wings this season. Barrasso took over from Gil on the right. All three of our players of the season were players who took over a starting job from an established player. Barrasso was our second leading scorer with six goals and added three assists.
While not as good as last year's intake, Golden Generation V: The Depth Strikes Back provides a lot of depth. This intake has nine 4* potential players but only two 5* players. The downside to the intake is the depth is at positions where we are already deep. We are getting into dire need of full backs and center backs. The front six and the goalkeeper are developing nicely. The back four is putting a lot pressure on the other seven.
CF Claudio Verdelli 25A: Verdelli is a good all-around center forward. While I don't think he's in the class of Gentile 23A, he should be a serviceable replacement/rotation player going forward for us.
LW Slobodan Vasic 25B: Vasic provides us with yet another option on the left wing. He needs a lot of developing in the U21 team before he pushes into the senior squad. He is going to spend a lot of time as a back-up.
CM/RW Lorenzo Accattoli 25C: Accattoli gives a versatile option in the midfield. He can play both the center midfield and right wing. Like Verdelli and Vasic, he is going to need a lot of seasoning in the U21 team before getting a senior team call-up.
CF Raphael Johnson 25D : Johnson is the second center forward in the top-tier of this year's intake. He enters a very crowded position and will spend a good deal of time in the U21 team before he moves up to the senior team. He could be re-trained into the attacking midfield band.
GK Alessio Zanella 25E: Zanella is the best goalkeeper in this year's intake. Already has some of the best ball-handling of our goalkeeping group but needs to develop a lot of facets in his game before he can get moved up to the senior team even as a backup.
Switzerland had a good year when it comes to the Champions League and Europa League. The nation had fallen down to 20th in the rankings but this year saw the nation leapfrog up to 12th. This gives us another team in the Europa League competition while the Super League 2nd place finisher now enters the Champions League instead of the Europa League.
The chairman still will not build a new stadium for the club. So, I'm continuing to pour money into the training facilities to help the current players develop.
Wait, what?! After more than a season out of contract, you decide to leave us out of the blue...?
OK. I have feared this since his contract ran out. It will be interesting to see how the team will cope.
He was our best offensive player, and I have no player even close to as good to take over.
Edited February 28 by andershs
Domestic League : Allsvenskan - 3rd
Well, this was a great development! We changed things around a little bit, some of the kids took huge strides while grabbing the smallest of opportunities and it felt like we kicked on nicely.
After the great cup run (see below) we started the league campaign with a thud! We lost both of our first games without scoring and doubts began to creep in. We then won 5 of our next 6 (including two thumping away wins) and we did not look back after that. We have an annoying habit of letting in late goals, which did cost us a few points, but thankfully in other games they didn't hurt us. There was one small wobble in August when we lost 3 out of 4 and conceded 12 in the process, but then there always seems to be one! We even managed to do the double of the champions AIK, including a 1-0 last day of the season win which secured 3rd. It took an 89th minute OG to do it and vault from 4th to 3rd, but we will take it!
The massive revelation this year though was Niklas Oscarsson (10D) who exploded onto the scene and outshone other more highly touted youths. He scored two off the bench in a cup game and then after the 2 poor first league games I started him and he scored two again never looked back. The exclamation mark being 4 goals in one game, 4 games from the end of the season.
Domestic Cup : 2027-2028 edition - Lost in the semi finals
Our second great cup run in our 11 year journey so far and again Malmo played the role of party poopers. We almost didn't make it out of the group stages, as after winning our first two games we needed either any positive result or a loss by a single goal to progress. We went 3-2 down in the 91st minute to Falkenbergs FF and then endured a frantic next 4 additonal minutes but JUST held on. From there we won our quarter final 1-0 against Norrkoping before heartbreak in our Semi Final. Malmo scored a 93rd minute winner in a 7 goal thriller of a game.
Domestic Cup : 2028-2029 edition - Lost in 2nd Round
I cannot fathom out our team and this qualifying round against lower level opposition. I only made 2 changes to our first choice XI (1 enforced by injury) and we played horrendously again. An embarrassing 0-1 loss to Gefle, who we used to battle against in the early years of the challenge.
A very top heavy intake this year. I actually only signed the top 5 of them to youth deals and let the other 11 leave.
Shewangizaw Tebabal David (11A) - Possibly the best named player I have ever received! I have actually had to drop a letter from his name in game in order to add his youth tag! Now known to me purely as Dave, Shewangizaw looks like a future DC for sure. Tall, relatively pacey (both for his size and in terms of the rest of my defense) and determined. I will try and give him minutes in the first team as chances arise in games late on.
Dario Hadzic (11B) - My new retraining project! I want Dario to be my longer term left midfielder. Pacey and fairly well rounded, I have started giving him spot starts already and he even grabbed the ball and took & scored a penalty late on in a league game!
Simon Carlen (11C) - Simon has something my other forwards do not, natural finishing. He needs some polishing before challenging for senior starts I think (personality! and his starting trait is not great for a forward role hanging on the defenders shoulder) but he could be handy.
Johan Peterson (11D) - A defender who can play anywhere across the line. A little short for my liking back there, but fairly well rounded.
I will be happy again when this section reverts back to reporting on just outgoing loans......
It was always a worry, but Jonatan Hansson (08C)'s rise to starting on our right wing brought attention to his release clause his agent insisted on him having if he was going to sign a deal. Granted, the 500k at the time seemed extortionate when his value was so low, but his value shot up as his performances merited. He has 11 assists for us already by the time the big boys came in for him. He had the choice of both Milan clubs and chose Inter. The sad thing is, if not for the release clause I could have squeezed a LOT more out of them for sure, fixing our short term money issues.....
1st - Joakim Stromberg (08A) 35% - A career high haul of 17 goals, Joakim won the fans vote.
2nd - Selim Ari (03B) 28% - Captain marvel again for another great season in the middle of the park
3rd - Niklas Oscarsson (10D) 23% - Highway robbery! How did this kid not win the award this year?! 20 goals (a club record) in 32 appearances and a key part in our upturn in fortunes.
A massive feel good feeling around the club right now. 3rd place means we get to enter European competition for the first time next year, entering the EURO Cup in the 3rd qualifying round. Last year 3rd place gave entry to the Group Stages immediately, but Sweden dropped down 1 spot in the coefficients and it cost us.
The money will be a big plus and hopefully will help us back towards breaking even again for the first time in 4-5 years.
Shankly84
Managing: FC Chelyabinsk
I have got 5 seasons worth of uploads to put up today, so sorry in advance if I take over the thread today.
FC Chelyabinsk - FM Youth Challenge
SEASON 1 - Russian First Division
League Table - Player Stats - Team Stats - Results 1 - Results 2 - Results 3 - Transfers
Finances - Facilities - General - Club Profile - Manager Profile
Season Overview
So I decided to start this challenge in the Russian league. I wanted a team that had the potential to become the biggest club in the country. After looking at my options I decided to go with FC Chelyabinsk. This was mainly due to the fact that they seem to be the only proffesional football team in a city with a population of over a million people. Hopefully plenty potential for large attendances!!
The pre-season predictions had us down as 1000-1 to win the league, so my aim for the season was to simply stay in the division. The squad was decent and last seasons intake seemed to have given me a few younger players that I would already be able to work with. After an opening day defeat, we managed to pick 6 points up from our next 2 games and managed to keep on picking enough wins up to keep us away from the relegation zone. In April we managed to come away from Anji with an impressive 2-1 win, showing that we maybe had the potential to get somewhere this season. Following 2 poor results, an 8 game unbeaten run before the winter break had us sat in 4th place, just 5 points of the top as we went into the interval. It took 4 games for us to regain our form after the break and things were steady enough that with 3 games to go we were sat in 4th place in the play-off spot. A 2-2 draw at home to Zenit-2 on the last day of the season meant we snook into 4th place by a point and had reached the play-off. We would be playing Premier League Ufa for a place in the top league. A credible 1-1 draw away from home in the 1st leg had me feeling like we could do it. Despite going a goal behind in the 2nd leg, we found ourselves 3-1 up by the 56th minute and it looked like we were going up. However, it wasn't to be. A bit of a dissapointed collapse saw us eventually lose the game 5-3 and to lose 6-4 on aggregate. Overall though an outstanding season given that the odds were completely against us.
Andrey Biryukov - Our main striker and main source of goals, finishing the season with 19 goals in 40 appearences.
Ilja Kiselev - A young winger from last seasons intake.
Mikhail Belov - Central midfielder who chipped in with 7 goals.
Ones To Look Out For
Yakov Bakulin - 17 year old right winger from the previous seasons intake. A solid start to proffesional football with 6 goals in 19 games.
Vladimir Kuznetzov - Another one from the previous intake. The 18 year old centre back established himself as a first team player by the end of the season and finished with an average rating of 6.90 from 13 games.
Vadim Gorbunov - Goalkeeper from my first intake, who ended the season as number 1 despite being only 16 years old. A goof 6.93 average rating despite conceding 20 goals in only 9 games.
Georgey Mukhametshin - The third player on the list from last seasons intake. A solid start to life in the first team. Hopefully can kick on next season.
A good start with the intake, with goalkeeper Gorbunov finding his way into the first team by the end of the season.
League Table - Player Stats - Team Stats - Results 1 - Results 2 - Transfers
Despite still being massive outsiders at 600-1, I felt that we could puch on this year after our exploits in the previous season. The season started off in a fairly dissapointed manner, picking up just 4 points out of a possible 12. A couple of wins in the league was followed by 4 league defeats on the trot. This wasn't really going as we had planned. A change in formation before the Zenit game (in the cup) was meant to freshen things up, but it couldn't of gone any worse. An embarraing 12-1 defeat at home!! I stuck with the formation though and it brought us massive success. 11 wins out of our next 16 games before the winter break meant that we finished for the break sat in 6th place. We were now only 6 points of the top but more importantly we were 19 points clear of the relegation zone. After the break things carried on from where we had left off only losing 2 games between the break and end of season. A last dat win over Nizhniy Novogrod meant that we would finish the season in 2nd place and were automatically promoted!! After the success I was awarded with the manager of the year award.
Off the field we had the first instance of the board accepting a bid for a player that we didn't want to leave, with Mukhametshin moving on to Ural for a fee of £220,000.
Andrey Biryukov - Kicked on from last season and managed an impressive 34 goals in just 32 games. Finished top goalscorer in the league.
Ilja Kiselev - Another good season for the young winger managing 10 goals and 7 assists.
Mikhail Belov - Another good season for the central midfielder.
Vadim Gorbunov - 17 Goalkeeper made the number 1 spot his own. A big future at the club.
Artem Markov - Came through last seasons youth intake and starting to be involved with the first team.
Besik Bakradze - Georgian left back from this seasons intake. Already making an argument to start as first choice.
Evgeniy Ovchinnikov - Right back from the intake already making the spot his own.
Igor Kozaev - 15 year old striker with 2 goals already to his name. Youngest ever goalscorer in the Russian First Division.
Yakov Bakulin - The 18 year old winger carried on from last year and won the young player of the year award.
A decent intake with Igor Kozaev looking the pick of the bunch.
On Field Progress
Off Field Progress
Edited March 1 by Shankly84
Bubbles_DK
Team: Hvidovre IF
Managing: B1908 (YAC)
I'm going to try again - this time in Italy and Lupa Roma (if they get promoted at some point)
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Captain Marvel – A Hero Unleashed
Heroes, Leadership
Heeral Gudka
What would happen if you were consistently discouraged from using your strengths? Maybe you’d always be trying to prove yourself, and failing.
What would you start to believe about yourself if you didn’t know your own history of how you came to be who you are and where you are? That there is no place for you anywhere.
Vers (Captain Marvel), is this person for a good portion of the film. She doesn’t know her own backstory, she has unexplained powers which she is stopped from using and is always trying to prove to herself and others that she has got what it takes. Whatever “it” is.
The film is a psychological odyssey of a leader’s rise to power.
Vers – the Kree she’s become
Vers has spent 6 years living with the Kree, a powerful race of “noble warrior heroes” at war with the Skrulls. She has been taken in as one of them, and even been given a Kree blood transfusion. As far as Vers knows she is a Kree.
Her time there is one of confusion – amnesia and patchy dreams serve to agitate Vers and make her restless. All the more so when her natural inclinations to use her powers and to fight by using her intuition are denied.
“Control your impulses” she’s told, as a knock-out blow is delivered in combat training, “There is nothing more dangerous for a warrior than emotion.”
All Vers wants is an opportunity, to be given some responsibility, to know that her mentor and commander Yon-Rogg believes she’s got what it takes to be a reliable and strong member of the StarForce team. But she keeps getting told by Rogg, “You’re not as strong as you think.”
Carol Danvers – the human she was
The patchy dreams and amnesia hide a truth Vers isn’t aware of – she’s human; Carol Danvers, a fighter pilot with the US Air Force. When the memories are triggered and come flooding back, she remembers a lifetime of being knocked down and told that she wasn’t good enough. Of being told by her father that girls weren’t meant to do certain things, of being told by an obnoxious fighter pilot, “You do know why they call it the cockpit?”.
Yes, she is unafraid in combat and a very quick learner, but suffers knock-back after knock-back and has no anchor to hold on to – Danvers is confused. She has powers she doesn’t understand, she has no family, her identity is in tatters.
It’s only once she reclaims a long-lost connection with her best friend, Maria Rambeau, and establishes a stronger emotional core that Danvers starts to regain her self-belief. We all need someone to cheer for us and Rambeau does just that. “You were the most powerful person I know long before you could shoot fire out of your hands.
Captain Marvel – the hero she’s meant to be
Missing from the myriad memories Danvers has of failure is that she always stood back up, despite the negativity exuding from her father, other children and later from fighter-pilots. And it’s the closing of this gap that really unleashes the strength she’s always had.
Captain Marvel emerges from the ruins of amnesia and takes her place as the most powerful person in the universe. Even Thanos needed a specially designed gauntlet to wield the power of the infinity stones. Captain Marvel’s body basically is an infinity stone, having absorbed powers from the universe’s primary objet de force, the Tesseract.
She embraces her power, shows she has nothing to prove to anyone, not even her mentor Yon-Rogg, and sets out to end an unjust war.
The leader we need
What Captain Marvel shows us is that it might take years before we are fully able to accept and embrace our strengths. But that quitting is not an option if we want to make a difference. She is a beacon to those around her, inspiring awe and fear in the right amounts amongst the right people.
The film gives us everything we’ve come to expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, from thrills to humour, tying up some loose ends and leaving others frayed to make sure we head straight back to the cinema upon the next release.
But what the film really shows us is how we all need a few simple (but not easy to find) things as we discover our inner leader and step up to the challenge:
Self-actualisation – we can’t achieve our potential if we are held back, by others or ourselves
Perseverance – Captain Marvel gets knocked down, but ALWAYS stands back up
Support – no leader can lead on their own, they need a trusted circle of confidantes
Instinct and emotion – humans are hard-wired to use their hearts and their heads, to deny one over the other is to deny who we are
With the Endgame in sight, Captain Marvel is the noble warrior hero we need.
Tags:Captain Marvelheroesleadershipmarvel
Endgame: Here’s why the Avengers mean business
Captain America – Old Style Values in a New World
Our Marvel Blog Series
Would You Want A Leader Like You?
Graham Field on Thanos – the mad Titan
Cultural Intelligence
I&D
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Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World Book 1) by Rebecca Roanhorse
Someone please cancel Supernatural already and give us at least five seasons of this badass indigenous monster-hunter and her silver-tongued sidekick.” —The New York Times
“An excitingly novel tale.” —Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series and Midnight Crossroads series
“Fun, terrifying, hilarious, and brilliant.” —Daniel José Older, New York Times bestselling author of Shadowshaper and and Star Wars: Last Shot
“[C]rafts a powerful and fiercely personal journey through a compelling postapocalyptic landscape.” —Kate Elliott, New York Times bestselling author of Court of FivesBlack Wolves
While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do
The Get ‘Em Girls’ Guide to the Power by Shakara Bridgers
The Unknown Kimi Raikkonen by Kari Hotakainen
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Economy January 6, 2015 | 11:34 am
Dominican Republic’s One-stop Foreign Trade Window is official
Santo Domingo.- Customs director Fernando Fernández revealed Tuesday that president Danilo Medina signed Executive order creating the One-stop Foreign Trade Window, a single entity to conduct all export-import procedures.
The official said the law authorizes the unification of the actions of 13 or 14 entities to issue foreign trade permits.
"We were working so that the Executive Branch issued a decree to establish the One-stop Foreign Trade Window. Customs had already been implementing a pilot plan with Indocal and the Finance Ministry to unify the actions of 13 or 14 institutions that have the power to issue permits or other documents required to import or ex porting," Fernandez said.
He said the one-stop window can provide importers or exporters all necessary permits. "The Executive Branch recently issued the decree, and we’re now going to spread this great news for Dominican businesses this week on the existence of a decree obliging banks related to foreign trade to join the Customs pilot program wich already has been working during four months.
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Edmonton Oilers suffer another crushing weekend defeat
Updated: November 18, 2018 10:18 PM MDT
After giving up four straight goals in a humbling loss to the Calgary Flames Saturday, Edmonton Oilers fans didn’t think it could get any worse.
It did.
How about five straight goals against one night later?
Things went from bad to worse this weekend as the floundering Oilers lost for the sixth time in their last seven games, following up their 4-2 defeat in Calgary with a 6-3 home ice loss to the Golden Knights.
With the bitter taste of Calgary still fresh in their mouths and the desperation meter flicking well into the red, fans came to the building fully expecting to see a dominant show of force from a team with something to prove.
Didn’t happen. For the second night in a row the Oilers staked themselves an early lead and then wilted when the other side dug in and fought back.
Things started out OK, with Edmonton up 2-1 after 20, then the roof fell in in the opening minutes of the second period. It was a full-on collapse.
Cody Eakin scored short-handed at 2:21, Max Pacioretty scored at even strength at 3:53 and Jonathan Marchessault scored on a power play at 4:33. Three goals on four shots in 2:12. And before anyone in a stunned Rogers Place even knew what happened, their Sunday evening was ruined.
Third period comeback? Nope. Vegas scored at 34 seconds and again at 3:04 and it was game over.
FALLING AWAY
Saturday’s loss in the Saddledome made Sunday even more important for an Oilers team that knows better than anyone the danger of letting too many teams and too many points get between you and the last playoff spot.
The standings aren’t getting away from them yet — the Oilers were only three points out of the last wild card spot when the night began — but their recent slump used up all of their breathing room.
With U.S. Thanksgiving approaching, and history showing that teams out of the playoffs at that point almost never climb back in, Edmonton has to turn this thing in the other direction in a hurry.
NET RETURNS
Cam Talbot returned to the net after watching Mikko Koskinen get the start in Saturday’s marquee game against the Flames and it was one of those nights.
Between the deflections, screens and bad bounces like the one that went in off of Matt Benning’s leg, he allowed four goals on the first 10 Vegas shots and then a couple more early in the third period with the game still up for grabs.
It wasn’t all his fault, but he didn’t help. And it wasn’t at all the kind of night he and the Oilers were looking for out of him in a game they needed to win.
The battle for the starting job in Edmonton has now shifted firmly into Mikko Koskinen’s stall. The big Finn turned in a strong effort in Saturday’s loss and sits 4-2-0 with a 2.60 GAA while Talbot has lost five of his last six while his save percentage dips into the .890s.
BEARING DOWN
The lack of finish on the Oilers is becoming a glaring problem. They went 0-for-3 on breakaways when the game was theirs for the taking in Calgary and whiffed on three more chances from around the net Sunday against Vegas. Milan Lucic, Patrick Russell and Zack Kassian all had glorious opportunities to score in the first period alone and came away empty.
Put a couple of those away in Calgary and again at home and there is a very different vibe around this team right now.
PTO-FFENCE
Say what you will about the bad moves Peter Chiarelli made as general manager here, and a lot of them are the reason the Oilers are in the situation they are in, but bringing Alex Chiasson to camp on a PTO has been a windfall.
His second goal in as many games Sunday gives him eight, which is third in team scoring behind only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. He was an afterthought when he arrived here, but in a very short time has played himself into a key role in Edmonton’s offence. Such as it is.
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JOURNALIST + AUTHOR + BLOGGER + PODCASTER + GASTRONOMAD
Mike Elgan
Headline of the moment: "Are You Kidding Me With This Shit, Jenny McCarthy?"
Here's the dumbest thing I've heard all afternoon. Jenny McCarthy posted a video on Facebook "proving" that her house is haunted. She hears a piano playing, yet, as the video shows, nobody is sitting at the piano.
So McCarthy comes to the most logical conclusion: It's a ghost!
The post sets off a wave of "reports," that take the "haunting" as fact.
Conde Nast's Architectural Digest ran a piece saying that McCarthy "realizes" that "it's probably a song from the spirit world." The headline says the video "proves" it. The article's writer says that McCarthy's house "honestly, probably is haunted." (Don't get me started about this use of the word "honestly.")
Billboard Magazine flatly "reports" that "Jenny McCarthy is being haunted by a ghost, and she's got the footage to prove it."
House Beautiful wrote that "I don't know about you, but I'm fully convinced there's a ghost lurking around this house."
Turns out, however, that the piano sound was just McCarthy's own Google Home device powering up.
So far, neither McCarthy nor the air-head publications taking her stupidity seriously are posting corrections.
Jezebel, however, is reporting it under the headline "Are You Kidding Me With This Shit, Jenny McCarthy?"
Yes, Jezebel. That's the right headline.
No, idiots. When one hears a piano sound, the most logical conclusion is not that a ghost is doing it. Video of a piano sound doesn't "prove" that a ghost is haunting some celebrity's house.
Ghosts don't exist. But what's scary is that even in an age of home AI, people with influence can say in public they believe in ghosts, and that publications will report that they believe, too.
Outside the English-Speaking World, IPA Is an Acronym
Phrase of the moment: "underwater pokeball"
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EU and US urge restraint as dozens killed in Turkey coup attempt
Clashes included strikes by Erdogan-loyal F-16 jets against tanks that had taken up positions outside parliament in the capital city. (Photo: svenwerk)
BRUSSELS, 16. Jul 2016, 11:44
The EU and US have urged Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to show restraint after a failed coup d’etat led to military clashes and dozens of deaths in Ankara and Istanbul.
Turkish officials told local media on Saturday (16 July) that at least 90 civilians and 104 military personnel lost their lives in overnight violence, with more than 1,000 people injured.
Erdogan: "The most important thing right now is that millions of Turkish citizens are on the streets" (Photo: Council of the European Union)
The clashes included strikes by Erdogan-loyal F-16 jets against tanks that had taken up positions outside parliament in the capital city.
A bomb inside parliament killed 12 people. Soldiers from the military faction that tried to seize power reportedly also fired live ammunition at Erdogan-loyal crowds on a bridge across the Bosphorus in Istanbul and in Taksim square in the city centre.
Speaking from an EU-Asia summit in Mongolia the same day, EU Council leader Donald Tusk said: “Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government [of Erdogan], the institutions of the country and the rule of law”.
He called for a “swift return to Turkey’s constitutional order" and said the situation cannot be resolved by firepower alone.
The EU foreign service said "any escalation of violence involving civilians has to be avoided".
The White House said in a statement “all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed”.
The Nato military alliance, of which Turkey is a member, also called for "full respect" for Turkey's democratic institutions.
The shocking events unfolded late on Friday when tanks and soldiers rolled into Turkey’s two main cities, taking control of Istanbul’s main airport, bridges, public squares and some state-run media.
The rogue military group said in a statement that they did it "to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms".
It promised to create a “peace council” to rule the country and to draft a new constitution.
Erdogan was at the time on holiday in the seaside resort of Marmaris in south-west Turkey.
He said in a message broadcast by videophone on CNN-Turk from an unknown location: “I urge the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports. There is no power higher than the power of the people”.
He added that the “chain of command has been violated. This is a step against the higher ranks, and the judiciary will swiftly respond to this attack.”
He then flew to Istanbul on Saturday morning, amid reports that the rogue soldiers had begun to surrender en masse to Erdogan-loyal crowds.
Addressing one gathering of people in the city, he said: “The government is in control … We are in charge and we will continue exercising our powers until the end. We will not abandon our country to these invaders.”
He later said on TV “It will end well… The most important thing right now is that millions of Turkish citizens are on the streets.”
His office added in a statement that the plotters would “pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey”, amid reports that more than 1,500 military personnel had been detained.
Turkey’s acting military chief, Umit Dundar, said on TV: “The coup attempt was rejected by the chain of command immediately. The people have taken to the streets and voiced their support for democracy”.
Speaking from exile in the US, Fethullah Gulen, an influential Islamic teacher who is hostile to Erdogan, said he “categorically” rejected accusations of his involvement in the events.
The attempted coup is the fifth such event in the country since 1960.
Erdogan’s party, the AKP, won recent elections in a mostly free and fair ballot.
But the president has in the past two years cracked down on opposition parties, journalists, independent judges and prosecutors in developments criticised by the EU.
EU gives up on Turkey visa deadlines
EU silence on Turkey abuses is 'shameful'
EU trying to bury report on Turkey migrant returns
Muted EU response to Turkey's attack on opposition MPs
Turkish leaders start crackdown after failed coup
EU fears Turkey crackdown could 'destroy' relations
Turkish citizens will not get visa-free travel to the EU by the end of June, and the commission now admits it cannot give a date for completion of the deal.
Can Dundar, editor-in-chief of the opposition daily Cumhuriyet in Turkey, says the EU has lost credibility after kowtowing to Erdogan's authoritarianism.
The EU's asylum agency in Malta is working to determine if Turkey is safe enough to return asylum seekers. Their probe has riled the EU commission and some EU states who want it to stop.
EU ministers said Turkey must fulfil all conditions before visa regime lifted. Ankara's decision to strip immunity of opposition MPs to be dealt with later.
Thousands of Turkish military personnel and judges have been arrested, while president Erdogan accused US-exiled cleric Gulen of trying to topple him.
EU ministers and officials have urged Turkey’s leader to respect the law in his handling of an apparent coup, amid fears his crackdown could "destroy" EU relations.
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Prevention of Radiographic-Contrast-Agent–Induced Reductions in Renal Function by Acetylcysteine
Posted By: A Delaney
E-Mail: apdelane@doh.health.nsw.gov.au
Posted Date: 23/5/02
Title: Prevention of Radiographic-Contrast-Agent–Induced Reductions in Renal Function by Acetylcysteine
Authors: Martin Tepel, M.D., Marcus van der Giet, M.D., Carola Schwarzfeld, Ulf Laufer, M.D., Dieter Liermann, M.D., and Walter Zidek, M.D.
Reference: NEJM 2000;343:180-184
Abstract: Background Radiographic contrast agents can cause a reduction in renal function that may be due to reactive oxygen species. Whether the reduction can be prevented by the administration of antioxidants is unknown.
Methods We prospectively studied 83 patients with chronic renal insufficiency (mean [±SD] serum creatinine concentration, 2.4±1.3 mg per deciliter [216± 116 µmol per liter]) who were undergoing computed tomography with iopromide, a nonionic, low-osmolality contrast agent. Patients were randomly assigned either to receive the antioxidant acetylcysteine (600 mg orally twice daily) and 0.45 percent saline intravenously, before and after administration of the contrast agent, or to receive placebo and saline.
Results Ten of the 83 patients (12 percent) had an increase of at least 0.5 mg per deciliter (44 µmol per liter) in the serum creatinine concentration 48 hours after administration of the contrast agent: 1 of the 41 patients in the acetylcysteine group (2 percent) and 9 of the 42 patients in the control group (21 percent; P=0.01; relative risk, 0.1; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.02 to 0.9). In the acetylcysteine group, the mean serum creatinine concentration decreased significantly (P<0.001), from 2.5±1.3 to 2.1±1.3 mg per deciliter (220±118 to 186±112 µmol per liter) 48 hours after the administration of the contrast medium, whereas in the control group, the mean serum creatinine concentration increased nonsignificantly (P=0.18), from 2.4±1.3 to 2.6±1.5 mg per deciliter (212±114 to 226± 133 µmol per liter) (P<0.001 for the comparison between groups).
Conclusions Prophylactic oral administration of the antioxidant acetylcysteine, along with hydration, prevents the reduction in renal function induced by iopromide, a nonionic, low-osmolality contrast agent, in patients with chronic renal insufficiency.
1. Was the assignment of patients to treatments randomized? ( Was allocation concealment maintained?)
The authors state that the patients were randomly assigned, but no details of the method of randomisation or the concealment of randomisation is given.
2. Were all patients who entered the trial properly accounted for and attributed at its conclusion?
2a. Was followup complete?
All 83 patients appear to have been followed up for 48 hours. The data for the 6 day follow up is not fully presented.
2b. Were patients analyzed in the groups to which they were randomized?
Yes, the analysis was done on an intention-to-treat basis.
3. Were patients, health workers, and study personnel blind to treatment?
There is no mention of blinding in the trial. Acetylcysteine has a distinctive odour, so it is unlikely that the patients were blinded, unless the placebo group were given a medication that smelled of rotten eggs!
4. Were the groups similar at the start of the trial?
There were no statistically significent differences in the two groups at baseline.
5. Aside from the experimental intervention, were the groups treated equally?
Yes. Both groups received the same dose of contrast and the same regime of iv fluids. However oral fluid intake was not controlled for.
1. How large was the treatment effect?
The end point measured was a decline in renal function defined as a rise in serum creatinine of 0.5mg/dL (44micromol/L). A decline in renal function occured in 9/42 (21%) in the control group and 1/41 (2%) of the treatment group.This difference was statistically sigificant P= 0.01 This gives a relative risk reduction of 90%, an absolute risk reduction of 19% and the NNT would be 5.
2. How precise was the estimate of the treatment effect?
The 95% CI for the ARR range from 6% to 32% and so the NNT would be from 3 to 17 patients to prevent one episode of decline in renal function.
1. Can the results be applied to my patient care?
The study population were people with mildly elevated serum creatinine levels which were stable, who required elective CT scanning. There are many patients to whom this could apply. It should be pointed out that patients at risk of acute renal failure (hypotensive, septic etc) were not included and so this data could not yet be extrapolated to an acutley ill population of patients. Only one radiographic contrast agent was used in the trial, and so the results may not be generalisable to all types of radiographic contrast. In order for the results to apply to your patients they would also need to be able to be in hospital for 24 hours for intravenous saline to be administered.
I don't think so. A small change in serum creatinine is a surrogate marker for outcome. The patients were not followed to see whether this decline in renal function was sustained past 6 days or lead to the commencement of dialysis at an earlier stage. The decline in renal function as defined was statistically significant, but probably was not clinincally significant. Of note is the fact that no patient required dialysis as a result of reduced renal function. There was no discussion of the cost of admitting all patients at risk of this decline in renal function for at least 24 hours for the intravenous saline administration.
3. Are the likely treatment benefits worth the potential harms and costs?
The reported adverse effects appeared to be similar in both groups, and were relatively mild. At this stage oral acetylcysteine, when used in combination with 24 hours of intravenous saline and liberal oral fluids, in patients with chronic, stable, mildly elevated serum creatinine levels, appears to prevent a decline (in the short term) in renal function associated with the use of a radiographic contrast agent. It would be premature to judge the likely cost-benefit ratio until it can be ascertained that this change in serum creatinine is a marker for a more sigificant clinical outcome. Further study to determine whether this therapy could be used to prevent acute renal failure in an at risk population (hypotensive, septic ...) and to follow-up patients for a longer period to determine whether the decline in renal function is sustained may shed further light onto the clinical utility of this therapy.
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Home / Music / Album Reviews
Album Review: Dave’s PSYCHODRAMA
“Stop all the pain. How do you stop all the pain?” Dave’s opens his debut album with an inquisition into his own mental health – and the next 51 minutes are spent encouraging the same self-evaluation from his listeners. Appending certain tracks with snippets of a therapy session, Dave leaves facetious hip-hop skits behind in favour of a weighty narrative of introspection that cares about individuals and the tensions that shape them. And from these sensitive roots grew a work of ambition and resonance. Spinning off the success of the 2017 EP, Game Over, Dave’s PSYCHODRAMA is informed by the tangible vitality of grime and the vulnerability of spoken word, but it explores all of the dark crevices in between. This is rap music that refuses to simply satisfy and exhilarate. It’s determined to confront personal pain and social injustice across 11, palpable snapshots of urban life.
Dave leaves facetious hip-hop skits behind in favour of a weighty narrative of introspection
His flows slip seamlessly between deep, bouncing pulses and spare piano arrangements, with equal parts grit and wit. As we’ve come to expect from the prolific 20-year-old, the lyricism is slick, biting, and at points jaw-dropping; each track builds a tight web of clever phrasing and sizzling wordplay that serves his reflections on family and identity as well as it does his socio-political probing. “I turned a loss to a lesson”, he remarks on ‘Screwface Capital’, in a punchy reminder of the emotional costs of city life, and a confirmation that he’s as efficient in simplicity. The track plays out to a hypnotic, jazz-skewed keyboard solo, in one of the album’s most intriguing diversions.
each track builds a tight web of clever phrasing and sizzling wordplay
Brave in content and form, Dave doesn’t shy from brutal truths: he laments an abusive relationship for 11 minutes on ‘Lesley’, and caps his debut with ‘Drama’, a 7-minute reflection on his career, his family, and the pain that’s got him to this point. He offers poppier outings on ‘Voices’ and ‘Location’ with a hint of old-school garage, but no integrity is lost in the process – every loose thread is anchored down by self-reflexive weight: Dave knows who he is and where he is, and draws boundaries around his art. In the midst of his lamentation over women suffering in abusive relationships during ‘Lesley’, he remarks “I understand that I could never understand” – a commendable and necessary awareness that his persuasive lyricism is not dogma.
Dave draws boundaries around his art
The 11 tracks are draining, and it’s a fair price we have to pay for this pointed exploration of heavy themes. The gloves are off, and we feel the full impact of every punch. But there’s a point where I was left pondering what Dave wants to be. Poetic storyteller? Political commentator? Mouthpiece of a community? And the more I listen, the more I understand my own critical shortcoming – in trying to understand its coherence, I ended up searching for homogeneity. A homogeneity that doesn’t, and shouldn’t exist.
there’s a point where I was left pondering what Dave wants to be
“Black is people naming your countries on what they trade most” – on the album’s stirring centrepiece, ‘Black’, Dave sketches out the stubborn social parasite of racial inequality, dismantling the homogenous lens through which the ‘white’ elite continues to view ‘black’ culture. The song is a multi-layered defence of his racial identity – its pain, its beauty, and its value – and the album as a whole extrapolates this unapologetic celebration of selfhood onto a broader frame. And although Dave brings the message to his front door on the pulsating, angry ‘Streatham’, he’s speaking to black, urban communities everywhere.
Dave sketches out the stubborn social parasite of racial inequality
Dave looks to articulate what the media and the political elite so lazily overlook – a community is constructed and defined by its individuals; by both their successes and their sufferings. And as PSYCHODRAMA flicks from pulsating grime beats to subtle, skewed sampling, to ominously ambient minimalism – all while sitting atop Dave’s mellow, careful piano riffs – it feels like Dave is holding up a mirror to his own, diverse surroundings. What we’re left with is a pertinent, urgent defence of communities that are persistently misunderstood and generalised. A fast-paced, chaotic lifestyle doesn’t obscure political and emotional intelligence.
Dave looks to articulate what the media and the political elite so lazily overlook
“You’re my therapy” Dave confesses as he speaks directly to us on ‘Psycho’. For the youngster who grew up freestyling and mastering the piano, PSYCHODRAMA seems to offer a very real sense of therapeutic release – a proud tapestry of his artistic and emotional voyage. But the album is as inviting as it is intimate. He speaks for his community, but he simultaneously pleads his listeners to look inward themselves – he wants us to understand our own shortcomings, and reconcile our own pain. And I’m left accepting this invite, and thinking about that line on ‘Lesley’ – as a white, middle-class kid, there is a limit to what I can ‘understand’ about the importance of this vital album. Potent, challenging, and healing – it is a work beyond me, and a work beyond anything else in the British rap scene.
Mar 28, 2019 By Ben Faulkner Filed Under: Album Reviews, Music Tagged With: London, adele, british, Therapy, rap, grime, concept album, urban, stormzy, Wiley
Tweets by Exeposé Music
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Trump says could send illegal migrants to ‘sanctuary cities’
Trump’s announcement on Twitter reversed a previous White House assurance that the idea – criticised as political retribution against cities led by opposition Democrats – had been dropped.
Published by Saima Siddiqui April 13, 2019 | 10:01 am
trump-says-could-send-illegal-migrants-to-sanctuary-cities
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he is seriously considering funnelling detained illegal migrants into the self-declared sanctuary cities that oppose his tough immigration policies.
ALSO READ: Delhi CEO directs BJP to not air content on NaMo TV without certification
“Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities,” Trump said on Friday.
“The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy — so this should make them very happy!” he tweeted.
The Washington Post earlier revealed the proposal, which would mark a new flashpoint in the ever growing political divide over immigration.
Trump has staked his presidency on his insistence that the United States is being overrun by migrants and asylum seekers.
But opponents, mostly in the Democratic Party, say his push for building more walls on the Mexican border and his almost daily denunciations of migrants as dangerous criminals incites racial hatred.
ALSO READ: Jallianwala Bagh massacre centenary: Rahul, Amarinder pay floral tributes
In comments to reporters later, Trump said that he wanted Congress, where the House of Representatives is controlled by Democrats, to tighten visas and streamline the deportation process.
Otherwise, he warned, he’ll order migrants to be dumped on the sanctuary cities.
“If they don’t agree we might as well do what they say they want…. We’ll bring them to sanctuary city areas and let that particular area take care of it,” he said. “We can give them an unlimited supply.”
Sanctuary cities are places where local authorities — usually Democratic-run — have refused to hand over undocumented immigrants for deportation.
Citing homeland security officials and leaked emails, the Post said White House officials first broached the plan in November, asking several agencies whether members of a caravan of migrants could be arrested at the border and then bussed “to small- and mid-sized sanctuary cities”.
The White House told the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) that the plan was intended to alleviate a shortage of detention space, but would also send a message to Democrats, the Post said.
The suggested policy was pushed back within ICE, with a top official saying it was rife with concerns and noting “there are PR risks as well”.
After the White House pressed the issue again earlier this year, ICE rebuffed it as “inappropriate.” The Post said a White House official and a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security said the proposal was no longer under consideration.
“This was just a suggestion that was floated and rejected, which ended any further discussion,” a White House statement said.
One of the centers targeted was the constituency of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose office on Thursday blasted the plan.
“The extent of this administration’s cynicism and cruelty cannot be overstated,” said Pelosi spokeswoman Ashley Etienne.
“Using human beings — including little children — as pawns in their warped game to perpetuate fear and demonize immigrants is despicable.” Trump’s all-out fight with the Democrats over immigration comes as border agents report being overwhelmed by the number of migrants and people demanding asylum after fleeing violent Central American countries.
The number of immigrant detainees in ICE custody has approached 50,000 in recent months, the Post said, an all-time high that has strained the agency’s budget.
ALSO READ: Maha Lok Sabha poll: Around 62% voting in 6 LS seats in 1st phase
(PTI)
#us
Trumps illegal migrant policy
5.9 magnitude earthquake rocks parts of Assam
Election to politically-sensitive Patkura assembly seat on
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Home / Posts tagged “Line of Control”
Tag: Line of Control
Google, Kashmir, Line of Control, Moscow, Pakistani, Poonch, RT, Ruptly, Russia, russiatoday, VK Follow, Washington
Pakistani shell hit house in Kashmir’s Poonch, mother and 2 children killed
Three members of a family were killed after a Pakistani shell hit their house along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir’s Poonch district on Saturday morning, according to officials.
The mother and her 5 year-old and nine-month-old children died during the shelling, according to reports that cite officials.
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Categories: News, Videos
Tags: Google, Kashmir, Line of Control, Moscow, Pakistani, Poonch, RT, Ruptly, Russia, russiatoday, VK Follow, Washington
afp, India-Pakistan, Indian, Kashmir, Line of Control, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan
Funeral held for civilian killed in India-Pakistan gunbattle
Mourners attend the funeral of a civilian man who was killed in a gunfight between Indian and Pakistan troops on the Line of Control (LoC) on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Tags: afp, India-Pakistan, Indian, Kashmir, Line of Control, Muzaffarabad, Pakistan
Google, India, Indian, Islamabad, Kashmir, Line of Control, Moscow, New Dehli, Pakistan, RT, Russia, russiatoday, VK Follow, Washington
Civilians killed as India & Pakistan exchange shelling on Kashmir border
Tension between India & Pakistan shows no sign of abating: overnight 3 civilians have been killed in cross border shelling. Pakistan says Indian troops targeted villagers along the Line of Control in Kashmir.
The standoff between New Dehli and Islamabad has escalated dramatically since a terror attack on an Indian police convoy last month, killed at least 40 officers. READ MORE: https://on.rt.com/9peh
Tags: Google, India, Indian, Islamabad, Kashmir, Line of Control, Moscow, New Dehli, Pakistan, RT, Russia, russiatoday, VK Follow, Washington
afp, Indian, Kashmir, Line of Control, Pakistan, Pakistani
Images of plane wreckage in Pakistan
Pakistani soldiers and civilians stand next to what Pakistan says is the wreckage of an Indian fighter jet shot down in Pakistani controlled Kashmir near the Line of Control. IMAGES
Tags: afp, Indian, Kashmir, Line of Control, Pakistan, Pakistani
afp, India, Indians, Kashmir, Line of Control, New Delhi, Pakistan
Pakistanis leave homes near Line of Control
Pakistanis living near the Line of Control, the de facto border in Kashmir, pack their belongings and leave their homes as tensions with India escalate after both India and Pakistan said they had shot down each other’s aircraft. Meanwhile some Indians in New Delhi call for revenge while others want to see a diplomatic solution.
Tags: afp, India, Indians, Kashmir, Line of Control, New Delhi, Pakistan
afp Arnab Neil Sengupta Brexit Confucius Institutes Google India Indian Indians Isenberg Islamabad Kashmir Lassina Zerbo Luther EP Moscow New Dehli Pakistan Pakistani RT Ruptly Russia russiatoday Washington
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Tag Archives: BBC Radio 1
Posted on February 10, 2013 by rwalbridge
For those of you that don’t feel like reading and just want to get straight to the music (I completely understand, I do the same thing):
And here’s the Spotify playlist, but keep in mind less than half are on it:
It’s February…which means 2 things: 1 month till Miami Music Week & new songs that will become 2013 dance anthems come out soon. It’s about that time again to go through what’s been ringing in my ears since the last post (which was…end of November). So here’s some of the best of the best from 12/1-2/8: (stay tuned at the end for some jewels of the past and some future bangers)
Let’s start with some feel-good house music…you know those melodic, steady beat, HUGE crescendo, strong vocal mixes that keep you feeling like you’re on top of the world. First up we’ve got another Miike Snow Remix from Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman, the same guys that brought you “Roll the Dice” and “Pieces of Light”:
Miike Snow – Bavarian #1 (Say You Will) (Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman Remix)
And now I bring you 2 tracks from a new guy by the name of Moiez. Slowly making some headway with remixes and collaborations, this guy produces a powerful sound that really gets you moving. In the first track Moiez takes on Hardwell’s already impressive “Apollo ft. Ambra Shepard”, but I have to be honest…I really think he out did Hardwell on this one, take a listen:
Hardwell – Apollo (ft. Ambra Shepard) (Moiez Remix)
Next is an original by Moiez with vocals from Brenton Mattheus. Stumbled upon this on another music blog and now I just can’t stop listening. It’s pretty epic so take a listen:
Moiez – The Vision feat. Brenton Mattheus [free download]
And now a remix from Ivan Gough, name should sound familiar from Axwell’s remix of Ivan and Feenixpawl’s “In My Mind”. So with that last sentence I don’t think there’s any questioning Ivan’s talent, not to mention this next track was featured as Pete Tong’s 1st song on his February 8th Essential Mix. A must have:
Vincenzo Callea vs. William Naraine – Turn Off the Lights (Ivan Gough Remix)
Next I have some killer remixes for you. First, when Nicky Romero & NERVO released “Like Home” it was already making big waves at Tomorrowland, but of course like every other hit EDM single everyone else wants to take a stab at it. So of the many remixes, this one from Dannic is my favorite:
Nicky Romero & NERVO – Like Home (Dannic Remix)
Here’s an extra from Dannic as well:
Kid Massive & Alex Sayz ft. Miella – Strong (Dannic Remix)
Zedd’s “Clarity ft. Foxes” has been taking over the music scene in recent months after Zedd made an acoustic performance on Letterman and the music video was released. And now a “Clarity Remixes” EP is set to be released soon featuring re-works from the likes of Felix Cartal, Brillz, and Funkagenda. However, I think I wouldn’t be the only one to say that the best remix has already been released by Starkillers (and it’s a free download). He has literally completely re-worked the entire track, extended it, and transformed it leaving the only the backbone Zedd gave the track and Foxes’ vocals, check it:
Zedd – Clarity ft. Foxes (Starkillers Remix)
And now a remix of Arty’s “When I See You” by Alesso. An absolutely amazing original track by Arty, but when Alesso brings that progressive house feel to this classic trance track, it BLOWS UP:
Arty – When I See You (Alesso Remix)
I think it’s time for some dirty, grimey, big bass, house (BIG SPEAKERS NEEDED!). First, we have a single from Qulinez off of Steve Angello‘s Size Records. Qulinez is also the same duo to bring you the EPIC, “Troll” from 2012. This track was first debuted at EDC New York along with it’s twin brother “Dynamic”.
Qulinez – BAMF …. (I think the title is appropriate)
Next is a multi-collaboration off of Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike’s Smash the House label. Yves V has been a partner for Felguk‘s “WOW” and DV & LM’s “Loops & Things”, where as Loopers you’ll see later in the blog post. Check out the big bass “AMOK”:
Yves V, Loopers, & Jacob van Hage – AMOK
Next is fast rising W&W Music. Been around a while and in the trance game for a long time, but just recently making huge strides with their now #1 Beatport single with Ummet Ozcan. First, featured on Armin Van Buuren‘s ASOT and now released on Hardwell’s Revealed Recordings it’s “The Code”:
W&W & Ummet Ozcan – The Code
And now a track that a lot of people have been waiting patiently for. The long anticipated “Wakanda” from Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. Played across the globe in Swedish House Mafia’s “One Last Tour” sets since November 2012. Out now on Axwell’s Axtone Records. The heavy, heavy bass will take over any dance crowd. Get it:
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike – Wakanda
You can always hear the bouncy imprint Tommy Trash leaves on a track when he adds his flavor to it and I have to say that A-Trak & Tommy’s “Tuna Melt” sure does taste good:
A-Trak & Tommy Trash – Tuna Melt
Also, check out A-Trak’s “Jumbo” from the same EP.
Next I bring you to some dirty, dirty progressive house music. I honestly have no clue who these two HIIO & John Dish are, but this track is amazing. Featured by Deniz Koyu and Pete Tong, this track is a killer:
HIIO & John Dish – Cubic
We’re closing in on the rest of the “Present-time” now. From my favorite Aussie, Dirty South, comes a collaboration his devoted fans have literally been begging to have for months. First debuted on his City of Dreams tour he releases “Halo” with Deniz Koyu:
Dirty South & Deniz Koyu – Halo
Keep an eye out for Dirty South‘s new album “Speed of Life” to be released March 5th!
From Steve Aoki we have probably one of his best tracks since “Ladi Dadi”. I don’t know how this got past me, but it’s a great track with Rune RK:
Steve Aoki ft. Rune RK – Transcend
From Laidback Luke‘s MixMash Records we have a follow up to “Home” by Tom Staar. His new “Kingdom” will trick you with it’s melodic and strong vocal beginning, but just wait… (go to :49):
Tom Staar – Kingdom
This next one sounds like a Daft Punk resurgence from Oliver on Fool’s Gold Records:
Oliver – MYB
And now it’s time for my FAVORITE TRACK RIGHT NOW. I cannot get this one out of my head. It’s absolute musical genius!! Mord Fustang is no newbie to the EDM scene, but he has never quite garnered the following to make it “Big” per say (not that it hasn’t been big for him… ex. playing Electric Zoo 2012). He reminds me so much of Deadmau5 with the tracks like “We Are Connected” and “Champaloo”. Now he brings “Taito” to the table, take a listen, I promise you’ll be impressed:
Mord Fustang – Taito
And now the “Best of the Rest”: … (don’t forget to scroll down for some Future, Past, and MASHUPS)
TOP MASHUPS (Alesso, Dirty South, Chuckie, Deniz Koyu, Calvin Harris, Axwell, Dada Life)
THE FUTURE SOUNDS – (and waiting patiently…)
“Years ft. Matthew Koma” by Alesso is probably my favorite banger from 2012. It’s a great combination of feel-good house and huge sound. I really didn’t think you could make it much better than it was already. However, whenever Hard Rock Sofa adds their touch to something it pretty much EXPLODES. Which is why I’m so excited to hear the full version of this one:
Alesso – Years ft. Matthew Koma (Hard Rock Sofa Remix)
Debuted by Steve Angello at “Size in the Park” this past summer, people have been waiting for this one a long while too. A collaboration between up and coming GTA, Henrix, and Digital Lab on Size Records:
GTA, Henrix & Digital Lab – Hit It!
And now the one I have a feeling I’ll be waiting a while for. It’s been played in combination with Supermode‘s “Tell Me Why” at the Swedish House Mafia‘s “One Last Tour”, but has yet to see the light of day from it’s creator Deniz Koyu. Another 4 letter banger, “RAGE” is a for sure hit and will likely be a 2013 anthem when released. Check out the best quality clip I can find and YouTube video (so you can see the crowd’s reaction) from SHM’s show at Friends Arena in Stockholm:
Deniz Koyu – Rage
And last but, not least I leave you with a new single from the mysterious duo, Disclosure. Certainly, not in line with the type of music in this blog post, but nonetheless it’s a very catchy track with Disclosure‘s underlying tech house beat and AlunaGeorge‘s great vocals. It will most definitely be a #1 chart topper in the UK and will make it’s way to the US soon enough: (Also make sure to check out their “Latch” with Sam Smith)
Disclosure – White Noise ft. AlunaGeorge
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it! Till next time.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A-Trak & Tommy Trash, alesso, Alesso & Dirty South, AlunaGeorge, Ambra Shepard, Armin Van Buuren, arty, Axtone, axwell, BBC Radio 1, Brenton Mattheus, Cedric Gervais, Chuckie, Dada Life, Daddy's Groove, Dannic, Deadmau5, Deniz Koyu, Digital Lab, Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, dirty south, Disclosure, Dyro, EDC New York, Electric Zoo 2012, Essential Mix, fatboy slim, Fedde Le Grand, Felguk, Fennixpawl, Fools Gold, GTA, Hard Rock Sofa, Hardwell, Henrix, HIIO, Ivan Gough, Jacob van Hage, John Dahlback, John Dish, Kid Massive & Alex Sayz, Laidback Luke, Lana Del Ray, Lazy Rich, Loopers, miike snow, MixMash Records, Moiez, Mord Fustang, NERVO, nicky romero, Oliver, pete tong, Qulinez, Refune Records, Revealed Recordings, Riva Staar, Sander Van Doorn, Size Records, Smash the House Records, spinnin records, Starkillers, Steve Angello & An21, Steve Aoki & Rune RK, Tom Staar, Tomorrowland, Ummet Ozcan, Vincenzo Callea vs. William Naraine, W&W, Yvez V, Zedd | Leave a reply
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Home › News › Jon Jones' B sample from UFC 214 confirms drug test failure for anabolic steroid
Jon Jones' B sample from UFC 214 confirms drug test failure for anabolic steroid
Posted by Oscar Francis on September 12, 2017
UFC fighter Jon Jones' B sample reportedly tested positive for a banned substance.
Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com reported the news Tuesday, noting the B sample was for Jones' failed drug test from July 28. According to Okamoto, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in August told Jones he tested positive for the anabolic steroid Turinabol on July 28.
This comes after Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting reported on Sept. 1 Jones passed a blood test in the immediate aftermath of UFC 214 on July 29. Helwani also noted Jones passed tests on July 6 and July 7, although his July 28 urine test came back positive.
Jones reclaimed the UFC light heavyweight title after defeating Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 via third-round knockout.
On Aug. 22, the UFC released a statement revealing it was told of Jones' positive test that was collected after his weigh-in for the fight against Cormier. "Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair legal process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed," the statement read in part.
Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting noted this is not the first issue for Jones, who was stripped of his previous title following a hit-and-run accident and lost the UFC interim light heavyweight title when he tested positive for two banned substances before a scheduled fight against Cormier.
As for Tuesday's news, Okamoto explained B samples rarely negate positive tests and granted "Jones' investigation into the possibility of tainted supplements is most important to his defense at this time" since the fighter is denying taking the banned substance knowingly.
According to Okamoto, the UFC hasn't yet stripped Jones of the title he won against Cormier, but the result will likely be changed to a no-contest. He could face a suspension of up to four years for a second anti-doping program offense.
Tags: mma, Sports, Steroids, UFC, UFC214
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DELFI ENWorld Lithuanians
Lithuanian honorary consul discusses opening business centre with Michael Bloomberg
On 6 February, Lithuanian Honorary Consul Jonas Prunskis had an extensive conversation with the former mayor of New York City and president of Bloomberg L.P., Michael Bloomberg.
Lithuanian Honorary Consul Jonas Prunskis and Michael Bloomberg
The conversation took place at the Aspen Institute.
They discussed a possibility of opening a Bloomberg Business Centre in Lithuania and other issues, including Ukraine.
Honorary Consul Prunskis is a member of the Aspen Institute.
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Three suspects arrested after fatal stabbing of Lithuanian in east London 178
Three suspects have been arrested in London after the incident on Monday after which 42-year old...
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37.9533-120.4228
North America > United States of America > California > Gold Country > Tuolumne County > Jamestown (California)
1 Understand
2 Get in
3 Get around
4 See
6 Buy
7 Eat
9 Sleep
10 Go next
From Wikivoyage
Jamestown is a historical town in Tuolumne County, in the Gold Country region of California.
Understand[edit]
Jamestown was founded in 1848 within a few months after gold was discovered in Woods Creek, a mile south of town. This discovery was itself within a few months after the original discovery of gold in Coloma, upstream from Sacramento on the American River at John Sutter's sawmill, that initiated the California Gold Rush. In the earliest years, the American miners continued to mine near Jamestown, while miners from Mexico moved a few miles up Woods Creek to what has now become known as the city of Sonora.
Jamestown fell on hard times after the Gold Rush, but had a resurgence in the 1880s and 90s because many underground quartz mines were nearby. In 1897, a steam railroad was built, running at first from Oakdale to Jamestown, and later to Sonora and Tuolumne City, that was headquartered in Jamestown and further contributed to the town's economic prospects.
Get in[edit]
37°57′12″N 120°25′22″W
Map of Jamestown (California)
Jamestown can be reached in several ways. Highway 108 from the California Central Valley passes through Modesto and continues into Tuolumne County, passes Jamestown, and continues over the Sierra Nevada mountains. During Highway 108's travel from Oakdale, near Modesto, it shares the same road as Highway 120, the route to Yosemite. Highway 120 makes a turn at Yosemite Junction to head toward Yosemite; continue 7 miles further on Highway 108 and you'll enter Jamestown, with Main Street turning off on the right from Highway 108.
Jamestown is also on the Gold Country highway 49, as it follows the Mother Lode vein south from Angels Camp through Sonora, then briefly turns on Highway 108 to pass Jamestown on its way to Coulterville and Mariposa.
There is no practical way to get to Jamestown by public transportation, although there are tour buses that travel from San Francisco to Yosemite and stop in Sonora and visit nearby places such as Jamestown.
There is an airport for private planes in Columbia, about 6 miles from Jamestown.
Get around[edit]
Jamestown is a small town and most of the areas of interest to visitors can be walked to. There are four main areas of interest. Downtown Jamestown, on Main Street, looks in many ways as it did a hundred years ago, and has many restaurants and shops. A few blocks east is Railtown 1897, a state historic park (and a branch of the California Railroad Museum in Sacrmamento). An area just west of downtown on Highway 108 has more restaurants (and best reached by car), and there is also an interesting historical site about a mile west of downtown, Woods Crossing, that definitely requires a car to get to.
See[edit]
Downtown Jamestown has many examples of different historical architectural styles, including dry-laid stone buildings, the sort that had iron shutters (one still does) to protect against fire, that were popular in the 1850s. There are also many examples of wooden frame buildings from the latter 19th century, including Queen Anne style buildings. Many of these have wooden boardwalks and balconies on the second floor. There are also examples of buildings from the 1920s, built of poured concrete. An audio walking tour of downtown is available that describes the history of downtown and the different styles of buildings.
Do[edit]
The main things to do in Jamestown are walking along the historic streets, hanging out on the wooden benches and downtown park, and visiting Railtown 1897 and riding (summer weekends only and a few special occasions)on a steam train. Railtown 1897 consists of the original depot, headquarters, and roundhouse of the Sierra Railway, built in 1897 to carry passengers, ore from mines, and logs by steam railroads. It offers tours of the roundhouse during which you can climb aboard some of the historic rail cars and locomotives. There is also an audio history walking tour available.
Sunshine Rafting (Go west on Hwy 120 about 15 minutes. Right on Kennedy. Right on Sonora, cross bridge and we will be on right.), ☏ +1 209 848-4800. Rafting near Jamestown CA. Sunshine is safe and affordable with over 25 years experience on the Stanislaus River. $17+.
Jamestown Gold Panning, 17712 Harvard Mine Rd (From Main Street, make a left onto Highway 49 / 108 (west), make a right 1/4 mile, cross over old bridge (old Highway 49 Bridge), drive 1/2 mile, we will be on the left), ☏ +1 209-984-4038. 9AM to 5PM. Learn to pan & sluice for gold on the historic Woods Creek. Located across the road from the historic Harvard Mine.
Buy[edit]
Jamestown has many antique and gift shops.
La Petite Maison, Home, Garden & Fine Gifts. 18190 Main St" 209 984-3585,Simple pleasures for you home and Garden.
American Coin-Age & Sports Cards, 18205 Main St, ☏ +1 209 984-3237.
Charley's Books & Galleria, 18178 Main St, ☏ +1 209 984-3370.
Barendregt Grocery, 18195 Main St, ☏ +1 209 984-5621.
Eat[edit]
Jamestown has a wide variety of restaurants and other eating places. There are formal restaurants, including those contained in historic hotels, and two ice cream and sandwich shops.
Here's The Scoop/Locals Make Good, 18242 Main St, ☏ +1 209 984-4583.
Drink[edit]
Jamestown also has several bars, most in historical hotels, some of which have the original bar from the 19th century.
Sleep[edit]
Jamestown itself has two main kinds of lodging: historic hotels and bed and breakfasts. There are also two motels and an RV park about two miles east of downtown, on Highway 108. There is also lodging available in nearby Sonora, about three miles east of Jamestown.
37.951944-120.4236561 Jamestown Hotel, 18153 Main St, ☏ +1 209 984-3904, ✉ jamestownhotel@yahoo.com.
Miner's Motel, 18740 Highway 108.
37.952718-120.423192 National Hotel, 18183 Main St, ☏ +1 209 984-3446. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon.
37.953965-120.422113 Railtown Motel, 10301 Willow St, ☏ +1 209 984-3332.
37.95369-120.4226974 Royal Carriage Inn, 18239 Main St, ☏ +1 209 984-5274.
Victorian Gold Bed & Breakfast, 10382 Willow St, ☏ +1 209 782-5099.
Go next[edit]
Visitors can continue into Tuolumne County and visit other historic towns, including Sonora, in its day the central city of the Southern Mines of the Gold Rush era, and Columbia, a few miles north of Sonora, which has been restored to the 1850s as part of becoming a state historic park.
Visitors can also travel southeast to Yosemite National Park, or continue east on Highway 108 to the high country areas of Mi-Wuk Village, Pinecrest, and, except in winter, Kennedy Meadows and Sonora Pass.
Routes through Jamestown
Auburn ← Sonora ← N S → Coulterville → Oakhurst
Modesto ← Oakdale ← W E → Sonora → Jct N S
This city travel guide to Jamestown is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?title=Jamestown_(California)&oldid=3697582"
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This travel guide page was last edited at 06:57, on 14 January 2019 by Wikivoyage user Traveler100bot. Based on work by Wikivoyage users SelfieCity, Mx. Granger, ShakespeareFan00, Wrh2Bot, Wrh2, Eco84, WOSlinker, Matroc and The Anomebot2 and others.
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Home2014September
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers: 2014 Week 5 NFL Pick
September 30, 2014 stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 5 NFL Picks, Packers, Uncategorized, vikings
Minnesota Vikings (2-2) at Green Bay Packers (2-2)
I thought about waiting until we found out Teddy Bridgewater’s status for this one and who the starting quarterback would be for the Vikings, but I have a feeling this line is going to increase closer to game time so I want to lock it in right now at Green Bay -9. If I had to guess, Bridgewater will not play in this one, nursing a sore ankle on a short week, leaving Christian Ponder to be the starter. Once that’s announced, this line could be closer to 10.5-12. Even if Bridgewater plays, it’ll be at less than 100% on a short week after missing valuable practice time going into his 2nd NFL career start on the road. He’s clearly their most talented quarterback, but that might be too much for him right now.
I like the Packers in this one regardless as they’ve been very dominant at home recently. Aaron Rodgers is 21-9-1 ATS at home since 2010 and 27-4 straight up, with an absurd +416 point differential, meaning they outscore opponents, on average, by 13.42 points per game. They also have no distractions on the horizon with a random non-conference game against the Dolphins in Miami up next, while the Vikings will have to deal with the division leading Lions next week in Minnesota. Teams are 47-75 ATS before being 3+ home favorites since 2012 and teams are 57-87 ATS since 2002 as road underdogs before being home underdogs when their opponent will next be road favorites. The Packers should be the right side and I’m not waiting around for this line to go up to 10 or higher.
Green Bay Packers 27 Minnesota Vikings 13
Pick against spread: Green Bay -9
Cincinnati Bengals at New England Patriots: 2014 Week 5 NFL Pick
September 30, 2014 stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 5 NFL Picks, Bengals, Patriots, Uncategorized
Cincinnati Bengals (3-0) at New England Patriots (2-2)
The Patriots are in three spots this week that have easily been auto-bets for them in the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era. They are 1.5 point underdogs here at home. They are coming off of a loss. And they are facing an opponent with a better record than them. Tom Brady is 31-15 ATS off of a loss in his career. Brady is also 42-18 ATS as an underdog or a favorite of fewer than 3 points in his career. This is just the 6th time the Patriots have been home underdogs since 2002. So far, they are 3-1 ATS and 3-1 straight up. Finally, he’s 30-10-1 ATS in his career against teams that have better records than his, including 18-6 ATS as an underdog. Possibly even crazier, he’s 29-12 straight up in that situation, a winning percentage of 70.7%. The rest of the league wins at a 38.6% rate.
The Patriots haven’t looked good at all this season. They rank 26th in rate of moving the chains differential, moving the chains at a 66.96% rate, as opposed to 72.00% for their opponents. That rate of moving the chains is 29th in the NFL, meaning only 3 teams are moving the chains at a worse rate than the New England Patriots. Those three teams include two that have benched their starting quarterback (Buffalo and Jacksonville) and one that has fired their head coach (Oakland). Not exactly good company. However, I don’t think they’re nearly as bad as they’ve looked. They still have a ton of talent on paper. They won’t be nearly this bad all season.
It helps them that they return home here. They’ve played just 1 home game out of 4 so far and that was week 3 after starting the season with two road games. They didn’t cover as 14 point favorites against the Raiders that week, but teams that start with two straight road games more often than not don’t cover week 3 at home. The Patriots have still won 10 straight home games and 12 of their last 13, going 9-4 ATS over that time period. Unlike the last time they are at home, they’re in a very good spot this week, and I’m not just referring to the trends I mentioned earlier. They have no distractions on the horizon with a trip to Buffalo on deck. They should be at least 3 point road favorites in that game and teams are 71-47 ATS before being 3+ point road favorites since 2012. On top of that, teams are 66-42 ATS as home underdogs before being road favorites since 2002.
While the Patriots have been having recent success at home, the Bengals have had issues on the road over the past couple of seasons. While they have covered in all 10 home games over the past two seasons, they are 3-5-1 ATS and 4-5 straight up on the road. That included losses in 2013 to non-playoff teams like Cleveland, Miami, Chicago, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh and a close call in Buffalo. They won in Baltimore week 1, but they only moved the chains at a 62.96% rate, as opposed to 75.68% for the Ravens. Ordinarily, I’d be more confident in the Patriots in this spot, but, again, they’ve really struggled this season. That being said, I think this line has moved far enough that we’re actually getting some value with the Patriots right now, so I think they should be the right side.
New England Patriots 23 Cincinnati Bengals 16 Upset Pick +115
Pick against spread: New England +1.5
Confidence: High
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints: 2014 Week 5 NFL Pick
September 30, 2014 stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 5 NFL Picks, Buccaneers, Saints, Uncategorized
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-3) at New Orleans Saints (1-3)
The Saints are 1-3, which has caused some people to hit the panic button for them, much like they did for the Packers last week (how did that work out?). The Saints did not look good in Dallas last week, but you have to look at more than their record. Three of their first four games have been on the road and they came very close to winning two of them. They are a few plays away from being 3-1 with a couple of decent road wins. If the Saints were 3-0 going into Dallas last week, would as big of a deal be made about their loss? I don’t think so. The Saints are still moving the chains at an 81.56% rate and while their defense is allowing opponents to move the chains at a 79.20% rate, I expect what was a solid defense last season to bounce back and they’re still positive in rate of moving the chains differential, coming in at 15th.
I like the Saints’ chances to bounce back this week. Not only is Drew Brees 19-5 ATS off of a loss as long as Sean Payton is on the sideline (including 14-2 ATS at home), the Saints are a much better team at home than they are on the road. The Saints are 32-10 ATS at home since 2008 in the games which Drew Brees and Sean Payton were involved. On top of that, they are 17-0-1 ATS at home over their last 18 home games with Drew Brees and Sean Payton. They’ve won all 18 of those games by an average of about 20.3 points per game, with just three being decided by 10 points or less and just one being decided by less than 6 points.
They should be able to win by double digits here against a mediocre Buccaneers team that has to be exhausted in their 3rd straight road game. Underdogs are 50-65 ATS in their 3rd or more straight road game since 1989 and it makes sense. Meanwhile, the Saints are going into their bye so they’ll be completely focused here at home for a depleted, mediocre football team. Big home favorites almost always dominate going into the bye, to the tune of 53-17 ATS since 2002 (as home favorites of 6 or more).
New Orleans Saints 34 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13
Pick against spread: New Orleans -10
Confidence: Pick of the Week
Atlanta Falcons at New York Giants: 2014 Week 5 NFL Pick
September 30, 2014 stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 5 NFL Picks, Falcons, Giants, Uncategorized
Atlanta Falcons (2-2) at New York Giants (2-2)
The Falcons’ road woes are well documented and they reared their head again last week as the Falcons lost to the Vikings and rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in Minnesota, a week after blowing out the Buccaneers 56-14 on Thursday Night Football. Now they are once again on the road in New York to play the Giants, but I expect a different result. Instead of being in their first road game, they are in their 2nd of two road games, which makes a huge difference.
Teams are 103-67 ATS in that situation since 2008, including 88-46 ATS when it’s their 2nd straight road game and they next play a home game. Historically, teams cover at about a 65% rate in that situation. This is because teams tend to do better in their 2nd straight road game than their first one, but lines don’t really adjust for this. Teams are 173-179 in their 2nd of two road games since 2008, getting outscored by an average of 0.10 points per game, as opposed to 242-349 in their 1st of one road games since 2008, getting outscored by an average of 3.22 points per game. As much as the Falcons have had road issues in the Matt Ryan/Mike Smith era, they’ve done well in their 2nd of two road games, going 10-4 in their second straight road game, including 6-2 ATS off of a road loss. Going off of that, Matt Ryan is 23-10 ATS off of a loss in his career. This line is a huge overreaction to things that happened last week as it was a pick ’em a week ago. We’re getting a lot of value with the Falcons as this line should be 3 points at maximum. The Falcons aren’t worse than the Giants.
As much as the Falcons have issues on the road, the Giants actually have issues at home. In the Tom Coughlin/Eli Manning era, since 2004, the Giants are 51-38 on the road, outscoring opponents by an average of 0.12 points per game, as opposed to 49-37 at home, outscoring opponents by an average of 2.94 points per game. The Giants seem to only be marginally better at home. Going off of that, they are 6-15 ATS since 2004 as home favorites of 3.5 or more after winning on the road.
The Giants are also in a bad spot because they have to go to Philadelphia next week, while the Falcons head home and take on the Bears, a much easier and less meaningful game for them. They’re significantly less likely to be distracted for that reason. Since 2008, non-divisional road underdogs are 106-70 ATS before being non-divisional home favorites, while teams are 84-103 ATS as non-divisional home favorites before being divisional road underdogs since 2002. Combining the two, teams are 93-55 ATS since 2010 as underdogs before being favorites when their opponent will next be underdogs, including 93-56 ATS since 2008 as road underdogs before being home favorites when their opponent will next be road underdogs. This is a trap spot for the Giants and I like the underdog a good amount as long as this line is past the magic number of 4.
Atlanta Falcons 24 New York Giants 20 Upset Pick +185
Pick against spread: Atlanta +4.5
Rate of Moving the Chains – Week 5
September 30, 2014 stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 5 NFL Picks, Uncategorized
What is this? This is rate of moving the chains, which is my primary statistic for handicapping games. It holds the assumption that the goal of any team on any given 1st and 10 (or 1st and goal) is to move the chains (or score). In order to figure out how often teams meet that goal, I take first downs plus touchdowns and divide it by first downs plus touchdowns plus failures to move the chains (successes divided by attempts). Failures to move the chains include punts, turnovers, failed 4th downs, and field goal attempts (being forced to kick a field goal is a failure). I have this sorted by percent for (to evaluate offenses), percent against (to evaluate defenses), and differentials (to evaluate teams).
First Downs Touchdowns Field Goals Punts Turnovers Failed 4ths Safeties
1 NO 103 12 5 13 7 1 0 81.56%
2 BAL 99 11 11 10 3 2 0 80.88%
3 CHI 98 10 5 14 6 1 0 80.60%
4 IND 107 15 8 14 5 3 0 80.26%
5 DAL 95 12 8 12 7 0 0 79.85%
6 KC 92 12 6 16 5 2 0 78.20%
7 ATL 96 15 5 16 10 1 0 77.62%
8 GB 79 11 6 13 3 2 2 77.59%
9 ARZ 67 5 9 9 3 0 0 77.42%
10 DEN 63 9 3 16 2 0 0 77.42%
11 SEA 65 10 5 12 3 1 1 77.32%
12 NYG 97 13 4 18 8 3 0 76.92%
13 CLE 65 8 6 16 0 0 0 76.84%
14 WAS 96 12 5 16 9 3 0 76.60%
15 PIT 92 9 10 17 5 0 0 75.94%
16 SD 81 10 10 18 1 1 0 75.21%
17 SF 78 9 8 15 5 1 0 75.00%
18 DET 79 9 9 15 6 1 0 73.95%
19 CIN 62 8 11 12 1 1 0 73.68%
20 STL 61 4 8 9 6 1 0 73.03%
21 CAR 79 7 9 20 3 0 0 72.88%
22 MIN 74 8 11 16 4 1 0 71.93%
23 MIA 90 9 9 16 8 6 0 71.74%
24 TB 66 8 4 16 10 1 0 70.48%
25 HOU 75 7 9 18 7 1 0 70.09%
26 NYJ 77 8 8 19 8 2 0 69.67%
27 PHI 81 9 9 20 9 2 0 69.23%
28 TEN 75 6 8 21 7 2 1 67.50%
29 NE 70 7 8 21 5 4 0 66.96%
30 OAK 64 6 3 23 9 1 0 66.04%
31 JAX 65 7 5 23 8 4 0 64.29%
32 BUF 63 6 11 23 3 2 1 63.30%
1 MIA 73 10 8 20 8 3 0 68.03% 2.36%
2 DET 67 7 4 22 5 2 1 68.52% 9.59%
3 KC 74 8 8 22 3 2 0 70.09% 6.46%
4 CIN 67 4 5 14 7 3 1 70.30% 7.03%
5 NYJ 70 10 7 24 2 0 0 70.80% 4.20%
6 BUF 91 6 8 21 8 3 0 70.80% 8.11%
7 BAL 72 5 11 16 4 0 0 71.30% 2.62%
8 PHI 90 11 12 21 5 2 0 71.63% -4.23%
9 NE 82 8 10 16 8 1 0 72.00% 3.26%
10 HOU 85 8 4 21 9 2 0 72.09% -0.06%
11 WAS 77 11 6 23 4 1 0 72.13% 3.09%
12 NYG 78 9 8 14 9 1 0 73.11% 3.81%
13 IND 82 11 7 20 7 0 0 73.23% 1.14%
14 SD 75 8 3 15 6 5 1 73.45% 4.46%
15 CHI 76 10 11 9 8 2 0 74.14% -0.80%
16 ARZ 60 6 2 14 5 2 0 74.16% 1.76%
17 SEA 65 7 5 15 3 1 1 74.23% -0.21%
18 MIN 81 9 6 20 4 1 0 74.38% 5.43%
19 ATL 87 12 11 15 7 0 0 75.00% 3.39%
20 SF 80 8 4 14 9 2 0 75.21% -5.72%
21 OAK 85 10 10 14 5 2 0 75.40% -4.90%
22 DAL 78 9 5 12 8 3 0 75.65% -2.45%
23 CLE 73 8 7 14 4 1 0 75.70% 3.71%
24 TEN 97 12 9 17 6 2 0 76.22% -7.14%
25 PIT 89 10 10 16 3 1 0 76.74% -2.01%
26 DEN 78 8 6 12 3 3 1 77.48% -1.12%
27 TB 92 12 10 14 6 0 0 77.61% -2.40%
28 CAR 87 11 7 14 6 1 0 77.78% -8.72%
29 STL 55 8 6 8 3 0 0 78.75% -5.04%
30 JAX 102 15 11 15 3 2 0 79.05% -9.36%
31 NO 88 11 9 16 1 0 0 79.20% -14.77%
32 GB 98 10 6 9 7 2 0 81.82% -7.50%
1 BAL 9.59%
2 KC 8.11%
3 IND 7.03%
4 CHI 6.46%
5 DET 5.43%
6 WAS 4.46%
7 DAL 4.20%
8 NYG 3.81%
9 MIA 3.71%
10 CIN 3.39%
11 ARZ 3.26%
12 SEA 3.09%
13 ATL 2.62%
14 NO 2.36%
15 SD 1.76%
16 CLE 1.14%
17 DEN -0.06%
18 SF -0.21%
19 PIT -0.80%
20 NYJ -1.12%
21 HOU -2.01%
22 PHI -2.40%
23 MIN -2.45%
24 GB -4.23%
25 CAR -4.90%
26 NE -5.04%
27 STL -5.72%
28 TB -7.14%
29 BUF -7.50%
30 TEN -8.72%
31 OAK -9.36%
32 JAX -14.77%
2014 Week 4 NFL Pick Results
Against the Spread: 8-4-1
Straight Up: 9-4
Pick of the Week: 1-0
High Confidence: 0-0
Medium Confidence: 1-2
Low Confidence: 5-1-1
No Confidence: 1-1
Upset Picks: 2-0
Against the Spread: 39-21-1
Straight Up: 36-25
Medium Confidence: 14-4
Low Confidence: 11-6-1
No Confidence: 10-7
Survivor Picks: 4-0 (PHI, GB, NO, SD)
New England Patriots at Kansas City Chiefs: 2014 Week 4 NFL Pick
September 27, 2014 stevenlourie 2014 NFL Picks, 2014 Week 4 NFL Picks, Chiefs, Patriots, Uncategorized
New England Patriots (2-1) at Kansas City Chiefs (1-2)
This is another game where there’s been significant line movement as the Patriots were 6.5 point favorites last week in this game and now they’re 3.5 point favorites, after the Patriots barely beat the Raiders in New England and the Chiefs won big time as underdogs in Miami. There are reasonable explanations for both as the Patriots were coming off of two straight road games (a tough spot for a team week 3) and the Chiefs were in their 2nd straight road game (usually a spot where teams cover). Some line movement was warranted, but 3 points seems a little much.
That being said, I’m hesitant to bet on the Patriots as big favorites. Tom Brady has been showing his age much more over the past two seasons than he was pre-2013. Things will get easier for him once Gronk returns to form, but there’s no guarantee that he’ll do so this week. On top of that, Brady’s arm strength seems close to gone and his mechanics have been slower. Declines can get guys fast and, now 37, I’m concerned that’s happening with Brady. Not helping matters is how poorly his offensive line has been playing. It’s why I didn’t take the Patriots as double touchdown favorites last week. I’m taking the Patriots this week, banking on their defense allowing them to bounce back and not have back-to-back disappointing performances and fading the line movement and the public underdog on principle, but I’m not confident.
New England Patriots 20 Kansas City Chiefs 13
Pick against spread: New England -3.5
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Two Foothill athletes officially commit to college at athletic signing day
Malone (left) and Kearney (right) smile with their teammates in the Black Box. Credit: Nick Zoll / The Foothill Dragon Press
Nick Zoll
Filed under Cross Country, Girls' Volleyball, News, Sports
On Nov. 16, two four-year varsity Foothill athletes committed to taking the next step in their lives, both athletically and academically. Lauren Kearney ‘19 and Lexi Malone ‘19 officially signed their letters of intent to their respective colleges in front of a supportive group of friends, family members and teammates in the Black Box, the main training facility within the school.
Moments away from two Foothill students (Lauren Kearney ‘19, cross country and Lexi Malone ‘19, volleyball) officially signing with their respective colleges to participate in college sports! @fths_athletics @FTHSDragonPress @ft_girlsvb pic.twitter.com/geIorGdWE1
— Dragon Press Sports (@FDP_Sports) November 16, 2018
Kearney, a varsity cross country and track-and-field runner throughout her entire high school career, signed her letter of intent to run for Saint Mary’s College beginning in the fall of 2019.
Meanwhile, Malone put the pen to the paper to express her intent to play volleyball for Westmont College.
According to athletic director Anthony Unchangco, Kearney and Malone “are prime examples of individuals who set the legacy” of the ever-expanding Foothill sports program.
https://t.co/Zv2eFJmwmI
“They weren’t here the very first year we had athletics, but they spent their whole four-year career competing and really showing what it means to be a Foothill Tech Dragon,” Unchangco said. “They excel in the classroom while competing athletically […] so it’s just very exciting.”
Kearney foresees her future at Saint Mary’s to be one of opportunity both inside and outside of the classroom.
“Academically, I’m going to study kinesiology at Saint Mary’s and hopefully after I want to study physical therapy or get my degree in physical therapy,” she explained. “Athletically, they have such a good group of [runners], and they’ve really moved up; they’ve moved up ten spots in the Western Region from last year and so I think top ten in the Western Region would be just amazing during my time there, so I think that would be a big goal.”
Malone, the varsity girls’ volleyball program record holder for career kills (742 over the span of four seasons), anticipates a college experience that will be a perfect fit for her.
“I am looking forward to Westmont and all that it has to offer me,” she said. “I chose a really small school because I wanted the hands-on experience and it was the only school that would let me play volleyball and be a pre-med student. I also chose it for its Christian values and I love volunteering and hope to study abroad, and I can do all [of] that at Westmont.”
Unchangco cited the “different personalities” of the two athletes to illustrate how Kearney and Malone would translate their success from high school to college.
“For Saint Mary’s, I know the campus pretty well, I know their athletic program. I think Lauren’s going to do great and […] I have no doubt she’ll thrive over there,” he said. “For Lexi, I think Westmont is a school that she’s a legacy at—her family went there and so it will be very exciting for their family to be able to see her in action over there. […] I think she’ll do great.”
When considering prospective colleges, Kearney “didn’t really actually think of St. Mary’s” as a possibility “for a while.”
“I knew Moses [Bojorquez ‘16] was going there and I talked to him a lot about it this summer. Then I was contacted by their coach in July and after that, I just really decided that their coaching and the school was just the best fit for me.”
Bojorquez was the recipient of Foothill’s first ever athletic scholarship in 2016.
Malone has already played her final volleyball game as a Dragon, which came in the first round of the CIF Division V playoffs. On Oct. 18, Foothill was swept by Viewpoint School, which eliminated the Dragons from 2018 playoff contention.
Kearney, meanwhile, is participating in her fourth straight CIF Finals on Nov. 17.
“Lauren, from her freshman year, came at it and was a strong presence with [her] time, and since then, her time has improved, absolutely,” Unchangco stated. “But her leadership is just huge and to have her be one of our first female leaders to be able to compete well, to be able to walk the walk and talk the talk, it’s just been great.”
“This past summer, seeing her with the cross country academy and working with the incoming freshman, it was just really great to see her in development. Lexi is a leader in her own right, sometimes a little bit quieter than most leaders, but definitely leading by example and so I think for that, both teams will be looking for that for someone to fill those roles next year.”
Tags: cross country, saint mary's, sports, volleyball, westmont
Nick Zoll, Sports Editor
Girls take second, boys fifth at Cross Country State Meet
Cross Country dominates CIF Prelims and Finals
Playoff Recap: Cross Country sweeps League Finals
Girls’ volleyball wins Senior Night match vs. St. Bonaventure
Foothill Cross Country dominates at Camino Real Park Home meet
Cross Country takes on Ojai Invitational
Cross country starts off season strong at UCSB Gaucho Invitational
Girls take first, boys take third at Cross Country State Meet
Recap: Foothill cross country qualifies for State meet
Playoff Recap: Cross Country finishes in top three, advances to CIF finals
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New York Post Writer Fantasizes About Race War
Andy Cush
Filed to: New York Post
Are you scared of homeless people? Subway dancers? Anyone poor enough to take the subway at all? Do dreams of squeegee men washing windshields with their own public urination keep you up at night? It’s time you ratcheted those fears up—how does “disorder and chaos unlike anything we’ve seen or imagined” strike your fancy?
The New York Post has been crying wolf about the supposed decline of the city for a long time now. Maybe people are no longer listening, maybe the Post got bored, I don’t know. In any case, a spittle-soaked editorial by Michael Goodwin today argues that you should be scared of something much worse:
But what if a return to the sordid past is not what we should be worried about? What if the future holds something far worse, a level of disorder and chaos unlike anything we’ve seen or imagined?
The prospect of unanticipated destructive consequences from a de Blasio mayoralty emerges through recent developments. They include a new campaign to close Rikers Island and a push to extend municipal voting rights to noncitizens, including illegal immigrants.
Coming on top of City Hall’s efforts to handcuff police and decriminalize low-level infractions, to incentivize welfare and homelessness, to dumb down schools and impose burdensome wage and benefit packages on private businesses, the latest measures amount to another round of body blows against the city’s social and economic fabric.
They also add evidence to the suspicion that de Blasio and his radical twin in the City Council, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, aim to remake New York in the image of the authoritarian fiefdoms they admire. Recall that de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, honeymooned in Cuba, supported the Sandinista Communists in Nicaragua and praised the Soviet Union.
Communism? A horse for a mayor? A collectivist utopia where you only get your fat welfare check after playing 10 rounds of the knockout game? What are we talking about here, exactly? Per the Post’s headline, it’s “a toxic brew of class and racial warfare” that we’re supposed to be worried about.
If there really is a war on, which side is the aggressor? Is it the newspaper that dedicates multiple covers to humiliating a single homeless man, or the people who are homeless and powerless themselves, or locked up in Rikers Island?
Goodwin dedicates the second half of his column to the recent news that a prominent good government group filed a complaint against the de Blasio administration over its alleged use of nonprofit groups to raise money outside of campaign finance laws and further its policy agenda. “On the known facts alone, the accusations are warranted, but they only scratch the surface of the growing rot,” he writes.
He’s right that things get hairy when too much money is wrapped up in politics. But Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo used similar groups, as do countless politicians across the country. That’s not a sign of a jackbooted revolution coming to New York. It’s a sign of politics as usual.
Screencap via Fox News/YouTube. Contact the author at andy@gawker.com.
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Irish Newspapers Online from Tracing Your Irish Ancestors. 5th Edition, by John Grenham
Genealogy Pointers, New Book Releases
The all-new 5th edition of the definitive textbook for Irish roots, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, by John Grenham, is now available from Genealogical.com. Over the next few weeks and months we will be calling attention to important features of this remarkable book, starting with the one below. The most important development in Irish genealogy since Mr. Grenham published his previous edition has been the enormous strides in posting Irish family content on the Internet. This fact has guided the author in his preparation of the 5th edition, and that is abundantly evident in the following excerpt, which explains both the rise of the Irish newspaper industry in the 19th-century and the key web sites where you can access many of the family history sources to be found there:
“From about the 1840s the rise of literacy in Ireland meant that the number of newspaper obituaries and marriage announcements rose sharply. In addition, the number of publications mushroomed as public opinion, and the press as the voice of public opinion, became more politically and socially important. As literacy grew, and as newspaper circulation expanded from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth, this broadening of the social classes continued. Then, as now, publishing long lists of individuals—amateur football teams, successful candidates in the Intermediate Certificate examination, complete memberships of dramatic societies—was a way of ensuring that everyone on the list would buy the paper. The advent of mass digitisation combined with full-text searching means that all these lists are now potential genealogical sources.
From the late 1930s the newspaper death notice became a compulsory part of every Irish funeral, often recording age, extended family and place of death. The online availability of complete runs of all three national dailies – the Irish Press and Irish Independent at http://www.irishnewsarchive.com, the Irish Times at irishtimes.com/archive – has made these death notices a very significant element in any search for living relatives in Ireland.
The two main online archives, www.irishnewsarchive.com and www.britishnewspaperarchives.co.uk, have different strengths for post 1828 publications. INA is a clear leader for eighteenth century and twentieth century national and provincial newspapers. From 1840 or so, BNA has fuller runs of the provincial newspapers and is the only real source for nineteenth-century Ulster. Ideally both sites should be used – even where they cover what appears to be the same material, their OCR will have made different errors. They both offer short-term subscriptions, with BNA also allowing pay-per-view. For a discussion of search tactics on both, see Chapter 5 of Tracing Your Irish Ancestors.
The BNA Irish material is also available for more restrictive searching on FindMyPast.ie. The counties section at johngrenham.com/browse gives details by county of all dates covered by these and any other online newspaper sites.”
VIEW THE 5TH EDITION OF TRACING YOUR IRISH ANCESTORS
June 24, 2019 /0 Comments/by admin
Tags: Irish Genealogy, Irish Newspapers Online, John Grenham, Researching Irish Ancestry, researching Irish family history, Tracing your Irish Ancestors
https://genealogical.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/tracingirish.jpg 380 950 admin https://genealogical.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/logogenwhite-300x86.png admin2019-06-24 16:18:512019-06-24 18:23:55Irish Newspapers Online from Tracing Your Irish Ancestors. 5th Edition, by John Grenham
Now Available! The all-new Fifth Edition of TRACING YOUR IRISH ANCESTORS
Tracing your Irish Ancestors: A Three-step Guide
Now Available! The all-new Fifth Edition of TRACING YOUR IRISH ANCESTORS Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter Highlights Our Publications
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© FOUR PAWS | Monika Girardi
By Hildegard Pirker - Head of Animal Welfare department LIONSROCK
Meet Khan, Radja, Douglas, Shir-Khan, Prinz and Pascha. Since their arrival at Lionsrock in November 2013 all 6 tigers are thriving in their new home. They love to spend time in the water and it is amazing to see them playing and swimming.
The four brothers also discovered the joy of climbing up trees and they are surprisingly agile for their size and weight. Except some minor issues, their health is very good.
Living directly next to each other the two groups also interact quite a lot. Shir-Khan is the most dominant one of the four brothers and spends a lot of time stalking Khan on the other side of the fence. Radja is very playful and always friendly towards humans. On feeding days, she will jump playfully with excitement and is always the first one to get to the food.
Large balls, ice blocks and hessian bags filled with hay and spices are offered to the tigers to provide behavioural enrichment.
The pictures were taken by our volunteers Katrin Vosatka and Monika Girardi.
History of the Starlight Tigers
One group consist of four male tigers (Douglas, Shir-Khan, Prinz, and Pascha). They are brothers and where all born on 30.07.2005. They were bought by the Starlight Circus in Germany.
The second group consists of one male (Khan), born 21.09.1999 and one female tiger (Radja), born 26.02.2004.
The six tigers were born in other German circus companies and sold to the Starlight Circus.
The previous home of the tigers was a small travelling circus run as a family business. The tiger groups lived more or less under ‘normal’ circus conditions. Most of the time each of the groups was kept in one wagon, (approximately 20m² and 25m² in size). When travelling to the next venue they were kept in the wagon only. We estimate that the circus probably visited 30 to 40 different venues per year.
During performance stops, one outdoor enclosure (approximately 100m²) with a low platform was provided for the six tigers. As the groups are incompatible they could not access the enclosure at the same time.
The six tigers did not perform in the ring and were not trained. The German animal welfare standards require permanent access to outdoor enclosures of specific size, which could not be provided by the circus.
The Veterinary Authority was no longer willing to accept the conditions and searched for alternative accommodation. The Veterinary Authority and FOUR PAWS convinced the owner to hand over the six animals to be brought to LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary. This happened in a cooperative manner and was not a confiscation.
It is the first time that FOUR PAWS has rescued big cats directly from a circus. It is part of the FOUR PAWS rescue policy that former owners of wild animals do not replace them. The circus has agreed not to take new tigers/big cats and this has been regulated clearly in the contract between the circus and FOUR PAWS concerning the tigers.
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Home » Recent Articles » Child and Baby » Food Dyes and Kids
Food Dyes and Kids
Kim Robson July 4, 2014 Child and Baby, Nutrition Leave a comment 2,664 Views
By Kim Robson:
Artificial food coloring can be found in nearly all processed foods today. Food dyes are used for a number of reasons:
to offset loss of natural color due to light, air, temperature extremes, moisture, or storage;
to make a uniform product by correcting natural variations in color;
to enhance naturally occurring colors, subsequently “enhancing” its flavor in the mind’s eye;
to provide color to bland looking, colorless foods;
to make foods marketed to kids more “fun” looking.
The FDA has been carefully monitoring artificial food dyes for over a hundred years. Some early dyes were not only toxic, but
Picture fro http://anewwe.files.wordpress.com
were also sometimes used to mask filth or rot. Due to toxicity, many have been banned over the years.
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, all seven FDA approved food dyes allowed for use in the United States contain potentially cancer-causing substances and/or trigger allergic reactions: Blue No. 1, Blue No. 2, Green No. 3, Red No. 40, Red No. 3, Yellow No. 5, and Yellow No. 6.
In March of 2013, the FDA held hearings to investigate whether there is enough evidence linking artificial food dyes to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children to justify placing warnings on labels. Longtime critics were allowed to speak about their concerns before the two-day-long panel, concerns which have persisted since the 1970s.
Unfortunately, the FDA determined there was not enough evidence to warrant any new warning labels. But they did call for a panel of experts to further review the evidence and advise on possible future policy changes. If artificial food dyes affect only a small fraction of the population, there may be few changes, which would undoubtedly be met with harsh resistance from food manufacturers.
According to a 2004 Southampton University study, adding food colors to children’s diets increased hyperactivity rates in all young children, not just those who were allergic to food colorings or who had ADHD.
“I want this to address a fundamental issue which is: Why do we have to have colored food?” said Professor John Warner, the study’s author. “It’s absolutely imperative to have follow up studies because we are not now just talking about a population of children with a particular problem we are saying there’s a potential for this to be an effect on all children. And, if that really is the case, then food coloring should be removed.”
Some good news: a number of natural food dyes are being commercially produced in response to growing demand:
Caramel coloring (E150) – Made from caramelized sugar
Annatto (E160b) – Reddish-orange; made from the seed of the achiote
Chlorophyllin (E140) – Green; made from chlorella algae
Cochineal (E120) – Red; made from crushed cochineal insects (Dactylopius coccus); also called carmine; NOT vegan or kosher
Betanin (E162) – Red; extracted from beets
Turmeric (curcuminoids, E100) – Yellow; not very colorfast
Saffron (carotenoids, E160a) – Reddish-orange
Paprika (E160c) – Reddish-orange
Lycopene (E160d) – Reddish-orange
Elderberry juice – Purple-blue
Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius) – Green
Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) – Blue
If you’re the parent of small children, or are particularly sensitive to or concerned about chemicals, then you should avoid synthetic food colorings by diligently checking food labels in grocery stores or by shopping at chains like Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s, which refuse to sell foods with artificial coloring.
Tags Food Colors Food Dyes Un-natural
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North! to North Dakota. We’re going north. The rush is on.
April 29, 2009 by Tobias Carlisle
In Now a baker’s dozen in North Dakota, footnoted.org’s Michelle Leder tracks the small, but growing number of companies whose shareholders are requesting via the annual proxy process that their companies relocate to North Dakota:
Last week, 11 companies, including Exxon Mobil (EOM), Southwest (LUV), and Amgen (AMGN), were on the list. But since Friday, two more companies have been targeted, which makes it a baker’s dozen. Over the past two days, shareholder activist John Chevedden, who has introduced proposals at Southwest and two others, added Continental Airlines (CAL) and Staples (SPLS) to his list.
The rush is on because the corporations law in North Dakota is intended to be much friendlier to shareholders. Shareholders in North Dakota can expect the following (from the 2007 press release announcing the bill):
· Majority voting in election of directors. In an uncontested election of directors, shareholders have the right to vote “yes” or “no” on each candidate, and only those candidates receiving a majority of “yes” votes are elected.
· Advisory shareholder votes on compensation reports. The compensation committee of the board of directors must report to the shareholders at each annual meeting of shareholders and the shareholders have an advisory vote on whether they accept the report of the committee.
· Proxy access. The corporation must include in its proxy statement nominees proposed by 5% shareholders who have held their shares for at least two years.
· Reimbursement for successful proxy contests. The corporation must reimburse shareholders who conduct a proxy contest to the extent the shareholders are successful. Thus, if a shareholder conducts a proxy contest to place three directors on a corporation’s board and two of the candidates are elected, the shareholder will be entitled to reimbursement of two-thirds of the cost of the proxy contest.
· Separation of roles of Chair and CEO. The board of directors must have a chair who is not an executive officer of the corporation.
As we’ve discussed previously, Carl Icahn is a supporter of North Dakota’s initiative, and has even proposed a federal law that allows shareholders to vote by simple majority to migrate a company from its state of incorporation to more shareholder-friendly states, including North Dakota. At present, that power is vested in boards, which means that even if the proposal passes, the boards must embrace the proposal before it is binding on the company. Leder thinks this means it’s unlikely that the companies will up stakes for North Dakota, but it’s interesting to watch.
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Home / Magazine / / Wild Birds
Spring Cottage Ramblings
Val Bourne is an award-winning writer and winner of The Garden Media Guild’s Columnist of the Year in 2018, News Story of the Year in 2016 and Journalist of the Year in 2014. She writes regularly for many publications and she’s a life-long organic gardener with a real interest in wildlife. She gardens in the cold Cotswolds, growing flowers, fruit and vegetables - with the aid of a Hartley Botanic greenhouse. Although bought for ornamentals, the Best Beloved has commandeered it for tomatoes and peppers!
Beeches and Oak dominate my garden
There are people who think that writers have an exciting life, full of jollies, junkets and japes. Nothing could be further from the truth. You see we writers write just to escape all that unnecessary razzmatazz. It’s so much easier living life on a written page, than doing it for real, so we hide away behind the print.
It’s particularly easy for me to disappear under life’s radar, for I live down a no-through lane in a one-street village in what is known as the empty quarter of The Cotswolds. I live west of the Fosse Way, the old Roman Road that runs between Exeter and Lincoln. This road was said to divide British natives into two halves. Those to the east were civilised: those to the west were savages. I’m delighted to say I’m on the wild side, in the wonderfully named village of Cold Aston. Just for info, the word Fosse comes from the Latin fossa meaning ditch and it never varies more than six miles from the straight apparently, all along its length.
I’m about fifteen miles north of Cirencester, where the Fosse Way meets Ermine Street and Akeman Street. The Roman villa at Yanworth is a few miles way and I have a Roman lavabo built into the cottage’s stone wall. Nothing much happens here. Guy the postman pops up the drive most days, around noon, and that’s about it for human contact. However I’m not bored. I’m entertained by my garden birds who empty one feeder of peanuts and another of sunflowers on a daily basis. They zip about during the day and then have a frantic feast as the light begins to fade.
My avian friends have their own flight patterns and profiles and a second’s glance tells me all I need to know. The darting coal tits, with their white mohican stripes, zip in and out on a straight axis like skewers through a doughnut. The goldfinches arrive mob-handed and flitter and then squat, or should that be pose, occasionally splitting a sunflower seed. On a bright day their red heads and yellow wing tips give them a jewel-like quality, so it’s no wonder these slender birds were caged in Victorian times. They aren’t a peaceful lot though. Our mob of five, or charm to use the correct collective name, squabble horribly.
We’ve had a pair of nuthatches for the first time, although at the top end of the village, close to the church and its old rectory, they see them all the time. Nuthatches even nest up there, because they love mature trees. The BTO, which has an excellent website (www.bto.org) says that nuthatches are most common in November because they store their food in readiness for winter proper. However I seem to be seeing them regularly now and the BTO tells me that they are sedentary birds, rarely moving far from where they fledged.
Sedentary doesn’t do justice to the nuthatch’s flight though. They swoop in like superman and superwoman, for we have a pair. The males have reddish brown markings down their flanks although I haven’t distinguished the difference so far. They select their meal of choice. If it’s a peanut, they remove one quickly and often drop one or two which pleases the pigeon pair on the ground. If it’s a sunflower seed they may linger a little longer. When it’s time to go, they angle their wings and take off like Spitfires on maneouvres, arching and circling like planes in a dog fight.
Bird Boxes at Spring Cottage
Their upside-down habit and dagger-like bill is very useful when they’re looking for insects on tree trunks in summer. Their distinguishing feature though is a dramatic black eye stripe is worthy of Cleopatra or perhaps Claudia Winkleman. The combination of steel-grey and soft peach-pink is also unique.
The collective noun, a booby of nuthatches, doesn’t seem appropriate, but they are noisy and bossy in the garden because they are very territorial birds. It’s said the females won’t approach the feeder until their male partners have gone, although we have seen both feeding at once. They’re monogamous and they like mud for nest building. Our cottage has a spring, so there’s no shortage of opportunity for making mud pies here.
Nuthatches are almost certainly coming into the garden because our cottage is bordered by mature beech trees and they like hazel and beech. Their name comes from the Middle English word ‘nuthak’, because they split hazel nuts with their beak. They use their beaks to lever up bits of bark on rotting wood, to get at the insects and we do have rotting wood. They’ll also find lots of insects in the trees too.
We have four types of tits too. The most adept as winkling out a peanut at speed is the Great Tit, a large bird with a black central strip dividing a yellow-green breast. They’re primarily insectivorous in the summer but take large numbers of seeds throughout autumn and winter. The seeds of beech being a favourite. Great tits often use our nest boxes to raise their young and they begin to examine the boxes early in the year.
The blue tits share the same blue and yellow colouring, but is smaller and much more agile. Several seem to be visiting the garden at the moment. When they nest bird food won’t do. They will need to find 10000 small invertebrates to raise their brood of chicks in the three weeks it takes them to fledge. This won’t be a problem here, because we’re organic so there are always plenty of insects on hand. They’ll clean up the roses, when aphids arrive, and they’ll pick off small grubs from the fruit trees.
The most acrobatic of all are the long-tailed tits, like cotton wool balls on painted lolly sticks. They arrive in odd numbers, often five at a time. They’re gregarious and their collective noun, a banditry of titmice, is very apt. They breed earlier in the year than other tits, and build elaborate domed nests from late February onwards. They weave moss, spider webs and hair, and they camouflage the outside with lichens and then line them with an average of 1,500 feathers. The wren is equally industrious when it comes to building nests and we have many here, enough to make a ‘chime’, and they chirrup sending a warning call through the garden. Wrens do not visit the bird table: they’re busy frisking the plants still left standing in the autumn borders.
Green woodpecker – baby and mother
It’s taken several years for our garden to become mature but the small apple trees planted ten years ago are finally getting large enough for jackdaws to lie in wait. They raid the peanuts and one has learnt to pull them out and toss them down to the others waiting on the ground. I applaud their cooperation, but if I see them at it I have a wooden spoon handy to tap the windows. There’s no collective noun known to me, but I think it should be a raid of jackdaws.
We know the garden’s getting mature because our ‘Blenheim Orange’ apple tree, planted some nine years ago, had a Spotted Woodpecker bobbing up the trunk the other day. It’s a descent of woodpeckers and the black, red and white ones look glorious in winter light. In summer the best sight of all is the green woodpecker coming to explore the lawn on a damp day. We have old anthills in our wilder bits. Gardens are so much more than collections of plants, they’re living landscapes. So a winter’s day is never dull here!
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Tag Archives: HRVs
[Announcement] HR ALERT! CSO-Peoples Intervention and Monitoring Mechanism (CSO-PIMM) now ready -PAHRA
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June 16, 2012 in Announcement.
[In the news] Not one human rights violator prosecuted under Aquino, says NY-based watchdog -InterAksyon.com
Not one human rights violator prosecuted under Aquino, says NY-based watchdog Lira Dalangin-Fernandez May 21, 2012 MANILA, Philippines — President Benigno Aquino III’s human rights record after nearly two years in office remains wanting as his government failed to successfully prosecute a single suspect in pending cases, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said…
May 22, 2012 in In the News.
[Press Release] Human Rights Report of the Philippines to the UN lacks measurable results -Action Network Human Rights-Philippines
Human Rights Report of the Philippines to the UN lacks measurable results On 29 May 2012, the Philippines will be reviewed as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) before the UN Human Rights Council on the implementation of its human rights obligations. The Philippine government receives in advance the opportunity to explain in a…
May 22, 2012 in Press Release.
[In the news] Slain farmer’s kin seek arrest of 6 suspects – Inquirer.net
Slain farmer’s kin seek arrest of 6 suspects Philippine Daily Inquirer CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The family of lumad farmer Wilce Gica, who was shot dead on August 24 in Maramag, Bukidnon has asked authorities to arrest the six guards of Villalon Ranch who were tagged as suspects. Police confirmed that murder charges had…
September 3, 2011 in In the News.
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733 Boush Street, Suite 100, Norfolk, VA 23510
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Mark H. Tekamp
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Mark earned his BA degree from Virginia Tech and his MBA from the University of New Orleans. Prior to his career in the financial services industry he resided in New Orleans where he worked in college textbook sales.
Motivated by a keen interest in understanding the global economy and the financial markets, Mark blended his intellectual curiosity with his professional aspirations and joined Merrill Lynch in May 1982 as a retail account executive. Over the succeeding quarter of a century at Merrill Lynch and several other competing firms, Mark grew in his capacity to serve investors as the opportunities expanded. As his financial skill set matured and the opportunities to serve his clients expanded, Mark joined several firms during this period, ending up with Smith Barney where he was the top producing broker in the Norfolk office.
The father of three sons and a daughter, Mark has pursued a lifetime interest in history, economics, and the financial markets through his reading and viewing of online courses. He and his wife, Margie, are active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk. Mark is also active in the Kairos Prison Ministry. He stays fit by walking at least 7 miles a day and bleeds burgundy and orange for his Virginia Tech Hokies.
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by Hannah Ongley
did goldie just unmask banksy?
The drum 'n' bass legend just referred to the elusive street artist as Robert.
Last September, Robert "3D" del Naja of British trip-hop group Massive Attack was forced to deny he had a side-hustle painting subversive stencils and opening emo Disneylands.
"We are all Banksy," Del Naja said to a crowd of fans in Bristol after journalist Craig Williams purportedly outed him as the elusive street artist. Del Naja then claimed to the Daily Mail that Banksy was just a close mate who often checked out some of the band's gigs. Needless to say this did little to dispel the rumour, and nor has a new interview with drum 'n' bass DJ — and Del Naja's longtime creative mate — Goldie. Chatting to spoken word poet Scroobius Pip on Pip's Distraction Pieces podcast, Goldie straight-up refers to Banksy as "Robert."
"Give me a bubble letter and put it on a t-shirt and write 'Banksy' on it and we're sorted... We can sell it now," Goldie can be heard saying, lamenting that graffiti is misunderstood. He then continues, "No disrespect to Robert, I think he is a brilliant artist. I think he has flipped the world of art over." You can almost feel the silence as he pauses, twice, before swiftly changing the topic to jazz. Guess someone's not getting a free stay at The Walled Off Hotel next time he's DJing in Israeli-occupied West Bank.
There are a couple of related theories floating around about Banksy's real identity. Williams thought Banksy could be more than one person, though he's certain he/they are linked to Massive Attack in a major way. Meanwhile, science thinks Banksy is some total random named Robin Gunningham, so at least we can all agree that his real name probably starts with "R."
Text Hannah Ongley
Image via Instagram
robert del naja
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Going Big
California’s Rigged Election Process Is Coming to America
Facts About the Jones Act.
There’s a Better Way ** Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Approach to Work & Human Dignity
The One Party State
A 2 Legged Stool Economy
Commercializing Oahu’s Neighborhoods
The Republican Party of Honolulu County Central Committee and the Party of Lincoln
Energy Resilience in Hawaii
Grass Roots Development & Members Sign In
Hawaii state government abandoned the chance to lower energy cost and increase the take home pay on Hawaii’s families by losing the opportunity for NextEra to buy Hawaiian Electric Company. NextEra would have brought in much needed capitol and greater depth of expertise to deal with Oahu overworked and under-powered energy grid.
But, most alarming was the lost chance to convert Oahu’s oil fired power plants to natural gas which would have saved over One Hundred and Eleven Million Dollars annually and increased Oahu’s energy resilience and security.
Artificially high electrical cost are placed directly on the backs of business and residence and could this be for ideological reasons not financial?
Hawaii Gas estimates Liquefied Natural Gas would lower the cost of a family’s electric bill on Oahu by 30%!
Such a savings would have sent a ripple through Hawaii’s economy giving a break to both residential and business customers alike.
It would have lowered the operating cost of local business giving them greater flexibility to hold down or lower cost.
Abundant energy supply at lower cost is a key factor in job growth and income.
In Hawaii’s two legged economy (military and tourism) lower energy cost could well have been a major factor in generating new industries and technological innovation for our state.
This sort of road block to common sense innovation has to stop to help Hawaii stay prosperous and competitive in the 21st Century.
Hawaii Gas Projected Energy Savings From LNG:
hawaii-gas_report_the-facts-about-lng-for-hawaii
Republican Party of Honolulu County Central Committee
Fox News Politics
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is facing questions over a plea deal her office negotiated during her stint as California’s attorney general that allowed a disgraced former San Diego mayor to avoid registering as a sex offender and dodge jail time.
Rep. Ilhan Omar promised to continue being President Trump’s "nightmare" as she received a warm welcome in her Minnesota district on Thursday, following a turbulent week in which she repeatedly clashed with the White House.
Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders has pledged to American workers that he’ll institute a $15-per-hour minimum wage if he wins the White House in 2020. But unionized workers on Sanders’ own campaign say they wish he would start now -- by paying a higher wage to them.
Julia Salazar — the Brooklyn state senator who has been called out for falsely painting herself as a working-class immigrant — was living off a trust fund while mounting her socialist-themed campaign, new campaign finance disclosures reveal.
Capitol police meet with members of political 'squad' about safety concerns
Congressional security officials have met with all four members of the “squad,” comprising Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., over concerns about their safety as lawmakers.
Tlaib, AOC grill McAleenan over treatment of migrants detained at US-Mexico border
Progressive lawmakers grilled a top Trump administration official Thursday about family separations at the border, with one member of the so-called "squad" accusing him of wanting to prolong the detention of children, which he denied.
Defend The Union GOP
Defend The Union
Defend The UnionWednesday, July 17th, 2019 at 9:31am
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2019/07/16/liz-cheney-rolls-out-laundry-list-of-anti-american-policies-espoused-by-freshman-4-in-brutal-take-down-775621
Liz Cheney rolls out laundry list of anti-American policies espoused by ‘freshman 4’ in brutal take down | BizPac Review
Rep. Elizabeth Cheney slammed her “socialist colleagues” and other Democrats attacking President Trump for being “wrong” on a myriad of issues, including calling the president of the United States a racist. The Wyoming congresswoman joined with Republican leaders in the House to address the ...
bizpacreview.com
Defend The Union shared a post.Wednesday, July 10th, 2019 at 4:48pm
😂😂😂🇺🇸
393 11 4 View on Facebook
Defend The Union shared a post.Tuesday, July 9th, 2019 at 11:01am
393 11 16 View on Facebook
Defend The Union shared a link.Tuesday, July 9th, 2019 at 9:24am
Attorney Harmeet Dhillon, known for her work defending Andy Ngo and James Damore, launched a new legal nonprofit, Publius Lex, aimed at protecting civil rights for all Americans, including conservatives who are the frequent target of far-left activists and corporations.
Harmeet Dhillon Launches 'Publius Lex' Legal Fund to Fight Antifa and Big Tech | Breitbart
Defend The Union shared a link.Monday, July 8th, 2019 at 10:26pm
2020 is going be great as President Trump knocks around a few democrats.
Preview of 2020
Defend The UnionSunday, July 7th, 2019 at 5:05pm
This kind of stuff is confusin to a Nu Yowk bartender?
Photo shows hybrid of toilet and drinking fountain in migrant detention centers, where Ocasio-Cortez says women had to drink from the bowl
Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez visited a migrant detention facility — an image shows the toilet/drinking fountains detainees use that she said were broken.
businessinsider.com
CNN released the lineup for the second presidential debate later this month, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) once again missing out on the opportunity to face former Vice President Joe Biden. The finalized lineup, officially resulting from a neutral drawing
Rep. Al Green (D-TX) on Thursday declared that he will be “marching on until victory is won” on impeaching President Donald Trump a day after the House tabled his impeachment resolution, which Green suggested is needed so that members of Congress are not harmed.
Rep. Al Green (D-TX) said on Thursday that he will introduce a bill asking for more security for House members because “bigotry” and “hate” are on the rise in America after the crowd at President Donald Trump's rally chanted “send her back” when Trump was criticizing Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) history of anti-American and anti-semitic “screeds.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said on Thursday that President Donald Trump put “millions of Americans in danger” on Wednesday evening when supporters at his Greenville, North Carolina, rally chanted “send her back” after Trump ripped Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) anti-American and antisemitic “screeds."
Klobuchar: Trump 'Trying to Make People Hate Each Other'
On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show,” 2020 presidential candidate Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) stated that President Trump is “trying to open wounds, trying to make people hate each other.” Klobuchar said, “I think, first of all, she [Representative
Former presidential candidate and Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is “afraid" of "Squad" member Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) because her life story is more “American” than Trump’s.
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Hype or Like Friday: Best Reads of 2016
So many good reads this year- some brand new series, or some that were new to us! This also marks a year that we have been blogging- as we created this blog for a school project we were working on in November 2015, and truly started adding content in December and early January. It has been quite a fun journey, and a lesson in time management to meet our (self-imposed) deadlines of posting! We’ve made friends with other bloggers, and found our tribe at WordPress!
We are connecting our best books of the year with a meme we are trying for the first time- Hype or Like Friday that we discovered on Goodreads. This meme was created by Jillian, Larkin and Britt who are book bloggers that want to share their opinions about overly hyped books.
Nancy: My reading highlight was the Locke & Key series, written by Joe Hill and beautifully illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez. Such an epic story- it had complex characters, moral dilemmas, a malevolent evil and an atmospheric setting that sucks you in.
Kathleen: My favorite thing that I started reading this year was Fables (Vol. 1 of the Deluxe Edition). Timeless fairy tale figures living in modern New York City – what more could you ask for? The characterization is excellent, the plot twisting and riveting, and though I don’t normally like the art to vary too much, they really pick artists who fit the style of the story at any given time. Absolutely a must-read.
Nancy: Another series that I found outstanding was Revival, written by Tim Seeley and illustrated by Mike Norton. It was an atypical living dead story, in which a handful of dead suddenly came back to life. They quietly rejoin their former lives, not even realizing or remembering their deaths. Their new existence sets the town on edge, with media scrutiny, a government quarantine and religious fanatics taking over the region. Seven of the planned eight volumes are out, and I eagerly look forward to the finale of the series early next year.
Kathleen: George Perez’s Wonder Woman (review coming soon!) is the acclaimed 1980’s reboot of your favorite heroine. It’s a great origin story for first time readers of Wonder Woman, as it’s easy to follow and heavily borrows the mythology from her Greek roots, which is always fascinating. The art is richly detailed, colorful, and full of light, as befitting the Amazon princess. Plus, cheesy ’80s dialogue galore! =P
Nancy: The Outside Circle, written by Patti LaBoucane-Benson and illustrated by Kelly Mellings, tells the fictional tale of a Canadian First Nations man that comes to terms with his heritage and who begins to take responsibility for his life. The story is based on the reality that many Native people face (in Canada and the US), for the government took away thousands of children from their families over the years, breaking the circles of community and fragmenting generations of people with no connection to their tribe anymore.
Kathleen: Seconds is not your typical coming-of-age story. Yeah, Katie is a 20-something who struggles with owning her own business, making friends, and with letting go of her ex… but she also gets a rare opportunity to start over by eating a magic mushroom. Soon, she starts eating one every night, but the more she tries to fix, the more she messes up. And the more she makes the house spirit angry with her. Rounded forms and warm colors belie the serious message within.
Nancy: Kingdom Come, written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Alex Ross was praised by IGN with the statement, “One of the greatest comic book stories of all time”, and they were not far off the mark. I am typically more a Marvel fan, but this DC story was fantastic for the moralistic debate story line. The artwork is top notch, with a distinctive photo-realism look and holds up 20 years after first being published. This book stays true to each character’s back story, so kudos to the team’s familiarity with the history of all the superheroes! As such, the Epilogue was a perfect ending.
Kathleen: High-fantasy readers, rejoice, for there is a comic out there just for you. Kurt Busiek’s The Autumnlands takes us to a world where animals speak, weave magic, and build cities in the sky. When their magic starts disappearing, the collective of wizards casts one last spell to bring a savior to their world – but the cost is too great, sending their city plummeting to the plains below. Can they survive what horrors await them in the night? Can their champion really save them? Features gorgeous, richly detailed art and beautiful writing.
Nancy: The book Invincible took me by surprise this year, for it is overshadowed by writer Robert Kirkman’s more well known project (The Walking Dead) but I felt the world building in this one volume was as strong as DC & Marvel’s superhero worlds. We meet Mark, a new superhero, who is the son of Omni-Man. Later his world is turned upside down, with a twist that will surprise you, and his life changes forever with this new knowledge. This new development is a game changer and sets up endless stories for the future. Sadly, this series is drawing to a close soon, but I will enjoy binge reading the rest of the books soon.
Kathleen: My last one was a toss-up between Birds of Prey and Bombshells… and Birds of Prey won. I know! Strike me down where I stand!!! They both feature a wide and varied cast of female superheroes, which I love, but Birds of Prey has the core three whom you can’t help rooting for. It has been wonderful to see how Barbara, Dinah, and Helena come together and become a family despite their differences. Exotic locales, action-packed stories, and hilarious dialogue have made this series near and dear to my heart.
There you have it – our ten best books/series of 2016. Thank you for all the support, comments, and friendship that you’ve all given us. We are so happy to have you all with us =D Happy holidays!!! ❤
– Nancy & Kathleen
Birds of Prey, DC, Fables, Hype or Like, Hype or Like Friday, Image Comics, Invincible, Locke & Key, Revival, Wonder Woman
10 thoughts on “Hype or Like Friday: Best Reads of 2016”
Books, Vertigo and Tea
I love Fables! Still working on them, but so good 🙂
Kathleen wrote so glowingly of the books, I plan on checking them out myself too!
rashthedoctor
adding all on my TBR, except Kingdom Come , which i have already read and must review one of these days 🙂
I look forward to seeing what you think of the books either on your blog or on Goodreads!
Weezelle
I look forward to the Wonder Woman review. If I was any superhero it would be her. I am a child of the 70s after all.
Happy Anniversary you two! Congrats on a year of fantastic content and here’s to even more in 2017 :).
Great wrap up there of some cool comics. I read volume 1 of Locke & Key this year and liked it too so I’d like to check out the rest. I also have Autumnlands, but haven’t started it yet.
I really like your thoughts on Seconds, Kathleen, so I’ll gonna take a look at some of the art to see if I’ll like it. I’ve also been interested in Fables, but didn’t like the artwork in the first issue so I haven’t picked it up yet.
I am going to to be in the last issue of Revival!!! – Graphic Novelty²
My Revival Cameo! – Graphic Novelty²
Best Reads of 2017 – Graphic Novelty²
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Priorities Overview
Dredged Material Management
News from the GLDT
Events of the GLDT
Meetings in the Basin
Upcoming Great Lakes Events
© 2019 Great Lakes Dredging Team
Site created and maintained by the Great Lakes Commission | www.glc.org
The Great Lakes Dredging Team (GLDT) is a partnership of federal and state agencies created to assure that the navigation dredging of U.S. harbors and channels throughout the Great Lakes, connecting channels and tributaries is conducted in an adequate, timely and cost effective manner while meeting environmental protection, restoration, and enhancement goals. It serves as a forum for both governmental and non-governmental Great Lakes dredging interests to discuss the region’s dredging needs.
At its 2015 Annual Meeting held on June 3-4 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the GLDT Legislative, Technical and Outreach committees adopted their respective work plans. These work plans will guide the work of the committees, but they also identify overall GLDT priorities.
For 2015-2016, the GLDT priorities are:
Sustainable dredged material management: With over three million cubic yards of sediment needed to be dredged every year from Great Lakes harbors and navigation channels to assure safe, reliable maritime commerce and recreational boating, and with many long-term, permanent placement options dwindling, development of a more sustainable approach to dredged material management has become a more urgent priority. Some of the related areas in which the GLDT will be working include promoting beneficial use, evaluating open water placement and environmental window policies, and expanding the life of confined disposal facilities. The Technical Committee will be leading these efforts, with the involvement of the Legislative and Outreach Committees.
Legislative monitoring: Through the Legislative Committee, the GLDT will evaluate federal and state policy issues relating to navigation dredging in the Great Lakes basin. One of the pieces of legislation that the GLDT will follow closely is the recently signed Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014. Particular focus will be on holding Congress to benchmark appropriation levels established by WRRDA as it advances to the ultimate objective of full use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for its intended purpose.
Use of science to inform policy and management: The GLDT will serve as a forum for GLDT members, stakeholders, and policy makers to discuss the scientific basis for issues and policies affecting sustainable dredged material management. The objective is to improve the understanding among all GLDT members (and our stakeholders and policy makers) of the science behind some of the policies which influence sustainable dredged material management, and to increase and improve cooperation between all concerned parties. One of the outcomes of the 2015 GLDT Annual Meeting was a directive to plan and convene a broad “State of the Science and Policy” symposium, which could be one means towards achieving this goal. The technical committee will work in close collaboration with the legislative and outreach committees to identify opportunities to increase communication between the scientific community and policy makers.
Click here for the GLDT 2015-2016 Priorities (PDF version)
For detailed priorities of the Great Lakes Dredging Team, see:
For even more information, read our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Copyright © 2019 Great Lakes Dredging Team
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The Museum of Old and New Art
MONA is a big deal in Tassie. A museum (of sorts) that has changed the face of culture and tourism in Tasmania, MONA is a no brainer to add to your to-do list when visiting Hobart.
It’s hard to explain exactly what to expect from MONA, or the Museum of Old and New Art, other than a mind-blowing experience. It’s not for the faint of heart, and while it’s ostensibly family friendly, it’s probably worth thinking twice before bringing the little ones unless you want to pre-empt some conversations you might rather leave until later.
As the name suggests, MONA includes a collection of artworks and visiting exhibitions of both old and new art. There is everything from antiques to new experimental art, many of it exploring topics clearly designed to make the viewer at least a little uncomfortable (life, death, sex), though others simply amaze.
The museum is an architectural work of art itself, and you'll be hard pressed to make it through all the exhibitions within even a few hours. You're highly recommended to make a visit to MONA a full day trip. Of course, there's food available on site at various locations including a cafe, restaurant and bar.
MONA is a 20 minute drive north of Hobart and carparking is available, but limited. If you want the full MONA experience, however, it's worth booking the MONA ferry which takes you from the Brooke Street Pier to MONA on a 25 minute ferry ride.
The museum is mostly accessible, with the exception of a couple of the exhibitions, and wheelchairs can also be borrowed on site. Be aware that strobe lights do function within the museum, but staff can tell you which exhibits to avoid if this is an issue. They are also ready and willing to help you know which exhibits might be too confronting for some viewers.
MONA has reinvigorated Hobart, not only with the museum, but also with the festivals that it provides through the year including annual events MONA FOMA and Dark MOFO.
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Tag: michael-sam-th
The 30 Best Celebrity Underwear Bulges of the 21st Century
This Sunday is National Underwear Day, and to celebrate we thought we’d do some research and compile this list of the 30 best celebrity bulges — for science
Michael Sam Says He Regrets Coming Out as Gay Before the NFL Draft
During a speech at the University of New Mexico, the football player said he regrets coming out when he did
Slow Your Roll: No, the New Harry Styles Song Doesn’t Necessarily Mean He’s Bi
Some Twitter fans are declaring Harry Styles bisexual because of some newly released song lyrics about dating guys and girls, which is great, but….
College Linebacker Comes Out: ‘I Can Be Who I Want to Be’
Kyle Kurdziolek is a scholarship football player on the University of St. Francis’ team who recently came out to his family, friends, coaches and teammates
VIDEO: Michael Sam Goes Back To School, Preps For 2016 NFL Season
Michael Sam said he was retiring from football, now he’s announced he’ll be back next year! Sam is also back at his alma matter getting his masters degree.
Oh No! Gay Footballer Michael Sam Is Leaving The Sport Indefinitely
After just one week, Sam is leaving the Canadian Football League. Between being rejected by the NFL & breaking up with his fiancé, Sam has had a tough year.
Gay Football Play ‘Colossal’ Reflects NFL’s Battered Culture Of Masculinity
It’s been nearly a year since Michael Sam became the first openly gay player in the NFL. He lasted exactly one season, and now plays in Canada for the Montreal Alouettes (and reportedly it’s not going so well.) When NFL season officially kicks off next month, there will surely be[…]
No, Homophobia Didn’t Keep Michael Sam Out Of The NFL
Here’s the SHOCKING TRUTH. Michael Sam, the 2013 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, is not actually talented enough for the NFL. Yes, you read that correctly.
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Hotel del Golfo
Surroundings of Laigueglia
The Palms Riviera embraces the whole Province of Savona, for more than 150 square kilometres of bays and inlets, with steep areas overlooking on pebble or long fine-sand beaches. The ever clean sea and the beauty of the beaches has secured our region the primacy of blue flags in Italy (20 beaches). An array of locations spread along the coastline allow the visitor to enjoy a unique experience enclosed in a patch of medieval villages and centres, fit for tourists. Separated by a 2-km promenade, Alassio is the nearest town to get to and to be discovered. It is famous for its Muretto, its alleys, some of the most desirable shopping streets and exclusive clubs. A few kilometres from Alassio, you will find the medieval city walls, the reddish towers and the maze of alleys of one of the largest historical centres in Europe: Albenga, a city rich in Roman ruins, museums and historic buildings, a triumph of geometries to be enjoyed in a quiet afternoon of historical rediscovery.
Other not-to-be-missed centres of western Liguria are: Finalborgo (upstream of Finale Ligure), one of the best preserved historical centrers of the Savona area, with its impressive Convent of Santa Caterina and its beautiful cloisters, and even more upstream, Castel San Giovanni and the ruins of Castel Gavone, striking when illuminated at night. And again, Borgio Verezzi, with its wonderful Sant’Agostino Square, the 17th century church and its traditional rose-stone buildings embedded in a landscape of rock and sea. The Borgio Verezzi Theatre Festival was founded here and, since 1967, during summer nights, under a starry sky, actors have been enlivening the village. Continuing on the coastline, you will find other centres and villages to be discovered and lived for a few moments of relaxation and immersion in the traditions of Liguria: Noli, Spotorno, Varazze, until reaching Savona itself.
East of Laigueglia, already in the Province of Imperia, you can not miss a romantic walk through the alleyways, overlooking the sea, of Cervo Ligure, which seems to literally cling to the rock; the pedestrian historical centre is dominated by a medieval castle which today hosts art exhibitions and the permanent Ethnographic Museum of Western Liguria. For those who want to spend time outdoors, venturing into nature and enjoying the trails close to the sea, the choice is really rich. Among Albenga, Alassio and Laigueglia, you are spoiled for choice through beautiful hilly routes with breathtaking panoramic views and ancient Roman buildings. The sweeping views of the sea and the Gallinara Island will accompany you along Via Julia Augusta. On the hillside, with an enchanting view of the Gulf of Alassio, you can provide your children with the unique experience of the Adventure Park, the Solleone, with its exciting acrobatic paths on trees. Always overlooking the Bay of the Sun, behind Laigueglia, you can venture along the routes which, starting from the beach and going on mule tracks and trails surrounding the village, allow you to do Nordic Walking, a sport for everyone, but also simple and relaxing hikes, mountain biking, horse riding, or, for the more daring, a dip in the blue sky paragliding.
Via Miramare, 19 - 17053 Laigueglia (SV)
Email: contact@hoteldelgolfo.info
Hotel del Golfo Laigueglia
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Short time Sas
Via Vittorio Veneto, 40 – 17021 Alassio (SV)
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> Articles
A prolific career in the rubber industry leads this technologist to establish his own consultancy firm in the field
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GlobalLinker Staff
9 Oct 2018, 09:56 — 5 min read
Enterprise: SPA Technical Advisor
Founder: Shrikant Athavale
Year it was founded: 2010
Industry: Business services & consultancy
Based out of: Pune
At a time when most children are preoccupied with homework, play and friends, Shrikant Athavale had already developed a fascination for the rubber industry, thereby establishing the foundation for his entrepreneurial journey. Shrikant’s maternal uncle was a rubber technologist in a rubber manufacturing company in Panvel (Mumbai) and introduced him to this field. In college, Shrikant pursued this interest and did his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the Karnataka University. During his vacations he would visit his Uncle and work as an apprentice in his firm. Consequently, after graduation, when he joined the firm as a Production Supervisor he had a head start in terms of on-ground experience and knowledge. Thereafter, Shrikant went on to do a postgraduate diploma in Rubber Technology and worked in several rubber enterprises in India and UAE. During these years, he presented several technical research papers in USA, Germany, Italy and Thailand, filed 3 product development patents and published 5 technical books. With his vast knowledge and experience, it was a natural progression for him to establish his own consultancy in 2010. His firm, SPA Technical Advisor, provides complete technical know-how for the manufacture of adhesive tapes and rubber products.
In conversation with GlobalLinker (GL), Shrikant Athavale (SA) shares his business journey.
GL: Tell us about your business and how it came into being.
SA: I started my career way back in 1973. I joined a rubber manufacturing company at Panvel, Navi Mumbai as a Production Supervisor. It was through my maternal uncle who was a rubber technologist, that I developed an avid interest in the rubber industry. I would in fact work with him during my college vacations.
Thereafter, I completed my postgraduate diploma in rubber technology in 1976, from Plastics & Rubber Institute in London, UK. I worked in the rubber industry for about 11 years. May 1984 was a turning point in my career, that’s when I was hired in J&J Permacel, Industrial Tapes Division, Mumbai, after a rigorous interview process. I went on to work at several adhesive tape manufacturing companies in India and UAE.
Over the years, I have presented several technical research papers in USA, Germany, Italy and Thailand. I have filed 3 product development patents and have published 5 technical books recently, through Notion Press USA. In 2010, I started my own technical consultancy firm where I provide complete technical know-how for the manufacturing of adhesive tapes and rubber products.
I am also appointed as Technical Advisor for HML (Harrison Malayalam Ltd) Cochin, Kerala, India - the largest rubber and latex manufactures in India, and EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) in London, UK.
GL: What is the USP of your business?
SA: We provide total transfer of technology on turn-key basis, including product development, improvement, training etc.
GL: What are the challenges you have faced in establishing your business?
SA: I have had to face many challenges in my career, especially after starting my own consultancy firm. Just to list a few, while consulting there is no scope for mistakes, retakes, trial and error. One has to be right every time. Commitments are critical as an entrepreneur and you have to fulfil them.
GL: How do you believe GlobalLinker can benefit business owners?
SA: GlobalLinker brings together leading SMEs and decision-makers. Members can establish meaningful business connections and hence business synergies can be discussed and finalised faster.
GL: What is your big business dream?
SA: My biggest dream is to be a mentor and guide to the young generation. I want to train them and assist them in placements in rubber, adhesives tapes, printing and packaging industry. We see a lot of unemployment and at the same time there is an acute shortage of trained and skilled manpower in our industry. I want to contribute to the best of my ability to bridge this gap.
GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?
SA: My message is simple. An entrepreneur must have a plan to operate, consider all business aspects, anticipate difficulties, keep a solution ready and also have an alternate plan of action. Aim at zero deficit, see how you can be competitive, provide excellent after-sales service and put in 100% sincere efforts.
Network with Shrikant Athavale by clicking on the 'Invite' button on his profile.
Disclaimer: This article is based solely on the inputs shared by the featured member. GlobalLinker does not necessarily endorse the views, opinions & facts stated by the member.
We are a team of experienced industry professionals committed to sharing our knowledge and skills with small & medium enterprises.
GlobalLinker Content Team
GlobalLinker / Gurgaon, India
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Kirti Poddatoori, Sowjanya Bonda, Dhruv Tandan, Founders, AND Business...
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ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION – DONALD TRUMP AT THE CENTER
Donald Trump is in a number of different fire storms but he has drawn the nation’s attention to the issue of illegal immigration. We have more than 11 million undocumented, non-citizens living in the country and we don’t know who they are, where they are, what they are doing, or what their background is. They are a credible threat to the criminal justice system and international security.
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richard.essary.3@us.af.mil
100th A-10 Thunderbolt gets new wings
Posted on August 27, 2015 By Bill Orndorff, Ogden Air Logistics Complex Category: News
An A-10 Thunderbolt, fitted with new wings, got a ceremonial sendoff Aug. 20 as it marked the 100th aircraft completed in the Enhanced Wing Assembly Program by the 571st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.
Brig. Gen. Carl Buhler, Ogden ALC commander, handed the maintenance log for A-10 tail No. 78-0697, first flown in 1978, over to Col. Derek Oaks, commander of the 23rd Fighter Group, Moody AFB, Georgia. The Enhanced Wing Assembly program is a joint effort between Ogden ALC, the 571 AMXS, Boeing Corp., the Defense Contract Management Agency and the A-10 System Program Office.
“From the depot team perspective, the 163 professionals who work on these aircraft were all the time improving the way they do business,” Buhler said in his ceremony remarks. “The first A-10 took over a year to complete — 442 days to turn it around. Today I’m proud to announce that this jet took 172 days — an improvement of 207 days. That’s nine months of aircraft availability given back to our warfighters.
“Along the way, this modification had twists and turns at every point. However, by working as a team with the SPO, flight test, DLA, DCMA, Boeing and our supply team leaders, this team used the Air Force Sustainment Center’s leadership and production model known as the AFSC Way to turn constraints into opportunities, to overcome challenges, and to challenge every single assumption. By doing so, they achieved huge successes.”
Col. James Flattery, A-10 System Program Manager for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, added during the ceremony that when the A-10 was first procured by the Air Force, it was estimated to fly about 6,000 hours.
“Over the years, they have learned what a valuable asset it is and how much we need it,” Flattery said. “They have extended it to more than 16,000 hours — almost three times the service life that was originally suggested. Who would have thought it would go three times more than expected and likely to go a whole lot more?
“Now, almost every combat unit — Active, Guard and Reserve — has an A-10 with the new Enhanced Wing Assemblies installed in its fleet. Soon we will be able to say every unit has deployed this new wing in their fleet.”
Speaking for Boeing during the ceremony, Turbo Sjogren, Vice President for Global Modernization, commented on the teamwork the project produced.
“There were challenges, no doubt, as we went through this program,” Sjogren said, “but I will say that of our relationships with our customers, the transparency, the teamwork of our partners, our ability to meet the challenges together and the teamwork that was brought forth on both sides met those challenges in a constructive manner. It was one of the tenons of success in this program and we’re proud to be part of it.
“The A-10 is a tremendous asset. As we come up on the 100th year of the Boeing Company and the Air Force celebrating its 68th years as an independent service, the endurance of this aircraft from the early 1970s until now is a testament to perseverance.”
In July 2007 the A-10 Program Office awarded Boeing a $1.1 billion contract to develop and produce enhanced wing assemblies to replace the thin-skinned wings that had been on A-10 aircraft since the 1970s and ’80s. The 571st Aircraft Maintenance Group completed installing the first enhanced wing assembly in 2012, and will work on 173 A-10s before the workload is completed.
“The entire assembly, wingtip to wingtip, is all brand new,” said Monte Markos, Industrial Engineering Technician for the 571st. “The old wings had between 10,000 and 12,000 flight hours on them and their structural integrity was going down. The new wings will allow the aircraft to fly another 10,000-12,000 flight hours.”
The wings are replaced in three pieces, Markos explained. Boeing manufactures the center wings in Georgia and the outer wing sections in Korea, while smaller components are subcontracted to companies in New York, Florida, Ohio and other areas.
All components are sent to Kitco Defense in Springville, Utah, which organizes them into kits, then sends them in crates to the Defense Logistics Agency. The 571st pulls its supplies from DLA.
“We remove the old wings as an assembly and put them back into the supply system,” Markos said. “Based on the condition of the wings, some will get rebuilt and some will be sent to the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office for scrap.”
The new wings have been “beefed up” in some areas, based on lessons learned, Markos said.
“The aircraft’s major design hasn’t changed — the new wings have stronger joints and the coatings are designed for better corrosion resistance,” Markos said. They are also strengthening the fuselage so it will last as many flight hours as the wings.”
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Benediction: Peace Signs
As a writer and photographer, Andy Gray (MACCS ’94) documents stories for Alongsiders International, a nonprofit organization that empowers young people around the world to walk alongside disadvantaged children. When he was photographing campers at Shalom Valley, their retreat center in Cambodia, one young girl evaded him, covering her face and cringing whenever Andy lifted the camera. Andy soon learned her name was Kheing and that she wasn’t just avoiding the camera—she was hiding extropia, a disease that caused her left eye to permanently turn outward.
A year later, the organization sent Andy to the town of Sihanoukville to take pictures and gather stories, and when he arrived at the village church, a boisterous group of children greeted him—including Kheing. Wanting to learn more about her life, he asked to speak to her, and the children gathered around to help. As he asked questions, the children would listen and stand close to Kheing’s face, translating and speaking slowly in Khmer. “Something fell into place that I hadn’t understood until that moment,” he remembers. “She was reading lips.” Andy realized that Kheing was deaf, and it was a sacred moment to watch the other children work so hard to mime and translate for her. “The crowd of peers were doing whatever it took for them to communicate with her,” he says.
The children weren’t always so eager to help Kheing in this way, and it was a young woman named Paektra who first noticed her walking alone past neighborhood kids who were teasing her. The moment inspired Paektra to join Alongsiders, befriend Kheing, and convince the kids to stop. “In Cambodia, kids with disabilities are often left behind or purposefully excluded,” Andy says. “In the balance of power, having an older person with respect in the community standing up for her made all the difference.” Because of Paektra, Kheing was now surrounded by a new circle of friends—friends who were eager to befriend her and translate her story for Andy. “Paektra was a living sermon,” he says, “showing the way of Jesus to Kheing and bringing ‘church’ to her whenever they meet.”
After their conversation, Andy took new photos of Kheing, with her friend beside her, making the sign for peace.
+ Andy and his wife Hitomi (PhDICS ’99) design curriculum, write, and edit online content for Alongsiders International. Explore more of Andy’s photography and stories at alongsiders.org.
Michael Wright
Michael [MAT '12] is the online editor for FULLER studio, and he writes and lectures on poetry, culture, and spirituality.
Issue Nine
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How Many Grams In An Ounce?
OK, there are 28 grams in an ounce. Question answered. But it’s not that simple; an ounce doesn’t weigh 28 grams at all. Let’s break it down, so we all know exactly what the score is.
Metric Vs. Imperial/American System
Grams and ounces belong to completely separate systems of measurement: metric and Imperial. (“Imperial” is called “American” in the US).
Imperial/American is a base-12 system whereas good ol’ sensible European metric is base-10.
So, in metric terms, you can buy a kilo of cannabis and be pretty sure it’s 1000g. That 1000g breaks down neatly into 100’s, 10’s, 0.10’s, etc. The systems designed to be efficient and straightforward. And it does its job most of the time.
Scientists everywhere prefer metric over Imperial. There’s even an “international prototype kilo” somewhere in France. It’s recalibrated every few years in case it’s lost some atoms to radioactive decay. That’s how precise the system is.
Imperial/American, on the other hand, is based on whimsy. Base-12 systems can be handy. But this one’s constructed confusingly. People have made lots of tiny patchwork changes to it for hundreds of years. Metric was developed much later, to try to regulate the existing mess.
So, instead, a system where everything’s in multiples of 10, we have a bunch of weird things like stones, pounds and ounces.
When Worlds Collide
In places where Imperial is still used, the system for buying and selling cannabis combines both! Bulk producers have no time for that crazy Imperial nonsense. They produce kilos. And they sell kilos. But here’s the ridiculous thing. The person why buys the kilo breaks it down into Imperial units! Ounces, or sometimes even “bars” and “half bars”. With a bar being 9 ounces and a half-bar 4.5 ounces. Crazy!
People at street level don’t usually want a whole ounce. They want a smaller piece of that ounce which is where “quarters”, “eighths” and “teenths” come in. To make it simple. An eighth is an eighth of an ounce like the name implies. A quarter is a quarter. And a teenth is a sixteenth of an ounce.
Going Down The Scales
So how does all this work out in metric units?
Okay: a kilo gets broken down into ounces. For convenience, lots of people say that there are 36 ounces in a kilo. But, there ain’t. There are 35.274 ounces in a kilo. So if your contact gives you 36 ounces as a kilo, count yourself lucky!
A lot of people think that an ounce has 28 grams. But that ain’t true either. It’s close enough for simple transactions. But it’s not close enough for, say, firing a rocket into space. In fact, an ounce has 28.3495 grams. The more you know! Just try asking for the missing .3495 grams next time.
But if like most folks, you’re resigned to there being only 28 grams in an ounce, it’s pretty straightforward from there on down. A quarter is 7 grams. An eighth is 3.5 grams. And a “teenth” is about 1.75 grams!
How Many Grams In An Ounce Explain By Simon Moker
In this Youtube video, our host Simon Moker will show you how an ounce looks like.
How Does An Ounce Look Like – a Visual Guide
We hope that we’ve been able to answer all your questions, if not, make sure to check out our visual guide to find out more about grams, eight ounces, quarter ounces, half ounces and ounces.
Tags: gram ounce
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Great Schism Of East and West 1054 Orthodox-Catholic
November 13, 2016 1754 Views
Great Schism Of East And West In 1054
Constantine The Great, decided to move the political center due to fierce and constant attacks of their northern neighbors, barbarians. Therefore he established the Constantinople as a new town in 330. He also proclaimed it, as the new capital of the Roman Empire.
Nicaea Council: From Paganism to Christianity
Constantine was the first ruler laying the foundations of Christianity in political terms. The first ecumenical consul gathered in the city of Nicaea (Iznik) in 325 and the principles of Christianity was decided upon. After the Nicene Creed, Patriarchs were assigned to some important cities and Pentarchy (Five Major Episcopal Sees) became the leading religious centers of Christianity.
These five cities were Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria. Among these five cities, Rome and Constantinople were the foremost authorities. The unofficial leader of the Western Christians was Pope of Rome and leader of the Eastern Christians was Patriarch of Constantinople. Rivalry between them went on for centuries.
The First Council of Christianity Nicaea 325
What Is Catholicism And Orthodoxy? Who Were The Pope And Patriarch?
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) developed a totally different culture than the former Latin Rome since it’s settled over the Greek speaking part of the Roman Empire. Even the beliefs were different altough both side were devout Christians.
Doctrines over the Jesus Christ’s nature caused the sects to appear. So while Latin Christian community named as Catholic, the eastern church and its followers regarded themselves as Orthodox. This term means the “right path”. The western Christian community gathered around the Pope, who also acts like the new ruler of Rome. The eastern Christian society supported the Patriarch of Constantinople who was backed by the Byzantine Emperor.
Leader of Eastern Christendom – Patriarch of Constantinople
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople
Greek Orthodox Church Lead By Patriarch Of Consantinople
Constantine’s massive Roman Empire was divided by his successor, Theodosios. While the Rome reduced into a town by the invasion of Gothic leader Alaric, Constantinople became a majestic metropolis. Especially during the Emperor Justinian’s reign (527-565). It stayed as the most civilized city of the world until Latin invasion in 1204.
With the help of the powerful Byzantine emperors, Patriarch of Constantinople, had great influence over the Christendom. Majority of Slavs and some of Arabs and Asians became Orthodox Christians. Eastern Church protected its power until the fall of Constantinople.
Leader of Catholic Church – The Pope
Leader of Catholic Church – Western Christian World – Pope in Vatican
Roman Catholic Church Lead By Pope Of Rome
After the fall of Western Roman Empire, there was a wide authority gap in the Europe. The Vatikan filled the gap with its religious doctrines and administrative hierarchy. The Pope’s great influence effected not only the Rome but the whole Europe. Kings were crowned by them.
So the power poisoning caused the Pope to refuse the legitimacy of Patriarch his one and only spiritual rival. The great schism or the great conflict of East and West was coming up.
Split Of East And West Churches: Great Schism 1054
Great Schism of east and west means, separation of Catholics and Orthodox officially in 1054. Papal legats sent by Pope, declared the given statement in Hagia Sophia, the excommunication of Patriarch by the Pope.
Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated the Pope in return. Both leaders proclaimed themselves as the ecumenical leader of Christendom. The tension between two sides, grew in time and caused the Latin invasion in 1204.
Sacking of Constantinople by Eugène Delacroix
Sacking of Constantinople by Latins (1204-1261)
Following the Pope’s order, the Crusader armies of Europe marched through Constantinople in the 12th and 13th centuries.
During the IV.Crusade, the Latin army led by Enrico Dandolo; attacked, conquered and sacked Constantinople. Latin invasion lasted from 1204 to 1261 and it was finally repelled by a Byzantine prince.
Byzantines and Greek Orthodox Church never forgot this horrible period. Grand Duke Loukas Notaras claimed “Better Turkish turban than Latin Miter” before the fall of Constantinople.
Pope Paul VI and Patriach Athenagoras meets in Istanbul
Pope Paul VI and Patriach Athenagoras 1950s
Reconciliation of Pope and Patriarch
The conflict between two sides, lasted almost a millennium. Eastern and Western Churches had never built good relationships up until 1950s. The Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras and Catholic Pope Paul VI finally buried the hatchet and shook hands in modern day Istanbul.
Further Recommended Reading:
History Of Byzantine Empire
Shared History Of Rome And Istanbul
Phanar Greek Orthodox Patriarchate
Great Schism Of East And West Blog Post by Serhat Engul
Great Schism of East And West 1054
Byzantine Sites in Istanbul – Museums and Ruins
PRIVATE TOURS , THINGS TO DO February 18, 2019
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Tiger’s Claw
Tiger's Claw Slot Machine
For the last 10 years, Betsoft has been a renowned name known for producing slot games of the highest quality. Tiger’s Claw by Betsoft is the latest casino game in their collection. It is set in a mystical background. It has an engaging interface with a very minimal loading time. Tiger’s Claw mobile is compatible with iOS, Windows phones, Android phones and tablets. It can be played on the desktop as well. The gameplay begins with a player pressing the spin button on the screen. It is a 3-4-5-4-3 slot machine coming with 5 reels. The paylines pay from right to left and left to rights. This both-way feature increases a player’s chances to win big. A player has a chance to win 800,000 coins.
"Details for Tiger’s Claw Game"
Software BetSoft
Paylines 720
Min coins per spin 50
Max coins per spin 250
Mobile Casinos to Play Tiger’s Claw for Real Money
1 How to Play and Win
2 More Information
3 Playing for Free and Real Money
How to Play and Win
Let’s have a look at the features it has in stock.
Free spins. The game has a special bonus of free spins. Every time a player spins and a tiger’s claw holding a mystical orb appears, players are awarded free spins. For every 5 such claws, players are awarded more free spins. 98 such spins can be won in a single spin. Free spins can again result in winning more spins as well as the prize. A player can win up to 240 spins.
Another important character in the game is the Sharman. It is scattered on the reel as it is a symbol of wealth. If a player gets 3 or more Sharmans on the screen, it triggers the Sharman Payouts. As the number of Sharmans increases, the payouts get increased as well, with a chance of winning up to 50 times the total wager.
The developers at Betsoft have developed this game with an aim to provide quality relaxation time to a casino lover. It has rich graphics and engaging mystical characters which make playing it a real fun. Betsoft is proud of their having hit the mark with this awesome gambling option. Players from all over the world will definitely enjoy the game. This slots machine offers an RTP of 95.16%, and hence, a player has chances of a decent return.
The minimum coin size is 0.01, and the maximum is 1.00. It has 5 bet levels. Thus, the minimum and maximum bets per spin are 50 and 250.
Playing for Free and Real Money
Play Tiger`s Claw for free on your smartphone or computer with ease and from the comforts of your own house since it is compatible with for a number of platforms. Also, since its gameplay is really simple, it requires no special skills to play it. If you want to play Tiger`s Claw for real money, you should play Tiger`s Claw at online casino approved by UKGC.
The useful tip to win is to start betting with lower bets if you a novice in the gambling world. Also, before depositing, go for a round with the demo version. Always think of your gambling strategy.
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Category: Americans
Hoping For Good Luck, On Friday The 13th
This has been quite an eventful week in New York. The previous few weeks of economic decline, bad financial news, increasing unemployment numbers and other news of global distress had been pushing the New York Stock Exchange consistently and constantly lower and lower.
Things were so bad that people would have preferred a return of the stress-filled yo-yo stock market days, where one at least had a 50-50 chance of making or losing money!
From a high of almost 13,000 the NYSE reached 6500 and there was talk of it even heading lower. There were fears that it might even fall below 6000 before all is said and done.
This decline continued while the flood of bad news also continued unabated. The only silver lining one could see around these ominous dark clouds was that most companies were choosing to do greater layoffs than they need and reducing costs as much as they can.
Even though each job lost is something that can mean the destruction of dreams of a family, sadly, for big businesses it is all a numbers game. Companies generally prefer to dish out all their bad news in one lump rather than dish it out piecemeal. It is generally easier to recover from a massive jolt and negative dip in stock prices over a few weeks or months. It is harder to get over the malaise that can cripple a company’s stock price if the bad news, no matter how small, just keeps coming every few weeks.
What’s that suggests to me, and keep in mind that I’m no financial adviser, is that most companies may be gearing up to have better than expected results at the end of the March quarter. Or, at least results that are less terrible than the market anticipates. Either one of these could potentially mean a rise in stock prices in April.
Even before the end of the quarter, a few pieces of good news have come out. One of them was that Citibank has been profitable for the last two months. This is the giant global behemoth that is one of those banks considered too large to be allowed to fail. This news came shortly after the bank’s stock was trading at as low as one Dollar per share, a far cry from nearly $60 per share it used to be.
Anybody who bought those shares at the ridiculously low price of one Dollar literally made a profit of 35% in one day, as investors suddenly found their greed outweighing their fear.
Financial company stocks in general benefited from this uptick in the stock market. Most major stocks have been rising consistently for the last few days, though I expect some drops as profit-taking starts again.
Even though it is far too early to claim that the market will not plumb new lows, but more than likely, one year from now economists and other so-called experts will analyse and say that the recovery had begun at an anaemic but measurable rate in these weeks.
President Barack Obama and his team have had most of their focus on the American economy – as well as the global recession that still imperils the world. But in the meantime other serious matters of the world continue to demand attention.
As is consistent with Pakistan and its self-destructive ways, once again American media and Pakistan bashers have gotten ample opportunity to raise the specter of Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists – should the country spill further into anarchy.
The recent blatant and brazen terrorist attacks in the metropolitan city of Lahore, the despicable attempts to kill the Sri Lankan Cricket team and the evil murder of police officers and innocent bystanders there showed how almost no part of Pakistan is safe. This was an attack obviously not carried out by Taleban type thugs but by some well-organised but equally evil professionally trained gang of killers.
The Taleban continue to remain in the news, especially Pakistan ceding control of Swat and other regions to what are perceived as extremist groups. American drone and missile strikes continue to kill Pakistanis, innocent or otherwise, with disturbing regularity. India continues to rattle its sabers in the guise of demanding justice for the Mumbai attacks. In other words, there is no possible threat, internal or external, military, economic, political or social that Pakistan does not face.
Yet our shameless, spineless, gutless, clueless and witless politicians continue to fight over who sits at the head of the table – while this ship of state is rapidly sinking. Unlike even the Titanic, Pakistan is like a ship whose captain has been aiming it at every single iceberg he can see. On top of that, the ship has been torpedoed from behind. Its own crew is setting fire to cabins and furniture while others are busy looting what they can.
It is no wonder therefore that foreign powers, including America, find that the only way to control Pakistan, even to keep it from self-destructing, is to manage it not as friends but as masters. And, Pakistani politicians are quite OK with that.
From politicians, I want to shift to lawyers. Every country in the world has its share of lawyer jokes. For the last one year, and once again this month, it happens to be Pakistan’s lawyers and barristers, who have taken up the challenge to restore democracy and justice.
A profession that relies not on regular salaries but on almost daily work in the courthouse has once again stepped up, at great cost to its self, economically, professionally, personally. Today I must salute the lawyers and other professionals of Pakistan, not just for bringing down one dictator, but for ensuring that Pakistanis as a nation see that they can choose and control what the government can or cannot do when an elected person tries to act as a dictator.
Will democracy rule or will Pakistan sink into the abyss of chaos and anarchy?
The fact that things have come to this stage in itself is a tragedy. For the first time in more than 60 years we had an opportunity to establish state institutions. This was a historic opportunity because so many forces lined up in a once in a century series of events. The sacrifice of Benazir Bhutto, the professionalism of General Kayani, the sensibility of some political leaders and the great courage of Chief Justice Iftikhar Choudhry and fellow judges. Rarely had so many forces lined up to restore true democracy to Pakistan. And, sadly, rarely have historic opportunities of such greatness been grasped in Pakistan.
As I am writing these lines in New York – on this 13th of March – I am hoping for some good luck for Pakistan. The only positive news is that some sort of compromise may be in the works in Islamabad. I, like millions of Pakistanis, can only hope and pray for that miracle and some Good Luck, today, on Friday The 13th.
This article was in client publications on Friday the 13th, 2009.
Imran Anwar is a New York based Pakistani-American entrepreneur, Internet pioneer, inventor, writer and TV personality. He can be reached through his web site http://imran.com and imran@imran.com . You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/imrananwar
© IMRAN 2009
http://www.imran.com
http://www.flickr.com/imrananwar/
Tweets by ImranAnwar
Author imrananwarPosted on March 23, 2009 March 23, 2009 Categories 2009, America, Americans, Army, Asif Zardari, Assassination, Bailout, Bank, Banking, Barack Obama, Benazir, Benazir Bhutto, Bhutto, Constitution, Democracy, Dictatorship, Economic Recovery, Economy, Elections, Free Speech, Freedom, Future, General, Hypocrisy, Imran, Imran Anwar, IMRAN.TV, ImranAnwar, In My Humble Opinion, Justice, Musharaff, Nawaz Sharif, New York, News, Newspapers, Pakistan, President, Stocks, Supreme Court, Terrorism, WashingtonTags America, Anarchy, Barack Obama, Benazir Bhutto, Democracy, Economy, Elections, Imran, Imran Anwar, Islamabad, Justice, Martial Law, New York, Pakistan, Stocks, Titanic, USA, ZardariLeave a comment on Hoping For Good Luck, On Friday The 13th
Whose Dying Throes? Rumsfeld Living Dream
Sorry, I am still trying to figure out if it’s the insurgency in its dying throes or Bush/Rumsfeld’s political future. More than 2000 more Americans are dead because these people sent them off to war, while their kids are getting arrested for underage drinking and partying.
Bush says this is making us safer at home….. just like Blair made London safe? Now Rumsfeld makes it sound like the insurgents are just fighting because there is no constitution.
So, as soon as a constitution is done, they will say, “Great, I don’t need to kill Americans. Who needs 72 virgins anyway, I got me a new constitution, Hallelujah.”
I am not holding my breath for that, but I await with bated breath what new idiotic logic or white lie or laughable excuse is invented by the White House, Bush, Rumsfeld and Rice. The suspense is killing me, while unfortunately, their policies are killing American soldiers and putting us all at greater risk.
Post Date 8/10/05
Author imrananwarPosted on August 10, 2005 January 12, 2009 Categories 9/11, America, Americans, Bush, Condoleeza, Constitution, Dead, George Bush, Imran, Imran Anwar, Iraq, RumsfeldTags America, Condoleeza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Drinking, George Bush, Iraq, London, Terror, Terrorism, Underage, War On Terror, White HouseLeave a comment on Whose Dying Throes? Rumsfeld Living Dream
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Mar 3, 2014 | 00:38
Caracas holiday peace plea unheeded
March 3 - Government calls for protesters to head to the beach for carnival holiday fall on deaf ears as clashes erupt in Caracas. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).
ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION Clashes broke out between anti-government demonstrators and police in Caracas on Sunday (March 2) at the tail end of a peaceful protest organised by students during the Carnival holiday weekend. Police fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets against protesters in eastern Caracas, which has seen the heat of the protests over the last two weeks. Protesters used a massive elastic sling to launch rocks toward police. The opposition is trying to keep up the momentum from weeks of protests demanding President Nicolas Maduro resign. There are no signs that Maduro, who says the protests are part of a U.S.-backed coup plot, could be ousted in a Ukraine-style overthrow despite widespread discontent with soaring inflation and chronic product shortages. Government leaders have urged Venezuelans to skip the protests and make their traditional trips to the beach during the Carnival holiday. State television was filled with images of packed beaches and smiling holidaymakers. Opposition marchers from students to middle-aged professionals and senior citizens filled a square in the east of Caracas to protest problems including 56 percent annual inflation and one of the world's highest murder rates.
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June 11, 2019 / 10:40 PM / a month ago
RPT-Australia cuts wheat forecast by 11% as drought threatens for third year
Colin Packham
(Repeats story published early on Wednesday, no change to text)
By Colin Packham
SYDNEY, June 12 (Reuters) - Australia on Wednesday cut its wheat production forecast for the 2019/20 harvest by more than 11% as an unrelenting drought across the country’s east coast threatens crops for a third year in a row.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) pegged production of the country’s largest rural export at 21.2 million tonnes, down from its previous estimate in March of 23.9 million tonnes.
That would be 14% below the 10-year average of 24.7 tonnes, and mean a third straight year of lower-than-average production - crippling growers and exporting companies, and providing a hurdle to an economy that is already threatening to stall. The bureau said growing regions have received enough rain to establish crops, but many areas have very little moisture left in the soil, making them reliant of rains in September and October to avoid further crop downgrades.
“Crop prospects in regions with low to very low levels of soil moisture will likely deteriorate,” it said.
Australia exports the bulk of its wheat crop but with increased domestic demand from the country’s livestock sector due to the drought, exports from the world’s fourth-largest supplier are expected to fall.
As a result, traditional buyers of Australian wheat such as Indonesian and Japanese millers will be forced to look to alternative markets such as Russia at a time when prices are rallying.
Supported by Australia’s outlook, global benchmark wheat prices have risen about 15% since May.
Dwindling wheat exports will also damage Australia’s stuttering economy.
Wheat is the country’s most lucrative rural export from an agricultural sector worth about A$50 billion.
Australia’s central bank last week cut interest rates to an historic low, in a bid to support employment growth and lift inflation.
With some farmers across Australia’s east coast unable to sow because of the dry weather, the bureau said production from New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, will total 8.6 million tonnes.
However, national output will be cushioned by output from Western Australia, the country’s largest grain growing region, which will total 8.2 million tonnes, it said.
Lower production may force some millers into rare imports.
Australia in May approved the first import shipment of wheat into the country in more than decade.
Reporting by Colin Packham; editing by Richard Pullin
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Dengke Ma, Ph.D.
Meirong Bai
Evan Lee
Neel Singhal
We are identifying genes that let hibernating squirrels survive with low oxygen, paving the road to treating heart attack and stroke.
Genome evolution has enabled organisms to live in and adapt to nearly every ecological niche on Earth. Humans live in an oxygen-rich ecosystem and human tissues are susceptible to deprivation of oxygen (hypoxia) under pathological conditions, including ischemic stroke and heart attack. Many organisms, from anaerobic bacteria to hibernating ground squirrels (GS), have evolved mechanisms to tolerate varying degrees of hypoxia. In particular, ground squirrels have been shown to be highly resilient to ischemic insults and reperfusion injuries, which helps them survive during hibernation as a natural part of their life. We found such resilience is intrinsic and present even in ex vivo-cultured neural stem cells isolated from GS.
By comparing the protein-coding DNA sequences of the GS genome with those of closely related non-hibernating mammals, we have discovered several cytoprotective proteins, including neurotrophic and mitochondrial respiratory chain proteins, with key amino acid substitutions that are unique to GS but otherwise deeply conserved in mammals. We will use the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 technology to engineer such GS-specific substitutions, singly and in combination, in neural stem cells. We anticipate this project will determine causal roles of such striking genomic evolutionary changes in cytoprotection and endow neural cells with enhanced resilience to hypoxia. Elucidating mechanisms of hypoxic resilience by GS variants will enable an unprecedented powerful approach to develop novel CRISPR genome editing-based therapeutic strategies to treat human ischemic disorders, including stroke and heart attack.
Neural stem cells, with mito7-marked mitochondria, from hibernating ground squirrels that are resilient to hypoxic and hypothermic stresses.
Photo credit: Neel Singhal (Ma Lab)
The IGI has awarded the second of five Shurl & Kay Curci Foundation (SKCF) Faculty Scholars Program awards to Dengke Ma, an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. Ma will spearhead an extraordinary new project using genome editing tools to understand how ground squirrels […]
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Famed ’90s TV Psychic Miss Cleo Dead at 53
Defunt Products Commercials, YouTube
Miss Cleo, a psychic who rose to prominence in the '90s thanks to a series of infomercials, has passed away.
Miss Cleo, whose real name was Youree Harris, died Tuesday in Palm Beach County, Fla. after a battle with cancer that began in her colon, but eventually spread to her liver and lungs. She was 53.
Harris played the character of Miss Cleo for the Psychic Readers Network in the late '90s, her Jamaican accent a staple of late night television. Her short catachphrase of "Call me now!" helped propel her to stardom and made her as much a part of late '90s culture as Friends, the Backstreet Boys and "You've got mail!"
Ironically, Harris was a native of Los Angeles, despite the Jamaican accent.
After her run as Miss Cleo, Harris did voice work for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Take a fond look back at Miss Cleo in her heyday below:
Source: Famed ’90s TV Psychic Miss Cleo Dead at 53
Filed Under: Miss Cleo
Categories: Celebrity, Entertainment, News, Television
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State’s Request To Ban Release Of Evidence In Freddie Gray Case Denied
By: Christina Coleman
Source: Andrew Burton / Getty
A request from State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby to ban the release of evidence in the Freddie Gray case was rejected by a judge Monday, the Baltimore Sun reports.
The request, brought forth by Mosby – who said she was concerned that defense attorneys would strategically release evidence that solely supported the officers – was denied by Judge Barry G. Williams without a hearing. According to the Sun, Williams wrote that “the state does not suggest there is anything in discovery that warrants restricting disclosure.”
Mosby was hoping for a court hearing to argue for the protective order, the site notes.
“The Court notes that discovery was turned over on June 26, 2015, and as of this date, the court is not aware of the dissemination of any discovery information by Defendants,” Williams wrote. “The only discovery item that has become public as of this date has been information from the autopsy report, and at the time of the alleged disclosure, the report had not been turned over to Defendants.”
Williams concluded that “there simply is no basis in the assertions presented to the court for the broad and extraordinary relief sought in the motion.”
A separate motion by Mosby’s office for a gag order on trial participants was struck because of a procedural misstep. It was filed in Circuit Court on May 14, a week before the officers were indicted, and the case was transferred there from District Court.
Gray, 25, died in Baltimore police custody from a severed spinal cord in April. One of the six officers charged in the unlawful arrest and death of Gray was hit with a second-degree murder charge. All have pleaded not guilty.
A trial for the six officers is scheduled for October.
SOURCE: Baltimore Sun | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
Did Someone Really Post An “Enjoy Your Ride” Sign In The Back Of A Baltimore Police Van?
Marilyn Mosby Seeks To Block Release Of Freddie Gray Autopsy Report
State’s Request To Ban Release Of Evidence In Freddie Gray Case Denied was originally published on newsone.com
Baltimore , Baltimore protests , Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby , Baltimore unrest , baltimore uprising , Freddie Gray , Marilyn Mosby , police brutality
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The new Edsel
gonewiththewind
Postby gonewiththewind » Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:25 am
I truly believe that the Hellfish will seem obsolete within a few short months. Kiting is heading in a new direction. But the story of the Hellfish will last long after the last scraps of cuben fiber go into the trash bin. And it won't be a happy story of "gee, what a great kite that was". It will be a story of Best and how they misled their customers and created a bunch of hype over a cloth version of the Edsel. How they conned people into spending the most they'd ever spend on a kite just before the next wave of kite technology came sweeping through. It will be a cautionary tale told to new kiteboarders just getting into the sport and thinking about buying the next overhyped kite. But do hang onto that Hellfish of yours. The Edsel is now a collector's item.
BIOGRAPHIES OF WONDERFUL AND TERRIBLE AUTOMOBILES
THE EDSEL (1958-1959)
The Edsel stands boldly today as a perfect example of horrible timing, an almost classic flop. Although it was never the car the Ford Motor Company claimed it to be--"Looks right! Built right! Prices right!"--it was not the lemon it later became known as.
By 1954, Ford planners decided to enter the mid-priced car field, with a machine in the $2,400 to $3,600 range, above their lower-priced Fords and between their Mercurys and Lincolns. It was a sensible idea. The American economy was booming, and the automobile industry was selling nearly 7 million cars a year. Ford named its experimental concept "Edsel," or "E Car," after Henry Ford II's father. It ultimately managed to retain the original name, even after everyone from office boys to motivational analysts to hired poets had thought up over 6,000 possible names for it.
For a year prior to its introduction, no specific details about the car or clear pictures of it were released to the public. In the tons of advertisements which began flooding the country, the potential buyers saw only gauzy shadows or a fabric-covered shape, but never the car itself. All they were told was that it was something new--and from Ford! It was as if the company were trying to build some sort of secret weapon to capture the market, as the Model T had done 50 years before.
Even though it was constructed on a basic Mercury frame, the Edsel was intended to be a totally new car, but one filled with features Ford's product researchers had decided the typical 1950s buyer wanted: long, heavy, with a gull-winged tail, hundreds of pounds of chrome, push buttons and lights everywhere, and an overpowered engine. To make the car look truly different, the automatic transmission buttons (dubbed "Teletouch") were impractically mounted in a circle inside the steering wheel ring. The radiator grille, later to become infamous, was mounted vertically, with the letters E D S E L in gleaming aluminum in the middle.
Finally, 800 executives, 15,000 workers, 60 copywriters, and 1,160 brand-new dealers began pumping out advertisements and Edsels. A full month before the competition could show their new models, the first Edsels went on display.
The early introduction turned out to be but one of the many mistakes. Prices had been constantly rising during the 1950s, so the Edsel's announced coast appeared rather high to customers, since the competitors had not yet revealed their new prices. Discounted 1957 models of other cars, including Fords, seemed like a better deal. Nevertheless, a thrilled, enticed public, nursed on the teaser ads and the promise of something new, flocked to see the company's mystery car. They looked, nodded, and left--unsold.
As it turned out, the Edsels had become a victim of change. Planned during the boom years when money-laden Americans wanted their cars to resemble jet planes, they appeared just in time to bid hello to the deep recession of 1957-1958 and a general shifting of taste toward compact cars, led by a little beetle-shaped invader from Germany.
panchito
Location: Tarifa / Got 2 Ovandos and a Ripper
Postby panchito » Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:30 am
Do you think Best is only Best ??? Best kiteboarding or maybe Gumball ?? owns some other kite brands out there......you will never guess which ones.....
So I think they dont need to worry about anything......
vietkiter
Location: A Best owner; ex F-One, SS, North, Cab owner
Postby vietkiter » Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:44 pm
If you are going to bash... try not looking like a googling idiot... Google is a great company... but it ain't smart enought to think for you... that's why it called reading AND comprehension...
But let's have fun with your example...
gonewiththewind wrote: ... Ford decided to enter the mid-priced car field...
... For a year prior to its introduction, no specific details about the car or clear pictures of it were released to the public...
... but one filled with features Ford's product researchers had decided the typical 1950s buyer wanted: long, heavy, with a gull-winged tail, hundreds of pounds of chrome, push buttons and lights everywhere, and an overpowered engine...
... As it turned out, the Edsels had become a victim of change. Planned during the boom years when money-laden Americans wanted their cars to resemble jet planes, they appeared just in time to bid hello to the deep recession of 1957-1958 and a general shifting of taste toward compact cars, led by a little beetle-shaped invader from Germany.
Let me guess... chrome chrome chrome revelation... HF = Edsel...
HF mid priced?
HF secretive?
HF heavy? Gizmo gazoo? Where's the bridle?
Crossbow a compact econobox with tiny ass performance?
FYI - 50's was all about chrome... chrome didn't fail the Edsel... the car simply was no good... ah Edsel fail... presumption of HF failure... Edsel = HF... brilliance...
But if you just google a little further... you'll discover an insignificant thing call the 64 1/2 Mustang... oops...
PS... speaking of retro Seasmik makeover... the modern Beetle looks cute and hot when it "signalled the entry into the 21st century"... but alas it was a fad... a weird spaced... girly handling... expensive piece of shit... I doubt Cabrinha would appreciate your implication...
Since you love cars examples... remember the fishnet bridle that rednecks put on the back of their trucks that supposedly improved aerodynamic efficiency, handling, etc... was cool about two seconds...
Give up the two point forecast model.
Postby gonewiththewind » Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:33 pm
Dude, vietkiter, you're embarrassing yourself with every post. Your comprehension skills are sorely lacking. You may disagree with my comparison to the Edsel. You may think the Hellfish will be remembered as a '57 Chevy - I don't. But the connection I was trying to make is perfectly clear. You don't get it, but others will. Unlike the posts you tried to dredge up in the main forum comparing Best to other brands. Your posts usually just leave us bored and scratching our heads, like the one above.
But please, let's not digress. This is a thread about the soon-to-be collectible Hellfish.
Remember me. Remember this post. And let's talk again in a couple of years. The Hellfish will be remembered exactly as I said above.
Please post intelligently in the future. Thank you.
Postby gonewiththewind » Sun Jul 03, 2005 10:31 pm
:: Vietkiter scrambles away on the keyboard quicker than his mind can keep up and comes up with the following thought::
sq225917
Gear: 10 Nemi HP, 15m Flysurfer..
Brand Affiliation: none, formally BEST Marketing Director.
Postby sq225917 » Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:55 pm
wow , thats almost a serious post...
ASNewsForumFuzz
Location: Lakeview OREGON
Contact ASNewsForumFuzz
Postby ASNewsForumFuzz » Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:30 am
sq225917 wrote: wow , thats almost a serious post...
For a best basher...that is a very serious post....and to be honest. It ALMOST makes sense.
oceanplay
Location: south fl
Postby oceanplay » Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:39 pm
Gonewiththewind use earplugs to keep the matter in there you can't afford to loose any more.
V has great posts always good for a laugh.
Users browsing this forum: Baidu [Spider], Google [Bot], K-Roy and 21 guests
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Five years of Change at Loy Norrix
Loy Norrix Students line up at the brand new cafe. Students enjoy the change that makes the lunch hour more smooth and less cramped. Photo Credit / Evelyn Banks
Article by: Evelyn Banks
A lot has changed at Loy Norrix High School the past few years, physically and societally. While the “Glass Palace” looks and feels the same from the outside, there have been many alterations and modifications on the inside, such as upgraded steps, a cleaner entrance, a new and improved cafeteria and revised rules and policies.
“The tower steps used to be disintegrating and dangerous, but now they are improved,” said team teacher Jennifer Ko.
“The tower looks better than it used to. It seems neater and cleaned up, it’s beautiful,” said senior Jasmine Butler.
Whether you are a staff member or a student, everyone has witnessed some positive and negative changes during their time at Loy Norrix.
“Another thing that has changed at Norrix is that people are more polite to one another. Students open and hold doors for each other and the level of nastiness has gone down,” Ko said. Ko also said she remembers a time the use of technology was not allowed.
“There used to be a rule that no technology was allowed to be used in class at all, by students or teachers,” said Ko.
Now technology is everywhere and teachers allow students to use their cell phones for their class work, to listen to music and even check their grades on eSchool.
“I use eSchool to check my grades, attendance and my classes for the next trimester. I check my grades at least once a week,” said Butler. Whether major or minor, Loy Norrix seniors often feel things are different from their freshman year.
“Since freshman year it seems like a lot has changed. The dress code is different and the teachers seem stricter [as far as work],” said senior Ja’la Tolin.
The dress code policy at Loy Norrix used to be enforced upon every student. For example, there was once a rule that girls could not wear leggings and boys could not wear muscle shirts or tank tops. The dress code policy hasn’t changed much, but staff is more lenient, and less consistent.
“The dress code is the same, but as trends change students push the dress code,” said Assistant Principal Kelly Hinga.
“Back in the day, ripped jeans weren’t in style, but now we see it more and the rips [in student’s jeans] are getting higher and higher. It used to be ruled that skirts and shorts could not be shorter than your arm’s length. Now it was changed to two inches above the knee, but people still think that the rule is for skirts and shorts to be arm’s length,” said Hinga. “I would change the consistency on enforcing the dress code and making it less vague.”
Rules and appearances are not the only things that have changed over the years. Students are also doing better as far as academics.
“I see more students taking AP classes and more students going to college after they graduate,” said campus safety officer Frank Williams.
According to MLive, the number of students in Kalamazoo Public Schools taking AP courses has increased by 147 percent. Students are now working harder to improve their grades and get into good colleges.
Even though many rules and ways of teaching have changed, there are still many positive factors about Loy Norrix and the fact that Loy Norrix is a safe place for learning-remains the same. Teachers and staff always work hard to make sure students are safe and get the knowledge and education they need to be successful.
Tags: #norrix, clean, food, kalamazoo, loy borrix, michigan, new, new cafe, yum
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Trustee service: Terms & conditions
By making use of the whois privacy and trustee services offered and provided by proxy-privacy.com/IDPS GmbH, the customer (registrant) agrees and is bound to the following TRUSTEE terms and conditions.
Trustee Agreement for the Registration of Domain Names under the TLD .EU
The Customer as a Beneficiary desires to register a domain name under the top-level-domain .EU with the VZW European Registry For Internet Domains (“EURid”), Park Station, Woluwelaan 150, B-1831 Diegem, Belgium, using the services IDPS International Domain Privacy Services GmbH, Duesseldorf, Hansaallee 191-193, Germany as a Trustee. Whereas the Customer resides outside the European Union and consequently may not register a domain name under the Top-Level-Domain .EU as a result of the registration rules of EURid, the Customer authorizes the Trustee to register the desired domain name at CSL Computer Service Langenbach GmbH d/b/a Joker.com (“CSL GmbH”) and to administer the domain name during the duration of this contract. The trust agreement will only become effective upon the direct payment of the trust fee to CSL GmbH by the customer.
The Customer/Beneficiary and Trustee conclude an Agreement under the conditions defined in the following:
1. Duties of the Customer
The Customer guarantees that neither the domain applied for nor the contents to be placed on a corresponding website violate any third-party rights (e.g., trademark, name-use rights and copyrights), statutory bans of an European Union member state or generally-accepted moral precepts; in particular the Customer will not place any pornographic content, offers for gambling or contents that support or glorify terrorism or Nazism on the website reachable under the domain name.
The Customer shall post an Imprint on the website which meets the requirements of the European Commission’s Directive 2000/31/EG, L 178 from 2000/12/07, p. 1.
The Customer must promptly inform the Trustee per post or facsimile and email about all matters relevant to the registration of the domain, in particular any change of the Beneficiary or initiation of legal proceedings or if the customer is threatened with legal action or if legal action is taken against the Customer.
The Trustee Agreement shall not have the right to assign the rights and obligations rising from this contract to a third party without written consent of the Trustee.
The Customer agrees to reply in detail to all inquiries of the Trustee with respect to the domain registration by mail or fax and email immediately, at the latest within 24 hours. This time period will be further limited if a third party (claimant, court, etc.) effectively sets a shorter time limit.
The Customer shall continuously update its contact data directly with CSL GmbH and explicitly allows CSL GmbH to provide the Trustee with this contact data.
If the Customer cannot be reached through the contact data provided or does not answer an inquiry of the Trustee within the set deadline, the Trustee may take necessary steps, in particular cancel or suspend the domain if an actual or claimed legal violation is present.
2. Duties of the Trustee
The Trustee must fulfill its duties as registrant of the domain name as a fiduciary of the Customer. He will comply with the customer’s respective instructions as long as they are not in contravention of the law of a European Union member state, the .EU Registration Policies or any of the contractual agreements of the two parties.
The Trustee will promptly inform the Customer about all issues relating to domain registration and, insofar as possible, take no action without previously conferring with the customer.
The Trustee will, if action can or must be taken without previously conferring with the customer, exercise reasonable judgment in doing so.
3. Third party disputes
If the Trustee is subject to a legal or administrative action to release or cancel the domain, the customer must state in writing within 48 hours, whether it approves the release or wants to defend the domain.
If the customer approves the release, the Trustee will apply for cancellation of the domain with EURid and inform the third party claimant. The contractual relationship between the Trustee and Customer will end with this application without any further termination being necessary.
The Trustee may cancel the domain, if the Customer does not provide any written statement in this regard.
If the Customer informs the Trustee that he wishes to defend the domain, the Customer shall have 48 hours to lodge a deposit (cash/cash equivalent in EURO), the amount of which shall be determined at the Trustee's reasonable discretion on the basis of the Court Fees Act and the regulations on attorneys' fees of the Member States of the European Union, so that this deposit guarantees the Trustee compensation for any procedural costs that the Trustee may have to bear.
Moreover, within 48h the Customer must appoint legal counsel to represent the Customer against third parties both in and out of court.
If the customer does not satisfy the duties of this subsection, the Trustee may proceed as if the Customer did not provide any written statement in this regard.
4. Violations of Law
If the Trustee determines that the domain name itself or the contents of the website reachable under the domain name violates valid law of a European Union member State, in particular its criminal provisions, the Trustee may cancel the domain without warning. The Trustee Agreement is immediately terminated upon cancellation of the domain name.
The customer will pay the trust fee to CSL GmbH per domain name for one contract year in advance. The amount payable is determined by the current price list published on Joker.com, or in the customer’s account.
In case of premature deletion or transfer of a domain name the customer will not be entitled to partial refund.
The term of the Agreement is unlimited, yet it terminates if the registrar ceases to be the CSL GmbH. Accordingly irrespective of the continued existence of a contract with CSL GmbH, the Trustee Agreement ends when the Customer transfers the domain from CSL GmbH to another registrar, or applies for the cancellation of the domain, or executes a Change of Registrant without acknowledging the Trustee Agreement. The Trustee and the Customer abstain from exercising any right of termination by laws litigated before a civil tribunal.
The right to terminate for cause remains unaffected as do the other facts and reasons for termination mentioned in this Agreement.
If CSL GmbH exercises its right to terminate the contractual relation with the Trustee the Trustee shall have the right to terminate this agreement within one month.
7. Trustee`s Liability
The Trustee shall only be liable for the breach of an essential contractual obligation in a manner detrimental to the purpose of the contract; in addition, the damage must be caused by gross negligence or fault.
8. Customer’s Liability
The Customer indemnifies the Trustee from all costs, damages and detriments incurred due to a third party claims and suits – whether justified or not, made in or out of court - against the Trustee on the basis of the domain registration and the contents of the website posted under the domain name.
Venue for all disputes resulting from this Agreement is Germany.
The law of Germany under exclusion of the provisions on standardized UN-Commercial law on the Sale of Goods exclusively governs this Agreement and any claims resulting from it.
.游戏
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Tag Archives: Tim McGarry
The Peasant Prince
Lendlease Darling Quarter Theatre, April 9
Jenevieve Chang, John Gomez and Edric Hong. Photo: Heidrun Lohr
Monkey Baa Theatre Company has a reputation for its delightful stage adaptations of children’s books and The Peasant Prince is another charmer.
It tells the true story of Li Cunxin (pronounced Lee Schwin Sing), whose autobiography Mao’s Last Dancer was published in 2003 and subsequently made into an Australian film by director Bruce Beresford. Li also wrote a picture book about his life called The Peasant Prince, illustrated by Anne Spudvilas, and it is that version that Monkey Baa’s creative directors Eva Di Cesare, Sandie Eldridge and Tim McGarry have drawn on for their stage adaptation for children aged 6+.
Born in a village in Shandong Province in China, Li was the sixth of seven sons in an impoverished but very loving peasant family. An extraordinary opportunity came knocking when a delegation from Madame Mao arrived in the village looking for talented children to attend the Beijing Dance Academy. After initially being overlooked, Li was chosen as one of just 15 children from around the country and at age 10 he left his home for Beijing.
The training was relentlessly tough and Li was terribly homesick, but eventually he found the courage, fortitude and determination to succeed. Selected by Ben Stevenson, the artistic director of Houston Ballet, to go to the US on a cultural exchange, Li defected. After a diplomatic standoff when he was held in the Chinese Embassy, he was eventually released a free man.
Li danced with Houston Ballet for 16 years and was a guest artist around the world. After meeting Australian-born dancer Mary McKendry in London, they married and came to Melbourne in 1995 where he danced with the Australian Ballet. Li is now artistic director of the Queensland Ballet.
The Peasant Prince begins with Li waiting backstage to make his debut in The Nutcracker for Houston Ballet, with his parents in the audience. It then rewinds to tell his story up to that point.
The script by Di Cesare, Eldrige and McGarry is succinct without it ever feeling that it is just ticking off plot points. A story Li loved his father to tell him about a frog acts as a metaphor for what is to come and the writers create many lively little vignettes that speak reams about Li’s life and relationship with his parents and brothers, a dance teacher who encouraged him, and Stevenson.
Jonathan Chan and John Gomez Goodway. Photo: Heidrun Lohr
McGarry’s direction, with movement by Danielle Micich, keeps the action moving swiftly on a minimal but very effective set by Michael Hankin featuring David Bergman’s beautiful video designs, which locate scenes as the story moves from the village to a school room to the dance academy and onto Houston. Hankin’s costuming is also very evocative, as is Daryl Wallis’s music.
The early scenes in China work wonderfully well with simple staging effects proving extremely eloquent. There’s a lovely sequence in which Li’s mother uses a blanket in various ways to suggest feeding, washing and drying her son with loving care. At the dance academy, two performers merely hold a pole to create a ballet barre.
The Houston scenes don’t have quite the same flow. A ballet rehearsal feels a little overlong and the coercion Li suffers in the Chinese Embassy doesn’t have the same clarity as the rest of the storytelling; I imagine children will be asking what was happening at that point. But overall it’s beautifully told.
As Li, John Gomez Goodway brings a wide-eyed, open-hearted exuberance and emotional vulnerability to the role that is very endearing. The other three actors – Jonathan Chan, Jenevieve Chang and Edric Hong – each play several roles and do an impressive job of slipping quickly between them to create various well-defined characters.
Running around 55 minutes, The Peasant Prince tells an inspiring story about courage, resilience, family love and following your dreams that kept the young audience engaged.
Li Cunxin was at the opening. Asked to make a short speech afterwards, which he hadn’t anticipated, he said he was deeply moved by the production. I imagine that young audiences will be touched, amused and inspired by it too.
The Peasant Prince plays at Lendlease Darling Quarter Theatre until April 20 and then tours to 37 Australian venues. See www.monkeybaa.com.au for details.
Posted in Theatre | Tagged Danielle Micich, Daryl Wallis, Edric Hong, Eva di Cesare, Jenevieve Chang, John Gomez Goodway, Jonathan Chan, Li Cunxin, Michael Hankin, Monkey Baa Theatre Company, Sandie Eldridge, Tim McGarry | Leave a reply
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Home > Features > Courageous faith paves the way
Betty Willis (OAM), at her home in Blue Care Toowoomba. Photo: Ashley Thompson
Courageous faith paves the way
Posted by: Ashley Thompson in Features 04/08/2014 1,597 Views
We interviewed Betty about her life and faith on Friday 27 June and sadly advise that since this article was written and went to print Betty has passed away. We have been informed that Betty did have the opportunity to read the article before her passing. She died on Wednesday 6 August 2014 after a short illness.
How does a self-described shy and nervous girl from the bush become a pioneer for Pacific mission? Ashley Thompson reflects on the life of 92-year-old Uniting Church missionary Betty Willis.
From country Queensland to the Pacific islands of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Betty’s faith journey as a woman in mission spans across war, seas and generations of change.
Reliable, steady and committed are the characteristics that describe Betty’s generation.
Thoughts of self-interest and the luxury of choice are foreign concepts to her. When asked, “Looking back over your life, what would you do differently?” Betty is silent.
“Nothing,” she finally replies, “Everything fits in.
“I was never uncertain of God.”
The stoicism and resolve of her generation underpins the philosophy of a woman content and adjusted to the turns in her faith journey.
A selfless generation
Born on 28 July, 1922 Betty Willis grew up outside the small rural town of Dalveen, Queensland to the tales and sayings of the First World War.
Third eldest of four children and only girl in the family, Betty spent the first half of her life in various administration roles, including a secretarial role at St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church (now Uniting) and as general secretary for the Young Women’s Christian Association in Toowoomba, before pursuing overseas mission.
Betty grew up during the Great Depression, part of the generation which also fought in the Second World War. It is a generation familiar with struggle and which selflessly serves others, not for recognition, but because it is the right thing to do.
Therefore placing the needs of others above her own is not something this Toowoomba Blue Care resident and Middle Ridge Uniting Church member considers special. Yet her work in championing the role of women in the Pacific Islands is highly regarded across the Uniting Church and has even helped earn her an Order of Australia (OAM).
Close friend and fellow Middle Ridge Uniting Church member Sandra Jessop has been inspired by Betty’s humility and long-term commitment to mission.
“She was never one to blow her own trumpet. She would get in, she would do the job and if she couldn’t do the job she would try to find someone who could,” says Sandra.
“When I was helping clean up, her Order of Australia was just in amongst other papers. It wasn’t on the wall or anything like that.”
Betty lives a life of courageous faith as documented in her memoirs Another turn in the road.
The road less travelled
Seventeen at the outbreak of the Second World War, fate conspired to send Betty in a completely different direction to what society intended. As a single woman in post-war society, Betty found she was free to take up opportunities of work, mission and travel, embracing God’s given direction with open arms.
“As young people in our youth group at church we supported overseas missions (Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands) and I’d been asked to go a couple of times in different capacities but it just hadn’t worked out,” explains Betty.
“So after my father died I was free and waited to see what would happen … then suddenly one day I got a letter saying ‘Request Miss Willis for Rarongo, Papua New Guinea.’ It was almost as though it was something I was supposed to do.”
In the years that followed, Betty developed women’s programs for Rarongo Theological College of the United Church of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. She became fluent in Pidgin English and has advocated for the advancement of Pacific women ever since.
“I was expected to help the women with basic home care and crafts and encourage them to share weaving patterns,” Betty writes in her memoirs.
“Fortunately I knew enough about the situation in Papua New Guinea to understand that women would need many more opportunities for development than that.”
Best known for her commitment to her Pacific friends, it is surprising to learn her journey in overseas mission only began in 1972 when she was 50 years of age. That act of faith going to Papua New Guinea has led Betty into a position of admiration and respect across the church.
Since retiring from travel in 2003, Betty has remained an active member of the Middle Ridge Uniting Church in Toowoomba. While Parkinson’s disease has caused her to reconcile herself to a “road with fewer turns,” her continued involvement in the combined mission committee of Middle Ridge and St Stephen’s Uniting Church has never wavered.
Bruce Mullan, former UnitingWorld associate director of church solidarity in the Pacific, has witnessed Betty’s inspiring commitment to the people of the Pacific both overseas and at home.
“For Betty mission has been about people and about relationship. She has mentored and supported so many Pacific people, welcoming them to her church community, providing for their training and development and facilitating their growth as leaders,” says Bruce.
“Whether it’s providing books for the theological college library at Seghe or bringing Solomon Island teenagers to Queensland to participate in youth camps, Betty is always looking for the next opportunity to make something happen for her Pacific friends.”
For as long as he’s been connected to the Uniting Church’s Pacific church partners, Bruce remembers having Betty there: prodding and poking, stirring him to do more.
“The most amazing thing is that Betty has continued to do all this into her 90s,” says Bruce. “In the years when most people are retired and taking a rest Betty has been tireless in her continual search for ways of supporting the church partners.”
“The government has given Betty an Order of Australia medal; I think God will give Betty a very special place in his eternal scheme.”
This stoic Uniting Church woman has refused to let age or illness deter her from mission and while her story still has a few more chapters left, the final reflections of her memoirs show her story has already begun to leave an impact.
“As different friends have heard portions of my story, they have commented mainly on two things,” she says. “Firstly, how a small contribution can make a big difference in a life or situation, and secondly, that no matter at what age, there are still contributions we can all make.”
Read more about Betty Willis in her books Another turn in the road (available at Trinity Theological Library) and Poems and stori-yarns.
Another turn in the road. Ashley Thompson Betty Willis Betty Willis (OAM) Bruce Mullan Combined mission committee Country Queensland Dalveen faith First World War Great Depression Middle Ridge Uniting Church missionary Order of Australia Overseas mission Pacific Islands Pacific women's rights Papua New Guinea Parkinson’s disease Pidgin English Poems and stori-yarns queensland Rarongo Rarongo Theological College Sandra Jessop Second World War Selfless Single woman Solomon Islands St Stephen's Uniting Church St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church Toowoomba Toowoomba Blue Care United Church of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands Uniting Church in Queensland Uniting Church missionary unitingworld World War II Young Women’s Christian Association 2014-08-04
Tagged with: Another turn in the road. Ashley Thompson Betty Willis Betty Willis (OAM) Bruce Mullan Combined mission committee Country Queensland Dalveen faith First World War Great Depression Middle Ridge Uniting Church missionary Order of Australia Overseas mission Pacific Islands Pacific women's rights Papua New Guinea Parkinson’s disease Pidgin English Poems and stori-yarns queensland Rarongo Rarongo Theological College Sandra Jessop Second World War Selfless Single woman Solomon Islands St Stephen's Uniting Church St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church Toowoomba Toowoomba Blue Care United Church of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands Uniting Church in Queensland Uniting Church missionary unitingworld World War II Young Women’s Christian Association
The wonder that changes the world
Nurturing faith as students move from school to university?
How many goats does it take to change a lightbulb?
Keep on questioning
Community hub bowls over the locals at Highfields
Moderator’s Musing – 12 March 2018
Janeen Shaw
I remember meeting with Betty Wills in 1981 when I was on my way to Rarongo.One of God’s shining lights..
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Everyone’s a critic...🤷♀️ @mfisher1212 @vincegillofficial 😂
A post shared by Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) on Jun 22, 2019 at 8:32pm PDT
Carrie Underwood’s Baby Son Isn’t a Fan of Dad’s Singing
In this modern day and age, we all know that dads can do everything just as well as moms can do (except breastfeed) and therefore are perfectly capable of taking care of babies. However, if you happen to be Carrie Underwood's husband Mike Fisher, there is one thing you cannot do as well as your wife, and your son will be perfectly willing to point that out.
Underwood posted a hilarious video to social media Saturday (June 22) showing Fisher attempting to calm down infant son Jacob with a little rendition of Vince Gill's sweet ballad "I Still Believe in You."
Jacob stares at his father as if in pain, then bursts into tears. Making it even more hysterical, Underwood joins in with the song. As soon as she starts singing, Jacob turns his head to her and is all smiles. But when Fisher tries again, the baby wails in protest. "Everyone's a critic," Underwood jokes in the post.
"The real reason is he was hungry and wanted your food. #notmysinging," protested Fisher in the comments. He has a point: We did mention dads can't breastfeed, right?
Many fans took Fisher's side on this, commenting that they didn't think the former NHL star's voice sounded rotten enough to make a baby cry. "Maybe I need my ears checked but you didn’t sound that bad to me," noted one fan, adding that (of course) Underwood is better. "How does one compete with her lullabies?!?!" comforted another fan.
While Fisher isn't going to be taking his wife for a ride anytime soon in terms of vocal prowess, he does deserve some credit. After all, he did once manage to impress none less than Garth Brooks with his vocals, even joining the legend for an impromptu version of "The River," which caused his wife to angrily protest, "You cannot sing with Garth Brooks before I do!"
It must just run in the family, right? Let's see how baby Jacob and big brother Isaiah (4) shape up in the pipes department as they get older. One thing's for sure, we know Jacob has a lot of lung power!
Underwood is currently on the road or her 2019 Cry Pretty Tour 360. Carrie Underwood tickets are available for the upcoming dates.
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Source: Carrie Underwood’s Baby Son Isn’t a Fan of Dad’s Singing
Filed Under: Carrie Underwood
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Photo: AP/ James Quigg, The Daily Press
A vehicle moves on Eucalyptus Street in Hesperia, Calif., after a winter storm covered the area Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018.
Authorities kept a worried eye Friday on fire-scarred Southern California hillsides after a storm brought flooding fears and prompted evacuation orders for hundreds of homes.
The second storm in a week dropped record-breaking rains on downtown Los Angeles, jammed major roads and sent an airliner skidding off a runway, but no major injuries were reported.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered for areas of Orange and Riverside counties ravaged by a summer wildfire. Black, surging torrents choked with downed trees and mud swept down channels near homes and in one case swept across a bridge and took out a guardrail.
Other areas saw foot-deep mud or water.
No homes were seriously damaged but even though the storm eased by nightfall, evacuation orders for hundreds of homes in Trabuco Canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains south of Los Angeles and for a few neighborhoods in the Lake Elsinore area east of Los Angeles remained in place overnight.
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Other Lake Elsinore areas had their mandatory evacuation orders downgraded to voluntary evacuation warnings late Thursday night, although fire officials said there was still a potential for dangerous conditions and urged residents to remain vigilant.
Also in Lake Elsinore, firefighters worked into the night lining a street with sandbags to protect homes.
"We just don't know the stability of our hills anymore," Lake Elsinore Mayor Natasha Johnson told KABC-TV earlier. "The fire did its devastation ... the hills behind us that are not a concern could become a concern very quickly."
A mudslide shut down Pacific Coast Highway and surrounding roads in and around Malibu neighborhoods charred by another fire last month last month that destroyed hundreds of homes.
Kirby Kotler and his neighbors spent days before the storm stacking 18,000 sandbags behind their homes along the highway. But when heavy rains arrived, mud, water and rocks blasted through the bags and across their properties.
Kotler, who wielded water hoses to beat back the flames in November, used a tractor to keep the debris from entering his home.
"Saving my house once again," said Kotler, 57, a lifelong Malibu resident. "I'm more than a little concerned. If we get another blast of heavy rain there'll be no stopping the hill from coming down."
At Hollywood Burbank Airport, about 15 miles (33 kilometers) north of downtown Los Angeles, nobody was hurt when a Southwest Airlines plane from Oakland skidded off a wet runway as it landed. The plane came to a stop in a graded area designed to slow aircraft that overshoot the runway, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
"As we landed, you could feel the brakes," passenger Grant Palmer told KABC-TV. "Then I started noticing the plane going sideways."
Palmer said he was prepared to tuck into an emergency posture while his unflappable co-worker continued writing emails during the rough landing.
In National City in San Diego County, firefighters rescued people at a homeless encampment known as "The Jungle." Some of the homeless had climbed trees, in one case along with three dogs, to escape raging waters as deep as 12 feet, KUSI-TV reported .
Southern California sorely needs rainfall. Virtually the entire region is experiencing drought conditions, with portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties and areas along the Mexican border in extreme drought.
The storm provided a big boost in and around Los Angeles. The downtown area set a new rainfall record for the day with 1.9 inches (4.8 centimeters) of rain, nearly double the previous record set in 1997, the National Weather Service reported. Normal monthly rainfall for December is only a bit more — 2.33 inches.
Elsewhere, fire crews had to rescue a man from the flood-swollen Los Angeles River, a concrete flood control channel, and also helped motorists to safety in several areas where cars became stuck in flooded intersections.
While rain caused numerous accidents and backups on LA-area freeways, heavy snow forced the closure of Interstate 5 in the Grapevine area between Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley. The hours-long shutdown along the key north-south route caused backups for miles.
Motorists were urged to use caution on mountain passes, where up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow was predicted at higher elevations.
The end of the storm will be followed by a ridge of high pressure that will bring dry and warm conditions to the area through the weekend but another storm system could move in early next week, the weather service reported.
Created: December 07, 2018 06:52 AM
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A Full Day
A Unitarian Universalist ‘Black Lives Matter’ Theology
March 26, 2015 Kenny Wiley 53 Comments
“If, while I hear the wild shriek of the slave mother robbed of her little ones, I do not open my mouth, am I not guilty?”
–Lucy Stone
In the Denver community I strive to be a racial justice activist. Whenever I introduce myself in justice circles, I say that my Unitarian Universalist faith informs my work. “My faith,” I have said, “calls me to proclaim that black lives matter—that my life matters.”
Deep down I’ve been asking myself: Is that true? I knew that I felt called; was it Unitarian Universalism calling me here? The questions lingered even as dozens of UUs joined me at Denver’s ‘Selma Sunday’ gathering of 275, and as hundreds descended upon Alabama to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the deaths of Jimmie Lee Jackson, Viola Liuzzo, and James Reeb.
The doubts remained because of the hateful and/or ignorant comments some Unitarian Universalists have sent my way since I joined the racial justice movement. The doubts remained because of the silence and seeming indifference I’ve felt from some of my fellow UUs, even as others have gotten quite involved.
I needed a Unitarian Universalist Black Lives Matter theology. I needed more than the First Principle—I needed to dive into our history and our theology and find the deeds, words, and voices that could help me feel theologically grounded in racial justice work. In The Larger Hope, Russell Miller writes, “When Universalists opposed to slavery first undertook to launch a campaign to [stop] it, one of their first steps was to cast back over their own history to find support.”
The first of the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism reads: Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
Some UU religious educators refer to the first principle as “the principle we remember.” Indeed, it’s the one we so often invoke as we tell confused friends about our faith. We believe every person is important! It’s beautiful, and simple, and too often not quite true. The story we tell about ourselves, the story we have told about ourselves, and the story we tell ourselves, all have a deeper, more somber truth.
They are stories we have been telling for centuries. In 1846, the periodical Universalist Miscellany said that belief in the brotherhood of all humanity was “one of the distinguishing excellencies of Universalism.”
“However remote we may live from each other, however different our complexions, we are family,” the Miscellany contended. Despite such rosy proclamations, nineteenth-century Universalists and Unitarians were largely reticent about involvement in abolitionist work.
When confronted with white, privileged Unitarian Universalists derailing the ‘Black Lives Matter’ message with statements like “all lives matter!” or “I don’t get why black people are so angry all the time,” the first principle starts to feel like a lie. A deep dive into the archives of our Universalist and Unitarian ancestors—and of our nation’s history—unearths a more profound explanation.
Like the Declaration of Independence and the preamble of the Constitution, the first principle of Unitarian Universalism stands as an unrealized promise. It is a map of the work done centuries and decades ago, and a map of the work yet to do. The first principle operates as what UU and Harvard Divinity professor Dan McKanan calls “radical hope.” “Radical hope,” McKanan writes in his book Prophetic Encounters, “transcends the institutions of present-day society, but it does not transcend the laws of physical or human nature. It looks to the future, not to heaven.”
In America there have always been those willing to follow the roadmap, to look, as McKanan says, to the future–beyond immediate comforts–and insist that the statements held in our founding documents meant more work needed to be done. In the nineteenth century Frederick Douglass asked, “What, to the American slave, is the Fourth of July?” Sojourner Truth, who fought for rights for black men and all women–and encountered exclusion from both–insisted: “Ain’t I a woman?”
Decades later, as Jim Crow coalesced in the South and the privileged entrenched economic inequality in the North, W.E.B. Du Bois wondered aloud, “How does it feel to be a problem?” In the wake of the civil rights movement, Dr. Vincent Harding said he was “a resident of a country that did not yet exist.”
It is on the shoulders of those willing to strive for what the Constitution’s preamble calls “a more perfect Union,” and those Universalists and Unitarians who strived for a more perfect faith, that I find a ‘Black Lives Matter’ theological framework.
In 1812, the Universalist Magazine wrote vehemently that it was “utterly impossible to reconcile slavery with the pure doctrines of Christianity.”
In October 1845, 170 Unitarian ministers signed the “Protest Against American Slavery,” published in the abolitionist newspaper “The Liberator.” In it the ministers condemned their own reticence to engage, referring to harm done “by the long silence of northern Christians and churches. We must speak against [slavery] in order not to speak in its support.”
Lydia Maria Child said of systemic racism, slavery, and segregation, “The removal of this prejudice is not a matter of opinion—it is a matter of duty.”
The nineteenth-century Universalists and Unitarians who worked to denounce slavery fought three battles: the battle to end slavery, the battle against silence from within the congregations, and the battle against their own prejudices. We fight the similar struggles today.
In the early and mid-nineteenth century, the majority of Unitarians and Universalists were not actively engaged in the abolitionist movement. Those willing to attempt fully living out their espoused values pushed their colleagues and religious siblings to eventual understanding and greater action. Taquiena Boston and others call this “leading from the margins.”
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries brought Jim Crow segregation and, again, silence from too many churches. Neither stopped black woman and Unitarian Fannie B. Williams from saying, in 1893, “It should be the province of religion to unite, and not to separate, men and women according to the superficial differences of race lines.”
Denominational fear and ambivalence in 1953 did not stop the white minister A. Powell Davies from proclaiming, “I shall myself…not eat a meal in any restaurant in [Washington D.C.] that will not serve meals to Negroes. I invite all who truly believe in human brotherhood to do the same.”
Tragic indifference from fellow clergy about Jimmie Lee Jackson’s February 1965 murder did not stop James Reeb from traveling to Selma. Finding some of her religious siblings unaware of the horrors facing blacks in America did not stop Viola Liuzzo from making the same journey.
In 2014, that many Unitarian Universalists had (and have) yet to dive into the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement did not stop Elizabeth Nguyen from joining a Christmas Eve vigil against police brutality across from the Beavercreek, Ohio Walmart in which unarmed black male John Crawford was murdered. It did not stop UU teenagers in Denver from marching down Colfax Avenue and demanding justice.
It has not stopped Leslie Butler MacFadyen from organizing nationally to assist protestors from Oakland to Ferguson to Philadelphia. It did not stop the UU Congregation of Columbia, Maryland from calling the nearby, historically black St. John Baptist Church about co-planning a vigil against police violence. It has not stopped Raziq Brown from challenging a racially biased police system in Fort Worth.
To fight for black lives now is to participate in radical hope. It is to battle for salvation on this Earth. It is to fight for life, for love, for justice. It is to demand more out of the first principle. It is to demand a more perfect faith.
Most of us in the faith are here because we felt welcome—at last–here. Some of us were too agnostic somewhere else. Some of us weren’t vindictive enough somewhere else. We were too working-class somewhere else. We were too lesbian somewhere else. We were too nerdy somewhere else, too introverted somewhere else, too gay-married somewhere else.
Many of us are here because this faith and the people in it affirmed: you may not be perfect, but your life matters just the same.
That’s what’s on the line now. Through racism and posthumous victim-blaming, through silence and bullets and indifference and vilification, black people are being told that our lives do not matter—or that they matter only conditionally. Black lives matter if. If we are educated. If we are respectful. If.
And sometimes, not even then do our lives matter.
Right now we as Unitarian Universalists are being called to act. We are being called by our ancestors–those who insisted, who demanded that we help end slavery, that we fight for suffrage, that we join the struggle to end Jim Crow, that we listen to and honor Black Power. Lydia Maria Child and William Lloyd Garrison are calling us. Lucy Stone is calling us. Fannie B. Williams and Frances Ellen Harper are calling us. James Reeb is calling us. Viola Liuzzo is calling us.
Guided by that principle—that enduring, unfulfilled promise of the belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person–ours is a faith that has said, or worked to say to those who have been marginalized:
You are a woman, and your life matters just the same.
You are gay or lesbian, and your life matters just the same.
You are transgender, and your life matters just the same.
You are bisexual, and your life matters just the same.
You have a disability, and your life matters just the same.
You were not loved as a child, and your life matters just the same.
You struggle with depression, and your life matters just the same.
Right now we are being called—by our ancestors, by our principles, by young black activists across the country—to promote and affirm:
You are young and black, and your life matters just the same.
You stole something, and your life matters just the same.
I have been taught to fear you, and your life matters just the same.
The police are releasing your criminal record, and your life matters just the same.
They are calling you a thug, and your life matters just the same.
Wayne Arnason said, “The way is often hard; the path is never clear, and the stakes are high. Take courage. For deep down, there is another truth. You are not alone.”
Our ancestors, principles, and fellow humans are calling on us to promote affirm, with deeds and words: Black lives matter just the same.
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53 thoughts on “A Unitarian Universalist ‘Black Lives Matter’ Theology”
Kerridwen says:
Kenny, I am so moved by your words and your actions. I am more grateful than I can say for the strong connection you are creating between the Black Lives Matter movement and our shared faith as Unitarian Universalists. I believe that I will be better able to be part of the movement with that strong connection. Thank you so much!
paulawatson2013 says:
Reblogged this on Musings.
Powerful, important, sobering, and inspiring. Thank you so much for writing this.
Noni's Notes says:
Sean Dennison says:
In your litany at the end of the piece, would you please change “You are transgendered” to “You are transgender”? There are many reasons, all available online, that we prefer “transgender.” Thank you.
Kenny Wiley says:
Sean–thanks for letting me know. the change has been made!
Thanks, Kenny.
Thank you Kenny
David Grober says:
Very moving and inspiring. Thank you. One thing puzzles me: “The doubts remained because of the hateful and/or ignorant comments some Unitarian Universalists have sent my way since I joined the racial justice movement.” Really? This is disturbing. This sentence, which you did not expand upon (apologies if you did I failed to notice), distracted me somewhat from the rest of your powerful piece. Thank you!
In every congregation I’ve been part of for the last decades, I’ve heard racially bigoted remarks and experienced and witnessed overwhelming evidence of white privilege and white fragiliy. We are no different than any other random cluster of Americans. I think it is worse because we want to believe it is not so, so we pretend, and we cling to our UU exceptionalism. This is a double whammy against actually doing something. (And also true re: sexism, homophobia and other forms of oppression.)
Judy McFerran says:
Pingback: Blue Boat of Youth and Young Adult Ministries
Nana' Kratochvil says:
Thank you very much for this powerful piece.
Ira Cottrell says:
“When confronted with white, privileged Unitarian Universalists derailing the ‘Black Lives Matter’ message with statements like “all lives matter!” or “I don’t get why black people are so angry all the time,” the first principle starts to feel like a lie.”
Really, “all lives matter” is a “white, privileged Unitarian Universalists” attitude? So, have we swung the pendullum so far that now ONLY black lives matter?
On the other hand, the events leading up to these slogans conform to all such movements since recorded history- The French Revolution being the most noteworthy example.: a redress of social injustice never stops at the center; rather, it proceeds to the opposite extreme!
It’s sad to see the UU organization joining this trend.
Yes, stating that “All lives matter”, especially in an effort to derail the “Black lives matter” message, is a “privileged Unitarian Universalist” attitude, for the sole reason that all UUs have a much more eloquent way of saying exactly that with the first principle of Unitarian Universalism. The very idea that one can read this post and comprehend Kenny’s message as “Only black lives matter” is comic. Bringing up the French Revolution is equally as ridiculous. I have no wish to see a response or continue this dialogue with you.
Malaika says:
Please read the piece again, your defensiveness is in the way.
Lawrence Lile says:
Kenny, part of my own struggle right now is coming to terms with my ancestors, who owned slaves and fought (and died) to see the practice continue, in the Civil War. These people lived a long time ago, and I shouldn’t be haunted by them, but for some reason I am. I’ve known about this for 20 years, but have kept ignoring it as it was too hard to confront. Keep pushing us. UUs, like any other group are not all consistent, do not all give the same message, and are as often as not wrong. Our principles are ideals that we strive to live up to, not descriptions, and your highlighting places where we are inconsistent is important spiritual work. And the Haters? They’ll come around eventually. Anger is the first stage of a long process that ends in acceptance of change.
Anne Joseph says:
Thank you so much for this moving piece. I got chills reading it. The staff and Board of First UU Church of Richmond, Virginia (of which I am President) have been trying to keep the Black Lives Matter camapign at the forefront of our church’s consciousness. This is a challenge in the capital of the Confederacy, but we are determined. One of our members, who is also on UUA staff, encouraged us to adopt a pledge, based on an effort out of Birmingham, Alabama, to fight racism as individuals and as a church. The pledge has been expanded to the Richmond community at large. Please visit richmondpledge.org for more information.
Anne Joseph
Pingback: A Unitarian Universalist ‘Black Lives Matter’ Theology – reposted | And the stones shall cry
Michael Benefiel says:
Who are we in relationship with?
Earlier this year, in Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday, March 6, UU minister Mark Morrison-Reed asked me, and the 350 intentionally multicultural members in his audience: who are you in relationship with? We were all in relationship with him at that moment and our raw emotions and vulnerability were real. His question keeps resonating with me: who am I in relationship with?
Seven Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church members made a pilgrimage to Alabama this year (Ariel Mora, Cathy Knapper, John Gubbings, Kim Clarkson, Liz Nadeau, Marge Dimond, and Michael Benefiel). Mark Morrison Reed had served our congregation as Minister in Internship during 1978-79. We read Mark’s 2014 book, The Selma Awakening, to prepare ourselves for this religious journey. That book mentioned the six Cedar Lane members who had traveled to Alabama in 1965: Stevie Backus, Bob Ballantyne, Aileen Burchard, Harry Klugel, Bob Lincoln, and Tom Eliot. Harry Klugel had spoken with us and given us his blessing. They were in relationship with one another and with the Civil Rights Movement, and most had been at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963, where they had listened to “I Have A Dream” spoken there by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Who are we in relationship with today? That’s an important question both for our faith movement and for our Cedar Lane religious community now, just as it was in 1965.
50 years ago, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., sent President Dana Greeley of the UUA a telegram, asking this white ally of black voting rights and the empowerment of African-American leadership to come to Selma, Alabama, and to bring a cloud of UU witnesses. The Sunday nonviolent, orderly march had met with armed resistance and brutal violence by the Alabama police authorities and a white posse. King and Greeley hoped to show that fear, intimidation, and police violence—which all the nation had witnessed in the news footage of Bloody Sunday–would not prevail. Allies committed both to the inherent worth and dignity of one another, and also to the nonviolent process of democratic self-government and Constitutional protest for voting rights would join the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (“Snick”) and make another attempt to cross the bridge on Tuesday, March 9. On March 25, 1965, the marchers – who by then numbered more than 30,000 — reached Montgomery, and in August 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which remains the law of our land, despite changes required by the U.S. Supreme Court majority.
Why did Dr. King ask, and why did President Dana Greeley say yes—and gather hundreds of UU ministers, seminarians, and lay leaders for the work of racial justice? Martin Luther King, Jr., had given the Ware Lecture at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in 1964. He and President Greeley had a personal relationship that created mutual expectations for equity and justice in human relationships. As religious leaders, they shared a prophetic vision for justice and as organizers for social change they lived in a tradition of bending the moral arc of the universe toward justice by organizing communities to collaborate in order to achieve common purposes.
In 2015, who are we in relationship with? Do our consciences and our faith motivate our response to the Black Lives Matter movement to advocate for fairness and equity in our criminal justice system?
Opal Tometi, one of the three co-founders of Black Lives Matter, engaged us in Birmingham and is in a relationship with the UU racial justice allies.
From Boston, in 1965, UU ministers called classmates from Harvard, Meadville-Lombard, and Starr King schools. Personal relationships and the networks of teachers and students spread the call around the country. Rev. James Reeb, who lived with his family in the Dorchester/Roxbury neighborhood in Boston, working with the American Friends Service Committee to fight the effects of discrimination in the North, told his wife, Marie, that he had to go to Selma. Jim Reeb was in relationship with a community of color in Boston, and shared their aspirations for human dignity and full participation in American self-government and the nonviolent process of free and fair elections to choose political leaders. Ms. Viola Liuzzo told her husband and children in Detroit that she had to drive to Alabama to add her own efforts to the struggle for freedom.
One of the memories I will keep from my pilgrimage to Selma is the evening when our UU leaders, an intentionally racially diverse and multicultural team, honored the surviving family members of Jimmie Lee Jackson, James Reeb, and Viola Liuzzo. Several hundred UU witnesses, intentionally multicultural and intergenerational, gathered to re-consecrate ourselves to the unfinished work of racial reconciliation and justice. The Jackson family, the Reeb family, and the Liuzzo family accepted our gifts and reaffirmed their relationship with us. We grieved our shared losses together, and we promised one another in these moments that our efforts for justice would be renewed.
As President Obama observed this year in his March 7 speech from the foot of the John Lewis Bridge in Selma,
• it would be a mistake to think that nothing has changed since 1965, and
• it would also be a mistake to think that everything has changed.
We UU’s did good work in 1965 and every day since, though a moment’s reflection will produce a rueful recognition that big challenges remain and that resistance is strong. And as Republican President Lincoln once said, let us, the living, take from these honored dead a resolve to re-dedicate ourselves to the proposition that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.
In 2015, we know that people means all of us – our diverse, multilingual, intergenerational, multiracial, multicultural, interrelated networks of all lives – and that our historic sacrifices in Selma in 1965 give us both an opportunity and a responsibility to remain in authentic relationship with the new civil rights movements for immigrant justice and criminal justice reform of our times and in our place.
Black Lives Matter, White Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, because our liberal religious tradition teaches that All Lives Matter.
Let us bow to the mystery of a power that creates community from our diversity, learn to love one another more deeply, love justice enough to struggle for it, and humbly walk forward together into the light.
Well said, Michael.
Margaret Wilkie says:
My friend at First Unitarian Universalist church of Detroit told me a story about a cotillion held at our church when it was a Universalist church. Her mother-in-law recalled a time (1912, may perhaps be the correct date, or it may not) when black young folks were not allowed at the prom, so they were invited to hold their own party at the church.
-Margaret Wilkie
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Anne Geyer says:
Thanks so much for this beautiful and very moving piece, Kenny.
Christine G. says:
Kenny – Thank you for your amazing work in this world. Your words inspire, educate and call us to action.
Louise L. says:
Thank you. Your words would stand as a powerful, beautifully articulated sermon from any UU pulpit. Or, as I plan to use them, to deepen the discussion of Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow” in our Cincinnati congregation’s study group on racial justice.
Beyond her truth-telling and scholarship, her call is a call to compassion for the marginalized. By it’s very nature, that is a spiritual call. And to answer that call well, and for the long-haul, we need a Black Lives Matter theology. Thank you for getting us started.
Lindasusan says:
I, too, got chills reading this. THANK YOU for your prophetic witness. I clearly need to start following your blog so I see these posts sooner!
I’d also humbly ask that “bisexual” or “bi+” get added where you’ve listed gay and lesbian. Its absence is conspicuous, especially when the next line acknowledges transgender folks as well. Much appreciated!
Lindasusan, done! thank you so much for saying something.
Florence Caplow says:
Utterly inspiring. Thank you from a UU seminarian. Powerful words.
Sam Trumbore says:
Glad to find your words Kenny! Inspiring and moving. Preaching on this topic this Sunday in Albany, NY and shall be quoting your wisdom and research. We are raising a “Black Lives Matter” banner on the side of our building at the end of the service. It will make our commitment public and enduring and silently hold us accountable. Started this fall with an ice bucket challenge to raise funds for Ferguson. Did several big events around Selma ( http://albanyselma50.org/ ). Hoping the Albany UU congregation will rise to the challenge of that banner … and also know the road is rocky and rough … but we’ll get there.
Sam, thanks for letting me know all this! So glad Albany has moved forward like that. I agree–the banner is like a challenge. Hope our paths cross sometime!
Sara Massman Smalley says:
Thank you for your insightful words! I’m currently writing about the second source of UUism (words and deeds of prophetic women and men) and would love to include your prophetic voice with a link to this article.
I also just happened to read your article “Nights Can be Tough”. It’s a great companion piece to this one!
Thanks, Sara! Link away. 🙂 AND I’d love to read your post, as well.
Tisa M. Anders says:
This is a very powerful piece. Thank you for it. I also appreciate your article on Frances Ellen Watkins Harper in the 2015 UU World. One of my Denver colleagues is an ancestress of hers. I’m also glad you mentioned Lydia Maria Child in this blog plus the UU World article. I only have one small critique. Many people, like you, identify Maria as UU but she was not. Her brother, Convers Francis, Jr., was a very famous UU minister and professor at Harvard as well as one of the founding Transcendentalists. It seems that this strong connection is why today’s authors and audiences include her as UU. She actually was Swedenborgian. Swedenborgianism or the New Church was a new Christian sect on the American scene in the 1820s when Maria joined the Boston congregation. Even though she left it in 1828, this theology remained the foundation of her philosophy of life. Swedenborgianism is based on the life and writings of 18th century Swedish mystic, Emanuel Swedenborg. I’ve written two thematic biographies on Child: I explored religion and politics in her career for my doctoral dissertation; the second one examines her spiritual biography (forthcoming 2016). Even though not a UU, she most certainly is one of our fierce foremothers! Thank you again for bringing her and Frances E.W. Harper’s memories alive for us in the 21st century through your engaging contemporary writing.
Chris Barghout says:
Unfortunately, I can’t relate to this article. For me black lives matter is a personal challenge to consciously affirm black lives matter and in a daily manner translate that affirmation into behavior. I don’t relate it all to the preamble to the constitution or a UU article written in an obscure magazine in 1812 or a letter written by UU ministers in 1845.
I’ll fess up, because it doesn’t matter to me, if it matters to the author and if it gets others to value black lives then by all means, go for it. My only problem is I’m going to an 98% white UU GA later this month, and I’ll hear plenty of whites declaring that Black lives Matter. I’ll fess up to this too, I don’t BELIEVE them. I served on UU racial justice committees and saw 95% of black people leave UU churches all the while having the church administration holler about how black lives matter. UU pews remain among the most segregated pews or anything else in America. For me actions and warmth towards black people by the people sitting next to me in a church in 2015 are far more important then centuries old letters and papers.
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dancingnanci says:
This made me cry. Thank you. I am a mixed race woman and 3rd generation UU on my mom’s side, and this piece hit home for me.
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Mary Robinson says:
As a new UU member I venture to identify my role in continuing the change our denomination declares in our Principles and Covenants. Thank you for your words…..
My problem with the slogan is that it says too little. It almost trivializes the existence of our black fellow citizens, as though we are saying their existence is JUST BARELY important. Don’t they more than matter? Don’t they enrich our culture and our country? Is it necessary to enumerate the vast richness they bring us in a wide diversity of fields? Aren’t they full time partners in the life of this nation? They far more than matter! If we used the same words referring to a white family member, like “sister Jessica’s life matters,” needing to say it hints at the suspicion that it is not really clear that Jessica does matter. I have the same sense of inadequacy in the slogan “Black lives matter.” How about “Black lives enrich us?” Oh and BTW, another inevitable consequence of the whole conversation is that if forces us into talking about black lives as though THEY are separate from US. They ARE us, and we are they. The fact that so many people continue to see our society in a dualistic light leads to many of the injustices our black fellow citizens suffer. Our diversity enriches us! We are one vast body of people with diverse gifts to offer the country.
Stephen D. Abney says:
The biggest problem with the first principle is that too often we ignore the second. The first principle is a belief. The second is action. The first says, “I believe in the inherent worth and dignity of all people.” The second says, “Act like it” in its rephrasing of the Hebrew prophet, “Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly.”
wyan esa says:
Why we should believe the Bible
We should believe the Bible because of the wealth of good evidence that has demonstrated the Bible is historically reliable and divinely inspired. It speaks about:
• Its hundreds of fulfilled prophecies
• The Bible’s amazing internal harmony
• The Bible’s incredible scientific accuracy and foresight
• Thousands of archaeological discoveries
• Numerous details in the Bible that have been corroborated by extrabiblical historical sources
• And so on
THE BIBLE IS SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE
For the Bible to be regarded as the inspired word of God, it must be scientifically accurate…since God would certainly know the facts about his creation. A word of caution, however, as we seek to evaluate the claim of scientific accuracy. Over time, science has often discovered new facts that confirmed a revised understanding of the truth, previously unknown. These discoveries have always been consistent with the Bible, however, at times a careful consideration of the words and
The account of creation (the Bible: 1450 B.C.; science: 1900s). The account of creation as given in the Bible (Genesis 1) is accurate according to the steps understood by science. Written down originally by Moses, they were not fully recognized by science until the 1900s, using modern astronomy, physics, chemistry, paleontology, and geology.
Time, space and matter had a beginning (the Bible: 1450 B.C.; science: 1916). The Bible’s first words are “in the beginning.” And elsewhere, including the New Testament, there are references to the beginning of time (2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2; 1 Corinthians 2:7). In 1915, Albert Einstein’s equations of general relativity proposed a beginning of time, matter and space. Later these equations were confirmed by repeated experiments.
The first law of thermodynamics (the Bible: 1450 B.C.; science: 1842). The law of conservation of energy indicates that matter and energy can neither be created nor destroyed (just converted). There are many biblical references to God’s completion (that is, there was no more creation), going as for back as Genesis (2:2-3), and also in several other books (Psalm 148:6; Isaiah 40:26; 2 Peter 3:3-7; Hebrews 4:3-4,10). Joule and Mayer both independently discovered this in the same year (1842), what is now known as the first law of thermodynamics.
The second law of thermodynamics (the Bible: 1000 B.C.; Science: 1850). Commonly known as entropy, this law states that all things progress from a state of order to a state of disorder (within a closed system) without a purposeful input of energy. Common illustrations: things decay, springs unwind, stars burn out, heat dissipates, and materials become mixed over time. There are many references to the principle of entropy in the Bible, for example,
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like garment
(Psalm 102:25-26).
Other similar references include Isaiah 51:6; Matthew 24:35; Romans 8:20-22; 1 John 2:17; and Hebrews 12:27. In 1850, Clausius discovered this second law of thermodynamics.
Circumcision on the eighth day (the Bible: 1450 B.C.; science: 1947). No one really knows for sure why God specifically chose circumcision as the sign of his covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:11). Though it seems like an odd practice, research has indicated that it does have medical value. A study in the mid-1900s showed that Jewish women had a lower rate of cervical cancer. The smegma bacillus has been shown to be a major cause of cervical cancer. It can be easily carried in the foreskin of uncircumcised males and transferred to females through a abrasions of the cervix (as those occurring in childbirth).
Interestingly, God specified that newborns be circumcised on the eighth day after childbirth (Genesis 17:12). Research shows that infants are particularly susceptible to hemorrhaging from the second day after birth to the fifth. A small cut can be deadly. Vitamin K, necessary for the production of prothrombin (the body’s blood-clotting substance) is not present sufficiently until days five through seven. It skyrockets to 110 percent of normal on day eight, and then levels off. The Bible specifies the best possible day.
Sterilization (the Bible: 1450 B.C.; science: 1800s). It is easy to take our understanding of germs and disease for granted. However, germs and sterilization were not understood until the time of Joseph Lister (1865), near the end of the Civil War. The Bible required sterilization for many things: infectious disease (Leviticus 13), childbirth (chapter 12), bodily discharges (chapter 15), and handling of the dead (Numbers 19).
Interesting to note that many of the world’s greatest scientists have been Christians working from within a Christian worldview, including men such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, and Sir Isaac Newton. These brilliant men found to be true what many others discovered: The Bible is a book that can be trusted.
Archaeological Evidence
Archaeologists have discovered substantial support about many
details of Jesus’ life. Some examples include:
Indirect Resurrection Evidence
Evidence that the people in Jesus’ time believed in the resurrection is found on caskets of bones (ossuaries) discovered in a sealed tomb outside Jerusalem in 1945. Coins minted in about A.D. 50 were found inside the caskets, dating the burial within about 20 years of Jesus’ crucifixion. Markings are clearly legible, including several statements reflecting knowledge of Jesus’ ability to overcome death. Example of writings (in Greek) of hope for deceased loved ones include: “Jesus, Help” and “Jesus, Let Him Arise.” The caskets also contain several crosses, clearly marked in charcoal. This is powerful evidence that early Christians believed in Jesus’ ability to triumph over death. It also ties the idea of victory over death to the cross.
Jesus’ Burial Shroud?
A burial shroud (Shroud of Turin) is believed by many people to be the actual burial shroud of Jesus (Matthew 27:59; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:53). Items supporting its authenticity are:
1. Test that confirm fiber type and small particles of limestone dust unique to the region.
2. Confirmation of blood, in wounds precisely as indicated in the accounts of Jesus’ unique execution.
3. Confirmation of a crucifixion as likely cause of the type of image created: matching a deceased body.
4. Coins on eyes dated about the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Sir William Ramsay (1852-1916). Sir William Ramsay was, arguably the greatest archaeologist of his day. His archaeological journeys took him to 32 countries, 44 cities, and 9 islands. Throughout some 15 years of intensive study, he concluded that “Luke is a historian of the first rank, this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians.”
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Any doubt regarding the accurate transmission of manuscripts was erased in 1947
with the discovery of hundreds of scrolls buried in caves for nearly 2000 years.
Many were written before 100 B.C. Comparison of biblical books with recent
Jewish copies shows virtual no change in words or even letters.
The Trustworthiness of the New Testament
1 The New Testament has better manuscript evidence than any other ancient book.
a. There are over 5,000 New Testament manuscripts and portions of manuscripts. By comparison, the majority of classical works have less than 20 manuscripts.
b. The dates of the New Testament manuscripts are close to the original writings. One Gospel fragment (Ryland’s) dates about 25 years after the Gospel of John and most of the New Testament (Chester Beatty and Bodmer Papyri) from 50-150 years after the originals. Most classical works date from 700 – 1400 years after the originals.
c. None of the canonical New Testament is lost or missing. By comparison, 107 of Livy’s 142 books of history have been lost and about one half of Tacitus’ 30 books of Annals and Histories is missing.
2. Good arguments can be given that each of the Gospels was either written by an eyewitness, or significantly influenced by firsthand testimony, as recognized by many contemporary scholars.
3. Even without proving eyewitness authorship, the Gospels measure up well by normal historical standards used in ancient historiography.
4. The Gospel are trustworthy sources, as explained by A.M. Hunter
a. These Christian authors, like their Jewish counterparts, were careful to preserve traditional material.
b. The Gospels are close to eyewitness sources.
c. The Gospel authors were honest reporters.
d. The picture of Jesus presented in the four Gospels is virtually the same (see Archibald M. Hunter, Bible and Gospel, pp. 32-37).
5. The Gospels and Acts exhibit a specific interest in reporting historical facts, not mythology. This is especially the case when the life of Jesus is reported.
6. Contemporary historians frequently opposed the application of radical criticism to New Testament studies. According to A.N. Sherwin-White and Michael Grant, such attacks fail at a number of crucial points (see A.N. Sherman-White, Roman Society, pp. 186-193; Grant, Jesus: An Historian Review, pp. 179-184, 199-201).
a. Numerous ancient works exhibit intentions and methodologies similar to that of the New Testament authors, and yet these ancient works are well accredited as historical works.
b. There are no ancient writings in the category that radical critics place the Gospels.
c. New Testament books such as Acts have been largely confirmed by external test of historicity.
7. The Gospel and Acts were recognized as inspired books almost immediately after being written (see J.B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers).
a. 1 Timothy 5:18 quotes Luke 10:7 and refers to it as “Scripture.”
b. Clement of Rome (about AD 95) speaks of the “Gospel” and quotes portions found in all three synoptic Gospels, referring to them as the words of Jesus (Corinthians 13,46).
c. Ignatius (Smyrnaeans 3) and Polycarp (Philippians 2, 7), both writing about AD 115, refer to verses in the synoptic Gospels as the words of Christ.
8. Paul’s epistles were also recognized as inspired Scripture almost immediately after being written.
a. 2 Peter 3:15-16 calls Paul’s epistles “Scripture.”
b. Clement of Roman (Corinthians 47), Ignatius (Ephesians 10; to Polycarp 5), and Polycarp (Philippians 1,3-4, 6) all refer to Paul’s writings as inspired.
Ralph Muncaster, (former atheist) in his book: Examine the Evidence, presents extensive evidence to validate the truth-claims of Christianity. He provides compelling arguments from science, biblical prophecy, history, and archaeology. This former skeptic points out that of all religions and philosophies on earth, only one, Christianity is verifiable and testable. He was challenged to honestly investigate the Bible and the facts of modern science. He was stunned. Fact after fact, from biology, history, archaeology, physics, lined up with the Bible’s account!
Manuscript Documentation
The position of Jewish scribe was one of the most demanding and esteemed jobs in biblical times. After training for years, scribes were allowed to practice the profession only after age 30. Often referred to as doctors of the Law, they joined the priests in the teaching of the Law.
Scripture Copy Rules
Recording of Holy Scripture was a serious responsibility. So important was exact reproduction that Old Testament scribes were forced to adhere to demanding rules anytime a manuscript was copied:
1. Scrolls – special paper, ink, and surface preparation required.
2. Tight specifications – specified column number, 37 letters per column.
3. Master used – no duplicates of duplicates.
4. Each letter visually confirmed – no writing of phrases.
5. Distance between letters checked with thread.
6. Alphabet – each letter counted and compared to original.
7. Letters per page counted and compared to master.
8. Middle letter of scroll verified to be the same as the master.
9. One mistake – scroll was destroyed (i.e., master scrolls)
Consider the following facts about the Bible:
First, the Bible is not just one single book. This is a more common misconception than many people realize, especially with people who do not come from a Judeo-Christian background. Rather than being a single book, the Bible is actually a collection of 66 books, which is called the canon of scriptures. These 66 books contain a variety of genres: history, poetry, prophecy, wisdom literature, letters, and apocalyptic just to name a few.
Second, these 66 books were written by 40 different authors. These authors came from a variety of backgrounds: shepherds, fishermen, doctors, kings, prophets, and others. And most of these authors never knew one another personally.
Third, these 66 books were written over a period of 1500 years. Yet again, this is another reminder that many of these authors never knew or collaborated with one another in writing these books.
Fourth, the 66 books of the Bible were written in 3 different languages. In the Bible we have books that were written in the ancient languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic; a reflection of the historical and cultural circumstances in which each of these books were written.
And finally, these 66 books were written on 3 different continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe . Once again, this is a testament to the varied historical and cultural circumstances of God’s people.
Think about the above realities: 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents. What’s more, this collection of books shares a common storyline – the creation, fall, and redemption of God’s people; a common theme – God’s universal love for all of humanity; and a common message – salvation is available to all who repent of their sins and
commit to following God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. In addition to sharing these commonalities, these 66 books contain no historical errors or contradictions. God’s word truly is an amazing collection of writings!
The entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, bears the mark of Divine inspiration.
The Bible Itself Argues Against the Possibility of Its Corruption
The charge that the Bible has been corrupted, contradicts what the Bible itself teaches. After all, in Isaiah 40:8 we read, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands for ever.” In the New Testament Jesus says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”
(Matthew 24:35).
The Almighty God who had the power and sovereign control to inspire the Scriptures in the first place is surely going to continue to exercise His power and sovereign control in the preservation of Scripture.
This is a huge crock of self-serving cred. Please just go away, the adults would like to talk.
Lukas Marcos Kimble says:
Is there a point to all this? Is it because UU’s don’t exclusively use the Christian bible, but it is one of may sacred texts we use.
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Kenny, Excellent work. This is an assigned reading for our Wellspring class.
Our task is to listen for new truths about the experiences of people of color, about white privilege, about the spiritual dimensions of inequality. We will listen to the words of Mark Morrison-Reed, Mia Wright, and Ken Wiley, three prophetic voices who really do challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.
Thanks for your insight.
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Love-infused words on faith, sports and social justice from a black male Unitarian Universalist
Sermon: Which Side Are You On?
Lifting UU Voices: Anger Welcome
Statement from UU Religious Professionals of Color RE: Baltimore
Seeking Home: A Young Adult Gathering
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Tag: sop
Soursop is a prickly fruit comes from the Graviola tree, an evergreen native to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. It’s also known as custard apple, guanabana, paw paw, Annona cherimola, Annona macrocarpa, Annona muricata, Cherimoya, Corossol, Corossol Épineux, Corossolier, Durian Benggala, Guanabana, Guanavana, Nangka Blanda, Nangka Londa, Soursop, Sour Sop, Toge-Banreisi. Does it’s benefits outweigh it’s risks? You decide:
We’ll start 1st with it’s benefits:
Parasite Control: The anti-parasitic nature of soursop has made it a popular treatment in many of the rural areas of Latin America and South America, particularly in areas where parasitic infections are more common. By brewing a tea from the leaves of the fruit, you can cleanse your gut and ensure that your gastrointestinal system is running smoothly.
Anti-inflammatory Properties: If you are suffering from joint pain or inflammation, particularly from conditions like gout or arthritis, then rubbing a decoction of soursop on the affected area can be a wonderful way to find some relief. The anti-inflammatory compounds found in soursop can quickly speed healing in affected areas, while also soothing pain and improving flexibility.
Respiratory Distress: If you are struggling with a cough, cold, or other form of respiratory ailment, then soursop’s anti-inflammatory properties can help to clear out your airways, relieve congestion, and soothe irritation. Acting partially as an expectorant, soursop is a reliable way to eliminate phlegm and mucus, where many pathogens can live. By reducing inflammation of the nasal cavities and respiratory tracts, it can also speed healing.
Sedation and Stress: Soursop tea has been used as a stress relieving strategy for centuries. There are certain anti-inflammatory and soothing properties of soursop that make it very effective if you are suffering from excess stress and anxiety. Stress hormones in the body can be detrimental, and can mess with your natural metabolic cycles, as well as your sleep schedule. If you’re suffering from insomnia or restless sleep, soursop tea is a wise choice.
Skin Health: You can pulverize the seeds of the soursop fruit into a powder, which can then be formulated into a skin astringent, helping you to reduce lines and wrinkles, and improve the appearance of age spots and blemishes. Topically apply this paste to the affected areas regularly and enjoy healthier skin, while also protecting yourself from bacterial and microbial infections.
Cancer Prevention: Some of the most interesting benefits of soursop relate to its antioxidant activity, which namely comes from acetogenins, as well as quinolones and alkaloids. These have been directly linked to cancer prevention and the reduction in size of tumors. Extensive research has been done on the unique organic compounds of soursop and it has been widely studied as an alternative cancer treatment. These acetogenins are actually unique to the Annonaceae plant family, which is what makes them so fascinating. They can apparently cut off blood flow to foreign or non-normal cellular growths, and have already been positively associated with treating breast, pancreatic, prostate, and lung cancers.
Research shows that bioactive components of graviola leaf extracts may have a positive cancer-fighting effect due to the free radical scavenging abilities and antioxidant enzymes it contains, thus helping eliminate cancer cells. It’s believed that the graviola leaves kill cancer cells by blocking ATP production. ATP, aka adenosine triphosphate, is a usable form of energy for cells. Graviola leaf extract can help block this activity, which may cause apoptosis (programmed cell death). Scientists in Mexico discovered acetogenins in the soursop fruit hold chemotherapeutic properties.
A study conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center found that the extract can greatly reduce pancreatic cancer. Because cancer cells have more glucose, cell growth is typically enhanced as well as tumor growth. However, in this study, cells that were treated with graviola extract decreased their glucose uptake when compared to untreated cells. This decrease can make it difficult for the bad cells to live and multiply, which is a good thing.
Immune System Booster: Protecting the immune system is one of the most important components of a healthy diet and fitness regimen. Adding a bit of soursop fruit to your diet, either through refreshing beverages or desserts, can positively impact your overall health and keep those illnesses at bay. Rich in vitamin C, this fruit stimulates the production of white blood cells, while the concentration of antioxidants helps to neutralize free radicals and prevent chronic disease.
Gastrointestinal Health: Being rich in vitamin C, soursop was used for many years as a natural remedy for scurvy and dysentery. The juice of the soursop fruit can also be a very effective diuretic, to cleanse the gastrointestinal tract and remove excess toxins and salts from the body. The anti-inflammatory components, including the alkaloids and quinolones, can reduce parasites in the gut and alleviate any pain and irritation in the stomach/colon.
Analgesic Properties: In terms of pain relief, soursop has been topically applied to wounds and injuries for generations, but also works internally to relieve pain and speed healing. The sedative and anti-inflammatory aspects of this impressive tropical fruit make it an ideal solution for all types of body pain, both inside and out.
CHART: Pharmacological activities of A. muricata extracts evaluated in vivo:
Plant part
Test model and results
Hypoglycemic Leaf H2O 100 mg/kg p.o. by 25 days Reduction of blood glucose (4.7 mmol/l) in diabetes mellitus rats Adewole and Caxton-Martins (2006)
H2O 100 mg/kg p.o. by 25 days Increase of serum insulin glucose (12.2 μU/ml) in diabetes mellitus rats
MeOH 100 mg/kg, daily for two weeks Reduction of blood glucose (4.22 mmol/l) in diabetes mellitus rats Adeyemi et al. (2009)
H2O 100 mg/kg, daily for 28 days Reduction of blood glucose (80.75 mg/dl) in diabetes mellitus rats Florence et al. (2014)
Stem bark EtOH 100 mg/kg, daily for 14 days Reduction of blood glucose (187 mg/dl) in diabetes mellitus rats Ahalya et al. (2014)
Anti-cancer Leaf EtOH 100 mg/kg/4 wk Restoration of colon total protein in cycas-induced colorectal carcinogenesis in rats Okolie et al. (2013)
Leaf EtOAc 500 mg/kg/8 wk 72.5% of ACF inhibition in AOM induced colorectal carcinogenesis in rats Moghadamtousi et al. (2015c)
Anti-tumorigenic Dried fruit H2O:Cet 50% 200 mg/kg/35 wk 32% growth inhibition (weight) of breast tumor induced by MDA-MB-468 cell in rats Dai et al. (2011)
Leaf/ Stem H2O 50 mg/kg/35 days 59.8% growth inhibition of pancreatic tumor induced by CD18/HPAF cell in rats Torres et al. (2012)
Leaf EtOH/H2O 30 mg/kg bwt 0% of incidence of initiation and promotion of tumors induced in mouse skin Hamizah et al. (2012)
Anti-diarrhea Leaf MeOH 25 a 200 mg/kg, vo 13.94% of inhibition of activated charcoal transit in mouse Salinas et al. (2011)
Gastroprotective Leaf EtOH 80% 300 mg/kg 92.8% of inhibition of total area of gastric lesion in rats Roslida et al. (2012)
Leaf EtOAc 400 mg/kg Reduction of ulcer index in ethanol-induced ulcerogenesis in rats Moghadamtousi et al. (2014)
Hepato-protective Leaf H2O 400 mg/kg twice daily for 7 days: Reduction of bilirubin level (5.68 μmol/l) in rats hyperbilirubinemia induced Arthur et al.(2012a)
Leaf H2O 50 mg/kg 97% of protection versus hepatotoxicity induced in rats by CCl4 Arthur et al. (2012b)
Leaf H2O 100 mg/kg 100% of protection versus hepatotoxicity induced in rats by acetaminophen
Anti-inflammatory Leaf H2O 1.5 mg/kg 71.12% reduction of plant edema induced in mouse model Poma et al. (2011)
Leaf EtOH 400 mg/kg Reduction of volume (0.47 ml) of carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats Sousa and Vieira (2010)
Anti-nociceptive Leaf EtOH 80% 10 mg/kg op 53.92% prolongation of reaction time of mice exposed to the hot plate Roslida et al. (2012)
Leaf EtOH 80% 300 mg/kg 95.3% inhibition of abdominal writhes of mice induced by 0.6% acetic acid
Leaf EtOH 80% 100 mg/kg 47.36% of reduction time spent licking on formalin-induced in mice
Leaf EtOH 400 mg/kg 41.41% inhibition of acetic acid-induced writhing in mice Sousa and Vieira (2010)
Leaf EtOH 400 mg/kg Increase the latency time (13.25 min) in mice
Leaf EtOH 400 mg/kg 45% inhibition of formalin-induced nociception in mice
Anxiolytic-like effect Leaf EtOH 40% 0.5 g/kg, vo: 45% reduction of time reaction in Albino mice/elevated plus maze Oviedo et al. (2009)
Hypotensive Leaf H2O 48.53 mg/kg Reduction of blood pressure (57.7 mm Hg) in rats Nwokocha et al. (2012)
Wound healing Stem bark EtOH 4% in ointment/12 days 88.58% reduction of area of open wound produced in rats Padmaa et al. (2009)
Leaf EtOAc 10% in cream, two applications a day per 15 days 77% of wound closure in rats Moghadamtousi et al. (2015b)
NR, Not reported; EtOH, ethanol; H2O, water; MeOH, methanol; EtOAc, ethyl acetate; Cet, cetone; CCl4, carbon tetrachloride; wk, week; ACF, aberrant crypt foci; AOM, azoxymethane.
Soursop and Cinnamon Milkshake
1 ripe soursop
1/2 cup coconut water
½ cup almond milk
1 medium frozen banana
⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
In a blender, place the soursop, coconut water and almond milk. Blend until smooth. Then add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
For a thicker shake, use less liquid ingredients. For a thinner shake, add more almond milk. Once you have the shake at your desired consistency, pour into a glass. Add a cinnamon stick for a nice touch.
Now for the risks & side-effects:
Soursop contains Annonacin. Annonacin is a neurotoxin. It can kill nerve cells in the brain and other parts of the body. It may cause movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease. It’s believed that it may be causing atypical parkinsonism in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe where consumption of soursop and pawpaw is common. Studies indicate that consumption of annonacin cause brain lesions (consistent with Parkinson’s disease).
It reduced the brain’s striatal neurons. Annonacin causes a reduction brain ATP levels, causes neuronal cell loss and gliosis in the brain stem and basal locomotive ganglia.
Consuming more than 5 g/kg of aqueous extract might cause kidney damage.
Annonacin is more toxic than the pesticide Rotenone,
https://draxe.com/soursop/
Posted on April 20, 2017 April 20, 2017 Categories Medical & Science, RemediesTags arthitis, breast, Cancer, cold, colon, cough, cure, disease, effects, gastrointestinal, glucose, immune, inflammation, injuries, metabolic, mucus, natural, organic, pain, parasites, parkinson, paw, pawpaw, remedies, remedy, Risk, risks, sedation, side, side-effects, Sleep, sop, sour, soursoop, soursop, stress, toxic, toxins, tumor, wounds, wrinklesLeave a comment on Soursop fruit = Dangerous Toxin or Cancer Cure?
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Tag Archives: Quintet of the Hot Club of France
CELEBRATING DAN MORGENSTERN, WHO GIVES SO MUCH TO US
On October 24, 1929, Bennie Moten, Lud Gluskin, Horace Heidt, Junie C. Cobb, Jack Hylton, and a few other bands made records. In the United States, terrible things were happening to the economy. But in Munich, Germany, our hero Dan Morgenstern was born. Whether his first cries were in 4/4, there is no evidence, but I would venture that it was an early example of spontaneous scat singing.
Given the math above, even I can add up the figures to write that Dan will be 88 this week. I’m not the only one celebrating. There will be a musical birthday party hosted by David Ostwald, who leads the Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, at Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, New York City, this Wednesday, the 25th, from 5:30 to 7 PM. And I’ll bet Dan chirps a few with the Band. You can reserve online (and you should) here.
On Saturday, October 28th, from 1-4 PM, Loren Schoenberg (a very good friend of Dan’s and a scholar in his own right) will host a celebration / interview of Dan at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, 58 West 129th Street, New York City. Details — to reserve a seat / buy a ticket at a nominal price — here — or here.
While you’re making your reservations, a little Morgenstern-music to accompany your mouse-clicks:
I don’t have a jazz club or museum as a place to honor Dan. But JAZZ LIVES is not without its resources, and as readers know, I have had the honor of interviewing Dan at length . . . an utterly gratifying experience for me, so I will share two as-yet-unseen segments.
One takes Dan back to Copenhagen in 1938. I knew he had delighted in Fats Waller on Fats’ European tour, but I hadn’t known he had seen the Quintet of the Hot Club of France AND the Mills Brothers. Dan also recalls his first jazz records. Wonderful memories:
Remembering the Quintet also led to Dan’s enthusiastic portrait of violinist Svend Asmussen:
“A wonderfully enveloping good nature,” Dan says of Fats. He would never say it of himself, but it is no less true. It is our immense good fortune to know Mr. Morgenstern.
Tagged Abe Lyman, Birdland, Copenhagen, Dan Morgenstern, David Ostwald, Django Reinhardt, Fats Waller, Jazz Lives, Loren Schoenberg, Michael Steinman, Mills Brothers, Nat Gonella, National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Svend Asmussen
TEDDY BUNN, GUITAR
It’s that point in the semester when I end up having more informal conversations with students about their aspirations. Today I was talking to a young man who is taking a jazz course and plays guitar. Blues guitar, it turns out. Immediately, I said, “I’m going to give you homework. Listen to Teddy Bunn!” and he copied down the unfamiliar name. Over the years, I’ve urged other guitar-playing students to devote themselves to Teddy Bunn’s recorded work. Today, for the first time, I thought to myself, “Why Teddy Bunn rather than Charlie Christian or Django Reinhardt?”
For me, the answer is in Bunn’s emotional accessibility. To young guitarists raised on flamethrowing displays of technique (usually electrified) Bunn might sound unambitious. But he has a country-blues depth of feeling: his simple phrases come from someplace that belies his birthplace — Freeport, Long Island, perhaps twenty-five miles from where I am now writing and certainly miles away from the Mississippi Delta. His blues phrases are plain-spoken, logical, affecting. But he also has a distinctly urban swing: if you had Teddy Bunn in your rhythm section, you hardly needed anyone else.
And I am always trying to consider what my students might have heard before — and how my frankly antiquarian tastes in music will strike them. To get to Charlie Christian, they have to get past the “Swing Era” in the person of Benny Goodman, although I suppose some of them could go directly to Jerry Newman’s recordings of Christian, uptown. And to get to Django, they have to make a detour around Grappelly and the Quintet.
Bunn’s simplicity is deceptive. It would please me immensely to have one of my self-possessed young players say to himself, “Oh, I can do that,” and try to duplicate a Bunn solo — a simple twelve bars — and then realize that his imitation was lacking something essential — perhaps in its tonal qualities or its rhythmic subtleties. I imagine that Teddy Bunn might teach someone more about inventiveness and humility than I had been able to in fifteen weeks in a classroom. (Charles Peterson caught him in action at a 1939 Blue Note session with trumpeter Frank Newton, who is standing in front of Sidney Catlett . . . fast company!)
A place to find out some more about Teddy Bunn is Mike Kremer’s CLASSIC JAZZ GUITAR site, http://classicjazzguitar.com/aboutus/about_us.jsp, the source of the images here.
During his lifetime, everyone knew about Teddy Bunn. Sammy Price called him for the Decca “race records” sessions of the late Thirties; he was a charter member of the Spirits of Rhythm, also accompanying Ella Logan and Red McKenzie; he sat in with the Ellington band in 1929; Mezzrow and Bechet made good use of his talents, as did Hot Lips Page, Clarence Profit, Willie “the Lion” Smith, Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone, and Spencer Williams. Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff made him part of their early Blue Note sessions and gave him a four-song solo date of his own. Later on, he pops up (now playing electric guitar) with Lionel Hampton, Hadda Brooks, and others. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much attention in the Fifties, and a combination of poor health, early rock ‘n’ roll, and gigs in Hawaii kept him out of the public eye as far as jazz was concerned. I do recall a late interview (done by Peter Tanner for JAZZ JOURNAL, if memory serves me) where Bunn talked about his older recordings and was thrilled to hear them again.
Here are some samples of the man whose name comes first to my lips when the subject of blues guitar comes into the conversation:
IF YOU SEE ME COMIN’ is from 1938, and shows Teddy Bunn’s talents in three ways — first, as a singer, intense yet understated; second, with some of those same characteristics in his solo (notice how he lets his notes ring, how he doesn’t feel the need to fill up the spaces); third, as a rhythm player. Who’s the pianist? There isn’t any — those harmonies and rhythmic pushes you hear are Teddy’s. The other musicians on this date are the co-leaders Mezz Mezzrow, clarinet; Tommy Ladnier, trumpet; Pops Foster, bass; Manzie Johnson, drums. (The player closest in spirit to Bunn on this record is Ladnier, who has just been chronicled with eloquent thoroughness in Dan Verhettes’ book TRAVELLIN’ BLUES.)
Here’s I GOT RHYTHM, recorded in 1933 by the Spirits of Rhythm, featuring the irreplaceable singer Leo Watson, Douglas and Wilbur Daniels on tipples (which I believe are twelve-string versions of ukuleles), Teddy Bunn — whose solo and trades come after Leo’s vocal episodes — and Virgil Scoggins on “drums,” more likely whiskbrooms on a brown-paper-covered suitcase:
And two reasonably unsatisfying film clips (from the point of view of hearing Teddy Bunn play) although they offer other rare delights. TOM TOM, THE ELEVATOR BOY, comes from the 1941 musical SWEETHEART OF THE CAMPUS, and is out of synch. It is mainly given over to Leo Watson (which is not a problem) but it shows us Teddy Bunn on electric guitar. I’ll even ignore that the clip shows Black musicians as having to be distracted from their onstage crap game to perform their act — on a particularly terrible song:
And a new find — the 1941 equivalent of a Soundie, obviously terribly low-budget, which brings together Jackie Greene, impersonating Eddie Cantor, and the “Five Spirits of Rhythm,” who are here cast as railroad porters in charge of shoe-shines. Here we don’t see Bunn playing but his electric guitar is quite audible on the soundtrack. But it’s a reminder of how badly Black performers were treated in films until years later (even with such luminaries as Sam Coslow and Dudley Murphy supervising). There’s comedy, cheesecake, and a good deal of Greene rolling his eyes. At least the Spirits get to hold out their hands for their tip at the end:
I don’t want to overstate Teddy Bunn’s place in the history of jazz. He did most often find himself playing the blues, or playing thirty-two bar songs with a deep blues flavoring. His solos tended to be variations on simple motifs, and his later playing had lost some of its spark, its inventiveness. When he took up the electric guitar, his identifiable acoustic sound was blurred, and his solos sound rather familiar.
But in his prime he was a remarkable musician, and I look forward to the day when one of my students (or former students) says that hearing Teddy Bunn was a marvelous — even if not life-changing — experience.
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Irreplaceable, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, The Real Thing, The Things We Love
Tagged Alfred Lion, Benny Goodman, Blue Note, blues, blues singers, Charles Peterson, cheesecake, Clarence Profit, CLASSIC JAZZ GUITAR, Dan Verhettes, Django Reinhardt, Douglas Daniels, Dudley Murphy, Duke Ellington, Eddie Cantor, Ella Logan, Francis Wolff, Frank Newton, Hadda Brooks, Hot Lips Page, Jackie Greene, jazz blog, JAZZ JOURNAL, Jazz Lives, Jerry Newman, Jimmy Noone, Johnny Dodds, Leo Watson, Lionel Hampton, Manzie Johnson, Mezz Mezzrow, Michael Steinman, Mike Kremer, Mississippi Delta, Peter Tanner, Pops Foster, Port of Harlem Jazzmen, Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Red McKenzie, Sam Coslow, Sammy Price, Sidney Bechet, Sidney Catlett, Spencer Williams, Spirits of Rhythm, Stephane Grappelli, Teddy Bunn, Tommy Ladnier, TRAVELLIN' BLUES, Virgil Scoggins, Wilbur Daniels, Willie "the Lion" Smith
LOCAL HEROES: THE EAR REGULARS (March 21, 2010)
Posted on March 23, 2010 | 7 comments
Why do some combinations of musicians coalesce memorably, and others not? I suspect that it is a matter of forces the players themselves can’t explain. They can tell you in detail why things don’t work: someone’s tired or annoyed; X dislikes that tempo; Y can’t stand the song; Z doesn’t feel well.
But when all the stars are in alignment, the music is uplifting. And the players look contented when they hear their colleagues; the smiles you see at the end of a song add up to a contented glow around the band.
This unpredictable magic happened on Sunday, March 21, 2010, at The Ear Inn (326 Spring Street, New York City).
Two of the Ear Regulars were the valiant co-leaders: guitarist Matt Munisteri and trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso, brave and true, who have led their little band on Sunday nights for thirty months now, a delightfully consistent series of small-band jam sessions. One of the horn players, clarinetist Pete Martinez, had played there a week ago in concert with trombonist Harvey Tibbs. And Scott Robinson has been a Regular, off and on, since the start — but this time he was featured on bass sax (with a surprise appearance on piccolo late in the evening).
Were they especially happy to be playing together, although they knew each other from other appearances? Was pleasurable anticipation, soon realized, in the air? I don’t know. But on this Sunday, the Ear Regulars reminded me of the great New York sessions of my youth — small groups featuring Ruby Braff, Vic Dickenson, Bobby Hackett, Milt Hinton, and others — lyrical, singing hot jazz.
Here are nine performances from this wondrous constellation of players, with guests coming by. I know that the videos aren’t the same as being there, but perhaps if you raise the volume and get in the groove, you’ll catch the fervent spirit. And I know it wasn’t just my happy hallucination: you can ask Jackie Kellso, Kevin Dorn, Doug Pomeroy, Molly Ryan, Dan Levinson, Barbara Rosene, and the elated Friends of The Ear whose names I didn’t catch.
After a spirited warmup on THERE’LL BE SOME CHANGES MADE, Jon-Erik did something unusual by suggesting an even faster CHINA BOY. It summoned up the drive of the Bechet-Spanier HRS session, with a good deal of Adrian Rollini added, as well as some Quintet of the Hot Club of France flavoring from guitarist Julian Lage:
Then, the Ear Regulars decided to try that very pretty Arthur Schwartz song, I GUESS I’LL HAVE TO CHANGE MY PLAN (associated in my mind with Bobby Hackett and Jack Teagarden), happily asking Scott to take the melody statement, a splendid idea:
Do you associate LOUISIANA with Bix, Bing, or Lester and Basie? Whichever version you prefer, this one rocks:
I don’t know who thought of CREOLE LOVE CALL, but any time Jon-Erik takes out his plunger mute, I listen attentively to the secret messages he’s sending:
And the set closed with a minor romp, BLUES MY NAUGHTY SWEETIE GIVES TO ME, which gave Pete another chance to sear us with his lovely exuberant upper register:
After a break for dinner, it was time (however late) for a sensitive reading of Walter Donaldson’s AT SUNDOWN, at a lovely ballad tempo:
Cornetist John Bucher had come in when the second set started, and Jon-Erik invited him aboard for I NEVER KNEW, with closing riffs reminiscent of the 1933 Chocolate Dandies record:
Guitarist Dave Gross joined in for the final two numbers: a beautifully articulated IT’S THE TALK OF THE TOWN:
Finally, after some discussion, the Regulars chose WHISPERING to end the evening:
This music speaks for itself. If you’ve never been to The Ear Inn on a Sunday, you’re denying yourself rare pleasure.
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Ideal Places, Irreplaceable, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing, The Things We Love
Tagged Adrian Rollini, Arthur Schwartz, Barbara Rosene, bass saxophone, Bing Crosby, Bix Beiderbecke, Bobby Hackett, Chocolate Dandies, Count Basie, Dan Levinson, Dave Gross, Doug Pomeroy, Harvey Tibbs, Jack Teagarden, jazz blog, Jazz Lives, John Bucher, Jon-Erik Kellso, Julian Lage, Kevin Dorn, Lester Young, Matt Munisteri, Michael Steinman, Milt Hinton, Molly Ryan, Muggsy Spanier, Pete Martinez, piccolo, Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Ruby Braff, Scott Robinson, Sidney Bechet, The Ear Inn, the Ear Regulars, Vic Dickenson, Walter Donaldson
“J’ATTENDRAI,” 1939: DJANGO AT 100
Django Reinhardt in peak form, captured on film with Stephane Grappelli and the rest of the Hot Club Quintet. Yes, the film clip is hokey, the lighting melodramatic, and the Hot Club boys chug a little as they always did — but to hear those long-lined powerful melodies of Django’s is always a delight. And Django himself must be separated from his modern imitators, who spin out millions of notes: their technique may even be more astounding, but they have sometimes have less to say. I just wish someone had filmed the session Django did with Rex Stewart, Barney Bigard, and Billy Taylor: ethereal Hot!
Posted in "Thanks A Million", Irreplaceable, Jazz Titans, Pay Attention!, Swing You Cats!, The Real Thing, The Things We Love
Tagged 1939, Barney Bigard, Billy Taylor, Django Reinhardt, J'Attendrai, Michael Steinman, Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Rex Stewart, Stephane Grappelli, YouTube
CREOLE RHAPSODIES AT SYMPHONY SPACE
The good news is that another Sidney Bechet Society concert is around the corner on Monday, September 15. There is no bad news.
Evan Christopher is back in town, heading a new small group, “Django a la Creole,” which combines the all-strings instrumentation of the QHCF with Evan’s deep New Orleans roots. Evan will be playing alongside guitarists Matt Munisteri and Pete Smith, and bassist Sebastien Giradot. And, if that were not enough, the special guest star is Jon-Erik Kellso. (Evan, Jon-Erik, and Matt are a wonderful team, as the Arbors CD BLUE ROOF BLUES proves.)
The concerts will take place at 6:15 and 9 PM at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th Street). Tickets are $25 for Bechet Society members, $30 in advance, $35 the day of the concert. The hall has excellent acoustics and good sightlines. Evan’s 2006 and 2007 concerts sold out; this one will too. To order tickets, visit the Bechet Society website at www.sidneybechet.org.
Even though it’s only a fragment, I was delighted to see this YouTube clip of Evan and a version of this admirable small group. Here, they play a wistful version of “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans,” making yearning, intimate jazz. Evan’s delicacy reminds me of late Pee Wee Russell, a great compliment.
Posted in The Heroes Among Us, The Real Thing
Tagged Arbors Records, Blue Roof Blues, Django a la Creole, Django Reinhardt, Evan Christopher, jazz blog, Jon-Erik Kellso, Matt Munisteri, Michael Steinman, Pee Wee Russell, Pete Smith, Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Sebastien Giradot, Sidney Bechet Society, Symphony Space, Way Down Yonder in New Orleans, YouTube
MAKING RECORDS WITH MARTY GROSZ
I realize my title contains an archaic expression, for no one makes records anymore. At Clinton Recording Studios last week, the expert engineer Doug Pomeroy was far beyond cutting grooves in a wax disc. But the atmosphere at a jazz recording session, especially one led by the guitarist Marty Grosz, is somewhere between the cheerfully lewd horseplay of a boys’ locker room and the intense seriousness of artists who know they are making something permanent out of music created on the spot. Eveyone knows that their art is both out-of-fashion and timeless.
The facts first. Grosz, looking more healthy and energized than at the previous recording session I attended (Marty Grosz and his Hot Combination for Arbors) is in equal parts vaudevillian and serious jazz scholar, crooner and chordal guitar virtuoso — someone who loves what he calls “jazz arcana” and an indefatigable rhythmic sparkplug. I’ve seen him lead groups where his is the only rhythm instrument, and he swings any number of horns easily.
At this session, Marty was recording his newest assemblage, “The Hot Winds,” make of that title what you may, for the first time. The group, compact and versatile, included Dan Block, Scott Robinson, and Vince Giordano on reeds, with Rob Garcia on drums.
But that description does them an injustice. Rob not only played drums, but added a great deal of orchestral color and commentary on his glockenspiel (or is it called orchestra bells these days?). In fact, during a break, at Vince’s request, Rob played an on-target version of Ellington’s “The Mooche” — supplying all the Jungle Band percussion patented by Sonny Greer while Rob played the melody on the bells.
Vince not only sang but also played his aluminum string bass, bass sax, and tuba. Between Dan and Scott, there was a forest of instruments: a clarinet, an alto saxophone, a baritone saxophone, an echo cornet, an Eb alto horn, a C-melody saxophone, and bass clarinet.
On the second day, Marty’s Philadelphia friend Jim Gicking brought his trombone for ensemble color on two tracks, but he also told me that he plays guitar duets (Carl Kress and Dick McDonough and the like) with Marty.
As an architectural digression: Studio A at Clinton is a square room with lots of wood, not only on the floor — and the “greatest ceiling in New York,” said Scott — resembling either Saturn’s rings or crop circles, you pick.
And, as a happy throwback to the Old Days, the musicians were arranged in a circle, so that they could see one another. True, there were more microphones than you would have found in 1940, but times change. But The Hot Winds could have made lovely music anywhere: their sound a mixture of so many happy jazz experiences — Jimmie Noone’s Apex Club Orchestra, a New Orleans parade, the figure-eight strum of Bernard Addison on the 1940 Chocolate Dandies session, the Bechet-Spanier HRS discs, Django and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France . . . all leavened with the strong personalities of the five musicians in the room: jocular, inventive, hard-driving, tender.
Marty sang a number of rare songs the first day, among them one of my favorites — the 1933 ditty, “I’ve Gotta Get Up And Go To Work,” which isn’t a Monday-morning moan but a celebration of employment, something to sing about when so many were jobless:
Exactly eight o’clock! / Where’s my other sock? / I’ve got a job / So help me, Bob / I’ve gotta get up and go to work . . .
In keeping with the good cheer, Vince sang “My Blackbirds are Bluebirds Now,” one of those late-Twenties songs innocently tying good luck and bad luck to avian colors (!). While they were deciding on their head arrangement, Marty told the story of working in a trio with bassist Bill Pemberton and a famous musician, a fine player, who took a very long time to decide on the next song: “Hey, X, you wanna play ‘Rosetta’?” “Oh, I don’t know. (Long pause.) I’m not sure I know how the bridge goes.” and so on. Turning to Rob, he gave stern artistic guidance: “Give us a little Zutty [Singleton]. Don’t be afraid. We want to go wild.” And Rob, whose playing is full of snap and crackle, not to mention pop, swung out nicely.
Tenderness filled the studio with the next song, a 1931 love-effusion recorded by Ethel Waters and Jack Teagarden, “I Just Couldn’t Take It, Baby,” where Marty showed off the emotional range sometimes obscured by his comedies. As the last selection of the day, Marty returned to a beloved but little-known Fats Waller opus, “The Panic Is On,” which he had been playing and recording since his earliest days: its chart, he said, was “stolen from an old arrangement I did when I was a twerp.” And the evening and the morning were the first day.
The second day was devoted to instrumentals — where the soloists could stretch out more. Marty is one of the few musicians I know who plans his CDs as if they were concerts — variety in repertoire, mood, key, tempo, and length. He waxes eloquent on the current practice of throwing twenty-four selections at listeners, which means that people, wearied by monotony, never make it past Track Three.
The first tune he called was the truly obscure Ellington-related “Maori,” by William H, Tyers, who also wrote “Panama.” Marty envisioned this for two clarinets, with a New Orleans flavor, where the soloists kept playing, veering in and out of collective improvisation. I was reminded of the happy early days of Soprano Summit, with Marty the heart of their rhythm section. “When Buddha Smiles,” even rarer, followed — a festival of instrument-switching, as Scott first played baritone sax (it was Dan’s), then curved soprano, Eb alto horn. I am proud to report that I became indispensable for a few minutes, holding the baritone in mid-air after Scott had finished his solo because there was no stand for it. “They also serve who only stand and wait,” said John Milton, and I developed a new admiration for Harry Carney, who had that truly heavy instrument around his neck for nearly fifty years.
Jim Gicking brought his trombone into the studio for the next two numbers — a wistful “Under A Blanket of Blue,” Marty’s remembrance of the late Chicago clarinetist Frank Chace, who liked that ballad, and another rare Fats tune, “Caught,” which got a groovy treatment — not exactly music for a stripper, but in that neighborhood. Another obscurity, “Love and Kisses,” an early Ella Fitzgerald – Chick Webb record, showed its similarity to “With Plenty of Money and You” with touches of “Since My Best Gal Turned Me Down.” As is Marty’s habit, he very carefully counted off the tempo he wanted by singing / humming / scatting much of the first sixteen bars, to make sure that he and the band were in the same groove. When he led The Hot Winds into King Oliver’s “Riverside Blues,” his aesthetic direction was clear: “Let’s make it like we were playing in a joint.” I was sitting down, notebook on my lap, so I couldn’t see everything that was happening, and was happily puzzled to hear a Scott Robinson blues chorus that sounded as if he was playing a huge kazoo underwater. Later I found out that he had taken off the mouthpiece of his metal clarinet and was humming into the barrel, creating a truly other-worldly sound. (Correction: to make that sound, Scott told me, he buzzes into the clarinet as if playing a trumpet.)
Finally — and joyously — everyone swung an old Apex Club favorite, “Oh, Sister, Ain’t That Hot?” which, in Marty’s hands is never a question. In fact, during these sessions, I kept thinking of something he had once told me: in Chicago, when he was a young jazz player, he and his friends had the admonitory catchphrase “GET HOT OR GO HOME.” That’s a gospel that he and The Hot Winds take seriously, and some time next year everyone will be able to hear this delicious music on an Arbors CD.
Posted in Ideal Places, Jazz Titans, The Heroes Among Us, The Things We Love
Tagged Arbors Records, Barnard Addison, Carl Kress, Chick Webb, Clinton Recording Studios, Dan Block, Dick McDonough, Django Reinhardt, Doug Pomeroy, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Chace, Harry Carney, Jim Gicking, Jimmie Noone, John Milton, Marty Grosz, Marty Grosz and his Hot Combination, New Orleans street parade, Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Scott Robinson, Sonny Greer, The Hot Winds, The Mooche, Vince Giordano
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Traffic Ticket, Drug Crime, Criminal Defense, Car Accident
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Ten Ways to Say Yes to Saying No
Saying no feels like a door closing. But, those who can’t say no end up over-committed, overwhelmed, and ineffective.
Saying no is the first step toward freedom for someone who says yes too much.
Keeps options open.
Reflects positive attitude.
Explores opportunity.
Moves forward.
Too many yeses cause:
Confusion.
Over-commitment.
Missed deadlines.
Mediocre results.
Neglected relationships.
Diluted impact.
Letting teams down.
Persistent fatigue.
No protects success.
Protects energy
Enables focus.
Limits distraction.
The quickest way to radically improve life and leadership, for those addicted to yes, is saying no.
A good no:
Makes room for priorities.
Keeps you living in your strengths.
Opens a door.
Those who can’t say no are doomed to frustration and mediocrity.
Saying no:
Don’t fully book. Leave open spaces on your calendar.
Practice saying no with friends. Get together and say, “Lets learn how to say no.”
Choose a no statement that feels good to you. “I’d love to but I can’t.”
Say yes selectively. Ask yourself, “Do I love this, or, am I tolerating it?”
Say no sooner rather than later. It’s hard to say no after you said yes.
Identify your values. Say to yourself, “That’s not important to me.”
Do more of what fulfills.
Stop saying, “If I can just get through this … things will be better.”
Give yourself space. When you feel pressure to say yes, say, “Let me think about it.” But, realize a delay keeps issues on your plate.
Go ahead and explain yourself. “I’d love to say yes, but ….”
Pressured to say yes:
Leaders who can’t say no are pushed around by people and opportunities.
People who pressure you to say yes are manipulators. Once you start saying yes, they’ll keep expecting you to say yes. Stand your ground or be a doormat.
How can leaders learn to say no?
Category : Leading, Marks of leaders, Personal Growth, Saying No, Success, Values
Tags : Communication, Growth, Leadership, leadership success, organizational success
← Tapping the Fear-side of Motivation
10 Practical Ways to Enhance Team Dynamics →
53 thoughts on “Ten Ways to Say Yes to Saying No”
jamesmckey on March 28, 2014 at 8:23 am said:
Brilliant article title today! Not changing a word for my tweet out!
Dan Rockwell on March 28, 2014 at 8:26 am said:
Thanks James!
Alan - Robert Alan Black on March 28, 2014 at 8:23 am said:
just saw your Pinterest page.
Very impressive set of photo slides in your collection.
Thanks Alan
Tim Glass on March 28, 2014 at 8:28 am said:
Fine line between the two choices, often times easier said then done when dealing with customers who want everything for nothing. Indeed you have the processes identified to make things more manageable with the no’s!
Thanks Tim. You bring up one of the stickiest situations. Saying no to customers. Maybe someone will help us out on that one.
Customers come to us with ideas and plans, we have to come up with solutions, yes’s, costs and occasional No’s often times based on site requirements which do not exist. I try to tread lightly with “No” responses, customers want solutions!
Scott Powell on March 28, 2014 at 8:34 am said:
Well the thing is if they do not already know how to do this they are not leaders.
People may be in positions where they have temporary influence over others.
That does not make them a Leader.
Mean no disrespect Dan but sometimes it feels the term Leader is thrown around too loosely. Wanna be Leaders are not Leaders.
Feel that word might serve everyone concerned when only used in terms of people who actually are actually LEADING others.
Not talking about confused folks with a title and position.
EA. oh yeah when one knows thyself, has their own house in order a process is in place to make decisions. Yes, no decisions included. Leaders do this and understand what I am saying here, others who that does not make sense to, you do the math.
Thanks Scott. I’m glad you distinguish between actual leaders and positional leaders. The idea that actual leaders are good at saying no is off target.
Jim Struck (@Catalyst4Change) on March 28, 2014 at 8:50 am said:
Scott, I would invite you to consider that those that can’t say ‘no’ may be leaders, they just aren’t as effective as they can be. Often, I find that it takes people some time to learn to say ‘no’ so they are comfortable.
Love the kind tone, Jim.
Scott Powell on March 28, 2014 at 12:49 pm said:
Hi Jim, deeply appreciate your kind tone too as it struck me!!!!
What I guess I am saying Jim is that people learning to lead are not Leaders. They are Leaders in training. Only one thing needs to determined if one is a Leader or a poser??? Followers. Following by conscious choice, period.
It is like learning to fly and flying.
See words matter, distinctions matter. Clarity matters.
People are either Directed Specifics or Wandering Generalities.
If I am a Leader all this makes perfect sense.
If I am Leader in training it makes sense cause I know I am not there yet.
If I am an idiot poser with a title and no followers this probably pisses me off!!!! Lol
Great thing pissed off posers….hang in there keep at it you are on the right track especially when you understand why it pisses you off.
Truth is really cool stuff!! It will set you free but first it is gonna piss you off.
Then 3 Distinct stages
1. Ridiculed
2. Violently opposed
3. Accepted as self evident
It is just the way it is. Just think of flat screen TV’s. computers, CDs
Everything new introduced follow this path.
In any case deeply appreciate your kind and thoughtful, insightful thoughts and tone.
Especially that you took some of your valuable time to share what you deeply felt would be useful to me. And is.
Deeply appreciative of your sacrifice for me, an indication there is a True Leader in the house!!
Scott Powell on March 28, 2014 at 4:35 pm said:
Absolutely Shane!!!!! I agree!!!! We are all leading ourselves, some better than others….right?? Hehe
Kinda was talking about that above when talking about a person having their own house in order, before looking to have any followers.
Just great though the more clearly defined Leadership them maybe more accurately instead of more loosely.
I mean a duckling IS NOT A DUCK….YET.
So referring loosely allows ducklings to think Dan is sharing his awesome wisdom with them. One day maybe but not yet!
For me a very very strong indicator is defining clearly knowing words distinguish meanings. So clear precise language matters and is a sign for me of TRUE Leadership.
I mean saying I am going down to the store is something different than if I say I am going up to the store.
Words are here for a reason, to communicate. If one does not choose their words carefully to express exactly what they mean????
Not Leadership in my opinion
Great thing is though the discussion, conversation could cause some to think and have an a-ha moments.
Others will just scratch their heads!!!
Thanks Shane
Shane Simpson on March 28, 2014 at 3:00 pm said:
Hey Scott, I have a friend that told me he was not a leader. I said, “You get out of bed every morning, you decide what you are going to do that day, don’t you?” Leading yourself maybe the toughest lead of all. Even a leader of one is a leader in my book. Just my 1 and half cents worth….. -Shane
Dan, great stuff! Of the people I coach, there are a number that fall in this category. When I ask them “What might you stop doing that would help you be more effective?” they say, learning to say ‘no’, I just don’t know how. The learning how is by doing. We pick those areas that are easier (less conflict, people who aren’t as important to them, etc.) and then they just say no. Invariably, they learn it isn’t all that bad, and they learn that at the core is a statement of how they are for themselves. Saying ‘no’ helps them to retain energy and be more effective in what they’ve chosen to say ‘yes’ to. Knowing/feeling that they are caring for themselves in a better way is often great motivation to expand the ‘no’s’
Be well…Jim
Whoops…should have been “care for themselves” not “are for themselves” – although on some level it still works. 🙂
Thanks Jim. Try no in small bite-size pieces.
“Learning how is by doing.” –>> Gold!
leighmturner on March 28, 2014 at 9:08 am said:
I fully agree with the benefits of saying no and I’m still learning to do this! I’m definitely reblogging your post!
Dan Rockwell on March 28, 2014 at 10:16 am said:
Thanks Leigh. I’m still learning too. It’s great to share the leadership journey with you.
Michael Lapointe on March 28, 2014 at 9:14 am said:
They call this the “Scotty Factor” in Star Trek … very good advice … he was a very knowledgeable fictional character.
Thanks Michael. Beam me up, Scotty.
Sam on March 28, 2014 at 9:20 am said:
Ever had a boss without a filter? I have and it was difficult but ultimately rewarding to respectfully decline requests for activities that had no value or, better still, helping to recast these to be more value adding. Risky, but rewarding. What I learned from these leaders was the need for filters. So, as leaders I think we need to develop/apply/hone appropriate filters to protect us and our staff from non-value adding activities, thus hopefully limiting the need for them to say “no”. Ultimately, though I agree that saying no is a skill that we all need at some point. Great post Dan!
Dan Rockwell on March 28, 2014 at 12:25 pm said:
Thanks Sam. Love the idea of creating an environment where people don’t have to say no to us. I wonder what the downside of this is?
John Banks on March 28, 2014 at 9:44 am said:
I understand your point, but I don’t entirely agree. As a business leader part of your responsibility is to create and exploit opportunities. I’d much rather be in a position of having to figure out how to get all the work done, than trying to figure out how to make the phone ring.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you need to lay down and capitulate to those trying to take advantage, or to those who demand, yet don’t want to pay. I say no to projects/work that bore me or I have no interest in, which frees me to perform the projects I enjoy.
Thanks John. I’m glad you don’t entirely agree. I seldom entirely agree with myself.
daunaeasley on March 28, 2014 at 9:45 am said:
Here’s what I think. There are “yes” people and “no” people. I’m a “yes” person. “Yes” is my default position. Every time it is humanly possible I say yes. Where does that leave me? Overcommitted and sometimes resentful. Sometimes not accomplishing my own goals because I’m working on fulfilling the goals of others.
I need all the saying-no-kindly advice I can get. Thanks for the help.
Thanks Dauna. Maybe all the yes and no people need to get together and learn from each other?
PS … I’m a yes person, too.
yourmindinbloom on March 28, 2014 at 9:57 am said:
Hello! Good morning from CT! I appreciate this column today. Great advice and sometimes it is good to have an almost daily reminder of this.
Thanks Your…. Basically, that’s the goal, a daily leadership reminder to keep growing.
Alf Goodall on March 28, 2014 at 9:58 am said:
Learning to say “no” to the wrong things is like learning to say “yes” to the right things. I don’t think of myself as saying “no”, even though I say it a lot. I’m really saying yes to what is critical to us.
And as much as I love the tips, I have to say that saying “I’d love to, but I can’t” sounds like weasel words to me. I think it’s important for leaders to be direct and transparent. Don’t couch your words and don’t hide behind them. If you mean no, say no. If you can’t sign up for saying no, you’re not ready to lead.
Thanks Alf. Love your yes approach to saying no. Very helpful.
I’m with you, transparency is better than weaseling. For some of us, including me, I love saying yes, so I can make a statement like, “I’d love to…” with integrity.
Brian E. Dick, MBA, MA, LPC on March 28, 2014 at 10:10 am said:
Often, a struggle for me in saying “no” is the unspoken or perhaps explicit organizational expectations that saying no “is not what we do…”. There is almost a another layer to the topic of saying no, that needs to be examined and addressed as we are developing the skill noted by Dan in the article. I’m still working on this skill, and haven’t made it there yet!
Thanks Brian. Great observation. When bosses and higher-ups expect everyone to say yes it’s pretty darn hard to say no. It’s a culture thing. Frankly, permission to say no elevates the status of the people saying it. I wonder if a culture of disempowerment is the one that always expects yes.
pmaddams on March 28, 2014 at 10:47 am said:
I think learning to say no can first be accomplished by saying, :”Let me think about it.” For those (like I used to be) who always say “yes”, it is hard to switch to “no.” However, “let me think about it” leaves open either the yes or no response. It is harder to change a “yes” to a “no” than a “no” to a “yes.” “Let me think about it” does two things – it gives me more time to really look at my priorities and make a truly informed decision and it lets the other person know that I care enough to take this seriously and make a true commitment. Just be sure to get back to the person in a timely fashion.
Thanks pm… I can see where this really helps people with the need to please. Just remember that “let me think about it” means it’s one more thing still on the plate.
Love the idea that it’s easier to reverse a no than a yes. “I’ve reconsidered and I can say yes” is so much easier than “I”ve reconsidered and I have to say no.”
Pete Smith on March 28, 2014 at 11:06 am said:
Saying “No” now does not mean it will be no forever. Circumstances change. Vision is fine tuned. What is not appropriate today might be later. “Makes room for priorities.” So true. Does this request fit what God has called me to do now?
Stephen on March 28, 2014 at 11:09 am said:
“correct the person to protect the program”…Dan your insights support so many core principles of creating a healthy, honest relationship! Keep it coming. So many “thought leaders” focus on why and what…your insights give us HOW.
Jeff Putnam, CPP on March 28, 2014 at 11:48 am said:
Outstanding advise Dan! Too often we spend too much time wanting to please others and fail to recognize (at least early on) that “our cup runneth over” and we are destin to mediocracy!
blank on March 28, 2014 at 11:55 am said:
Very good article. However, left out is the “maybe.” As difficult as it may be at the appropriate time for the leader to say “no” it is “maybe” that can create organizational harm. When “maybe” is used there is no apparent direction and hope prevails for a future “yes.” Unfortunately, moving on from “maybe” is difficult and ultimately becomes a liability for future organizational growth and focus. I have said tweeted it before “managers say maybe, leaders say no.”
billgncs on March 28, 2014 at 11:55 am said:
I’ve always been a “yes but” guy. Yes, we can do that, but it will stop all work on project X – is that what you want? Yes, we can do that, but it won’t solve the problem because….
Helps others understand priorities and makes them part of the resolution.
Rajiv on March 28, 2014 at 12:45 pm said:
Agree, nothing to add!
Ajay Kumar Gupta on March 28, 2014 at 1:53 pm said:
Dear Dan,
Yes, I agree that too many yeses deviates and makes us weak. It is important for anyone to know when to say “Yes” and when to say “no”. And in fact is not easy to learn such skill. I also feel that too many yeses make us fearful. Many times this fear can come out of respect. When we respect someone, we are not tuned to say No in general. So, learning to say No is important. Saying yes frequently to everyone can also make us to compromise. It means we feel obliged when we say yes to someone.
There is also one aspect to saying yes. When we do not want to make others unhappy and expect something in future or at present, we tend to avoid saying no to the person. So, How can leaders learn to say no can be based on our perception towards respect, expectation and belief. Respecting is good but too much respect can deviate us. Similarly when we expect much and have less belief in our potential, then we are in more compromising state.
P. Trivedi on March 28, 2014 at 10:25 pm said:
Very Good Article. In Today corporate world, saying No is like a offence. While people talk about realities of situations about targets to achieve, supervisors ask them to consider it as a fifth step, and prepare an action plan as a first step for expected targets. No room for saying “No”. Its an art how to say No in such situations.
tanveer2025 on March 29, 2014 at 5:31 am said:
well in my opinion, saying yes will definitely improve you but “no” maintains your legacy individualism
yes2wes on March 29, 2014 at 11:20 am said:
Saying no is more of a leader than saying yes. Constantly saying yes makes you a Yes Man.
sales training with John Lockyear on March 29, 2014 at 3:07 pm said:
Great blog my friend and a hard hitting true in there!
Maleah Jacobs (@maleahjacobs) on March 29, 2014 at 3:34 pm said:
Thank you. Again. Great, and timely, post.
Jim Leemann on March 29, 2014 at 5:36 pm said:
Next week a new M&O contractor will be taking over the government project I’m involved with at the moment. The previous M&O contractor had the contract for over 20 years and had achieved greater than 90+% award fee every quarter, but lost the contract based on a proposed “Management Approach.” Even though there are a plethora of words devoted to the reason for losing the contract from the government, GAO and in the end a judge, I believe, in many respects, the loss can be attributed to a CEO and his executive staff failing to use or even have the word “No” in their vocabulary.
Drawing upon David McClelland’s Motivation Model of Achievement, Affiliation and Power, the above CEO and a number of his executives are highly motivated by Affiliation, which has led to the obsessive use of the word “Yes” in responding to everything the client requested.
Additionally, this highly Affiliation motivated CEO and his executive staff have allowed a climate of holding no one accountable for their behavior to metastasize throughout the organization, unless, of course, you were someone the CEO or his Executive staff did not like, then you would be fired for misbehaving.
By wanting to be liked by those the CEO and his executive staff interact with, the default response to anything the client asked was “Of course we can do that for you.” By ignoring bad behavior, this same CEO and his executive staff believed everyone worshiped them, when, in fact, many loath the bad behavior of their colleagues, “Why do they get away with not following the rules?” and wasted productive time complaining about the CEO’s and executive staff’s behaviors.
Indeed, the word “Yes” is a most often and appropriately used response in client interactions, but a prudent use of the word “No” needs to be part of the dialog also, if for no other reason than to control the unintended consequences of always saying “Yes” to the client and employees in the company.
umbrellabagger on March 29, 2014 at 5:58 pm said:
I struggle with saying No all the time. But, like you say, you have to look at it as a measure that prevents becoming over-committed, over-worked, and over-stressed.
kentjulian on March 30, 2014 at 3:23 pm said:
Just say it. Have a basic filter that helps you know what to say “YES” to and if you run the request through the filter and it doesn’t make the cut, just say no. Be polite. Even explain your filtering process. But bottom line, just say no. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be.
David Spell on March 31, 2014 at 11:21 am said:
cher on June 2, 2015 at 7:35 am said:
My friend is very domineering and always expects me to say yes . Which I find myself doing . For me to say yes is for my friend to always gets what she wants , which I have now realised. I want to say no to her doing and saying things for her benefit . I have always had trouble saying no and my friend and she knows this and I feel as though I’m just her friend for when she wants money or something for herself .Thankyou for reading .
cher on June 4, 2015 at 11:13 am said:
I have found reading the way that always saying yes all the time , does cause anxiety and frustration and I’ve just thought that all I’m doing with my kindness that I’m making myself upset and down and making making them happy .
Its not going to be easy but if people are my true friends then they will be OK if they are not true friends , I will soon know who’s a real friend or not .
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Biological Trace Element Research
October 1994 , Volume 46, Issue 1–2, pp 91–102 | Cite as
The uptake of Na-selenite in rat brain
Localization of new glutathione peroxidases in the rat brain
Kaixun Huang
Erling Lauridsen
Jørgen Clausen
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) occur in phospholipids of synapses of central nervous system (CNS). PUFAs may thus determine the fluidity of synaptosomal membranes and regulate neuronal transmission. It was therefore tempting to suggest an oxidative system in CNS protecting the membrane function, e.g., glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). In order to trace GSH-Px Wistar rats were loaded with 4800 kBq of75Se sodium selenite. By means of gradient ultracentrifugation, particulate fractions of CNS were isolated and radioactivity as well as selenium dependent GSH-Px were estimated.
The following data were obtained:
All fractions (myelin, synaptic vesicles, synaptosomes, mitochondria, and microsomes) contained75Se.
After acetone precipitation of GSH-Px activity, fractionation on Sephadex G-150 revealed in all particulate fractions at least two peaks of radioactivity with GSH-Px activity.
The two GSH-Px peaks from the Sephadex filtration were freeze dried and applied on a hydrophobic T-gel column and eluted with decreasing molarity of ammonium sulfate from 1.5 to 0.05M. The first Sephadex peak with GSH-Px activity from myelin and the second peak with GSH-Px activity from synaptic vesicles could now be resolved into two different fractions of radioactivity on the T-gel. The remaining Sephadex G-150 peaks could only be resolved into one peak of radioactivity.
SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the T-gel peaks from all fractions showed a protein band with a mobility identical with that of human erythrocyte GSH-Px. The T-gel elution of myelin, synaptic vesicles and mitochondria gave rise to nearly pure CNS GSH-Px activity.
The data presented support the idea that CNS fractions have membrane bound GSH-Px activity that may function as protecting enzymes towards oxidative stress in the brain.
Central nervous system selenium rat brain
GSH-Px
glutathione peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.9)
polyunsaturated fatty acids
75Se
radioactive sodium selenite
GSH
reduced glutathione
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© Humana Press Inc. 1994
1.Department of ChemistryHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhanP. R. China
2.The Institute for Life Sciences and ChemistryUniversity of RoskildeDenmark
Huang, K., Lauridsen, E. & Clausen, J. Biol Trace Elem Res (1994) 46: 91. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02790070
Received 13 December 1993
Accepted 21 January 1994
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02790070
Publisher Name Humana Press
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10 Freaking Awesome Uses for a Remote Control
Tom McKenzie December 14, 2012 0
Modern Radio Control systems offer nearly unlimited range, zero interference, and first person vision piloting cameras, which allows you to control machines miles away, out of sight, with a remote control. All for less than $500.
With the limitless nature of remote control technology, it is amazing that smugglers, law enforcement, the military, and even pranksters are not exploiting this potential superpower to a greater degree.
Below are some shocking and incredible potential uses for Radio Control – for the good, and for the not-so-good. It’s amazing we don’t see more of this!
International Drug Dealing
For $400, a silent electric aircraft model can be purchased, with six foot wingspan and a flying range of up to 3 miles. These are capable of reaching the clouds in less than 60 seconds, and can carry payloads of up to a half a pound. Flight times of up to 20 minutes per battery can be expected, and for another $200, first person video equipment allows the plane to be expertly flown far out of sight and landed in a small open space. With minimal effort, such machines could be sent back and forth across international borders to deliver sizable amounts of drugs in secret, making easy busts – as shown in Bad Boys II – much more challenging.
Roadside Bomb Sweeper
Tragic reports have frequently streamed in with news of U.S. or Coalition soldiers, or U.N. Peacekeepers, killed by roadside bombs. Typically, the bomb will be detonated when a car runs over it. Rather than risk human lives, an old beater car could be set up with a $200 servo, $50 receiver and 12 volt battery pack for remote control, as seen in MythBusters. One of the passengers in the convoy could drive this vehicle video game style, which would take out any bombs or landmines on the road – sparing all lives.
Police Air Intelligence
Forget $500-an-hour helicopter surveys for cannabis grow-ops (which may soon be legalized anyway). With a $200 dollar remote-controlled Electric Motor Glider, painted to blend in with the sky, an officer could fly the aircraft anywhere in a 2-3 mile radius, far out of sight, while inspecting the Earth below through inexpensive First Person View Technology.
The machine could stay up for over 2 hours, circling at heights of up to 5,000 feet, or down to 100 feet for quick passes. All this, while posing as a model plane. A zoom camera and mounted GPS relay could then quickly and inexpensively direct the officers to the local weed field.
SWAT Mini-Kamikaze
With a reasonable ability to aim, $600 and a pound of explosives, SWAT team experts could direct a small radio-controlled electric jet fighter purchased from a model aviation store – capable of reaching 150 mph, and with a 2 mile range – directly into a hostile situation. The impact of such a machine could create a massive, but controlled explosion to create shock and disrupt a sensitive situation. This momentary mini-air strike would allow snipers to take advantage of the situation to secure the release of hostages. Such machines could circle for over 5 minutes before homing into their target.
Sea Monster Hoax
Forget remote-controlled boats: enter the RC Submarine, and with it, a whole new host of hoax super-potential. Over the past century, photographs and eyewitness accounts have perpetuated legends of marine monsters across the world. With a $300 submarine, the bare bones of a sea monster can be secured. By adding a waterproof, realistic plesiosaur or “Nessie” head, one can drive and maneuver a sea monster with a highly biological appearance into view before sinking it below the waves. Not only can monster sightings be claimed, but multiple witnesses and film documentation would create an airtight and watertight sea monster event.
Movie Making
Instead of renting expensive life-sized aircraft for aerial scenes, or using anime aircraft for outrageous fly-bys in action flicks, expertly flown models costing less than $700 dollars could serve as incomparable “props”. The models can gather steady aerial images, scream underneath bridges, zoom down freeways and crash into trains for action scenes of which James Bond could only dream. Models can barrel roll through the most narrow of gorges, with footage stabilized by integrated gyroscope technology. All this made possible through incredible advancements in radio, electric power and go-pro camera technology.
Remotely Deployed Visitor
What would be the ultimate prank? How about sending a remotely equipped flying machine which could appear on a friend’s property, perform impossible maneuvers without a visible pilot, and drop an official looking government-style message before finally disappearing. That, I believe, would be hard to top.
For less than $300, a flying machine of this nature could be set up. Being controlled from over 1 mile away, onlookers would be completely baffled at its daring precision.
RC Water Auger
In dangerous situations involving boat-borne drug smugglers, there is the pressing challenge of how to intervene and stop the
vehicle without having to kill or be killed by the occupants. With a radio-controlled submarine carrying a remote camera or guidance flag, coupled with an auger device, small boats carrying armed fugitives could be deftly punctured and sunk – without the use of firearms. Basic hobby submarines can be purchased for around $400, and a custom police machine with a range of 2 or more miles, onboard cameras and penetrating charge warhead could likely be built for around $4-6 thousand (even less if mass produced).
Remote Police Vehicle
Every Police Force Should Have One! RC electric land vehicles can be purchased and custom modified for around $300. They are capable of precise maneuvering, can travel over all kinds of obstacles, and can reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. Control distance may be up to 300 meters, and remote cameras can be mounted for a reasonable price. Rather than engaging in high-risk confrontations with potentially lethal suspects, police could send the scout vehicle ahead to investigate, and even order the suspect to surrender. For all the suspect knows, the device could house a bomb – so they may be likely to comply.
Bomb Disposal
When a bomb is discovered by law enforcement, disarmament experts or even robots move in to try and defuse the active threat. This creates a very real risk to response crews. However, a radio controlled combination vehicle – featuring a $500-$1000 dollar high-performance electric RC Helicopter with grasper hook – could lift the bomb with a minimum of vibration. It could be operated from up to 3/4 of a mile away with a remote camera. The bomb could then be transported by the machine to a remote, pre-evacuated location such as a gravel pit, for safer disposal by remote blasting or robotic disarmament.
10 Unintended Side Effects Of Newly Emerging Technologies
Top 10 Scientific Achievements We Are Waiting For
10 Robots That Are Learning Scary New Skills
Top 10 Most Popular Firearms
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Token2.com corporate blog
Token2 January 22
Programmable TOTP tokens in a key fob form-factor
stork_teadfort 22.01.2019 at 12:26
What kind of options is availible to buy it in Russian Federation? Do you have any distributors, resellers, etc there?
Token2 22.01.2019 at 12:30
Hello, thanks for your interest.
No partners in Russia yet, but we can ship directly via Swiss Post or Express delivery (Fedex/UPS/DHL). So far clients in Russia had no issues with smaller parcels. However, with larger orders, customs causes headaches a lot.
amarao 22.01.2019 at 13:10
How do you prove that you are 'tamper evident'? May be some of your coders has decided to add a small undocumented feature to read seed value via a conveniently supported NFC protocol «Send 42 to dump all data».
Let's skip all tales of excellence and trust and start talking about open source.
'Tamper evident' means that it is not possible to discreetly open the case and access the chip, and has nothing to do with «secret NFC commands» (wiki- 'Tamper evident': «designed to reveal any interference with the contents»)
NFC can only be accessed from a relatively small distance (2-3 cm max), so if users worrying about «secret NFC commands» should keep their devices with them all the time.
start talking about open source.
what would open source change in this case? having the code open does not mean nobody can add a feature to read the seed, it is indeed the opposite, it will increase such risks.
The phrase 'Tamper evident' means that it can be used as a proof. «This site was accessed only by using THIS token». If someone can get out a seed value by hacking users NFS on their laptop, I see no point of token existence.
When I said 'open source' I literally mean 'open' 'source'. Not a libre licence. The source code of the product which is publicly available for audit, the reproducible build process and a verifiable binary content of the device ROM. It may come with any licence, but it should be open to public for inspection.
Openness is the single source of the trust in the modern computing.
EminH 22.01.2019 at 15:13
Apologies, but Token2 uses (and always used) «tamper-evident» in the context of «physical intervention evidence» (same as all other manufactures use this word).
the reproducible build process and a verifiable binary content of the device ROM
I still do not get how this can protect from the «undocumented feature» risk you desribed in your previous comment. One can open-source everything, but how are you planning to verify that the final product you buy does not have such «undocumented features?»
How can you speak about 'physical intervention' if device is configurable via EM radiation? Any EM-capable device nearby may be used to completely obliterate any evidence in the device, install fake evidence or steal data to allow access while placing responsibility on the device owner (and saying that this is 'evidence').
Just imagine a POS terminal which allows you to use unprotected wireless shell to device to perform any operations (including firmware change). Do you think this device need to bother with any seals or 'tamper proofs'?
As soon as you have remote access capabilities you need to proof they can't be used to tamper device. If you don't any physical proofs is useless, as device acts as a proxy for remote attack.
Sorry, miss the question for validation.
As I said, reproducible builds solve the issue. We have a source code, which translates into the same binary code on each compilation (build). User can compile it by oneself to get the same binary. There is a way to get a copy of the binary firmware from the device to check if it's differ or not.
More details are here: wiki.debian.org/ReproducibleBuilds
Physical intervention — beyond the integrity of the original device. Literally, «no one else can put their chip inside our device without you (user) noticing it». That is the industry standard word we use.
Such devices are always a balance of security and user comfort. Let us take an example of using a TOTP protection with Gmail:
1) you can use an open source app on a smartphone (with Wifi/cellular connectivity) with all the risks of remote attacks etc. you name it
2) you can transfer the seed to C300 device via NFC and NFC is only accessible from within a short distance — so a Chineze* hacker would not have access to it as opposed to the case #1 — a potential attacker should sit in the same room
Regarding open source — all clear with open source software, but this does not work the same way with hardware. There are DIY open source OATH TOTP tokens, but if you want a compact and relatively cheap device with good battery life, such devices are inevitable to be produced at factories.
So, even if we provide reproducible builds (whatever it should be called in case of hardware) end users are not going to build the end products themselves. No doubt that factory produced devices have their own advantages, who would guarantee that the mass-production units will be exactly the same? I personally cannot imagine how to ensure the binary image you get from the device somehow (i.e. a usb port etc.) is really what is running on the device (i.e. there could be 2 firmware running in parallel) without opening the device itself
( * — Chineze — a fictional country)
You are insisting that NFC works only on short distances. Let's say the a phone with malicious app is in the same pocket as the token. Is this counts as a 'short' distance?
Do we really benefit from the physical security if adversary has a remove control over the device via a compromised third party appliance/application? The key advantage for any hardware token is that it's impossible to tamper the hardware with a software, and you proudly report that you allow that.
phone with malicious app is in the same pocket as the token
the risk is there in this case, to mitigate we propose to use NFC sleeves.
key advantage for any hardware token is that it's impossible to tamper the hardware with a software
fully agree, but this question should not be addressed to us. Most of the systems do not allow importing the seeds, they generate randomly and show as a QR code. Our product is only a «workaround» to avoid having to use a mobile device (i.e. a smarphone) for TOTP.
P.S. Btw, we sell classic tokens as well.
Meklon 22.01.2019 at 16:03
I'm sorry but I think I didn't understood the main idea of NFC usage in this case. What kind of date is transfered via NFC?
The data transferred is the shared secret key (seed) used for TOTP generation (see tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6238#page-4 R5). This is needed for services not allowing to enter a custom seed, thus the only solution is to use a TOTP mobile app (like Google Authenticator).
NFC programmable TOTP tokens are «drop-in» replacements of the Google Authenticator-type applications
Thanks) What about time sync? As far as I can see we should do this via NFC? Is there a Linux version of your app?
No time sync with this model. We have unrestricted* time sync feature with miniOTP-2 and are planning restricted** time sync with the next generation (C301 and miniOTP-3).
Linux version not available (yet). Currently only Android and Windows (10 64x) apps are planned to be released.
* the time can be set keeping the current seed
** setting the time will automatically clear the seed for security purposes (to avoid the risk of a replay attack)
jaggu420 23.01.2019 at 10:48
best article with nice information thank you
AWS Training in Hyderabad
Workday Training in Hyderabad Ameerpet
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‘Gay sex is not a crime,’ says Supreme Court in historic judgment
TNN | Updated: Sep 6, 2018, 17:48 IST
The Delhi HC in 2009 decriminalised sex between consenting adults of the same gender
This 2009 judgement was overturned in 2013 by the SC which then also dismissed a review plea
In 2017, the SC said privacy is a fundamental right, which opened the door for fresh pleas to decriminalise gay sex
NEW DELHI: In a historic judgment, the
) on Thursday ruled that consensual
adult gay sex is not a crime saying
sexual orientation is natural and people have no control over it.
The judgment, by a Constitution bench of the country's top court, has defanged the British-era
of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deemed that
is a punishable offence. Now, it is no longer an offence under Section 377 to engage in consensual gay sex in private.
SC decriminalises Section 377: A timeline of the case
Thursday's judgment heralds a new dawn for personal liberty and is a major victory for the
(lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community that has been fighting hard and persistently to legalise gay sex. "The law must be interpreted as per the requirement of changing times," said the SC in its judgement.
"Consensual sex between adults in a private space, which is not harmful to women or children, cannot be denied as it is a matter of individual choice. Section 377 results in discrimination and is violative of constitutional principles," said the SC.
The five-judge Constitution bench - comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra - was unanimous in its decision.
"Section 377 is irrational, arbitrary and incomprehensible as it fetters the right to equality for LGBT community...LGBT community possesses same equality as other citizens," said CJI Dipak Misra.
What society thinks, the judges said, has no say when it comes to people's freedoms.
"Social morality cannot violate the rights of even one single individual," said CJI Misra and Justice Khanwilkar.
Society owes an apology to the LGBTQ community, said Justice Malhotra.
"Members of LGBT community members and their family members are owed an apology from society for being denied equal rights over the years," said Justice Malhotra.
Watch: Gay sex is no longer a crime in India; what is Section 377?
The SC ruled in August 2017 that every individual has a fundamental right to privacy, which is a part of the right to life, and sex is private. The judges on Thursday referred to that as well.
"The r
ight to privacy as part of right to life applies fully to the LGBT community," said CJI Misra.
"We have finally got justice. We are finally 'azaad in azaad Hind'," said Ashok Row Kavi, LGBT rights activist and founder of Humsafar Trust after the apex court's judgement.
Justice Chandrachud said Section 377 had thus far destroyed gay peoples' identity.
"Punishment under Section 377 made the LGBT a closeted community, destroyed the identity of members and reached their dignity, all part of right to life. The state has no business to get into controlling the private lives of LGBT community members or for that matter that if any citizen," he said.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who's long been a supporter of gay rights, said his stand is now vindicated.
A long, hard fight
There were indications earlier that the SC favoured legalising gay sex. All through the hearing of the plea, the apex court had been dropping broad hints that indicated relief from the stringent Section 377. Still, it was the same court that in 2017 overturned a Delhi high court that decriminalised gay sex, so it was by no means a given which way the court would go Thursday.
The top court's verdict was previously set to be delivered on July 17, but on that day, it decided to reserve its verdict. But even as it did that, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra brushed aside as "far-fetched" arguments from opponents of decriminalising Section 377. These opponents said making gay sex legal could lead to incest, group sex and sodomy also being made legal.
Prior to reserving the verdict, the bench had, in what was yet another indication of which way it could go, also disapproved of arguments that a majority of the population in India is against legalising gay sex.
"We decide questions of law on the basis of the Constitution, constitutional principles and its ethos and not based on a referendum," said the SC's Constitution bench at the time.
The SC was firm that no community, however small it may be by comparison to the majority, could be deprived of its sexual rights and expression of sexual orientation. While the top court acknowledged that sex as per the order of nature was seen as intercourse between a man and a woman for the purpose of procreation, the fact that it had already recognised a third gender needs to be kept in mind.
"It could have come from the Bible or any other religious text. But the SC has already recognised unique sexual orientation when it created 'third gender' apart from 'male' and 'female' conventionally used till date," it had said.
The five-judge bench was also disinclined to entertain persistent requests from various organisations to leave the decision on decriminalising Section 377 to Parliament given the wide ramification of legalisation of gay sex on matrimonial and civil laws.
"The moment there is a finding that a provision violates the fundamental right of citizens, this court has power to strike it down irrespective of the majoritarian government's power to repeal, amend or enact law. It is for us to strike it down the moment something violates fundamental rights," said back in July.
Two years ago, a petition was filed by dancer N S Johar, journalist Sunil Mehra, chef Ritu Dalmia, hotelier Aman Nath and business executive Ayesha Kapur who said that Section 377 violated their right to privacy and personal liberty.
But even while their petitions were pending, a nine-judge bench of the SC ruled in August 2017 that every individual has a fundamental right to privacy, which is a part of the right to life. That opened the door for fresh pleas to decriminalise gay sex, the argument being that it as a private act.
The issue of Section 377 was first raised by an NGO, Naaz Foundation, which in 2001 approached the Delhi high court that then decriminalised sex between consenting adults of the same gender by holding the penal provision "illegal".
This 2009 judgment of the high court was overturned in 2013 by the SC which restored the criminality of consensual gay sex.
That's not the case any more.
Download the Times of India News App for Latest India News
the judgement to be weicombed to this extend ie legalising the sexuals activities of the third genderasthey wereput to lotof tharresment so normal maieand femalecan not take advantage of this decision and induige in unnaturaiacts they will be punished
Swaminathan Sundaram
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Anna Lo, UK's first Chinese politician under threat from Northern Ireland racists
Having chased out 100 Romanians from Belfast, racist loyalists in Northern Ireland have set their sights on Anna Lo, the United Kingdom's first Chinese-born politician elected to national Parliament, and the sole ethnic minority member of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
According to a report in the Belfast Telegraph, police have warned her that she is under threat of attack.
Far right groups have also threatened Polish and Islamic centres in Belfast. Brain-bogglingly, some of these charmers are said to fly the flag of Israel beside their own. Go figure!
It's hard to understand why there's been a revival of old hatreds with foreigners now added to Catholics as fuel for bigots. How would they like it if decent hard-working Protestants who work abroad were given the same treatment? Actually, come to think of it, they probably wouldn't even care.
Anna Lo is incredibly brave and I hope she gets maximum support from everyone who wants peace in that beleaguered nation.
Hat tip Splinty
Labels: Anna Lo, northern ireland, politics, racism
Crosstown Lightnin' debut gig: Charles Shaar Murray plays blues
The Cowboy, the Punk and the Queens of Funk
For all you NME babies and blues fans out there, Charles Shaar Murray's new band, Crosstown Lightnin', features the Cowboy, the Punk and the Queens of Funk: CSM on guitar and vocals, Buffalo Bill Smith on harmonica, the sublime Max Doray on bass and JoJo Ruocco bashing the hell out of her drumkit.
Following a 30 minute warm-up at Mitchum festival the other week, the band played two 45-minute sets at the Green Dragon in Croydon for their very first gig on Thursday 18th June 2009 and delighted all the old blues fans as well as assembled bright young things.
Here they are with their opening number, Freddy King's classic instrumental Hideaway.
More videos to follow.
Labels: blues, buffalo bill smith, Charles Shaar Murray, Crosstown Lightnin', Green Dragon, guitar, JoJo Ruocco, Max Doray, music
Filipino prisoners do Thriller: Michael Jackson RIP
Oh, no! It's Michael Jackson looking brown bread ...!
In memory of the King of Pop, here are 1,500 inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Phillipines performing Thriller with an interesting leading lady. It's a pleasure to see these prisoners inspired by Jacko's funky groove, or a sad indictment of the way showbiz functions to keep us all in line under capitalism, depending on mood, politics and where I am in my monthly cycle.
Worth listening again if only to hear Vincent Price uttering the immortal lines, "The foulest stench is in the air, The funk of forty thousand years ..." and so on.
By the way, it's looking like Michael was taking Demerol, an elephantine pain-killer that was a favourite of William Burroughs due to its similarity to heroin.
UPDATE: Jacko's doctor, Dr Tohme Tohme [edit: we now know the doctor was Conrad Murray], who pumped him full of Demerol less than an hour before he passed out, has done a runner. The Daily Mail reports: One website quoted a hospital source as saying: 'Shortly after taking the Demerol, he started to experience slow, shallow breathing.
'His breathing gradually got slower and slower until it stopped. His staff started mouth-to-mouth and an ambulance was called. He never regained consciousness.'
Labels: Filipino prisoners, Michael Jackson, Phillipines, Thriller
Uncomfirmed reports say that Michael Jackson suffered a cardiac arrest today, wasn't breathing when paramedics arrived at his Bel Air mansion and attempts to resuscitate him with CPR may have failed.
Initial suspicions that it was another sickie in order to get out of his imminent live tour have proved wrong and Peter Pan may be dead at 50.
UPDATE: Michael Jackson pronounced dead at 3pm.
Also dead today are Farrah Fawcett, 62, and former NME journo Steve "Swells" Wells at 49.
Labels: Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Steve Wells
Daniel Dae Kim and David Yip
Hah! Here's one show you can't accuse of yellowface. Last night's Rodgers & Hammerstein 1951 musical The King & I, revived at the Royal Albert Hall, had so many Asian actors they must have emptied out every Chinatown in Britain. About thirteen kids and 20 or so women swamped the handful of white actors on the stage in something out of Margaret Thatcher's worst nightmare. How I laughed.
The latest King in a list that includes Yul Brynner, Jason Scott Lee and Chow Yun Fat, Daniel Dae Kim cuts a handsome dash as the barefoot monarch of 19th century Siam who'll do anything to avoid a charge of "barbarian", even importing an English governess, Anna Leonowens, played by Maria Friedman, who will tutor his (many) children and civilise the brute. (Hmm, do I really need to elucidate?)
As a Buffy and Angel fan I was keen to see DDK, who will always be evil lawyer Gavin Park of Wolfram & Hart to me. I'm pleased to see he's also notched up an impressive TV CV with Lost, CSI, Charmed, 24, The Shield, NYPD Blue, ER, Seinfeld (??? I don't remember him in that), Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise (oh well, there had to be at least one turkey) prominent.
Charismatic and handsome DDK may be, but a singing voice isn't his strong suit. Mind you, neither was Brynner's and the role cemented his career. Still, the other actors were phenomenal in this department. The two young lovers, Yanle Zhong as the rebellious Princess Tuptim (a gift to the King from Burma), and Ethen Le Phong, as her secret lover, Lun Tha, had powerful lungs and a sensitive delivery typical of the glory days of the stage musical. Their duet, We Kiss In A Shadow, had me quite teary and masking my snuffles as my current bronchitis.
My friend, David Yip (The Chinese Detective) as the King's Minister, didn't have to sing or dance but marched around as the power behind the throne, sounding most urbane and looking very professorial in his spectacles. I am so glad he didn't have to do "sinister" in this role.
The coup de theatre of the evening was the hilarious and spectacular show-within-a-show, The Small House of Uncle Thomas, staged by Princess Tuptim as a pointed indictment of the King and his insistence on mastery over the lives of his slaves despite his ambitions to be a "civilised" man and appease the British who are considering replacing him with their own puppet ruler.
The dancing, singing and choreography were a joy. Even my Lovely Companion, a rock 'n' roll/blues/trashkulchur fiend who complained that this was the worst thing I'd done to him since making him sit through Ivan The Terrible, Parts 1 AND 2, conceded that this visually lavish section was a delightful entertainment. I especially liked Uncle Tom, Little Eva and Topsy prancing Thai-fashion in white face. Heh!
The orientalism of The King & I is so transparent that I hope we know by now what we're looking at. The notion that the British project was to bring civilisation, a superior culture and democracy to "primitive" societies has been so thoroughly debunked, not least by the debacle of Iraq, that I hope we can all laugh at the show's assumptions. Cruelty, we now know, is not the unique attribute of that psychological landscape we know as the "Orient". British and US forces are as adept at this as was any eastern despot in history.
Suspend your critical faculties rather than bury them, and you will have a lovely evening. Personally, I found it to be a lot more honest that the execrable More Light, a modern regurgitation of orientalist stereotypes with a huge dollop of pretension and dumbed-down feminist politics without the excuse that it was written more than half a century ago. The King & I is a breath of fresh air by comparison.
Runs until Sunday 28th June 2009
Daniel Dae Kim, Maria Friedman, Jee Hyun Lim, Ethan Le Phong, Yanle Zhong, David Yip, Michael Simkins, Stephen Scott, Mischa Goodman, Hugo Yamaguchi, Miwa Saeki, Aiko Kato, Karen Cadogan, Victoria Sahakian Rogers, Adam Wong, Azumi Ono
Directed by Jeremy Sams
Musical director Gareth Valentine
Choreography Susan Kikuchi
Set and costume design Robert Jones
Lighting design Andrew Bridge
Sound design Bobby Aitken
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Labels: Daniel Dae Kim, David Yip, King and I, Maria Friedman, musical, orientalism, Royal Albert Hall
Thanks to Louise who just found this item on Tony Blair and Iraq at the Observer.
Tony Blair urged Gordon Brown to hold the independent inquiry into the Iraq war in secret because he feared that he would be subjected to a "show trial" if it were opened to the public, the Observer can reveal. ...
... six weeks before the war, at a meeting in Washington, the two leaders were forced to contemplate alternative scenarios that might trigger a second UN resolution legitimising military action.
Bush told Blair that the US had drawn up a provocative plan "to fly U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, painted in UN colours, over Iraq with fighter cover". Bush said that if Saddam fired at the planes, he would put Iraq in breach of UN resolutions and legitimise military action.
None of which Blair wants made public. What was that about exporting our home brand of democracy to poor deprived nations?
This is positive as revelations go. Perhaps with a public "trial" Blair will have to spend some of his ill-gotten gains from interested parties — such as JP Morgan bank, Israel, Kuwait, and the US lecture circuit — on a legal defence and lots of PR.
The widespread revulsion over MPs expenses will be as nothing compared to the personal and institutionalised corruption exposed with an open inquiry. Which is why, of course, Blair, who has thus far gotten off light, must be in a bit of a sweat. I wonder what posterity will make of the state of his underpants right now.
Gary Younge on Labour's road to corruption. "If you keep resorting to the lesser of two evils, you just end up with evil."
Labels: inquiry, Iraq, Tony Blair, war
David Horovitch in Seven Jewish Children
You can watch a video extract of Seven Jewish Children, the Caryl Churchill play about Gaza, that's causing an uproar. It has now played in Hebrew in Tel Aviv, while the BBC has "declined to commission" a radio production of it.
Guardian's Michael Billington gives it four stars
Analysing the charge of anti-semitism.
Tony Kushner in The Nation on Churchill's play.
Read the full text of Seven Jewish Children at the Guardian.
Labels: Caryl Churchill, gaza, politics, Seven Jewish Children, theatre, war
Twenty years and the best part of a couple of weeks ago I was praising the Chinese government to the skies. There was a prolonged demonstration in Tiananmen Square which coincided with a visit from Gorbachev and the government was patiently sitting it out.
"You see," I enthused to friends with the four students shot dead at Kent State University in Ohio by President Nixon's tin soldiers sharp in my memory, "if this was America they'd have sent in the National Guard". Instead, they were allowing the dissenters to make their point peacefully. It was as if Chinese communism had come of age and the new generation of leaders, remembering their debt and responsibility to the masses, had their welfare uppermost in their minds.
My father had promised us that the People's Liberation Army would never be turned on its own. The protest would probably peter out with some arrests to save face but also some positive steps taken to ensure grievances were addressed.
Then June 4th happened and ripped a hole in the universe.
You can't look at the photo above and not be awestruck by the guy's bravery and the potent symbolism he created. Neither should we forget the courage of the General heading the first incursion into the Square who refused to open fire, especially as his own daughter and her student friends were there. Or the ordinary people who gave sanctuary and medical assistance to unarmed protesters being mown down by a fully tooled-up army.
Andy at Socialist Unity has written an excellent piece that deals with the complexities of the situation at the time. This was certainly no straight forward Manichean good versus evil struggle that the western media would have us believe. The protest was comprised of a range of dissenting forces, from those who demanded an accelerated rush to capitalism and the further erosion of workers' rights that we've seen taking place ever since, to demands with which I am much more sympathetic — for a end to corruption and an increase in genuine democracy.
There were concerns that:
... economic liberalism would clash with the economic and social interests of the working class, (and to a much lesser degree the peasantry) who benefitted from the full employment, price regulation and social benefits of the “iron rice bowl” ... adventurist price reforms that deregulated the cost of basic necessities, at the same time as getting workers to sign agreements that cut their wages, and factories were laying off workers. So the economic reforms were experienced as a direct attack on the working class.
Anyone taking comfort that the protest sought a return to Western-style capitalism should remember this:
Left intellectual Wang Hui argues that the working class majority in these protests were not “pro-democracy” but anti-capitalist. They wanted an end to the price reforms, an end to growing inequality and the conspicuous wealth of the new entrepreneurs, they wanted to defend the social safety net of the Iron rice-bowl, and they wanted to defend full employment. ... Paradoxically therefore the June 4th Movement expressed polar opposites of political objectives, and the working class were demanding the cessation of the process that the students were arguing should accelerate.
It is somewhat nauseating to see Western media making propaganda capital out of these events when their own side has done so well out of the Iraq war and other adventures with very little comment. You wanted capitalism back in China? Well done. You got your wish and now 6,000 billionaires have been made in the country that once looked like it might create a fair and equitable society based on need, not greed.
Perhaps the best commentator on this hypocrisy is Ron Paul.
" I wonder how the US government would respond if China demanded that the United Nations conduct a full and independent investigation into the treatment of detainees at the US-operated Guantanamo facility? ... It is hard to exercise credible moral authority in the world when our motto toward foreign governments seems to be 'do as we say, not as we do.'"
Thanks to Splintered Sunrise for the Ron Paul link
See also this article by Liang Guosheng in Green Left Weekly (1996)
Labels: China, politics, Ron Paul, Tiananmen Square
Bill Killed: David Carradine found dead in Thailand
He may have done Bruce Lee out of his coveted role as Kwai Chang Caine in the 1970s series, Kung Fu, and looked damn stoopid in yellowface, but actor David Carradine still gave lots of pleasure once you got past the adhesive tape.
Now the man who played the psycho Bill, boss of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, and who met his nemesis in Uma Thurman's Beatrix AKA The Bride in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, is dead. Found with a rope around his neck in Thailand.
All that eastern spiritual hokum and you still go out this way. So sad.
RIP David Carradine, 1936-2009
Labels: David Carradine, death, Kill Bill, Kung Fu
Pity the poor Dalai Lama. For twenty years his followers have been grooming his chosen reincarnation of a spiritual leader and treating him like a god ever since they found him as a three-year old in Granada. And what does the little ingrate go and do? He discovers girls 'n' football and now won't sport a shaven head as a mark of his holiness, but wears it long like like his peers instead.
"They took me away from my family and stuck me in a medieval situation in which I suffered a great deal," said Osel Hita Torres.
They also made him live next to Richard Gere. Ker-rist! Can he sue?
Anyhow, good to know that all the Chinese have to do with the next one is swamp him with Playstations and telly and that's Tibet sorted.
Labels: China, Dalai Lama, Tibet
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Details for: Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso [electronic resource] : Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Progress Report.
By: International Monetary Fund.
Material type: BookSeries: IMF Staff Country Reports, Country Report: No. 04/78Publisher: Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2004Description: 1 online resource (127 p.).ISBN: 1451803702 :.ISSN: 1934-7685.Subject(s): Expenditure | Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers | Rural Development | Rural Roads | Burkina FasoAdditional physical formats: Print Version:: Burkina Faso : Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Progress ReportOnline resources: IMF e-Library | IMF Book Store Abstract: Progress toward growth objectives suffered from exogenous shocks. A substantial improvement was observed in certain social indicators, particularly in the health and education sectors. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) is reputed to be a framework for convergence of all interventions in Burkina Faso. The priority program should be extended to sectors that will have a clear impact on poverty. For successful implementation of the PRSP, it is important to emphasize the formulation of sectoral policies and to implement a national capacity-building plan.
Progress toward growth objectives suffered from exogenous shocks. A substantial improvement was observed in certain social indicators, particularly in the health and education sectors. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) is reputed to be a framework for convergence of all interventions in Burkina Faso. The priority program should be extended to sectors that will have a clear impact on poverty. For successful implementation of the PRSP, it is important to emphasize the formulation of sectoral policies and to implement a national capacity-building plan.
Description based on print version record.
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Revisiting the iconography of Apple Maps
Mercury Intermedia
A few years ago we published a post examining the point of interest (POI) icons within Apple Maps titled More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Apple’s Spotlight Location Icons. POI icons have existed in Apple Maps since Google was the maps provider. But with iOS 6, Apple took full ownership of Maps and introduced a selectable, color-coded POI system with all new iconography.
We took particular notice of the icons included with iOS 8 when Apple began using larger versions of these icons at the system level as part of their new Spotlight search feature. Apple has continued to iterate on these icons and has made several additions and refinements. With iOS 10 for example, Apple redesigned the Maps app to use the larger POI icon set directly on the map itself. This post will examine how the system has grown and evolved over the past few years.
Why go to the trouble?
Our interest in the Apple Maps iconography is rooted primarily in our fascination with large icon sets and the challenges involved in creating a cohesive collection. Apple’s icon set for Maps isn’t readily available and had to be tracked down individually, which only added to our interest. Finding new icons — literally spread all over the world — became a scavenger hunt of sorts. (Think of it as an advanced game of Pokemon Go.) As new icons were added and icons and colors changed, examining these revisions and additions further fueled our interest.
Gotta catch ‘em all!
We’re also hyperaware of the fleeting nature of our work. Because of this, creating some sort of documentation/historical archive for this icon set interested us. One of the rewards of our field is that our work has the potential to reach a mass audience. The trade-off however is that the shelf life for our work is often exceedingly small.
On the print side, design work is quickly discarded, forgotten and lost to decay. Little of a designer’s work is sacred. Highlighting this fact, take something as culturally significant as the Olympic games. Ben Hulse and Greg Durrell of design firm Hulse & Durrell travelled the world researching Olympic branding for past games — pouring over old artifacts and when available, graphics standards manuals — in an attempt to create as historically accurate and authentic a representation as possible of past games for the Olympic Heritage Collection. In the process they painstakingly digitally recreated emblems, mascots, and pictograms for past games, many of which had previously been recreated inaccurately and were being used incorrectly.
Tokyo 1964 Summer Olympics logo
You might think that in the digital world it would be easier to keep track of and archive past work. Unfortunately with digital work, archiving in a way that the work can be experienced as originally intended is often even more challenging. With print, there is a physical artifact at the end of the process that is given a fighting chance at survival. However, with digital work like websites — and especially software such as the mobile applications we develop at Mercury — once a software update is pushed live or hardware becomes obsolete, previous versions all but fade away. Apps that we created just a few short years ago have long since had their backend services disabled and no longer run on newer hardware. These applications live on now only through screenshots and the occasional video.
The ephemeral nature of software can be disheartening at times. It is not unusual to see designers repeating mistakes made in similar applications that are no longer around to actively reference. In this instance, since Apple hasn’t collected these icons and presented them in a way that they can be viewed and considered as a collection, we did.
Current infographic systems such as this can often be tracked back at least in some small part to the AIGA Symbol Signs that were originally designed for the U.S. Bicentennial celebrations. Apple’s POI icons are no exception. The AIGA Symbol Signs, a set of 34 symbols designed by Roger Cook and Don Shanosky and commissioned by the AIGA and the U.S. Department of Transportation, were originally released in 1974 (expanded to 50 icons in 1979 and 55 icons in 1985) and were produced because as AIGA states, “While effective individual symbols had been designed, there was no system of signs that communicated the required range of complex messages, addressed people of different ages and cultures and were clearly legible at a distance.”
Apple’s icon set references almost half of the AIGA Symbol Signs in the POI system. Most of the icons are almost one-to-one, with the most signifiant changes being a Ferry with more windows and less waves, the removal of the sash and passport perspective for Immigration, and a less crowded Elevator.
Comparison of AIGA Symbol Sign iconography and Apple’s POI icons
If you are interested in learning more about the history of the AIGA Symbol Signs, Atlas Obscura wrote about the symbols in detail in 2015, noting that the original nursery symbol (a baby bottle) drew complaints from nursing mothers, prompting a change to the “Helvetica Baby” symbol in 1979.
Helvetica Baby
Since we first examined the POI icons with iOS 8, Apple has made several additions to the set in an attempt to improve Apple Maps usefulness and more accurately represent human interest. There was a fairly significant number of new icons added with iOS 9 (37) with fewer additions for iOS 10 (17) and iOS 11 (7). Primarily because of the newly added ability to zoom in to airport terminal interiors, iOS 12 saw an uptick with 27 new icons. Disclaimer: It’s possible that some of the icons we’re noting as new at particular system levels were available earlier, and we didn’t discover them until a later version of iOS.
iOS 9 category additions (from left to right), Row 1: Bank: Pound, Car Wash, Community Centers, Community Services, Electronics, Fashion, Food, Fun Row 2: Health, Home Decor, Home Services, Hospitals: Islamic, Hospitals: Jewish, Hospitals: China, Hospitals: Nanjing China, Juice Bars & Smoothies Row 3: Landmarks, Motorcycle Repair, Music & Drama, Nightlife, Parks & Rec, Popular, Professional Sports Teams, Ramen Row 4: Real Estate, Recreation Center, Schools: Japan, Services, Surfing, Transportation, Venues & Events Row 5: Urgent Care, Wetlands, Wine Bars, Yoga, Zoos: Bejing
iOS 10 category additions (from left to right), Row 1: ATM, Bar & Lounge: Brazil, Bento Box, Bike Rental, Curry, EV Chargers, Flyover, Home Row 2: Horseback Riding, Izakaya, Marked Location, Parking Location, Pizza, Restrooms, Sushi Bars, Work Row 3: Yakiniku
iOS 11 category additions (from left to right): Airplane Departure, Bank: Shekel, Bank: Won, Driving School, Eyeglasses, Jewelry, Shoe Store
iOS 12 category additions (from left to right), Row 1: Baggage Cart, Baggage Claim, Bank: Rupee, Beauty Supplies, Bike Sharing, Book Store, Cable Cars, Check-in Row 2: Elevator, Escalator, Immigration, Information, Internet Cafe, Lost & Found, Moving Sidewalk, Eye Doctor Row 3: Playground, Pretzel, Public Transportation, Men’s Restrooms, Women’s Restrooms, Security Checkpoint, Stairs, Taxi Row 4: Temple: China, Toys, Watch Store
With over 150 icons in a set that spans multiple OS updates and likely several team changes, it’s not surprising to see some category redundancy. Several of these redundancies have been eliminated over the years, but a few still remain.
To be clear, I’m not referring to localized icon changes like Banks, Hospitals, Military Facilities, Police Stations, Post Offices or Japan’s localized set that also includes special icons to represent Castles, Schools, and more. As noted in our previous post, there is even a special Zoo icon in China that uses a panda—considered internationally as the national symbol for the country—instead of an elephant. And in Brazil, the Bars and Lounges Martini icon is replaced with a Caipirinha, their national cocktail. The remaining duplicate icons are mundane color variations.
Localized icons for Banks, Fire Departments, Military Bases, Police Departments, Hospitals, and Post Offices
China’s Zoo indicator is a panda instead of the elephant used everywhere else
Brazil uses a representation of a Caipirinha for Bars & Lounges instead of a Martini
Why do we need two colors for Landmarks, Parking, and Restrooms?
Many of the icons that were consolidated in iOS 9 were beta explorations of search category quick links that were eventually adjusted to use existing icons.
Early iOS 9 beta search quick links (left) and the final iOS 9 icon set (right)
iOS 9 category consolidations (from left to right), Row 1: Food (replaced by Dining & Restaurants), Fun (replaced by Cinemas & Movie Theaters), Hospitals: Japan (replaced by Hospitals & Urgent Care) Row 2: Landmarks: Purple (replaced by Landmarks), Music & Drama (replaced by Music Venue), Services (replaced by Banks & Credit Unions) Row 3: Transportation (replaced by Gas Stations & Service Stations), Travel (replaced by Landmarks)
iOS 10 category consolidations (from left to right): Hospitals: China (replaced by Hospitals: Nanjing, China), Urgent Care (replaced by Medical Centers)
iOS 11 category consolidations (from left to right), Row 1: Campgrounds (replaced by Campgrounds), Castles (replaced by Castles), Landmarks: Green (replaced by Landmarks) Row 2: Landmarks: Japan (replaced by Landmarks)
A handful of categories have been eliminated over the years as well. Some Japanese-specific identifiers for government locations have been removed, as well as mountains, heliports, toll gates, and more.
iOS 10 category subtractions: Generic
iOS 11 category consolidations (from left to right), Row 1: City Halls: Japan, Community Services, Electronics, Mountains, Real Estate, Recreation Centers, Resorts, Shinkansen Stations: Japan Row 2: Travel Services, Ward Offices: Japan
iOS 12 category subtractions (from left to right): Heliports, Toll Gates
Pour one out for the fallen.
The overall style for the POI icons has been generally consistent since iOS 9 when the set saw an extensive redraw. Since then, however, several icons have continued to see refinement. For instance, the Aquarium dolphin which was given a smile and fin shadow inset in iOS 9, was reverted back to the previous, more simplified icon by iOS 10. One of the icons to see the most revision is the lowly Bakery croissant that has seen four stages of simplification and refinement over the years.
iOS 8 icons (top row) compared to their iOS 12 counterparts (from left to right): Amusement Parks, Art Galleries, Bars, Campgrounds, Convenience Stores, Dentists, Dining & Restaurants, Zoos
iOS 8 icons (top row) compared to their iOS 12 counterparts (from left to right): Boating & Sailing, Bowling, Ferries
Icons which saw multiple revisions from iOS 8 to iOS 10 (from left to right): Aquariums, Bakeries, Castles, Pet Stores, Ski Resorts, Toll Gates
Though we can critique the icons as designers and communicators, we are not iconographers ourselves. To get an expert’s take, we turned to Scott Dunlap to share his thoughts. In comparing the iOS 9 set to some of the revisions seen in iOS 10 and up Scott said:
“The old versions were fine, but many of the new icons reduce ambiguity or are stylistically stronger. For instance, at small sizes the Toll Gate icon could be mistaken for a gas pump. The Ski Resort icon’s meaning was slightly ambiguous. Did it signify skiing, or that a ski lift is present? And the Pet Store icon’s simplification fits better with the other icons in the set.
iOS 9 icons (top row) compared to their iOS 10 counterparts (from left to right): Toll Gates, Ski Resorts, Pet Stores
I’d say the set’s biggest shortcoming is the decreased legibility when used at small sizes. As they get smaller many of the icons don’t hold up as well as they could, and should have simplified, bolder versions. Apple does supply different size variations, but for the most part they are very similar to their larger counterparts with minimal changes.”
Examples of small icon usage on the map and in the search field
Scott’s Pixi icon set, a simplified set of almost 600 icons, is a good example of the level of simplification Apple should aspire to for smaller sizes.
Apple’s small icons in search results (left) contrasted with icons from Scott Dunlap’s Pixi collection (right)
Color updates and categorization
We would be remiss not to note the dramatic improvements Apple has made in color categorization as well. There were almost 50 unique category colors as of iOS 8. By the iOS 9 beta period, color categories had ballooned up to 70. But by the time iOS 9 launched, Apple refined and reduced the overall color set to just 22 categories. As of iOS 12, 24 colors are used for categorization. Though some minor consolidation could still take place, the current set is a huge step in the right direction.
Color consolidation chart iOS 8 thru iOS 12
Color categorization chart iOS 8 thru iOS 12
New holding element shapes
One last change of note is the addition of holding element shape differentiators (which you likely already noticed above). As of iOS 12, Transportation icons — both vehicular and pedestrian — have been changed from the standard circle to a rounded rectangle to further help call out these important items on the map.
Icon revisions chart iOS 8 thru iOS 12
We would like to thank Scott Dunlap for sharing his insights. Check out his work if you aren’t already familiar.
Justin O’Beirne has written some incredibly in-depth articles examining other changes and refinements to Apple Maps and how it compares to Google Maps priorities and decision making.
And thanks to everyone who has reached out to share additional icons that we hadn’t discovered. Michael Giskin deserves special credit for the numerous icons he has made us aware of.
Examining the design, development, and business of software including mobile apps, connected devices, and emerging technologies. www.mercury.io
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Tag Archives: tefillin
Esther 8:16, Question 2. What do these different expressions signify?
According to Malbim, since the previous verse (Esther 8:15) testifies to the fact that everybody was happy, the various expressions in this verse underscore the fact that the Jews were especially joyous.
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch (Collected Writings, Volume III, 405) writes that this verse demonstrates that the Jews could now survive any difficulty in history because they “preserved their own light and joy.”
The Rambam (Perakim Hatzlacha, Chapter 2) emphasizes that all of the good that the Jews received was due to their return to Torah. Based on this, the Binyan Shlomo points out that it is a very praiseworthy custom to learn Torah on the holiday of Purim (see Rema, Orach Chaim 695:2).
The Sharis Yosef teaches that objects going from darkness to light is yet another source for the custom to wear costumes on Purim.
The Talmud Yerushalmi (Brachos 1:1) writes that this description mirrors how the Jews will be redeemed with the coming of Moshiach.
The Talmud (Megillah 16b) interprets this verse’s expressions thus: light is Torah; happiness is Yom Tov; joy is circumcision; and glory is tefillin.
Rashi comments on the Talmud that Haman made decrees forbidding Jews from fulfilling these mitzvos. The Yad HaMelech points out that Jews may have neglected circumcision at that time, as they sometimes have done on times of persecution to pass as non-Jews.
The Megillas Sesarim writes that Mordechai’s wearing tefillin earlier (Esther 8:15) put that mitzva back in vogue.
Rav Shimon Schwab finds it impossible for the Jews to have been successfully banned from these mitzvos, en masse. Rather, he explains that the Jews at that time studied Torah, but without light; they commemorated holidays, but without happiness; they performed circumcisions, but without joy; they wore tefillin, but without glory. Without caring, without thinking, and without these precious mitzvos affecting their souls.
Rav Yehonason Eibshutz points out that it is a natural, human reaction for the emotional impact of an event to fade in subsequent anniversaries of that event. For instance, as happy as a child’s birthday celebration may be, it pales in comparison to the happiness felt at the actual successful birth. However, when that event is attached to a mitzva that is repeated every year, the original happiness felt at the event is retained (and perhaps enhanced) with the performance of the mitzva. This is the reason for the Talmud to equate happiness with Yom Tov; with each occurrence of Purim, its mitzvos reignite its accompanying joy.
The Sfas Emes asks a fundamental question: why does the verse uses metaphors instead of explicitly writing that the Jews garnered Torah, Yom Tov, circumcision, and tefillin? He answers that, with the miracle of Purim, the Jews recognized the real nature of light, happiness, joy, and glory; light comes from Torah, happiness comes from Yom Tov, joy comes from circumcision, and glory comes from tefillin.
The Ohr Gedalyahu adds that all of these misapplied emotions point to the Jews’ ancient battle against Amalek, a nation described (Devarim 25:17) as having cooled us. Amalek wins when Jews perform mitzvos without an accompanying fire of emotion. He quotes the Sefer Yetzira that the month of Adar is represented by the letter kuf, meaning kedusha (“holiness”), which he defines as keeping something special and invigorating.
The Ohel Moshe similarly writes that simcha (“happiness”) is the antidote to Amalek’s cooling effect. The Vilna Gaon notes that all four of these mitzvos – Torah, Yom Tov, circumcision, and tefillin – are regularly called osos (“signs”) and eidus (“testimonies”). He explains that these all testify that there is one G-d, and that the Jewish people are uniquely His people. He adds that taking the first letters (roshei teivos) of the words ora (“light”), simcha (“happiness”), sasson (“joy”), and yikar (“glory”) – aleph, sin, sin, and yud respectively – produces a gematria (1+300+300+10=611) equal to that of Torah (400+6+200+5=611). He continues by quoting a cryptic Talmudic tale (Sukkah 48b) about a character named Sasson speaking with another named Simcha. In this piece of Aggadeta, the two are trying to outdo each other by quoting verses throughout TaNaCh in which one or the other appears first. When Sasson and Simcha finally consult with Rebbe Abahu, he tells them that if a person has a water flask but never fills it, but merely keeps it next to him, he will die of thirst.
The Vilna Gaon’s explanation is beyond the author’s erudition and the scope of this work, but the Shem M’Shmuel explains that conversation by distinguishing between the exact spiritual nature of these two almost synonymous emotions, happiness and joy. He writes that happiness is the emotion felt after careful planning yields a successful result, whereas joy is the emotion felt when one experiences an unexpected windfall. The debate between Sasson and Simcha, then, is whether success is better felt in the former type of situation, or the latter. For instance, should an organization carefully plan its charitable giving, or bypass the planning and initiate the giving as quickly and haphazardly as possible? Having one necessarily means lacking the other. Rebbe Abahu’s allegoric answer, then, is that there needs to be spiritual content (water) inside the emotion (water flask) to gain anything beyond failure (thirst). Therefore, in our verse, the Jews had both emotions – happiness from the prearranged success, and joy from the unexpected success.
The Ginzei HaMelech wonders why the great mitzvah of teshuva (“repentance”) seems missing in this list of mitzvos the Jews are performing. After all, the Talmud (Megillah 14a) says that Achashverosh giving his signet ring to Haman created the greatest wave of teshuva in history. He answers that exactly these mitzvos are actual teshuva! Sitting around feeling sorry is not genuine repentance; improving our performance of H-Shem’s service is how we return to Him.
Posted in Ethics, Halacha, History, Psychology | Tagged "samson raphael hirsch", "sefer yetzira", "sfas emes", "shimon schwab", achashverosh, amalek, binyan shlomo, brachos 1:1, circumcision, collected writings volume iii, costumes, devarim 25:17, esther 8:15, gematria, ginzei hamelech, haman, happiness, kedusha, malbim, megillah 14a, megillah 16b, megillas sesarim, mordechai, moshiach, ohel moshe, ohr gedalyahu, orach chaim 695:2, perakim hatzlacha, persecution, planning, purim, rambam, rashi, rebbe abahu, Rema, roshei teivos, sasson, sharis yosef, shem m'shmuel, signet ring, simcha, sukkah 48b, talmud yerushalmi, TaNaCh, tefillin, teshuva, torah, vilna gaon, yad hamelech, yehonason eibshutz, yom tov | Leave a comment
Esther 8:15, Question 1. Why does Mordechai wear these items?
Posted on Apr 21, 18 by taryag613
טו וּמָרְדֳּכַי יָצָא ׀ מִלִּפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ בִּלְבוּשׁ מַלְכוּת תְּכֵלֶת וָחוּר וַעֲטֶרֶת זָהָב גְּדוֹלָה וְתַכְרִיךְ בּוּץ וְאַרְגָּמָן וְהָעִיר שׁוּשָׁן צָהֲלָה וְשָׂמֵחָה
15. And Mordechai left from before the king wearing royalty: Ticheiles, and white, and a great gold crown, and a shroud, fine linen, and purple. And the city of Shushan was shouting and happy.
According to the Halacha (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, Mishnah Berura 689:16) this verse is the second of four verses read aloud by the congregation during the public reading of Megillas Esther on Purim.
The Midrash Shmuel quotes the Talmud (Eruvin 13b) that one who flees honor has honor thrust upon him, and the opposite is true of one who pursues honor. When Haman wanted to wear the royal clothes (Esther 5:6-8), he received nothing. In contrast, Mordechai, who asked for nothing, received the honor of wearing the royal clothes.
The Alshich notes that this is the first time in the story that Mordechai is dressed regally. Before, he was wearing sackcloth and ash, but Mordechai is now confident about the fate of the Jews. The Alshich continues that Mordechai had to display this confidence at this point because Haman’s decree was vague in other locations but explicit in Shushan, so Mordechai needed to demonstrate that the Jews were indeed in Achashverosh’s favor.
In Pirkei d’Rebbe Eliezer, it says that Mordechai became the king of the Jews. Perhaps this means that Mordechai received the authority that the Jews are supposed to give to their rabbis. The Talmud (Gittin 62a) even calls rabbis kings.
After Yosef revealed himself to his brothers, he sent them back to Canaan with word of his stature in Mitzrayim. At that point (Bireishis 45:22), he gifted the half-brothers with one pair of clothes each, but he gave his full brother Binyamin five pairs of clothes. The Talmud (Megillah 16b) writes that he did this in order to hint to these clothes that Mordechai, Binyamin’s descendants, would wear.
R’ Dovid Feinstein wonders why Yosef would choose this point in time to make such an allusion. He explains that Yosef intended to demonstrate to his brothers his very real appreciation for their act of selling him to slavery. A fired employee who finds a job even better than his previous boss’s may even want to thank his boss for releasing him from employment. Similarly, the righteous Yosef felt gratitude for his brothers’ part in his success and growth. By alluding to the Purim story, he foresaw that Jewish history would be a series of epochs filled with times that seemed to be the most hopeless transforming into the most productive.
The Maharil Diskin points out that there are not five items, but only four: ticheiles, white, a crown, and a shroud. He quotes the Talmud (Zevachim 18b) that defines butz as linen. Argaman implies wool. Since the two sewn together in one garment would be a violation of shatnez (“mixture of wool and linen,” see Vayikra 19:19, Devarim 22:11, and Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 298-304), Mordechai was actually wearing two separate shrouds of these materials.
The M’nos HaLevi notes that the first verse to mention Mordechai by name (Esther 2:5) and the first to be customarily read aloud during the public readings of Megillas Esther on Purim (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, Mishnah Berura 689:16) gives him several descriptions: Yehudi, Mordechai, ben Yair, ben Shimi, and ben Kish, He explains that “Yehudi” is a reference to kingship because Jewish royalty must come from that tribe (Bireishis 49:8-11). The Talmud (Chulin 139b) says “Mordechai” is a reference to myrrh, an ingredient in the Mishkan’s incense. This is paralleled in the ticheiles, which was an ingredient in the Mishkan’s covers (Shemos 26:1). According to the Talmud (Megillah 12b-13a), Mordechai earned his appellation of “son of Yair” by enlightening (hey’ir) the Jewish people regarding prayer, which is paralleled in the white clothes he wears. He is called the “son of Shimi” because his own prayers were heard (shema) by H-Shem. This is paralleled in the crown which represents the King of king’s powerful reaction to the requests of the righteous. He is called the “son of Kish” because he knocked (hikish) at the Gates of Mercy. This is paralleled in the linen and purple because they are the colors of nobility – those precious few who are allowed into the Palace.
Esther 8:15
Yehudi royalty
Mordechai ticheiles
ben Yair white
ben Shimi crown
ben Kish linen and purple
The Vilna Gaon writes that all of these article are also related to the clothing one should wear during prayer. He writes that the royalty relates to the talis worn when we pray; ticheilis relates to the ticheilis-dyed fringes of the tzitzis; the white relates to the undyed white fringes of the tzitzis; the crown relates with the head tefillin; the wool robe relates to the straps of the head tefillin; and the purple relates to the arm tefillin.
Rav Galico also related to Mordechai’s clothes here to his and Shushan’s earlier actions. In reward for his having previously worn sackcloth (Esther 4:1), he now wears royalty; in reward for putting ash (Ibid.) on his head, he now wears a crown; in reward for Shushan being worried and confused about Haman’s decree (Esther 3:15), it is now happy.
The Rema adds that there are four aspects make a man’s life complete: wealth, health, perfection of character, and knowledge of and closeness to H-Shem. Mordechai acquired all of these, as can be seen from this verse: wealth relates to royalty, health relates to ticheiles, character development relates to humble linen, and knowledge and faith is related to the crown.
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch (Collected Writings, Volume III, 180-1) writes that purple is historically symbolic of royalty. Ticheiles, on the other hand, represents a humble recognition of “the limits of our horizon.”
Posted in Ethics, Halacha, History, Psychology | Tagged "samson raphael hirsch", achashverosh, alshich, aruch chaim, bireishis 45:22, bireishis 49:8-11, canaan, chulin 139b, collected writings volume iii, confidence, crown, decree, devarim 22:11, dovid feinstein, eruvin 13b, esther 2:5, esther 3:15, esther 4:1, esther 5:6-8, gittin 62a, honor, king of the jews, m'nos halevi, maharil diskin, megillah 12b-13a, megillah 16b, midrash shmuel, mishkan, mishnah berura 689:16, mitzrayim, mordechai, myrrh, nobility, pirkei d'rebbe eliezer, prayer, purim, rav galico, Rema, shatnez, shemos 26:1, shulchan aruch, shushan, talmud, tefillin, vayikra 19:19, vilna gaon, yoreh deah 298-304, yosef, zevachim 18b | Leave a comment
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← Langer Werken of Vroeger Sterven
Waarom een Europees Jaar van actief ouder worden en solidariteit tussen de generaties? →
To Work Longer or Die Younger
Posted on April 2, 2012 by Marcus Ampe
After the official opening on 18 – 19 January 2012 in Copenhagen (Denmark), the 7th of March the events and measures were launched for the 2012: European Year for Active Ageing … and Solidarity between Generations in the buildings of the Résidence Palace in Brussels. Around the same time the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy and Danish Prime Minister Ms Helle Thorning-Schmidt – for the Presidency of the Council – met at the Tripartite Social Summit with European workers’ and employers’ representatives.
Herman Van Rompuy, Dmitry Medvedev and José Manuel Barroso in Brussels (2010-12-07)
The Summit focused, in particular, on the social partners’ key role in EU governance and their important contribution to restoring jobs and growth.
Enda Kenny, the Prime Minister of Ireland, Sotiroula Charalambous, the Cypriot Minister of Labour and László Andor, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion also contributed to the debate.
The European social partners (ETUC, BUSINESSEUROPE, CEEP and UEAPME) agreed on the need for an urgent focus on growth and jobs and strong investments to support recovery. They presented their joint work programme for 2012-2014, which includes, among others, a joint work on youth employment and an in-depth employment analysis of the issue, life long learning and the economic and social governance of the EU. They also called for their active involvement in the implementation of national reform plans and in EU governance as a whole.
The European Foundation Centre (EFC) has joined a growing coalition of stakeholders in signing a manifesto to promote an age-friendly European Union presenting the decalogue of an age-friendly society and including a number of recommendations to the EU and stakeholders at national and local level to achieve an age-friendly European Union by 2020.
The aim of the European Union is that 2012 should raise awareness, stimulate debate and have a real impact on lifestyles. These points are set out in a draft report on a Commission proposal for a European Year for Active Ageing (2012) adopted by the Employment Committee.
The European Year would seek to foster a sustainable active ageing culture. While strongly backing the basic idea of such a year, the committee also wants it to embrace the notion of intergenerational solidarity, by changing the title to European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations.
National, regional and local authorities as well as social partners, businesses and civil society should promote “active ageing” and do more to boost the potential of the rapidly growing population in their late 50s and above, say MEPs. Conferences and events, information campaigns and exchange of information and best practice would be among the tools used.
For how long can you make a family business going? - Pollecoff's Department Store, High Street The Pollecoffs were one of a number of families of Eastern European Jews which established thriving businesses in the market towns of North Wales.
MEPs believe more should be done to enable elderly people to realise their potential for wellbeing and participate in society, while providing them with adequate protection, security and care when they need it. “Active ageing” means better education and lifelong learning, age-friendly working conditions, and supporting the role of older people in family life and society as a whole.
Europeans today are leading longer and healthier lives than ever before, but society faces a number of challenges as a result. Demographic projections by Eurostat indicate a decline of about 6.8% (20.8 million) in the number of people of working age by 2030. Two people of working age (15-64) will thus be needed to support one retired person (over 65), compared to a ratio of four to one today.
This may increase pressure on public budgets and pension systems, as well as on social and care provision for older people. In addition, old age is often associated with illness and dependence, and older people can feel excluded from employment as well as from family and society.
Many countries do have to face the bad financial state of their political system. Many states and large financial institutions are poorly managed. Every day more and more is demanded from the workers, who sometimes live already on the edge of their possibilities. People are afraid to see the daylight and are getting nervous about the further days to come, especially the old age. The global financial system remains dangerously interconnected and sensitive to light.
Pension Debt Financial Debt Total Debt Taxes Disp.Income Public Debt
% GDP (1) % GDP (2) % GDP % GDP (3) % GDP % Disp.Income
France 362,2 92,5 454,7 46,7 53,3 853,4
Italy 323,1 127,0 450,1 45,8 54,2 830,1
Austria 359,9 77,9 437,8 47,2 52,8 829,3
Belgium 296,0 (1)
105,2 401,2 48,4 51,6 778,1
Finland 301,4 52,3 353,7 53,6 46,4 762,0
Germany 338,6 82,0 420,6 43,1 56,9 739,5
Sweden 284,5 55,2 339,7 52,9 47,1 721,8
Portugal 298,3 90,9 389,2 43,5 56,5 689,0
Poland 361,1 62,8 423,9 36,2 63,8 664,3
Hungary 257,5 89,9 347,4 46,2 53,8 646,2
Greece 230,7 123,3 354,0 40,1 59,9 590,8
Netherlands 236,2 77,1 313,3 45,7 54,3 577,3
Spain 204,2 67,5 271,7 38,8 61,2 443,8
Czech Rep 201,4 53,1 254,5 40,2 59,8 425,9
Slovakia 210,5 43,0 253,5 32,6 67,4 376,0
UK 91,2 83,1 174,3 40,1 59,9 290,8
(1) ECB http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/other/ecbeurostatworkshoponpensions201002en.pdf page 84 (Belgium: Estimates ABN AMRO 2003)
(2) OECD http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/5/51/2483816.xls Tab Gross Financial Liabilities
(3) OECD http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/5/51/2483816.xls Tab Tax Receipts
Too many people are getting to old, many consumers aren’t consuming enough and not borrowing. Once dozy financial regulators are rubbing the sleep out of many people their eyes. Since ages human race has had the privileged to grow. But every now and then the haughtiness brought down the haughty. The arrogant powers who only had the growth of their state in front of them, were pulled down from their pedestal. Many governments were knocked off their perch in the past. Aztec, Byzantine, Greek, Roman, Mongol cultures, is Europe to come next?
Today those born in and juster after World War II could enjoy the Golden Sixties and could find themselves reduced by the society, put at the sideways because too old or too overqualified. But for those born in the Golden Sixties often they are confronted with the over qualification term as well and also being found too old. Though still good enough to be able to work they often do not find enough opportunities to come to satisfaction.
In several countries we see exactly the same happening. Everywhere there come to many retired and not working people opposite those who can bring in labour-force and money. Ministers in many countries are already pushing controversial changes through parliament to raise the age at which women at 60 and men at 65, can claim a pension to 65 or 67 until even 68 by 2020. When the retirement age could rise to 67 many forget that not everybody shall be capable to work full-time until that age. Naturally the savings in the pay-out bureaus would be in the way the retirement shall be reimbursed. When people would go on part-time jobs from their fifty-fives (3/4, 1/2, 1/4) the saving would be coming from only having to hand out a retirement fee of 3/4, a 1/2, or only 1/4 of the retirement fee, though people previously paid the full charge from their full-time income for many years, but only the last five years would be taken into account with the amount of years worked and transposed in 45 years of duty. As such somebody who worked 30 years full time and seven years half time would only receive (100x37x0.5):(45)=41% of the full retirement allowance. You can imagine that the government is going to save a lot of money but lots of people are going to have an income much below the point to be able to survive in this capitalist world. Today in Belgium it is already impossible to survive with the average 925€ or retirement, being one of the lowest in Europe. (With 1200€ for a retirement home the average cost is already over the budget income)
For some, like the UK pensions minister Steve Webb, the timescales for 67 in 2020 or 2036 and 68 by 2040 or 2046 are too slow. For Great Britain the raising of the state pension age to 67 in 2026, would be the most likely option according to Whitehall sources. It would affect 8.1 million people in their 40s who would otherwise have expected to retire at 66.
In the Netherlands they looked ahead and in 1913 a legal form of social security was provided for those reaching the 70th birthday. It was the so-called “Invaliditeitswet” or Handicapped Law. Then you were considered as an invalid at the age of 70 because that was exceptional and most of them who reached that age were not so good on their legs or in their brains any more.
The smart Dutch northerners created in 1952 the so-called “Pensioen- en Spaarfondsenwet” a Pension and Saving-fund law. The Law provided that men could pay themselves an annual premium to foresee after their 65th birthday an amusing pension. In 1957, there was then a bigger break in the legislation. The AOW ( a basic retirement allowance) was imported under the cabinet of Willem Drees. Willem Drees was at that time already known from importing the Noodwet Ouderdomsvoorziening (a Provision for the old age) in 1947.
Before 1957 there were not exactly possibilities to retire with an amusing sum. At that time mostly people went to work from 12 until they died. Even for my parents there was no time to be ill. Ill people had no income and could not buy enough food and medication. Consequence was that they died before getting old. The working conditions then, in comparison with now were quite different. The social circumstances were worse than now. Hygiene was far to seek in many households and lots of people had to work long hours from early in the mourning until late at night.The industrial revolution did not so much good to the work conditions compared with the so called Dark Ages, where people in a certain way lived better. In the Middle Ages they had in a way a certain liberty and family life of which later generations became deprived off.
Shares of the Stoomvaartmaatschappij - Aandeel van de KRL, Rotterdam Maritiem Museum - Photo: Quistnix!
In the Golden Sixties everything seemed to become better and in the seventies major social reforms brought mitigation. When in the eighties the Law Cooreman De Cleck (1982) made it possible to have a tax reduction by taking in some shares, it also contributed to the factories who could find cheaper money and for the people who could find a way to save more for later.
For those working in the theatre, not yet having a pension scheme, shares, saving banks and live insurances were the only and best solution, to make sure there would be a nest egg.
When pension schemes got introduced the governments did not prepare themselves for later and did not build up some comfortable reserve.
Successive governments over the decades were so behind the curve behind the population getting older. They did not take care to build up a reserve and paid the retired people from the money that came in from the tax payers. But by a diminishing population which got older more and more, we came to a situation that there became more non-workers than workers.
Everybody knows we are living longer. But when there is going to be less savings, who is going to cover for the years after people stopped working. So the best would be if we could be working as long as possible. No doubt. But the quality of the work should stay healthy, and people should be able to find and do work according to their age and medical condition.
My parents died in 2004 when they were 89, and I would love it to hold it out even longer. But what are the conditions going to be?
Everybody is able to live longer than their previous generation, but for the first time in history we can say that the living quality is not going to become better.
While I could have a descent job (also working on Saturdays and Sundays, day and night time, but not with the pressure like the youngster have today) and had the luxury always to do the job I loved to do (in the entertainment business), while my wife took care of the household, the younger generation has to work with two to keep up a comfortable way of living. Rents are so high, the income of one job would not be sufficient to have enough left over to buy food. When the boom children worked they could put something aside for later years. But the working generation today has more problems with that.
The move to quicken the pace of changes to the retirement age follows the recent decision by the Netherlands to raise its pension age to 67 in 2025. According to Department for Work and Pensions figures, the move, if repeated in the UK, would save a total of £59.3bn, money which the government could use to help the women most severely affected by the recent and swift rise in the age of eligibility for a pension. For Belgium no accurate figures are available yet. In this country the government was more busy with taking care of ministerial posts and forming a government, without having to lose to many votes.
Today the average worker needs more retirement income than ever, due to increased life expectancy and soaring health care costs. But the main components of the retirement income system—Social Security and employer-provided pensions—are on the decline.
I do think many people would not mind working longer in case they can do that work in a healthy environment under good conditions and not having to do the job of two or even three, as it happens today. The pressure, at work, is much too high today and too many people get depressed by the circumstances at work.
But when people would not mind doing a job they should also be able to find one.
Reflecting the modest contraction in the economy in the fourth quarter of 2011, all large EU Member States, including Germany, are now facing deteriorating labour market prospects, while productivity growth is adversely impacted across the EU. However, the growth in permanent contracts has remained positive, whereas temporary employment lost momentum.
Joining the unemployed, nothing news under the sun - 1907 Pamphlet/leaflet in Dutch from 1907 with an appeal for aid -in the form of public works- for the unemployed. Image: procession of the unemployed. Text in lower left corner says: "Not a handout but Labour, who helps us?"
Since spring 2011 some 1.6 million Europeans have joined the ranks of the unemployed, with the unemployment rate hitting a new high at 10.1 % in January 2012. The unemployment rebound has again hit men hardest, while the youth unemployment rate reached a historic high at 22.4 % in the EU in January 2012. The deterioration is also mirrored by the increase in the share of young people neither in employment nor in education or training (NEETs).
On the other hand, the analysis of the joint movement of unemployment rates and labour shortage indicators (Beveridge curve) shows a tendency towards a higher level of vacancies for a given unemployment rate in the EU.
The social situation remains worrying, although recent consumer surveys indicate a moderate decline over recent months in the share of households experiencing financial distress across the EU, while major contrasts persist according to the level of household income.
Ultimately, children have been more affected by the crisis than the rest of the population, mainly because they live in households headed by working-age adults who were directly hit by rising unemployment.
Social protection expenditure now accounts for nearly 30% of GDP in the EU. The redistributive impact of this spending is important. In the absence of social transfers, the poverty risk would be considerably higher than the actual at-risk-of poverty rate of 16%.
In February 2012, employment expectations remained depressed in the tertiary sector and in construction in most Member States, whereas they remained broadly optimistic in industry. The latest Commission’s interim forecast revised EU GDP growth downwards for 2012, with an expected weak GDP upturn in the second half of the year unlikely to lift employment prospects anytime soon.
Falling birth rates may be helping with population control, but they also make paying those pensions and health care benefits even harder. Moreover, they tend to happen in countries that are getting wealthier, and parents want to invest a lot in just one or two children – fewer kids, but more consumption demanded by each of them. This increase in consumption could mean more productivity and more income, but many factories use machinery to increase production, go to cheaper countries, and avoid having to pay taxes, so they do not bring in much money in the State-pocket.
Industry has to be kept in the country and more people should be able to get to do some job. Non-workers have to be converted to workers. There is enough social work to be done, so any body wanting some finance from the government (unemployment and social benefit) should do something in return. The State should also be aware that longer working lives with longer working hours shall mean fewer people being employed plus those at work being more vulnerable to get a bad health, and therefore it should be very careful not bringing too many people in the danger zone of social benefit.
A stressy work situation naturally could reduce the years a person is going to live, so perhaps governments are looking forward to a reducing elderly group.
By continuing to work until their mid-60s or beyond, most individuals should be able to secure a reasonably comfortable retirement. Implementing such a change on a large scale will not be simple, however. It requires thought and planning on the part of individuals, employers, and the government.
We have made remarkable progress in improving health and longevity. Now we need to figure out how to finance the substantially longer retirements these gains have produced.
In Working Longer, Munnell and Sass make a strong case for moving the average age at retirement from 62 to 65 or 66—and thereby safeguarding the future of most retirees.
> Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge by Alicia H. Munnell and Steven A. Sass
Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: Langer werken of vroeger sterven
Find out more about the European Year of Active Ageing
Please do find:
EU Employment and Social Situation Quarterly Review – March 2012 Pdf
How Can Employers Encourage Young Workers to Save for Retirement?
One reason young workers don’t save for retirement is that the event is so far off.
Therefore, communications designed to spur saving by young workers should match the framing of the message to the time horizon of the savings milestone.
Can the Actuarial Reduction for Social Security Early Retirement Still Be Right?
Monthly Social Security benefits claimed at age 62, rather than 65, are reduced about 20 percent to avoid additional costs to the program.
When the reduction was set over 50 years ago, a worker claiming at 62 received benefits about 20 percent longer. As life expectancy has risen, this worker now receives benefits only about 15 percent longer.
But the cost of benefits, the present discounted value of lifetime benefits, also depends on interest rates. Rates have generally risen since the 1960s, making future benefits less costly.
These higher rates have largely offset the impact of rising life expectancy, suggesting that the reduction factor has proven remarkably durable over time.
4. + Video’s: European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations
A Historical sketch of the Graying Population in the Netherlands: Historische schets van de Vergrijzing
in 1913 kwam er dan eindelijk wettelijk vastgelegd een vorm van sociale zekerheid. Het was de zogenoemde Invaliditeitswet. Deze wet hield in dat er bij het bereiken van de 70 jarige leeftijd een pensioentje werd uitgekeerd. Je werd dan namelijk als invalide beschouwd. In die tijd was het bijzonder om de leeftijd van 70 jaar te bereiken en daarom was het niet veel mensen gegund om nog van een pensioentje te mogen genieten.
Er zijn inmiddels plannen van D’66 om de AOW-leeftijd te verhogen naar 67 jaar. Dit moet dan in 2030 voltooid worden waardoor er per jaar een x aantal jaren omhoog gaat. Per jaar gaat de AOW-leeftijd als het aan D66 ligt dus met 2 maanden omhoog. Ook de VVD had deze plannen maar deze zijn voorlopig ingetrokken. MEt de afschaffing van de prepensioen voor mensen die na 1950 geboren zijn, is er al een grote stap gedaan richting het verhogen van de pensioengerechtigde leeftijd.
Belgische pensioenen bij laagste van Europa
België heeft zwakste pensioen EU
Een zorgeloze oude dag is in ons land minder gegarandeerd dan in om het even welk ander land van de EU.
a.We hebben twee erg zwakke punten. In België is maar 30 procent van de bevolking tussen 55 en 64 jaar nog aan het werk, tegenover meer dan 60 procent in Denemarken, de nummer één in de rangschikking. Enkel in Slovenië en Polen is de verhouding tussen het aantal werkenden en (brug)gepensioneerden nog ongunstiger.
b.Ten tweede is het officiële pensioen in ons land met gemiddeld 40 procent van het laatste brutoloon allesbehalve genereus. Maar toch België moeite met de financiering ervan. Dat heeft volgens Aon alles te maken met de hoge levensverwachting in ons land, gekoppeld aan de vroegere (brug)pensionering. Gemiddeld is een Belg 19,15 jaar met pensioen, tegen 15,3 jaar in Denemarken.
België moet de volgende veertig jaar elke euro waarover het beschikt in de pensioenen en gezondheidszorg steken, indien we die pensioenen en de gezondheidssector op het niveau van vandaag willen behouden.
Ruim 150.000 Belgen genieten van buitenlands pensioen
In België kennen we verschillende vormen van Pensioenopbouw. Deze worden verdeeld in 3 groepen : de drie pensioenpijlers.
Estimation of your retirement allowance in Belgium: Raming pensioenrechten
Meer informatie over de berekening van het bedrag van uw toekomstige pensioen vindt u op de site van het RSVZ.
U kunt een simulatie doen om het bedrag van het wettelijk pensioen te berekenen op de portaalsite over de sociale zekerheid.
Pensioenhervorming Markante feiten over het Pensioen in België
Belgische Pensioenatlas
Van Rompuy re-elected as European Council President (lookatvietnam.com)
Summary Box: Europe looks for way back to growth (mysanantonio.com)
The cuts and the debt crisis have driven unemployment in the 17-country eurozone to its highest level since the shared currency was established in 1999.
EU Summit Shows Signs Of ‘Stability’ – NPR (npr.org)
with unemployment in Europe at a 10-year high and austerity measures intensifying the economic slowdown, leaders aren’t quite sure how to reconcile the need to stimulate growth with the discipline required to fulfill the new fiscal pact.
Despite the clear skies over Brussels this week, analysts say there are clouds on the horizon. Germany opposes building a bigger firewall against Europe’s debt contagion, so the issue of beefing up the European Stability Mechanism — a permanent rescue fund — was put off until mid-March. European leaders have also delayed approval of more than half of Greece’s $170-billion bailout until private bondholders agree to take losses of more than 70 percent in a debt swap.
Herman Van Rompuy’s delusions of grandeur underscore the folly of the European project (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
Together we must bring Europe back on the path to structural growth and jobs. Exploiting the full potential of our great market. Using the EU’s central budget to foster competitiveness and employment. Investing in innovation, education and green technology, precisely when we reduce deficits. We must provide a positive outlook for jobs and prosperity, in fairness and in justice.
!!! Mr. Van Rompuy is deluding himself if he believes that “ever-closer union” is Europe’s destiny. As Lady Thatcher noted a decade ago in her book Statecraft, the relentless drive to create a European federal superstate is “a classic utopian project, a monument to the vanity of intellectuals, a programme whose inevitable destiny is failure: only the scale of the final damage done is in doubt.” Van Rompuy and his cohorts are steering a ship of fools that is heading for the rocks. Europe needs economic freedom, political liberty, and self-determination, not the dead hand of Brussels. !!!
The French Won’t Stop the Circus – So Let’s Beat Up the Belgians! (adamcollyer.wordpress.com)
a trip of 220 miles, and is reckoned to cost £150 million a year.
EU treaty: Angela Merkel hails fiscal deal as a ‘great leap’, but within hours debt rules are broken (dailymail.co.uk)
Britain was left out in the cold yesterday as EU leaders signed a controversial treaty which critics say could herald the dawn of a two-tier Europe.Furious Tory MPs last night argued Britain would be pushed to the margins of European decision-making and renewed their calls for a referendum on whether we should now leave the EU.
Mrs Merkel hailed the Fiscal Compact as ‘a milestone in the history of the European Union’.She said: ‘I think it’s a strong signal that we have learned from the crisis and understood the signals and that we are banking on the future of a politically united Europe.’In a speech at the signing ceremony, Herman Van Rompuy said: ‘This stronger self-constraint by each and every one of you as regards debts and deficits is important in itself.‘It helps prevent a repetition of the sovereign debt crisis. It will thus also reinforce trust among member states, which is politically important as well.’
EU Summit: Live (storify.com)
EU’s Van Rompuy warns over complacency in euro debt crisis(paramountfg.wordpress.com)
Van Rompuy warned that countries which would not meet deficit reduction targets might pay more for debt financing.
“One can think to take it easy with budget targets but financial markets can respond to this badly. What one hopes to gain by fewer budget cuts one loses by higher interest rates (on debt),” he said.
Asked about a call from a Dutch politician and government ally, Geert Wilders, to hold a referendum about leaving the euro zone, Van Rompuy said such an exit would be the end of the EU.
“If one left the euro zone the Netherlands would not be the only country, and the euro zone would fall apart. Then the whole union would fall apart,” he said.
Dutch Freedom Party leader Wilders, who opposes euro zone bailouts and supports the Dutch minority government, on Saturday called for a referendum to let citizens choose to return to the guilder or keep the euro.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who relies on opposition parties to approve euro zone bailouts, opposes the idea of returning to the guilder, saying it would be disastrous for the Netherlands’ export-oriented economy.
Guest blog – Get involved in the European Year of Active Ageing (ageukblog.org.uk)
Maybe you know this, maybe y ou don’t: 2012 has been designated the European Year of Active Ageing. You might wonder, what has that got to do with me? Isn’t Europe something far away, that has little to do with what happens to me on a daily basis?However, we think there is something you can do. The 27 countries of the European Union have many things in common, and one of these is that their populations are getting older.
The UK was on the whole upbeat about the perception of older people, with 68 per cent sensing it was positive. UK respondents also posted low levels of direct experience of discrimination at work (17%), in education and training (10%), healthcare (12%) and financial services (9%). And only about one-third of people were concerned about the ageing population.
1985-2012 Poverty in Europe (marcusampe.wordpress.com)
Deepening poverty drives people out of eastern Europe (business.financialpost.com)
More than 20 years after the fall of communism, the wealth gap between the east and west of Europe persists, and countries from the Black Sea to the Baltic are shedding people at an alarming rate.
Priorities of the Danish EU Presidency 2012- European Parliament Offices, 23rd of February 2012. (yfginternational.wordpress.com)
Gay Mitchell MEP gave his address, as host. He outlined that the Danish and upcoming Irish presidencies present an opportunity to rescue Europe from intergovernmentalism. He expressed the view that the European People’s Party now had an onerous obligation to take leadership of a renewal of Europe. He said it was time to admit the failures of the market system and its lack of oversight of lawmakers and regulators. He said that it was time to vigorously re-state the principles on which the social market economy is based.
A part of a Dynamic Europe, the Presidency would aim to stimulate long-term growth and job creation across Europe. Denmark would seek to promote the Single Market and the Ambassador mentioned in particular the unfulfilled potential of the Digital Single Market which could reap benefits.
How are the current policies of UK government and businesses meeting the needs of an ageing society? (ageukblog.org.uk)
1.4 million people in the UK are now aged over 85 and the numbers of older people continue to rise. Age UK’s new report, Agenda for Later Life 2012, looks at how public policy is meeting the challenges of an ageing society both at home and abroad.
Find out more about key indicators that relate to ageing and older people’s issues in the UK.
Why the UK and Portugal should not fear leaving the EU… Facts, not fiction. (westfallen.wordpress.com)
Fact 1; Since 1991 the EU has grown by 1.5% per annum, whilst the rest of the world has grown at over twice that rate.Fact 2: In 1991 EU output represented 22% of global output, it is now down to 15% and by 2016 is forecast to be as low as 12% (both IMF figures)Looking at these figures we can see that membership of the EU is not doing our country any favours.
Why It’s ‘Cool’ To Work Into Old Age (businessinsider.com)
Sometimes, though, when pop culture points the way, others will follow, if only because it’s “cool” to do so. Some of the most iconic bands who won our hearts years ago – the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, the Chieftains – are now paving the way for active aging, still working well into their 60s and 70s as they celebrate their bands’ 50th anniversaries.
Eminent emeritus professors in the United Kingdom, by some accounts, are producing their best work in their 70s and 80s. Unburdened by tenure requirements, they are free to use their lifelong learning to explore new directions of thought, more time to teach, mentor, and review work done in their fields.
Keeping Track of Your Retirement Investments (money.usnews.com)
2012 Active Ageing Seminar (humankinetics.me)
Budget 2012: review & how you are affected (moneyexpert.com)
Number of Britons working past 65 soars despite influx of migrant employees (dailymail.co.uk)
The number of Britons working past 65 has soared in ten years despite an influx of migrant workers, official figures show.A report published today says the idea that over-65s are a burden on the young does not stand up to scrutiny – and that they have been forced to take jobs that younger people refuse to do.
Office for National Statistics for the Spectator magazine showed there are 789,000 fewer working-age Britons in employment than there were ten years ago, but 358,000 more pension-age workers.
+In total, the number of UK-born 16- to 64-year-olds in work fell between 2001 and 2011 from 25,093,000 to 24,304,000, the analysis suggests.But the number of UK-born over-65s in a job almost doubled, from 418,000 to 776,000.
Solidarity With Today’s General Strike in Spain (occupywallst.org)
16 Reasons Why You Should Never Retire (kippingruane.wordpress.com)
I think retirement is and should be a wonderful goal for everyone, but after reading The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, you couldn’t agree with Tim Ferriss more when he discusses taking mini-retirements and consistently working throughout your life. Here are my reasons that you should never retire.
Budget: Government confirms plan to raise pension eligibility age (vancouversun.com)
Canadians under the age of 54 will be forced to wait longer to qualify for their Old Age Security pensions, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Thursday.The controversial shift means that starting in 2023, the age of eligibility for OAS benefits will gradually increase to 67 from 65.
Federal budget: Government confirms plan to raise pension eligibility age (calgaryherald.com)
“The result is that Canadians are living longer and healthier. There are fewer workers to take their place when they retire. Canada has changed. Old Age Security must change with it, to serve the purpose it was intended to serve,” Flaherty said.
One in three workers do not have a pension (moneyexpert.com)
Nearly 15 million workers said that they don’t have a private or company pension, meaning that they will rely on the state pension to support them financially in retirement.Yet with the latest government reforms on state pensions, many of these people could be left with very little.The government recently announced a raft of pension reforms, meaning that the pension ages will be pushed back to 67 with thousands of people losing out.
Harper’s cuts to Canadian pension plans likely to spark national debate (calgaryherald.com)
– The backbone of the pension system — Old Age Security (OAS) — will be slashed for future seniors, likely by extending the age of eligibility to 67 from 65. The purpose is twofold: Keep Canadians in the workforce longer to boost the economy and provide taxes to government and; limit the costs of the OAS system by ensuring there are fewer beneficiaries. The big question Canadians will learn in the budget: When do the cutbacks start — expectations are it won’t be for another decade — and how gradually are they to be implemented?
NYC Workers Storm Retirement Systems Office To Get In On Soon-To-Be-Expired Pension Plan (newyork.cbslocal.com)
Thousands of city workers are on a mad dash to apply for pensions before a new state law kicks in on Sunday. The new retirement programs will save the city billions because they dramatically cut benefits.
Don’t kid people that pensions are easy (henrytapper.com)
The news from the NAPF that one in three workers may opt out of pension saving despite being automatically enrolled is depressing reading for anyone. This will leave many in poverty in retirement and taxpayers having to continue to fund pension benefits for those without their own provision.
The reason people aren’t saving as they should do is less to do with the economic climate and poor PR as it is to do with a fundamental distrust of pensions and this is not down to PR but because people are fed up with being bullsh*tted.
Will you be working ’til 70? (blogs.vancouversun.com)
People retiring 20 years from now are going to work about five years longer than people retiring today, a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute says.
Hicks writes that the goal of raising the age of eligibility should be to “help shift the system away from the notion that there is a normal age of retirement based on a person’s chronological age.” I’m not sure whether getting rid of the idea of a normal age of retirement is a positive or negative development in our social history. I wouldn’t be happy if someone told me I had to stop working on a certain birthday, despite being healthy, enjoying my job or simply needing the money. On the other hand, the thought of reaching 65 and getting the proverbial gold watch along with a couple decades of leisure is also somewhat attractive. I guess the unspoken message here is that if you want to retire, make sure you’re saving all you can now so that you can decide your own retirement date and afford to take care of yourself.
Why Americans are Delaying Retirement (money.usnews.com)
Workers are growing increasingly pessimistic about their ability to retire. The proportion of Americans who say they are very confident they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement plunged from 27 percent in 2007 to 18 percent in 2008, and never went back up. In 2012, just 14 percent of individuals feel very confident about their financial security in retirement, according to a survey conducted annually by Mathew Greenwald and Associates and the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
A single health problem could throw your entire retirement plan off track. Very few workers feel certain they will have enough money to pay for medical costs (13 percent) and long-term care expenses (9 percent) throughout retirement.
Default Retirement Age Scrapped (moneyexpert.com)
“By spending longer in the workforce they can also have a better pension in retirement,” commented Pensions Minister Steve Webb.
The case for early police retirement is unproven (theglobeandmail.com)
The pension plans of Canadian police officers may be a less conspicuous issue than their rates of pay while they are serving the public, but their pensions are a major crux in the debate about the cost of policing.
Britain sees ‘seismic collapse’ in workplace pensions (telegraph.co.uk)
One in ten older people delaying retirement this year (moneyexpert.com)
UK Pensions Crisis Makes Growing Old Expensive (moneyexpert.com)
Would removal of DRA affect business insurance policyholders? (premierlinedirect.co.uk)
Budget confirms Old Age Security push to age 67 (ctv.ca)
Half of Britons consider ‘Marigold Hotel’ retirement overseas (telegraph.co.uk)
Webb told the Pensions Management Institute‘s spring conference that the move will put into practice the kind of risk-sharing he wants to encourage as a middle way between defined benefit and defined contribution pensions.The UK’s defined benefit schemes are increasingly closing their doors to new members and being replaced by less generous defined contribution plans.
Webb said that employees are likely to question pension plans which give “no idea on the benefits you will get after saving all your life”.
Who pays for a register of pensions? (henrytapper.com)
To get better pensions we need to share risk (henrytapper.com)
Healthcare timebomb as pensioner numbers rocket (telegraph.co.uk)
Life expectancy for a man will rise to just over 90 by 2051, from around 86 today. For a woman, life expectancy will hit over 93 by 2051, up from 89 now.
Pension Planning – Preparing For The Years To Come (pro2sell.com)
IRA Basics (ally.com)
Don’t pit young against old (theglobeandmail.com)
it has become common for governments to blame baby boomers for increases in the cost of public services. The argument is: More older people means more Old Age Security payments, more health-care expenditures and a greater need for social services, along with less tax revenue.
The Takeaway: What Men and Women Can Learn From One Another About Saving for Retirement (aarp.org)
Older Workers Facing Discrimination In The Workplace (instylenews.com)
No retirement in Singapore: We work till we die! (gintai.wordpress.com)
He told me he found those articles that criticise retirement by calling retirees “time wasters”, “idlers” and “useless” very insulting because he feels they are directed at him asking him to give up the best part of his life.The real tragedy is so many Singaporeans who have worked hard all their lives are forced to continue working when they are aged and employed in menial jobs for very low pay. The PAP govt is trying its best to deliver this (idea) “work until you die” future to ordinary Singaporeans by asking you to be “better, faster, cheaper”…. and “work forever”….
! *The truth is the govt is selling the “never retire” idea not so that you can have a happier life but to solve other problems. A large segment of the population work for low wages and will never be able to retire at a proper age and have to keep working until they are very old. The PAP govt has been extending the CPF withdrawal age forcing Singaporeans to work until an advanced age and locking up bigger sums by raising the minimum sum and through schemes like CPF Life.* !
Aspirations Between The Generations (djcadchina.wordpress.com)
For someone of the elderly generation, the future was a thing to plan for. Many people would begin to save and out aside pensions in order to live a comfortable and almost care free life after retirement. With the younger people, it seems as though they are a lot more live for the moment. The phrase ‘you only live once’ is often used as an excuse for the way some of the younger generations live. They seem to spend what money they have a lot more frivolously, with little care about saving for their later years, thus living in the now. A lot of elderly people, when they were young,
Your Choice: Work Longer or Die Younger (bigthink.com)
How about this for an argument to raise the retirement age: If you don’t keep working, your community could die off. That’s the threat posed by an intersection of biology and economics which could finally make some famous two-hundred-year-old predictions come true. As the world’s population grows and successive generations consume more resources, can our economic productivity keep up?
Europe reaches deal to save Greece (cbsnews.com)
Van Rompuy also said the eurozone and International Monetary Fund — which have both been propping the country up with loans since May of 2010 — will give the country another euro100 billion ($140 billion). That’s slightly less than amount agreed in July, presumably because the banks will now pick up more of the slack.
About Marcus Ampe
Retired dancer, choreographer, choreologist Founder of the Dance impresario office and archive: Danscontact-Dansarchief plus the Association for Bible scholars, the Lifestyle magazines "Stepping Toes" and "From Guestwriters" and creator of the site "Messiah for all". - Gepensioneerd danser, choreograaf, choreoloog. Stichter van Danscontact-Dansarchief plus van de Vereniging voor Bijbelvorsers, de Lifestyle magazines "Stepping Toes" en "From Guestwriters" en maker van de site "Messiah for all".
View all posts by Marcus Ampe →
This entry was posted in Economy, Poverty, Welfare and Health and tagged 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, Active Ageing, Baby boomer, Belgium, Brussels, Canada, Consumption, Employement, Employment, European Commission, European Foundation Centre (EFC), European Union, Golden Sixties, Great Britain, Handicapped Law, Industrial Revolution, Law Cooreman De Cleck, Netherlands, Old age, Pension, Pension and Saving-fund, Pension Plan, Quality of Life, Retirement, Saving, Social Circumstances, Social Security, Stress, Unemployment, Willem Drees. Bookmark the permalink.
14 Responses to To Work Longer or Die Younger
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Pingback: Waarom een Europees Jaar van actief ouder worden en solidariteit tussen de generaties? | Marcus' s Space
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undesangobranch says:
2012 ECOSOC High Level Segment Open Call for Oral and Written Statements
This year, 2012 ECOSOC High Level Segment will be held on 2 – 9 July, 2012. The theme is “Promoting productive capacity, employment and decent work to eradicate poverty in the context of inclusive, sustainable and equitable economic growth at all levels for achieving the MDGs”. The NGO Branch of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs is announcing an open call for written statements for the 2012 High Level Segment for NGOs in ECOSOC consultative status. Only NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC (general, special, and roaster) may submit written statements. The deadline for submission is 6 April, 2012.
For more details, please visit
http://csonet.org/index.php?page=view&nr=116&type=230&menu=14
Thanks for notifying us of this congress with a great subject.
Pingback: Wie wordt beschoud te oud te zijn | Marcus' s Space
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DESA_NGO branch says:
Last Month to apply for ECOSOC consultative status in order to be considered by the 2014 NGO Committee (Deadline: 1 June 2013)
1 June 2013 is the last day for non-governmental organizations to apply for Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) consultative status in order to have an opportunity to take part in UN deliberations. ECOSOC consultative status is governed by ECOSOC resolution 1996/31, which outlines the eligibility requirements for consultative status, rights and obligations of NGOs in consultative status, procedures for the withdrawal or suspension of consultative status, the role and functions of the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs, and the responsibilities of the UN Secretariat in supporting the consultative relationship. Consultative status is granted by ECOSOC upon recommendation of the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs, which is comprised of 19 Member States.
For more information about ECOSOC Consultative status please go to http://csonet.org
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Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs
by Julia Layton
Sara Blakely -- Spanx
Sara Blakely turned panty line frustration into a big business. Here, she opens her Haute Contour line at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images
A woman with a college degree, a job selling copiers and a deep frustration with panty lines, Sara Blakely began with a few thousand dollars in savings and built Atlanta-based Spanx, a $150-million enterprise.
The hosiery brand was born in 1998, when Blakely couldn't find a way to hide thong lines beneath a pair of white pants. Shapers were too bulky, and stockings precluded the strappy sandals she wanted to wear. So she cut the feet off a pair of pantyhose and tried to ignore the way the edges rolled up around her ankles. She then spent two years developing a prototype.
In 2000, Spanx products made it into high-end department stores. Today they come in 100 different styles, including bras.
Up next: A fashion icon raised by nuns.
Is Small Business Saturday Good for Small Businesses?
Indie Bookstores Defied Amazon. Who's Next?
Why Do We Find Waiting on Hold So Irritating?
Survey Shows More People Are Choosing to Telework, Reaping Benefits
Your Favorite Clothing Brand Is Dying Much Faster These Days
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Paramount / MTV Pick Up ‘Born to Rock’
Paramount / MTV Pick Up Born to Rock
According to Variety, Paramount Pictures and MTV Films have optioned the Gordon Korman novel "Born to Rock" and set sibling team Gavin and Greg O'Connor to develop it under their Solaris banner as a potential directing vehicle for Gavin.
The comedy revolves around a teenager whose Harvard dreams get dashed when his scholarship is revoked after an ethics scandal.
He discovers that his mysterious biological father is the lead singer of a legendary '80s punk band that's mounting a comeback. The youth becomes a roadie in hopes of prying tuition money from his father after bonding with him.To be published next year by Hyperion, the novel made the rounds in New York last week, and Paramount's Gotham office mobilized interest from the studio and MTV.
The O'Connor brothers, the team behind Disney's Miracle, recently signed an overall deal for Solaris at Paramount Network Television, and they are prepping Dexterity, a pic they'll produce with star Jude Law and his partner Tom Sternberg for Par.
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High school student Ichigo Kurosaki lives an ordinary life, besides being able to see ghosts and the blurry memories of his mother death under strange circumstances when he was a…
France, 1809. Captain Neuville is called to the front, leaving his future bride heartbroken. Her sister decides to write letters on his behalf to cheer her up.
Country: Belgium, France
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, History
Three years after the demise of Jurassic World, a volcanic eruption threatens the remaining dinosaurs on the isla Nublar, so Claire Dearing, the former park manager, recruits Owen Grady to…
Tanks For Stalin
A prototype of a new cutting edge tank is being taken on a secret mission to Moscow, to Comrade Stalin. Soon the cross-country run turns into a ruthless race. Followed…
Genre: Action, Adventure, War
Wisecracking mercenary Deadpool battles the evil and powerful Cable and other bad guys to save a boy’s life.
Michael’s perfect life changes dramatically when he discovers a portal wich allows him to travel in time. He travels back to the World War II to go through the quest…
Genre: Adventure, Drama, History, Science Fiction, War
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Theo and Hugo – New Release Review
September 17, 2016 · by Christian Robshaw · in Film Reviews · 2 Comments
Théo and Hugo, two young gay men, meet in a Paris club, have sex, and fall in love then and there. On their way home between the hours of 0427 and 0559 Hugo discovers, much to his consternation, that Théo wasn’t using a condom, while Théo discovers much to his consternation that Hugo is HIV-positive. Still, the two elect to spend the rest of the morning together, Hugo rushing Théo to A&E and proceeding to keep him company as he is tested, and as he waits for his results, simply because it’s the decent thing to do, and no-one was there to do it for him when he needed it.
And that’s all that happens. Like its obvious predecessor Cléo from 5 to 7 its “action”, such as it is, rests entirely on a character waiting in real-time to hear the results of a test; however, unlike Cléo from 5 to 7 it ends, poignantly, long before the results of that test are due to be revealed. Word has it that co-writers/co-directors Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau originally envisioned a script unfolding over 28 days – not, one hopes, in real-time – showcasing the development of Théo and Hugo’s relationship, and the unfurling spectre of HIV, in a manner that might not have been similar to Neil Armfield’s excellent Holding the Man. What we get here is something that is much more intense for its small scale; something curiously intimate in spite of its lack of, for instance, bedroom scenes. The choice of timeline for the picture helps; there is no time more intimate than the wee small hours of the morning, and there is simultaneously a familiarity and a strangeness to the glow of dawn on Paris streets, the many closed and few open shops, the emptiness and the feeling that things not usually possible are possible.
All of this is beautifully realised in a film whose sense for the intuitive, the irrational, and the sensual is far greater than its sense of the intellectual. François Nambot (Hugo) and Geoffrey Couët (Théo) are both more-or-less new actors, but Nambot is clearly the more comfortable of the two; this is unfortunate as he is playing the quieter and more straightforward character. Couët’s Théo is an odd soul whose oft-paradoxical personality doesn’t necessarily require an accomplished actor, but certainly requires a sympathetic one, one able to convincingly become him. Of course, an alternate solution to this dilemma would be a rewrite of the script that too often forces moments of unnatural significance between the two as they skip small talk and go straight into matters of sex, love, life, and mysticism. Late on both characters confirm that they weren’t drunk when they met, but it’s easy to suspect that one or both might have been high based on some of the cod-philosophy they exchange. Actually, the film works better when it allows for silence and nothingness than when it makes room for the unnecessary stains of words. The bleak beauty of the parts of Paris we don’t tend to see in film does much more in speaking for itself, and for Théo and Hugo’s precarious situation, than the screenplay ever does.
But all of the painful pleasures Theo and Hugo offers, and even most of its flaws, will be forever lost to anyone who finds, not unreasonably, that they’re unable to get through its first scene, twenty minutes of pounding techno beats and unsimulated gay sex, shot in fashionably garish reds and blues. At first it’s merely an atmospheric mood-setter, its loudness and activity a retroactive contrast to the eerie quiet that will dominate the rest of the picture. When Hugo spies Théo across the room, his naked body naturally lit amidst the neon glare in one of the film’s few departures from realism, provides a moment of unexpected beauty in a seedy setting, and visually calls to mind the only scenes I liked in Under the Skin. When we see both men have left on their shoes and socks for this bout of hard fucking it makes for incongruous comedy. But twenty minutes is a very long time to watch film performers performing any activity, and it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that the scene has been cynically planned to generate some sweet, publicity-grabbing controversy. In this respect it resembles the seriously gratuitous Blue is the Warmest Colour. An inherent problem with sex scenes is illustrated: if their purpose is exploitative, then their appeal is already limited to audiences who will enjoy them; homosexual sex, naturally, appeals to homosexual men, who may well find this scene stirring. But we have pornography for that. Generally, the way into a sex scene is to make the audience invested in the characters, and to make the scene advance some sort of emotional arc for them. In my review of the aforementioned Holding the Man I called it “sexy”, and it is, but it’s also tender and sympathetic. Its sex appeal comes from its characters’ believably passionate love for each other, and thus it managed not to feel gratuitous, exploitative, pornographic, or any other similar adjectives, while containing about as much sex as Blue is the Warmest Colour. Similarly you’ll find that many more people like, say, Cool Runnings, than are fans of bobsled. Bobsled fans might well enjoy its bobsled scenes on face value the way martial arts buffs don’t need any backstory to appreciate the displays of skill and prowess in kung-fu flicks, but the rest of us are in it for its characters, its comedy, and its inspirational elements. So devoting twenty minutes of runtime to a sex scene in a ninety-minute picture is setting up a tough challenge no matter what, but opening with one is just setting yourself an impossible task. There’s no way we can care about anonymous sex unless it’s there to titillate us; sex only matters when we know who’s having it, and why. Watching at home I was restless, eating dinner, making a cup of tea, and checking my watch. Had I seen it in the cinema it might well have been cause to knock a couple of points off what is otherwise a pleasantly-realised little picture.
Theo and Hugo is open in UK cinemas now, will you be checking it out? LEt us know in the comment box below!
Tags: François Nambot, Geoffrey Couet, Jacques Martineau, Olivier Ducastel, Paris 05:59, Peccadillo Pictures, Theo and Hugo
Tom · September 19, 2016 - 19:10 · Reply→
Nice work Christian. Can’t say I’m too enthused about this then, the structural flaw does seem ridiculous. 20 min sex scene in a 90 minute movie? talk about padding your running time!
Christian Robshaw · September 20, 2016 - 00:06 · Reply→
It’s really a shame, the extremely short feature that’s left after that is worth checking out but man, you’ve got to have some patience.
← The Brother – New Release Review
Embrace of the Serpent – New Release Review →
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Our way of local banking built relationships that ended up building great communities. We’ve helped open local pharmacies and volunteer fire departments, construction companies and manufacturing plants that employ many of our customers. Our Ag Lending has helped keep Cullman County an agricultural powerhouse and family farming a thriving local tradition.
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Millions of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers targeted in major cyber attack
Jimmy NsubugaMonday 23 Jan 2017 4:29 pm
A Lloyds Bank sign is displayed outside a branch (Picture: Getty Images)
Lloyds Bank Group was targeted in a major cyber attack that caused outages on its personal banking websites.
Hackers attempted to block around 20 million Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland accounts on January 11, using a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that slows down systems by sending fake requests.
Man horrified after having breast implants put in his backside to get Kim Kardashian bum
This led to problems on the company’s websites until January 13, but it denied any accounts had been hacked.
Lloyds also didn’t pay a ransom to stop the attack, which is a tactic normally used by hackers who employ a DDoS.
‘Only a small number of customers experienced problems,’ the banking group said in a statement.
‘In most cases if customers attempted another log in they were able to access their accounts.’
MORE: Here’s how to tell if you’re getting a good night’s sleep, by experts
Lloyds said none of its accounts were compromised (Picture: EyeEm/Getty Images)
Lloyds added it would not speculate on the cause of the cyber attack, which is the latest against banks.
Tesco Bank halted online transactions from all current accounts in November after money was stolen from 20,000 of them in the country’s first such cyber heist.
MPs are not happy with the standard of cyber security used by banks following a number of technical failures and breaches of their systems.
‘As millions of customers are exposed to the risks of cybercrime, a higher level of scrutiny and accountability for existing arrangements is needed,’ said Andrew Tyrie, who chairs the House of Commons Treasury select committee.
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Huge fire at Warner Bros studios where Harry Potter films were made
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October 1, 2015 By Elisa Wood Leave a Comment
Southern California Edison building in Los Angeles
Microgrids are eligible to bid into a 100-MW solicitation for new preferred resources that was issued this week by Southern California Edison, said a utility spokesman.
SCE issued the request for offers Sept. 28, 2015 to acquire renewable energy, capacity and load reduction. The utility wants the resources to also serve the local system, including providing ancillary grid services.
Known as PRP RFO #2, the solicitation does not specifically seek microgrids. However, it contemplates hybrid projects, a category that encompasses microgrids. To be eligible, the microgrids must add megawatts to the grid, according to Robert Laffoon-Villegas, SCE spokesman.
“The success or competitiveness of the project in the bidding process would depend on the specific economics of the project proposed,” he said.
The RFO is the second solicitation launched to support SCE’s preferred resources pilot in central and southern Orange County. The utility is testing clean energy options to see if the right mix will avert a need to build new gas-fired generation. SCE intends to use the pilot results to help make decisions about resource use throughout its service territory.
Distributed energy has become important to the region, which lacks conventional power since San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station closed in 2013. SCE expects government regulations to further reduce the number of large power plants operating after 2020. Meanwhile, policymakers are pushing for use of green energy over gas-fired replacements.
The RFO specifically seeks up to 100 MW, for delivery in 2018, of renewable distributed generation, demand response, and energy storage, as well as renewable generation paired with energy storage.
“Now in its second full year, this pilot is a real-world test where SCE is exploring how cleaner-energy resources can help maintain or improve electric service reliability in a densely populated area,” said Caroline McAndrews, director of SCE’s Preferred Resources Pilot. “This second RFO helps us prepare for the future and keeps us moving forward in obtaining the cleaner resources needed for this innovative project.”
Eligible resources must connect to circuits or load that feed into the Johanna or Santiago substations in Orange County.
SCE has scheduled an in-person bidder’s conference on Oct. 16 in the Orange County area. Conference details can be accessed by registering at sceprprfo.accionpower.com and selecting the “PRP RFO #2” link.
“The grid of the future will have a mix of these preferred resources providing reliable and affordable service to our customers while reducing or eliminating the need to build new gas-fired plants,” McAndrews said.
Track microgrid solicitations by following us on Twitter @Micogridnews.
Bids Due September 29 for Navy Solar Microgrid Project in California
Advanced Microgrid Solutions: How to Make Building Fleets into a Peaker Plant
California Offers Up to $26.5 Million in Microgrid Grants
Singapore Microgrid Seeks Technologies to Test; Eyes Commercialization
Advanced Microgrid Solutions & SunEdison to Deliver 50 MW of Storage to Southern Cal Ed
Filed Under: Google News Feed, Markets, News, North America, Regions, Resources, RFPs, Utility, Wholesale Tagged With: Microgrid Newsletter Article, microgrid RFP, Southern California Edison
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Micronationalism in Antarctica
From MicroWiki, the micronational encyclopædia
This article or section is in the middle of an expansion or major restructuring. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. If this article has not been edited in several days, please remove this template.
Current (UMLC) claims in Antarctica
Antarctica is the only continent on Earth that has areas that are not claimed by any government. Only territorial claims divide the continent, although some of these claims are only recognized by their respective countries. Because of this, Antarctica has been a hot spot for micronationalism.
1 Legitimacy
2 List of micronations
2.1 Antarctic micronations
2.2 Antarctic micronations with other claims
2.3 Former micronations
3 Antarctic Micronational Union
4 Union of Micronational Land Claims
In 1959, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States signed the Antarctic Treaty. It was agreed among members of the Antarctic Treaty that no nation shall lay claim to West Antarctica, a region bordered by the Argentine/British claim, New Zealand’s claim and the Ross Ice Shelf. A number of micronations, over many years, have incorrectly thought that a loophole exists in the Treaty, that individual claimants were not bound to this treaty. As a result, several micronations claim territory in West Antarctica.
The 'loophole' theory is thought to have originated from the establishment of Westarctica in 2001. Its founder, Travis McHenry, stated that the treaty only applied to countries. Hence, he claimed the land as an individual, something copied by most micronations claiming land in Antarctica today.
However, this incorrect premise is explicitly refuted by Article IV, Clause 2 of the Antarctic Treaty:
"No acts or activities taking place while the present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica or create any rights of sovereignty in Antarctica. No new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica shall be asserted while the present Treaty is in force."
The clause does not make any distinction between individuals and countries, stating only that no new claims or expansion of claims at all are permitted under the Treaty. It also makes clear that nothing in the treaty should be interpreted as legitimising any claims to territory in Antarctica.
Antarctic micronations
These here are the current active micronations located in Antarctica.
Tsardom of Phokland
Grand Duchy of Flandrensis (22 November 2008)
Grand Duchy of Westarctica (2 November 2001)
Federal Republic of Lostisland (April 19, 2013)
Empire of Emosia (13 February 2019)
Antarctic micronations with other claims
Several micronations with territorial claims outside Antarctica have also claimed territory in the continent.
Kingdom of Lopezia
Republic of Atlantis
The Republic of Uniland (Unilandian Antarctic Territory-Claimed Since 2 June 2018)
Holy Salanian Empire (Salanian Antarctic Territory [Drygalski Island]) 1 November 2008
Republic of Danesland (Grant Island) (30 November 2009)
Kingdom of Domanglia (claimed since 31 October 2011)
Soviet Republic of North America
USLSSR (Antartican Soviet Socialist Republic) (13 August 2010)
Kingdom of Sycamore - Defunct 24 May 2018 – 29 March 2019 (now merged with Verdis)
New Cymru (10 may, 2019)
Former micronations
Several micronations have existed in Antarctica, but have since been abandoned or reformed.
Kingdom of Finismund (9 November 2008 - 2 December 2009)
Socialist Federal Republic of Nemkhavia (31 July 2009 - 31 January 2010) - Claimed Balleny Islands - now a part of Socialist Union of Nemkhavia and Pristinia
Republic of Varcetia (Varcetia Islands) (5 August 2009)
Socialist Union of Nemkhavia and Pristinia (claiming sub-antarctic Buffalo - formerly Bouvet - island; and Dresner - formerly Gough - island; claiming antarctic Balleny Islands)
Kingdom of Istoria (Victoria Land ) now the Republic of Kuhugstan
United Antarctica Colonies
Union of Oceania (Mawson Territory) (1 November 2009 and Reclaimed 21 January 2010) now the Commonwealth of Northern Australia
Keep Watch (February 8, 2009)
Federated States of Antarctica (January 25, 2009)
Principality of Arkel (1 July 2009)
Federal Republic of St. Charlie
Antarctic Micronational Union
Main article: AMU
Flag of AMU.
The Grand Duchy of Flandrensis, the Kingdom of Finismund and Marie State signed the treaty “The Micronational Agreement Antarctic”. “The Micronational Agreement Antarctic” On March 24, 2009.
The AMU was founded so as to prevent illegal claims of other micronations. The former Grand Duchy of Westarctica that disappeared at the beginning of 2008, for instance, returned on 31 December 2008 and demanded that Finismund, Flandrensis and Marie State return their territories.
The administration of the GAMA (the predecessor to the AMU) was a mess so the organization needed changes. On 15 January 2010, Grand Duke Niels I of Flandrensis was elected as the first Secretary-General. The same day GAMA was renamed into the Antarctic Micronational Union (a name that has more clarity). The main goal of the AMU was to organize all Antarctic micronations and protect each other's territory and claims. The AMU also kept records about all claims in Antarctica to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts.
The organization continued in this capacity until 4 November 2016, when Flandrensis left the organisation in protest at an alleged unwillingness of its leadership to start pursuing an ecological agenda in regards to the continent. AMU Administrative-General Yaroslav Mar disputed this, publishing an e-mail in which he had offered Grand Duke Niels the chance to draft a new, more environmentally-focused charter for the organisation. Nevertheless, the departure of Flandrensis triggered an exodus of member-states, leading to the de facto collapse of the organisation by the end of the year.
Union of Micronational Land Claims
Main article: UMLC
Flag of UMLC.
Following the collapse of the AMU in late 2016, Antarctic micronations lacked a continental governing body. This period lasted until early 2019 when (becoming aware of the AMU's lack of activity), micronationalist Charles Ross created what he wishes to be considered the direct follow up to the AMU. This organization became known as the Union of Micronational Land Claims.
Although the organization has a small number of members - none of which are major, traditional claimants to Antarctica such as Flandrensis or Westarctica - the UMLC aims to serve a similar job to that of the AMU and is the only contemporary organisation which attempts to govern Antarctica's micronational world.
Siple War
Rhodesian War
Scramble for Finismund
ASEA Claiming Conflict
Second War for Victoria
Indecencian-Phoklandian War 2
Retrieved from "https://micronations.wiki/index.php?title=Micronationalism_in_Antarctica&oldid=474038"
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Video April 15, 2014 by Midnight Snack Serial
Episode 114: Marvel One Shot Tie Ins
I was recently introduced to the Marvel One Shots via Facebook comment threads with friends as we discussed the newest Captain America (which is super special awesome and I recommend to everyone). The above video, if you haven’t seen it or already, serves as a bridge between the two Captain America films as Peggy Carter continues to fight the good fight once the war is over. It has all the action and humor that you’d expect from a Marvel feature, if only much shorter. This and the other short vignettes that have shown up as bonus content on the various DVDs but have found their way online so if you do a little bit of digging I’m sure you’ll find them and revel in their amazingness. They serve as a transmedia extension of the narrative that has been brought up in the “Marvel Cinematic Universe”, much in the same way that Agent’s of Shield does as a tie in to the overall story but without parallel ongoing serialized plotline. The One Shots provide official extras to the story and can be seen on their own, though they generally follow a specific film. My personal favorite is “Article 47” which is around 12 minutes long and is a cool narrative bridge between Avengers and Agents of Shield and even gives some extended screen time to a familiar face or two.
Until the next beginning,
April 11, 2014 by Midnight Snack Serial
Episode 113: Dreaming about Batman
Dreams are a fairly mysterious thing. Freud believed that they are one of the few ways of getting at the subconscious segments of the human mind. Then again, he also said that you subconsciously want to have sex with everyone so maybe we should take that with a grain of salt or with whatever other seasoning you prefer. The other I had a dream during one of those unexpectedly accidentally extra long naps that stuck with me. It may not have the potential to change society as we know it like Dr. King’s dream but it has the chops to maybe turn into decent fan fiction. This was a very convoluted story involving the Dark Knight himself and the rest of the Bat family. I adjusted it enough for it to make sense. Allow me to share with you the crux of the story here. Fair warning: I’ve never really had a chance to follow Batman in all his comic book narrative glory but I do know the basics of what is going on. There are probably a ton of inconsistencies from the main/current continuity.
Set up: Batman is around 50, slightly older but still just as good, even if he needs extra Bengay here and there. He knows his peak has passed and is on the way to passing the torch. Soon after Damian his son/newest Robin being killed in the line of duty (which happened in the “New 52” issues recently) and after Alfred dies (a personal touch that really hits at the heart of Bruce Wayne and Batman which is why included it my last piece of DC fan fiction found here https://midnightsnackserial.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/episode-95-a-new-batman/) Tim Drake in his late teens maybe early twenties comes back to be Robin and help with everything. Dick Grayson/Nightwing is almost 30 and has been more active in becoming the next hero of Gotham, even if he doesn’t want to officially inherit the cowl. Bruce has been working on spreading Batman Inc. to more and more places but feels like a big meeting/training seminar with his global counterparts needs to take place. The place of the meeting has been set as Tokyo, or whatever fictional Japanese super city DC has, within a few weeks. Shortly thereafter, an announcement has been made by some kind of cryptic mystery villain who promises to detonate an atomic weapon over Tokyo by X date (the day of the previously mentioned meeting) unless someone kills Batman. We have no idea if this bad guy has officially set up that day purposely to coincide with the meeting or if it’s a coincidence but everyone in Batman Inc. is quite pissed about coming together in a place where they have targets/might be nuked. Bruce decides to investigate the members of his hero corporation to appease their fears and try to find a potential mole/leak in their network so he travels the world and maybe helps out a few of the new heroes with their own problems to regain some trust. Nightwing in the meantime will stay in Gotham and defend the city while shaking up the well-known Rogues gallery to see who if any of them could have access to such destructive force. Tim as Robin will then go directly to Japan, where the Prime Minister has publicly set up a bounty for Batman’s head and a team of assassins has reportedly taken the job. The declaration was a shock to everyone but the Prime Minister is very adamant that one hero should be able to sacrifice himself to save millions that have already been ravished by destruction before. “If Batman does not accept his fate for him, then I will sacrifice him by any means necessary to keep my people safe.” The date in question is a month from now and tensions are running high. My dream mostly followed the exploits of Tim Drake but I can see all sides developing simultaneously to a pretty sweet conclusion as everyone comes together. For now, let’s follow the sidekick as he searches the land of the rising sun for answers.
Most of Batman’s friends and contacts in Japan are pretty pissed at him for a nuke coming their way soon so Tim is pretty much alone while the country is in a sense of foreboding panic. The only recruit for Batman Inc. was killed by Yakuza a short time ago and no replacement was yet found. Tim Drake is fluent enough in Japanese thanks to training from Bruce who had his fair share of super karate masters to train him way back when. But knowing the language and knowing the customs are very different parts of living in a foreign land, especially one where fear over a potentially imminent demise is the overall feeling in everyone’s mind. His initial investigation focuses on trying to find out who the assassins are, since that is the most immediate threat and finding where the bomb might be if it is already there. After a myriad of different bank transfers from banks around the world, Robin finds two names, one familiar one and one new. The first one is Deathstroke, deadly but predictable enough to be avoided. The other one was new to the field of mercenary work and no information was on him besides that he goes by the name of Oni. The two might be working together or independently but they are quite a threat, regardless.
While walking around the outskirts of Tokyo as an American tourist, he sees a group of men harassing an old shop keeper. Tim immediately tries to help the frail octogenarian but realizes immediately that he has interrupted a Yakuza shakedown of a protection bracket. Knowing that any action taken here would just bring more trouble later on for the locals, Tim pretends to run away in fear while pleading that they spare his life. The trio of yakuza chases him and are surprisingly quick, especially the fat one covered in tattoos. Tim believes he can give them the slip with some stealth and acrobatics but that one fat guy is always right behind him, the other two give up and are quite tired after a few minutes of running after him. On a rooftop, Tim decides that he needs take down this Kung Fu Panda wannabe but his normal tactics and strikes don’t seem to work on this guy. Tim barely avoids the blows and in a moment of desperation he trips his adversary and makes him fall several stories to his demise. The boy wonder is startled at himself that he would ever break the bat commandment of no killing and has to force himself to look at his fallen foe only to notice something quite odd. This was no human being, it was a robot. Specifically an android that looked human enough on the outside but with a decent mechanical inside (think original Terminator). Tim sifts through the scraps and is able to find the logo of a nearby factory/steel mill, which he obviously investigates that night.
Once there, he finds that the other two Yakuza that he outran are trying to explain what happened to their boss, and they are very freaked out about their friend being a robot. The boss, who is surrounded by beautiful women and several bodyguards and a guy that looks like a Pimp-named-Slickback, chides his minions for not doing their work is outright furious towards the pimp dude. What follows is a back and forth as to how the androids work which serves as a nice exposition. Basically, all the robots work are the same until they are programmed. Reprogramming happens via electrocution of a person through a particular tool, which shorts out the nervous system, you then put a thing over the head of the now unconscious person which passes down muscle memory and other physical attributes to robot. Other machines make a proper “human shell” for android that is solid enough to avoid detection normally so outside of constantly having X-Ray scanners around, there’s no real way to figure out human from robot. With enough time, the head device will be synched up enough to start getting memories which can then be shared. In the meantime, you have a quiet duplicate without regular human weaknesses with twice the strength, agility, etc. Pimp guy reiterates that he is only the middle man, his boss/ the inventor of the whole thing is being very generous with wanting to give the Yakuza some free samples of his work in exchange for “volunteers” and that the fact that they were able to take down a Batman wannabe should be good enough to show that they are worth the investment of more people, regardless of them not being super invulnerable. “Besides you don’t complain about how your body guards are no longer distracted by your women.” At that line, one of the beautiful women disarms a gun and sword from the bodyguards and proceeds to destroy them within a few seconds. Bullets and blade mesh perfectly in a symphony of destruction as this young woman takes out 5 Yakuza androids while the henchmen and the rest of the ladies run out. She subdues the remaining real people and proceeds to almost behead Yakuza boss and pimpy mcpimp before Robin swoops down and stops her. She drops her weapons and they fight for a bit but stop once she realizes that the pimp had escaped but Robin explains that he put a tracker on the pimp before the fight started. She clams down, puts on a coat as her skimpy outfit is far too cold and reveals herself as the heroine Katana, the daughter of the man joined the Bat Corps only to have been killed by these cyber Yakuza.
Robin and Katana from here on out team up to solve this new mystery while trying to save Japan because that’s still a thing. In the new Batman cartoon they have Katana act as Robin so I’m sure her harsh yet honorable demeanor works well alongside Robin during this mission and maybe a potential relationship surfaces. Anyways, the original dream gets hazy from there. Basically, they find out that the whole robot mind transfer technology comes from an old Wayne tech prototype that never really worked. They follow the pimp to another factory where they have more robots, some of them with the shell already made so that they can take charge once people have been replaced. Amongst the construct clones you find pretty much the whole UN and Batman. Robin and Katana decide to blow the whole place up and the plan goes well enough until robot Batman springs up to life and helps pimp guy escape. Someone got Batman, which means that if Bruce was still alive his memories are about to be passed along to some mystery villain. Either way, whoever took them down would probably want to talk to the man who put the bounty out on them.
Here the shenanigans get even crazier. Deathstroke ends up fighting Robin and Katana and almost kills him before the reinforcements come in the shape of another Batman robot. This one is the prototype that was developed earlier that Bruce had been tinkering on a while ago and gained “consciousness” as the time as the other one went live. Nightwing figured out enough of the situation once he heard that one of the Batman Inc. people barely survived an attack from a mysterious assassin that nearly killed him and knocked out the Dark Knight but he was barely able to escape and bring the unconscious caped crusader with him. Not nearly as fast or as strong and definitely a robot, it is still helpful enough to help defeat Deathstroke, who is also a robot (what a twist!). This robot was a lot sturdier than the others and good robo Batman was pretty much destroyed in the fight but was able to relay the message (from Nightwing) that the Bat Team in its international will still meet at Japan but will come early, though a few of the members are incommunicado to help with bomb issues. Robin and Katana know that they are running against the clock before memories are extracted so they go over to the Prime Ministers house, through the front door. Turns out that Katana is the grandniece of the guy in charge but that side of the family doesn’t really talk to her after her dad became a vigilante. Inside, they find the Prime Minister talking a dark figure with a horned red mask that we are informed is Oni, who has evil robo Batman beside him. They are arguing as to how the bounty can’t be paid in full until we have a confirmed dead Batman and that his robot buddy isn’t helping the situation because the bomb threats are still going on. Oni is about to do the electrocution thing on the Prime Minister but Robin and Katana jump in and save him. They fight for a while but damn this cyber impostor is awesome and Oni just kind of slips away and he and his cyber assistant escape once again. The Prime Minister thanks his grandniece and Robin while also begging for their forgiveness for hiring the assassins in the first place. With only a week away from the intended detonation time, Robin, Katana, and Nightwing need to come together alongside Batman Inc. to save Japan and stop Oni who has the potential to do a lot more damage if robot replacement of other key figures/heroes (as he has some of Bat Inc. robofied unbeknownst to the group) keeps going on.
And then I woke up. No idea how to finish the story from there or who any of those new mysterious characters are. Maybe a new dream will show me the way eventually.
Here’s hoping that your ships don’t get sunk (the theoretical relationships between characters, but naval vessels too).
Tagged Batman, Batman Inc., Fan Fiction, Katana, Oni, Pimp-Named-Slickback, Robo Batman, Rose Garden Stories
Episode 112: On Bronies and Fandoms
Simultaneously occurring alongside the URI Graduate Conference was the URI Gaming Convention. An all weekend extravaganza of gaming in any and all forms. Previous years have included such gems for me as playing the incredible Dungeon of Fear and its sequel, far too many hours of booth time, epic matches of Tetris Attack, and play testing URI Gaming Con: the board game (of my own invention). There are a handful of special events that take place at the con, some of those mentioned above, but the one that changes every year and makes the con unique is the special guest star. Normally it’s a band some sort of appeal beyond the local scene with maybe the coolest one being the time that Anamanaguchi came by with Peelander Z. Good times. This year we had Uncle Yo, a comedian that works a lot with Gaming based humor and whose ideal/intended fans would be gaming con attendees.
I met the familial stand up comic during initial booth duty and he is a swell dude that complimented me on my Tuxedo Mask cosplay for the day. It’s a shame that other responsibilities kept me from going to his later panel on a history of old school role playing games (though he was kind enough to show me the abridged power point) and a session of Call of Cat’thulhu, a one shot Call of Cthulhu game where you are housecates trying to stop the Ancient Ones from manifesting in this realm of existence. His comedy show was pretty good but I’m sure that had I brought one of my roommates or non-gamer/geeky friends they would not have appreciated his brand of humor. Any show that calls out bronies in the first two minutes and then proceeds to explain why Rarity is a surprisingly good character is fine by my book.
During his show, Uncle Yo in all of his derogatory humor to each kind of fandom repeatedly stated that each fandom should learn to coexist with the others. One of the problems that anyone can find with a group that focuses on inclusion as a point of pride will actively exclude other people by any means necessary. On the large scale we see that with religion during the Crusades. On a smaller scale you find that with gangs on a high point of danger and tweens classifying themselves as Team Jacob or Team Edward on the lower scale. Then again, Uncle Yo also said that it’s easy to make fun of fandoms without ever having actually read/seen what they are passionate about. So I should try and aim for a higher degree of humor. So yeah, groups that really like something should fall under the live and let live category. After all, we don’t want Comic Con to devolve into The Warriors style of all out team centered/costumed brawls (now that’s the kind of jokes I need to go with, also, that does sound kind of cool in an evil kind of way.)
To each his/her own. However if you like something enough, you want your friends to join along. It’s part of human nature and it helps makes sure that your tastes are actually enjoyable to someone beyond just you. Speaking of, here’s Uncle Yo’s website so I can spread the laughs around. http://www.uncleyo.com/
May the sequels never outnumber the fingers on one hand,
Tagged Bronies, Dungeon of Fear, Fandom, Uncle Yo, URI Gaming Con
Episode 111: On the Perils of Live Tweeting
The Perils of Live Tweeting
and probably not be live tweeting anything soon, follow me at https://twitter.com/Ranzunar A week or so ago I did my yearly academic duty of assisting with the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate Conference. However, the amount of help I provided was a fraction of my previous attempts at assisting. Even at year one of URI for me I did a lot more. The easiest way to measure my work output is via quantities of cheesecakes baked for committee people from planning all the way until the day of the conference. The fact that this year that number of dessert confection was one goes to show just how divided my attention and energies are these days. Still, from an outsider’s perspective I saw that a lot of people worked like crazy to make URI Grad Con a success so I tip my metaphorical hat off to them. However, one thing did occur that garnered some angry digital looks my way.
Academia tries to jump on bandwagons once they see that they are not nearly as threatening as once imagined. Some scholars are a bit more avant-garde while others are very much staunched in their ways but most practices take some time before they are considered common place. Technology has a very special as a particular flavor of the week and live tweeting conference presentations is the new trend. I tried out this form of digital brief archiving with the hashtag for the event. I focused on the keynote speaker and the faculty panel, each a little over an hour apart. As is proper etiquette, you tell your followers that a live tweet is about to occur but unfortunately my five minute warning time wasn’t enough for the people whose feeds were about to be engorged with my constant sound bites.
In the end, I was the only that tweeted like at all for the conference and came close to 100 tweets. Roommates and friends that had nothing to do with the conference and weren’t fans of academic conversations on interdisciplinarity. However, somebody actually complied all tweets with that hashtag so if you want a reverse chronological order of bite sized bits of information go here. https://storify.com/AlyciaPhD/uri-gradcon-2014-opening-spaces-enabling-engagemen?utm_source=direct-sfy.co&awesm=sfy.co_ifO0&utm_content=storify-pingback&utm_medium=sfy.co-twitter&utm_campaign=
Also, if you want to follow me on twitter
Hope your serials don’t get soggy.
Tagged Ranzunar, Twitter, URI Grad Con
Episode 110: Archive Abuse
I’m on a train with no wifi and not much to do. I picked up a few books to read with some academic rigor and a few Deadpool stories but those seem far too passive for the day I have a head of me of sitting and waiting. I’d rather be catching up on all these blog posts I have to do. Since my previous How I Met Your Mother post was much longer than some of my more usual online writings, I think that entitles me to a break of sorts and write with a bit more brevity. Since I am backtracking through my quota of online writing, it seems appropriate that I discuss the concept of archive backtracking.
As I have mentioned before, webcomic authors have a lot of power over the entirety of the text that other people don’t wield. Imagine that you could not only write a book and publish it on your own but that you could change the pages inside for everyone whenever you feel like it. In webcomics you have that potential, though it’s something that cartoonists don’t really employ at their whims. In this blog, I could theoretically edit every post (I don’t, trust me) and replace them with anything, or remove them altogether. One of the cooler things is the ability to retroactively add installments, even with the caveat of changing the time of publication to an earlier date. Just imagine what you could if you could send any email and make it look like it came at the time of your choosing.
One of my favorite examples of this authorial performance is something I, and a lot of other people on the Internet, refer to as “archive abuse”. Perhaps the most egregious application is with mezzacotta a webcomic by David Morgan-Mar et al. Allow me to quote a part of my MAEE thesis that describes it better than I ever could again: It originally started inOctober 2008 but the webcomic cartoonists decided to backdate several installments before thewebcomic started. By searching through the archive, one finds that the first issue of mezzacottais backdated as occurring on January 1, 9999999999999 BC. It has a comic for every day of theyear beyond that point. As of October 2008, this webcomic has ostensibly a total of3,652,425,000,732,961 installments, by far the most of any webcomic in existence. It iscompletely done in a gag a day format and has no narrative beyond any single issue. It contains a“random” hyperlink, as well as the option to search via date, with the option to look forinstallments in years classified as BC or AD.
Upon first going through the webcomic, the drawings were simple and the writing was very direct. For a small moment, I considered the math as to whether it could be possible to have that many installments, especially if you have a group of authors writing like crazy. The vast quantity of course defied all kinds of logic possibilities as three quadrillion plus individual comics apparently laid in wait within those archives. Even if you had the combined manpower of China and each installment took five minutes that would still be years of nonstop everything to come even close to those numbers.
Over the next day or so I will update a bunch of blogs on here so get ready for a lot of material over a short amount of time.
Hope the wait isn’t too long,
Tagged Archive abuse
April 2, 2014 by Midnight Snack Serial
Episode 109: Struggling with the How I Met Your Mother Finale
I have like a week’s worth of blog posts to finish up on but this one just seemed more pressing to complete and send out. A long time ago, I wrote about the How I Met Your Mother season finale where Robin was revealed to be the bride. It seemed fitting giving the circumstances that I expand my thoughts on the shows actual finale. I’m assuming that you have already seen it if you have found your way to my homely little blog but just in case spoilers abound from here on out so be warned. A lot of people, many of whom are more talented and smarter than myself, have already expressed themselves on the topic but I still want to share my thoughts with the blogosphere and join in on the conversation.
HIMYM is one of my favorite shows ever and one that has inspired a lot of critique from the standpoint of academia and overall fanboyness. I got in late to the show so I admit that the emotional investment I made towards the characters and story does not come to par with some of the more hardcore fans that have been there since day one. As someone who considers himself a mix between Ted Mosby and Sheldon Cooper from that other CBS popular show, I felt a kinship to the protagonist and his quest for love. Since the eponymous premise of the story is done through flashbacks and narration we always knew that Ted “Evelyn” Mosby would find the love of his life, no matter what. Ted the character would falter and despair with each misstep but Ted the narrator was weary with years and the experience that came from pain and heartbreak that was healed over with true love. As an expy of the search for the “one” I and many like me mirrored their own relationship troubles through our hero and knew that someway, somehow, our patience would reward us and karma/the universe/some kind of deity would finally put our soul mate in front of us. As viewers, we knew “the mother” (later revealed to be Tracy) was someone so special that it made all the pain and waiting worth it. The final season showed us just that but the finale sort of unraveled it one fell swoop.
What made the finale particularly amazing from my perspective as a serial was that it worked as an incredibly long epilogue. We had already seen several moments of Ted and Tracy together through snippets of lovely moments before they had officially met. Even though her character was not nearly as well developed as the rest of the gang, she had her quirks that somehow fit perfectly with all things Ted. Even though the perspective his eschewed in his behalf, you could see chemistry. Even as normally happy people, when they were together their smiles were just a little wider, something that at least I never saw Ted do with his previous relationships. That one episode where we see Tracy’s life unfold beyond the tiny glimpses Ted saw of her showed that she had her own troubles and tragedies alongside her dreams and ambitions. We see someone struggle and reconstruct their lives as the focus and direction were gone in one heart wrenching moment. It was a dense episode, but it made me love “the mother” as her own individual character, not just because she was the one that would make Ted’s life feel whole for maybe the first time. The final season, Hell the entire show was about the journey that would bring them together and yet we found a destination that we never thought coming during that last hour of programming.
As a romantic and a lover of serials I know that most “happily ever after” endings are cliché but they feel the most satisfying as a conclusion. They could have cut a lot of things from that episode and it would have been a perfect amount of nostalgia and things coming together. The extra material confused me to the point of sadness and it took me a long time to come to grips with the ending in all its manners. Let’s go over all the things that made for variable feels along the way.
Barney and Robin Get Divorced:
The first shocker that came during the epilogue was that after three years of marriage, Barney and Robin decided to end it. Part of me wanted them to be together forever, to be happy, that their messed up love could beat the odds. Considering that the mere telling of the exploits of their relationship killed a priest, I thought that they were just weird enough to work. However, after a lot of world hopping, they decided that staying together was just too much. After talking about it with my girlfriend, I realized that they just weren’t in a good position to be together forever. It’s easy to blame to Robin’s flourishing career as being a taxing strain on their love but there a lot more things to keep in consideration. First off, Barney didn’t have a job because he had snitched out the questionable practices of Goliath National Bank to the feds. He had enough money to be comfortable on his own, as did Robin through her family. Without that part of his life he was “free” to follow Robin and wherever she ended up as part of journalistic career. She had the serious stuff and Barney’s blog became silly to the point that they eventually came to lose respect for the other’s respective work. More than that, I believe they ultimately lacked the emotional maturity to talk about their problems as they were developing, rather than when they couldn’t be ignored anymore. We saw during their first attempt at a relationship that their method towards dealing with conflict was sex, booze, and overall hedonism that distracted them from reality. Yes, they loved each other but I don’t want to think that the entire buildup towards their marriage was a “waste” because of the divorce. Barney is and always has been a drama queen who wants the spotlight while Robin wants to be recognized as her own person, not the son her father would have preferred, but as someone who earned her own merits. Ultimately, he needs attention that she couldn’t give and Barney would somehow steal her thunder in one way or another to still feel relevant as his legendary adventures were behind him. In one way, they were at the crossroads of their lives, Barney about to settle down while Robin achieves further fame and the strain between the two outlooks was just too much.
Robin Doesn’t Want to Stay Friends with the Gang
Again, this goes back to the different directions in their respective lives. Robin’s friends were now married with kids as she was jet setting around the world. It might not be what she wanted but it was definitely what she couldn’t have (between the divorce and not being able to have kids) and witnessing just that all the time must have been like a constant slap in the face. Not to mention that Barney had regressed to his old shenanigans by then, it just seemed that everyone was happy but her. Maybe it’s just me being a feminist, but I struggle with believing that Robin choosing career over family should be blamed or wrong in any way. It was her choice and should be respected just as much as Marshall having to endure that horrible corporate law job for years to maintain Lily and their kids. Robin kept seeing the parts of her life that she thought she wanted (marriage, kids, Ted) go on without her and being close to that just kept reopening that emotional wound. Yes, it was a bit selfish but I’m sure it was the only way to go. Besides, we do see that she becomes a prominent part of Ted and Lily’s life through flashbacks and having the honorific title of “Aunt Robin” to their kids so it’s safe to say that she came back and reforged those friendships.
Barney Has a Kid and Is Somehow a Decent Person
Barney is the self-proclaimed “Player King of New York City” so anything that would hinder his womanizing ways should be avoided by all means necessary. For a while, that was serious relationships but later found that a sense of stable companionship wasn’t all too bad. After giving all that up for Robin but having that not work out, it was clear that a spouse or soul mate would not temper Barney being, well Barney. And then a perfect month led to #31 being pregnant and he thought his life was over. The callback to “Not a Father’s Day” was both hysterical and almost cruel, just before he was about to meet his daughter. But then he saw her. Ellie in that one moment changed him like nothing else ever had and so “legendary” Barney Stinson became a responsible dad. The change was sudden, almost too much by most standards but it made a lot of sense once you go back and revisit his character. Barney grew up without a dad but was still the sole focus of his mother’s affection. He was spoiled but felt deep down that there was something missing in his life. Even during his own wedding he tried to reunite his mother and estranged father (even with them being in their own respective relationships) to be able to finally have the family he so desperately needed. As much as Barney may prefer going after girls with daddy issues, he knows that in his core he suffers more than the prey he stalks. Upon realizing that he is a father, he accepts the challenge (though not with his usual declarations of bravado) of being there for his daughter and make sure she never feels the agony of a broken home. I don’t know how much being a parent changes everything but from what I have vicariously experienced through other literary characters and my dear friends and family, Barney’s sudden transformation isn’t as farfetched as you first imagine. He now has a new focus, one that will soon enough come to reciprocate that attention and treat him as an important part of her world and that’s what he really needs. I doubt that he and #31 will end up being in a loving relationship of any kind but he will strive to be the father he once yearned for and that may be the happiest ending of all.
The Mother Dies
The Internet had been buzzing with this theory for a while now so it didn’t catch me completely off guard but boy did it hurt. It was a hurried moment for the viewer to just see it hand waved as “she got sick”. Again, by Ted’s perspective he is telling things to his kids that they did not know beforehand and as young as they were, the memory of her mother’s illness and passing is still pretty fresh and shouldn’t have to be relived. As much as Tracy was a part of Ted’s life, the story was about the journey he underwent to be the best person he could be for when he finally would meet her. Once she is present the story doesn’t have to go on. Our overall expectations was that once their lives intertwined everything would be great and nothing else needed to be said. However, life keeps going long after the initial meeting, the leap into parenthood, the deferred marriage, and all the other moments they shared. The story ends for you, and only for you (unless you are particularly devoted to the concept of an afterlife and/or reincarnation) once life meets its inevitable end. For Tracy, her story ended from our perspective almost as soon as it began but for Ted and for their children it keeps going. Which brings me to the next point that for many undid nine seasons of romance in a few minutes.
Robin and Ted End up Together
This one made me audibly groan as I tried to find the right words to express my emotions on multiple occasions. The story was set up from the beginning to have the mother be the be all, end all of relationship summits. Ted finds her and everything should be good. They were trying to find each other for almost a decade and spent another one together. To see it suddenly shift all that emotional attention to Robin once again just made me go into several WTF?! moments as the final minutes happened before my eyes, The book end to the first episode with the blue French horn making a comeback was proper according to serial protocol but for a long time it felt that the previous nine seasons were all for naught if he was just going to end up with Robin in the end. It took some serious ruminating to find that there was another character who reflected the sense of loss and rediscovery of love. He was there but only a few sentences but ultimately Max is the most tragic character in the entirety of the show. Max was Tracy’s boyfriend that died unexpectedly in some form of unexplained accident. They were perfect together, he gave her the most amazingly weird gifts like the ukulele that were exactly what she wanted. Max and Tracy looked to have a long and happy life together before tragedy struck. It took her a long time to love again and she did but that guy just wasn’t “the one” even if he swore he was. He proposed, and even with Max’s blessing via appropriately timed wind, Tracy chose to keep looking for love. Luckily a few days later she found Ted so yay. However, How I Met Your Mother has always been a show about the journey, not the destination. Ted could have met Tracy before during any of their almost chance encounters and vice versa but neither one was ready yet to be with the other. Ted had to be hurt and Tracy had to heal before they could deeply fall in love again. They had to let go of their previous loves before they could catch each other. HIMYM plays a lot with the concept of finding “the one”. For Marshall and Lily it’s obvious and had they messed with them there would be riots right now in front of CBS HQ. The epilogue of the secondary characters also diversified the idea of one true love as couples would stay together or drift apart. All of the gangs’ parents would find the one but lose them via divorce or death. Marshall’s mom is an interesting example as she lost her beloved husband but later ended up with Lily’s dad. Ted had many relationships in which he swore that he found the future mother of his children but mostly to no avail. He reminisces about the life he had with the friends that were still there but nearly as close as they once were. In the process, he and his children realize that Robin continued to have a place in his heart. I’m not saying that she is the one that got away or that she is the one but rather that there is love between them and that should be worth trying to rekindle. For the same reasons that Barney and Robin ended up divorced are the same reasons why they weren’t together after season 5 in the first place. He wanted marriage and kids, she didn’t and couldn’t. I hate to break it down to that simple point but their long term outlooks were in different directions. With Ted already a father and Robin more settled down from what we can surmise as a regular news anchor in New York they have a chance to be together again. Robin isn’t Tracy just as much as Ted isn’t Max. One wasn’t a stepping stone for the other. We have no idea if these two lovebirds can make it work again but the idea that life, and as an extent love, goes on no matter what is the real lesson behind the show and why I still love it.
The finale was complex and unexpected so I give the writers props for pushing the envelope beyond the cliché. As much as I or the readers want a neater and tidier ending were everyone ends up happy and together, reality doesn’t abide by those expectations. Serial fiction walks a careful balance between reflecting and escaping that reality to make it both believable and enjoyable. For nine years, I and many others saw Ted fall and pick himself up again until he met the love of his life but ultimately and more importantly, we saw friends come together in good times and bad to achieve something legendary. And that is something worth watching over and over again.
Tagged conclusions, finale, HIMYM, How I Met Your Mother, legendary, the one, true love
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REVIEW: Brighton Rock – Take a Deep Breath (1988)
BRIGHTON ROCK – Take A Deep Breath (1988 WEA)
Legend has it that Brighton Rock hated this album. Singer Gerald McGhee was on record saying that record company pressure forced his band to soften up the songs and his singing style. Yet, Take A Deep Breath is actually an excellent 80’s rock album, with unusual quality. Everything you loved about 80’s rock is here.
Brighton Rock’s sound was different from the crop of hair bands at the time. They always had a classier feel in their commercial rock. Witness, from the first LP, “We Came to Rock”. The synth strings made it different, a little more refined. Johnny Roger’s tasteful keyboard parts have always provided an interesting background texture to their vocal and guitar melodies. Gerald McGhee’s vocals were emotional and he had a powerful range. On this album, he doesn’t scream (that record company pressure), but that’s OK. It works out fine with these songs. His voice is strong enough, he didn’t need to show off how high he could go.
Strong songs:
“Can’t Stop The Earth From Shaking” (poppy, catchy and upbeat rocker)
“Outlaw” (dark and moody, great keyboards providing background texture)
“Rebels With A Cause” (guitars upfront, a good groove)
“Power Overload” (another guitar rocker with a great shout-chorus)
“Who’s Foolin’ Who” (best song on the album, sounds like we have some fretless bass here, a moody dark rocker)
“Love Slips Away” (dark and moody ballad, second best track here)
“Unleash The Rage” (the dark, metallic song that sounds more like the rockers on the first album)
Drivel:
“One More Try” (the unfortunate first single, a ballad…look at those doe eyes!)
“Ride the Rainbow” (the pop song Gerald says he wished he never wrote)
As you can tell, dark moods dominate Take A Deep Breath. You could probably tell that by the cover. Hugh Syme (best known for his work with Rush, although he’s also done Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Queensryche, and dozens more) did the picture of the little boy with the gasmask in the post-nuclear landscape. Because of this dark feel, Take A Deep Breath is unlike most of the pop rock records out at the time. Its darkness allows it to stand up to scrutiny today. When Brighton Rock ditched keyboardist Johnny Rogers so they could “heavy it up” for their next album Love Machine, it didn’t work. They lost that special quality and became just another band trying to sound like it was from LA.
Don’t listen to Gerald McGhee: Take A Deep Breath was an album for him to be proud of, not embarrassed by. It was the high point of this band’s discography. Heck, Jack Richardson produced it — the same guy who recorded Universal Juveniles and the better Guess Who albums. There is a level of quality here underneath the keyboards that is audible, even today.
Posted in Reviews and tagged brighton rock, Canadian rock, gerald mcghee, greg fraser, Hangin' High 'N' Dry, hard rock, hugh syme, Jack Richardson, Johnny Rogers, Mark Cavarzon, One More Try, Stevie Skreebs, WEA on August 8, 2014 by mikeladano. 35 Comments
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REVIEW: Black Sabbath – The Dio Years (2007) →
Deke says:
Well Mikey,like I posted in your Europe review from earlier this week this release was another one in 1988 that I skipped. Now for Europe it was nothing personal (haha)just didn’t get around to getting Out Of This World…but for Take A Deep Breath yeah as soon as I seen the One More Try vid I just totally passed so because of that I did not give the album a fair shake plus for me I would take Honeymoon Suite over them and that was enough but 88 had strong releases man and some stuff would fall by the wayside and this was one….
A couple,of yrs ago I seen a clip of B.R playing I think Firefest in England doing Hanging High N Dry and man what a great song so a little while back I took the plunge and bought there live album and it’s not bad but yep back in 1988 the power of video was huge and would dictate whether I would take the plunge or not in a purchase.
I have the live album, but it has been a LONG time since I have played it. Their cover of Creatures of the Night however redeemed the band in the eyes of everybody. What a great cover, and video.
Gerry McGhee said his biggest regret was going on the power hour with the One More Try video.
Again with all the HAIR! Oh man, the 80s were a special time.
I had a buddy in school who was into these guys, all things 80s rock actually. I haven’t heard any of this since, except for the video you posted. Cool review.
The 80’s were a time before we worried about what kinds of chemicals we were spraying around. We also must have had much more free time, to want to do up that hair every day. Shaved heads are more my speed, today.
There were some girls in our high school you couldn’t get near. If you did, you’d pass out from the chemical cloud in their hair. It was really bad.
I know man, oh God and your hands would get sticky if you ever touched their hair…ewwwwwww.
I’ve still never heard this band so I can’t say much about this other than I do like me some keyboards.
Well Mr. Scott, I can arrange for you to hear some more if you so desire.
I’m down. Gonna send you a screamer called the Rock N’ Roll Kid.
‘Hit me up,’ ‘I’m down,’ and ‘screamers’? Sounds like something funky is brewing ah ha ha ha!
Menage a trois perhaps? I copied you on the email, let the screaming begin?
I like screamers.
I like moaners. I mean, oh we’re talking about music.
Uh, yeah Dude. Way to take that to a weird place. Haha!
It tends go that way when left to my own devices.
One other comment in addition to yours about the hair:
Bullet belts.
That’s a fashion that needs to come back.
Haha and that’s what she said, too.
I have honestly never said ‘You know what needs to be popular again? Bullet belts!’ Seriously never. Right up there with acid wash jeans and jelly shoes.
Jelly shoes, not so much. Crocs have superceded them. Acid wash? YEAH!
Also camouflage pants. No no no no no.
In all seriousness:
I own three pair of camo pants. One long, two shorts. (gray and black camo).
Well, for you it makes sense, after all of that time you’ve spent in the armed forces.
I remember in grade 5, there were two trends. For boys it was camo, for girls it was raincoats. The girls would try to make fun of us saying, “Where do you think you’re going? A war?” And we’d just say, “It’s not raining outside, are you looking for a flood?”
It was the guys in raincoats you had to watch out for – don’t make eye contact or they’ll open their coat!
Yeah no kidding. Just run!
Also, the girls in camo pants just looked… butch.
Hey my sister has camo pants! :P
UFO was a band that knew how to incorporate keys, HMO actually there from your backyard so to speak. I really dug em from Stangers In the Night til Making Contact. Very excellent band and as well the debut Waysted album which featured the 3 guys from UFO as well.
Night Of The Wolf what a great track!….
But yeah some bands would saturate back than there sound with keyboards while others knew how to put them in but a little mixed down that’s the sound I perferred …..
Other great keyboard bands: Deep Purple, Van Halen (!) and even Black Sabbath had a full time keyboard player in the 80’s and 90’s.
Also RUSH.
DUH! Yes. Absolutely.
Haha just sayin’.
And I’m likin’. They are indeed a good keyboards band. Absolutely.
Yeah, I suppose the do ‘alright.’
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No Dual Identity, Female Characters, Humans (Homo sapiens),
Chip Zdarsky/Creator
Jim Cheung/Creator
Rachna Koul (Earth-616)
Rachna Koul
Disha Koul (sister)
Jack Pine, Wyoming
Scientist, imperiumology expert
Prosthetic right hand
Chip Zdarsky, Jim Cheung
Marvel 2-In-One #1
Rachna Koul was an expert in imperiumology, a branch of biology which focuses on superpowered individuals. From her base of operations in Jack Pine, Wyoming, Koul helped superhumans fix any issues they could have with their powers, at a costy price.[1] All of Rachna's work was ultimately devoted towards the search for a cure for her sister Disha,[2] who was in a vegetative state.[3]
One of Rachna's clients was Hercules, who introduced The Thing and the Human Torch to her, since they were looking to solve the diminution of the latter's powers. They approached her while she was treating Hydro-Man. This prompted him to lash out under the wrong impression that his entire business with Koul had been a trap. Rachna stopped him and had him leave. Rachna initially refused to assist the Human Torch out of charity, but she agreed on the condition to join the heroes' journey through the Multiverse on the search for Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman using the Multisect.[1]
While pretending she had honed the Multisect to Reed and Sue's specific signature of cosmic radiation,[2] Rachna guided The Thing and the Human Torch through different universes while in reality she was looking for alternate counterparts of Disha who were brain dead, so she could overwrite their brains with the mind of the original Disha. On their first stop, the travellers were joined by Victor von Doom.[4] After visiting several universes looking for a compatible version of Disha, Rachna saw herself forced to reveal her true motives and that she was misleading the heroes. Rachna managed to escape with the Multisect, but was followed by Doom.[3]
Artificial Hand: Koul's right hand was replaced with a zeoparticle-enhanced prosthetic capable of shapeshifting.[5]
The range of cost of Koul fixing a client was usually between $250,000 and $750,000.[1]
8 Appearances of Rachna Koul (Earth-616)
Minor Appearances of Rachna Koul (Earth-616)
Media Rachna Koul (Earth-616) was Mentioned in
9 Images featuring Rachna Koul (Earth-616)
1 Quotations by or about Rachna Koul (Earth-616)
Character Gallery: Rachna Koul (Earth-616)
Search this site for: Rachna Koul · Rachna Koul (Earth-616)
↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Marvel 2-In-One #3
↑ 2.0 2.1 Marvel 2-In-One #4
↑ Marvel 2-In-One #5
Retrieved from "https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Rachna_Koul_(Earth-616)?oldid=4976208"
Humans (Homo sapiens)
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Simone Biles kisses her Zac Efron cardboard cut-out on the cheek, just like the rest of us
Image: nightlynews
By Martha Tesema 2016-08-10 15:36:51 UTC
Simone Biles is an American legend.
The gymnast has won multiple gold medals during her time in Rio for the 2016 Olympics, and her complicated and graceful routines have had everyone — including celebrities like North West and Leslie Jones — mesmerized.
Turns out, Biles has some celebrity crushes of her own. Like most teenage girls in the country, Biles seems to be a fan of Zac Efron. And she keeps a life-size cutout of the actor tucked away in her room.
SEE ALSO: Bow down to badass Simone Biles
NBC Nightly News gave the world a glimpse of Biles at home with her family, and we got to sneak a peek at the 19 year-old's very purple bedroom. And while obviously the place is gleaming with medals and trophies, the highlight of the tour is when Biles shows off her cutout of the High School Musical heartthrob.
"Sometimes I used to kiss him on the cheek," she told NBC news correspondent Stephanie Gosk, before admitting that it was a bit strange.
Biles got the cutout for Christmas in 2014 and tweeted about it, heart-eyed emoji and all.
hi @ZacEfron
merry christmas to me😍 pic.twitter.com/mXOtlfd3x2
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) December 25, 2014
And Efron might not mind. He tweeted his support of Biles after she qualified for the finals. Additionally, he told Biles that he would be watching the team take home gold together.
So phenomenal a skill's named after her. Congrats on sticking the Biles and qualifying for the finals @Simone_Biles! https://t.co/7jiUHq03HF
— Zac Efron (@ZacEfron) August 9, 2016
@ZacEfron Thanks Zac! I hope you can watch Team Final tomorrow night.
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) August 9, 2016
Of course I'm watching the #FinalFive 🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅dominate the floor! 😉#Rio2016 #TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/wdgVnvWOCa
— Zac Efron (@ZacEfron) August 10, 2016
This isn't the first time Biles has been open about her love for Efron.
When visiting Ellen Degeneres in March 2016, the record-breaking gymnast received a special leotard from Degeneres with Efron's face plastered everywhere.
Here's to hoping that they meet one day. As Biles once said in an interview: When it does happen, make sure a defibrillator is on deck.
But until then, our fingers will be crossed for a High School Musical soundtrack in a routine from Biles during the 2020 Olympics.
Topics: Conversations, Culture, simone biles, Zac Efron
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66451. Which of the following is known as "Island of precipitation" ?
(A): Fault Mountains
(B): Fold Mountains
(C): Dome Mountains
(D): Block Mountains
66452. Videsh Sanchar nigam Ltd. has been renamed as-
(A): Tata Communication Ltd.
(B): Reliance Communication Ltd.
(C): Air Bharti communication Ltd.
66453. महात्मा फुले यांनी सत्यशोधक समाजाची स्थापना केंव्हा केली.
66454. Which magazine did Henry Louis Mencken co-edit in 1914-1923?
(A): Newsweek
(B): Time
(C): Life
(D): The Smart Set
66455. Monday chest tightness is a symptom classically seen in -
(A): Bagassosis
(B): Anthrocosis
(C): Berylliosis
(D): Byssinosis
66456. 20 year old girl Nelu enjoys wearing male clothes.Wearing male clothes gives her feeling of more confidence and after these episodes she is an absolutely normal girl.The likely diagnosis is -
(A): Dual role Transvestism
(B): Fetishistic Transvestism
(C): Trans sexualism
(D): Fetishism
66457. A 10 degree decrease in temperature causes decrease in cerebral metabolic rate by:
(A): 0.1
66458. MCQ The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes was established in
66459. How can you stop a slide show?
(A): a. Press the right arrow
(B): b. Press Escape
(C): c. Press the left arrow
(D): d. Press the down arrow
66460. Which of the following is not a sign of stellate ganglion block:
(A): Exophthalmus
(B): Meiosis
(C): Conjunctival redness
(D): Nasal congestion
66461. Nightmare is seen in:
(A): Stage IV NREM sleep
(B): Stage I NREM sleep
(C): REM sleep
(D): Stage II NREM sleep
66462. Which of the following is not a fruit?
(A): Mustard
(B): Orange
(C): Pear
(D): Apple
66463. Which of the following method sends input to a script via a URL?
(A): Post
(B): Get
(C): None
(D): Both
66464. In computers, subtraction is generally carried out by
(A): 10’s complement
(B): 9’s complement
(C): 2’s complement
(D): 1’s complement
66465. Orthopnea in heart failure develops due to:
(A): Reservoir function of leg veins
(B): Reservoir function of pulmonary veins
(C): Reservoir function of leg arteries
(D): Reservoir function of pulmonary arteries
66466. Which of the following locks the item from access of any type?
(A): Exclusive lock
(B): Explicit lock
(C): Implicit lock
(D): Shared lock
66467. The sum of all the torques acting on a body is zero this condition represents equilibriums'
(A): first condition
(B): second condition
(C): third condition
(D): fourth condition
66468. The difference between visible exports and visible imports is defined as—
(A): Balance of trade
(B): Balance of payment
(C): Balanced terms of trade
(D): Coins from trade
66469. हाल ही में 4 भारतीय-अमेरीकी को "ग्रेट इमिग्रेंट्स : द प्राइड ऑफ अमेरिका" 2015 से सम्मानित किया गया है , इनमे से कौन पुरस्कार विजेताओं की सूची में नहीं हैं ?
(A): मधुलिका सिक्का
(B): प्रीत भरारा
(C): राकेश खुराना
(D): मनीष तिवाड़ी
66470. The main occupation of Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age ) people was
(A): Animal Husbandry
(B): Fishing
(C): Cultivation
(D): Hunting
66471. Meconium passage in utero leads to which of the following -
(A): Listeriosis
(B): Obstructive emphysema
(C): Pathological jaundice
(D): Meconium ileus
66472. प्रदेश में मुगल बादशाह ओरंगजेब ने चार घाटों का निर्माण कहां करवाया था ?
(A): बिठूर - जिला कानपूर
(B): राजापूर - जिला बांदा
(C): मुगल घाट - जिला फर्रुखाबद
(D): फतेहपूर सीकरी - जिला आगरा
66473. बिहार में "कामेश्वरसिंह दरभंगा संस्कृत विश्वविद्यालय" की स्थापना कब हुई थी ?
66474. Which of the following represents a correct ordering of the events that occur during the respiration of glucose in the absence of O2?
(A): Glycolysis; oxidative phosphorylation; citric acid cycle
(B): Glycolysis; citric acid cycle; oxidative phosphorylation
(C): Glycolysis; fermentation
(D): Oxidative phosphorylation; citric acid cycle; glycolysis
66475. In xylem vessel, the lignin is deposited in the form of
(A): concave
(B): bell shape
(C): ring shape
(D): bean shaped
66476. Which is North Carolina’s state bird?
(A): Swan
(B): Peacock
(C): Cardinal
(D): Stork
66477. When did Louisa May Alcott write A Long Fatal Love Chase?
(A): a) 1872
(B): b) 1875
(C): c) 1866
(D): d) 1871
66478. In oesophageal Ca which Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is used -
(A): Cisplatin
(B): Cyclophosphamide
(C): Doxorubicin
(D): Methotrexate
66479. Molecules that bear charged groups of opposite polarity are known as
(A): ambions
(B): zwitterions
(C): amphions
(D): . ion conversion
66480. In a group of 6 boys and 4 girls, four children are to be selected. In how many different ways can they be selected such that at least one boy should be there?
(D): 205
66481. Any abnormality related to rhythm and conduction of heart can be diagnosed with the help of
(A): ECG
(B): Pace maker
(C): IVFC
(D): Angiography
66482. Which part of Indian rupee has been allotted in public expenditure for repaying interest on loans in 2011-12 budget proposals ?
(A): 23 Paise
(B): 22 Paise
(C): 21 Paise
(D): 18 Paise
66483. Which of the following format you can decide to apply or not in AutoFormat dialog box?
(A): A) Number format
(B): B) Border format
(C): C) Font format
66484. The one of the biggest borrowers in the globe is
(A): International Monetary fund
(B): World trade Organization
(C): World Bank
(D): International financial Corporation
66485. What was the worth of merchandise paid by Peter Minuit for purchase of Manhattan Island?
(A): 100 guilders
(B): 40 guilders
(C): 80 guilders
(D): 60 guilders
66486. The purest form of naturally occurring water is
(A): river water
(B): rain water
(C): well water
(D): pond water
66487. हिमाचल प्रदेशातील ... या ठिकाणी भू - औष्णिक उर्जा प्रकल्प आहे.
(A): सिमला
(B): मानीकरण
(C): धर्मशाला
(D): कुफरी
66488. मध्यमपदलोपी समास असलेला शब्द कोणता ?
(A): मामेभाऊ
(B): यथान्याय
(C): सत्यासत्य
(D): हरिहर
66489. Which of the following awards is given to sports persons in India?
(A): Kalidas Samman
(B): Arjuna Award
(C): Saraswati Samman
(D): None of these
66490. डंकेल प्रस्तावास लोकांचा विरोध कोणत्या कारणाने होता ?
(A): त्याने विशिष्ट्य राष्ट्रांची मक्तेदारी निर्माण होईल .
(B): त्याने जैविक विविधतेस धोका होता .
(C): तो बहुराष्ट्रीय कंपन्याच्याच फायद्याचा होता .
(D): वरील सर्व
66491. निम्न में से कौन सा राष्ट्रीय पार्क नहीं है?
(A): भोरमदेव
(B): इंद्रावती
(C): कांगेर घाटी
(D): गुरु घासीदास
66492. In a conductor the valence band and the conduction band
(A): Separated by small gap
(B): Separated by large gap
(D): Overlapping
66493. The property of Fourier Transform which states that the compression in timedomain is equivalent to expansion in the frequency domain is
(A): Scaling.
(B): Duality.
(C): Frequency Shifting.
(D): Time Scaling.
66494. इनमें से कौन कार्बन का एलोट्रोप है ?
(A): ऐथेन
(B): मीथेन
(C): पेट्रोलियम
(D): हीरा
66495. A parent feature should always be ______________ relative to its child feature
(A): created at the same time
(B): in a separate model
(C): created after
(D): above in the feature tree
66496. The Navier-Stokes equation deals with the law of conservation of
(A): energy
(B): mass
(C): momentum
(D): both ( & (
66497. Which union territory became the 25th state of India ?
(A): Goa
(B): Andhra Pradesh
(C): Rajasthan
(D): Bihar
66498. Which of the following function is used for terminate the script execution in PHP?
(A): quit()
(B): break()
(C): exit()
(D): die()
66499. Which of the following is the most characteristic of granuloma:
(A): Epithelioid cell
(B): Giant cell
(C): Fibroblasts
(D): Endothelial cell
66500. ஒரு லென்சின் திறன் 1 டயாப்டர் எனில், அதனுடைய குவிய தூரம்?
(A): 1 செ.மீ
(B): 10 செ.மீ
(C): 100 செ.மீ
(D): 1000 செ.மீ
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Fisana
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RIP John Taylor Gatto
Started By August West , Nov 06 2018 12:15 AM
#1 August West
Mycotopiate
OG VIP
Awards Bar:
I don't really have heroes but Gatto had/has tremendous influence on my life. I've lifted the following from a thread I posted here 6-1/2 years ago. That link and a couple other Gatto-inspired threads follow.
I Quit, I Think
The 7-Lesson School Teacher
The Purpose Of Schooling
John Taylor Gatto wrote this article for The Wall Street Journal, July 25th, 1991. Gatto was a New York State Teacher of the Year. An advocate for school reform, Gatto’s books include Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, the Underground History of American Education and Weapons of Mass Instruction.
In the first year of the last decade of the twentieth century during my thirtieth year as a school teacher in Community School District 3, Manhattan, after teaching in all five secondary schools in the district, crossing swords with one professional administration after another as they strove to rid themselves of me, after having my license suspended twice for insubordination and terminated covertly once while I was on medical leave of absence, after the City University of New York borrowed me for a five-year stint as a lecturer in the Education Department (and the faculty rating handbook published by the Student Council gave me the highest ratings in the department my last three years), after planning and bringing about the most successful permanent school fund-raiser in New York City history, after placing a single eighth-grade class into 30,000 hours of volunteer community service, after organizing and financing a student-run food cooperative, after securing over a thousand apprenticeships, directing the collection of tens of thousands of books for the construction of private student libraries, after producing four talking job dictionaries for the blind, writing two original student musicals, and launching an armada of other initiatives to reintegrate students within a larger human reality, I quit.
I was New York State Teacher of the Year when it happened. An accumulation of disgust and frustration which grew too heavy to be borne finally did me in. To test my resolve I sent a short essay to The Wall Street Journal titled "I Quit, I Think." In it I explained my reasons for deciding to wrap it up, even though I had no savings and not the slightest idea what else I might do in my mid-fifties to pay the rent. In its entirety it read like this:
I’ve taught public school for 26 years but I just can’t do it anymore. For years I asked the local school board and superintendent to let me teach a curriculum that doesn’t hurt kids, but they had other fish to fry. So I’m going to quit, I think.
I’ve come slowly to understand what it is I really teach: A curriculum of confusion, class position, arbitrary justice, vulgarity, rudeness, disrespect for privacy, indifference to quality, and utter dependency. I teach how to fit into a world I don’t want to live in.
I just can’t do it anymore. I can’t train children to wait to be told what to do; I can’t train people to drop what they are doing when a bell sounds; I can’t persuade children to feel some justice in their class placement when there isn’t any, and I can’t persuade children to believe teachers have valuable secrets they can acquire by becoming our disciples. That isn’t true.
Government schooling is the most radical adventure in history. It kills the family by monopolizing the best times of childhood and by teaching disrespect for home and parents.
An exaggeration? Hardly. Parents aren’t meant to participate in our form of schooling, rhetoric to the contrary. My orders as schoolteacher are to make children fit an animal training system, not to help each find his or her personal path.
The whole blueprint of school procedure is Egyptian, not Greek or Roman. It grows from the faith that human value is a scarce thing, represented symbolically by the narrow peak of a pyramid.
That idea passed into American history through the Puritans. It found its “scientific” presentation in the bell curve, along which talent supposedly apportions itself by some Iron Law of biology.
It’s a religious idea and school is its church. New York City hires me to be a priest. I offer rituals to keep heresy at bay. I provide documentation to justify the heavenly pyramid.
Socrates foresaw that if teaching became a formal profession something like this would happen. Professional interest is best served by making what is easy to do seem hard; by subordinating laity to priesthood. School has become too vital a jobs project, contract-giver and protector of the social order to allow itself to be “re-formed.” It has political allies to guard its marches.
That’s why reforms come and go-without changing much. Even reformers can’t imagine school much different.
David learns to read at age four; Rachel, at age nine: In normal development, when both are 13, you can’t tell which one learned first — the five-year spread means nothing at all. But in school I will label Rachel “learning disabled” and slow David down a bit, too.
For a paycheck, I adjust David to depend on me to tell him when to go and stop. He won’t outgrow that dependency. I identify Rachel as discount merchandise, “special education.” After a few months she’ll be locked into her place forever.
In 26 years of teaching rich kids and poor, I almost never met a “learning disabled” child; hardly every met a “gifted and talented” one, either. Like all school categories, these are sacred myths, created by the human imagination. They derive from questionable values we never examine because they preserve the temple of schooling.
That’s the secret behind short-answer tests, bells, uniform time blocks, age grading, standardization, and all the rest of the school religion punishing our nation.
There isn’t a right way to become educated; there are as many ways as fingerprints. We don’t need state-certified teachers to make education happen–that probably guarantees it won’t.
How much more evidence is necessary? Good schools don’t need more money or a longer year; they need real free-market choices, variety that speaks to every need and runs risks. We don’t need a national curriculum, or national testing either. Both initiatives arise from ignorance of how people learn, or deliberate indifference to it.
I can’t teach this way any longer. If you hear of a job where I don’t have to hurt kids to make a living, let me know. Come fall I’ll be looking for work, I think.
The Ultimate History Lesson
TVCasualty likes this
#2 Myc
App Administrator
Awwwwww fuck. Another promoter of thinking is lost to us.
I was already a little depressed today - what with elections and all.
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Arch Coal, Peabody to Combine Wyoming Coal Mines, Other Assets
Nick Learned
Michael Smith, Getty Images
Peabody Energy and Arch Coal will combine two coal mines in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming into a single complex as part of a joint venture aimed at improving the companies' ability to compete with natural gas and renewable energy suppliers.
Arch Coal's Black Thunder Mine and Peabody Energy's North Antelope Rochelle Mine will be combined into a single, lower-cost complex, the companies say. The two mines currently share a seven-mile property line.
Three other Powder River Basin mines will be included in the project: the Caballo, Rawhide and Coal Creek mines. The companies say those operations have some of the best overburden-to-coal ratios in the world and, along with Black Thunder and the North Antelope Rochelle Mine, represent five of the 10 most productive coal mines in the United States.
Colorado assets will also be contributed to the joint venture.
"We are excited about this transaction's potential to enhance the value of Arch's top-tier thermal coal assets," Arch CEO John W. Eaves said in a news release. "This new joint venture should allow us to realize the full potential of our valuable assets in the Powder River Basin and Colorado and benefit our customers in the process. The significant operating synergies will enhance the competitiveness of these assets and also enable us to continue to generate long-term, sustainable returns for our shareholders."
The project will be operated by Peabody, which will own 66.5% of the joint venture. The remaining 33.5% will be owned by Arch Coal. The companies will share profits, capital requirements and cash distributions in proportion to those ownership percentages.
The two companies will appoint a five-person board of managers to control the project. Until the transaction -- which is subject to regulatory approval -- closes, the companies will continue to operate their assets independently.
Per the statement, Peabody has the lowest cost position among major Powder River Basin coal producers. Arch, meanwhile, has some of the basin's highest-quality coal.
"The Peabody/Arch joint venture is an extraordinary example of industrial logic targeted to strengthen the competitive position of our products and create significant value for multiple stakeholders in a low-cost combination with exceptional physical synergies," said Peabody President and Chief Executive Officer Glenn Kellow. "The transaction unites two strong, culturally aligned workforces with a commitment to core values such as safety and sustainability. We believe this joint venture allows us to offer enhanced products and security of supply for customers, increased value for shareholders, greater efficiencies for railroads, long-term opportunities for employees and strength for the communities in which we operate."
Among the Colorado assets involved is Arch's West Elk Mine, which enhances Peabody's Twentymile Mine.
The companies expect that their joint venture will significantly reduce costs beyond what either company could achieve on its own, thus enabling stronger competition against other energy sources for electricity generation.
Substantial benefits expected by the companies include:
Optimization of mine planning, sequencing and accessing otherwise isolated reserves;
Improved efficiencies in deployment of the combined equipment fleet;
More efficient procurement and warehousing;
Enhanced blending capabilities to more closely meet customer requirements;
Improved utilization of the combined rail loadout system and other rail efficiencies;
Reductions in long-term capital requirements; and
Leveraging of shared services.
"In addition to enhancing the competitiveness of our western thermal coal platform, this move represents an excellent fit with our well-defined strategy for long-term value creation and growth," Eaves said. "While we expect our thermal coal assets to contribute significantly to our overall financial performance well into the future, we plan to focus our future growth and all of our projected growth capital on our core coking coal segment. Earlier this year, we announced plans to develop a second, world-class, High-Vol A longwall mine on the Leer reserves in northern West Virginia, and will continue to evaluate additional investments on this 200-million-ton reserve base over time. Looking ahead, we anticipate continued, favorable market dynamics in global coking coal markets, and view our premier coking coal portfolio as the centerpiece of our strategy to drive exceptional, long-term returns."
The assets involved in the joint venture shipped a combined 206 million tons of coal last year, the companies say. They are currently staffed by roughly 3,300 people.
Proven and probable reserves at those mines totaled 3.4 billion tons as of Dec. 31, according to the statement.
The companies were set to hold a conference call to discuss details Wednesday morning.
Categories: News, Wyoming News
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ND Women’s Tennis
Irish drop pair off conference matches in North Carolina
Michael Ivey | Thursday, March 31, 2016
Over the weekend, Notre Dame dropped conference matchups to both North Carolina State and North Carolina.
On Thursday, the Irish (9-8, 3-5 ACC) lost a tight 4-3 match against NC State (10-6, 3-4) at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Juniors Mary Closs and Jane Fennelly were the lone winners in singles competition for Notre Dame. Closs lost her first set 7-5 before storming back to win the final two sets 6-3 and 7-5. Fennelly lost her first set 6-4, but bounced back to win the second set 6-4. In the third and decisive set, Fennelly was losing 3-2 before her opponent retired, giving Fennelly the match win.
Sophomore Allison Miller lost her first set 6-2 before fighting back to take the second set 6-4. She lost the decisive set, 6-4. Junior Monica Robinson dropped her first set 6-3, rebounded to earn a hard-fought second-set win, 7-6(2), but was bested 6-4 in the third set. Senior Quinn Gleason, on the No. 1 court, lost a close first set, 7-6(3), and was defeated in the second set, 6-4. Sophomore Brooke Broda also lost her match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.
In doubles action, the tandems of Gleason and Robinson and Miller and Broda both won 6-4, on the first and third courts respectively, to take the doubles point. The pairing of Closs and senior Julie Vrabel were shut out in their match, 6-0.
Then on Saturday, Notre Dame traveled to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to take on the No. 4 Tar Heels (20-2, 8-0) at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, ending up on the wrong end of a 5-2 decision. Closs and Broda were the winners in singles competition for the Irish. Closs took the first set 7-5 before shutting out her opponent in the second set 6-0. Broda won her match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Gleason, Robinson, Miller and Fennelly all lost their matches in straight sets.
In doubles action, Gleason and Robinson dropped a 6-1 decision, while the team of Closs and Vrabel was defeated 6-2. The match between Miller and Broda and their opponent was discontinued while the pair was down 5-2.
Irish head coach Jay Louderback said despite the recent losses, his team will not change its game preparation routine and said his team needs to focus on taking each match one at a time.
“We are preparing for Florida State like we always do,” Louderback said. “We are focusing on playing each match.”
When asked which of his players he thought stood out the most in their last two matches, Louderback responded that he liked the contributions from several players last weekend.
“I thought we had good outings from different players in each match,” Louderback said.
The Irish will be back in action this Friday when they host conference-rival Florida State at Eck Tennis Pavilion. The Seminoles (9-9, 1-7) are coming off of a 4-0 loss to Virginia on Sunday.
“It looks like the match will be indoors so we are getting plenty of indoor play in this week,” Louderback said.
Five of Notre Dame’s final seven regular season games will take place at home. Louderback thinks playing in a familiar environment will be beneficial for his team in this important final stretch of the regular season.
“We are very excited to be playing the majority of our remaining matches at home,” Louderback said. “It seems like we have been on the road most of the season.”
Tags: Allison Miller, Brooke Broda, Jane Fennelly, Jay Louderback, Julie Vrabel, Mary Closs, Monica Robinson, NC State, ND Women's Tennis, North Carolina, Quinn Gleason
About Michael Ivey
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Urban Legend Streaming Movie in HD
Canada, France, United States of America
Alicia Witt, Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart, Michael Rosenbaum, Loretta Devine, Tara Reid, John Neville, Joshua Jackson, Julian Richings, Robert Englund, Danielle Harris
Watch Urban Legend Online Streaming
Summary: Urban Legend
Watch Urban Legend (1998) : Full Movie Online Free There's a campus killer on the loose who's making urban legends, like the one about eating pop rocks and soda at the same time will make your stomach explode and the one about a psycho with an axe stepping into the backseat of your car at the gas station when not looking, into reality.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
Prom Night
The Purge: Anarchy
The Strangers: Prey at Night
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
https://netflix-tv.org:443/movie/9877/urban-legend.htmlНажмите правой клавишей мыши и выберите «Копировать ссылку»
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