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[] | 2016-08-26T12:58:29 | null | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | CNN anchor Anderson Cooper revealed that he's a lifelong fan of Dungeons & Dragons. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fanderson-cooper-reveals-love-of-dungeons-dragons%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/cooper.png | en | null | Anderson Cooper Reveals Love of 'Dungeons & Dragons' | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Soth Team
“I’m like the elven version of you,” said Hamptonite Anderson Cooper on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
In a season full of political drama and election talk, host Stephen Colbert and Cooper had something much more pressing on their minds. The two television personalities disclosed to one another that they’re both huge fans of the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. As they compared characters, Cooper revealed that he played as an elf, while Colbert played as a magic-wielding woman.
“I’m trying to resist pushing up my glasses while we’re talking about this,” Cooper laughed, before the two moved on to discuss Architectural Digest’s cover story on the CNN star’s new house in Brazil.
Watch Cooper and Colbert talk Dungeons & Dragons (among other things) below. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/anderson-cooper-reveals-love-of-dungeons-dragons/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/27f78a98640f0a6cbca0f6b31c93bdfa2217df06d7c09b0ef4487c89da8c986d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:57:12 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | Dan reads Chernow's Alexander Hamilton and dreams about why he was shot during his duel with Aaron Burr. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fburr-shoots-hamilton-dead-because-of-a-clothesline-pulley-what%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/AlexanderHamilton10DollarBill.jpg | en | null | Burr Shoots Hamilton Because of a Clothesline Pulley? | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Dan Rattiner
Last spring, my step-son Alex bought his mother and me two tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway. Things being what they are, the tickets are for a show in October. I didn’t want to know what they cost.
As a result of this, my wife began reading the book Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, upon which this hip-hop musical is based. I began to read it, too.
All this is as preview to this remarkable dream I had last night. I’ve never had a dream like this.
I fell asleep reading Alexander Hamilton. I am about a quarter of the way through and I have to say I have rather fallen in love with the fellow. Born on the island of Nevis to down-and-out white planters, his abused mother flees with him to St. Croix when he is six years old. He learns to read and write. Then he reads the classics. At 14 he is working for a sugar merchant down on the docks, hauling barrels around. The merchant has to go abroad for a while and, amazingly, decides to put Hamilton in charge. He’s quite good at running the firm. At 16, his mother dies and the islanders raise money and send him to New York City to get a proper education. He’s brilliant, well mannered, is accepted at King’s College, where he’s a straight A student, and falls in with the wealthy New York society students unhappy with British rule.
The Boston Tea Party takes place, the British send their army to teach the Massachusetts rebels a lesson in good government by killing them—keep in mind there is no country, just a bunch of colonies—and here in New York Hamilton writes celebrated essays against British rule that get national exposure, joins a militia and is made a Lieutenant in charge of New York’s Artillery Company, such as it is, to defend Manhattan against the arriving British fleet. Hamilton is 19 years old. The Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia and chooses George Washington, at 43, a veteran of the Indian Wars, to raise an army to fight the British. Washington, observing Hamilton’s sharp mind and bravery, puts him in charge of all the army’s artillery. He’s 21. He’s the boss of generals. Overwhelmed with battles everywhere, Washington now promotes Hamilton to be his chief of staff, and Hamilton occasionally makes decisions on his own during the battle of Brooklyn, the retreat to Harlem and Morristown and, well, that’s when I fell asleep.
Who cannot but love a guy like this? Five years earlier, he’s 16, negotiating deals on the docks of St. Croix. Now, at 21, he’s the second in command of Washington’s army. I know that at 47 he dies, dueling Aaron Burr. I do not yet know how that happens.
In my dream, I’m watching the things that happen to cause the duel. They seem to be very piddly things. Two families are having an argument. The police are called. The police confine one man to a small patch of grass on a public sidewalk surrounded by a three-foot fence—it’s a fence designed to keep dogs from peeing on the tree. He’s there with the tree. And that is to be the cause of the duel.
I, in the dream, talk to myself, asserting this makes no sense. This wakes me up. It is 2 a.m. I grope my way into the bathroom and splash water on my face. Then I stumble back to bed and fall back to sleep.
Whoever is running my dream agrees, so here’s another cause of the duel. The families are now arguing about a clothesline pulley that can or cannot be attached to the two adjacent homes of the participants. This explanation as the cause of the duel is asserted over and over as I, in the dream, follow along with this logic, reject it, ask for the real reason and then it is replayed again and again. It is 4 a.m. I am up again.
Again, I splash water on my face. Now I am determined to find out the real cause. Back in bed, I Google “Hamilton Burr Duel” on my iPhone. The duel takes place in New Jersey in 1804. Both men are in their late 40s. Hamilton has insulted Burr numerous times. Hamilton is Secretary of the Treasury. Burr is a sitting Vice President. Hamilton won’t apologize. Aides can’t work out a negotiated settlement. They are given pistols, take the 10 steps, turn, shoot and Hamilton falls and dies. But there is nothing here about what caused it.
So I Google “Aaron Burr bio.” And I get the facts.
Burr is born in Newark, New Jersey, and both parents die when he is young and he has a miserable childhood. He meets Hamilton. They are almost exactly the same age. And they become friends. Burr fights the British at Ticonderoga and Quebec. The war won, the country established, they move on. Burr is ambitious. He becomes Senator from New York by dethroning longtime Senator Philip Schuyler, who is the father-in-law of Hamilton, now Secretary of the Treasury in Washington.
In New York City, people die because there is no public water system. New York Senator Burr needs Washington to provide money for a private system and gets a bill passed to create a water company, which he, Burr will head up. Funding needs approval from Hamilton. Hamilton approves, the water company is approved, and as Burr does this, he sneaks in a passage in the water company charter to permit it to open a bank. Burr opens the bank (predecessor to JPMorgan Chase), gets rich, then never opens the water company. More New Yorkers die. Friendship over.
Burr then creates Tammany Hall to run New York. In 1796 and then again in 1800, Burr gets himself “partnered” with Thomas Jefferson to run for President. Burr is supposed to bring in the New York delegates and finish second, which would make him Vice President with Jefferson as President in the arrangement as it was then. Instead, in 1800, Burr does some behind-the-scenes maneuvering and winds up in a tie for first. Jefferson denounces Burr but there is nothing he can do. Who becomes President will be resolved by the House of Representatives. The House turns to, among others, Alexander Hamilton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, founder of the country and creator of the national treasury, and Hamilton denounces the son of a bitch. Burr loses, but is Vice President for four years, after which everyone, including Jefferson, kicks him aside.
Burr runs for Senator from New York against Schuyler, who won his old seat when Burr was Vice President, and Burr, again insulted by Hamilton, is this time trounced. Time for a duel.
Dueling is illegal. In New York, if it kills somebody, the charge is murder. In New Jersey, it is also illegal but the charge is less onerous. End of Hamilton. And so I go to sleep.
In the morning, curious, I wonder what became of Burr. After the duel, he is a fugitive. His political career is over. But he notices that the United States has just purchased Louisiana and other territories off to the west. He decides to invade Louisiana with a small personal army, become Emperor of Louisiana and then, possibly, Mexico. He knows how to run a country. His soldiers battle for control, lose, Burr is arrested and charged with treason. Somehow, after this, Burr makes bail, flees to Europe, goes into business, goes bankrupt, flees back to America to escape debtors prison, then gets the treason charge and the murder charge delayed and delayed and finally, dismissed. He fathers two illegitimate children with his favorite house servant, then dies bitter and alone at the age of 80.
Hmmm. Just one vote shy of becoming President of the United States. Wouldn’t that have been something.
Can’t wait to see Hamilton. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/burr-shoots-hamilton-dead-because-of-a-clothesline-pulley-what/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/f94a41d2cc7e1179b58415ad51828f80be44215d719fd03df5dc29b90ae5908c.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:59:16 | null | 2016-08-04T00:00:00 | Find something great to do with your kids this weekend in the Hamptons! | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fhamptons-weekend-kids-events-826-828%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/40333266_l.jpg | en | null | Hamptons Weekend Kids' Events, 8/26-8/28 | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Dan's Papers Calendar Team
This weekend in the Hamptons, take your kids to an outdoor puppet show, learn to sculpt, go on a nature walk, learn to write a haiku and more!
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26
JACKSON POLLOCK FAMILY DRIP PAINTING AT POLLOCK KRASNER HOUSE
10 a.m. Take a guided tour of the home and studio of Jackson Pollock and his wife, fellow artist Lee Krasner. Then make your own artwork to take home. Pollock Krasner House, 830 Springs Fireplace Road, East Hampton. 631-329-2811
SCULPTING WITH PAPER AT MANNIX STUDIO
10 a.m. Ages 6–13. The Mannix Studio of Art, 38 Gingerbread Lane, East Hampton. 631-527-5151 mannix.studio
BARBIE BONANZA AT JOHN JERMAIN LIBRARY
10:30 a.m. Ages 1–4. Boys and girls ages 3 and up can play with the library’s supply of beautiful dolls and clothes. John Jermain Memorial Library, 201 Main Street, Sag Harbor. 631-725-0049 johnjermain.org
WATER BALLOON RELAY AT HAMPTON LIBRARY
Noon. For children ages 4 and up. Help your team carry water balloons in a quick and slippery race. Hampton Library in Bridgehampton. 2478 Main Street, Bridgehampton. 631-537-0015 hamptonlibrary.org
TWEENS & TEENS WEARABLE ART AT MONTAUK LIBRARY
4 p.m. Create your own tote bags using colorful duct tape. Montauk Library, 871 Montauk Highway, Montauk. 631-668-3377 montauklibrary.org
OUTDOOR PUPPET SHOW AT SOUTHAMPTON ARTS CENTER
4:30 p.m. “Punch and Judy in the Kitchen” presented by Goat on a Boat. Southampton Arts Center, 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton. 631-283-0967 southamptonartscenter.org
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27
HAIKU POETRY AT PLAYFUL LEARNING STUDIO
10 a.m. Ages 6–12. Explore haiku poetry and learn how to create your own. Playful Learning Studio, 46 Newtown Lane, East Hampton. 631-899-4574 playfullearning.net
NATURE WALK AND HISTORY AT THE SOUTH FORK NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
10:30 a.m. Take a short nature walk and learn the history of Conscience Point. South Fork Natural History Museum, 377 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Bridgehampton. 631-537-9735 sofo.org
THE JOSHUA SHOW AT BAY STREET THEATER
11 a.m. Goat on a Boat presents the lessons of Joshua and his sock puppet, Mr. Nicholas. Bay Street Theater, 1 Bay Street, Sag Harbor. 631-725-9500 baystreet.org
GET INTO THE SWIM OF THINGS AT SOFO
2 p.m. Observe fish in the museum tanks and learn some fish facts. Then create your own species of fish and make a mobile. South Fork Natural History Museum, 377 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Bridgehampton. 631-537-9735 sofo.org
SUNDAY, AUGUST 28
WHEN THE WIND BLOWS AT SOFO
10:30 a.m. Ages 5–7. Listen to a reading of Richard and Amy Hutchings book When the Wind Blows, then conduct your own wind experiments. South Fork Natural History Museum, 377 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, Bridgehampton. 631-537-9735 sofo.org
EARTH PAINTING AT GALLERY NORTH
1 p.m. make paints using herbs, essential oils and other natural ingredients. Gallery North, 90 North Country Road, Setauket. 631-751-2676 gallerynorth.org | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/hamptons-weekend-kids-events-826-828/ | en | 2016-08-04T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/945a7d8b2804b93af8fd26789884ed9e6ffd99f03eee3f4637ef7e8f45a09a1f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:56:45 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | Southampton Arts Center continues its Free Friday Night Outdoor Screenings with "Tootsie," starring Dustin Hoffman, on Friday, August 26. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Ftootsie-screens-at-southampton-arts-center%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/tootsie-SouthamptonArtsCenter.jpg | en | null | 'Tootsie' Screens at Southampton Arts Center | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Dan's Papers
Southampton Arts Center continues its Free Friday Night Outdoor Screenings with Tootsie, on Friday, August 26, presented in partnership with Hamptons International Film Festival and sponsored by Dan’s Papers.
The gender-bending, 1982 comedy stars Dustin Hoffman as Michael Dorsey, a brilliant but troublesome and difficult-to-work-with actor who is told by his agent that he’ll never work again. Determined to prove everyone wrong he poses as a woman to get a role on a popular soap opera—and he’s a hit! With an all-star cast including Bill Murray, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr and Dabney Coleman, Tootsie also marks Geena Davis’ acting debut. Oscar-winner Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, The Way We Were) produced and directed the film, which also earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. Tootsie was shot for $21 million and brought in more than $177 million at the box office. Rated PG.
The screening take places on the grounds of the Southampton Arts Center at 25 Jobs Lane in Southampton Village. Bring a blanket or beach chairs and picnic on the lawn!
Guests can test their knowledge during a round of Tootsie trivia prior to the film.
Approximate start time: 8:30 p.m. on Friday, August 26. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/tootsie-screens-at-southampton-arts-center/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/eb77874c227ad9ce3c095aede526bbacb082a786194e8e37534b801641117330.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T14:48:32 | null | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | This week’s cover is the poster of the 2016 Hampton Classic, from the painting “Flexible Soul” by equine artist Shannon Lawlor. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fdans-papers-cover-artist-shannon-lawlor-paints-hampton-classic-poster%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ShannonLawlorDansCoverArtDETAIL.jpg | en | null | Dan's Cover Artist Shannon Lawlor Paints Hampton Classic | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Stephanie Holmes
This week’s cover is the poster of the 2016 Hampton Classic, from the painting “Flexible Soul” by equine artist Shannon Lawlor. It depicts the celebrated Olympic show jumping stallion, Flexible, the mount of U.S. Olympic veteran Rich Fellers.
Lawlor came across Flexible and Fellers while displaying her artwork at the Masters Tournament at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, British Columbia last year. She caught sight of the 2012 FEI World Cup Champions before they entered the show ring, and took a photograph that inspired her to create the painting.
Lawlor’s passion for horses runs deep. “It isn’t one thing, it’s everything they encompass. The hang time between strides—it’s that fleeting moment right there, the pause in his gait, that takes my breath away,” she explains in the video, For the Love of Horses. “I’m so inspired when I see them move or when they turn and look at somebody a certain way. That’s the moment I try to seize and take to the studio with me and carry over into my artwork.”
Before making the journey from her home in Alberta, Canada to Bridgehampton for the Hampton Classic this weekend, Lawlor spoke a bit about her art.
Alberta, Canada—what’s that like right now?
It’s summer—it’s about 72 degrees. I live on the Eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies so every day is beautiful.
Have you ever been out to Long Island?
I’ve been to New York twice, but not out to the Island. This will be my first time. We’re making the trip out there for the Hampton Classic and planning to leave tomorrow to start the drive. I’m the first Canadian they’ve ever picked for the poster. It’s a big honor. They invited me so I will be set up there with a gallery in Stable Row.
When did you get started painting?
Before I can remember. I’ve always wanted to draw and paint, and it’s always been there. I’ve been professionally painting for 11 years now.
Did you study art formally?
I have no formal education in art, but took semi-private lessons and learned about the technical side. Then I combined it with what I knew about horses and formed a career as an equine artist.
When did your love for horses begin?
Since before I can remember. I’ve always had horses and I grew up with them. They definitely shaped how my life unfolded. My whole life has revolved around horses—I’ve worked hands on in the equine industry, so my love and knowledge and experience of them has transferred over to the artwork, but I know it comes from a deep love and experience.
Lawlor’s work hangs in ranches, as well as office towers, hotels and homes, and she is often spotlighted as a featured artist at invitational shows including Nevada’s Northeastern Museum, Arizona’s Phippen Museum and Alberta’s Calgary Stampede. The original depiction of “Flexible Soul” is painted in acrylic on Baltic birch, measuring 24” x 36” and is available for purchase at the Hampton Classic. To see more of her artwork, check out shannonlawlor.com and be sure to visit her at this year’s Hampton Classic. Visit hamptonclassic.com for dates and times. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/dans-papers-cover-artist-shannon-lawlor-paints-hampton-classic-poster/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/3bcd3ba7dcbffd14d7cae63f5e8b168ab04a5a31b38ccdbcf4a38b9affcd3ad1.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T18:49:59 | null | 2016-08-08T00:00:00 | This week’s real estate top five offers beautiful properties for sale in Hamptons horse country. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Ftop-5-properties-for-sale-in-hamptons-horse-country%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/8OldMontaukHwy-Elliman-3WEB.jpg | en | null | Top 5 Properties for Sale in Hamptons Horse Country | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Oliver Peterson
The Hamptons real estate market has something special for all breed of horse fan. This week’s top five listings have properties for budding and experienced horse farmers and ranchers, riders, and even those armchair equestrians who simply enjoy living in proximity to the beautiful paddocks, stables and grazing grounds of Hamptons horse country.
8 Old Montauk Highway, Montauk (also illustrated at top of post)
$14,750,000
The Ranch at Indian Fields is a rare and exciting offering for any Hamptons horse lover. Surrounded by miles of riding trails and hundreds of acres of adjoining oceanfront reserve, this historic, 24-acre equestrian farm boasts two restored barns (combined 29 stalls), a legal 3-bedroom residence and various other outbuildings and paddocks. The property is currently operating as a ranch for cattle, sheep and horses with boarding facilities, riding lessons and livestock sales. A new 5,000-square-foot farmhouse consists of 4 bedrooms, den/office, 3.5 baths, central air conditioning, gourmet kitchen, wide plank flooring throughout, original barn beams, 2 fireplaces, 2-car garage and full basement. This serene and peaceful setting is truly a one-of-a-kind property in one of the hottest markets on the East End. Douglas Elliman
32 W. Pond Drive, Bridgehampton
$4,895,000
This gorgeous 1.5-acre, vacant parcel in Bridgehampton South looks west to the sunset over a contiguous 18-acre celebrity horse farm—and it’s now available to build a grand house in a spectacular fashion. Plans by McDonough & Conroy are available and permitted to immediately build a 12,000-square-foot house with three levels of living space, pool, spa, cabana, tennis court and an additional detached garage. And if you’re an equestrian, imagine keeping your horses in a state of the art facility just next door. Poised on a quiet street where houses have sold recently for well over $13 million, the property is near Bridgehampton’s Main Street, world-class golf courses and ocean beaches. Corcoran Group
Startop Ranch, Startop Drive South, Montauk
$4,800,000
Part of Dr. Leon Star’s famous Startop Ranch and Montauk’s last and only 8-acre offering with elevations of more than 100 feet above sea level, this property enjoys panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean, Lake Montauk, Block Island Sound and wooded parklands. It features a 2.1-acre building parcel and a 5.9-acre agricultural reserve, allowing for a substantial residence, pool, garage, and equestrian facility, if desired. A large enclosed riding arena, and a smaller stable still stand on the grounds. May also be combined with an additional .91-acre residential parcel, and is in close proximity to all the wonderful sites and activities on The End. Sotheby’s International Realty
28 Farm House Lane, East Hampton
$3,695,000
This pastoral, 4.3-acre oasis surrounded by a 28-acre reserve with designated horse and nature trails is a rare find. Discovered down a long meandering driveway, the charming traditional farmhouse offers a spacious interior, well planned for privacy, with 5 bedrooms, 7 baths, 4 fireplaces, den, office, various loft areas, formal dining, sunroom and gym. Continuous expanses of glass provide excellent natural light throughout. The bucolic and secluded grounds include a swimming pool, tennis court and a variety of serene sitting areas. Located in the historic section of Springs, where artists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning lived and worked, near open spaces and pristine beaches on Gardiners Bay and Accabonac Harbor, as well as the iconic Springs General Store, Ashawagh Hall and the Pollock Krasner House & Study Center. Sotheby’s International Realty
181 Middle Highway, East Hampton
$3,100,000
This custom built home on over 5 acres in East Hampton includes a completely cleared property ready for a horse barn, vineyard, putting green or great lawn. The 4,700 square foot house has 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, living room, dining room, den with fireplace and a two-story library, as well as a finished basement and 3-car garage. Permits are in place for a 6-stall barn with tack room, shower stall, grain room, bathroom and mechanicals. The property is very private, with more than 100 trees on the perimeter. There is room for a pool and tennis court. Douglas Elliman
Read more Real Estate Top 5 lists here. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/top-5-properties-for-sale-in-hamptons-horse-country/ | en | 2016-08-08T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/5c334d4276cc869cf382e02df5a20a433ceac0c516cc922f21461ff87a987b73.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:49:33 | null | 2012-01-26T00:00:00 | Where to stay, where to play, and where to eat in The Hamptons - The Only Hamptons Resource You Need. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2012%2F01%2Fbilly-joel-takes-sagaponack-house-off-the-market%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/themes/education/images/favicon.ico | en | null | Billy Joel Takes Sagaponack House Off the Market | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by SOTH Team
Billy Joel has taken the oceanfront Sagaponack home he bought for ex-wife Katie Lee in 2007 off the market. When asked why, his real estate agent said “personal use.” The 5,500-square-foot home, which once belonged to the late Roy Scheider, was originally listed for $22.5 million before being reduced to $16.75 million. | http://www.danspapers.com/2012/01/billy-joel-takes-sagaponack-house-off-the-market/ | en | 2012-01-26T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/868fc89e95201c11900567ecbc773821e59084ab2aa24c5b9bfd88108aaddc0d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:47:37 | null | 2011-12-01T00:00:00 | Where to stay, where to play, and where to eat in The Hamptons - The Only Hamptons Resource You Need. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2011%2F12%2Fjaws-vs-war-horse-the-first-and-last-spielberg-film-premiered-in-east-hampton%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/War-horse-movie-9.jpg | en | null | Jaws Vs. War Horse: The First and Last Spielberg Film Premiered in East Hampton | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Dan Rattiner
The soon-to-be-released movie War Horse, directed by Steven Spielberg, was shown in East Hampton over the Thanksgiving Weekend. It was a sneak preview, with only very high-profile guests invited, and it took place in the private movie theatre in the Goose Creek Mansion on Wainscott Stone Highway. Attending on either Friday or Saturday night—the film was shown twice—were Jon Bon Jovi, Christie Brinkley and her daughters Alexa Ray and Sailor, John McEnroe, Lorraine Bracco, Jeff Zucker, Martha Stewart, Jay McInerney, Blythe Danner, Julian Schnabel and his daughter Lola, Candice Bergen and Allen Grubman. On Saturday night, Grubman invited many of the guests to his house for dinner.
This is Spielberg’s most recent movie. His first major film, Jaws, also had a first showing in East Hampton, and these are the only two of his movies that have premiered here. But that first one was 36 years ago. And the truth is the contrast between the two events tells you more about the Hamptons than it does about the films. Huge changes have taken place here in the interval.
In the present circumstance, you were either IN to watch War Horse or you were OUT. And if you were IN but not invited to the Grubman dinner, you were OUT but not so OUT as if you had not been invited to the showing. Afterwards, a press release announcing the attendees was sent out to the media.
In the case of Jaws, which was from a book by that name featuring the Hamptons prominently, the media barrage went out well ahead of the planned premiere. The PR people were looking for maximum publicity, the biggest buck. And that effort included sending PR people out to the Hamptons to get the locals ready for something they had never seen happen here before.
When the time came, a red carpet was rolled out from the entrance of the East Hampton Cinema to the street. Floodlights lit the scene. Photographers lined the carpet. Black stretch limousines pulled up and some of the actors and of course Mr. Spielberg were on hand to wave to this crowd of people looking on in amazement, wondering what was happening to the town.
At the same time, the residents of this town—the Main Street was lined with mom and pop stores such as the East Hampton Five and Ten, Marley’s Stationery Store and Diamond’s Furniture—were also wondering if the showing of Jaws would ruin the summer.
This town, and all the other towns in the Hamptons at that time, were dependent for their livelihood not on celebrities and their entourages, but on farming, fishing and, in the summer, the tourists.
According to all the build up to this premiere, the film could terrify people to the point that they might never go in the ocean again. The plot involved a man-eating shark who indeed, during the course of the film, ate numerous individuals in a very grisly manner.
I chose NOT to see the movie. I watched as the rich and famous pulled up to the theatre in their limos and went inside, then went down to Main Beach for awhile to defiantly go for a swim (my last swim?) and then return in time to see some of those who went in come back out.
Numerous people were near to hysterical. “I’m never going in the ocean again!” a 10-year-old told me, confirming our worst fears.
“It wasn’t that bad,” said a young couple who came out holding hands. Obviously they had held one another when the worst parts were taking place, so that was a comfort.
I asked about 10 people what they thought. Half were terrified. A few were crying. The other half were okay. We would lose half our summer.
As it turned out, however, having the Jaws premiere in East Hampton was a huge net positive. Most of those who got scared out of their minds soon got over it. Meanwhile, the mention of East Hampton put the town on the map, and the names of the celebrities attending—Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss, among many others—seemed to spark interest in coming out to the Hamptons to see what it was all about and to try to rub shoulders with the celebrities. Both Roy Scheider and Steven Spielberg bought houses here.
As for me, at that premiere, among other things, I was shocked to see this hysterical group of people with cameras rushing around like panting dogs taking pictures of famous people. Certainly Dan’s Papers didn’t have anybody down there doing that.
And so here it is today and the downtown is filled with the most expensive shops imaginable from Ralph Lauren to Tiffany’s and onward and the local mom and pop merchants cannot afford downtown. As for the rest, every Hollywood, Broadway, Media Mogul and Rock Star either lives here or visits someone who is here.
And so the networking continues, behind the hedgerows of course. Fishing and farming and tourism remain, but these industries have faded off into the background a bit. And that’s the way it is. | http://www.danspapers.com/2011/12/jaws-vs-war-horse-the-first-and-last-spielberg-film-premiered-in-east-hampton/ | en | 2011-12-01T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/7c12bbee5bd9bad52eb7bf94b439f532187d0f610104bb81bd483b8be8760dad.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T14:49:13 | null | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | Read the 2015 Emerging Young Writers prize winning nonfiction story, “Night Vision,” by Luke Sawaya. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2F2015-emerging-young-writers-prize-winner-night-vision-by-luke-sawaya%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Beachbonfire.jpg | en | null | 2015 Emerging Young Writers Prize Winner: “Night Vision” | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Luke Sawaya
All is stillness and silence when you step onto the beach. Until you stop and watch and listen. Then everything is set into motion. Small boats bob gently on the water, their lanterns casting a soft glow on the rippling waves. Schools of tiny silver fish glitter suddenly across the surface, scatter and vanish. The statuesque heron lifts his great wings and leaves his post for the evening. The tide rushes forward and then recedes, with shelled creatures left scuttling in its wake. Clouds shift ominously to allow for glimpses of a full moon. Sea breezes lift the scent of a bonfire and the rhythm of my neighbor’s drum circle, transporting me to a primitive wilderness where power is drawn from moonlight above and the dark perilous depths below.
I can weave magic here, cast a line, cast a spell, break the surface with the flash of a struggling striped bass. He looks at me with round, wild eyes and I am feeling benevolent. It is not your time, I think, as I release him. He disappears beneath sea foam and bioluminescence.
I hear shouts and laughter from my brother as he jumps up and down, his clasped hands glowing green. When he opens them the fireflies fly above his head and he’s quiet, intently watching their dance pattern of blinking lights. I call out to him, he quickly turns at the sound of my voice and runs to be at my side. He climbs into my raft and I push it into the water. I pull myself inside, grab my oar and start rowing. My little brother puts his hand over the side letting his fingers skim the surface of the water. He leans, and with a sudden splash he falls in.
When I bring him to shore, he’s wet and shivering, arms clinging tightly to my neck. As we walk I spot a piece of driftwood in the sand. I point it out to him and he bends to pick it up. I tell him to find more wood so he dashes back and forth scrounging for sticks and piling them in clumps. I neatly stack pieces and place dry, dead weeds at the base. I strike a match and with small sparks it bursts into flame. Soon the weeds are consumed, and the wood is crackling and snapping as it burns. We circle the fire with smooth rocks and sit for a few moments in silence near the fire, feeling its warmth and comfort.
My brother picks up a stick and starts poking, sending showers of tiny gold and red embers over us. There’s only one thing that will interest him more than lighting sticks on fire. I send him back home for marshmallows. When he returns I hand him his stick, and he proceeds to impale his marshmallow and let it hover over the flames. He leaves it in the fire so long its completely blackened and trailing smoke as he waves it in the air. Before we return for the night, I help my brother climb the highest rocks along the beach.
The waves crash on the shore like the heartbeat of a giant in eternal slumber. Water cascades down the sides of the rock but the spray can’t reach us here. From here we can stand and survey our entire kingdom. Our small universe. From here we can reach out and touch the moon, the stars, the galaxies. From here I’ll have to carry him half asleep home to bed.
You may have heard that the nightlife on the East End is amazing. Believe me when I tell you that everything you heard is true.
***
This story is written by Luke Sawaya, winner of the inaugural Emerging Young Writers Prize for Nonfiction in 2015 (pictured below).
To find who who’ll win this year’s Emerging Young Writers Prize for Nonfiction, as well as the 2016 Dan’s Papers Literary Prize for Nonfiction competition, please come join us at the Dan’s Papers Literary Festival on Thursday, September 1, starting at 4 p.m. at the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall in East Hampton. For more information about the Gala Awards Ceremony and other events, visit DansLitPrize.com.
RELATED: Top 10 Reasons You Can’t Miss Dan’s Papers Literary Festival | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/2015-emerging-young-writers-prize-winner-night-vision-by-luke-sawaya/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/02519af35b6a759c4fd2a30e469e8b56988d649e99ca5452dc478f3160bf5646.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:00:31 | null | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | The song "God Bless America" should not be banned from baseball. Believers help keep a moral compass in the world, even on Shelter Island. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fsheltered-islander-god-bless-america-and-hostess-cupcakes%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/GodBlessHostessCupcakes.jpg | en | null | 'God Bless America' & Hostess Cupcakes | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Sally Flynn
Gersh Kuntzman, who writes for The New York Post, has declared that the song “God Bless America” should be banned from baseball because “it offends everyone.” Yeah, well, some people need to be offended. I’m sick of the Thought Police, aka political correctness, insisting that the majority is free to think as long as they agree with the minority—in this case, atheists. There are more believers than there are of them and I say we can take ’em.
Throughout history, a firm moral compass, provided by a belief in a form of God, has been key to the survival of many cultures. Example: the Jewish people, God bless every one of them. The Laws of Moses, which they believe came from God, are the core of their morality, and their laws form the foundation of western societies.
In the absence of God, the state can become God (see North Korea), and morality becomes relative to who’s in charge this week.
I, for one, need a moral compass based on God because of the many times I would have lapsed if I didn’t believe in an ultimate accounting.
I was grocery shopping and my cart stopped in front of the Hostess cupcakes. I saw that one of the packages had been sliced open by a box cutter and was in danger of bleeding out its creamy filling. If I left it there, it might get tossed, so I tossed it into my handbag. In a godless society this would be easy to do. I got as far as the canned peas when years of Catholic indoctrination kicked in and I could see the neon arrow with the word “thief” over my head pointed at me. I put the cupcakes in the cart and I continued to shop, secure in the knowledge that I had just saved myself 15 minutes in purgatory. Had I been an atheist, would I have stolen the cupcakes? Hell yeah.
New problem: now I have open cupcakes staring up at me. I can eat one and pay for both at the checkout, or eat both and hide the wrapper under the avocados. The waft of the cream broke though my minimal resistance. I reasoned I could always use the “I’m a diabetic” defense, saying that I just had to eat one. I ate one and paid for both and headed out.
In the parking lot I saw a shiny new two-foot scratch on my van with a note that read, “I’m writing this note because people are looking, but I’m not paying for this scratch on your old van.” I was angry. The perpetrator’s moral compass was either turned off or on “pause” that day. I always have red nail polish with me, so I painted over the scratch and you can only see it in a certain light—such as daylight.
But even with a moral compass, I falter. I can’t turn in a family member for bass fishing off-season, largely because I served the evidence for dinner. The best rationalization here is that bass have free will too, and if they happen to run into a fishhook, it’s not my fault. If I’m this wicked with a fear of God, imagine how wild I’d be without it. I’d be driving without a seatbelt, slashing tires to get ahead in the ferry line, drinking red wine with fish—just a complete reprobate.
This Island supports four houses of worship. I’ve spent a lot of time at the Quaker meetings. Just spending an hour with my mouth closed is one of God’s small miracles, supported by all the Friends willing to lend me duct tape.
Everyone on the Island has a spiritual facet. It’s hard to dismiss God in the face of nature.
Stop singing “God Bless America” because it offends you, Mr. Kuntzman? Well, your request offends me, so lets call it a draw.
READ MORE SHELTERED ISLANDER | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/sheltered-islander-god-bless-america-and-hostess-cupcakes/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/6594cfa1f9a38ce3af019978363465c039d71702eaf7af03724195cc86ab612a.json |
[] | 2016-08-30T14:50:38 | null | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | Read today's Hamptons Surf Report for Tuesday, August 30, 2016. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fhamptons-surf-report-tuesday-august-30-2016%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/SurferEndofDayDevon.jpg | en | null | Hamptons Surf Report: Tuesday, August 30, 2016 | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Lutha Leahy-Miller
The Lutha Report for Hamptons Surf:
Head high to overhead ESE ground-swell with light winds. The swell should continue to pump all day long, but you’re going to have to find the right break on the right tide…
Wind Forecast:
WSW-WNW winds 5-10 KT.NE-SE winds 5-10 KT.
Water Temp: 69° – 75°
Wear either a wetsuit top and boardies, a short-sleeve full, or a short-sleeve spring, depending upon your constitution.
Montauk Point (Ocean) Tides:
HIGH: 7:11 a.m. • LOW: 12:44 p.m. • HIGH: 7:35 p.m.
Next Chance For Surf:
Mixed ground-swell from Gaston and TD-8 should continue tonight into early a.m. Wednesday and early afternoon, but with onshore winds… Thursday, we’re looking at remnant swell mixed with onshore wind-slop, and Friday we can expect early a.m. remnants [or total flatness] with stiff offshores…
Happy surfing!
RELATED: Find the Perfect Hamptons Surf Break
Artist and surfer Lutha Leahy-Miller has more than 20 years of experience riding Hamptons waves. He was formerly rated No. 3 in the Eastern Surfing Association for New York State and all of the Northeastern United States. To see Lutha’s art or to book a surf lesson, visit lutha.net. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/hamptons-surf-report-tuesday-august-30-2016/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/f380011562227149376dc180931850844b74eff06f88a421ec778250c03ed2a1.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:56:17 | null | 2015-02-16T00:00:00 | Enjoy everything The End has to offer with these events in Montauk for the weekend of 8/26–8/28. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fmontauk-weekend-events-826-828%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/168756_1423512567-e1472142609399.jpg | en | null | Montauk Weekend Events, 8/26-8/28 | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Dan's Papers Calendar Team
This weekend, head to Zum Schneider, the Montauk Beach House, Gosman’s, the Surf Lodge and Swallow East for some great live music. Take the kids for arts and crafts at Montauk Library, find hidden treasures at the rummage sale and watch an outdoor screening of Dirty Dancing.
Visit events.danspapers.com for more local events and activities!
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26
LUNCHTIME COLORING CLUB AT MONTAUK LIBRARY
1:30 p.m. Stop by and take part in a creative and therapeutic pastime. Montauk Library, 871 Montauk Highway, Montauk. 631-668-3377 montauklibrary.org
TWEENS & TEENS WEARABLE ART AT MONTAUK LIBRARY
4 p.m. Create your own tote bags using colorful duct tape. Montauk Library, 871 Montauk Highway, Montauk. 631-668-3377 montauklibrary.org
SAMUEL J AT THE SURF LODGE
6 p.m. The Surf Lodge, 183 Edgemere Street, Montauk. 631-238-5216 thesurflodge.com
JOHN VARVATOS ROCK AND ROLL DJ SESSION
6 p.m Jack Luber on the decks. The Montauk Beach House, 55 South Elmwood Avenue, Montauk. 631-668-2112 thembh.com
DJ LONE-STAR AT SHAGWONG
9 p.m.–2 a.m. Every Friday. Shagwong, 774 Main Street, Montauk. 631-668-3050
OUTDOOR MOVIE NIGHT AT SWALLOW EAST
9:30 p.m. This week’s movie: Dirty Dancing. Swallow East, 474 West Lake Drive, Montauk. 631-668-8344 swalloweastresturant.com
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27
COMMUNITY CHURCH WOMEN’S GUILD RUMMAGE SALE
9 a.m.–12 p.m. Toys, clothes, books, white elephant and more. Community Church, 850 Montauk Highway, Montauk. montaukchamber.com
FASHION POP-UPS AT GURNEY’S MONTAUK
Noon to 5 p.m. Every summer weekend. Gurney’s first fashion collective, with more than 10 brands participating. Gurney’s Montauk, 290 Old Montauk Highway, Montauk. 631-668-2345 gurneysmontauk.com
iPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY AT MONTAUK LIBRARY
1 p.m. Learn how to make the most of your iPhone camera. Montauk Library,
871 Montauk Highway, Montauk. 631-668-3377 montauklibrary.org
88 PALMS AT THE MONTAUK BEACH HOUSE
4 p.m. Live music poolside, and Spiky Phil DJ set. The Montauk Beach
House, 55 South Elmwood Avenue, Montauk. 631-668-2112 thembh.com
SIDEWALK CHALK & ICE POPS AT MONTAUK LIBRARY
3 p.m. Grades kindergarten and up. Learn to make sidewalk chalk paint, then decorate the sidewalks. Ice pops will be served! Montauk Library, 871 Montauk Highway, Montauk. 631-668-3377 montauklibrary.org
GALLANT AT THE SURF LODGE
6 p.m. Alternative R&B musician Christopher Gallant performs using striking falsetto. 183 Edgemere Street, Montauk. 631-238-5216 thesurflodge.com
HELLO BROOKLYN AT SWALLOW EAST
10 p.m. Swallow East, 474 West Lake Drive, Montauk. 631-668-8344 swalloweastresturant.com
THE DISFUNCTION AT ZUM SCHNEIDER
10 p.m.–1 a.m. Indie Rock/ Electronica. Zum Schneider, 4 South Elmwood Avenue, Montauk. 631-238-5963 zumschneider.com
SUNDAY, AUGUST 28
PAELLA SUNDAY AT THE MONTAUK BEACH HOUSE
1–5 p.m. DJ set by Spiky Phil. The Montauk Beach House, 55 South Elmwood Avenue, Montauk. 631-668-2112 thembh.com
GOSMAN’S DOCK SUMMER CONCERT SERIES
6–8 p.m. This week: Randy Jackson. Gosman’s, 484 West Lake Drive, Montauk. 631-668-5330 gosmans.com
WILD BELLE AT THE SURF LODGE
6 p.m. The sibling duo performs. 183 Edgemere Street, Montauk. 631-238-5216 thesurflodge.com
REGGAE AT SWALLOW EAST
8 p.m. URI performs. Swallow East, 474 West Lake Drive, Montauk. 631-668-8344 swalloweastresturant.com | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/montauk-weekend-events-826-828/ | en | 2015-02-16T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/1d544d7ced5ff83d0a78d210985e2212e32b1490f5d1f186c21f9558c6a11760.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:51:45 | null | 2012-08-19T00:00:00 | Where to stay, where to play, and where to eat in The Hamptons - The Only Hamptons Resource You Need. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2012%2F08%2Fvideo-sir-ivans-castle-party-in-water-mill-last-night%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/photo.jpeg | en | null | Video: Sir Ivan's Castle Party In Water Mill Last Night To Present His New Single La La Land | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by David Rattiner
Sir Ivan of Water Mill threw his annual castle party last night that was arguably the party of the summer. Attendees included Sir Ivan, Ramona Singer, Sonja Tremont Morgan, Mario Singer and Naomi Wilzig. The party was for the release of his new single, La La Land.
Guests were shipped via bus from a parking location in Water Mill to his private home, which was surrounded by tight security. His castle in Water Mill was filled with people dressed up in animal costumes, decorated with neon turtles. lit up with large fire bowls surrounding the pool, and complete with a live performance by Sir Ivan on his private stage. There is a video of the performance below that I took.
Sir Ivan was donning his signature cape with a diamond encrusted peace sign in the center of it, as well as being surrounded by beautiful women, seemingly at all times.
This guy is living life on his terms, seems to have a genuine passion for peace, and knows how to throw one hell of party in the Hamptons.
Last night, there was talk that the Sag Harbor Variety store completely sold out of costumes that were specifically being purchased just for this one party in the summer time.
Only in the Hamptons. | http://www.danspapers.com/2012/08/video-sir-ivans-castle-party-in-water-mill-last-night/ | en | 2012-08-19T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/5bed35cb3174f9a631b4bd7edd33d34b17d2c447de6b64bc9e6025b17cfecf32.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:55:13 | null | 2013-05-31T00:00:00 | Where to stay, where to play, and where to eat in The Hamptons - The Only Hamptons Resource You Need. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2013%2F05%2Fcynthia-rowleys-milk-bar-returns-to-montauk%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/montaukmilkbar2web.jpg | en | null | Milk Bar Returns Next to Cynthia Rowley in Montauk | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Hampton Eats
“The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultraviolence.”
-Alex the droog (A Clockwork Orange)
Right next door to Cynthia Rowley‘s Montauk store, Milk Bar Montauk (founded and owned by Christina Tosi) sells ice milk, cereal milk, stumptown coffee or Arnie Palmers, which is what the golfers drink. No violence required.
The Momofuku Milk Bar‘s Hamptons pop-up has returned to the Napeague Stretch for the season and they’re serving up various milky concoctions and cookies through Labor Day. This unique outdoor spot offers crack pie, whole and by the slice, b’day cake truffles, milk bar granola Karlie’s Kookies and other delights every weekend, 9 a.m.–9 p.m. through June 29, and daily, 9 a.m.–10 p.m. from July 4 through September 2.
Check them out at 696 Montauk Highway in Montauk before they’re gone. Here’s the menu. | http://www.danspapers.com/2013/05/cynthia-rowleys-milk-bar-returns-to-montauk/ | en | 2013-05-31T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/a160f00369c9919ab8710936043543504d119325ee3c512e73505fa1cd28c2a3.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T16:50:02 | null | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | The hit Netflix series Stranger Things was inspired by the Camp Hero urban legends in Montauk. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fstranger-things-directly-inspired-by-montauk-urban-legends%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ST_103-104_Unit_0724_R.jpeg | en | null | 'Stranger Things' Directly Inspired by Montauk Urban Legends | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Lee Meyer
You need to watch Stranger Things.
Stranger Things is Netflix’s latest smash hit original series, a supernatural drama that takes place in the 1980s about a small Indiana town rocked by the disappearance of a young boy and the conspiracy that begins to unravel as a result. Winona Ryder stars as Joyce Byers, a harried single mom of two boys, Will (who goes missing) and Jonathan, and David Harbour plays Police Chief Jim Hopper, who begins to uncover the truth about strange secret experiments happening on the outskirts of town. To say anymore would be to ruin the delightful surprise that is Stranger Things.
But the most fascinating thing about Stranger Things is that it was originally set not in a fictional Indiana town, but a very real place with its own real conspiracy theories and urban legends—Montauk. Many of the ideas explored in the show, such telekinesis, were directly inspired by urban legends surrounding the Camp Hero military base. The original script of the series’ pilot episode, which was originally just titled Montauk, actually opens with a quick history of Camp Hero and the alleged experiments that went on there, leading to its closing.
The reason for the change, according to co-creator Matt Duffer, came down to budget. Duffer told Tech Insider, “We liked the sort of coastal setting that [Montauk] allowed, and for production reasons it started to look more and more unfeasible.” Hey, Stranger Things—Revenge (sort of) made it work!
Watch Stranger Things on Netflix and click here for more on Camp Hero. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/stranger-things-directly-inspired-by-montauk-urban-legends/ | en | 2016-08-29T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/b3bd14d55c6862cdb11b39d3f4217c7f19f63e5e4aa1d3d06f8c96a86014bb3d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:48:02 | null | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | Read today's Hamptons Surf Report for Friday, August 26, 2016. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fhamptons-surf-report-friday-august-26-2016%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ThinkstockPhotos-496075088.jpg | en | null | Hamptons Surf Report: Friday, August 26, 2016 | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Lutha Leahy-Miller
The Lutha Report for Hamptons Surf:
Knee to thigh high, onshore mush…
Wind Forecast:
WSW winds 10-15 KT.
Water Temp: 69° – 74°
Wear a wetsuit top and boardies, or maybe a short-sleeve full, or a spring-suit, depending on your constitution.
Montauk Point (Ocean) Tides:
LOW: 8:33 a.m. • HIGH: 3:42 p.m. • LOW: 10:14 p.m.
Next Chance For Surf:
Background swell with N-NE winds Saturday, E-SE winds with background swell Sunday, possibly fun/great waves with light SW winds Monday, and light NE winds Tuesday, courtesy of Gaston…
Happy surfing!
RELATED: Find the Perfect Hamptons Surf Break
Artist and surfer Lutha Leahy-Miller has more than 20 years of experience riding Hamptons waves. He was formerly rated No. 3 in the Eastern Surfing Association for New York State and all of the Northeastern United States. To see Lutha’s art or to book a surf lesson, visit lutha.net. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/hamptons-surf-report-friday-august-26-2016/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/d5996738af4c708b1223cc2d629652f981d309b2cbcaabae0340f6835a1fc22a.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T20:47:55 | null | 2016-08-06T00:00:00 | See All the President's Men at Dan's Literary Festival, with an introduction by Carl Bernstein. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fsee-all-the-presidents-men-with-carl-bernstein-at-dans-literary-festival%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/6359358988184787502251515_41_every_20160314_PB_1653.jpg | en | null | See 'All the President's Men' with Carl Bernstein | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Dan's Literary Festival
In this charged political year, Dan’s Papers and Hamptons International Film Festival are proud to present a screening of All the President’s Men, with an introduction by the 2016 Dan’s Papers Literary Prize for Nonfiction Keynote Speaker, Carl Bernstein. The screening of this storied film will take place on Thursday, September 1 at 6:30 p.m. as part of Dan’s Literary Festival: The Hamptons Premier Literary Celebration.
Directed by Alan J. Pakula and based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, All the President’s Men was released to wide acclaim in 1976. Starring Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein and Robert Redford as Bob Woodward, this true-crime story, structured as a political thriller, follows the two Washington Post reporters as they investigate the shady events of the Watergate scandal in 1972.
All the President’s Men was a huge success, raking in $70.6 million in box office sales on an $8.5 million budget. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won four—Best Art Direction, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound and Best Supporting Actor (Jason Robards as Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee).
For more information on Dan’s Literary Festival and to purchase tickets ($25), visit danslitprize.com.
Watch the trailer for All the President’s Men below. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/see-all-the-presidents-men-with-carl-bernstein-at-dans-literary-festival/ | en | 2016-08-06T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/22c535363e19d15ed910ee33b003fc8bfa9a23d1114445f586e6fb7c32e02ca5.json |
[] | 2016-08-31T14:51:19 | null | 2015-09-20T00:00:00 | Check out this video from the 2015 Dan's Literary Festival. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fcheck-out-a-video-from-last-years-literary-festival%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/204811_1441387397-e1472580607433.jpg | en | null | Check Out a Video from Last Year's Literary Festival | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Dan's Literary Festival
The Dan’s Papers Literary Festival: The Hamptons Premier Literary Celebration is this Thursday, September 1, beginning at 4 p.m. at Guild Hall in East Hampton. At 4 p.m., find out who will win Dan’s Papers’ 5th Annual $10,000 Literary Prize for Nonfiction. At 5:30 p.m., come to the Literary Luminaries Book Signing, to meet Simone, Carl Bernstein, Robert Caro, Dick Cavett and Dan’s Papers founder Dan Rattiner. A screening of All the President’s Men follows at 6:30 p.m., with an introduction by Bernstein. The exciting evening concludes with a VIP Authors Dinner at 7 p.m.
Check out this video from the 2015 Literary Festival and visit DansLitPrize.com for more information and to purchase tickets. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/check-out-a-video-from-last-years-literary-festival/ | en | 2015-09-20T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/4d7e04242572cacb220b9d211acc34849d8d8860755cb2d5e507e42014abd726.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T12:48:19 | null | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | The Parrish Art Museum has announced the appointment of Corinne Erni as the new Curator of Special Projects, effective September 1, 2016. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fparrish-art-museum-names-corinne-erni-as-new-curator-of-special-projects%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/CorrineErni.jpg | en | null | Parrish Names Corinne Erni as Curator of Special Projects | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Arts & Entertainment
The Parrish Art Museum has announced the appointment of Corinne Erni as the new Curator of Special Projects, effective September 1, 2016. The creative force behind the New Museum of New York’s IDEAS CITY—a ground-breaking, collaborative arts initiative and internationally recognized biennial—and the co-founder of a seminal global curatorial platform on art and climate change, ARTPORT_making waves, Erni brings to the Parrish nearly 20 years of experience creating game-changing art programs that engage communities locally while also resonating globally.
Erni replaces the current Curator of Special Projects, Andrea Grover, who begins her new position as Executive Director at Guild Hall on September 1.
“We are thrilled to welcome Corinne Erni to the curatorial team at the Parrish,” Museum Director Terrie Sultan said. “She fully understands the notion of strong local ties with a global outlook. Her high level of expertise in engaging multiple, diverse audiences and fomenting interdisciplinary collaborations will enable the Parrish to fully embrace our mission as a center for cultural engagement, an inspiration and destination for the region, the nation, and the world.”
“I am very passionate about the exploration of creative processes that transcend boundaries between disciplines but also between art and its audiences, which is why I highly value the original concepts and exhibition models of the Parrish Art Museum,” Erni says. “Relying on my deep-rooted relationships and extensive networks within the contemporary art community I hope to expand these concepts and establish the Parrish as an ever stronger voice in this global community, building on its success in connecting the East End of Long Island to the national and international art world.”
Erni began her tenure at the New Museum in 2010 as project manager and ultimately senior producer (2015) of IDEAS CITY, an arts festival that galvanized the creative community both on the Lower East Side and in cities worldwide. The new brand initiative—featuring high quality, multidisciplinary art programs and conferences focusing on art and culture as being essential to the future vitality of cities—was presented as biennial festival in New York City (2011, 2013, and 2015), and as global conferences in Istanbul (2012) and São Paulo (2013). For IDEAS CITY, which attracted hundreds of thousands of new audiences in New York and abroad, Erni created ground-breaking program concepts with over 150 events at each biennial; curated site-specific exhibitions, installations, performances, talks, panels, and think tanks; and secured key partnerships with cultural, civic, and government organizations.
Signature projects included Flash:Light, Let Us Make Cake, the first commissioned artist projections mapping on the New Museum façade, a collaboration with Nuit Blanche New York; A Performative Conference in Nine Acts, a night-long performance marathon at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, addressing gentrification; and After Hours: Murals on the Bowery, a collaboration with Art Production Fund, where international artists were invited to create paintings on the metal roller shutters of Bowery retail shops.
For the global curatorial platform ARTPORT_making waves, which Erni co-founded in 2006 and has remained co-director though 2016, she commissioned, curated and produced public art projects, exhibitions, artist residencies, educational programs, and publications with a focus on art and climate change that bring together the arts, science, and politics. Key projects include ARTPORT_Satellite—artist interventions with George Steinmann, Barthélémy Toguo, and Olafur Eliasson at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Paris, 2015; (Re-) Cycles of Paradise, a traveling exhibition on gender and climate change at United Nations Climate Change Conferences, Copenhagen and Mexico, and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), 2009-2012; and Cool Stories for When the Planet Gets Hot, a biennial competition for short art videos on global warming with screenings of finalists’ editions and educational programs worldwide that began in 2009.
A native of Switzerland, Erni is fluent in six languages. She was educated in Milan and New York and began her career in fashion design in Switzerland and New York before turning her attention to interdisciplinary arts programming. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/parrish-art-museum-names-corinne-erni-as-new-curator-of-special-projects/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/43de3d62c5d331ddc3bcd4a48f46e025f6b4c495bf6c2da0c2ba768b67cc6e6f.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:59:41 | null | 2016-08-04T00:00:00 | Read today's Hamptons Surf Report for Thursday, August 25, 2016. | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.danspapers.com%2F2016%2F08%2Fhamptons-surf-report-thursday-august-25-2016%2F.json | http://www.danspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/48422949_l.jpg | en | null | Hamptons Surf Report: Thursday, August 25, 2016 | null | null | www.danspapers.com | by Lutha Leahy-Miller
The Lutha Report for Hamptons Surf:
Ankle to shin to knee high, onshore mush…
Wind Forecast:
SW winds 10-15 KT.
Water Temp: 69° – 74°
Wear a wetsuit top and boardies, or maybe a short-sleeve full, or a spring-suit, depending on your constitution.
Montauk Point (Ocean) Tides:
LOW: 7:24 a.m. • HIGH: 2:24 p.m. • LOW: 8:59 p.m.
Next Chance For Surf:
SW wind-slop Fri, N-NE winds Sat [hopefully with some decent waves], E-SE winds with background swell on Sun, possibly great waves Mon with NW winds courtesy of Monsieur Gaston…
Happy surfing!
RELATED: Find the Perfect Hamptons Surf Break
Artist and surfer Lutha Leahy-Miller has more than 20 years of experience riding Hamptons waves. He was formerly rated No. 3 in the Eastern Surfing Association for New York State and all of the Northeastern United States. To see Lutha’s art or to book a surf lesson, visit lutha.net. | http://www.danspapers.com/2016/08/hamptons-surf-report-thursday-august-25-2016/ | en | 2016-08-04T00:00:00 | www.danspapers.com/ba35bb82df1aa6cefd5ae94cc98b45a3bac11f5b678bd7bb795ebc29d2b6cbf7.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:59:09 | null | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fprofile%2Flogin%2F%3Fredirect_to%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fcontracting-left-morale-advantage-hubris%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/HNA-Square-Logo-white.jpg | en | null | Hellenic News of America | null | null | hellenicnews.com | null | http://hellenicnews.com/profile/login/?redirect_to=http://hellenicnews.com/contracting-left-morale-advantage-hubris/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/b17086732ea610166a50662806c5f69b4d83961ba09fdb2c7a0c434b5b35591c.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-31T14:50:33 | null | 2016-08-31T09:29:12 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fbreath-away-navarino-challenge-2016%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Navarino-Challenge.jpg | en | null | A breath away from “Navarino Challenge 2016”! | null | null | hellenicnews.com | null | http://hellenicnews.com/breath-away-navarino-challenge-2016/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/c0f6b1713a7bed782fa37278b4c91fc6baf448af9feb20b30f9925e0b06b2c87.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-26T12:49:07 | null | 2016-07-25T14:20:16 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2F20717-2%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/unnamed-1-450x113.jpg | en | null | 10 Things We Wouldn't Have Without Ancient Greece: #1: Maps | null | null | hellenicnews.com | Archeologists have found evidence of very crude maps of various forms–cave paintings of the stars, for example–but it wasn’t until pre-Socratic philosopher Anaximander published the first world map that cartography, as we know it today, really took off. His world map inspired many philosophers and historians to try their own hand at map-making, and generally the accuracy level improved with each try. It was his contribution that really ignited a societal interest in having accurate maps, and in geography in general. Anaximander may have even designed his world map on a slightly rounded surface, allowing for the convexity of the earth.
#2: Coins
The history of coins is not incredibly clear–mostly because there aren’t many written accounts describing their invention, manufacturing process, etc. Some of the oldest coins in existence appear to have come from Aegina Island (made roughly around 700 BCE) and from Ephesus (650 BCE). Some scholars, however, refute this claim, and there is an ongoing argument about the true origins of coins. However, it is undeniable that Ancient Greece popularized the use of coins as a form of payment–a system that was then adopted by the Romans and spread across Europe.
#3: Central Heating
Though it was the Romans who eventually perfected this system (called hypocaust), the Greeks were the first to heat a building by circulating hot air under the floors. Archeological evidence shows that the Temple of Ephesus was built so that hot air from the fire could be circulated under the temple floor through a system of pipes and vents.
#4: Automatic Doors
Heron of Alexandria was an ancient Greek engineer and is still considered the most important inventor of classical antiquity. He designed and built an incredible amount of impressive machines, but perhaps one of his most impressive inventions is the world’s first automatic door. Designed for a temple, Heron’s engine, called the aeolipile, worked with heat, water, and pressurized air (plus a few weighted buckets), to turn a spindle that, as it revolved, opened the temple doors.
#5: Alarm Clock
Records indicate that the first alarm clock was owned by Greek philosopher, Plato! Like many Greeks at the time, Plato appears to have owned a water clock–a mechanism that marked the passage of time using water–but his was slightly different. It was made with an added mechanism that “chimed” twice a day–once in the evening and once at dawn. This design was then improved upon by Ctesibius, a famous Greek engineer who made the alarm clock truly programmable–giving its owner full control over the alarm (and thus full control over when to wake up).
Suggested Links
#6: Thermometer
Philo of Byzantium (along with Heron of Alexandria) understood that certain substances expand when exposed to heat. He used this principle to create the first rudimentary thermometer–a glass tube filled with a water/air interface. When placed in hot water or under the hot sun, the water/air interface inside Philo’s thermometer moved along the tube. This device was then used to tell the hotness or coldness of the air. As time went on, subsequent scientists (notably Galileo) improved upon the design, adding a system of numbers to quantify the movement of the interface and thus the temperature.
#7: Plumbing
In Ancient Greece, hygiene was an extremely important part of daily life. It’s most likely because of this that plumbing became so advanced in Ancient Greece–thanks to well-built aqueducts, the Greeks (particularly in Athens) enjoyed fountains, wastewater sewage systems, floodwater drainage, and perhaps most importantly, elaborate bath-houses that included some of the first showers. In fact, some households even enjoyed the luxury of sinks and running water.
#8: Lighthouses
Ancient lighthouses were somewhat different than their modern counterparts–instead of warning ships away from reefs and other dangers, ancient lighthouses were meant to draw mariners in. This was, of course, a time when ports were not so clearly defined as they are now, and ships would find their way to port by following a fire that had been lit on a hilltop. Over time, the ancients reasoned that the higher the fire, the better the visibility for mariners, so they started building fires on tall platforms–a practice which eventually led to the building of lighthouses.
The most famous ancient lighthouse was the Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria, which was built during the Ptolemaic Kingdom and was about 450 feet tall. For many centuries it was considered one of the tallest man-made structures in the world, which led to its being considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
#9: Sports Bras
Believe it or not, but the concept of a sports bra–or a bra specifically made to restrain the breasts during physical activity–may have originated in Ancient Greece. What started out as an apodesmos–a tight band of linen tied under the breasts to accentuate them (an ancient Wonderbra, if you will), eventually evolved into a mastodeton–a similar band worn across the breasts to contain and minimize them. This became popular attire for female athletes during activities like running and gymnastics, and was eventually adopted by Roman ladies (who called them strophia), who wore them to minimize the appearance of their breasts (large breasts were not considered attractive at this time in Rome).
#10: Vending Machines
Remember our friend Heron of Alexandria? He also put his genius to work in inventing the world’s first vending machine. Of course, his was a little different than the vending machines we have today–instead of getting a snack, you’d get a portion of holy water for use in the temples. When a temple-goer dropped a coin into the machine, the coin fell onto a tray connected to a lever. The weight of the coin triggered the opening of a valve, through which the holy water would pour. Once the coin slid off the tray, the lever snapped back into place and the valve closed. Heron designed this so that no temple-goer could take more holy water than he needed (apparently the stealing of holy water was a big problem back then!) | http://hellenicnews.com/20717-2/ | en | 2016-07-25T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/1e73e3a5af117dbdf230b403549f4137d325a871787b8dda3150729e780c575e.json |
[
"Travel With Pen"
] | 2016-08-26T12:50:06 | null | 2016-07-24T17:37:45 | It is an undeniable cliché that the Cyclades Islands of Greece are firmly part of the great wonders of the world and tourism is booming. | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Ften-highlights-six-cyclades-islands%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ios-path-2.jpg | en | null | Ten Highlights of Six Cyclades Islands | null | null | hellenicnews.com | by Marc d’Entremont
It is an undeniable cliché that the Cyclades Islands of Greece are firmly part of the great wonders of the world. Some of Earth’s oldest human settlements are found on the islands. Mountain and seaside villages are classic postcards. Cafes teem with customers lingering for hours over many small plates, wine and coffee. Multi colored fishing boats bob on Aegean Sea water as clear as glass.
Greece may still be troubled with economic and global uncertainty, but tourism is booming – twenty-four million international visitors in 2015. After all, Greek civilization has seen far worse over its many millenniums of glory and conquest. If planning a visit, here are ten highlights not to miss on six of the Cyclades Islands crown jewels.
Ios Island hiking paths and goat cuisine
Donkeys were the main mode of transportation on Greek islands until less than a century ago. That choice was not economic but geographic reality. Most Greek islands are the tops of ancient volcanoes or uplifts from millenniums of tectonic pressure.
To this day donkey paths carved into the sides of hills crisscross most islands. To move goods among island villages, herd goats from one pasture to another or simply get from one’s house to farm fields, these narrow paths were essential. Today they provide hikers with a scenic panorama of island life.
The construction of modern roads for motorized vehicles made most paths redundant but many islands have realized these old trails make ideal hiking paths. The Municipality of Ios with the assistance of the Greek Cultural Mountaineering Club of Fyli have recently restored four paths, fully signposted, connecting Chora with the island’s famous beaches and historic sights creating a comprehensive network of hiking trails. From the ferry terminal at the small picturesque port of Yialos, it’s a short mile and a half taxi ride up the mountain to Chora or a photogenic three quarter mile stroll up the restored ancient Donkey Steps.
On my trip to Ios I enjoyed following old unrestored paths just below the comfortable and scenic Pavezzo Studios and Rooms on the edge of historic Chora. While mesmerized by the panoramic Aegean Sea views, I often shared the paths with the many goats that populate the islands. Goats are still a major source of milk for Greek cheese and meat for many dishes. You can try a savory kid (young) goat burger at Lord Byron or clay pot baked goat with potatoes and wild thyme at Enigma Café.
Santorini: Volcano View Hotel and wine tourism
Whatever photos you’ve ever seen of Santorini can never do justice to reality. The view from my room at the Volcano View Hotel of the small island 700 feet below that’s the top of the still active volcano in the middle of the ancient caldera is a revelation of nature’s supremacy. Yet not to be outdone, the Volcano View Hotel is a human engineering marvel.
The Volcano View Hotel is a luxurious Greek village. The hotel not only clings to the side of the cliff in a dramatic series of descending terraces, gardens and swimming pools but some of the rooms are actually carved into the limestone cliff itself. The irregular walls of my cliff room incorporated boulders that were already in place as design elements and one anchored the television.
The architect molded the hotel to the cliff creating rooms of varying floor plans and some with small efficiency kitchens. Following the flow of the cliff side dictated natural groupings of rooms enhancing the village feel. Yet whether tucked into a turn in the cliff or surrounding one of the many swimming pools, the panoramic views justifiably steal the experience.
There’s evidence that the ancient island of Thira, as Santorini was known four millenniums ago when part of the legendary Minoan civilization, had always been an agricultural powerhouse. Archaeologists unearthing the remarkably preserved ruins of Akrotiri have documented the rich life on this island prior to the massive volcanic explosion that destroyed the first great Greek state. Yet this cataclysmic disaster set in motion a combination of natural forces creating ideal conditions for both tourism and wine.
October 14 – 16, 2016, Santorini will host IMIC2016: International Winetourism Conference. As the most visited of the Cyclades Islands, Santorini produces some of the finest wines in Greece from grape varieties dating back to antiquity, Santorini is an ideal setting. While at the conference, do dine at the incomparable Selene Restaurant. Georgia Tsara, manager and sommelier was recently awarded the Prix au Sommelier 2016 by the International Academy of Gastronomy.
Milos Sailing and the Catacombs
The abundance of valuable minerals as well as a wealth of sea life made Milos a prized and fought over island for over 6,000 years. Numerous caves, inlets and areas accessible only by ship, such as Kleftiko on the southwest tip of the island, gave sanctuary to both residents and pirates. Peaceful today, many areas are still accessible only by boat.
Giovanni and Stelios are no strangers to yachting. The Ferinola family owns Excellent Yachting, one of the Cyclades Islands leading sales and charter companies. Speaking French, English as well as Greek, the brothers’ enthusiasm for their work is obvious in their animated interaction with guests, the detailed information presented and their agility in maneuvering the Mama Maria.
Stelios Farinola studied culinary arts in Athens and prepared lunch on board the Mama Maria. As wild goats peered down from cliff ledges, guests enjoyed Greek salad and pasta with a fresh tomato sauce along with wine, beer and ouzo. No wonder countless legions throughout time have escaped to the serenity of the Cyclades Islands.
Venus de Milo, yes that iconic statue of love, was unearthed on the island. Unfortunately it’s not on the island but in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Yet where it was found is one of the Cyclades Islands most important ancient sites spanning hundreds of years from Greek glory to the height of the Roman Empire. High above the colorful doors of Klima and just below the ancient town of Tripiti, ongoing archaeological excavations are uncovering a vibrant island that in Roman times is estimated to have had a population of over 20,000 – current permanent population of Milos is about 5,000.
A classic Roman theater is undergoing extensive restoration, and the prize for visitors today is the Roman era catacombs. Considered one of the greatest early Christian discoveries, the Milos catacombs provide a fascinating insight into the over three century secret history of one of the world’s great religions. Not just a burial site, the catacombs provided a place of refuge and worship. It’s not creepy; it’s beautiful.
Sifnos pottery and Culinary Festival
At the modern Pottery Workshop Giannis Apostolidis just above the port town of Kamaras, potter/owner/artist Giannis continues an age-old Sifnian craft tradition. Like generations before him, Giannis digs the clay from the same island soil that until just 50 years ago was used by over 600 pottery workshops. Well wrapped, the clay stays fresh for years ready for Giannis to throw into a tsikali, the island’s iconic covered glazed baking dish. Pottery Workshop Giannis Apostolidis designs range from cookware to fanciful art pieces but attention to traditional standards is a given.
On the very windy north side of Sifnos is the tiny seaside fishing village of Cheronisos hugging a crescent beach. The 300-year-old Keramika pottery shop is the oldest workshop on the island. Ioannis Depastas carries on tradition in a shop that alone is an architectural museum piece.
Hanging on the wall is a framed letter from a prestigious American civil engineering professor praising Ioannis for his ingenious designs. For years Ioannis has invented vessels from mugs to jugs that are unseen interior puzzles. Liquid can be poured out of the spout only by holding the vessel in a specific manner individual to the vessel’s design or else the result is water spilling out from hidden openings. The professor uses Ioannis Depastas’ designs in engineering lectures.
Don’t miss the annual Nikolaos Tselementes Cycladic Gastronomy Festival on September 8 – 10, 2016. Sifnos native Nikolaos Tselementes (1878-1958) was the most celebrated Greek chef of the first half of the 20th century. His international stature, cookbooks and Athens culinary school elevated Greek cuisine from the home kitchen to prominent restaurants and inspired generations of chefs to expand Greek culinary horizons. The three day festival – 6:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. – highlights both traditional and modern Greek cuisine. Best of all, the festival and its food is free to all.
Kythnos hospitality
On the tiny island of Kythnos I finally understood why everyone in Greece was showering me with gifts. It’s simply what Greeks do. To not offer hospitality to a visitor is simply unthinkable.
Mrs. Annezio Bouritis and her son Mixαlis Famelitis own Annezio Bakery. Set in a typical white washed stone building high above Merichas harbor the cars of customers are usually double parked on the narrow street. Like so many Greek bakeries, patrons rarely just run in and leave. Scattered tables and chairs invite one to have a coffee and chat awhile.
Annezio Bakery is particularly known for traditional sweets such as pasteli, a honey and sesame seed confection that’s beloved in Greece and has origins in antiquity among the many cultures that lay upon the fabled Spice Route through Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. Savory and sweet cheese tarts are ubiquitous throughout the Cyclades Islands and go by many names. On Kythnos the simple cheese tart called Thermiotikes can be eaten at anytime of the day. Despite the fact that fresh dill is an ingredient, the addition of sugar turns the recipe into a sweet that goes well with coffee. Omitting the sugar turns the tart into a savory starter for lunch or dinner. Unfortunately, if you arrive too late in the day, they may be sold out.
Paros: the island of churches
An estimated 400 chapels, churches and monasteries have earned Paros the moniker “island of churches.” Many small chapels are built and maintained by families in honor of their loved ones and dot both countryside and backyards. Hotels frequently have chapels available for weddings and traditional events.
The Monastery of Panagia Ekatontapiliani (Virgin Mary of the Hundred Doors) in Parikia dates from the 4th century. Roman Emperor Constantine constructed the monastery upon the wishes of his mother Saint Helene. Having taken shelter on Paros during a storm on her way to the Holy Lands in search of the true cross, St. Helene had asked the Virgin Mary for success in her quest.
A superb example of Romanesque architecture, the brick and stone building is one of the earliest Christian churches on the islands and ranks among the oldest in continuous use in the world. Design elements range from repurposed ancient marble columns, a simple 4th century Romanesque stone baptistery, vibrant Byzantine frescoes to the imperial crest of Constantinople incised in marble under the horos.
When you go:
The Cyclades Islands are well connected from Piraeus, the port of Athens, and among the islands by ferry service. The ships of Blue Star Line were some of the finest ferries I’ve enjoyed, almost cruise ship quality in comfort. Ticket prices are more than reasonable.
Travel with Pen and Palate to Greece and the world with Marc d’Entremont every month in the Hellenic News of America.
URL links to island highlights
Hiking trails on Ios: http://ios.gr/english/tourist-guide/activities/
Pavezzo Studios & Rooms, Ios: http://www.iospavezzo.com/
IMIC2016 Conference, Santorini: http://imic2016.conferences.gr/en/
Volcano View Hotel, Santorini: http://www.volcano-view.com/
Selene Restautrant, Santorini: http://www.selene.gr/about.aspx
Mama Maria, (Excellent Yachting) Milos: http://www.excellentyachting.com/en/charter-a-yacht/sailing-yachts/skippered
Catacombs of Milos: http://www.catacombs.gr/
Pottery Workshop Giannis Apostolidis, Sifnos: http://apostolidis-ceramics.gr/en/shops.php
Keramika pottery shop, Sifnos: http://hellenicnews.com/tradition-crafts-21st-century-sifnos/
Nikolaos Tselementes Cycladic Gastronomy Festival, Sifnos: http://sifnos.e-sifnos.com/what-to-do-in-sifnos/cooking-festival-in-sifnos.php
Annezio Bakery, Kythnos: http://www.4ty.gr/merchant/18716/en/ANNEZIO%20-%20PASTRY%20KYTHNOS%20%E2%80%93%20LARENTZAKI%20ANNEZIO
Monastery of Panagia Ekatontapiliani: http://www.paros.gr/en/what-to-do/shmeia-endiaferontos/churches-monasteries/531-parikia.html
Blue Star Line: http://www.ferries.gr/bluestarferries/
Travel with Pen and Palate: https://travelpenandpalate.com/
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Save | http://hellenicnews.com/ten-highlights-six-cyclades-islands/ | en | 2016-07-24T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/ca25249ee4dda2d239ac96437fd2b12ca6cc06e934e1ffd10175bca97fb3572f.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-26T12:49:35 | null | 2016-04-12T08:47:10 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fmajor-exhibition-met-present-three-centuries-greek-art-alexander-cleopatra-conquests-alexander-great-transformed-ancient-world-making-trade-cultural-exchange-p%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/pergamon.jpg | en | null | Major Exhibition at The Met to Present Three Centuries of Greek Art from Alexander to Cleopatra The conquests of Alexander the Great transformed the ancient world, making trade and cultural exchange p | null | null | hellenicnews.com | Alexander’s retinue of court artists and extensive artistic patronage provided a model for his successors, the Hellenistic kings, who came to rule over much of his empire. In spring 2016, for the first time in the United States, a major international loan exhibition will focus on the astonishing wealth, outstanding artistry, and technical achievements of the Hellenistic period (323–30 B.C.)—the three centuries between Alexander and Cleopatra. Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 18, Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World brings together more than 265 exquisite objects that were created through the patronage of the royal courts of the Hellenistic kingdoms, with an emphasis on the ancient city of Pergamon. Examples in diverse media—from marble, bronze, and terracotta sculptures to gold jewelry, vessels of glass and engraved gems, and precious metals and coins—reveal the enduring legacy of Hellenistic artists and their profound influence on Roman art. The ancient city of Pergamon (now known as Bergama, in present-day Turkey) was the capital of the Attalid Dynasty that ruled over large parts of Asia Minor. The exhibition is made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and Betsy and Edward Cohen /Areté Foundation. Additional support is provided by Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman, Renée Belfer, Diane Carol Brandt, Gilbert and Ildiko Butler, Mary and Michael Jaharis, and The Vlachos Family Fund. It is supported by an Indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The exhibition represents a historic collaboration between The Met and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, whose celebrated sculptures comprise News Release Communications T 212 570 3951 communications@metmuseum.org Contact Elyse Topalian Egle Zygas Exhibition Dates: April 18–July 17, 2016 Exhibition Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, Floor 2, The Tisch Galleries (Gallery 899) Press Preview: April 11, 10 am–12 pm www.metmuseum.org/pergamon #MetPergamon Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World approximately one-third of the works on view. Numerous prominent museums in Greece, the Republic of Italy, other European countries, Morocco, Tunisia, and the United States are also represented, often through objects that have never before left their museum collections. Exhibition Overview After the military triumphs of Alexander the Great and his successors, the influence of Greek culture was felt from the Indus River valley to the Straits of Gibraltar. The concentration of wealth and power in the newly established Hellenistic kingdoms—the Ptolemaic, Seleucid, Attalid, and Antigonid—and the sovereign realm of the kings of Syracuse in Sicily fostered an unparalleled burst of creativity in all of the arts. The melding of Classical Greek with predominantly Eastern cultural traditions brought about new standards and conventions in taste and style. The exhibition begins with Alexander, whose court sculptor Lysippos was one of the most innovative and influential artists of his time. He alone was permitted to create official portrait sculptures of the king. Although no works by Lysippos survive, the exhibition features fine later copies, as well as Hellenistic art influenced by his groundbreaking style. A series of large-scale portraits of major Hellenistic rulers from the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum—never before shown in the United States—represents the largest group of Hellenistic royal portrait sculpture from a single archaeological context. In addition, recently excavated works from Macedonia suggest the sumptuous lifestyle and elaborate funerary practices of Hellenistic royalty. With its extensively excavated upper and lower citadel, nearby Asklepieion (healing sanctuary), and graves outside the city walls, Pergamon is one of the best-preserved examples of a royal capital of the Hellenistic period. A selection of historical archaeological materials—original finds, a field notebook, photographs, technical drawings, and watercolors—as well as two 19th-century panoramic paintings convey Pergamon’s long history as an archaeological site. The exhibition features the most recent effort to bring the ancient citadel to life, a 360-degree panorama by the artist Yadegar Asisi. Many years in the making and reflecting current scholarship, Asisi’s panorama of Pergamon in 129 AD was the focus of a 2011 exhibition in Berlin. The patronage of the Hellenistic kings led to the development of new institutions—libraries and museums, in particular—that have become pillars of modern civilization. The concept of art history and the practice of connoisseurship also began at this time. Pergamon’s sanctuary of Athena, goddess of wisdom, is represented by the 13-foot Hellenistic marble statue of Athena Parthenos, newly restored for this exhibition. The importance of the epic poet Homer in Hellenistic times is highlighted by means of the allegorical sculptural relief known as the “Apotheosis of Homer,” which was made to celebrate the victor of a poetry competition. At the height of their powers in the third and second centuries B.C., the Attalid rulers of Pergamon controlled a large territory of Asia Minor. The accomplishments of the Attalid Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World kings are showcased through royal monuments; sculptural reliefs of military trophies from the Sanctuary of Athena at Pergamon illustrate the spoils of war; and actual military equipment from the period, embellished with dynastic and religious symbolism, demonstrate the skilled artistry of Hellenistic armorers. A highlight of the exhibition are the sculptural elements from the Great Altar at Pergamon—whose dramatic style was a radical departure from earlier styles and influenced much of later European art. Sculptures from the roof of the Great Altar, a selection of slabs from the Telephos Frieze, and jewellike architectural elements that decorated its inner open-air chamber, together with sculptural fragments from the monumental Gigantomachy frieze, convey the aweinspiring power of this unique sculptural monument. Opulent luxury items in various media were produced by artisans for royalty and other elites. Images of the Attalid royal family give a face to the people who hosted elegant banquets with sophisticated entertainment in royal palaces. The practice of cameo engraving—invented in the Hellenistic period—is represented by one of the largest and most spectacular examples known: The “Vienna Cameo” depicts a king and queen from Ptolemaic Egypt richly attired and imbued with divine symbolism. Exquisite ancient glass, gold and silver vessels for banqueting and religious rituals, coins with royal portraits, engraved gems, and jewelry from all parts of the Hellenistic world reveal the mastery achieved by Hellenistic artisans in the employ of royalty. A small selection of actual furnishings evokes the lavish décor of the palaces themselves, which would have included such elements as mosaic floors; decorative sculpture; furniture of wood, marble, and bronze; and painted stucco walls featuring figural scenes. Rome became a dominant power in the Eastern Mediterranean and developed into a major center for Hellenistic art in the first century B.C. Roman intervention and conquest in the east was a long and slow process, beginning as early as 229 B.C., when the first Roman army crossed the Adriatic Sea. When Attalos III—the last ruler of the Attalid dynasty— bequeathed Pergamon to Rome on his death in 133 B.C., Rome’s presence in Asia Minor was strengthened further. The bronze portrait of the so-called “Worried Man,” excavated on the Greek island of Delos, is an eloquent testament to the turbulent times. Several major new sculptural types, such as the “Sleeping Hermaphrodite,” are displayed with an emphasis on examples that appealed to Roman tastes. The circulation of works of art is represented through material from late Hellenistic shipwrecks and, most notably, a selection of the Athens National Archaeological Museum’s important finds from the Antikythera shipwreck in Greek waters, along with finds from the Mahdia shipwreck off the Tunisian coast. The magnificent “Borghese Krater,” a type represented in the Mahdia ship’s cargo, is an outstanding example of the new decorative art being created by Greek sculptors for sumptuous Roman villas. The complex history of the formation of the Roman Empire is presented through portraits of historical figures, including Mithradates Eupator, Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Cleopatra. The exhibition concludes with the Roman Emperor Augustus and the late Hellenistic rulers. Of particular interest is the exquisite sculpture of Juba II, who was brought to Rome Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World as part of Caesar’s triumph over Numidia, educated there, and later restored to the throne by Augustus as a client king. Although the power of the Hellenistic kingdoms came to an end in the late first century B.C. with the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium, the innovations of Hellenistic artists fostered by their royal patrons would influence Roman Imperial art for centuries. Exhibition Catalogue The exhibition is accompanied by a lavishly illustrated catalogue suitable for scholars and the general public. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press, the book includes groundbreaking research by specialists. The catalogue is available for purchase in The Met Store ($65, hardcover). The catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, James and Mary Hyde Ottaway, Mary and Michael Jaharis, and the Jenny Boondas Fund. Related Programs Education programs—which are free with Museum admission—include exhibition tours, a Picture This! program on May 12 for visitors who are blind or partially sighted, and a two day international symposium on May 4 and 5. In addition, on Friday, April 15, at 7:00 p.m., the subscription concert Pergamon: The Romantic Obsession—part of the MetLiveArts series—will feature soprano Susanna Phillips and bass-baritone Shenyang, pianist Brian Zeger, and Bard College professor Christopher Gibbs, who will provide the context linking the composer to ancient Greece. Tickets start at $50 and include Museum admission. The symposium is made possible by Mary and Michael Jaharis and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). Pergamon: The Romantic Obsession is made possible by The Isaacson-Draper Foundation. An audio tour, part of The Met’s Audio Guide program, is available for rental ($7, $6 for Members, $5 for children under 12). The Audio Guide is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The exhibition is featured on The Met’s website (www.metmuseum.org), as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter via the hashtag #MetPergamon. The exhibition was organized by Carlos A. Picón, Curator in Charge, Department of Greek and Roman Art, and Seán Hemingway, Curator, with the assistance of other members of the curatorial staff—Christopher S. Lightfoot and Joan R. Mertens, Curators; Kyriaki Karoglou, Assistant Curator; Lillian Bartlett Stoner, Research Assistant; and Paul Zanker, Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World Dietrich von Bothmer Distinguished Research Scholar—together with guest curator Ariel Herrmann, independent scholar. Exhibition design is by Daniel Kershaw, Exhibition Design Manager; graphics are by Ria Roberts, Graphic Designer; lighting is by Clint Ross Coller and Richard Lichte, Lighting Design Managers, all of the Museum’s Design Department, | http://hellenicnews.com/major-exhibition-met-present-three-centuries-greek-art-alexander-cleopatra-conquests-alexander-great-transformed-ancient-world-making-trade-cultural-exchange-p/ | en | 2016-04-12T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/bc95d00e4afa4e562e0dea437a082069bd443e8212bff5919c5cf5904b86c354.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-26T12:51:41 | null | 2016-07-17T13:03:54 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fmain-line-cardiologist-dr-antonis-pratsos-intervenes-hearts-behalf%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Pratsos-Dr-AntonisIIMG_6677-e1468774920374.jpg | en | null | Main Line cardiologist, Dr. Antonis Pratsos, intervenes on your heart’s behalf | null | null | hellenicnews.com | By David Bjorkgren, Special to the Hellenic News of America
Dr. Antonis Pratsos is the guy you go see so you can avoid open heart surgery.
This interventional cardiologist from Cyprus works with medicated stents, wires, balloons and lasers to unblock and clean out your arteries. His approach uses the least intrusive procedures to treat your cardiovascular disease.
“What I do is try and avoid the surgery,” says the Main Line Health physician. “With wires and catheters we get in there and we open all these things.”
The 48-year-old Wynnewood man has been in practice for 14 years, currently with Marple Medical Associates in the Lawrence Park Shopping Center in Broomall. He has worked 12 years out of Bryn Mawr Hospital and is also associated with the Lankenau Heart Institute in Wynnewood.
Dr. Pratsos is a 23-year expert in the catheter treatment of complex coronary artery disease. He’s also an expert in the Excimer Laser Ablation Therapy, a “cool laser” treatment that uses bursts of ultraviolet light to dissolve a blockage. The laser is an excellent tool to make a path in an artery, allowing a stent and a balloon to be inserted to clear the artery, he explains.
“I probably have used a laser more than anybody in the country and maybe in the world in the last 10 years being here,” he says.
He’s performed 100 procedures using the laser since August 2007. As a result, people come from all over the world to Bryn Mawr Hospital; including Japan, China, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Chile, to be trained on the device. Dr. Pratsos estimates he’s training 50 cardiologists a year on the procedure.
Dr. Pratsos can help patients with angina, as well as those who have suffered a heart attack and who may be a stroke risk from Atrial fibrillation and arrhythmia.
“We can get into the heart from the right side … crossing to the left with special techniques and plug up what we call the appendage. That appendage is a harbinger of clots in patients with Atrial fibrillation and arrhythmia and therefore by plugging it up with a device we can stop strokes from occurring,” Dr. Pratsos explains.
There’s also help for those who suffer from peripheral arterial disease (blockages in the legs). Peripheral arterial disease can range from Intermittent Claudication where the patient’s legs are blocked and they can’t walk, to Critical Limb Ischemia, where wounds and ulcers appear.
It’s all about knowing how to open up those blocked arteries and stop blood clots.
Angina, or chest pain, occurs because an artery blockage doesn’t allow blood to go through so nutrients and oxygen can’t get to the heart. In a typical intervention procedure, the doctor would go either from the wrist or from the groin with a tiny needle, threading a wire up into the radial artery, the brachial artery and into the subclavian artery, which is up the arm. You then put a catheter into the aorta.
A map is made of the arteries of the heart so you can see what’s open and what’s blocked. Through that same catheter you can put a wire and a balloon to open up arteries. That’s known as balloon angioplasty. You can also use lasers or rotablation, a technique that destroys built up calcium in the artery. Once the artery is cleared, drug medicated stainless steel stents are put in to prevent the artery from re-narrowing, keeping it open.
“That’s my world of intervention in a nut shell,” he says. “That’s why this hospital used to do 400 bypasses a year and now they do maybe 50,” Dr. Pratsos says.
Intervention is a lot less invasive and easier on the patient.
“You don’t open the patient up. You don’t take it to someone’s heart, to put grafts in it, to put valves in, to open up the aorta and do all the things…that are with a knife and retractors, stitching and all that,” he says.
Bypass surgery, where a path is created around the blocked artery, may be necessary for a patient who is severely diseased, but for many, intervention procedures can be a less invasive option to better cardiovascular health and a better life.
The same techniques can restore mobility for patients who can’t walk because the leg arteries are blocked.
“We open them up and people can walk and have a normal life, or they get a wound and it won’t heal so instead of cutting the leg off… they live for years with their leg intact. That’s what we do up here,” he says.
Dr. Pratsos was board certified as a specialist in Interventional cardiology and in cardiovascular disease in 2002. He was board certified in internal medicine in 1997.
Dr. Pratsos grew up in Cyprus. He graduated high school and served in the army from 1986 to 1988.
“They came close to war, Greece and Turkey, once,” he says. “There was some rock in the Aegean. The Turks went in and put the flag up and then the Greeks put it down and it was close to war.”
He describes Cyprus as a small country of 600,000 people, with a small community feel and very family oriented.
“Mom was at home, a very protected environment,” he says. “Going from Cyprus to the UK, landing with one suitcase there and going to study, when I’ve never been abroad before, that was a shock, a culture shock.”
He could speak the language because he went to an English school in Cyprus, but it was harder to adapt to the culture and the lingo. “Then coming here, it’s a completely different culture here as well.”
He immediately went from high school to college in the United Kingdom, attending the Victoria University of Manchester, where he graduated in 1993.
“There is no medical school in Cyprus. There hasn’t been. At that time, there was no university in Cyprus. Now there is,” he says. “That’s why I went to the UK.”
Cyprus was a colony of England until its independence in 1960 and a lot of young people from Cyprus go to England for studies, Dr. Pratsos says. “The high school I was in allowed you to take all the exams to go straight into the UK universities.” Greece, England and the United States are the top three destinations for young people from Cyprus seeking higher education, he adds.
He came to the United States in 1994, performing his residency at the Albany Medical Center. He did his fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in interventional cardiology, than began his medical practice.
“I wanted to specialize in cardiology and I felt this was the best place for me to do that. In addition, I met my wife and she was a young Canadian, a Greek Canadian doctor, and I decided to come to this side of the Atlantic,” he says.
He found cardiology to be “exciting, always evolving, always on the cutting edge.” Interventional cardiology let him use his hands and skills that are almost surgical, but it also gave him the gratification of seeing a patient’s life improve almost immediately.
“Call it selfish on my behalf, but it’s rewarding, as opposed to a chronic illness where you have arthritis…I give you a pill and you still have arthritis. You still have coronary disease but you get a stent or you get a procedure and you feel a lot better and you can function,” he says. “That’s what got me into it.”
So what makes a good interventional cardiologist? It helps to be a considerate, persistent and hardworking person, he says. A clinical acumen which you develop through studying and practicing with patients is also important.
“It’s an art more than a science,” he says. “It’s both, but the science comes with the books and the data and the art is how you deal with patients, your manner, those kinds of things.”
Looking ahead at work being done in his field at Bryn Mawr Hospital and Main Line Health, Dr. Pratsos is excited by the possibility of bio dissolvable stents currently being tested in clinical studies.
“These are new devices we put in patients. Stents are made out of stainless steel. This is something else and then it disappears. It goes into the artery. It stays there for a year and then it just goes away, it dissolves.”
There is also a study underway on new drug medicated stents that have the potential to help relieve patient’s symptoms, he says.
Another project is a $300 million investment at Bryn Mawr Hospital to create hybrid operating rooms, where both surgical and catheter wire techniques can be performed.
Despite his years of expertise in cardiology, Dr. Pratsos still considers his greatest achievement to be his children.
“I think my proudest achievement is having three children and raising three kids and having a happy family.”
He and his wife, Maria, are raising Katerina, 13; Alexandros, 11, and Phillippos, 9.
His children are tri-lingual, speaking Greek, English and French. His wife, who grew up in Montreal, Canada, speaks five languages. Besides Greek, French and English, she also picked up Spanish and Italian here in Philadelphia “because she wanted to learn,” Dr. Pratsos says.
His children attend a French International school and go to a Greek school in Upper Darby.
“They learn to read, write and speak in Greek and we only speak to them in Greek at home to maintain the Greek heritage,” he says. “When we go home [to Greece] they can communicate with grandma and everybody else, uncles and cousins. They fit right in,” he says. | http://hellenicnews.com/main-line-cardiologist-dr-antonis-pratsos-intervenes-hearts-behalf/ | en | 2016-07-17T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/383945c51667d58530dae555cf8ac6b0448022df91f6affa7d782121f085c4ec.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-26T12:55:33 | null | 2016-08-23T05:08:43 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fdemocracy-amber-alert%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Antonios-Xylourgidis.jpg | en | null | Democracy amber alert | null | null | hellenicnews.com | By Antonis Xylourgidis. Esq
The brisk path back to normality remains convoluted and non-existent, hence the magical world of Harry Potter ends without hearing a word about the cigarette case and excesses for the coveted regaining lost dignity. Is it a matter of the will of the actors of the political class or implemented the ardent desire of the parties in power to maintain complete control of the Government, the Parliament and the Judiciary? They are dangerous for those who speak parliamentary diversion or those who seek to work in practice?
THE PTAEI AND WHAT MUST BE DONE? Are excruciatingly questions as experienced similar crises and on Trikoupis and Venizelos later on in 1932 but encountered no one dares to compare the time with it now.
There programmatic embarrassment to the parties, a reasonable behavior problems. It is a European problem, not simply national. The SPD in Germany, Hollande in France have reduced their rates of dramatically different texture problems. Unfortunately common component of these policies is that they are not in the center man. ‘ Shift in policy for the forgotten man at the bottom of the pyramid has to be made “as he had said and Roosevelt.
IF NOT READING THE PROBLEM CAN NOT seen before …
We went as a nation and as a state too much suffering in recent years but still proves that there is political selfishness and not consensus, discord and not real convergence for a national agreement. Unfortunately the past not advised as were some of the current political, when he became the WW II and the dictator Metaxas said “NO”, the leader of the KKE Zahariades said support to Greece.
We need to talk total net, Greece lost essential elements of sovereignty and is hybrid dominance status as a country in the EU and EMU. Productivity dropped, banks were cheap money especially in non-tradable sectors, not invested in exports, so there issue with the productive model of the country, what country?
The direct expression of the People is a fundamental issue. In the Constitution, “all the powers exercised by and for the people” and that’s what matters.The politics and public life of the country are characterized again with ulterior sign, prey exousiomanias with youth representatives, surreptitious old cut. Hope of ensconced piece-monster to return again to the old situation is restored and samples of this is the reconstitution of ERT, the promiscuity of PPC, the depreciation of Clarity, one of the biggest reforms in the country and so many others’ stability factors “of reconstruction of the country. The large number of amendments, 9 Ministerial and 57 Parliamentary tabled in n / p “Katrougalos” confirms the allegations of the way that legislates and considerations that serves the government. The values of the left imposed its aimless opposition of previous years not he taught nothing, the Syriza mimics the worst ills of Understanding. we must plan because we have our own alternative. The ministers sadness image comment on the news not being aware that govern disappoints even the most optimistic citizens. The translation of the image of thousands of immigrants as “liazomenon in plateian” the provocative nomination of her mother PtV as the new president of the Service Council of ESR, the public announcement of the appointment of ERT with priority to those who fought for the victory of Syriza in elections, by the mouth of Syriza MP, the “friendly tolerance” squatters antiauthoritarians and table tennis Ministers struggle to convince the obsessional approaches the drachma as these to envision compose an isolation stage and dividing grid between Europe and Greece. the new polarization between Greek model is Europeanists and advocates tearing blindly.
The argument: our concealed information or did not know the real situation of the past. The social fabric of the country can not afford another refutation. Belief in the state tested through confidence humiliated voters hardly believe that there are great leaders but looking into the vulgarity of public life free voices realizing their own sake shape, that the Republic is wise and fair regime.Wanted urgently politicians, which according to their posterity, will raise their personal rock as others Sisyphus, the rock called Greece the high mountain of dignity and social peace. the image of Ministers “whisked away” their money abroad and if hushed, frightened the Greek people and especially small savers, those with the remanence of a lifetime seeking dignity in their remaining life.
The risk of loss of hope and faith in the Constitution and laws are present. Over the essence comes and claims its part, the communication management: how to say, the apparent jeopardy or danger presented to the public, how the tendencies toward risks or risk taking in the distance, running, explained, repulsed , ftiasidonontai …. Only in this respect is cut by the government.
The extra-ends and fascist rhetoric causes controversy and is now entering the core of parliamentary democracy and the way it is applied . It is time to talk about a Constituent Assembly that will redefine the boundaries, the rigor and orientate the Constitution to shield needs of Greek society as a state and as a state, Greece is overriding everything LAW , charter, 40 with three intermediate reviews in non-fundamental provisions. De facto, from the results proved that the current CONSTITUTION is incomplete and insufficient. For the first time the country faces blank state accompanied by negative attitudes toward every aspect of the state and state institutions. A recent example, the election of President of the Republic. The relevant provisions can overturn “fresh election” Government office two or three months because after three votes in the House, will not become president. It has grown widely suggested that we should move in presidential republic and the President to be elected by universal suffrage by the people!
Their acts legislative poison political life and are panic movement relative to collective anticipated parliamentary procedures until a few months ago denounced the current government as opposition. The performance of all types of elections should be conducted with horizontal rules collectivity rather than corporatist approach preference for SMEs, ie single candidate ballot without party support even in the parliamentary elections as the country needs them axioterous rather than citizens with privilege party tube.
Pursuit of a sovereign political power should be to inform the public, to understand the problems, existing determinism, the limitations and strengths of each country. Be aware of the fact, to accept and support the efforts imposed. To change attitudes so that people do not live in a microcosm, decoupled from global developments in the fantasy, that is able to avoid the consequences of European integration and globalization, they uncut and without consequences to disagree and enforce their will. The country needs to realize its problems and to deal effectively with them to overcome. Realism is required.
It is obvious that the exercise of power is not in favor of the People, but for the benefit of vested interests and it held responsible political figures and not the parties. The argument ungovernability is a pretext. It is perfectly possible to express the popular will immediately, without ungovernability problem, if there is one courageous revision of the Constitution and institutionalized the following:
1. To establish a simple, honest and pure analog. Of course it is good to introduce some limitations, namely: a) A minimum rate, which should not exceed 3% in order to avoid the election opportunists whose only qualification have is money for advertising. b) Join the party at least 1/3 of the constituencies for national reasons.
2. Remove party ballots, establishing a new way of electing a single ballot per constituency with optional display next to each candidate of the party of Group Policy, focus on personality and social presence and not the political games of the past. Four-year closed term for any government that is elected by notification obligation elections date one year before the expiry of the mandate and ballots training requirement through primaries three months before the election.
3. Reduction of MPs from 300 to 200 as provided in the Constitution and then the process of Revision in body 144 MPs with while establishing 56 senators, who together with their deputies will be the legislative body of the country. The composition and powers of the Senate will be specified in the Constitution. Each constituency of the country will be represented by one or one senator, regardless of population. Senators will have staggered five-year terms. The Senate has several exclusive powers not given to the House, including the consensus as a prerequisite to ratification and consent or confirmation of appointments of cabinet members, senior managers organizations, other executive officials, military officers, regulatory officials, ambassadors, and effective control of desires Occupying all those bearing government post. The Senate aims to be the body that will restore credibility in the political system and ensure transparency and legality if, during political elections, because of the longer tenures, the smaller size, the being at the constituencies, which in the long term will lead to a more collegiate and less partisan choice mentality on the part of voters.
4. The resulting assembly will have to give, with the existing process already, instructed Prime Minister to be proposed by the absolute majority of the House. If this is not possible, the command takes the leader of relatively its majority party without requiring the vote of confidence.
5. The Prime Minister proposed the Cabinet in the House and vote against this vote. If voting against, obliged each party to propose Minister. All nominations gradually passed, to the exclusion of candidates who got the fewest votes until one. Prevailed six. A similar procedure would apply to the policy statements and each party will be required to put the crisis to his proposal. For each area of the program will be a separate vote by little until a majority vote.
7. The same procedure for the selection of Ministers will also apply to the election of the President of the Republic.
8. The Government may submit to Parliament a draft law, and any partisan formation or five (5) members. The House is obliged either to pass the law, or modify it. All members are required to submit its own proposals-changes to the government’s bill. The proposals put to the vote total. That received the fewest votes, is withdrawn and passed the next, until they become two and passed one of them.
9. In all votes prohibited abstentions and white (for MP revocation). The MP absence counted on the positive votes, that the vote would be over three hundred deputies forever.
10. The Government is obliged to apply the law voted referendum or otherwise resign and form the next government official party. The exhaustion of four years will be mandatory, under penalty of revocation and exclusion of Members of the next election. After the deduction of Members’ their position will occupy the deputies of other parties again proportionately.
11. The leadership of the supreme courts will be made by an electoral body, composed : a) by the Presidents of Appeals Justice sector analogue. b) lawyers at the Supreme Court of all Bar Associations of the country, with at least 15 years experience. Each Club will be raffling off from one to five of those registered in the records of Supreme Court Lawyers. c) Professors at universities in the sector of Justice, who are not qualified. They are drawn to each Sector School two teachers.
12. President, Prosecutor, vice presidents and deputy prosecutor elected by internal voting .
13. Political parties and political organizations become voluntary aggregations citizens, and their financial resources are controlled by full and mandatory transparency and strict control of “Occupying” . Parties and political organizations are derecognised as autonomous civic institutions with special privileges to participate in political life and in public debate .Pafei by law their state financial aid.
14. Institutional state character only compounds active members of the national parliament and regional councils (and in this connection entitled limited financial assistance to cover certain operating expenses). Open public information on party funding sources and persons (in American standards coupons).
15. Consolidation of association and dissociation of the public administration. Strengthening freedom of association and exodioikitiki recognition of trade unions as representative bodies of workers to collective bargaining (labor contracts, etc.). Remove the special privileges of participation union branches in the administration and all other functions that make the unionization of the political system of vested interests and corruption.
The result of these fundamental changes will be threefold:
The people’s will shall be expressed in much more direct and responsible manner. We will achieve greater independence between the three state functions. We will prevail finally climate of cooperation between political forces and find common understanding places. Why the political class, six years now if not sooner not establish national exit plan out of the crisis? the same with me asking almost all citizens. It is so difficult or civilian personnel who administer the country is inadequate? Concepts such consent, partisan character and cooperation recently began to be implemented by some of the political system.
Formatted subjective and objective factors.
First : lack capable and inspired leadership class
Second : “shallowness structures”, political parties, government, universities, “think tanks”, business class.
Third : “The plan is I” say prime ministers, ministers, businessmen.
Fourth : The national political voluntarism exists beyond -oposdipote refsta- complexity, interdependence, integration.
And Fifth will answer you with an unknown confession Venizelos: We say that Trikoupis was wasteful, the Diligianni demagogue, George indifferent, Constantine frivolous but in the background there is no embedded leadership bourgeoisie. I say explicitly. The National Plan will not is a neutral technocratic paper. the new development model means a new arrangement of forces, changes in motivation and interest structure of the economy and business class itself, that is something that runs counter to the “religion” of the old “status quo”, which represents voluntarily or involuntarily, the established deepest core of political, technocratic and communication system to rain, snow, sun-dried. | http://hellenicnews.com/democracy-amber-alert/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/641eb91ab3b57da0cc4a3f39878ad9f41ee3871a9c54a440911e9dda7d59f599.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-26T12:47:00 | null | 2015-09-22T14:36:28 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fwhat-is-the-armenian-contribution-to-hellenism-and-orthodoxy%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Hagia-Sophia.jpg | en | null | What is the Armenian Contribution to Hellenism and Orthodoxy? | null | null | hellenicnews.com | By Catherine Tsounis
I was walking on second ave by NYU Langone hospital and saw a banner of “100: The Armenian Genocide.” I did not realize till later that I was in front of the St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral at 630 2md Ave. I remembered the unique contribution to Eastern Orthodox and Hellenism the Armenian nation played. Few persons know that they carried a lantern of light in the Byzantine Empire throughout its history.
The Byzantine Empire was multi-cultural. Nations and races were united under the Greek language, civilization and Orthodox faith, calling themselves ROMANS. “Due to centuries of foreign domination, much of Armenian history has been neglected and surprised,” according to” http://peopleofar.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/armenians-of-byzantium-part-1/. “As such much of the influence Armenians had on the Byzantine Empire has been swept under the rug by the Ottomans and later the Soviets. Nevertheless the contributions of Armenian people to the Byzantine Empire have been more than significant. As the historian P. Charanis (1959) says: “The important role played in the history of Byzantium by that talented minority, the Armenians, has been generally unrecognized.” Even though Armenia was only in part a vessel of Byzantium, many Armenians became successful in the Byzantine Empire. From bishops, architects, important military figures and even Emperors, Armenians where represented in all walks of Byzantine life. In fact one out of five Byzantine emperors and empresses were ethnically full or in part Armenian.”
“The best example of this is Emperor Heraclius, whose father was Armenian and mother Cappadocian. Emperor Heraclius began the Heraclean dynasty (610-717 A.D.).,” according tohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Armenia .The Akathistos Hymn sung during Orthodox Lent commemorates his victory and saving of Constantinople with the help of Our Lady, Virgin Mary. Basil, “The Bulgar Slayer “became one of the strongest Byzantine emperors, winning territory in the Balkans, Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Georgia,” according tohttp://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Basil+II+The+Bulgar-Slayer. “He was noted for his victory (1014) in the war with Bulgaria, which ended with his blinding all the soldiers in the defeated Bulgarian army. He increased his domestic authority by attacking the landed interests of the military aristocracy and of the church.”
The Armenian military power, to some scholars, was the basis of the stability and longevity of Byzantium. A strong army was needed. Armenia was the source. “From the 5th century forwards, the Armenians were regarded as the main constituent of the Byzantine army,” stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Armenia.
In the article, “Armenia, Byzantium, and the Byzantine Armenians” (http://www.looys.net/byz_arm.html), “another example of the impact of Armenians within the Byzantine Empire is the Great Church known as Hagia Sophia. As Rummel explains, ‘After the great earthquake of October 25, A.D. 989, which ruined the great dome of Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine emperor Basil II asked for the Armenian architect Trdat (or Tiridates), creator of the great churches of Ani and Agine, to repair the dome. The magnitude of the destruction in the church caused reconstruction to last six years. The church was re-opened on May 13, 994.’ The magnificent reconstructed dome designed by Trdat in the tenth century remains aloft the “Great Church” to this day.” We must not only remember the 100 year genocide, but the unique contribution of Armenians as carriers of the Greek language, civilization and Eastern Orthodoxy. | http://hellenicnews.com/what-is-the-armenian-contribution-to-hellenism-and-orthodoxy/ | en | 2015-09-22T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/658cfd63a7e25247f72cf7f2d15b0c7d0eb5e89289396b276af432262cdc6aa2.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-31T14:50:36 | null | 2016-08-31T09:35:18 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fdont-miss-delaware-county-community-colleges-career-transitions-workshop%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/HNA-Square-Logo-white.jpg | en | null | DON’T MISS DELAWARE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE’S CAREER TRANSITIONS WORKSHOP | null | null | hellenicnews.com | (Delaware and Chester Counties, PA)— Register now for Career Transitions, a 10-week workshop which provides structure and support for men and women coping with the uncertainty of a changing job market. The workshop begins on Monday, September 19 and runs on Monday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Delaware County Community College’s Marple Campus (901 S. Media Line Road, Media, PA).
Career Transitions is targeted to those considering a change in career direction such as the unemployed, the under-employed or the unhappily employed. Participants will learn how to manage their own careers and take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test and the Strong Interest Inventory to assess career satisfiers and occupational interests as well as their strongest marketable skills and how to move ahead proactively. Later sessions will explore networking strategies and online tools including LinkedIn.
The workshop is facilitated by Ruth Campbell and Carol Dougherty who are both counselors in the College’s Career and Counseling Center, licensed professional counselors in Pennsylvania and hold national certifications in career counseling. They also both have extensive experience working with adults in career transition, and participants will have an opportunity to have a one-on-one consultation with one of them.
The cost of the workshop is $114 for residents of sponsoring school districts and $163 for those in non-sponsoring districts. The cost of the Myers-Briggs and Strong Inventory tests is included. Space is limited and seats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information or to register, contact the Career and Counseling Center at 610-359-5324. | http://hellenicnews.com/dont-miss-delaware-county-community-colleges-career-transitions-workshop/ | en | 2016-08-31T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/87ebdabf70ae6110eba4b6ba7099debe59dc15ee986fb723ad522a8323c76502.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-26T12:48:03 | null | 2015-10-24T22:10:35 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Funity-and-synergy-at-hancs-26th-general-assembly-and-elections-bill-mataragas-from-chicago-il-elected-new-president-by-george-bistis-f-chief-voa%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/HANC-new-elected-Board-10-10-2015-DCIMG_3076.jpg | en | null | Unity and Synergy at HANC’s 26th General Assembly and Elections Bill Mataragas from Chicago, IL Elected New President By George Bistis, f Chief VOA | null | null | hellenicnews.com | This past weekend the Hellenic American National Council held its 26th General Assembly and Elections at the Capital Hilton Hotel, in Washington DC. The event marked the closing of an important chapter in the Council’s history because during the proceedings Paul Kotrotsios, its president of the last five years, passed the torch to a new leader, despite calls from his many supporters to seek another term in office. The new leader is Bill Mataragas, president of the Federation of Hellenic American Organizations “Enosis” in Illinois, who concurrently served as Treasurer of the National Council. His nomination proved to be a most popular choice. Mr. Mataragas received three fourths of the eligible votes cast in Saturday’s election.
The American Hellenic National Council was founded 1992 by a group of visionary community leaders serving at Federations level and the late Ted Spyropoulos served as its first elected president. It was designed as an “umbrella” organization for all Federations and, through them, for their National and Regional Federations and Associations, with the purpose of coordinating activities of the Hellenism in America. In the more than two decades since its establishment HANC worked to safeguard the rights of the Greek minority in Albania, addressed the Macedonian and Cyprus issues, advocated adherence to the Treaty of Lausanne for the protection of the islands of Imbros and Tenedos, urged the reopening of the Halki Seminary and joined US Congressional leaders and administration officials who called on Turkey to respect the religious freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
In the late 1990s Manolis Velivasakis, a successful Greek-American business executive and leader of the Pan Cretan Association in America became the second president of HANC, succeeding Spyropoulos. Mr. Velivasakis believed in the mission of the National Council and devoted considerable time, energy and financial resources to promote the noble goals set by HANC’s founders. But times had changed and so had the composition and the mentality of the Hellenes in America. As indicated in a historic account printed in the program of the 26th General Assembly, he made an appeal to modernize the structures of the Diaspora urging that we get rid of “the restless selfishness, the philautia and the ‘Greek know-it-all’ on everything.” In his words: “The biggest enemy of Hellenism is itself.” He reportedly did not file an-end-of term report, saying “we have not executed remarkable work because we failed to agree and create programs, work collectively and harmoniously (and) we lost valuable time in fights and conspiracies.”
Paul Kotrotsios, who had served HANC in various capacities for 18 consecutive years, took over as president of the National Council, in May 2010 with the hope that the critical challenges faced by Greece and Cyprus at the time would unite all the elements of this organization and give them a powerful incentive to cooperate. His desire was to once again turn HANC into a common action front of “shared responsibility” and “synergy” for the benefit of Hellenism, as was envisioned by its founding members in 1992. The critical national challenges helped bring the HANC members closer together but did not completely eliminate disagreements among them. It is entirely true that this institution could have done more and I am confident it would have done much more had it been able to increase its financial resources. HANC’s treasurer reported that their annual income was about $2.000 a year for each of the last five years. Yet the organization spent three to four times that much. The difference was always covered mostly by the Executive Board members willing to put their hands deep in their own pockets. We should be grateful to Mr. Kotrotsios and his associates for their tireless efforts to work with all the Diaspora organizations and keep the National Council alive, sometimes under adverse circumstances, because this institution is still needed to play a catalytic role in cooperation with AHEPA, the American Hellenic Institute and other major community advocacy groups in support of Greece and Cyprus.
Passing on the administration to the new HANC leadership Mr. Kotrotsios said: “I would like to give special thanks to the Executive Board Members for their cooperation, K. Koutrakos, Chr. Christakis, B. Mataragas, K. Hatzistefanidis, D. Hios, St. Manis, K. Ouranitsas, K. Lambrakis, N. Gage, N. Larigakis, Dr. J. Grossomanides, E. Tomazos, the Ladies St. Kokolis, A. Filiotis and V. Filiotis; to many members of Pan-Macedonian, Panepirotic, and Cypriot Federations, Phil Christopher, President of PSEKA, the AHI Leadership, and the AHEPA Leadership. I express my gratitude to the Archdiocese of America and our Legal Advisor Aki Bayz, Esq. for his valuable contributions over the years. I invite you all to make a fresh start. To awaken and revive the sleeping giant, the Hellenism of America who has had a brilliant journey so far and must continue forward. I wish you all Good luck and hard work.”
Main speaker prior to the elections was Philip Christopher, president of PSEKA, the International Coordinating Committee “Justice for Cyprus”, who discussed the continuing efforts for a just solution to the Cyprus problem and congratulated the Executive Board to move on with the elections and all the present Presidents and Delegates of Member Federations. “We must pay tribute to all those that came before us fighting for Hellenic issues. We must continue their legacy. Before I came here today, I received several calls from people not to come here. This organization was established in 1992 and it should continue and move forward,” said Mr. Christopher. He praised HANC for its efforts over the years of fighting for national issues as well as their embracing and supporting youth organizations such as NHSA.
“We need to take the word Philotimo into consideration to help us move forward. We have a bright future. Lets not criticize one another. Instead let’s focus on the positive and praise one another and move forward. We have several important organizations as well as issues we are all fighting for. We need to get all Federations and Organizations back and involved in HANC. We need to educate them and get them involved to make sure that this organization continues to survive. I have always believed in unity, and I believe if we are all united, there would be less problems amongst us. We must unite. We can each have our organizations, but when it comes to our national issues and helping Hellenism, we have to have one strategy and one policy working together. An update on the Cyprus issue, we have not given up. We look at the positives, the republic of Cyprus is part of the EU now, it is still a member of the United Nations, and is also coming out of its economic problem. We still have a strong republic and the people of Cyprus are still fighting for their freedom,” said Mr. Christopher.
Important speeches on targeted issues were also given by a few invited experts. Lexington Institute policy analyst and program director Constance Baroudos brought us up to date on the Greek economic crisis; Nicholas Karabelas, Esq., AHI Board Representative, outlined activities of the American Hellenic Institute in support of the principles of Hellenism; and State Senator Lou Raptakis provided an insight to the work of Hellenes elected to state legislative positions. I was indeed honored to have been included in the group of such distinguished speakers. Subject of my speech was the “Stand with Greece Policy Summit” recently held on the U.S. Capitol at the initiative of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues.
A total of 19 Federations participated at the 26th General Assembly and Elections. 15 of them were up to date paid and eligible to participate in the Voting process. The election results are as follows:
President: Bill Mataragas
A Vice President: Dimitris Hios
B Vice President: Chistos Christakis
C Vice President: Stavros Antonakakis
Treasurer: Konstantinos Hatzistefanidis
Assistant Treasurer: Aleka Kaloudelis
Secretary General: Dr. Panagiotis Baltatzis
Assistant Secretary: Angeliki Kolla Alissandratos
The spirit of brotherhood and cooperation advocated by Mr. Kotrotsios apparently influenced the two candidates running for the presidency of HANC, Bill Mataragas and Stavros Antonakakis. Each of them agreed that in case of defeat he would work for the elected president in any capacity the new leader saw him fit, in order to strengthen the unity of the organization. Something else worth noting is that Mr. Mataragas, upon his election, donated $10,000 so that the new Executive Board would be able to manage its business a little easier. This prompted Ted Tsafatinos to donate an additional $5,000. Within a couple of minutes Chris Christakis donated $2,000, Savas Tsivicos and Dr. Panagiotis Baltatzis joined in, donating $1,000 each.
Chris Christakis served as the Convention Chairman and Terry Tsafatinos as elections Chairman. Tsafatinos, a long-time supporter of HANC and the founder of the Greek Charter Schools in America, predicted that HANC would have a great future because no one would be allowed, “to dissolve it”. In his words: “We did not make all those sacrifices to advance Hellenism so that we can let them go to waste. Whoever wants to work they can join in. As the President said, HANC is inclusive.”
Two more highlights: The Younger generation was very well represented at the Conference and The General Assembly approved a request made by captain Constantine Galanis to open a new Chapter of HANC in Mexico and Mihalis Siscos, representing the HANC Chapter in Ioannina, Greece. Siscos, brought tsipouro and caviar from Preveza that were served gratis at the event’s luncheon. | http://hellenicnews.com/unity-and-synergy-at-hancs-26th-general-assembly-and-elections-bill-mataragas-from-chicago-il-elected-new-president-by-george-bistis-f-chief-voa/ | en | 2015-10-24T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/a606944eb0d59b37727bccf624be03027a7cfe30c910cf41561e6183b2d5cf37.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-26T12:55:07 | null | 2016-08-24T04:05:02 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fannouncement-philadelphia-bar-association%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/hna-new-logo-envelope.jpg | en | null | ANNOUNCEMENT: Philadelphia Bar Association | null | null | hellenicnews.com | 2016 Winner of The Honorable Louis H. Pollak Champion of the Public Interest Award August 23, 2016 The Philadelphia Bar Foundation is thrilled to announce its decision to present Lawrence J. Beaser, Esq., Partner, Blank Rome LLP with The Honorable Louis H. Pollak Champion of the Public Interest Award. In announcing this award, Steven Bizar, Esq., Foundation President and Partner at Dechert LLP stated, “It is such a special occasion for the Bar Foundation to recognize Larry as a true champion of accomplishing access to justice for all. Larry is an extraordinary friend and supporter of the public interest community and his careerlong efforts have greatly advanced the legal aid mission of the Foundation for those struggling with poverty, abuse, and discrimination.” This important and prestigious honor will be officially presented at the Access to Justice Benefit of the Bar Foundation on Saturday evening, November 5, 2016 at the Independence Seaport Museum. “We truly look forward to giving this award to Larry at our annual benefit,” said Benefit Co-Chair, Deborah Gross, Esq., Bar Association Chancellor-Elect, Kaufman, Coren & Ress, P.C. “His commitment to philanthropy on behalf of legal aid and other nonprofits is a model for all attorneys,” added Tricia Horter, Esq., Citizens Bank, N.A. Larry has long served as the Philadelphia Bar Association’s board representative at The Philadelphia Foundation, counsel to the Bar Association, and a board member of numerous nonprofits. 2016 Pollak Award Lawrence J. Beaser, Esq. Partner, Blank Rome LLP The Honorable Louis H. Pollak Champion of the Public Interest Award is presented by the Philadelphia Bar Foundation on special occasions to a lawyer who has been a true champion of the public interest legal community. The Pollak Award honors a lawyer, in private practice, who throughout his or her career has provided extraordinary service, including through support of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, to the mission of accomplishing access to justice for all. Robert C. (Bob) Heim, a partner at Dechert LLP, received the inaugural Pollak Award in 2014. The Pollak Award is a special award in memory of a remarkable man. As a lawyer, jurist and citizen, Judge Pollak championed the rights of the underprivileged in our community. With the greatest sensitivity and commensurate wisdom and intellect, Judge Pollak advanced the public interest, by his commitment to civil rights and the rights of all. It is a great honor that his wife has allowed the Bar Foundation to present this award in his name. More information is found online at http://www.philabarfoundation.org/grants-andawards/awards/honorable-louis-h-pollak-award. 2 Larry Beaser was selected to receive the Pollak Award both to honor his lifetime of service and to recognize his exceptional service to and leadership on the Board of Managers of The Philadelphia Foundation (TPF). He has been a member of the TPF board for 20 years, serving as chair for seven and a half years, and now serves as Chair Emeritus. The Bar Foundation and TPF are partners in promoting greater philanthropy and stronger nonprofits to meet the most pressing community needs. TPF is one of America’s oldest community foundations (founded in 1918) and is committed to improving the quality of life in Greater Philadelphia. “Larry’s steady leadership, intellect, passion, and devotion to TPF and the community have brought great benefit to the people of our region and have made nonprofit organizations stronger,” said Pedro A. Ramos, TPF’s President and CEO. Larry is a longstanding member of the Bar Foundation’s Hamilton Circle, signifying at least $10,000 in donations over time. He held the position of Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association in 1994, and he currently serves as Counsel to the Association’s Board of Governors. Larry has been a board member for several nonprofits and, in addition to serving as Chair Emeritus and a member of TPF’s board, is currently an Advisory Board Member for Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a grantee of the Bar Foundation. Each year Larry provides over 130 hours of pro bono service, including pro bono representation of Bar Foundation grantees. In government service, Larry previously was chief legal counsel to Pennsylvania Gov. Milton J. Shapp and a Deputy Attorney General. As a partner of Blank Rome LLP, he counsels individuals and entities in the fields of nonprofit and for-profit business law, health and health insurance law, and government law. The Philadelphia Bar Foundation embodies the legal community’s commitment to the fundamental principal of equal access to justice for all people, particularly those struggling with poverty, abuse and discrimination. The mission of the Bar Foundation and its grants, training, and other forms of support for legal aid nonprofits reflect the core professional values that are binding on all attorneys. As stated in the Preamble to the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct, a “lawyer should be mindful of deficiencies in the administration of justice and of the fact that the poor, and sometimes persons who are not poor, cannot afford adequate legal assistance. Therefore, all lawyers should devote professional time and resources and use civic influence to ensure equal access to our system of justice for all those who because of economic or social barriers cannot afford or secure adequate legal counsel. A lawyer should aid the legal profession in pursuing these objectives and should help the bar regulate itself in the public interest.” (emphasis added). In this spirit, the Bar Foundation proudly announces Larry Beaser as its 2016 Pollak Award recipient. ### | http://hellenicnews.com/announcement-philadelphia-bar-association/ | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/c150dd250acb106aec573188b047fa7aae0ddba224e353726a30a5fa51c08135.json |
[
"Travel With Pen"
] | 2016-08-26T12:58:45 | null | 2016-08-24T20:50:59 | Small Distinctive Hotels are not for the budget traveler but each property touched the soul in unexpected ways. | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fsmall-distinctive-hotels-costa-rica-touch-soul%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Villas-Caletas.jpg | en | null | Small Distinctive Hotels of Costa Rica touch the soul | null | null | hellenicnews.com | by Marc d’Entremont
Nine boutique hotels, each averaging fewer than 50 rooms, are members of the Small Distinctive Hotels of Costa Rica. On a recent trip I had the pleasure of being a guest at five of the hotels. Each is privately owned, several in the second generation, unique in architecture and setting, luxurious with fine dinning and backstories as distinctive as the properties. Yet all this comfort helps others; each property visited touched the soul in unexpected ways.
Hotel Belmar – the new look of success
“We’ve grown smaller,” Pedro Belmar said quietly. That would not ordinarily be a hotel’s best business plan, but when you’re the second-generation general manager and heir to a famous family mountain retreat that has your name on everything, continued success requires thinking out of the box.
When his parents, Pedro and Vera Belmar, opened their home as a bed and breakfast in 1985 there was nary a paved road to what is recognized today as a world treasure – the Monteverde Biological Reserve. The 13 room all cedar main lodge built in the 1990s is their homage to a love of alpine architecture. A wood shop on site provides the maintenance and crafts designated cedar dishes for both the dining room and bar.
Under the second generation Pedro, Jr, and his sister transformed the original home into the sleek wood and glass nine room Chalet. The Chalet is the center of the hotel’s wellness program, spa services and organic juice and tea bar. The juices are made from fruits and vegetables grown on the compact but expanding hotel organic garden and on the eight acres at the nearby Belmar family farm which provides much of the produce for the hotel’s Celajes Restaurant.
A smoke house made from recycled materials produces smoked cheese, bacon and sausage with the wood shop supplying the cedar chips. Plans are to grow mushrooms using the farm’s coffee hulls and natural compost.
Methane gas is collected for kitchen use through the hotel’s biological water filtration system. The system uses no energy yet produces methane, which is stored in a tank for the kitchen. Clean water is returned to the mountain stream in exchange for energy. “My parents had the ideas,” says Pedro taking little credit for the Hotel Belmar’s success in achieving Costa Rica’s highest awards for sustainable tourism.
Pedro wants to position the Celajes Restaurant as a unique destination in its own right. It already commands a sweeping vista of the forest, mountains and Gulf of Nicoya far below.
The bar reaches deep into the hotel’s organic garden for unique flavors. Bitters and syrups are house made. Room mini bar options include excellent house bottled cocktails. The hotel’s compact brewery was created using recycled equipment and all bottling is done on site.
The freshness of both the ingredients and artistry of Celajes Restaurant does not disappoint. Breakfast can include a bowl of coconut milk and yogurt with chia seeds, fruit, tarragon and basil accompanied by house made granola. A lunch of beef carpaccio was a visually stunning platter of ultra thin slices of raw beef napped with a caper vinaigrette. The perfume of a light dessert of verbana water, lavender flowers, tarragon, tropical fruit and guanabanas sorbet linked the dinner to the scents of a Cloud Forest evening.
Pedro Belmar and his diverse staff enhance the guest experience by living the true meaning of less is more.
Hotel Grano de Oro and the House of Light
A blend of old, restoration and cutting edge, Grano de Oro is firmly established as San Jose’s premiere property. Two restored early 20th century mansions are connected by a modern lobby and include interior courtyard gardens and many original architectural features that meld the two structures while adding 21st century conveniences. Grano de Oro’s atmosphere is that of being a house guest in a grand home.
With understated elegance and graceful service, the exquisite cuisine of Executive Chef Francis Canal Bardot has set the standard in San Jose for a quarter century. Chef Bardot is also a small farmer. He grows much of the organic produce used in the dining room of the Hotel Grano de Oro and humanely raises some of the poultry.
In conversations while dining with General Manager Marco Montoya, second generation owner Michelle Cooke and her sommelier husband Ciro DeAngles I was able to discern Eldon and Lori Cooke’s vision for success. In an age when employee loyalty in the hospitality industry is measured in months, the hotel’s staff members are lifers. Marco Montoya started his career 25 years ago when the hotel opened. Chef Bardot has been in charge of the restaurant for 23 years and many of the chambermaids will eventually retire after long careers.
The imagination and artistry in creating plates that satisfy both the eyes and the taste buds is the true test of a skilled chef. Suckling pig rillettes with craft beer sauce were wrapped in homemade brioche. Locally raised braised saddle of rabbit stuffed with a mousseline was but one choice in a select entrée menu.
The lunch menu tantalized with that most iconic of Costa Rican soups, cream of pejibaye. Nearly impossible to have outside of Costa Rica this smooth, tasty palm fruit is a must have when visiting the country. A quinoa cake shined with tender chunks of grilled octopus, peas, scallions and herbs accompanied by a tomato relish.
Breakfast receives the same attention to detail with entrees such as poached eggs in truffle cream with oyster mushrooms and asparagus.
That’s the luxury side of Hotel Grano de Oro, but Eldon and Lori Cooke became concerned with a social problem that plagues many areas of the world, not just Costa Rica: the sexual abuse of young women. Beyond the abuse were the issues of abandonment, especially of the children that often resulted from abuse, and life long psychological scars.
They opened Casa Luz (“House of Light”) in San Jose. Casa Luz provides multi-year residential programs for abused teenage mothers and their children and a safe home. The program includes all necessary monetary, emotional and psychological support that victims need.
Just ask and the front desk will be pleased to discuss this significant humanitarian project while you enjoy the elegance of Grano de Oro, knowing a portion of the hotel’s profits help support this house of light.
Peace Lodge and La Paz Waterfall Gardens
Of course there are tropical gardens and a waterfall in the bathrooms of guest suites at Peace Lodge. After all it’s nestled within La Paz Waterfall Gardens. In 18 large individually decorated suites, guests luxuriate in river stone hot tubs on plant-bedecked balconies and within private courtyards. Rooms with river stone gas fireplaces open onto views of waterfalls and meandering free-formed trout ponds all designed to make you resign the tensions of the day.
The trout appear on the menu in the three hotel restaurants under the command of Executive Chef Diego Seitour. A Napoleon of trout sandwiches grilled onions and eggplant that rests on pan seared risotto cakes. Paper thin slices of tucurrique sea bass ceviche are garnished with steamed pajibaye and corn napped with a lime, orange juice and olive oil dressing that is bright and intense. Papaya and curry soup has a natural sweetness that blends beautifully with the spice of curry.
Located within an easy drive from San Jose and close to Parc National Volcan Poas, Peace Lodge is an integral component of the privately owned La Paz Waterfall Garden, a destination in its own right. The vision of Florida entrepreneur Lee Banks, the garden and hotel protect a plethora of local fauna and animals in this area of the forest and encompass five stunning waterfalls. Peace Lodge and La Paz Waterfall Gardens are on-going eco-tourism success stories.
Cuna del Angel – discretely guarding your health
If gluten intolerant, everything served at Cuna del Angel is safe to eat and to all other guests it’s simply delicious. Founder and owner Tom Nagel’s passion for natural healthy eating developed over time, but second hand experience with celiac disease made the 100% gluten-free decision easy.
A quick read of the classic European inspired menu at the hotel’s La Palapa restaurant gives guests not a clue their dining health is being guarded. The array of breads vie with such classics as spinach tagliatelle with artichokes, beef tenderloin accented by porcini mushrooms, and a presentation of greens in the salads that’s an evocation of the surrounding forest. Deeper reading reveals the pastas are made from cassava, lentil and garbanzo bean flours and the salad greens are sustainably harvested.
Even imaginative dessert creations are impressive especially given that they are prepared as a component to a balanced gluten-free meal and not just an extravagant indulgence.
Demonstrating a commitment to local, organic and sustainable foods Tom’s farm uses hydroponics and permaculture agricultural methods to grow much of the hotel’s vegetables, greens, herbs, legumes and raises chickens for eggs. The farm produces its own natural fertilizer utilizing a bio digester with its methane gas byproduct channeled to other uses. A natural wood vinegar herbicide is made through a distillation process that condenses a smoldering fire of wood and banana leaves.
Honey for Cuna del Angel’s kitchen is harvested from the farm’s hives but only from the upper layers so as to minimize disturbance to the colony. Four hundred cocoa trees discovered on the farm produce the dense, smooth dark Tom’s Chocolate Bar, but they’re not for sale. Tom donates the bars for charity fundraisers and uses them as a delicious business card.
All of these techniques take time, but to Tom the alternatives are not debatable.
Hotel Cuna del Angel has sixteen spacious rooms. Wellness at the hotel extends beyond gluten-free foods to the attractive spa and the extensive list of outdoor activities along the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The hotel is ideally situated for half and full day excursions for a plethora of activities including Corcovado National Park and Manuel Antonio National Park. Or simply relaxing at the hotel’s infinity pool surrounded by the jungle with the chirping of birds might be the best prescription for wellness.
Villa Caletas – gazing into infinity
On over 700 acres of improbable mountain wilderness, using building methods that hearkened back to the days of the pyramids, Denis Roy created the hotel, restaurants and spa complex of Villa Caletas and the Zephyr Palace. A fusion of river stone castle and tropical Victorian architecture, the 50 rooms range from stunning to awe inspiring.
Yet due to previous cattle overgrazing, the lush hillsides of today were barren and eroding into the clear Pacific below. Fifteen hundred trees were planted from the beach up the mountain, and Villa Caletas continues to spearhead major reforestation projects in the region.
Befitting the Small Distinctive Hotels commitment to sustainable practices, ten percent of electricity is solar powered and all hot water is provided through a system of air conditioner heat transfer. Each room’s air conditioning system uses smart technology reducing the temperature automatically when no one is present and increasing it to a guest’s pre-set comfort zone when they enter their room.
Villa Caletas complex of buildings is set among the lush restored mountain landscape. A massive open-air palapa with hand carved pillars set on the edge of a cliff is dedicated to Denis’ passion for yoga. The Serenity Spa, tucked behind the palapa, is a haven of calm. The glass walls and wide balconies of Villa Caletas art filled suites provide panoramic views of Herradura Bay. And in seven massive individually designed and decorated suites the Zephyr Palace provides luxury befitting royalty.
For a culinary travel journalist Executive Chef Fernando Adaniz and food and beverage manager Pablo Lombardo oversee a cuisine that matches the style of Villa Caletas. Lunch started with a trio of ceviche: mango, sea snails and fish paired with a light and lemony chardonnay. Grilled rare yellow fin tuna was accompanied by a timbal of yucca and napped with pipian sauce – roasted pumpkin seeds.
Pre dinner drinks commenced at sunset. The steep Greek inspired Villa Caletas amphitheater adjacent to the open-air Anfiteatro Bar and Restaurant is a local destination for observing beautiful sunsets for which Costa Rica has a well deserved reputation. Soft ambient music added to the charm.
Segueing to a cliff side table Chef Fernando Adaniz opened dinner with a seafood terrine of lobster, shrimp and mussels with chipotle mayonnaise. Of course Villa Caletas makes all its breads, pastries and desserts in house.
I had to remind myself that with the gentle evening breeze and lush vegetation surrounding all that it was not long ago that this site was a barren wasteland. That’s why the many infinity pools dotting Villa Caletas become a metaphor for Small Distinctive Hotel owners, managers and chefs – they conjure visions gazing into infinity that transform what we humans often damage into what we desire.
When you go: Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) is served by many airlines worldwide and is within an easy 20 minute drive of downtown San Jose.
Disclaimer: The author was a guest of Small Distinctive Hotels, ENroute Communications and Revista Ander de Viaje. Special thanks to my guide throughout my stay in Costa Rica Mauricio Aymerich, director Small Distinctive Hotels. Transportation within Costa Rica was provided by Toyota Rent a Car of San Jose. A Rav4 made Costa Rica’s mountain roads, especially the few unpaved, safe and comfortable.
Hotel Belmar – http://www.hotelbelmar.net/
Hotel Grano de Oro – http://www.hotelgranodeoro.com/
Peace Lodge – http://www.waterfallgardens.com/about_peace_lodge.php
Hotel Cuna del Angel – http://www.cunadelangel.com/
Villa Caletas – http://www.hotelvillacaletas.com/
Travel with Pen and Palate to Greece and the world with Marc d’Entremont every month in the Hellenic News of America.
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Save | http://hellenicnews.com/small-distinctive-hotels-costa-rica-touch-soul/ | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/84aa1e36f99b51a26ef3e70a213e01688db78009929eaa84c820abed42ff5cac.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-26T12:52:10 | null | 2016-07-12T08:45:27 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fmatsikoudis-accelerating-groundwork-jc-mayoral-run%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Matsikoudis.jpg | en | null | Matsikoudis Accelerating Groundwork for JC Mayoral Run | null | null | hellenicnews.com | By Max Pizarro
Bill Matsikoudis, the former corporation counsel for Jersey City during the Jerry Healy years, is poised to run for mayor of Jersey City in 2017.
Actively raising money, Matsikoudis – founding partner of Matsikoudis and Fanciullo, a law firm specializing in Environmental Litigation and Urban Redevelopment – opened a bank account in recent days and is in the process of filing with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).
Sources say Matsikoudis plans a more robust campaign kickoff in the fall.
A frequent and regular vocal critic of the administration of Mayor Steven Fulop, Matsikoudis has worked in the public eye to combat a Fulop-led effort to change the election schedule in Jersey City, and has also sought to put his fingerprints on modifying local pay to play rules.
Having worked in the Healy Administration, Matsikoudis and his allies going forward hope to be able to burnish connective tissue to the old born and raised firehouse crowd in New Jersey’s most populous city, while simultaneously chewing into Fulop’s yuppie/hipster base.
A source close to the developing story said Matsikoudis is prepared to take on any adversary next year, including Fulop, if the mayor’s gubernatorial bid runs aground and Fulop ends up pursuing reelection instead of in a statewide general election.
Other candidates who could run for mayor in 2017 include Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-33), Senator Sandy Cunningham (D-31), Freeholder Bill O’Dea, and Council President Rolando Lavarro. | http://hellenicnews.com/matsikoudis-accelerating-groundwork-jc-mayoral-run/ | en | 2016-07-12T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/ac5b3149629d5d8a62efc581c0a63d959c2c1aaccdab33172d33ebf1e14cc6e7.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-26T12:52:43 | null | 2016-06-23T15:37:26 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fmichael-psaros-initiates-inspirational-movement%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/IMG_0483.jpg | en | null | Michael Psaros Initiates an Inspirational Movement | null | null | hellenicnews.com | The Greek Orthodox Church of Our Savior in Rye, New York, experienced a transformation on its walls and in its community. The inspirational iconography that adorns most Greek Orthodox churches was largely missing from this church. A project to bring religious icons to the church has been captured in the documentary “Pistevo: I Believe, Bringing Iconography to the Greek Orthodox Church of Our Savior.”
A year in the making, the documentary shows the significance of iconography on the spiritual life of the Greek Orthodox Church and how this church in particular was affected.
Released June 2015, the 18 minute film was directed by Mark I. Brodie, written and produced by Taryn Grimes. Executive Producer was Michael Psaros, a parishioner of the church and a co- sponsor of the film with Robin Psaros.
Michael Psaros invites anyone wishing to see the video to visit www.theartof belief.org.
Interview
Paul Kotrotsios: Mr. Psaros. We’re all proud of your success.
Michael Psaros: Thank you.
PK: Your success, your vision is shared with this unique video that you have created, along with your colleagues, Mr. Brodie and everybody else. What does Pistevo mean to you, to Mike Psaros?
MP: What Pistevo means to me is humility. The Orthodox Church spends a lifetime teaching humility. I am humble that I’m in a position to fund the creation of the film. I am humbled that I was taught the faith such that I was inspired to help fund the film. What the video and the response to the video have reinforced to me is the humility in my life and that’s very powerful.
PK: Where do you want to take this video?
MP: The dream would be for every faithful member of the Orthodox Church worldwide, and it’s over 250 [million] people… to spend 18 minutes of their life to watch the film because the film is not about a church in Rye, New York. The film is about the centrality of iconography in the Orthodox faith, on one hand, but on the other hand, how the revelation in five phases of the iconography affected 400 families very personally, how it really transformed a community, transformed people. Iconography is a window to heaven and it doesn’t matter how many times they walk through the door, but it is very, very overwhelming when you look at people’s eyes the first time they walk in the door. It’s just extraordinary.
(Michael Psaros next talked about how the entire iconography project got started at the church in Rye).
MP: His Eminence, Geron Archbishop Demetrios of America came to visit us and it’s such a blessing every time he comes. He’s one of the most unbelievable people I’ve ever met. We had a beautiful service in a very Archbishop Demetrius way, in the way of a paternal father. He did not criticize. He observed. He just looked around and he said ‘the church has white walls.’ Now we have a word, epiphainein… and in a minute, in a second, everyone in the church, it occurred to us that we have white walls. The one thing orthodox churches don’t have is white walls. And so, that is when we decided to embark on the project, but it all got started because of his Eminence Geron Archbishop Demetrius and he deserves all the credit.
PK: “What struck me the most after we talked with Mr. Brodie… and after I showed the video, [was] what you said about the effect it had on your daughter, how, when she turned to you during the liturgy and said ‘dad, the angels are singing.’
MP: Sometimes the most beautiful words, the most eloquent words are spoken by children because they are so innocent. Marina was probably 5 or 6 years old, as innocent as a little girl could be. It was Jan. 1; the Feast of St. Basil the Great and it was a most beautiful day.” Sunlight was pouring through the windows of the church. The saints and martyrs of the church, the second phase of the iconography project, were visible. “And it was her words, ‘daddy, the people that live in the walls are singing,’ not the people that are painted on the walls, not the pictures that are hung on the walls, not the people that are sketched on the walls. The people that are living in the walls are singing. That made the entire iconography project worth it. That tells you the impact that it has had on people. But that moment I will have with me the rest of my life.
PK: How has the iconography in your church brought the church to life today?
MP: Only Father Elias and our Parish council president Rob Augustinos can speak for the church. I will just give you a very personal observation. I believe once again looking in the eyes of all of our hundreds of families; I believe it has really elevated the level of spirituality of the entire community dramatically. We were a family before we embarked on this project but I believe it has made us all a much closer family. The original purpose of iconography was to teach because people were illiterate, people couldn’t read and so what did you have? You had the liturgy, you had the spoken word and you had iconography. Believe it or not, I actually believe that the icons are an incredibly useful teaching tool as well.
(Michael Psaros then talked about the importance of the Greek Orthodox Church and how it can’t be separated from Hellenism).
MP: I cannot understand those that put orthodoxy in the church and Hellenism in the street in discreet and unique different buckets. I can’t. I had the great privilege of giving the speech at the OXI Day Foundation this year. What I said was during 400 years of Tourkokratia (Turkish rule) what kept the people together? What kept the language alive? And it was the church. And it was simply millions of people continued to believe, Pistevo. They continued to believe and so I can’t separate the two.
(Michael Psaros ended the interview in support of modern Christians who are suffering persecution, particularly in the Middle East)
MP: It is a willful crime of this country, NATO and the West allowing Christianity to be liquidated in the place of its birth. As I said, OXI (No) wasn’t just about OXI Day and that one day, but every monk, every monk in Iraq, every nun in Syria, every Christian who has been evicted, who’s been killed, who’s been beheaded, who’s watched a family suffer, get sick, who’s hungry, every Christian who’s living in a tent, who’s still there, who continues to say OXI, OXI every day, just the fact that they’re alive and it’s a sin that we’re allowing this to happen. The Jewish people like to say about the Holocaust, ‘Never again.’ It’s happening right now as we speak.
PK: I’m humbled. I thank you very much for the opportunity to have us here and get this interview to air and also in the Hellenic News.
MP: I thank you. All we want is people to watch the film and to the extent you’re helping us with that, God bless you. | http://hellenicnews.com/michael-psaros-initiates-inspirational-movement/ | en | 2016-06-23T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/bacb8f0d8eba33499f1ba4424ef36e07771ee4663b703546bc79644dd1de2bb1.json |
[
"Hellenic News"
] | 2016-08-26T12:56:59 | null | 2016-08-20T07:46:24 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fhellenicnews.com%2Fannouncement-like-welcome-antonios-xylourgidis-hna-team%2F.json | http://hellenicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Antonios-Xylourgidis.jpg | en | null | Announcement: We would like to welcome Antonios Xylourgidis to the HNA Team! | null | null | hellenicnews.com | Hellenic News of America would like to welcome Antonios Xylourgidis to our team! Antonios is a seasoned journalist on various aspects pertaining to Greece. Stay tuned to read his exceptional pieces.
Educational background:
Lawyer, Political Scientist, Aristotle University, Greece
Phd in Constitutional Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
LLM in Public International Law, emocritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece
LLM in Constitutional Law, Democritus University of Thrace, Komotini, Greece
LLM in Sociology of Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Bachelor in Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Bachelor in Political Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Titles of Published Works | http://hellenicnews.com/announcement-like-welcome-antonios-xylourgidis-hna-team/ | en | 2016-08-20T00:00:00 | hellenicnews.com/f8f24414acdc440ec6195e5db2da2d09663d5c6b54f587963a6c7ae604f5413b.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-26T12:56:07 | null | 2016-08-18T12:22:27 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F18%2Fcrawlin-around-the-dallas-fort-worth-metroplex%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/lifeandstyle-2-300x200.jpg | en | null | Crawlin’ around the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | With temperatures well over 100 degrees, the last thing that sounds appealing is being up to one’s neck in wool, alpaca and other fibers but that is exactly what is happening this August as over 700 yarn-lovers participate in the 5th Annual DFW Yarn Crawl.
Eighteen destinations ranging from Ft Worth to Lindale, and Whitesboro to Kemp will showcase the wide variety of yarn shops, spinning mills, alpaca ranches, yarn dyers and commercial sweater manufacturing North Texas offers.
By Wyndi Veigel • News Editor • news@farmersvilletimes.com
For the complete story see the Aug. 18 edition of The Farmersville Times or click here for the e-Edition. | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/18/crawlin-around-the-dallas-fort-worth-metroplex/ | en | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/acc8bb39bbe60d169ba9aae1fc5fbb335e35ea27367374d970d65a3ae7d2b2c7.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-26T12:52:46 | null | 2016-08-25T15:08:05 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F25%2Freading-program-boasts-high-numbers%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/lifeandstyle-3-300x200.jpg | en | null | Reading program boasts high numbers | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | It takes a village is a common thread when children are concerned, and this year’s Summer Reading Club is no exception.
Sponsored by The Farmersville Times, readers of all ages flocked to the library for three months to participate in weekly meetings, complete craft projects, earn prizes and read, of course.
653 patrons, both kids and adults, participated in this year’s program. According to information released by Librarian Trisha Dowell, 8,365 items were checked out in June, July and August and 100 new cards were issued.
By Wyndi Veigel • News Editor • news@farmersvilletimes.com
For the complete story see the Aug. 25 edition of The Farmersville Times or click here for the e-Edition. | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/25/reading-program-boasts-high-numbers/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/f1a68c5bb0eb82d48e8f3c76959c2306774607085659536068502d4c2f52b089.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-26T12:51:05 | null | 2016-08-11T13:11:47 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F11%2Ffleaing-into-history-market-celebrates-12th-birthday%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/latest2-300x200.jpg | en | null | Fleaing into history: Market celebrates 12th birthday | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | Lots of towns have flea markets and lots of communities have farmers markets. But only Farmersville has managed to combine both for more than 10 years.
Aug. 6 marked the 12th anniversary of the Farmers and Fleas market in downtown Farmersville.
“The market was designed to bring people to downtown, where we felt they would discover more places to shop and eat and reasons to return. This is still true today, although the landscape has changed. There are more local markets now in the surrounding towns. There are also more businesses in our downtown,” Farmersville Main Street Manager Adah Leah Wolf said.
By Wyndi Veigel • News Editor • news@farmersvilletimes.com
For the complete story see the Aug. 11 edition of The Farmersville Times or click here for the e-Edition. | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/11/fleaing-into-history-market-celebrates-12th-birthday/ | en | 2016-08-11T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/64e754e7b968498e1038dbf99d865f7e76560d4a5537ef7f3bc3b4221eec1abc.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-26T12:55:39 | null | 2016-08-18T12:23:57 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F18%2Fsafety-urged-on-hwy-78%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/education-300x200.jpg | en | null | Safety urged on Hwy. 78 | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | With the start of the school year, Farmersville ISD Police and Farmersville PD have one goal: to get people to slow down and pay attention.
Recently, the city and the school district have been hard at work to get TxDOT to make improvements to the Hwy. 78 crosswalks and to lower the speed limits.
“The crosswalks now have flashing lights on them on Hwy. 78 alerting people to an active school zone,” Farmersville ISD Police Chief Toby Caviness said. “We’ve been fighting for two years with TxDOT to make something happen.”
By Wyndi Veigel • News Editor • news@farmersvilletimes.com
For the complete story see the Aug. 18 edition of The Farmersville Times or click here for the e-Edition. | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/18/safety-urged-on-hwy-78/ | en | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/9cbaf8d277c54b9fdb49e1565452d144f8dddfb00bb1002b90291efe7af8d84c.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-26T12:49:58 | null | 2016-08-11T13:18:09 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F11%2Fwork-begins-on-new-travel-center%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/latest-1-300x200.jpg | en | null | Work begins on new travel center | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | After more than a year, dirt is finally being moved on the Shell Travel Center.
The 9,200 sq. ft. business is expected to be complete in about 8 months, according to Tarina Group General Contractor Hani Elkady.
“They now have their permits and have begun work,” Farmersville City Manager Ben White said.
The establishment will house a restaurant, a convenience store, truck fueling and car fueling with Shell gas.
By Wyndi Veigel• News Editor • news@farmersvilletimes.com
For the complete story see the Aug. 11 edition of The Farmersville Times or click here for the e-Edition. | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/11/work-begins-on-new-travel-center/ | en | 2016-08-11T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/85db44b4dcbafd774fe121ccf1748059ad22c2e31c89f97f3b391ff1949eb689.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-30T18:48:31 | null | 2016-08-30T12:00:47 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F30%2Fchase-ends-near-caddo-park%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/bp_.chase_-300x200.jpg | en | null | Chase ends near Caddo Park | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | IMG_1583
Video courtesy of Ashley Mercer
Drivers on nearly every road in Farmersville weren’t sure what was going on Friday, Aug. 26 but they knew enough to stop and in some cases take video.
A driver that chose to flee police is now in jail after a 45-minute pursuit occurred starting in Princeton, leading to Blue Ridge, through Farmersville and ultimately coming to a stop near Caddo Park on Hwy. 380.
Shortly after 5 p.m. Princeton police officers responded to call about stolen merchandise from the Walmart, located at 701 W. Princeton Dr.
After the suspect left the store and entered an older model pickup truck, Princeton PD Officer Clinton Hauck attempted to pull over the suspect, Willie Lee Hayes, 45, of McKinney.
It was determined that the truck was stolen from the Walmart, according to Princeton Police Chief James Waters. The tag also returned that the owner had a probation violation warrant.
“Whereas other chase policies are more restrictive, Princeton’s policy more easily allows officers to evaluate the total situation and determine the needs from there,” Princeton Police Chief James Waters said.
After being pursued by multiple agencies, the driver finally gave up when his vehicle would no longer travel, near Caddo Park on Hwy. 380.
Hayes was arrested without incident.
The suspect is now facing charges of theft, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, tampering with evidence and fleeing police.
Farmersville PD, Princeton PD and Collin County Sheriffs Deputies were involved in the pursuit.
For more information see the Sept. 1 edition of The Farmersville Times. | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/30/chase-ends-near-caddo-park/ | en | 2016-08-30T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/30fb09c6f8cdd3991fccd082180154b2813ca31e56ba3dde8d7f737f95e2d9f8.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-26T12:48:04 | null | 2016-08-25T15:10:59 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F25%2Ffirst-day-fanfare%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/education-1-300x200.jpg | en | null | First day fanfare | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | This week's edition of The Farmersville Times is now available on racks or through the e-Edition at www.etypeservices.com/Farmersville%20TimesID246/default.aspx. ... See MoreSee Less Photo
Want to see First Day of School photos? Pick up a copy of this week's edition of The Farmersville Times or go to www.etypeservices.com/Farmersville%20TimesID246/default.aspx to see the e-Edition. ... See MoreSee Less Photo
The Farmersville Times shared Blue Ridge Elementary's photo. ... See MoreSee Less BRE would like to give a BIG shout out to Mandy Ellingson! Thanks to Mandy and the Texas National Guard's school supply drive, Blue Ridge Elementary received 21 boxes of school supplies today! #BRISDpride #TexasHelpingTexas Photo | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/25/first-day-fanfare/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/55b963d661f34b80b56940d7846a11783cabaf49b8321228bd2f25de708c635e.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-26T12:53:46 | null | 2016-08-25T15:09:35 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F25%2Fhere-you-go%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/sports-2-300x200.jpg | en | null | Here you go | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | Farmersville’s Kylee Davis sets up a play as Mikiah Butler gets ready to assist on the play during a non-district road match.
For the complete story and additional photos see the Aug. 25 edition of The Farmersville Times or click here for the e-Edition. | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/25/here-you-go/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/9a52112f5169db008a3ee136844a7e65d182f77e5c264a1c5788724791499fd0.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-26T12:53:17 | null | 2016-08-18T12:21:01 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F18%2Fdouble-teamed%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/sports-1-300x200.jpg | en | null | Double teamed | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | This week's edition of The Farmersville Times is now available on racks or through the e-Edition at www.etypeservices.com/Farmersville%20TimesID246/default.aspx. ... See MoreSee Less Photo
Want to see First Day of School photos? Pick up a copy of this week's edition of The Farmersville Times or go to www.etypeservices.com/Farmersville%20TimesID246/default.aspx to see the e-Edition. ... See MoreSee Less Photo
The Farmersville Times shared Blue Ridge Elementary's photo. ... See MoreSee Less BRE would like to give a BIG shout out to Mandy Ellingson! Thanks to Mandy and the Texas National Guard's school supply drive, Blue Ridge Elementary received 21 boxes of school supplies today! #BRISDpride #TexasHelpingTexas Photo | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/18/double-teamed/ | en | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/edae5e57acf19afa6d1ad9f7835b1705a37769e7cf69ecf0d48fab44b9c6663a.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-26T12:47:33 | null | 2016-08-18T12:25:18 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F18%2Fcouncil-decreases-city-tax-rate-by-seven-cents%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/latest-2-300x200.jpg | en | null | Council decreases city tax rate by seven cents | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | For the first time in quite a while, Farmersville residents are receiving a lower tax rate from the city of Farmersville.
In the Aug. 9 city council meeting, councilmembers approved to set the proposed tax rate for the Fiscal Year 2016-’17 at 78 cents per $100 evaluation, almost seven cents lower than last year’s tax rate of 86 cents.
With this rate, the average citizen with a home of $120,000 in the city of Farmersville will pay $945.07.
By Wyndi Veigel • News Editor • news@farmersvilletimes.com
For the complete story see the Aug. 18 edition of The Farmersville Times or click here for the e-Edition. | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/18/council-decreases-city-tax-rate-by-seven-cents/ | en | 2016-08-18T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/7ab6a39633419a605316f659a5e69f869b3fd555ce0e814e1be6f04bb72d678f.json |
[
"The Farmersville Times"
] | 2016-08-26T12:51:37 | null | 2016-08-25T15:12:52 | null | http%3A%2F%2Ffarmersvilletimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F25%2Fbugtussle-to-roll-into-town-saturday%2F.json | http://farmersvilletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/latest-3-300x200.jpg | en | null | Bugtussle to roll into town Saturday | null | null | farmersvilletimes.com | Those who are in the mood to see cool, collectible cars are in for a treat this weekend as the 48th annual Bugtussle Trek makes its way into downtown Farmersville.
Antique cars will fill the downtown square around 7:30 a.m. til 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 27.
What is a Bugtussle you may ask? Bugtussle is actually an extremely tiny town in North Texas located toward Paris.
By Wyndi Veigel • News Editor • news@farmersvilletimes.com
For the complete story see the Aug. 25 edition of The Farmersville Times or click here for the e-Edition. | http://farmersvilletimes.com/2016/08/25/bugtussle-to-roll-into-town-saturday/ | en | 2016-08-25T00:00:00 | farmersvilletimes.com/3ee50cddddeb0a7846069e56288ff2b8bf89878c201a92e24693d96abac47da1.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T18:48:35 | null | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elciudadanoweb.com%2Fmundo-laboral-3%2F.json | http://www.elciudadanoweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/tapa-4.jpg | es | null | Mundo Laboral | null | null | www.elciudadanoweb.com | null | http://www.elciudadanoweb.com/mundo-laboral-3/ | en | 2016-08-27T00:00:00 | www.elciudadanoweb.com/7015ecfe4a44fbcf1bd436c1e4f1cd398b5be37984180686dfba4a288af8862a.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T18:49:50 | null | 2016-08-28T04:49:28 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Friot-police-fed-drugs%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Anti-riot-police-officers-beat-up-a-woman-sitting-at-the-front-of-the-Harare-Magistrates-court-yesterday-1.png | en | null | Is riot police fed on drugs? | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | The picture of a group of riot police assaulting an old woman at the entrance of Rotten Row magistrate courts in Harare on Friday leaves little doubt that these young men are fed on drugs before being deployed to crash riots.
the oracle BY TANGAI CHIPANGURA
What else could explain this sickening scene where a group of eight youthful men, clad in full riot gear including riot helmets, menacing knee and shin protectors and other body armour while armed with batons, riot shields and guns, surround and brutalise this hapless old woman?
The woman is on her knees, her frail arms up in a vain attempt to protect herself and apparently pleading with the police. In the picture, the police are clearly not listening to her plea of innocence and one of them is gleefully pumping his boot into the woman’s backside. His colleagues, all eight of them, have their full attention on the woman and two of them are attacking the elderly woman with baton sticks.
All this is happening at the entrance of a court house where justice is supposed to be dispensed. The woman could have been coming to court to attend to a hearing of a relative. The court is a public place where anyone has the right to enter and if anyone broke the law within the precincts of the court, there is a police post inside where law breakers can be taken and charged.
According to press reports, elsewhere on that Friday, police were overwhelmed by sporadic riots that were breaking all over the city. But this group of police, armed to the teeth as they were, chose to assault an old unarmed woman while their colleagues were running away from stone-throwing protesters.
This was by no means the only such disgusting spectacle by our brutal police force. There were many scenes where helpless people going about their business — not anywhere near the demonstrators — fell victim of these thugs.
We saw pictures of babies engulfed in teargas, of commuters chocked in tear smoke fired into moving kombis and of people bludgeoned and left for dead by vengeful riot police who would have been outrun or made to run for their lives by protesters armed with stones.
The riotous scenes on Friday were sparked by the refusal by the police to respect a High Court ruling ordering them not interfere with the protesters who were demonstrating against misrule by the government of Zimbabwe and demanding electoral reforms that would ensure free and fair elections.
The police had earlier refused to sanction the peaceful march giving the excuse that the 150 000 people that the parties expected to take part in the march was too big for the police to contain. The parties, however, argued that the police were being partisan and dishonest because they had on several occasions easily contained Zanu PF’s million-man marches which they sanctioned without blinking an eye.
The High Court then ruled that the march should go ahead and that the police were not supposed to interfere.
However, even as the court was making this ruling, the police were already tear-gassing people like mosquito.
So, in the end, the march could not take place in the orderly manner that had been planned as the people ran away from police batons and tear smoke. This is what sparked the eventual riots as angry people retaliated this unprovoked police brutality.
President Robert Mugabe flew out of the country to go to attend some meeting in Kenya that same Friday while Harare was on fire. He should learn to listen to people’s concerns and grievances. In this case political parties and their supporters were demonstrating to express their unhappiness with an uneven electoral playing field.
Mugabe and his party Zanu PF have over the years refused to make conditions conducive for free and fair elections. Just before the 2013 elections Mugabe arrogantly told MDC that he would not reform anything claiming the playing field was level enough as it was. He said the MDC should not expect caterpillars to level the electoral playing field.
Last week, Jonathan Moyo, the Higher Education minister who is one of Zanu PF’s think-tanks tweeted thus: “What government would reform itself out of power?” The implication being that Zanu PF knew if they reformed the flawed electoral laws, the party would lose the election.
Mugabe should accept the fact that if indeed, as is the case, the electoral environment is not conducive to hold free and fair elections, if the polls are going to be bloody and the vote is at the risk of theft, then his competitors and the citizens of this country have the right to call for caterpillars to make things right.
There is no evidence at all that the prevailing political atmosphere is safe enough for voters to openly declare support for political parties of their choice or that the ballot will not be stolen, or that if certain candidates were to win in the event of a free and fair election, the result will be accepted by those that hold the guns.
Feedback: tchipangura@standard.co.zw | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/riot-police-fed-drugs/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/5c340b99b45f46f5925356a4bccb4f89673cafbaa4c8716922113bd6b146ccfd.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T12:49:53 | null | 2016-08-28T13:00:47 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fzanu-militia-abducts-activists%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/placeholder_100x100.png | en | null | Zanu militia abducts activists | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | AN alleged Zanu PF militia was yesterday accused of abducting and torturing opposition activists before handing them over to the police during Friday protests.
By PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
Lawyer Jeremiah Bamu made the claims before Harare Provincial Magistrate Vakai Chikwekwe when he appeared for 71 activists and bystanders who are being charged with public violence.
Bamu said his clients had complaints against the police that among others included torture, arbitrary arrests and being denied the opportunity to see their lawyers.
“One of my clients Gift Siziba and five others were kidnapped from central Harare,” he said.
“Siziba was bundled into a motor vehicle and taken to Zanu PF headquarters where he was subjected to brutal assaults to the extent that his left hand is now barely functional and his right hand is swollen.
“When he was handed over to the police the officers on duty did not bother to investigate his kidnapping report or the circumstances of his arrest.”
The court also heard that Siziba was allegedly abducted by thugs using a car with registration number ABA 9705 that belongs to one Alfred Murimbi of Greystone Park.
#Tajamuka leader Promise Mkwananzi also appeared in court on the same charges and complained that the police had without a search warrant seized his mobile phone and searched his communication.
The State through prosecutor Michael Reza said they would investigate the complaints.
All the accused were remanded in custody to tomorrow when they are expected to apply for bail. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/zanu-militia-abducts-activists/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/31652cf1873f83ecb44521386fd42228df4a1b63fb4161fcd6bb04a6026adf4b.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:49:57 | null | 2016-08-28T04:47:01 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fmushroom-just-fungus%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PR-1.png | en | null | Why measurement, evaluation are critical PR tools | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Public relations (PR) will always be that nice to have add-on for an organisation if it fails to demonstrate its value. For any right thinking chief executive, it is how any function contributes to the bottom line that matters.
Public Relations with Lenox Mhlanga
When lecturing to PR students, I always emphasise the fact that the world is moving towards a more scientific approach to PR management. It’s now about the figures, or data, as it is now referred to.
The argument of PR pundits has always been centred around the ability to translate results that are intangible such as changing of perceptions into dollars and cents on the balance sheet.
For ages it has been about how many column centimetres or mentions in the media they have managed to achieve for the organisation.
However, such quantities fail to impress under-fire chief financial officers whose job is to allocate sometimes meagre resources to critical and strategic functions in the business.
Most PR professionals struggle to justify why they should get that extra budget dollar. And this is not restricted to in-house communications personnel alone. Agency or consultancy boffins find themselves in a bind when clients demand that they see tangible results for the fees they pay.
Admittedly, the measurement and evaluation of PR campaigns has never been easy, yet it is important. Particularly when the value of communications in an organisation has been shown not only to be strategic, but invaluable.
“While reputation management, consumer engagement, brand awareness and affinity are all components of successful PR, our ultimate definition of success lies in how we contribute to the bottom line,” says Martina Byrne whose presentation, Demonstrating the Value of PR to the Bottom Line at the PR Institute of Ireland shared insights on this important element of the profession.
I must admit that I am one of those who is mortified by “figures” having spent the better part of my high school life jousting my mathematics teacher. So, I find myself in good company with 59% of public relations professionals surveyed by the International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication in 2013 who said that biggest barrier they face in measuring their success is that it’s “too complex”.
This is not good enough according to an article in Wilde Words, an industry blog aimed at assisting small-to-medium businesses with their communications needs.
As an industry, we can and must do better, and that I agree. I have always said that if we want PR to be regarded as an essential rather than a nice-to-have, we must demonstrate how our activities impact the organisation’s profit margin. Otherwise, our demands for greater spend will justifiably fall on deaf ears. Well, I thought this was worth repeating.
The PR graveyard is replete with professionals who were jettisoned at the slight whiff of financial turmoil in the organisation. Them and the chaps from research and innovation suffer the ignominy of having their function outsourced to agency consultancies that are summoned on a need to basis.
I remember meeting a colleague who I though had landed a plum appointment with a blue chip company. He revealed to me that six months down the line, the executive decided to “tippex” (erase) his post from the organogram. Since he could not be redeployed, he was put to pasture. Their reason, PR had become a burden. He was so devastated that he turned to farming.
Yet it was easy to identify the real reason behind the move. He has failed to show how PR added value.
The measurement and evaluation of a PR campaign or activity depends on the communications objectives of the campaign, which should always relate to a business objective.
When your organisation successfully achieves a business objective, it is essential that the PR team can show which communications objectives were aligned to support this and contribute to it.
Those in the profession measure the quantitative outputs of a campaign. In traditional media, quantitative measures (that means stuff you can count) include press clippings, circulation and readership figures, opportunities to see, radio or television air time and volume of coverage.
For digital media, quantitative measures include web-rankings, followers gained, website visitors and social media engagement (number of likes, comments, shares or retweets.) We are still grappling with finding our feet in new media, yet as I demonstrated last week, it offers excellent opportunities to be heard and seen, at the same time create novel tools of measurement.
Evaluating the qualitative value of a campaign remains a big challenge to many. Assess the impact the activity has on the tone of blogger comments. Hold focus groups for consumer feedback, monitor any commentary by public figures including celebrities or politicians, the so-called influencers, and gauge the impact on community sentiment on your social media channels.
Internally, it’s possible to run surveys to find if the campaign had an effect on employee morale.
Advertising value equivalents (AVEs) are dead. They have been widely discredited as a mechanism for evaluating PR. As Byrne noted in her presentation, measuring our own industry by the yardstick of another (advertising) shows an alarming lack of confidence in our own abilities.
“There is no common measurement for advertising and editorial, and it is akin to asking a footballer how many ‘tries’ he scored in his last game!” Byrne quips.
What’s the alternative then? Byrne offers a simple, consistent formula (there we go again with our Maths) for calculating the value of your campaign based on total spend versus audience reached.
The cost per thousand reached formula has been adopted by some of the world’s largest PR firms, including Edelman, Ogilvy and Fleischman-Hillard. It’s calculated by dividing the total cost of the campaign by the number of stakeholders reached. Simple isn’t it?
Outcomes are a vital component of evaluation. Measuring outcomes depends on the objective of the campaign and is an essential step beyond measuring output.
There are some practical ways to measure PR outcomes based on communications and business objectives. These include creating more sales leads, increasing sales, showing a change of attitude and demonstrating the value for money of a given campaign. Evaluating the impact of PR output in the media should be the icing on the cake via carrying out critical analysis of the coverage.
Whether you’re working on an in-house corporate communications team looking for an increased budget or an agency looking to demonstrate your value to a client, measuring the success of your campaigns effectively is vital.
Lenox Mhlanga is a communication specialist with experience working for the World Bank Group. He is an associate consultant with Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants and an associate lecturer at the National University of Science and Technology. He can be contacted at lenoxmhlanga@gmail.com or 0772 400 656. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/mushroom-just-fungus/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/d56a37e32826680df042f3487841f25f06d7c21f72358d3d438be41c123081e7.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:49:52 | null | 2016-08-28T04:37:50 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Ftiger-wheels-tyre-extends-african-footprint%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Customers-can-relax-and-enjoy-refreshments-in-the-store’s-inviting-hospitality-lounges-1.png | en | null | Tiger Wheels & Tyre extends African footprint | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Leading automotive specialist retailer, Tiger Wheel and Tyre is strengthening its presence in Zimbabwe, with the opening of new stores in the capital, Harare and another one in Bulawayo.
Fin24/ Staff Reporter
Auto-industry players in Zimbabwe say the sector is growing, propelled by the mass importation of pre-owned vehicles from Japan, the United Kingdom and other countries.
Despite battling severe investment shortfalls and cash shortages, the government has also been importing new vehicles for ministers, heads of departments and parastatals.
“Tiger Wheel & Tyre’s has announced the opening of an additional store in Eastlea, near the central business district in Harare after successful entry into the Zimbabwean market in November last year,” the SA retail company said in April.
The store has five fitment and two alignment bays to attend to the wheel, tyre and automotive battery needs of motorists in the busy CBD area as well as catering for the Msasa industry and surrounding residential suburbs.
Zimbabwe has dealerships for most vehicle brands such as General Motors, Mercedes Benz, Nissan and Toyota among others although other players say new vehicle sales have been slower. The Willowvale Mazda assembles vehicles under the Mazda brand.
In July this year Tiger Wheels & Tyre also opened its third outlet in Bulawayo. The store has an advanced showroom which exhibits all available products.
The new store is located at the corner of Plumtree and Manchester Roads in Belmont and boasts four fitment and two wheel alignment bays to service the wheel, tyre and automotive battery needs of motorists in this busy location.
Tiger Wheel & Tyre Bulawayo has a state-of-the-art showroom that showcases a wide range of wheels, tyres, batteries and accessories from the world’s leading automotive brands.
The range of tyres in stock include, among others, Continental, Yokohama, Hankook, Michelin, BF Goodrich, Pirelli, GT Radial, Sumitomo and Tiger Wheel & TWT’s own brand, Velocity.
The stores introduce a revolutionary approach to tyre fitment centres, with clean modern facilities offering Wi-Fi, TV, coffee, state-of-the-art workshops and fully trained staff able to assess any vehicle.
While skilled technicians attend to their vehicles, customers will be invited to relax and enjoy refreshments in the store’s inviting hospitality lounge. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/tiger-wheels-tyre-extends-african-footprint/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/98f4932eb1b25c3ab85449a20daf3d03f17a87501d1ae944f6aff4809d34143d.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:54:57 | null | 2016-08-21T10:00:27 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Fbiti-endorses-mujuru-candidacy%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/margaret-dongo-and-joice-mujuru-at-the-Zim-PF-rally-at-Macheke-Stadium-yesterday.jpg | en | null | Biti endorses Mujuru candidacy | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | BINGA — Zimbabwe People First leader Joice Mujuru yesterday moved her campaign to rural areas with a rally in Binga where Tendai Biti’s People Democratic Party pledged not to field a presidential candidate in the 2018 general elections as it will back the former vice-president.
By Everson Mushava
While giving a solidarity speech, PDP vice-president Samuel Sipepa-Nkomo said Mujuru had come at the right time as God’s plan was to end President Robert Mugabe’s rule.
“Zimbabwe is a good country which just needs to change the driver,” he said.
“I want to urge you Amai Mujuru to remain humble and focused because what you see happening now is a sign of God taking control.
“As we come to work with you as PDP, we are coming to support you; we are bringing in no other presidential candidate other than Mai Mujuru.”
The former minister, who hails from Matabeleland North, addressed the more than 3 000 ZimPF supporters who turned up for Mujuru’s maiden rural rally in the province.
Nkomo said Zimbabweans had suffered enough under Mugabe’s rule and Mujuru had been sent by God to deliver freedom to the people.
“You go to South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and other countries in the region; it is only in Zimbabwe where we are suffering,” he said.
“You have come at the right time to liberate the people and we will pray for you. Just remain humble; you are an instrument in God’s hands.”
Nkomo praised Mujuru over the way she conducted herself in the face of humiliation by Mugabe’s wife, Grace, urging the ZimPF leader to remain humble in the face of unwavering support by many Zimbabweans.
Mujuru said she was humbled by the show of support by PDP and promised to work together with other pro-democracy opposition leaders to bring down the walls of Mugabe’s rule.
Mujuru said there was nothing wrong with opposition parties working together as long as they were bound by a similar goal.
She said Zanu PF took her joining hands with Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T the wrong way because the party was used to violence each time they met rivals.
“Last Saturday we partnered Tsvangirai in Gweru to protest against bond notes. As Zimbabwe People First, we have already taken government to court over its decision to introduce bond notes,” she said.
“So, we joined the MDC-T in their protest and they also joined us at our rally.
“There was nothing wrong with that. How does that constitute selling out? So they [Zanu PF] thought I would fold my arms as they [MDC-T] protest when what they were demonstrating against is what we are also fighting?”
Zanu PF last week accused Mujuru of selling out by joining the Tsvangirai-led protests in Gweru.
The ruling party’s apologists alleged that she had demonstrated that she was part of a plot by her late husband the late General Solomon Mujuru to betray Mugabe.
Mujuru said their joint rally and protest showed the now jittery Zanu PF that people can be united.
“By joining Tsvangirai, what has been sold out? They [Zanu PF] are used to violence each time they meet other political parties and they were disappointed that what they are used to do did not happen when we met. ZimPF is a peaceful party,” she said.
“They [Zanu PF] always attack me that I did not fight in the liberation struggle. I don’t need anyone to validate my credentials. No one can undo history.”
Mujuru blasted Zanu PF for using force to silence citizens peacefully demonstrating against its “misrule”.
She added: “You cannot use the police to beat up their parents expressing displeasure over the way the country is run. People have discovered that their political leadership does not have the ears to give them audience, so they go into the streets peacefully and they beat them up, why?”
Mujuru lamented the economic meltdown, and promised the people of Binga that the long awaited Zambezi River water project would become a reality if she won in 2018.
“People say Binga is the poorest district. It is not true; the poorest is the mind of the country’s leadership. If we draw water and do irrigation and improve tourism, the people’s lives will change,” she said.
Prior to the rally, violent incidences against ZimPF supporters were recorded, with a headmaster at a local school having his house torched on Wednesday night after he was reportedly visited by Zanu PF youths to question him about his alleged links to ZimPF.
On Friday, 13 rounds of ammunition were discovered at the headmaster’s shop at Manjolo Shopping Centre about 400m from the venue of Mujuru’s rally.
A police report was made on both accounts. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/biti-endorses-mujuru-candidacy/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/2921c73841ac1738f9607770406d81b1de7c91e6e936f3f955cacbcb2cd65be9.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:58:38 | null | 2016-08-23T10:18:54 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F23%2Fanother-spiritual-spectacles-night-beckons%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IMG-20160817-WA0034.jpg | en | null | Another ‘spiritual spectacles’ night beckons | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Goodness and Mercy Ministries founder Prophet Tapiwa Freddy who hogged the religious limelight with the “spiritual spectacles” last year says his “miracles” have had a significant impact in the lives of many people.
By Staff Reporter
The Glen View-based man of the cloth on Wednesday told The Standard Style that the “spiritual spectacles”, which enable his congregants to “prophesy”, have helped many families.
“I have had an overwhelming response from people from all walks of life since the moment we introduced the ‘spiritual spectacles’,” he said.
“We got enquiries from people as far afield as Masvingo, Chinhoyi, Gweru, Bulawayo and Kwekwe. Our testimonies have also proved our worth.”
The prophet claimed that some of his prophecies have enabled people to recover some of their stolen goods.
“We have helped some families recover stolen goods, while one of our ‘miracles’ led to the recovery of 12 cattle in Mozambique. The cattle had been stolen in Mt Darwin,” he said.
Prophet Freddy said the “spiritual spectacles”, allow people to see their past and future, giving congregants the ability to see the “second world”.
“I can refer you to 2 Kings 6 verse 17. The passage says Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see. Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha’,” he said.
Prophet Freddy, who hosts the Spiritual Spectacles Night 2 on September 2 in Glen View believes the event would be bigger than the first edition that was held last year.
“I am calling this one the Double Spiritual Spectacles because people will see in detail when I order the spiritual spectacles to work for them. For instance, let’s say four people have stolen from your house, the miracles would enable you to see the thieves, which can assist you recover the goods or have the thieves apprehended,” he said.
“We are also saying to those who want to get married, bring your partners so that we enable them to see their future with their partners so that they make informed decisions before they get married.”
The prophet whose spiritual specs caused mayhem when some women “in spirit” claimed to have seen their husbands cheating on them said the “spiritual spectacles” were for the benefit of families.
“There is what is called permissive will. God can simply let something happen in your life, good or bad. That is, He does not directly intervene to prevent it happening, but you can pray to Him for a permissive will,” he said.
“In some cases when we feel the prophecy was negative, we refer people to our counselling team where they are given room to make informed choices after what they would have been prophesied.”
Prophet Freddy was born on September 18 1983 in Musana in Manicaland. He said he got a calling from God at a tender age.
“My parents claimed that when I was 18 months old, I could prophesy. Mine was a calling from God and in 2005, I had founded Goodness and Mercy Ministries,” he said.
The prophet, who believes that there are two worlds, the one we see with our eyes and the other one people see through “spiritual spectacles” said the Spiritual Spectacles Night 2 will give congregants the ability to see the “second world”.
“I am inviting people to come here in Glen View for the Spiritual Spectacles Night 2. Last year about 100 people managed to prophesy after the spiritual spectacles and this year the number is likely to increase,” he said.
He said the church’s sermons are recorded and available on CDs, DVDs, and the church’s Facebook page and websites.
Prophet Freddy is married to Milanda and the couple is blessed with three children. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/23/another-spiritual-spectacles-night-beckons/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/b93941d1280545c6f96fc0bd148f68ae74b9cb69293dfa90153ff72ab868585b.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T22:49:24 | null | 2016-08-21T07:23:11 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Funicef-police-must-come-clean-child-abuse%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Roit-Police-beat-up-members-of-Rural-Teachers-Union-in-Zimbabwe-after-they-staged-a-protest-againist-the-Government-for-the-delay-of-salariesbonus-Pic-Shepherd-Tozvireva.jpg | en | null | Unicef, police must come clean on child abuse | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | The blizzard of brickbats that has been flying between civil society and government with the support of the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) in the past week over the issue of child abuse by politicians and political activists ignites a critical point of debate on the issue of children’s rights, double standards and hypocrisy.
THE ORACLE BY TANGAI CHIPANGURA
To begin with, there is no doubt that it is wrong and illegal for anybody or any organisation to seek to advance their interests, political or otherwise, at the expense of children. There is also no doubt that the law, throughout the world, gives children the right of association, among many other rights.
What appears to be the bone of contention in this particular case is the nature of the gathering that took place at Africa Unity Square in Harare two weeks ago during the commemoration of the disappearance of journalist-cum-activist Itai Dzamara. The father of two young children disappeared without trace after he was abducted by armed men driving an unmarked car in his hood of Glen View about one-and-half years ago.
Organisers of the event said it was a peaceful commemoration of Dzamara’s forced disappearance at the hands of alleged state agents. Their argument in support of the participation of minors at the event is that the children involved were Dzamara’s children and their friends. They said there was no danger anticipated since this was a peaceful, solemn celebration — a remembrance of the day the children’s father went missing.
Being thus — a peaceful celebration albeit a sombre one — the organisers argue it was within the rights of Dzamara’s children and their friends to take part. They say no one can claim to be more affected by the disappearance of Dzamara than his children.
The two children, a boy and a girl, are aware that their father was taken away from them against his will and that his disappearance is the cause of their present predicament.
The two, together with their mother, look out every day with the hope that Dzamara will be returned home to them. It would, therefore, be an infringement of their rights of association to bar them from taking part in a peaceful process that could lead to the restoration of their normal lives.
To buttress their “peaceful remembrance” argument, the organisers brought to the event flowers and cake and not stones or any other weapons. The children proceeded to offer the flowers and cake to the riot police that were monitoring the ceremony as a gesture of friendship and peace.
The police responded by turning away, leaving the anniversary proceedings to go and sit in their vehicles. As a result, the ceremony proceeded and ended peacefully, without incident.
The following day however, government, through the ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, came out guns blazing, accusing the organisers of the commemoration of using children as human shields against police batons. The minister, Prisca Mupfumira, was apparently convinced the event was supposed to meet with police brutality and that, therefore, the children who came for the event or were brought there by their parents and guardians were placed in danger of the police.
The minister then urged the police to investigate and take action against the organisers of the event for allegedly violating the children’s rights and putting their lives in danger. The police obliged and chief superintendent Paul Nyathi, the police spokesperson, promised the activists’ “dirty tactics” would be investigated.
Two days later, Unicef’s Zimbabwe office weighed in and castigated the organisers of the Dzamara commemoration for allegedly using children for political purposes. This move by Unicef was immediately blasted by many in civil society who accused the international body of hypocrisy and shameful double standards.
They cited countless incidents in public record where hundreds of children — not a handful that came to Africa Unity Square — have been forced to abandon school in order to attend political rallies addressed by President Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace and or by other Zanu PF officials all over the country.
The rallies were not to address education or children’s issues. They are political rallies where nothing was said about the welfare or education of the children. The minors are forced to sit in the sun and without food for many hours, waiting for the arrival of the politicians.
In many cases when they finally arrived, the politicians, especially the First Lady, would be spewing out acrid political venom against political enemies, often in lurid and vulgar profanities. Many times such obscenities and hate language is pronounced in the vernacular language that is not lost to the poor children who are made to sit there, listen and watch in shock as their parents cheer, clap hands and ululate.
Now, can there be more wicked abuse of children than that? Even today, stored in media archives, is a picture of Zanu PF national political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, kneeling beside a child who is likely seven years old, microphone in hand and teaching the child how to chant the Zanu PF slogan. The bewildered child is seen in his grey school uniform, punching the air with his little fist as he attempts the Zanu PF slogan. Meanwhile, all the thousands of pairs of eyes, including the First Lady, are on him applauding wildly at this dreadful abuse of a child.
Scores of police, including very senior officers, are there too witnessing this blatant act of abuse but all they do is grin and clap hands with everyone else. There is no “dirty tactics” to investigate here because the child is being taught a Zanu PF slogan, which includes declaration of death to opponents of the party —“Pasi naTsvangirai [down with Tsvangirai]!”
Press reports of countless such incidents are published together with pictures of thousands of children sitting in the sun and chanting party slogans. but Unicef has not seen anything wrong and has, therefore, looked aside. The Kasukuwere picture with the toddler going through Zanu PF indoctrination made front pages of newspapers with captions such as, “Catching them young”, and Unicef officials and the police seem to have enjoyed the articles.
There was another such distasteful incident in early 2012 at a Zanu PF gala to celebrate Mugabe’s 88th birthday at a school in Chipinge. A child under the age of 10 was brought on stage to recite a poem denigrating MorganTsvangirai and his mother. The MDC-T leader was then Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
The language used in the poem was clearly the work of hateful adults — deep in brutal profanity. The poor child — she was proudly introduced as “Senator Samantha” — was brought to recite the poem well after midnight when others of her age had long retired to bed.
The incident was broadcast live on national television and there is no doubt Zimbabwe’s national police and Unicef officials watched this wicked child abuse. But, needless to say, they did and said nothing.
Up till now, I pray the child does not get to know the meaning of the contents of the poem she was made to recite. In another country, authors of that “poem” would have been jailed.
But the question is; what are we doing to our children? With election winds beginning to blow, Zimbabwe does not require irresponsible persons to politicise children. Politicians should desist from violating children’s rights and sacrificing other people’s children for their own selfish ends.
Adults are allowed to get carried away with bootlicking Mugabe to the ridiculous extent of proposing he be declared a tourist attraction as one minister did in the past, but let us just leave the children out of it!
l Feedback: tchipangura@standard.co.zw | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/unicef-police-must-come-clean-child-abuse/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/1a116e0ffb5e281e6fd8f603aa0560181242b963be07248fcfb5ada8647c1e67.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T12:49:37 | null | 2016-08-28T13:00:17 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fjittery-chinoz-demands-guns%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/JOSEPH-CHINOTIMBA-1.png | en | null | Jittery Chinoz demands guns | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | A war veterans faction led by Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister, Mandi Chimene has been rattled by anti-government protests with Buhera South legislator Joseph Chinotimba (pictured above) requesting the army to supply them with guns as he fears they could be targeted by protestors.
BY KENNETH NYANGANI
Chinotimba made the remarks in Mutare on Friday where the splinter Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association elected their new interim Manicaland executive that will be led by Robert Gumbo.
Chinotimba said war veterans needed to be vigilant as the country has been turned into a war zone.
“We should be security conscious, and we should all be vigilant. l am telling you now all is not well in Harare. There is war. If you don’t know where you are standing you will be killed. We should be united,’’ he said.
“We are going to commanders, if it is now war, to give us our guns because we cannot be killed as we are owners of the guns.
“This issue of Libya should be in our heads.
“We should be careful and my wife called me saying that those people might come here and l said to her let them do what they want.’’
Chimene also said Manicaland should be vigilant as they were near the Mozambican border.
“For all the problems that have been told, let us report cases of violence in time. Here in Manicaland we are near the border,” she said.
“We will not know where the violence will be coming from.” | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/jittery-chinoz-demands-guns/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/b78b21675941601a1f48e044112c39389d47337e7793d7f1e7ca8c4be9eb93ef.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T04:49:57 | null | 2016-08-28T05:00:31 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Ftrailblazing-maponga-vows-comeback%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Zimbabwean-born-Stansly-Maponga-1.png | en | null | Trailblazing Maponga vows comeback | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | ZIMBABWE’S trail-blazing American football star Stansly Maponga has vowed to hit the ground running in his first full National Football League (NFL) season with the New York Giants after taking too long to find his feet at the Atlanta Falcons.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
Maponga, a former Texas Christian University standout became the first Zimbabwe-born player in NFL history three years ago after being snapped up by the Atlanta Falcons.
He struggled to settle after his breakthrough move, registering just eight tackles, two fumble recoveries and just one sack in 24 games over the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
And now after being given a second opportunity by the New York Giants last December the 25-year-old defensive end said he was determined to make the most of his fresh start.
“It’s a fresh start with a new team. Coming from Atlanta, things didn’t work out over there,” Maponga told NJ Advance Media ahead of the start of the new season next month.
“But I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad I’m having this fresh start. The way I’m taking this year is, play any down like it’s my last. … I like where I’m at right now. I’ve just got to continue to be consistent.”
Maponga said being a trail-blazer in the NFL, where no Zimbabwe-born player has played before gave him extra motivation to do well for his franchise. “I’ve got to hold the standards. I’m holding the torch,” Maponga said.
Although Maponga is attempting to do something that does not occur all that often in the NFL — revive his career with a second team after being labelled a flop with his first, his coach backed him to bounce back strongly.
“He does a nice job situationally. He’ll flash in a pass rush for you,” New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo said.
“I think he has a skillset to work with and special teams. He just has to put it all together and be consistent, and play with that fire every snap.”
Maponga grew up in Zimbabwe playing rugby before relocating to the United States at age nine, where he was a standout in high school and college.
He had a strong collegiate career, starting 34 of 36 games at Texas Christian University where he had 15,5 sacks in his career, helping then win the Rose Bowl in 2011 and being named First Team All-Big 12 in 2012.
Maponga’s NFL breakthrough however came when he was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/trailblazing-maponga-vows-comeback/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/ff02c934c1640dd2eed95f458f946a7254504ac8923f328036b9895209232dfa.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T06:49:32 | null | 2016-08-28T04:59:15 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fbeitbridge-farmers-lone-battle-invasions%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/wildlife-and-cattle-1.png | en | null | Beitbridge farmer’s lone battle against invasions | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Eighty-year-old Mananje conservancy and Benfer Estate owner Ian Ferguson, has been fighting to hold on to his two properties which have been invaded time and again for over a decade.
By Kudzai Kuwaza
Ferguson has spared no effort in his quest to protect his properties, the 17 500 hectare game ranch Mananje conservancy and the 1 400 hectare citrus Benfer Estates in Beitbridge.
He has knocked on the doors of the two vice-presidents Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko in his battle to retain his conservancy and farm.
Mananje has been invaded four times since 2000 with the most recent being in 2013 which has resulted in the killing of animals, the ransacking of lodges and theft of 57km of fencing.
The game ranch has been flooded with goats, sheep and cattle, threatening the conservancy’s ecosystem. Tourists who used to visit the conservancy, are now gone due to the invasions.
The invasion of Benfer Estates by among others, army official Darlington Muleya has severely hampered operations with most citrus trees destroyed. The damage caused by the invasions has forced Ferguson to abandon the export of citrus fruits which helped bring in the much needed foreign currency.
Ferguson said the invasions at the conservancy alone had set him back by more than two decades.
“The invasions at the conservancy have set us back by 25 years,” Ferguson told The Standard. “Most of my fellow farmers have given up. I have been invaded four times at Mananje and every invasion was a jambanja (violent).”
Ferguson, who was at one time arrested for holding on to Mananje, has had to replace his property stolen by invaders on three occasions at great cost. Some of the property stolen is of huge personal significance which has been passed down from generation to generation.
The invaders have even built structures despite having eviction orders served on them. Ferguson said efforts to get the police to evict them had been futile as they consistently ignored his pleas.
“All the nonsense that is happening would have been unnecessary had the police done their job,” he said.
Ferguson says he feels let down by fellow affected white farmers in the area whom he says abandoned him to fight his battle alone.
“I have had no support from other white farmers,” he said. “I feel absolutely betrayed by other affected white farmers with one of them even telling my son ‘You have made your bed, now you must lie in it.’”
Ferguson, who settled in Beitbridge in 1953, vows he will never give up his fight to reclaim his properties despite getting no joy from senior government officials among them Lands minister Douglas Mombeshora and the two VPs.
“We have come so far in our fight against the illegal invasion of our properties and to give up now would be stupid,” he said. “I have never thought of myself as any sort of martyr but have just tried to live by the old world values that I was brought up in and doing so I feel I have retained my dignity and self-respect and have never subscribed to the adage of ‘feeding the crocodile hoping it will eat you last’, as so many of the farmers have done.”
Lawyer Winston Tshakalisa has stood beside Ferguson in his bruising legal battles and the two have formed a close bond.
“I would not be here had it not been for Winston,” Ferguson reflects. We speak four times a day and none of the conversations are shorter than five minutes and never has he once charged me for his services.”
Ferguson also attributes his resolve to keep fighting on his workers who have stuck by him through the trials and tribulations brought about by the invasions, sometimes at the risk of their lives. Some of the workers have been with him since 1967.
He employs 20 workers at the conservancy and has 140 at Benfer Estates.
Ferguson communicates fluently with his workers in the Sotho dialect Lozwe spoken in the south western areas of Zimbabwe and the border with Botswana. He attributes the fluency in the language to working in the Beitbridge community for many years where he was an irrigation specialist.
A former head boy and rugby captain, Ferguson qualified to be an airforce pilot and at one time owned a plane.
A close friend to Ferguson who requested anonymity describes the farmer as a fighter who does not know when and how to quit.
“I have assisted this gentleman over the years in his personal and lone struggle against this brutal regime. To my knowledge he is or was the only farmer to commit to the legal process right through to the very end and won,” he enthused.
“This is despite every ounce of government resources and whatever thuggery they could disguise, being thrown at him, month after month and year after year.
“Ian is a gentleman, proud African and someone who has committed his life to the people and country he loves.
“He built an enterprise employing many who would otherwise be destitute in one of the poorest corners of Zimbabwe.”
Ferguson is Australian rugby star David Pocock’s grandfather. Pocock’s parents were forced to flee Zimbabwe after their farm was seized by the government. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/beitbridge-farmers-lone-battle-invasions/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/5ca8f33d09f61a6767689bd361a7609435c0a49c19b39a9202bd2683b62a146a.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:49:50 | null | 2016-08-28T04:48:14 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Findustry-labour-foresee-doom%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/JAPHET-MOYO-2-e1472319072591.jpg | en | null | Industry, labour foresee doom | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Zimbabwe faces a gloomy outlook with more job losses if nothing is done to arrest the obtaining economic crisis, labour and economists have warned.
BY MTHANDAZO NYONI
The economy performed dismally in the first half of 2016 —the worst since the introduction of the multi-currency regime in 2009. manufacturers are reeling under high production costs, lack of export competitiveness, company closures as well as domestic consumer resistance.
That period saw 229 companies shutting down, leaving hundreds of people jobless, statistics from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) have shown.
This dark period also saw banks introducing withdrawal limits to mitigate cash challenges while government, for the first time, failed to pay civil servants on time.
The period has been characterised by mass protests as citizens reacted to the deteriorating economic situation in the country.
The current situation, economic analyst John Robertson said, pointed to a tough road ahead.
“By the end of the year, many more people will have lost their jobs and government revenues will be too depressed to meet salary demands,” Robertson warned.
ZCTU secretary-general Japhet Moyo said the “outlook for the end of year is very gloomy”.
“The liquidity crunch lowered production in most entities. Workers have been given short working weeks or have lost their jobs altogether. We have been seeing the downward trend. Things are worse today than they were three months ago,” he said.
“The number of people who have not been paid for the past six months is increasing. Salary arrears are still persisting.”
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Busisa Moyo said manufacturing output “continues to be depressed due to the weak agricultural output and raw material payment problems due to depletion of nostro balances, high borrowing costs and the absence of appropriate funding structures”.
Moyo said CZI’s manufacturing sector survey would be out in the next 90 days but “we don’t expect total output or capacity utilisation to have grown across the board although a few sectors may have experienced growth”.
Robertson said industry should be organised and disciplined about costs and persuade trade unions to help everyone to reduce costs by reaching agreements on all wages and prices.
“On half their current wages, workers could manage, but only if prices, rents, bus fares, school fees, Zesa and telephone charges, food and fuel prices were also cut by half. Zimbabwe needs to do this because it is using a US dollar that Zimbabwe cannot devalue,” he said.
He said at the US dollar costs and prices in force in Zimbabwe today, the country could not import anything people wanted for about half the cost of making it here.
“That kills our hopes of exporting those products. We are the ones who got our sums wrong and only we can correct our mistakes. The rest of the world doesn’t care that we’ve priced ourselves out of our own markets or if we struggle on with 80% unemployment. We have to care. Let’s start now!’ he said.
Robertson said during the first three months of the year, the repeated threats to shutdown companies without indigenisation compliance certificates resulted in businesses suspending all plans with cost implications and some made the decision to close down.
Early this year, Indigenisation minister Patrick Zhuwao threatened to withdraw operating licenses from foreign-owned companies that did not comply with the controversial indigenisation policy.
By March, Robertson said, liquidity was already tight and delayed payments to creditors and employees, which had affected retail sales since the last months of 2015, began to impact severely on company profits as well as government’s tax revenues.
He said the introduction of an import priority list by the central bank to manage the flow of cash outside the country lowered levels of business activity.
“All the evidence suggests that the economy declined in the first half of the year. So government’s repeated claims that economic growth was achieved are highly suspect,” Robertson said.
He said a large proportion of the population was now dependent on support from family members working in South Africa and other countries. He said this support often arrived in the form of goods for resale.
As such, the restrictions on imports added to the hardships experienced by many dependent families and have resulted in political unrest.
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe Matabeleland regional manager Comfort Muchekeza said consumers were suffering from low disposable income due to the failure by employers to pay employees.
Analysts said government’s attempts to restore the comatose economy were futile because it was treating the symptoms and not the causes. He said the recently introduced command agriculture was bound to fail.
“Regulations, controls, permits, licences and favours from ministers are the problem, not the solution.
Government’s role should be to facilitate, not regulate. Government should work hard to make Zimbabwe an attractive investment destination. At present, it is one of the worst in the world. They should start fixing that now,” Robertson said.
If nothing was done to encourage money to flow into Zimbabwe, Robertson said the protests would be more aggressive accelerating the decline in economic performance.
“These (protests) seem likely to worsen,” he warned.
Moyo said the support of locally produced commodities would make a big difference to employment and output as local manufacturers seek to satisfy local demand.
“Growth of support for small to medium scale enterprises, contract farming and other linkages will be vital for co-emergence and inclusive economic participation,” the CZI boss said. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/industry-labour-foresee-doom/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/995ddb465a1ad3746a42abf452988d8c950eb32547ae6a578ba364a12cf9a191.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T08:49:36 | null | 2016-08-28T04:59:28 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fprotests-unstoppable-say-mdc-t-vps%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MDC-Member-of-Parliament-for-Kuwandzana-Nelson-Chamisa-and-Elias-Mudzuri-adressing-a-rally-in-Kuwadzana-yseterday-Pic-Shepherd-Tozvireva-1.png | en | null | Protests unstoppable say MDC-T VPs | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Zimbabwe has in the past month witnessed peaceful protests and violent riots sparked by police’s unprovoked heavyhandedness as disgruntled citizens press for President Robert Mugabe’s resignation.
the big interview BY XOLISANI NCUBE & OBEY MANAYITI
The country’s leading opposition party, MDC-T, has played a prominent role since staging one the biggest protests against Mugabe’s rule in April.
The party’s leaders including its vice-presidents Nelson Chamisa (NC) and, Elias Mudzuri (EM) have been leading from the front. The two last week spoke to our reporters Xolisani Ncube and Obey Manayiti (SR) on Friday after another showdown with the police on what the party seeks to achieve through the protests.
Below are excerpts of the interview.
SR: We are seeing protests escalating each day and they are turning violent. Do you think that one day Mugabe will give in to pressure and respond to the people’s demands?
NC: He has no choice but to do so. People have been whispering their discontent and now it has just grown bigger and got vocalised and in the process it becomes unstoppable.
People are beginning to speak out. For too long people have been patient with a very reckless government. The guys in charge of the affairs of this government have not shown the humility to listen to the people; instead, they have shown the arrogance towards the plight of the people. I can tell you that what you are seeing is unstoppable; it is just a new beginning.
EM: This is the start of anger expression by our people. This regime has been eating and feasting on the future and well-being of our people, but time is now and indeed now that the people have come to say, enough is enough. The endgame of the protest is a new Zimbabwe which is just miles away from sight.
This government does not have the capacity and resources to sojourn until 2018. The people’s anger is uncontrollable even with death you can’t really contain an unemployed, hungry youth.
No baton stick or teargas will stop the anger. instead it will pile pressure and cause it to explode like what is happening now. It’s really unto Mugabe and his regime to respond or to be kicked out of power by the masses.
SR: What is your reaction to the way the State has been responding to these protests?
NC: Well, the response by government has been very brutal, uncouth and very unforgivable. It has been characterised by human rights abuses and wanton violation of the law.
But this is also helping strengthen the resolve of the suffering masses. These people you are seeing have an elasticity limit. Their silence should not be mistaken for cowardice.
It’s only fools like those in Zanu PF who will think that Zimbabweans are cowards when in actual fact, they have bravely waited for reckless people to sort out their mess in the hope that things will change.
The same people today in government once regarded as normal the colonialist regime before they realised that it was not normal to live under oppression. They decided to go into the battlefield and fought a battle which they won today.
They have themselves become oppressors of ordinary people and these are the masses who are saying enough of this barbaric nonsense.
This is just a reincarnation of the armed struggle, but the unfortunate part is that this time around, it is a black person oppressing a fellow black citizen.
Whatever citizens are doing now shows that they have nothing to lose.
They blame everything on Mugabe and they are just saying give us our futures back, so the question that these protests endanger our people is neither here nor there. Imagine a woman who spends nights without food, what can she lose when she fights for her food other than belittling and exposing the regime? For the people, their future is forgone and now is the time to draw a line in the sand and demand it back.
The people are saying we would rather die fighting for our democracy than to die oppressed by Mugabe and his regime.
The liberation spirit has been revitalised and now it is fighting those we once regarded liberators.
Those who make a peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution and this is what the Zanu PF government is doing. For many people today have realised that their future is not a gift. It is an achievement which they will fight for against an oppressive regime.
This is not just about political parties, it’s about students, it’s about pastors, it’s about war veterans, and it’s about the women in the market place and in rural areas. It’s about every Zimbabwean, hence they are saying they need an audience with those in power. It’s unfortunate that Mugabe is clueless; he has nothing to offer to the people.
EM: Let me tell you this, for most of these youths, dying is better than living under an oppressive regime of Mugabe. If you were to converse with the ordinary folks in the streets, they will tell you that time has come for us to take up the destiny and determine its trajectory. The people have reached a point of no return.
The blame is on government. It is failing to respond in a humane manner to legitimate demands by the people and we can’t be held accountable for that.
The state has an obligation to safeguard its citizens even those who oppose it. So, when they kill, surely history will catch up with them. When all is said and done, what I can tell you is that, whatever action the state takes, if it does not respond to the demands of the people, it’s an accelerator to the revolution.
This is a revolution of clear demands justifiably so. Martin Luther King months before his assassination offered his thoughts on the type of civil unrest that devolves into violence and looting, saying: “It would be morally irresponsible for him to condemn violence without at the same time, condemning the intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention”. And I must say here that a riot is the language of the unheard. Until Mugabe learns to listen to the people, these riots will be a permanent feature in Zimbabwe.
No amount of intimidation will cow these unemployed youths. You can kill one today but the idea and consequence of hunger and starvation coupled with the murder of one of theirs, will surely force many more to go into the streets to wage a fight against the oppressor.
If there’s any question — in this time of high unemployment — as to whether the same can be said about the riots plaguing parts of Zimbabwe in the past weeks, one needs only look at where they are occurring — urban areas where people are saying enough of it. Soon the rural folk will join.
SR: In the event that these demonstrations succeed in removing Mugabe from power, do you have a mechanism of power transfer in a peaceful and orderly manner?
NC: Definitely yes. We can’t demand power without a mechanism of ensuring its transfer is peaceful and orderly.
But, and I say but, the fundamentals are that, we have to solve the crisis now before we talk about power transfer. We have an economy to revive; we have the aspect of reconciliation to foster among our people who for long have been subjected to brutality by the regime. The power transfer mechanism is what we are working on because we know that Zanu PF won’t last the mile. Our leadership from all political parties in Zimbabwe is working on a transition mechanism to ensure that we can have legitimate elections in Zimbabwe.
EM: From an MDC-T point of view, we are ready to govern anytime, but obviously we have to work with other democratic parties so that we take this country forward. Again, we can’t talk about elections without the reforms we want. These reforms will help us build the confidence and create a level playing field in our electoral process. The demands are good for everyone and indeed good for Mugabe himself.
SR: But do you think Mugabe can agree to reforms that would make him lose power?
NC: Zimbabwe is not for one person. It’s not for one individual but for all of us including our grandchildren. He must know that we are fighting to building a country that will benefit not only himself but even his grandson.
EM: Ian Smith thought he was invincible, but the idea of change made him history. Mugabe has been given an opportunity either to side with history or be with the people. If I was him, I would be with the people in fighting for a better Zimbabwe than be part of history. He risks going Smith’s way, I say so because you can fight individuals not a resolve of an idea whose time has come. The sharpest criticism often goes hand-in-hand with the deepest idealism and love of country. This is what we are giving to Mugabe today.
SR: Your last words to your supporters and government.
NC: To the toiling masses waging a brutal fight against an oppressive regime, let me quote philosophers and say let no one be discouraged by the belief there is nothing one person can do against the enormous array of Zanu PF’s ills, misery, ignorance, and violence. Few will have the greatness to bend history, but each one of us can work to change a small portion of events. And in the total of all those acts, we will be writing the history of a generation. We have to stand firm and tell this regime that. To the government, power is of two kinds: one is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment. Mugabe must know where his power is derived from. At first this government ignored its people, laughed at them then they are fighting them but at the end of it all, the people will win.
EM: Nothing is more frustrating than knowing you have a billion-dollar idea — but not a penny to put it into action. But it is more dangerous not act on that idea… the people have an opportunity to fight this and I know they will win. It’s time we buried our differences as Zimbabweans and confront the common enemy — Zanu PF | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/protests-unstoppable-say-mdc-t-vps/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/843349a2411f24eaba366e9635cc0f6f0a54d6a9da4fe11bfe7ca3ff01e45394.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T04:49:50 | null | 2016-08-28T05:00:39 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fhadebe-set-start-warriors%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Teenage-Hadebe-1.png | en | null | Hadebe set to start for Warriors | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | ZIMBABWE might have already qualified for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, but next week’s dead rubber Group L qualifier away to Guinea will be of huge significance to rising defender Teenage Hadebe and several other fringe players included in the Warriors squad.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
The gifted 20-year-old Chicken Inn defender is strongly tipped to make his Warriors bow at the big stage against the Syli Nationale in Conakry as a direct replacement for injured Dynamos centre back Elisha Muroiwa.
Muroiwa, who had established himself at the heart of the Warriors defence with Czech Republic-based defender Costa Nhamoinesu sustained an injury during the Cosafa Cup tournament held in Namibia in May.
Since then, the 27-year-old former Twalumba FC defender who had started in the Warriors’ last three Afcon matches against Swaziland (back-to-back) and Malawi has not played for Dynamos because of the injury.
Although he has been training with the Glamour Boys, he is yet to get back to a desired fitness level and Warriors coach Kalisto Pasuwa is expected to give the Chicken Inn centre back the nod at the centre of defence.
Hadebe, a member of the Chan and Cosafa squad made the final 18 when Zimbabwe thrashed Malawi three 3-0 in June in Harare to secure qualification to the biennial soccer showcase to be staged in Gabon in January.
He had impressed Pasuwa after scoring a brace with clinically headed goals as a make-shift Warriors overcame a battling Uganda 2-0 in an international friendly at Rufaro, just three days before the clash against the Flames of Malawi.
That brilliant show by Hadebe — a left sided centre back who uses his height and timing to great effect — saw Pasuwa naming him in the final squad for the Malawi match although the towering defender did not play a part in the match.
With the game against Guinea now a dead rubber, Pasuwa is not under pressure and is said to be considering deploying Hadebe to partner Nhamoinesu at the heart of defence as he looks to widen his options.
Hadebe spent the first three years of his career with Bantu Rovers before moving to Highlanders in 2015.
While Hadebe has already made four appearances for the Zimbabwe national team and scoring three times, the upcoming encounter will be the biggest of his young career, thus far.
The young defender is reportedly on the verge of joining South African football giants Kaizer Chiefs after impressing Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela during a trial stint, which ended last week.
Besides Hadebe, another fringe player likely to break into the Warriors squad for the tie against Guinea is Maritzburg United defender Blessing Moyo, who could fill the void left by suspended CAPS United defender Hardlife Zvirekwi.
The Warriors who sealed their place at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals to be held in Gabon, will leave for Conakry on September 3, hoping to end a fairytale campaign on a high note.
Warriors’ team manager Shariff Mussa told The Standardsport in an interview yesterday that the players were expected to start trooping into camp today with preparations set to start tomorrow ahead of their departure for Guinea.
“We are hoping to have everyone in camp by tomorrow evening (tonight) so that we can have a full session of training from Monday. However, we are still sorting out the logistics with the European-based players as to when their fixtures are this weekend and whether it would be practical for them to come down here and join camp or if they would need to travel straight to Guinea depending on our travel itinerary,” said Mussa.
Warriors squad:
Goalkeepers:- Tatenda Mukuruva (Dynamos), Bernard Donovan (How Mine), Nelson Chadya (Ngezi Platinum)
Defenders:- Blessing Moyo (Maritzburg United, SA), Teenage Hadebe (Chicken Inn), Onismor Bhasera (Supersport United, SA), Costa Nhamoinesu (Sparta Prague, Czech Republic), Godknows Murwira (Dynamos), Lawrence Mhlanga (Chicken Inn)
Midfielders:- Willard Katsande (Kaizer Chiefs, SA), Marvellous Nakamba (Vitesse Arnhem, Holland), Danny Phiri (Golden Arrows, SA), Kudakwashe Mahachi (Golden Arrows, SA), Marshall Mudehwe (FC Platinum), Tafadzwa Kutinyu (Chicken Inn)
Strikers:- Tendai Ndoro (Orlando Pirates, SA), Nyasha Mushekwi (Dalian Yifang, China), Knowledge Musona (KV Oostende, Belgium), Cuthbert Malajila (Bidvest Wits, SA), Evans Rusike (Maritzburg United, SA), Matthew Rusike (Helsingborgs IF, Sweden) | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/hadebe-set-start-warriors/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/f3b9e79637f05a6ced39d09d69f7431dd545e660a1823e3c9ba94a00bedaf73b.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T04:50:00 | null | 2016-08-28T05:02:24 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fcaps-united-close-gap%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Leonard-Tsipa-celebrates-after-scoring-CAPS-Uniteds-second-goal-against-Mutare-City-Rovers-at-the-National-Sports-Stadium-yesterday-1.png | en | null | CAPS United close gap | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | CAPS United . . . . . . . . 2(4)
Mutare City Rovers . . 0(1)
CAPS United reignited their championship aspirations in spectacular fashion after romping to a 4-1 victory over visiting Mutare City Rovers at the National Sports Stadium.
BY TAWANDA TADERERA
Yesterday’s emphatic drabbing of Mutare City not only served to end their three match winless streak, but also closed the gap on leaders FC Platinum to just two points.
An impressive all-round display by CAPS United saw Tafadzwa Rusike and Leonard Tsipa giving the home side a two goal cushion in the first half before a goal each from Joel Ngodzo and Simba Nhivi after the break added extra gloss to the scoreline.
Mutare City Rovers, however, briefly gave the home side some anxious moments with Agrippa Murimba’s goal after the break but eventually it ended up being a mere consolation goal.
The Green Machine’s title dream had been dented by two draws and a loss in their last three matches, but yesterday’s victory which was also aided by FC Platinum’s draw to reigning champions Chicken Inn at Mandava Stadium, leaving them firmly back in the race for the championship.
After completely dominating the opening exchanges against a Mutare City side, which offered very little in attack CAPS United opened the scoring in the ninth minute through Rusike, who found the roof of the net with a rising shot after being set-up by Tsipa.
The goal by Rusike — his second of the season ensured CAPS maintained their grip on the match as they never allowed their opponents to settle into the match.
The hosts were, however, dealt a blow when Abbas Amidu limped out with a hamstring injury in the 20th minute before Rusike was also withdrawn due to another injury eight minutes later and replaced by Moses Muchenje.
But the injuries to the key players only seemed to further strengthen the Harare giants’ resolve.
Abbas’ replacement almost made an instant impact after his cross from the right was headed just wide by Tsipa.
Muchenje was also guilty of wasting another gilt-edged opportunity after failing to tap home the rebound from a Joel Ngodzo effort, which had cannoned off the crossbar.
Tsipa made sure the home side would not regret the missed opportunities by slotting home from another rebound after Mutare City goalkeeper Victor Twaliki had parried Ngodzo’s low shot into his path.
After completely dominating the first half CAPS United took their feet off the pedal after the break and were punished when Murimba dribbled past a badly exposed Edmore Sibanda to score in the 62nd minute.
Although the goal briefly rejuvenated the visitors, their joy was short-lived as Makepekepe maintained a firm grip on the match through a moment of sheer brilliance from Ngodzo two minutes later.
The skillful midfielder who was dominating the exchanges in the middle of the park noticed the Mutare City goalie wander from his goal line and unleashed a long range shot which dipped over the retreating former CAPS goalkeeper.
The third goal seemed to end Mutare City’s resolve as CAPS capitalised on another error by Twaliki in the 85th minute when he failed to cut off a cross from the left allowing Nhivi to score the fourth goal.
CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe, whose charges had not scored four goals in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League encounter since April last year was a happy man after an impressive perfomance by his players.
“I’m happy with the win, it’s been a while since we scored more than two goals in a match and to score four goals was a good result,” he said.
His opposite number Taku Shariwa was not happy with the manner his charges conceded the goals, particularly the third one by Ngodzo.
“That was a silly goal for an experienced keeper, but unfortunately it happens in football. That’s why it is called the beautiful game and its part and parcel of life. We have to try again next week,” he said.
CAPS United: E Sibanda, H Zvirekwi, D Dauda, S Makatuka, R Pfumbidzai, A Amidu (S Nhivi, 20), D Chafa, J Ngodzo, P Bamusi (A Kambanje, 80), T Rusike (M Muchenje, 28), L Tsipa
Mutare City Rovers: V Twaliki, M Sako, W Mapfumo, W Sithole, S Muchabaya, B Majambanda (c Masocha, 46), V Madamombe, A Murimba, S Hadebe (D Duri, 54), K Gurure, M Tapatapa
Results at a glance:
Friday: Harare City 2-1 Bulawayo City
Yesterday’s Results: CAPS United 4-1 Mutare City Rovers, FC Platinum 1-1 Chicken Inn, Tsholotsho 1-2 ZPC Kariba, Chapungu 3-0 Border Strikers
Today’s Fixtures: Ngezi Platinum Stars v Dynamos, Highlanders v How Mine, Hwange v Triangle United (Colliery) | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/caps-united-close-gap/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/32841777506e26a4d327e9c4b50b07da44335b973306aa738eb2bfe94b43a6e4.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:59:26 | null | 2016-08-23T10:16:26 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F23%2Fwould-you-marry-a-musician%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Soul-Jah-Love.jpg | en | null | Would you marry a musician? | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Society’s perceptions of musicians has not changed very much over the years. Most people in our conservative society do not see music as a form of employment. A recent testimony from one female musician got me thinking:
In the Groove with Fred Zindi
“I have been going out with my boyfriend for nearly five years now. When I met him, I was already in my 20s. After being together for three years, he decided to introduce me to his parents. They casually asked me what I did for a living. When I told them that I was a musician, their faces dropped just like someone watching a horror movie. From then onwards although my boyfriend did not tell me what his parents thought of me, he also started acting funny.
Now I am in a limbo. I am not sure whether to continue with this relationship or not because one thing I know for certain, he is not going to marry a musician”.
“I have a boyfriend who plays bass in a local band. Dating someone who is talented and artsy is a totally reasonable thing to want to do. It all seems so exciting, but believe me it gets old fast. A musician will do the same thing over and over each night and you have to be there! Plus, he’ll leave on tour and you have no idea what he’s doing while he’s gone, I’m telling you right now I don’t trust him.
It’s not a lifestyle made for dating, so go buy yourself a CD of a band you actually like and spend your days fantasising about dating the bassist. If you just keep it a fantasy, your heart will thank you. My so-called boyfiend has been on tour several times this year. We have hardly spent time together and he is just about to go on another tour. Although we are both in our 30s, I have stopped talking about marriage with this guy because he has no time to settle down. He is literally married to his music. Everything else comes second.”
Last week, I went on the streets of Harare to investigate the attitudes of Zimbabweans towards marriage to musicians. They gave all sorts of answers, but most of them were based on economic reasons:
Angella (not her real name), a top Zimbabwean model had this to say: “Finding a Mr Right is not always an easy thing to do. Once you think you have found the right person, you may have doubts. Having doubts about who you are marrying is not only normal, but healthy. I have always had my doubts about marrying someone whose full time occupation is just playing music. First of all, there is no money in the music business. Musicians I know are always complaining about being exploited by promoters or club owners.
However, that is the least of my worries. Most musicians I know are into drugs, alcohol and sex. Would I trust someone like that, let alone marry him? The answer is a big no.
“I already know that I should not marry someone who drinks too much, spends too much, works too much, brags too much, uses drugs or other illegal behaviour, has been unfaithful, cruel, dishonest or abusive. That is my perception of a musician.”
Another lady whom I asked the same question, remarked, “Do you call that a job? I know one woman who was married to a musician, but ran away due to the many girls who were after her musician husband and he was failing to support his family.”
Marjorie, a hairdresser in one of Harare’s salons gave a candid response: “If the musician is in the same category as Jah Prayzah or Oliver Mtukudzi, I would marry him because I can see a future with those guys. Unfortunately, they are already married, but should they want a second wife, I am available.”
Madzibaba Johannes of the Apostolic faith gave this answer,: “Female musicians are all loose and they will sleep with anyone who has money. In my church, we do not even consider marrying such women, let alone allow them to worship with us. I would never allow my daugher to become a musician even if somebody offered her a million dollars because that is a recipe for disaster. Nobody in my church would want to marry her.”
A 21-year-old female police officer who is still single, quipped: “Musicians do not need to propose to girls because the girls are often throwing themselves at them. It becomes difficult to trust a musician, especially if he can’t exercise self control. It is for that reason I would never consider marrying a musician.”
One final year student from the University of Zimbabwe had this to say, “Imagine marrying a female musician such as (name given). Every now and again she is on the plane to give some overseas performances, leaving me behind. At the same time, you cannot stop her because we need the money. How will that marriage work?”
If I am to go with the above reports, I ask myself, why do so many people fall for musicians then? Musicians are no different from the rest of society but there is something about the music culture which makes musicians unique.
Musicians are emotional creatures. Many people think that music is purely for entertainment and they take it for granted, but neurosurgeons have proved that music does a lot more to the human brain.
Music is something that is universally appreciated but often underestimated in its true potential.
It has unresistable magnetism and it provokes strong feelings and emotions. It provokes powerful emotions which are delivered by the music makers. Music fans give emotional responses to the music they listen to. It is not surprising to see some people starting to cry after listening to a particular song. Music should therefore keep marriages together.
So fellow musicians, let’s not give love a bad name.
l Feedback: f_zindi@hotmail.com | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/23/would-you-marry-a-musician/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/66499bbd763802400ffea7ccbd7c6282cc7d2b7e151a17c6a0a152855eba8e94.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:57:48 | null | 2016-08-23T10:21:15 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F23%2Fthe-technology-of-branding%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/kansiime.jpg | en | null | The technology of branding | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | My writing journey with Mufaro Zhou continues to reach dizzy heights and I dare say in the not too distant future readers will experience a great coming from us. It is true, iron sharpens iron.
Brand Savvy with Stha
In this article my role was simply to enjoy this great read. I trust you will be equally intrigued with this piece.
Technology continues to improve significantly as the days go by. This improvement is forcing companies to continuously review the way they do business and to relook at the methods of delivering information to customers.
The branding and advertising industry is also affected by the impact of technology with major deep pocket companies continuing to thrive on technological advancement.There is now so much competition to position a brand in the customer’s mindset given the new competitors around the corner while the old ones get tougher and tougher.
The information technology age is promoting the way brands, customers and technology interacts.
The Coca Cola Company recently created a “drinkable” advert (whatever that is) for Coke Zero by creating an illusion where viewers see Coke Zero pouring into the screen of their smart phones and filling a glass. This phenomenal advert partly communicates that marketing must adapt to technology or the brand withers.
The brand must follow technological trends to produce and present exciting content to augment its identity. An article published by The Wall Street Journal in 2015 shows that the technology a company employs for branding is just as important as the brand name itself.
Using up to date technology can help a brand stand out as it also provides a platform for developing and maintaining a relationship with customers because that is the same technology that the population is using in their day to day activities.
As parents watch their children engaging in technology to connect with peers and products is a great eye opening experience and a leading indicator of the technology centric behaviour within the current generation and generations to come. Our attention in this day and age is now turning away from TV and print media towards electronic devices (mobile phones, tablets and laptops).
Attention to TV is now so limited in Zimbabwe where ZTV commitment is near dead except from 8pm to 9pm and even then, mainly by the older generation who are interested in current affairs of the country. In this regard Zimbabwean companies must make use of alternative technologies to advertise as airing adverts on the much watched DStv and free-to-air channel is either very expensive or does not attract the much needed wide local viewership.
It is also key to ensure that brands maintain transparency as technology now makes your brand observable and publishable around the world in seconds.
The Donald Trump brand became the subject of talk world-wide after the plagiarism accusation went viral with TV stations going as far as showing Melania Trump and Michelle Obama side-by-side, making their speeches. Brands, therefore, have to be managed in line with technology as a bad review can go viral.
Instant feedback on brands through customer opinions can be used to inform how a company can fix, revitalise or advance their brand. Look at how comedy has a new following on multiple technologies making Anne Kansiime or Baba Tencen famous online. If these comedians waited to be made famous through TV, they would be non entities and definitely not known.
Technologies are converging with predictions that in the near future all communication will be mainly on and from one device that is the phone or phablet of late. Who needs a phone, tablet, laptop and TV when you can get it in one device (phablet)?
With this smart TV concept what is left in the near future is to be able to instantly click on an impressive brand while it is being showcased on TV and pay for it immediately. Innovation needs to be the game of the day. Creative marketers have to work alongside technical staff (mathematicians, statisticians and computer experts) as marketing has been transformed by the digital era in terms of speed, relevance and reach of campaigns.
A brand conscious organisation must, therefore, fuse younger and older talent within its marketing department who can explore, debate and share possibilities hinged on older personnel experience and young personnel experimentation. The marketing department must now be turned into an incubator for change rather than a department to keep the product moving.
Marketing teams should vigorously embrace technology to take advantage of a fast changing array of marketing channels. Of late, I have noticed the coming on board in Zimbabwe of a number of websites hosting online flyers and catalogues.
With Zimbabwe gazetting “ban this and that” laws who knows if the Environmental Management Agency will not put restrictions on distribution of paper flyers which most organisations exploit to increase brand mileage. Till next week, keep reading and remain brand-savvy.
-Stha Magida is contactable on stha4235@gmail.com. Her co-writer in this article is contactable on mufarozhou@gmail.com. Please share with us your opinions and comments. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/23/the-technology-of-branding/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/de42c916b78180db9acae87be0b243556d932631253307b3de89fc4d80e22896.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:49:55 | null | 2016-08-28T04:48:22 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fmdhara-vachauya-stirs-hornets-nest%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Jah-Prayzah-and-Baba-Harare-1.png | en | null | Mdhara Vachauya stirs hornet’s nest | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Debate over the recently released Mdhara Vachauya album by multi award-winning musician Jah Prayzah is ragging on different social media platforms, with some critics condemning the quality of the product.
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
Other music followers said the only outstanding thing about the album was its colourful launch, but the songs appear mundane and of no substance as compared to his previous productions.
Despite many not disputing the prowess of the Uzumba-bred musician who continues to raise the bar high both on the locally and international showbiz scene, the album has been received with mixed feelings, with some describing it as shoddy.
Some fans have coined theories that Jah Prayzah could have bought the rights of the song Watora Mari where he collaborated with Tanzanian heavyweight Diamond Platnumz as a way of mending relations after he was accused of plagiarising the East African’s Mdogo Mdogo video for his Jerusarema project.
The musician was under fire from critics on different social media platforms as he was earlier accused of copying the beat of the song Mwanasikana, off his Tsviriyo album from Ghanaian musician Emmanuel Samini’s 2007 hit track titled Samini.
Jah Prayzah, however, dismissed the allegations, saying on Watora Mari they both composed the song that was later produced by Laizer of Diamond’s record label, Wasafi Records.
Some have even made sensational claims suggesting that, the title track Mdhara Vachauya was dedication to Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is said to be angling to take over from President Robert Mugabe.
The irony is that on the lyrics that say… Dai wambotarisa nguva nekuti zvimwe pamwe mhepo ichauya, asi rambauchingopenya kunge zuva, vakanetsa unoti mdhara vachauya, aha mdhara vacho ishumba inoruma, the musician is alleged to be making reference to Mnangangwa’s Shumba totem
It is the song, Watora Mari, that has a smashing video which was shot and produced in South Africa by Molotovcoctail that seems to have been well-received by many and it has broken into the international arena, playing on South Africa’s top television channel, MTV Base.
In interviews, music followers who spoke to The Standard Style said the latest album did not match the musician’s creativity he showed on Jerusarema.
Stuart Gondo of Hatfield said; “I am an avid follow of Jah Prayzah, but on his latest offering he rushed to release it while it was not necessary to do so at a time when songs from his previous albums were doing well.
“This album lacks variation in terms of beat. When you play some of the tracks you will hear similarities from previous recordings or from other musicians.”
Sibongile Ncube said the album was a cocktail of genres that can be a testimony of how versatile Jah Prayzah was as an artist, but it has brought a new artist.
“On this album, Jah Prayzah should have maintained the type of music that moulded him to be whom he is today,” she said.
“He is known for his deep Shona lyrics that have become his trade mark on songs like Machembere, Jerusarema and Tiise Mawoko, but on this production there is danger that it could confuse his loyal fans.”
The debate has also spread to social media platforms.
Writing on his Facebook page, Elder Gerald MaziGerry-Musekiwa said Jah Prayzahreleased a half baked album.
“Jah Prayzah, the Mdhara that never came. After all the hype and noise, it turned out the mdhara never came or should I say came ‘too little too early’. Of cause lately he enjoyed dominance as [Alick] Macheso was hibernating,” he wrote.
Maxwell Saungweme wrote: “After attending a couple of Jah Prayzah’s shows, I admit the guy is good with instruments, choreography and he dresses his troupe well. However, after sampling the 11 tracks on his latest offering and juxtaposing the songs with the latest offerings from Leonard Zhakata and Hosiah Chipanga, it is my opinion that the young man needs to learn more on lyrics from these two greats.”
“He can also learn a bit if he spends some time with Charles Charamba or Progress Chipfumo. Sometimes as listeners we need to take some bit of message from songs. Apart from one or two love songs on that album, I failed to figure out any message from the rest of the album that speaks to any of the issues the country is facing,” he added.
Cecelia Chivhunga wrote “…. this might not be one of his (Jah Prayzah) best works ….but you cannot deny that Mudhara vasvika…..The boy has reached superstar status…..#legendinthemaking …..” (sic)
Speaking through his manager Keen Mushapaidze, Jah Prayzah said the album was well-received.
“The album is doing well and the reception so far has been OK. Everywhere you go, you can hear the album playing with the only difference being that people will be playing different tracks and at clubs the tracks are being played on repeat,” Jah Prayzah said.
“We don’t know what the future holds, but for now the album is a success.”
Speaking on the collaboration with Diamond Platnumz, Jah Prayzah said: “Music is about blending vocals and styles that can mix and match even if its different genres or languages as long as we can produce something that people can listen to and enjoy,” he said.
“If we can be in sync, we can definitely do the project provided we have the opportunity or the chance and in this case, Diamond Platnumz listened to Jah Prayzah’s songs and fell in love with them the same way we did with his music and thus how the project came about.
“People will always talk and they have the right to express their own opinion they would want to bring up, but that will not stop us from doing our work just because of criticism as we are there to entertain people. We compose songs to make people happy and not to prove anything beyond that as it is not our duty. We cannot hold anyone against whatever they might think of the current project or what we did in the past.”
He said it was his first time to hear about claims that Mdhara Vachauya was a dedication to Mnangwagwa.
“We are not surprised as some of our previous songs have been interpreted differently,” he said.
“The purpose of music apart from entertainment is to make people relate to whatever situations they are in and as a musician you might not even know of how people are going to relate the song to their different aspects of life, but normally songs suit each and everyone and they can interpret it differently,” he said.
Theories of Mnangagwa being Mdhara Vachauya emanate from the musician’s role as Zimbabwe Defence Forces’s goodwill ambassador. Last year Mnangagwa was the guest of honour when Jah Prayzah launched his sixth album Jerusarema.
While the album Mdhara Vachauya might have been received with mixed feelingS, Jah Prayzah is riding the crest of a wave in his music career. His creative prowess has never been in doubt and this has been confirmed by the several awards he bagged over the years as well as endorsement deals struck with big corporates | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/mdhara-vachauya-stirs-hornets-nest/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/063ab9520ece0e9f4d52ceb1a3622e3697d7092e8d7b997f9cf9ae62eb73c9f8.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:49:54 | null | 2016-08-28T04:42:15 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Ftajamuka-frontman-guns-mugabe%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Promise-Mukwananzi-1.png | en | null | #Tajamuka frontman guns for Mugabe | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | PROMISE Mkwananzi has made Harare’s streets his second home along with a host of another activists that have been leading demonstrations against President Robert Mugabe’s 36-year-old rule and it is not very difficult to understand what motivates him.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Mkwananzi, the #Tajamuka/Sesijikile movement’s spokesperson believes the end is nigh for the 92-year-old strongman’s tight grip on power.
The former MDC-T youth assembly secretary-general was on Friday arrested on allegations of inciting public violence following another demonstration that brought business to a halt in Harare’s central business district.
Mkwananzi said he has been arrested countless times in his quest for real freedom for Zimbabweans and says no amount of intimidation will force him to succumb to the intimidation.
Before his arrest, he said he has been a fighter all his life and had numerous brushes with the Zanu PF-led government since his days as a student leader before he was expelled from the University of Zimbabwe, while in his final year as a law student.
Mkwananzi is also a director of the Zimbabwe Informal Sector Organisation (ZISO).
“Tajamuka has been an idea involving various political players, civil society and other citizens. We needed that platform for inclusivity where all players come together,” he said.
“This is a campaign solely for the removal of President Mugabe and not a political party.”
Mkwananzi said after the removal of Mugabe they would activate citizens into action and start demanding reforms.
“There are so many people in #Tajamuka. We have about 17 political parties and 40 civil society organisations. We are also visible in rural areas. We are not seeking political power in anyway, but we are pushing for reforms,” he said.
“It’s a campaign, which will have to fold when that business is accomplished.”
Mkwananzi said the fiery group had managed to remove fear in the citizens.
“#Tajamuka has grown into a huge campaign than we were expecting and has gone viral across the world and also here in Zimbabwe. Even in rural areas people are talking about #Tajamuka,” he said.
“We have removed fear in the people and reactivated the voice of the citizens’ and their participation.
“We have held sporadic and spontaneous demonstrations and confronting the regime on many fronts and we will hold our third national shut down soon.”
Mkwananzi said #Tajamuka had set August 31, as the deadline for Mugabe to indicate how and when he intended to step down and explain the transitional mechanism, which should be put in place to fill in the vacuum and carry on the outstanding reforms.
He denied allegations that they were putting people’s lives in danger through their numerous protests that have turned violent in some instances.
“It is the regime putting people’s lives in danger not us. We march under the law and what is criminal is what the government is doing,” he said.
“(They do this by) violating the Constitution and assaulting peaceful demonstrators, who are expressing genuine complaints.”
Mkwananzi accused Home Affairs minister Ignatius Chombo of inciting the police to beat up protesters, warning that he would be prosecuted for that in a “new” Zimbabwe.
“It’s unfortunate and we really want to warn the police. We want to warn Chombo that he will be prosecuted in the post Mugabe era for inciting violence and instructing the police to act outside the law and brutalise innocent people and committing crimes against humanity,” he said.
“He is a candidate for prosecution. His statements are on record and surely he will be prosecuted when change comes.”
Mkwananzi also said government was putting police in a very risky position.
“They are making police vulnerable to the people and exposing them to hate by the people. That is a very dangerous position because when the police officers go home they will be exposed to danger. Police should not be used as a political junta and they should maintain their credibility,” he said.
The #Tajamuka leader said Zimbabweans were tired of Mugabe’s rule.
“There is the political backing of the citizens for Mugabe to go. We are really articulating what the citizens are asking. There shouldn’t be a vacuum when Mugabe steps down and there will be a transitional authority,” he said.
“However, that transitional mechanism should not undermine the question of legitimacy.
“You will know the root cause of the problems in this country to date, is the contested legitimacy of President Mugabe more than anything else and the transitional mechanism and the government that will come must be rooted in the legitimacy of the people.”
#Tajamuka and other groups among them #ThisFlag led by exiled Pastor Evan Mawarire, Occupy Africa Unity Square led by Patson Dzamara and Zimbabwe Activists Alliance, have been leading anti-government protests across the country. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/tajamuka-frontman-guns-mugabe/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/7527df035213f6ae788fb369ec0ebd3ccb21f157b9989fe620cfc6c248e22893.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T12:49:38 | null | 2016-08-28T13:00:42 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fbeitbridge-police-chaos-escalates%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Riot-Police-seen-chasing-away-commuter-operators-buy-throwing-tear-gas-in-Chitungwiza-yesterday-Pic-Shepherd-Tozvireva.jpg | en | null | Beitbridge police chaos escalates | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Three hundred and fifty newly deployed Beitbridge police officers are living in offices at the border town’s main station with their bosses appealing to the community for accommodation.
BY OUR CORRESPONDENT
Accommodation in police camps is still occupied by families of transferred officers who are yet to make arrangements to move them due to financial constraints.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has not assisted with the transportation of transferred officers’ property and no explanation has been given.
“We are expected to find our own transport but if the government has no money where are we expected to find it?” asked an affected officer.
This comes amid revelations that there was no proper handover-takeover between outgoing and incoming cops.
New policemen are not familiar with faces on the wanted list and residents feared the development would see the return of criminals who fled the area when police that knew them left.
Home Affairs minister Ignatious Chombo was not picking his phone yesterday when comment was sought about the situation in Beitbridge.
There is no stationery, furniture and other equipment like computers or typewriters, the transferred police officers took the resources with them.
“We took our computers, chairs and took other things we sourced from well-wishers because we were willing to work,” said one officer.
He said the government was busy buying spy cameras instead of furniture or paying the workers on time.
Government recently bought 196 cameras that were installed at the border post to monitor officers accused of lining their pockets at the expense of the State coffers.
Sources close to the police said there was mayhem at the station with the newcomers at sea at every front.
“They sleep in humiliating conditions like people in a waiting room and when they go to work they have no stationery which is frustrating,” said the sources.
Villagers wishing to clear cattle for slaughter complained of slow service and being asked to come the next day.
A family whose relative died in suspicious circumstances said police did not have forms to request a postmortem.
People with a variety of issues that need police attention complained of long waiting hours at the station where the situation showed confusion.
Passages at Beitbridge Central Police Station have been turned into bedrooms while some senior officers sleep in offices.
The station resembles an airport, train station or a bus terminal departure lounge with hundreds of bags, mostly big shopping bags commonly referred to as “Tshangani” bags popular with cross-border shoppers, lying everywhere.
“We are living at the police station and looking for accommodation. We are stranded because we don’t have cash, we were not prepared for this,” said one policeman from Harare.
Hunger stalks many officers who are still to find their feet in the border town.
Last week the administration at Beitbridge police station sent an SOS to local community leaders appealing for 350 rooms to rent.
The appeal was also sent to churches asking those who may have rooms to let to contact the police administration.
The ZRP a fortnight ago transferred its entire force of over 600 officers from Beitbridge in a major shake-up suspected to have been triggered by their alleged involvement in corrupt activities and failure to contain the July 1 riots involving cross-border traders.
It is understood police bosses were not amused when their intelligence failed to get wind of the looming demonstrations where cross-border traders torched a Zimra warehouse in protest against a ban on imports of basic goods from South Africa.
“If it was a punishment for those officers, it is affecting us the replacements as well,” said the police officer.
He said all new arrivals had gone through polygraph tests and those who failed would be sent back to their previous stations.
An unknown number of officers frustrated by the blanket transfers had opted out of the force, saying they could not tolerate the child’s play.
“Now there have been riots in Harare, so are they going to transfer police from Harare? This decision was bad,” said one officer. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/beitbridge-police-chaos-escalates/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/0e9cb2c02de6c818b18d806a4acdd83f1258a14196b34e099cbf3f1845b28b9f.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T12:49:40 | null | 2016-08-28T13:00:46 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fmakandiwa-speaks-protests%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/emmanuel-makandiwa1.jpg | en | null | Makandiwa speaks on protests | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | United Family International Church founder Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa on Friday said he decided to move his annual all night prayer meeting dubbed the Judgement Night 4 to the outskirts of Harare after God told him the capital would be covered in mist, in apparent reference to teargas and protests rocking the city.
BY EVERSON MUSHAVA/ VICTORIA MTOMBA
Police last week teargassed Harare residents indiscriminately in an attempt to break a High Court sanctioned demonstration by 18 opposition parties that were demanding electoral reforms.
Makandiwa has held previous prayer meetings at the National Sports Stadium but Friday’s event was moved to UFIC headquarters in Mt Hampden. He said he got the vision about the mist last year.
“We knew it just before Judgement Night 3 when we were having a meeting assessing how it went,” he said.
“We set this date last year and God told me that you will be doing it in the midst of a mist and God said move away from the mist. Go far away.”
Makandiwa has in the past prophesised about chaos in Zimbabwe. He told the congregants that he was praying for them to come out of poverty.
“I picked something in the spirit. God said those who are able to attend do all that you can to make them. They will come and present themselves before me,” he said.
“Do a process and pluck poverty out of their lives. Even if you are sleeping your life will still change.”.
Preaching to an estimated 60 000 church followers, Makandiwa said Zimbabwe could not take pride in using another country’s currency or the proposed bond notes.
“The US dollar is good, but it is not your currency, just like the bond notes,” he said.
Government plans to introduce bond notes this year to mitigate the current cash shortages. The bond notes would be backed by a $200 million Afreximbank facility.
Despite widespread resistance, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya has maintained that the central bank would forge ahead with plans to introduce the notes in October.
Makandiwa early this year said the country should have its own currency backed by gold reserves.
On Friday, the UFIC founder said while Africa was endowed with mineral resources, it remained poor and infested with evil spirits.
He said where ever there was a concentration of mineral resources, like the situation in Africa; there would also be a concentration of evil spirits.
“In Africa, we have everything that we need, but look at you. If Africa was taken away from the Africans, you will be amazed with what Africa can produce,” Makandiwa said.
He said God loved Africa from the beginning, but the status of the continent had Biblical origins.
Makandiwa added that Africans lacked confidence in themselves and wanted to depend on foreigners in the form of investors, an issue that had its origins in Egypt when Pharaoh depended on the Israelites and didn’t want them to leave the continent when God wanted them to.
Foreigners, Makandiwa said, had information about Africa’s mineral resources after taking aerial maps, but were waiting to bounce back on continent for the resources after Africa’s population is decimated.
“Even when the colonisers came, they came with a bible in one hand and a map in the other hand. The map had all the information on the mineral resources of the continent,” he said.
“They turned the areas with minerals into game parks to preserve them so that they will come for it when Jesus comes, because Jesus said you should trade.
“A baboon is sitting on your mineral riches somewhere in the park right now, and the whites will come for it one day,” he said.
Meanwhile, the church witnessed the presentation of babies that were conceived after Judgement Night 3 after Makandiwa called for an altar call for people who were barren.
UFIC pastor Ado Nyakudya said the church had received reports from all over the world of 700 babies that were born after Judgement Night 3 prayers.
Musicians that included Leonard Zhakata, Lawrence Gunda, Michael Mahendere, Herbert Chigumira, UFIC choir and others entertained the crowds during the night.
The service was attended by people from all over the world and politicians that included councillor Musa Gwasira, Brighton Matonga and Psychology Maziwisa, among others. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/makandiwa-speaks-protests/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/4b31f467dbac0d7b76489a8c8e58748134466778c872c14ba64fcbceb1cbd62f.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T04:50:04 | null | 2016-08-28T05:00:19 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fdiana-samkange-releases-gem%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Diana-Samkange-1-2.png | en | null | Diana Samkange releases a gem | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | I first came across the name Diana Samkange way back in 2006 when I was serving as a National Arts Merit Awards (Nama) adjudicator. I was given a cassette from the group 2BG to assess for possible nomination in the Urban Grooves category. The group’s name was coined from its composition — “2B” for two boys (Bloodshaw “Blush” Chikosi and Calvin Mavhunga) and “G” for a girl (Diana Samkange).
In the Groove with Fred Zindi
For the last 10 years, I have been wondering what had happened to this group. However, the girl in 2BG, Samkange, who decided to go solo after the group split, did not stop producing music. In 2008 she released the album My First Diary, which did reasonably well on the local market. Two years later, her second album, Kumagumo Erudo, surfaced and her third album titled Kumazivandadzoka was on the market in 2013. After three albums, she embarked on her fourth adventure, this time with a groovy eight-track album titled Kwayedza. I am listening to it right now as I write this article.
It must be pointed out that Samkange has recently gone through an image transformation. We first knew her as an urban grooves artiste, but now she has decided to call herself a traditional and jazz artiste. This has probably been inspired by her new ability to play the mbira. She has also changed her name to “Mangwenya”.
Let me review her fourth album. Some call it Afro-jazz, others call it traditional music. I beg to differ. This is pure jiti. I listened to the whole album and did not get any jazzy feel until I reached the eighth track Ari Mandiri, which I suppose could be categorised as a jazz ditty. However, whatever you decide to call it, this is indeed a very pleasant album.
Whoever said that the Bhundu Boys are dead was talking nonsense. Diana Samkange reincarnates Biggie Tembo and his bandmates in this well executed album. Perhaps this is the reason why she launched the album in the United Kingdom where music punters are already familiar with the Bhundu Boys’ beat.
The initial blast that launches Mangwenya’s sexy, silky and smooth voice is on the title track, Kwayedza. It shows off that Bhundu Boys jit-jive beat when she sings “zvichaenda zvega, zvichabuda zvega” repeatedly. This song serves as a shout that means business for her. The sound is clear. The mix is concise and the keyboardist’s rapid and concise solo puts him in the same league with his Bhundu Boys predecessor. It also sets the bar high for what will come on the second track, Hanga, which begins with mbira, keyboards and guitar smoothly complementing each other. Hanga is a song about wasting time by concentrating one’s efforts on the wrong priorities. Here she sings: “Taipedzera miseve kumakunguwo, hanga dzichiuya”. In Hanga, Mangwenya with her emotional but cool voice demonstrates that she is a force to reckon with.
She goes into the third song with the instruments, churning out a familiar Tuku-like introduction and here she decides to slow down the beat in Matero. Soon after, she starts to operate within familiar territory when she goes back into a fast tempo, Bhundu Boys style in Mudiwa John where she bemoans the treatment she is getting from her cheating John as she sings “Usandibate kumeso, ndapota mudiwa John.” For anyone in a dancing mood, Mudiwa John is the track to look for. In this tune, Mangwenya also shows great promise as a composer and arranger. It has distinct harmonic colour and an up-tempo rhythm which only those who want to get into a joyous mood can aspire to.
Track five, titled Chokwadi, which teaches us about humility and discipline, is yet another jiti groove. Those who like their music sultry and languid will enjoy this track. There is evidence of a lot of energy exuded by Mangwenya and her band in this tune with the hectic pattering drum patterns and repeating riffs, which are arithmetically ingenious. Altogether they defeat the ear’s attempt to unscramble the well-organised timbre.
Track six is Mationesa. It opens with pronounced keyboards (Have I not heard this before? I can’t be 100% certain.) This has a clear sound, nice keyboard riffs and exhibits professionalism in the music production work that took place. Thanks to producers Oskid and Munya Vialy for the good and timeless quality of the sound.
“Mudzimu Unoyera, ndachema runyararo, ndachema rugare” is what one hears when you play the song, Rugare. It is yet another jit track boasting a guitar solo and a bewitching rhythmic exploration of the drums.
It is, however, the intricacy found in punctuated harmonies and contrapuntal rhythm changes, together with devilish structural shifts that give Mangwenya the image of an Afro-jazz artist as indeed the eighth track has a rather slow, mesmeric funky jazzy feel. The track, Ari Mandiri, allows the bass and drums to develop a swinging jazz theme, which is only interrupted by an exhorbitant guitar work.
This album is a gem. It is indeed an absorbing album. This is the kind of work any radio DJ would be pleased to sample, especially on Sunday programmes like The Comfort Zone on Star FM or the Zee Experience on ZiFM and any time on SFM. Even those on a long drive will find this fantastic album irresistible. It certainly grows on you and once you have caught that bug, you will enjoy playing it again and again, like I do. Looking forward to the next one, Mangwenya.
Feedback: f_zindi@hotmail.com | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/diana-samkange-releases-gem/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/166315e6104258e46a64c77142d590083befeebff27de7d3ca87ef2026544906.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T22:49:19 | null | 2016-08-21T07:33:12 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Fdelta-recycling-initiative%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/placeholder_100x100.png | en | null | Delta in recycling initiative | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Delta Corporation has partnered small-scale players to collect discarded empty plastic beer bottles for recycling across the country as it moves to curb littering.
BY BUSINESS REPORTER
The move to collect the discarded Chibuku Super beer containers comes as the company plans to increase its market share with Chibuku Super. Delta has set up new plants in Masvingo and Kwekwe.
Chibuku Super’s $14 million Masvingo plant is set to be opened in October while another $14,5 million plant is nearing completion in Kwekwe.
Already other plants in Chitungwiza and Fairbridge in Bulawayo have put the company on a more competitive position with the Chibuku Super product.
Company secretary Alex Makamure told Standardbusiness in Masvingo last week that their volumes were set to increase hence there was need to be environmentally friendly.
“Our market share for Chibuku has always been about 80-85% but the reality is that in the advent of Chibuku Super, the other players have not been able to cope with the technology and invest the way we have done so we are actually seeing a bit of an increase,” he said.
“We should be able to gain some bit of market share in some of the areas.”
On keeping a clean environment Makamure said: “One of the key imperatives is a clean world, where we seek to create value out of waste and strive for a cleaner world.
“We, therefore, work with suppliers, distributor, retailers, municipalities and consumers in order to reduce all forms of waste across our value chain and facilitate reuse and recycle waste and packaging.”
Delta has so far established 182 beverage waste collection centres across the country where cans, PET and glass are collected separately for recycling.
The company assists its partners; some of them community based organisations, and gives them the machinery to crush the PET to enable easy transportation and recycling.
Makamure said the beverages manufacturer was also working with local authorities to increase their capacity to manage litter.
He said they were managing the whole process of having the PET taken to Harare.
Brian Karemba, Delta’s manufacturing executive said their volumes were set to increase hence the need to find ways to manage litter.
“We have gone higher in terms of the volume that we are putting up and therefore [we are] more efficient because we are using less than we were while producing smaller volumes,” he said.
“There is also the technology side of it which ensures that our system is more synchronised and more efficient rather than the manual system we used to have.” | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/delta-recycling-initiative/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/a269753cc9b8382d9d7c692e9d661fffcc7e3db0f384fc097aef228505bad494.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T14:49:01 | null | 2016-08-26T15:21:40 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F26%2Fupdates-grand-demo-26-aug-2016%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/0L5A0042.jpg | en | null | Updates: Grand demo 26 Aug 2016 | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | We give you updates of the anti-government mega demonstration.
Follow the hashtag #GrandDemo
NERA PRESSER:
Morgan Tsvangirai says the High Court judgement has set a precedence for future demonstrations as it states clearly that people exercising their constitutional rights must not be interfered with.
15:18 Didymus Mutasa now giving his speech.
Didymus Mutasa says State broke its own law by descending on people peacefully gathered for a demonstration that was sanctioned by the High Court.
He says they are going to convene another demonstration next Friday.
The court order was very specific that we were allowed to proceed with our march from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.
Mutasa reads out the high court order.
We also want to appeal to SADC that in their next session they are going to take this matter. Those that are demonstrating will not end there, they will go to AU and UN.
13:49 A soldier has reportedly stoned to death a protester near Copacabana Terminus along Jason Moyo, sparking renewed skirmishes.
13:23 Copacabana flee market has been set ablaze.
13:17 Bloody clashes between suspected Zanu pf youths and MDC-T at Copacabana.
12:06 Corner Jason Moyo and Rotten Row has been barricaded as police appear to have lost the battle against the determined youths
12:04 Chinhoyi way no longer a one way system as traffic is flowing in every direction as they flee away from police who are running battles with the protesters.
11:34 Traffic volume out of town increases.
11:30 MDC T youths have literally taken over the main entrance into the city centre via Samora Machel with barricades from Rekai Tangwena Ave.
11:20 Traffic officers atthe showgrounds are instructing drivers to make a U-turn. A water cannon, which is capable of destroying the barricade, has driven past and did not destroy it.
11:04 One of the supporters beaten inside the court
11:01 Police stopping protesters despite a high court reprieve.
Breaking: High Court clears Nera Demo.
10:59 An old woman runs as police put on a chase.
10:54 The road that leads into the Freedom Square has been barricaded.
10:38 Police appear ready to descend on the singing youths.
10:37 Police have caused commotion at the court after they descended on everyone at the court.
10:32 Youths are singing in front of a water cannon.👆🏼
10:20 With instructions from a senior police officer, police are asking people to move towards the court area but the people are resisting and daring the police water cannon them.
10:18 Meanwhile there are reports that trouble is also brewing in the city centre.
10:17 People are all over the square and youths are regrouping each time the police disperse them.
09:44 Demonstrators have gathered at the Magistrates Court as police have cordoned off the Freedom Square where the protest was supposed to start from.
09:43 They are firing teargas canisters and beating up anyone who attempts to move into the square.
Police dispersing protesters from Freedom Square throwing tear gars #GrandDemo
By 9 a.m there was a heavy presence of police all over Harare with multiple roadblocks on major roads leading into the Central Business District.
The Freedom Square, where the protesters are converging, is manned by anti-riot police who are reportedly forcing people to move out of the area.
Zimbabwe anti-government protests: A Timeline.
October 2014:
Journalist-turned-activist Itai Dzamara calls on Mugabe to step down and begins his lonely Occupy Africa Unity Square protest. He is abducted from a barber’s shop in March 2015 and has not been seen since.
December 2015:
Kariba pastor Patrick Mugadza is arrested for staging a one-man demo in Victoria Falls. His placard reads: “Mr President, the people are suffering.”
April 14, 2016:
Around 3 000 MDC supporters march through Harare to protest poverty, joblessness, missing diamond revenue etc. The size of the demonstration takes the authorities by surprise. Riot police were out in full force but did not attack the demonstrators.
April 20:
Pastor Evan Mawarire records his first #ThisFlag video and launches a game-changing online protest movement.
Report originally published on News24
Police brutality: A Timeline
#GrandDemo Tweets | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/26/updates-grand-demo-26-aug-2016/ | en | 2016-08-26T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/652ec207e009f621f15ffaed1535082177b03ad21fbdf98e1397a0248db8dd37.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T04:50:03 | null | 2016-08-28T05:00:02 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fakbay-pins-hope-senior-players%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Elroy-Akbay-etched-1.png | en | null | Akbay pins hope on senior players | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | HIGHLANDERS coach Elroy Akbay says he will turn to his senior players in a bid to stabilise the team, which has struggled for consistency in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title race since losing the striking duo of Bruce Kangwa and Knox Mutizwa.
BY FORTUNE MBELE
Kangwa and Mutizwa left Highlanders to join Tanzania’s Azam FC and South Africa’s Bidvest Wits respectively in mid-season resulting in a dramatic loss of form by the Bulawayo giants, who went on to lose four times in six matches after the mid-season break.
And as he tries to come up with the right formula, Akbay believes throwing his young players into the deep end when the team is on a bad spell is not the solution.
“I can only play my young players when the team is playing very well and if the team is not playing well the fans will put too much pressure on the youngsters. You have to be very careful with these youngsters and that’s why I believe we have to go back to the basics and use the senior players. When the team begins to play well we will revert to the youngsters,” Akbay said.
The Dutchman’s comment means he would be banking on the likes of Gabriel Nyoni, Rahman Kutsanzira, Simon Munawa and new recruit Allen Gahadzikwa to carry his team through the bad run of form starting with today’s home clash against How Mine at Barbourfields.
The experienced duo of goalkeeper Ariel Sibanda and veteran striker Ralph Matema are however, expected to miss this afternoon’s clash due to injuries while mid-season acquisition Nhlanhla Ndlovu among other young players could be rested.
Akbay, whose team is currently on a six-match winless streak dating back to the 1-0 win over CAPS United on July 17 said he was desperate for his charges to finally register a win.
“I don’t care how we play now, all I want is a win. What it means is good play can come later, but let’s win first,” he said.
Highlanders are on 32 points with 10 matches to the end of the season, while How Mine are on 28 points and have gone seven matches without defeat.
The gold miners coach Kelvin Kaindu says it will be important for his team to collect maximum points.
“It is just like any other game for us although we are playing one of the teams among the giants in Zimbabwean football. The competition as we play the last games of the league has become good. One win makes a difference and you can go two places up and it makes it a bit tricky when you lose. It is quite crucial that we collect maximum points,” Kaindu said.
The former Highlanders and Triangle coach will miss the services of suspended striker Kudakwashe Musharu, whom he has been using as an impact player coming in from the bench. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/akbay-pins-hope-senior-players/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/94dcce0cd4b5b810dc904122317c063e901b96e166b1bb39e93a92d1750e2705.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:00:38 | null | 2016-08-23T10:08:57 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F23%2Ftaf-taylor-launches-new-clothing-line%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Fashion-11.jpg | en | null | Taf The Taylor launches new clothing line | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Local designer Taf The Taylor has done it again. The youthful designer recently launched another dazzling clothing line called Kidd Hunta.
BY Nicola Gibson
Born Tafadzwa Moyo, Taf The Taylor is famed for the fashion label Kidd Hunters, which took the country’s fashion industry by storm last year. He is back this year with Kidd Hunta, which he describes as “something that drew its strength from African past and runs courageously into the future”.
Last week, the designer told The Standard Style that the idea behind this exquisite new label was “a spirit of big dreamers”. He said it was about bringing traditional values of bravery, courage and fearlessness into the modern world.
“The label shows a little boy with a spear in his hand, running to conquer the world which shows the spirit of big dreamers, so that little boy can be anyone who dreams big and is ambitious. We are saying run and get what you want, thus brave hearts never fail,” he said.
Taf The Taylor recently stole the limelight at the South African Menswear Week (SAMW) in Cape Town when he showcased and introduced the Kidd Hunta to hordes of fashion enthusiasts drawn from all over the world.
He said the response he got after the fashion week was overwhelming, which gave him more energy to produce top notch designs.
“The feedback after the SAMW was overwhelming and it energised me and my team. It keeps us on our toes, thinking of the next move and the move should be better than the first one, which is development,” he said.
Following his success at the SAMW, the fashion protégée is looking forward to opening an online store to reach a wider market. He has been showcasing his work through social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
“We are visible on Facebook and Instagram [Kidd Hunta] and a bit of business was happening on the platforms. We are currently working on our online store to reach a wider market — regional and global,” he said.
At the moment Taf The Taylor specialises on menswear and there are plans to incorporate ladies designs.
“As a new project, we are taking a step at a time, so we are concentrating on men’s clothes only. We do have plans to sell ladies clothing, but that will be addressed when the right time comes,” he said.
“I would like to open a flagship store first in Harare and spread across the country in the near future.” | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/23/taf-taylor-launches-new-clothing-line/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/5b395b24339c69b1ea9c0c2f16bcfa1f521eb4521ed3ebd318c36eda82eb2c9e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:01:07 | null | 2016-08-23T10:14:05 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F23%2Fwomen-find-voice-filmmaking%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/WOMEN-PROFILE-11.jpg | en | null | Women find voice in filmmaking | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | The Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe (WFOZ) will this year host the 15th edition of the International Images Film Festival (IIFF) which is dedicated to the screening of women-centred films at five venues in Harare.
BY TAWANDA TADERERA
Celebrating the best in women’s film, the IIFF for women will present a broad programme comprising feature films, short films, documentaries and special events.
The festival opens on Friday at Borrowdale Ster Kinekor while the film shows will begin a day later and end on September 2. Entrance is free of charge.
The closing ceremony will be held at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe before an awards ceremony on September 3.
Festival director Laura Ganda said their focus was to showcase women-centred films that present women in a positive light. She said they would like to empower and strengthen women in films to be able to overcome challenges they face in the industry.
“Our films aim at promoting progressive gender relations and tolerances between man and women,” she said.
Ganda said the festival presents an opportunity for women filmmakers to bring their films to international platforms.
“The films that women produce are able to go beyond physical boundaries and be able to compare the quality of their films alongside others from all over the world, and they can learn one or two things to improve their own filmmaking skills,” she said.
Ganda added: “Also women are able to tell and present their own story from their perspective to the world”.
The festival also brings networking opportunities for local filmmakers with other women from across the globe as they always have well-known filmmakers from different parts of the world gracing the festival. Unique workshops ensure a continuos training and education platform for women in film.
The festival campaigns for gender tolerance between women and man striving for equal opportunities.
“Though our focus is on women, we also show films of the ‘new man’ where films have a male protagonist or character that supports the women,” she said.
“The aim is to strive for equal opportunities for women and men and equipping the woman with key resources to be empowered, which is information.”
IIFF is expecting a number of guests within and outside the continent. Three filmmakers from Africa — Onyeka Nwelue who produced the film House of Nwapa, Joyce Chavula of the film Lilongwe and Wilson Rumisha who produced the film Aisha — are expected to grace the festival.
Laura said,“We are also excited to host Hollywood heartthrob Tongayi Chirisa, who features in the movie Happiness Is a Four-letter Word. It’s exciting for us as we will be showing the film for the first time in Zimbabwe. We have judges coming from Ghana, South Africa and Sweden.”
Ganda said 17 awards were up for grabs and they would also host the Sadc awards, which were not held last year.
IIFF is the brain child of the WFOZ which was founded in 2002. WFOZ has been active in women and girl child rights campaigns through short films since 1996. The organisation is registered with the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/23/women-find-voice-filmmaking/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/e4b2c3c45f5d19170cb2d738e69e79934b5b2952640b096a592f1e66d99f8237.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T22:49:25 | null | 2016-08-21T07:29:07 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Fchanakira-urges-govt-put-words-action%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/NIGEL-CHANAKIRA1.jpg | en | null | Chanakira urges govt to put words into action | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | The Zimbabwe Investment Authority (ZIA) has challenged government to amend at least eight pieces of legislation in order to attract foreign direct investment.
BY XOLISANI NCUBE
Presenting oral evidence before the parliamentary portfolio committee on Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment last week, ZIA board chairperson, Nigel Chanakira told lawmakers that amendment of the laws would ensure ease of doing business.
Key among the impediments noted by ZIA as scaring away FDI was the “misconception and negative publicity on the indigenisation laws” and a plethora of laws that investors have to comply with before being granted investment certificates.
“In April this year, the president [Robert Mugabe] had to issue a statement giving guidelines to the indigenisation laws but still, investors are asking, that is only a statement, where is the law to back it up?” Chanakira said.
Among the laws that need to be amended, according to Chanakira, are the Companies and Deeds Registry Act, Shop Licencing Act, the Regional Town and Country Planning Act, Small Claims Act and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act among others.
“These laws have to be in line with the presidential statement so that we can have uniform language when it comes to the ease of doing business,” he said.
Chanakira said ZIA had been tasked to handle foreign firms that sought to invest in the country and help them comply with the indigenisation policy, which demanded that 51% shareholding of every investment above $500 000 be owned by local people.
Zimbabwe has progressively failed to attract meaningful foreign direct investment since 2009.
Last year FDI inflows into Zimbabwe were down to $421 million from $545 million in 2014.
This is against huge investment gains being recorded by the country’s neighbours such as Mozambique and Zambia which received $3,7 billion and $1,6 billion respectively in 2015.
The inflows into Zimbabwe were a drop in the ocean, considering that the Southern Africa region had combined FDI inflows of $17,9 billion.
So far, according to Chanakira, ZIA had reduced the number of days a foreigner needed to have an investment certificate issued from 90 days to 15 days as a way of attracting investors.
According to the ministry of Macro-economic Planning and Investment Promotion, FDI inflows are projected to surpass $1 billion this year on the back of deals signed with Chinese, Russian and Indian investors.
“Major deals were signed with Chinese, Russian and Indian investors and the economy is poised to receive triple FDI inflows in 2016 as a sign of increased investor confidence,” the ministry said in a 2015 fourth quarter macro-economic bulletin. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/chanakira-urges-govt-put-words-action/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/46bdd84b6afab0a8bf98245b2129324103ed2a85dd804aa2510ac61469208070.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T10:49:36 | null | 2016-08-28T04:58:33 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fgrace-mugabe-allys-uk-surgery-shut%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/placeholder_100x100.png | en | null | Grace Mugabe ally’s UK surgery shut down | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | LONDON — A Zimbabwean doctor who was given the farm of a family of white farmers forced off their land earlier this year has had his UK surgery shut down after inspectors found a healthcare assistant posing as a doctor.
The Telegraph
Sylvester Nyatsuro resigned on Wednesday, the day before an inspection report on his Nottingham surgery the Willows Medical Centre was published.
The report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) listed a number of failures at the “chaotic surgery”, where a healthcare assistant posed as a doctor.
Although not a qualified medical professional, the healthcare assistant, who was employed in March this year, took part in nearly 900 clinical procedures, including diagnoses, assessments of wounds and infections, and diabetes reviews.
Organisation at the practice was described as “chaotic” and employees said there was a culture of fear and blame with staff being reprimanded or shouted at by management.
The report also found there was not enough staff to keep patients safe.
Seventy patients have now been recalled as a precautionary measure following the CQC’s findings.
The CQC report branded the surgery, in Carlton, Notts., as “inadequate” overall with its level of care rated as “requires improvement”.
It was also given individual ratings of “inadequate” for its safety, management, effectiveness and responsiveness.
The practice, which was closed in June this year, is expected to remain closed while NHS England works with the local clinical commissioning group to decide its future.
Janet Williamson, deputy chief inspector of general practice and dentistry at the CQC, said a “considerable” number of concerns were uncovered after the inspection in June.
She added: “The practice had knowingly employed a healthcare assistant to undertake medical examinations which were outside the scope of the role and for which the individual was not registered or regulated.
There were protests at the Willows Medical Centre earlier this year after Nyatsuro was accused of seizing land from Zimbabwean tobacco farmers.
Phillip Rankin and his wife Anita were evicted from the £1 million farm by a gang of 20 men armed with AK47 guns in February.
The valuable 2 000-acre property was seized and given to Zimbabwean-born Nyatsuro who lives 12 000 km away in Nottingham.
The wealthy GP, who moved to Britain in 2000 and owns a clinic specialising in weight loss techniques, is believed to be close to President Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace.
He has always denied knowledge of the violence used to enforce his claim to the Rankin’s farm, and says he was allocated the property by the State in accordance with normal legal procedure and that no political influence was brought to bear on the decision. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/grace-mugabe-allys-uk-surgery-shut/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/47d7ba62690813a9c6d3c4eace1a9e16f5c4ff3db748d2a13c16f8f0a35f7633.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T04:50:05 | null | 2016-08-28T04:59:47 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fnjabulo-moyo-motivational-speaker-zim-needs%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Motivational-Speaker-1.png | en | null | Njabulo Moyo: A motivational speaker Zim needs | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Bulawayo’s young motivational speaker and writer Njabulo Moyo continues to raise the Zimbabwean flag on the international scene, with his nomination for a global leadership programme in the Unite States.
BY TAWANDA TADERERA
The programme is supported by the US Department of State and implemented by the International Research and Exchange Board.
The community solutions programme is a professional development exercise for the best and brightest global community leaders working in transparency and accountability, tolerance and conflict resolution, environmental issues as well as gender and women.
Moyo said he felt very happy and motivated to move towards greater heights.
“This is an inspiring lifetime achievement which will propel not only me, but also my community to higher levels of finding the solution to local problems with a global view,” he said.
The programme is a competitive platform that only takes the best and brightest leaders who are doing community development work with a proven track record.
Moyo said the programme will improve his emotional intellect and development programmes.
“It will most definitely enhance my emotional intelligence, leadership acumen and development programming. My country will benefit through a chain of projects that I will unveil when I come back,” he said.
About 94 community leaders from 37 countries working on the world’s toughest issues will spend the next four months learning from like-minded US partners, such as 350.org, Character.org, Gender Spectrum and Sunlight Foundation.
“Hailing from 37 countries, leaders in the Community Solutions Programme [CSP] work on some of the toughest issues facing the world — from adapting to climate change realities to combating human trafficking, from fighting for the rights of women and girls to weeding out corruption in local and national governments,” he said.
Moyo said the leaders bring their skills, experiences and expertise to the United States, where they work with some of the best organisations and government agencies to tackle issues while learning new approaches to community development.
This year, 94 CSP leaders will work with over 80 organisations in 27 states and the District of Columbia.
The main objectives of this programme are to allow for cross-cultural relationships between leaders from different countries, build a more just, prosperous, and inclusive world and to empower youth, cultivate leaders, strengthen institutions, and extend access to quality education and information.
Moyo is highly motivated by influential motivators like Milton Kamwendo and Kenn Annandale. It is in this regard that he has shown deep-passion in motivating young people to be creative and influential in their communities. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/njabulo-moyo-motivational-speaker-zim-needs/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/6e4b00e82cc63fb744aa3def37567728382aaf936ed526759bde105670e59f5e.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:59:02 | null | 2016-08-23T10:10:08 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F23%2Fzim-fashion-need-right-pair-shoes%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/row-of-shoes-1.jpg | en | null | Zim fashion: All we need is the right pair of shoes | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | I strongly believe that for years Zimbabwean fashion designers have worked hard to perfect their skills and polish their quality.
Workshops have been held left, right and centre so as to develop our fashion industry. I have personally travelled the journey with many Zimbabwean designers and I have seen them grow to become some of the most-sought-after designers in Africa.
Being Zimbabwean surely toughens you up and adds up to one being a perfectionist in what they do. Most of our designers are self-taught, hence they make sure they grasp all aspects that make them better professionals in the industry. The best designers are those that are self-taught as they had no one to pay their fees to make sure they become what they dreamt of.
I am not taking away anything from those that invested in harnessing their passion and understanding the industry, how it operates and how they can operate within the busy space, just like any other sector. Many self-taught beings have a short cut to their works, when you ask them for their mood board or illustrations; they always have this puzzled face like someone has snatched a sweet out of their mouth. Conversely, most schooled designers approach things by the book and are conventional.
I love the fact that most of them will have a full understanding of what you will be talking about, but sometimes lack the little rebel in them of breaking the rules so as to have different approaches. A perfect balance of both worlds always works for the best.
The hunger to become better people at one’s efforts in this ever changing space, has resulted in many of the designers becoming better than they actually thought they would be. Many of them do not see how great they are, which works perfectly for interested stakeholders that they work with. If most know, either they will not remain grounded or that will even make them more grounded. The extra mile that they put has seen many of our designers showcasing at bigger platforms that are not at ease with issues of good products.
With this in mind, our hope as a people that are fighting for the industry is to have leading fashion houses within Zimbabwe supporting us. Other countries not far out of reach, such as South Africa and Nigeria have adapted to stocking local designers in their outlets, making them relevant to their ever-changing clientele taste.
In 2005 South African top designer, Thula Sindi showcased Vliscos fashion line at the South African Fashion Week. Since then his accomplishments include a nomination for the Marie Claire emerging designer contest as well as a distribution deal with Edgars Stores — a huge opportunity as his clothes reached and gained recognition with the general public at relatively affordable prices.
Over 34 South African designer labels have been selling at the South African Fashion Week Designer Capsule stores because of a partnership they entered with Edgars Stores since September 2011.This, among many other incorporations has resulted in a better supply of products for many fashion houses.
For how long are we going to suffer from buying oversized clothes in our leading retail stores and later taking them to a tailor to nip and tuck them? Our own retail outlets need to understand that we are in a different geographical location, our people’s taste, climate and even the shapes are different from what they import for us to consume. There is need for them to adapt to our situation and become relevant, at the same time promoting sustainability within the space of operation.
It pains to see us not being able to appreciate each other. If we do not appreciate our efforts, our works and our dreams, whom then should we expect to notice us? The industries we admire so much, such as in South Africa, Nigeria, just to name a few, appreciate their own. If you are a foreign designer, you have to be at your best to get noticed, but we tend to shun our own and develop others. There is nothing wrong with appreciating others, but charity begins at home.
You would expect an outside designer to showcase alongside our own brands such as Zuvva, Haus of Stone, Maita Marimo, Ganu, Ara Kani, Thembani Mubochwa, David Alford and Sanah Designs.
l Gilmore Tee is a social entrepreneur, global citizen, curator, publicist and host, who works within the Zimbabwean creative industry, with a strong bias towards fashion. He is the founder of Hunnar Management Agency. He can be contacted via website: www.gilmoretee.com or Facebook/Instagram/Twitter: Gilmore Tee | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/23/zim-fashion-need-right-pair-shoes/ | en | 2016-08-23T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/2c1f8efe2234ff73aa0665a86fcf48becd145df966429f87c10e93cb84129794.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:02:02 | null | 2016-08-22T11:14:43 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F22%2Fsocial-media-management-strategic-pr%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/placeholder_100x100.png | en | null | Why social media management should be strategic in PR | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | It is without a shadow of doubt that social media is reshaping the public relations (PR) profession in Zimbabwe and the world. Professionals are grappling with how to remain relevant in a fast-changing environment where traditional methods are fast becoming extinct.
Public Relations with Lenox Mhlanga
Clients are consulting on how they can stay ahead of the added scrutiny and the landmines that line up their route to relevance. Even the government has got its knickers in a knot scrabbling to regulate social media — a tall order given the contentious political atmosphere the whole debate finds itself mired in. I have my strong views on this which I choose to share in a future column.
Local PR professionals want to know how they could incorporate social media into their work. Fortunately, a number of studies have been conducted on the impact of social media on PR. These have shown that local professionals are not alone in their quest for insight into how they can stay relevant in the new and fast-changing communications landscape.
The Institute of Public Relations has shared a study which is based on in-depth interviews with 43 in-house PR and communication leaders working in diverse leading United States-based organisations. These are individuals who work on the client side of PR, such as in companies, charities and government agencies.
The study shared in a research paper entitled, Strategic Social Media Management and Public Relations Leadership: Insights from Industry Leaders, set out to establish how PR leaders perceived the major functions of social media and how they employed social media to establish their leadership within their organisations.
It explored how social media use has affected leadership behaviours of PR leaders in the United States and will provide guidance to local practitioners as well.
More importantly, the fact that social media can empower PR leaders and foster their leadership skills is amply illustrated in the study. It reveals that social media can help PR practitioners to strategically manage the public relations function, create vision and motivate public relations staff to achieve their common goals.
Through social media, one can communicate with internal and external stakeholders, provide knowledge in decision-making and problem-solving, perform environmental scanning and collaborate with other management functions.
Four key dimensions emerged from interview results on how PR leaders can strategically use social media to establish leadership roles: exhibiting expert power, gaining decision power by demonstrating tangible outcomes, displaying leadership vision in social media use and establishing leadership among peers.
Almost all PR leaders have acknowledged some fundamental functions of social media in PR practice, such as message promotion, building participative, interactive and problem-solving oriented community, monitoring stakeholders and crisis management.
Social media use helped the PR leaders demonstrate their expert power through displaying their strong expertise in technology, understanding of publics, and effective online engagement with strategic publics.
In other words, PR professionals should grab the opportunities that social media present in enhancing an organisation’s effectiveness. Information technology personnel might not necessarily be the people to drive the human face presented by social media.
Most participants stressed that social media alone did not increase the likelihood of them being involved in top-level strategic planning. Rather, it was the strategic alliance of social media use with solving business or organisational problems and achieving tangible outcomes such as profit or donations.
The study further revealed a “neoteric facet” of PR leadership, that is, the innovative use of social media, charismatic forward thinking and cultivating social media strategists. Organisations have embraced this through the creation of new posts such as that of chief social media strategist that invariably fall within the ambit of public relations.
Many PR leaders noted the increased recognition of the value of public relations by other management functions when they demonstrated leadership among peers through strategic use of social media.
Public relations leaders in this study assumed e-leadership through their visions of new technology (like social media), creative use of the interactive platforms and their ability to influence top management’s perception on the efficacy of strategic social media management.
The key to linking social media and leadership resided in the issue of how to demonstrate expertise in social media and how to strategically integrate social media into communication programmes.
Public relations managers can advance their leadership though three mechanisms: exhibiting expert power in technology, linking strategic social media use with bottom line and demonstrating leadership vision of innovation and forward thinking.
The study, however, mentions as a word of caution that the role of social media use in enhancing the relationships with external publics is conditioned on a public relations leader’s vision and ability in creating relevant, engaging content. Top management’s perception of the value of the public relations function, and the availability of technical, social, as well as human resources is also crucial to its success.
Suggested future research directions included how public relations leaders’ engagement in social media management has affected the whole leadership structure within the organisation and to what extent public relations leaders could influence the ethical use of social media or the issue of social media governance.
l Lenox Mhlanga is a communication specialist with experience working for the World Bank Group. He is an associate consultant with Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants and can be contacted at lenoxmhlanga@gmail.com or 0772 400 656. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/22/social-media-management-strategic-pr/ | en | 2016-08-22T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/45e44e9eb7182a60f3a128cf88f5225b8aaf0dd66aae3823767e84238075d72b.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T04:50:01 | null | 2016-08-28T05:00:25 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fmap-release-percussion-double-album%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/By-KB-Mpofu-1.png | en | null | MAP to release percussion double album | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Music According to Percussion (MAP) will on Saturday launch an all percussion double album at the Zimbabwe German Society.
BY TAWANDA TADERERA
MAP is a project that has percussion as the sole driver of different styles of music. Most bands in Zimbabwe use percussion as backing instruments and MAP has a percussionist as the composer and arranger of the music.
The project was started in 2014 by percussionist Othnell Mangoma who also provided backing vocals for top musicians such as Dudu Manhenga, Hope Masike, Oliver Mutukudzi, Tariro Ne Gitare and Victor Kunonga.
Mangoma said Africa was known for good percussion players but most Zimbabweans don’t regard percussionists as musicians.
“This project seeks to display how diverse percussion is and MAP seeks to strengthen the backbone of our music,” he said.
He said percussion was mostly used at funerals and churches in Zimbabwean towns while those in rural areas played drums.
“These percussion styles are seldom heard in our Zimbabwean music and MAP seeks to display our folklore styles through music,” he said.
“Most youth face an identity crisis. Percussion was strongly rooted with us and this project will create room for us to freely express our prowess.”
Mangoma is also the founder and director of Talent Explore in Nguboyenja (TEN), a talent identification project based in Bulawayo that feeds artists into MAP.
Next month Mangoma will represent Zimbabwe at OneBeat, an international exchange programme in the United States that brings together emerging music leaders from around the world. The month-long programme will create opportunities for collaborations for musicians from over 25 different countries who will take part.
“I want to incorporate folklore musicians from the country’s 13 tribes but we face financial challenges,” he said.
Mangoma said he will launch new instruments known as tunable ngoma and the Nguboyenja snare drum.
He described the tunable ngoma as a drum that he reinvented. It is tuned by pulling ropes and straps.
“This idea comes after my detuned Zimbabwean ngoma was affected by weather while I was in Moscow, Russia. So I built this ngoma so that we can be able to play it regardless of the weather conditions,” he said.
The Ngubonjeya snare drum is a doubled drum with two goat hides on both frame ends and has a pebble inside that act as the snares.
The album’s Volume One is made up of six tracks that have percussion styles adapted from Senegal, Mali, Cuba, Peru, Mozambique and Reunion Island. The multi-cultural album includes a tutorial song based on eight Zimbabwean folk percussion styles and songs. Volume Two has rhythms and melodies adapted from the Tshangani, Ndebele, Zulu and Shona tribes as well as from countries like Senegal, Cuba, Burkina Faso and Mali. There are also adaptations from Oliver Mtukudzi’s music.
“I have adapted different percussion styles so as to honour those I have met and found common ground through music. I have learnt to appreciate and study different styles through collaborations with foreign artists,” he said.
Mangoma has collaborated with artists from countries like Burkina Faso, Norway, Argentina, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Austria, France, Ivory Coast and Cuba. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/map-release-percussion-double-album/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/0c0ebfbd6e6490ee2f19177ce83937d412f3ab4ed4e1c1aef508b737ef52c0ca.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:57:24 | null | 2016-08-24T16:38:14 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F24%2Fupdate-cops-provoke-brutalise-protesters%2F.json | en | null | Update: Cops provoke, brutalise protesters | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | In what has been seen as an attempt to forestall Friday’s multi-party mega demonstration, police in Harare on Wednesday descended on MDC-T youths who were marching in the city centre, resulting in chaos as police fired teargas and randomly truncheoned members of the public, leaving many shops closed and city centre deserted.
In the ensuing melee, angry protesters retributed and burned a vehicle belonging to the State broadcaster, ZBC.
Below are some of the pictures.
A reminder of 1998 demonstrations that ended with looting, people looted a shop along Innez Terrace Avenue.
This is not first time police have brutalised peaceful protesters. Watch video below.
Last month police beat up women in front of their children. Watch video below | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/24/update-cops-provoke-brutalise-protesters/ | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/2663f44395e70f0f98f56949697accedad65cfea80ed8c234a69f6e0364fd019.json | |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:56:55 | null | 2016-08-21T09:00:59 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Fpasuwa-sibanda-set-collision-course%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Kallisto-Pasuwa-3.jpg | en | null | Pasuwa, Sibanda set for collision course | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | WARRIORS coach Kalisto Pasuwa could be set for another collision course with Zifa vice-president Omega Sibanda after the former football agent cum administrator was appointed chairman of the High Performance Committee (HPC) announced by the local football governing body’s president Philip Chiyangwa last week.
BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
Sibanda will chair the seven-member HPC whose other members include ZPC Kariba coach Sunday Chidzambwa (vice-chairperson), former goalkeeper Innocent Chogugudza, Chicken Inn coach Rahman Gumbo, Harare City mentor Moses Chunga and ex referee Masimba Chihowa.
In addition to the HPC, Sibanda will also chair the technical development committee, the human resources committee and the ad-hoc disciplinary committee.
But it is the appointment of the Zifa vice-president to head the committee which oversees the performance of the national team which has set the stage for another clash with Pasuwa.
Last year Sibanda chaired an extra-ordinary meeting of the Zifa national executive committee which resolved to fire Pasuwa and his entire backroom staff just a few days before the start of the 2016 African Nations Championships (Chan) finals in Rwanda.
Pasuwa was set to be replaced by then Chicken Inn head coach Joey Antipas, who immediately rejected the offer causing further chaos.
Zifa later reversed the decision following public outcry and directive from Sports and Recreation minister Makhosini Hlongwane to reinstate Pasuwa.
Sibanda had among other things, also accused Pasuwa of working in cahoots with his manager and player intermediary Gibson Mahachi to select players managed by the latter into the national team for marketing purposes.
Sibanda even claimed Mahachi had under his personal management 16 players in the Warriors training squad for the 2016 African Nations Championships (Chan) finals, but it eventually turned out to be incorrect. The player agent only managed four players on the roster.
The Bulawayo businessman said they sacked Pasuwa after he resisted the move by the new Zifa board to fire long-serving team manager Shariff Mussa and replace him with Wellington Mpandare.
Chiyangwa, however, remained defiant yesterday, claiming the differences between the two were now a thing of the past.
“Pasuwa’s job is safe; no one can dare touch him or make a move without my knowledge. Don’t expect any move because my VP has a sour relationship with Pasuwa. That is a thing of the past,” Chiyangwa said.
While the involvement of Sibanda in the HPC has raised. Some eyebrows, Zifa’s decision to appoint practicing coaches in the committee has also been met with sharp criticism from local football stakeholders.
Former Warriors defender John Phiri, a former chairman of the HPC yesterday added his voice to the growing list of various football stakeholders, who feel Zifa should revise their appointments.
“I don’t think it is proper to have active coaches in the High Performance Committee and if Zifa insist with the move, I foresee problems in the near future. It will definitely put pressure on the Warriors coach (Kalisto Pasuwa). Remember these coaches are coming from their own clubs and they have their own ideas and then there is the issue of team selection,” Phiri said.
However, Chiyangwa, who will head the contentious Zifa Referees Committee defended his board’s decision before adding that they were only answerable to Fifa.
“People must know that those who are in office are the ones who make decisions. We are not a parliament of the country, but of football and we are only answerable to Fifa. If there are errors that I would have made they will only be corrected by Fifa,” he said.
The Chiyangwa-led board finally established standing committees to assist in the administration of the game, their second in just over 60 days after it also named other committees under the National Football Association (NAFAZ) banner in June.
Zifa had not appointed any standing committees since their bid to dissolve the association and reform under a new name was deemed illegal and in violation of their own constitution. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/pasuwa-sibanda-set-collision-course/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/486a10a08218bab05046ba625bc01cfc215713e43bf287b90f17ee613e26d1bb.json |
[] | 2016-08-29T16:50:17 | null | 2016-08-28T04:59:43 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fantipas-ready-new-season%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Joey-Antipas.jpg | en | null | Antipas ready for the new season | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Former Chicken Inn gaffer Joey Antipas, who is now in charge of South African side AmaZulu admits that he knows little about their opponents Black Leopards ahead of the National First Division season opener at Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban today.
By Admire Jamu-Mlambo
“We know that we are up against difficult opponents in Black Leopards who are a formidable side,” Antipas told Amazulu’s website.
“But I believe that if we go out there and put in 100% effort and we back ourselves, maybe we can walk away with maximum points.
“Honestly, we have no information about them (Leopards). What we know is that they are a very strong side judging from the previous seasons in the NFD.
“They are a side that you cannot write-off. So, we have to go there with a positive mindset and a 100% attitude,” concluded the Zimbabwean, who took charge of the team in the off-season following the dismissal of Steve Barker.
Lidoda Duvha finished eighth in the second tier last term with 40 points from 30 games — four points above AmaZulu.
Mafero as Antipas is popularly known in Zimbabwe’s move to the South African-based side came to fruition after he lifted the Castle Larger Premier Soccer League cup with the Bulawayo-based club Chicken Inn. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/antipas-ready-new-season/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/a0c969a2d143510ad6e9948a78ed5255c2ada12b8b310c78c742316b2398d91b.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:49:56 | null | 2016-08-28T04:47:06 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fmugabes-enforcers-wage-bloody-war-people%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/police-1.png | en | null | Mugabe’s enforcers wage bloody war against people | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | VICTIMS of police’s brutal clampdown against peaceful demonstrations that turned Harare into a war zone last week have told harrowing tales of their ordeals at the hands of the law enforcement agents.
news in depth BY PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
Police fired teargas indiscriminately and assaulted people going about their business in the capital’s central business district on Wednesday and Friday as they battled to contain protests against President Robert Mugabe’s regime.
Taurai, a man in his thirties, was left nursing a broken arm after he was ruthlessly attacked by police officers in the central business district without provocation.
“I was going about my business in the capital close to Copacabana terminus when riot police on Wednesday stormed the populous market and indiscriminately fired teargas canisters,” he said yesterday.
“In the ensuing melee, I was targeted and savagely beaten by the truncheon wielding police and left writhing on the tarmac.
“My right hand was fractured as I tried to block the blows that were raining on me from all angles.”
On reflection Taurai thinks he was targeted because he was wearing a red T-shirt.
“The officers seemed to have something against people wearing red clothes and their attention was primarily focused on any person in red apparel,” he said.
Red is the colour associated with the opposition MDC-T led by former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
A female activist Tendai was wearing red jeans when she was caught up in the city’s volatile protests at Rezende bus terminus on Friday.
“A truckload of anti-riot police jumped out of their lorry and started throwing teargas all over the place and came fishing out people who had sought refuge in the shops at the mall. I was whacked all over my body mercilessly,” Tendai said.
Tendai’s legs and back are still visibly swollen after the attack by the police.
“I choked in the smoke and had problems in breathing but the officers did not seem to care and acted as if they were in a trance,” she added.
The violence was not only meted on the youths as some elderly vendors who eke out a living by selling on the pavements in the city centre were not spared.
Barbara, a vendor in her 50s was also caught up in the crossfire as the city was turned into a war zone with police clashing with activists.
“My wares were kicked to the ground by fleeing activists as they ran away from the police. The police caught up with me as I tried to retrieve my goods and started assaulting me without even asking me anything,” she said.
With her eyes misty Barbara added, “Even when I fell to the ground the officers continued hitting me until I could not move. They left me for dead and I only managed to pick myself up with the help of good Samaritans.”
All the victims had no kind words for the police.
“The manner in which they beat up people is sadistic. They have no regard for the injuries that may be suffered by their victims. I now dread seeing those truncheon wielding officers in black,” Barbara said.
For residents like Taurai and Tendai they are now afraid to wear any red apparel when venturing into the city centre.
“I will avoid wearing any red clothes when coming into town after this experience which taught me that having red apparel marks you out to the ruthless police,” Tendai said.
Another victim, John, who works close to Harvest House, the MDC-T headquarters in the CBD, is now wary of going to his workplace as the political tension in the countries rises.
“My workplace is at Roslin House next to the MDC-T headquarters and I was unlucky not to run faster when the anti-riot approached and fired their teargas into our building,” he said.
“As I blindly descended the stairs in the choking smoke I was severely assaulted and now have a searing headache from one of the blows.
“My pleas to say I was simply a worker at the building and had nothing to do with the protests fell on deaf ears.
“They hit me all over the body and I’m thankful that at least I’m receiving medical help here,” added John.
Former Finance minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Tendai Biti said he now wanted to sue rogue police in their personal capacities to stop the human rights violations.
Biti called on members of the public to help him identify police officers who assaulted peaceful protesters.
“Anyone who can identify the names of the assaulting police officers please send me details. It’s time to stop impunity,” Biti tweeted.
The combative lawyer told The Standard that he wanted to make an example of the police officers.
“I am a ferocious lawyer and I just want one name and make him an example to stop this impunity,” Biti added.
“I have spoken to a number of bright young lawyers who are all prepared to institute litigation against individual police officers with the sole idea of stopping this impunity.
“Attacking an unarmed civilian is a war crime. International law needs to be mobilised against Zanu thugs,” he said.
Biti has emerged as one of the leading human rights defenders after successfully taking several cases to the Constitutional Court.
He managed to stop the child marriages (girls under the age of 18) who in the Marriages’ Act were allowed to wed if their guardians gave consent to the union.
Biti has also successfully argued on behalf of condemned prisoners serving life terms to be allowed to apply for parole like any other inmate after serving two thirds of their terms.
Human rights activists say the resurgence of police brutality, especially in the last two months was making Zimbabwe a pariah state.
Police violently crashed protests in Beitbridge in July after cross-border traders demonstrated against the banning of imports by government through Statutory Instrument 64.
They also used excessive force against commuter omnibus drivers and touts in Harare after they staged a protest against the number of police roadblocks.
The law enforcement agents were also accused of detaining children in Bulawayo in July after another round of protests.
Photographs from the scenes splashed in print , online and social media platforms have painted a picture of a country at war with its citizens.
Zanu PF politburo member Jonathan Moyo also condemned police brutality after pictures of a bleeding man were splashed on social media following another violent suppression of a peaceful demonstration in Harare.
“Pictures of unlawful violence can change everything for the worst as did this 11 March 2007 Tsvangirai picture!” Moyo tweeted,
The bloodied picture of Tsvangirai after being assaulted by polce officers at Machipisa Police Station turned both regional and international community against Mugabe’s regime.
Mugabe was subsequently forced to form an inclusive government with Tsvangirai after a controversial election in 2008 where the MDC-T leader’s supporters were brutalised by suspected State security agents. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/mugabes-enforcers-wage-bloody-war-people/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/26f3ae79bbd19381efe70d29a9306e3d1add45d8be94ef3a347d22cb75c5e231.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:48:57 | null | 2016-08-21T07:05:52 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Fjehovahs-witnesses-baptise-53%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Watch-Tower-jehovah-witnesses-31065657-311-400.jpg | en | null | Jehovah’s Witnesses baptise 53 | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | At least 53 people were baptised at the Jehovah’s Witnesses regional convention in Harare yesterday as the organisation continues to grow in Zimbabwe.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
Among those who were baptised was a blind woman and a family of four.
A total of 2 729 attended the morning session.
The convention’s programme overseer Arnold Makayi, said the growth of the church had seen shifts of up to five congregations within the same kingdom hall (place of worship).
“It looks like the congregation is growing very fast and it is a show of Jehovah’s blessings as you can see the work in Zimbabwe and in fact globally. Most importantly, according to Matthew 24:14 it tells us that we are nearing the end of this world,” Makayi said.
Since the beginning of the current series of regional three day conventions, 27 have been done with a remainder of 15 still to be completed.
The remainder will be done in several languages, including Shona, Ndebele, French, Swahili, Chitonga and sign language.
One of the baptismal candidates Claudious Chingoriwo said: “For me personally, it [baptism] now means I am offering sacred services to Jehovah and now I am satisfying verses like Matthew 28:19,20. Now I know that my goal is to go out there and make disciples from others.”
Matthew 28:19, 20 forms the basis of the Jehovah’s Witnesses commission to preach where upon ascending to heaven, Jesus Christ instructed his disciples to preach to the whole world and assured them once this was done, the end would come.
The theme of this year’s conventions is Remain Loyal to Jehovah.
Over 100 000 witnesses countrywide are expected to attend a regional convention in their nearest towns. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/jehovahs-witnesses-baptise-53/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/b8351a290cd255767ea89349678d73278fe36616a98f87d948a33f5cd6624a65.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:49:51 | null | 2016-08-28T04:48:46 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fdrivers-must-emergency-kit%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/EMERGENCY-KIT-1.png | en | null | Drivers’ must-have emergency kit | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Anyone who has ever endured a flat tyre while driving will know that at the very least it is necessary to keep a well-maintained spare tyre, a jack and a tyre lever in the boot of your car. However, Tiger Wheel & Tyre cautions that there are other potential emergencies that motorists should plan for.
NewsDay Editor
“From a flat tyre or flat battery to a breakdown or even a medical issue, there is a lot that can go wrong while driving,” said the group marketing executive, Joe du Plooy. “And while it’s not possible to plan for or attend to all types of roadside emergencies, a little preparation can go a long way.”
Tiger Wheel & Tyre suggests that motorists stock their boots with these essential emergency items:
A properly inflated spare tyre, jack and tyre wrench (excluding run-flats).
Battery jumper cables and if you regularly travel routes that are not well-frequented then pack a fully charged battery booster too, in case you can’t find someone to lend a battery.
A first aid kit, check and replenish this regularly as medications expire and certain items may perish over time from high temperatures in your vehicle.
Bottled water and non-perishable snacks in case your emergency leaves you stranded for hours.
A map book in case your GPS fails or your phone battery dies.
A cellphone car battery charger.
Duct tape, a pocket knife and Q20 lubricant, you’d be amazed at how many roadside emergencies this power-trio can take care of.
Cash, good old-fashioned bank notes can help you pay for assistance and roadside repairs in areas where credit cards simply aren’t accepted.
“Most of the time, getting from point A to point B is an uneventful experience and that’s certainly our wish for our customers and all motorists, but it never hurts to be prepared and that’s the message we want to drive home.
Take a half hour and gather up these items and stash them in your boot. At the very most you’ll lose half an hour of time but in the event of an emergency these items could very well save your life and will definitely save your sanity,” du Plooy concluded.
A cellphone car battery charger. Duct tape, a pocket knife and Q20 lubricant, you’d be amazed at how many roadside emergencies this power-trio can take care of.
Cash, good old-fashioned bank notes can help you pay for assistance and roadside repairs in areas where credit cards simply aren’t accepted.
“Most of the time, getting from point A to point B is an uneventful experience and that’s certainly our wish for our customers and all motorists, but it never hurts to be prepared and that’s the message we want to drive home.
Take a half hour and gather up these items and stash them in your boot. At the very most you’ll lose half an hour of time but in the event of an emergency these items could very well save your life and will definitely save your sanity,” du Plooy said. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/drivers-must-emergency-kit/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/941c10e96a7d0e6f6ef7212fa6612bcae482a70a616260e01c73c0edeb16bd40.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:49:24 | null | 2016-08-21T07:04:40 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Fchaos-mass-beitbridge-police-transfers%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/beitbridge-border-.jpg | en | null | Chaos after mass Beitbridge police transfers | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | The decision to transfer all police officers from Beitbridge was uninformed and insensitive to family unions, affected officers have said.
BY OUR CORRESPONDENT
An estimated 1 000 children have been affected by the development.
Most cops are bitter and did not mince their words as they accused their bosses of being failures who themselves had never been “transferred”.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police last week transferred over 600 officers from Beitbridge in a major shake-up suspected to have been triggered by their alleged involvement in corrupt activities and failure to contain the July 1 riots involving cross-border traders.
It is understood police bosses were not amused when their intelligence failed to get wind of the looming demonstrations where cross-border traders torched a Zimra warehouse in protest against a ban on imports of basic goods from South Africa.
Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said the decision to break up Beitbridge police was taken after a government directive to transfer all civil servants based in the border town.
However, the affected police officers feel they were being made sacrificial lambs in an area where other State security apparatus also failed.
The military intelligence and the Central Intelligence Organisation were not affected by the transfers.
The aftermath of the mass police transfer was an administrative boob that left no one in charge at police stations in Beitbridge, sources said.
In the last four days, Beitbridge had no police visibility and ordinarily police-manned points, including boom gates were not manned.
Some police officers spoke of how they were leaving some dockets incomplete in a move that will affect the wheels of justice.
They also said they were at pains as to how they were going to handle their family situations, especially children in schools, considering they were instructed to report to their new stations on Tuesday.
“Most of us have children in schools some who sit for final examinations this year. Who do we leave them with?” one police officer asked.
“In some cases, married couples were deployed to different police stations and which sensible employer does that?”
Most of the affected law enforcement agents said they only took instructions from their bosses during the riots.
“Some of us are juniors and even if we had known anything what could we have done? They should have transferred the bosses first and give us time to sort out our family issues,” another police officer said.
He said he was in quandary because two of his children were due to sit for their Grade 7 and Form 4 examinations this year.
The police officers have accused Home Affairs minister Ignatius Chombo of failing to deal with the situation.
“Our new minister failed to complete several national construction projects when he was with the Local Government and Public Construction ministry and he is trying to correct that with us. He is a failure as well,” said another police officer.
A female police officer said she was contemplating resigning from the force because her husband was employed in the private sector in Beitbridge.
“You have to think what comes first your family or this thankless job,” she said.
Most of the police officers had invested in a number of projects in the border town and the transfers were a blow to their businesses.
Residents in the border town felt the decision was harsh.
“Police have a life and this treatment will kill their zeal to work,” said a resident Rabson Moyo.
Another resident Innocent Meke said if government had been serious like this since 1980, the country could have been free of corruption.
Efforts to contact Chombo were fruitless yesterday. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/chaos-mass-beitbridge-police-transfers/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/12bd70bf27c5d5d32125d8e191f2f334584c826980ba7d9615c92d1d478450fe.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:55:25 | null | 2016-08-21T10:00:25 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Fmagaya-arrest-drama%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Magaya-coming-out-of-the-court-after-granted-bail.jpg | en | null | Magaya arrest drama | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | PROPHETIC Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD) leader Walter Magaya spent Friday night in police custody after he was charged for allegedly raping a 25-year-old woman in July last year.
BY BLESSED MHLANGA
Magaya was arrested close to midnight after leading a church service in Harare and was detained at Rhodesville Police Station. Yesterday he appeared before magistrate Vakai Chikwekwe.
He was not asked to plead to the rape charges and was granted bail coupled with stringent reporting conditions. The State and the defence had agreed on a $1 000 bail, but the magistrate raised it to $2 000.
Chikwekwe also added another condition that Magaya should report to CID Law and Order three times a week.
“I made the discretion to increase that bail and also add other conditions which you had not included, I hope you take note,” Chikwekwe said.
The PHD leader arrived when the courts had already closed for the day and was not handcuffed. Chikwekwe had to be summoned back to hear the case.
He read the riot act to both the police and the State led by Gwinyayi Shumba over the delays in bringing Magaya to court.
“Let me express my displeasure over the delays of coming to court. the State should know that courts have gazetted times for Saturday and you should rein in the police,” Chikwekwe said.
“This attitude by the police of thinking that they can come to court as and when it pleases them should stop because next time I will call whoever delays to take the stand.”
Magaya was also asked to surrender his passport to the clerk of court and to reside at his given address.
Chikwekwe, who remanded Magaya to September 15 also ordered the “prophet” not to interfere with State witnesses.
Shumba alleged that sometime in July last year, Magaya invited the woman to 22 Colt Road in Mt Pleasant where he showed her his house and left her in a room before returning to the room naked.
“The accused then forced the complaint to have sexual intercourse without her consent and without using protection,” part of the state outline reads.
It is alleged that Magaya then paid his victim $200 and she left before making a report to her boyfriend who is also a State witness.
According to State papers, the court will be favoured with audio recordings which will allegedly link Magaya to the commission of the crime.
An unfazed Magaya told The Standard that he was aware of the arrest ahead of time, saying it was only a passing phase which he will take in his stride.
“These things happen but they will come to pass. They are trials,” he said as he was escorted to court.
Meanwhile, prison officers mobbed Magaya jostling to greet him as he walked into court, while church members mostly women sang and danced outside the courts in support of their leader.
During a Friday prayer meeting, Magaya had reportedly told congregants that there were girls in his church who had been offered money by his enemies so that they lay false rape charges against him.
Two girls from the church allegedly confessed to such a plot, saying they had been offered close to $100 000 to bring him down.
Magaya’s wife and mother also attended the court session. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/magaya-arrest-drama/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/844baf9ece0eda09e561fe86f42742526fd840016ecceda0d920b2290e5387e8.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T04:49:53 | null | 2016-08-28T05:00:22 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fmangwenya-takes-tuku-jah-prayzah-head%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Diana-Samkange-1.png | en | null | Mangwenya takes Tuku, Jah Prayzah head on | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Afro-jazz diva Diana “Mangwenya” Samkange says her latest offering Kwayedza puts her in the same league with music superstar Oliver Mtukudzi and man of the moment Jah Prayzah.
By Nicola Gibson
The musician, who launched her latest album in the United Kingdom last week said she was unfazed by Jah Prayzah and Mtukudzi who have recently released new albums — Mdhara Vachauya and Ehe Nhai Yahwe — respectively.
”My brand has stood the test of time and it’s now a polished one. I can say this is finally who I am and I am not intimidated by any brand “.
Kwayedza has hit radio stations in the country, competing for airplay with new songs from some of the country’s biggest stars — Tuku, Jah Prayzah, Alick Macheso and Leonard Zhakata — who recently released albums.
The eight-track album, which was released online also marks the growth of Mangwenya’s career.
She said she was overwhelmed by reviews she was getting about the album.
“For me, reviews are good enough. I guess it’s my time and it’s been hard, but I guess I’m there,“ she said.
“Looking back from where I came from, I’m so overwhelmed. Ndaitombozhamba, kuchema chaiko. (Sometimes, I would cry).”
She said her Unleashing Mangwenya tour of the UK helped her grow into a musical star she is today.
“The tour made a very positive impact in my career which is what I always thrived to do. My fan base has broadened and I can say, I have achieved what I wanted… But, I still have a long way to go,“ she said.
Mangwenya said she will be flying back into the country to promote her album, with a number of shows across.
“I have lined-up shows in Nyanga, Victoria Falls and Kariba at private functions and I am yet to finalise on public shows in Harare and other towns,” she said.
Some songs from the album have hit the air waves on UK radio stations like Vanny Radio based in Coventry and others in Wales.
She is set to have an interview on popular UK radio BBC Extra before she returns to Zimbabwe. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/mangwenya-takes-tuku-jah-prayzah-head/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/c11116f60fe2c392f760ed9c7bf6446cf83cd8cd70d03ae147263f2b549df389.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T22:49:23 | null | 2016-08-21T07:26:57 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Fscramble-bank-accounts%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Barclays-bank.jpg | en | null | Scramble for bank accounts | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Ongoing cash shortages in Zimbabwe are forcing many companies which used to pay their employees in cash to resort to bank deposits.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
Like individuals, companies are now accessing very little cash from banks and as a result they are compelling their employees to open bank accounts through which they can receive their wages.
Farm and domestic workers who used to be paid in cash are among the employees that have now been asked to open bank accounts.
This has seen a surge in the demand for new accounts in the banking sector.
The Financial Clearing Bureau (FCB) in its second quarter report said the liquidity shortages had forced people without bank accounts to open accounts.
FCB managing director Alan Goodrich said the only way for companies to pay or receive funds was often through electronic means which made them unable to give employees hard cash.
“Before the crisis, 90% of our employees were paid in cash as this was their preference,” he said.
“This has become simply impossible, so staff need to open bank accounts in order to be paid.
“In the agricultural sector, which represents about 70% of the workforce, I have met with farm owners who similarly now require their labourers to open accounts if they expect to get paid.
“I suspect most industries and other economic sectors have experienced similar developments,” Goodrich said.
“Even from a personal perspective, we now require our domestic staff at home to open accounts in order to get paid.
“We believe this phenomenon is not only restricted to the formerly employed, but also the informal sector.
“Likewise with small businesses (SMEs) accepting electronic payments have become a necessity of survival given the shortage of cash.”
The shortage of cash, coupled with a surge in plastic money usage, which has seen an average growth of 4,2% since mid-June, has led most companies to push employees to open bank accounts.
For companies to receive more cash than what they have, significant deposits must be made of which an average of 80% could be withdrawn, an accountant with a manufacturing concern said.
Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe executive director John Mufukare said this new phenomenon was beyond the control of employers.
“Right now most banks are releasing between $200 and $300 per day while some are even giving $100 a day to companies,” he said.
“So obviously paying people in cash is no longer an option. Even if you were to go to the bank every single day and get your maximum [withdrawal limit], you would still not be able to raise your full payroll.
“I can confirm that employers have been asking employees to open bank accounts so that they transfer salaries into bank accounts.”
Mufukare said besides the little cash given at the banks, queuing for the money cost businesses productivity due to the amount of time it would take for an employee to get the money.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Christopher Mugaga also confirmed this new trend, saying “it is simply as true as that”.
When it comes to domestic workers, employers also use mobile payment platforms such as NetOne’s OneWallet, Telecel’s Telecash or Econet’s EcoCash, the last one being the most preferred.
Tenants are also now paying monthly rentals through bank transfers.
The second biggest bank by deposits, Cabs, however, said new accounts were being opened at a fairly steady rate.
“We continue to open new accounts on a fairly steady basis and I cannot think of any particular spike. I think there has been a steady rate of opening new accounts.
“We have had an upsurge in people trying to find ways of paying staff in other ways than cash.
“There is a huge move in volumes in terms of people using cards to purchase goods that has more than doubled in three months,” managing director Simon Hammond said.
While most banks have resorted to plastic money, others such as Barclays are giving South African rand to their clients on top of the United States dollar.
“Barclays Zimbabwe currently operates within the multi-currency system which has eight other acceptable currencies. In line with this, we are providing customers with South African rand through our automated teller machines,” Barclays Zimbabwe managing director George Guvamatanga said.
“This is aligned to efforts by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to promote the use of multi-currencies through various initiatives that make it easy for customers to access the different currencies.”
Analysts say the cash withdrawal limits for companies and individuals will drive the use of plastic money and in the process accelerate the central bank’s financial inclusion thrust. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/scramble-bank-accounts/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/8a95c73fcc4df544ea369663d6501559e52d663e72d538f458c90ef6d9283898.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T04:49:59 | null | 2016-08-28T05:00:22 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fcash-shortages-drive-mobile-money-usage%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/EcoCash-Zimetro.jpg | en | null | Cash shortages drive mobile money usage | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | TELECOMMUNICATIONS service providers say the current cash shortages have presented an opportunity to promote a cashless society resulting in the growth in mobile money transactions.
BY TARISAI MANDIZHA
The use of plastic money is one of government’s solutions to address the current cash shortages in the country.
The cash shortages have seen most people resorting to the use of plastic money, by using point of sale (POS) and mobile money platforms such as Econet’s EcoCash, Telecel’s Telecash, NetOne’s One Wallet and GetCash as means of transacting.
According to the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) first quarter report, there were 3,2 million active mobile money subscribers.
Out of the 3 199 568 mobile money subscribers, Econet had 3 121 683 active subscribers, Telecel had 64 905 and NetOne had 12 980.
The Potraz report showed that Econet had the lion’s share of the market at 97,5%.
In the period under review, mobile money transactions for cash-in handled $449,8 million, cash-out transactions $407,3 million and cross network transactions reached $1,5 million.
The difference between the cash-in transactions and the summation of cash-out transactions and cross network transfers implies that about $40 million was used for other transactions such as merchant payments, bill payments and airtime top-up amongst others.
Lovemore Nyatsine, executive assistant to Econet’s group chief executive officer Douglas Mboweni said EcoCash was fast becoming the premier mobile payment system as customers embraced the convenience and efficiency of the service.
Nyatsine said the growth of EcoCash was agent and demand-driven and to date had more than 26 000 agents to cater for customers across the country.
“The current cash challenges have presented an opportunity to promote a cashless society, both in formal and informal sectors. We therefore continue to invest in the appropriate technologies that lessen the reliance on cash for day-to-day transactions,” he said.
“These include POS machines and other electronic platforms. In addition, we are in aggressive partnership negotiations with local companies and retailers who also see the benefit of using EcoCash as merchants. We have zero rated merchant payments as well to ensure payments go via the merchant route. This zero rated campaign is running for 90 days,” Nyatsine said.
He however said by nature, mobile money transaction trends tended to peak during salary payment periods. Nyatsine said the company was moving away “from these hard and fast peak periods given the fact that our customers cut across the formal sectors of the economy to the informal sector”.
EcoCash is growing to be a mode of transaction for day to day business activities both in formal and informal sectors,” he said.
Questions sent to NetOne and Telecel had not been responded to at the time of going to print.
According to Potraz the total number of registered mobile money subscribers increased by 9,9% to 8,1 million as at March 31, 2016 from 7,3 million recorded in the previous quarter.
In the period under review, of the total registered subscriptions, 39,7% were active, 3,2 million subscribers had used mobile money services to send or receive money, purchase airtime or to make payments. This implied that 60,3% subscribers were inactive. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/cash-shortages-drive-mobile-money-usage/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/39b0d637b06123c975d4393ed80adb34e8069e550d1be636720b9d7e3781e50f.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T06:49:33 | null | 2016-08-28T04:55:04 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fpremier-league-stars-face-early-season-clampdown-refs%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/The-shelves-being-packed-in-the-supermarket-1.png | en | null | Zim bows to SA pressure over SI 64 | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Government has been forced to reduce duty and surtax on some products imported from South Africa in response to concerns raised by that country over the restriction of imports under Statutory Instrument (SI) 64 of 2016.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
Early this month, South Africa gave Zimbabwe two weeks to remove duty and surtax on 112 products after Zimbabwe had restricted the importation of 43 products under SI 64.
Sources told Standardbusiness last week that after Industry and Commerce minister Mike Bimha took the matter to Cabinet, a few concessions would be made.
The source said: “government will be falling back on trading protocols from the World Trade Organisation to avoid some of the stipulations in the Sadc Trade Protocol of 1996. South Africa also has restrictions of its own on what Zimbabwe can export to that country.”
Industry and Commerce deputy minister Chiratidzo Mabuwa last week said the government’s response to the request to reduce duty on the 112 products would be revealed at the Sadc regional meeting.
An extraordinary committee of ministers’ meeting was held last week on August 24.
“If the SI 64 of 2016 affected, for example the informal traders, it is government’s duty to come up with alternative means such as looking at (what could be done about) other products that are still permissible to bring in,” Mabuwa said.
“For example, we have the importation of palm oil, olive oil, fridge-free margarine, washing powder, so we can let it go now but as long as firms for these products are established here, we have to create a market for them. We go and do our due diligence, look at what is involved, go into the industries where economists do their work, come up with what the national demand is, and what it is that we can do and how can we produce it.”
SI 64 of 2006 came after a number of imports regulations — SI 6 of 2014, SI 126 of 2014, SI 18 of 2016, SI 19 of 2016 and SI 20 of 2016 — which were introduced to support local industries.
Some of the 43 restricted imports include coffee creamers (Cremora), camphor creams, white petroleum jellies and body creams.
“In 2016 we issued Statutory Instrument’s number 18, 19 and 20 looking specifically at issues but it is just that SI 64 is the fattest because it has 43 items that have been grouped together. If you look at it, we did not issue anything in 2015 which means we had a lot of representations from industry and we came up with these 43 items and it is not going to be the last one. We might come up with more depending on the representations,” Mabuwa said.
Buy Zimbabwe chief executive officer Munyaradzi Hwengwere said South Africa had in the past introduced the preferential trade arrangements on Zimbabwe’s textiles. He said South Africa imposed a 65% duty on textile products, a move which suffocated textile companies in Bulawayo.
Deputy Agriculture minister Paddy Zhanda said companies complaining about the effects of import restrictions should be “ignored”.
He said trading was not really free and was actually a “war” suggesting that Zimbabwe deals with the costs of the potential effects. However, Mabuwa disagreed saying there was need to honour trading agreements.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Davison Norupiri said although some companies had been affected, others had seen increases well above 30% capacity utilisation and increased productivity.
“We have got companies that have registered growth in terms of capacity utilisation [and] employment [creation] which is something we cherish as a chamber. The government also whet the appetite of those who want to invest in our country. We have also witnessed massive expansion on most of the oil companies in this country,” Norupiri said.
Zimbabwe is South Africa’s fifth biggest export market in Africa. In 2015, Zimbabwe imported goods and services worth $1,8 billion from South Africa, according to statistics from South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry.
South African firms like trading with Zimbabwe due to the strong currency the country uses at a time when the South African rand has been volatile. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/premier-league-stars-face-early-season-clampdown-refs/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/65bba3962ed12ce50bcb4db735644a81f1ae67a30af43ab47997d6ef202e42fa.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T12:49:39 | null | 2016-08-28T13:00:20 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fmugabe-panics-soldiers-rampage%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Riot-police-watch-a-man-with-a-Zimbabwean-flag-over-his-shoulders-saluting-during-a-protest-on-Friday-1.png | en | null | Mugabe panics as soldiers rampage | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Uniformed soldiers on Friday night emptied Harare’s night clubs and ruthlessly attacked people on the streets after police triggered violent protests in the capital earlier in the day as President Robert Mugabe’s government fought to suppress dissent against his rule.
By Everson Mushava
Zimbabwe’s 18 opposition parties including former vice-president Joice Mujuru’s Zimbabwe People First and MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai had obtained a High Court order barring police from interfering with their intended demonstration.
The parties under the banner of the National Electoral Reform Agenda (Nera) and Coalition for Democrats wanted to protest against unfair electoral laws and systems, but were violently blocked by the police; minutes after the High Court had okayed the event.
The situation turned violent and for close to 12 hours, police were engaged in running battles with protestors in the central business district. Th protesters were angered by the police provocation. Some ran amok, looting shops, smashing cars and setting property ablaze.
But as it appeared the police were losing ground, the military took over in the late hours and spent the rest of Friday night patrolling the CBD and surrounding areas such as the Avenues where they attacked people on the streets, including commercial sex workers.
Truckloads of soldiers were seen patrolling the Avenues area and raiding night clubs where revellers were bludgeoned without reason or explanation.
Most revellers fled from the city centre fearing for their lives. Defence minister Sydney Sekeramayi was part of a press conference by Home
Affairs minister Ignatius Chombo where the government threatened to unleash terror on protestors last Thursday.
Army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Alphios Makotore yesterday refused to comment when asked about the involvement of the military in patrolling streets, referring all questions to the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
However, police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said she was out of town.
Opposition political parties and observers yesterday said they were worried about the involvement of the army, saying it showed how Mugabe, who has realised he was now sitting on a cliff edge was desperate to defend his continued hold on power.
Douglas Mwonzora, MDC-T secretary general who is Nera’s legal affairs head said opposition parties would not be intimidated by the army.
“This shows that the system is in a fix,” Mwonzora said.
“This is the work of a now panicky regime which is afraid of its own shadows.
“This was supposed to be a peaceful protest that was disrupted by the state itself. We won’t be intimidated. We are not fighting the army, we are fighting the system.”
Nera has called for another protest next Friday, which the union’s convenor Didymus Mutasa said would be of a greater magnitude.
ZimPF spokesperson, Jealousy Mawarire said deployment of soldiers to do crowd management was unconstitutional as soldiers were not trained for such tasks.
“Reports that the army has been deployed in the streets of Harare is in fact a declaration of a state of emergency,” he said.
“In fact there is already a curfew in Harare because residents are being forced out of the city centre at particular times by people alleging to be members of the army.
“This will not intimidate or cow us from continuing with the planned Nera demonstration on Friday.
“No amount of intimidation will break the resolve by Zimbabweans to change the socio-economic and political situation obtaining in the country.”
Zanu PF aligned business organisation yesterday condemned violence, describing the actions by Nera as barbaric.
Political analyst Eldred Masunungure said Mugabe was clearly standing on weak ground following Friday’s protests and other demonstrations which have rocked the country in the past few months.
Masunungure said the situation was made worse by his diminishing stamina both physically and mentally, which the protestors were now aware of, to deal with the ever increasing voices of dissent.
He said Mugabe loathed his power and he foresees him fighting to the end.
“He will continue in power until some of his pillars (particularly the army) which he used to learn on has abandons him. Deploying the military in the evening shows the military still wants to defend its commander in chief,” Masunungure said.
“But to what extend the army will go depend on if Mugabe secures fresh source of funding to pay them on time.
“The army is his remaining trump card, but a few months ago he has failed to pay them. If he fails to find new funds it will mark his waterloo.”
Masunungure said Mugabe was in a precarious position and will likely give in the coming months and not years.
“There is no doubt about that, he is in a fix. Things could go out of hand and the situation could have a multiplier effect. He will decide to deploy the army as his last resort, but that still will be having a domino effect,” he said.
“In my view, it will be the last thing he would want to do to deploy the army against a civil authority.
“However, there are symptoms that he could deploy the army if the situation develops inexorably. He can do anything to extent or defend his power.”
He said this will directly have consequences and attract direct intervention and not “quite diplomacy” from the region, African Union and the international community, especially the west that has already castigated the conduct of the police.
“The Zimbabwean issue could be an agenda when Sadc meets, but I see the AU taking a leading role, extending to the UN,” Masunungure said.
“Remember that pastor Evan Mawarire said he is organising a big demonstration at the UN, with the UN general Assembly coming soon. So Mugabe is in a fix.”
Meanwhile a State media columnist Nathaniel Manheru, who was outed by Higher Education minister Jonathan Moyo as Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba, threatened that the government would be ruthless in future.
“The line has been crossed,” wrote yesterday. “From now on wards, it shall be another country.
“This so “caring” world can go hang. We have a country to protect. And govern. After all, we have hit the bottom. We can’t fall.”
Mugabe and his wife Grace have in the past expressed fears of a repeat of the uprisings that toppled North African dictators in what became known as the Arab Spring. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/mugabe-panics-soldiers-rampage/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/fd3f6c023bead440c851b6dc731797111e6cf630d9be6202f9f4775e2035e65a.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T08:49:33 | null | 2016-08-28T04:54:21 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fmangudya-upbeat-debt-plan%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/RESERVE-BANK-GOVERNOR-JOHN-MANGUDYA-2.jpg | en | null | Mangudya upbeat about debt plan | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya says the country’s re-engagement with multilateral financial institutions is work in progress despite critics questioning the slow pace in the implemention of reforms by the government.
BY VICTORIA MTOMBA
Mangudya’s comments on Friday followed indications that Zimbabwe was close to paying the $1,8 billion debt owed to the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development Bank as it was finalising technical work with the international financial institutions (IFIs).
“We are going to pay as we are just finalising the technical work with the international financial institutions,” a source said.
According to a plan presented last year, Zimbabwe agreed to pay the combined $1,8 billion to the three preferred creditors — the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank (AfDB) — to unlock cheap lines of credit to reboot the economy.
Zimbabwe owes the IMF $110 million, World Bank ($1,15 billion) and $601 million to AfDB.
Clearance of the debt to the preferred creditors is Zimbabwe’s first step in extinguishing it’s over $10 billion total debt.
In an October 2015 paper titled: Zimbabwe’s strategies for clearing external debt arrears and the supportive economic reform agenda, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said government would clear the arrears by the end of April.
He said thereafter, a new comprehensive country financing programme supported by the AfDB, IMF and the World Bank that attracted long-term financing would be put in place.
Chinamasa said the measures being undertaken by government to clear the debt arrears would include policy reform measures that involved strengthening of the financial sector confidence, revitalising agriculture and agro process value chain, focusing on infrastructure development and improving the investment climate.
It also included accelerating public enterprises reform and improving public finance management, aligning labour laws to the new Constitution and pursuing an anti-corruption thrust.
Critics have said government’s wheels seemed to be moving slowly in aligning laws to the Constitution and pursuing an anti-corruption thrust amid concerns that big wigs had escaped the anti-graft dragnet.
Mangudya said re-alignment of laws to the Constitution was not part of his job.
“There are too many things that are being done but I am not very sure if people need to see things physically,” he said.
In an interview recently, IMF resident representative Christian Beddies said Zimbabwe was working “very hard” to clear the $1,8 billion to pay the preferred creditors.
Beddies said: “Government is working on the modalities for all the three financial institutions. They are working very hard to clear the arrears.”
Last week, the UK toughened its stance on Zimbabwe saying its future support for the country required demonstrable progress on human rights, governance and rule of law, in addition to economic reforms.
According to a debt clearance plan submitted last year, Zimbabwe said it would get a bridge loan facility arranged by its debt advisors, the African Export Import Bank to clear its outstanding arrears to AfDB ($585 million) and African Development Fund ($16 million). It said the bridge loan would be repaid using inflows from the fragile state facility of AfDB.
It said it would use the special drawing rights to clear IMF’s $110 million debt and would seek a medium term loan to clear the World Bank’s $1,1 billion debt.
Sources have indicated that the arrears clearance plan had been affected by the imminent introduction of bond notes as the funders might lose confidence in the economy again. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/mangudya-upbeat-debt-plan/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/f794995e762312f581299a0c6354e7632c6d706dcc90afdde98613890ffd534c.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T22:49:22 | null | 2016-08-21T07:30:04 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Fkenyan-treasury-secretary-says-banks-making-much-profit%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Uhuru-Kenyata.jpg | en | null | Kenyan treasury secretary says banks making too much profit | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | NAIROBI — Kenyan banks have been “expropriating too much profit” from the interest rates they charge on loans and have room to lower borrowing costs, treasury secretary Henry Rotich said.
Lawmakers in East Africa’s biggest economy approved a bill last month that will limit the amount of interest banks can charge on loans to four percentage points above the central bank’s benchmark rate. The proposal is awaiting President Uhuru Kenyatta’s signature before it becomes law.
“Banks must make decent profits like any other businesses, that’s why we are saying there is scope to lower interest rates,” Rotich told reporters in the capital, Nairobi. “The profits are too much yet you can still live with less profits.”
Kenyan lenders’ annual profit fell 6% to 95,3 billion shillings ($940,3 million) in 2015, according to the central bank, as expenses grew faster than income. The industry is expected to register an improved performance in 2016, the regulator said.
Banks committed last week to lower charges and set out measures to boost lending, including allocating 30 billion shillings to small- and medium-sized enterprises and women at concessionary rates, according to Lamin Manjang, chairman of the Kenya Bankers’ Association.
The government will continue to explore ways to bring down rates, Rotich said, including borrowing less from the domestic market and financing its needs from more foreign loans. Authorities in the $61 billion economy plan to borrow 225,3 billion shillings internally to plug a 691 billion shillings budget deficit in the year through June 2017.
While capping interest rates may have “unintended consequences” for the economy, such as limiting access to credit, Kenyatta will consider both sides of the debate before making a decision, Rotich said.
“We don’t want to be seen as looking at one point of view,” he said.
Lenders extended loans at a weighted average of 18% in June, according to the most recent statistics from the central bank, which has lowered its benchmark rate by 100 basis points to 10,5% this year.
Banks plan to lower lending rates by about 100 basis points by the end of August in line with the central bank’s 97 basis point reduction of its Kenya Banks’ Reference Rate to 8,9% in July.
While opposed to capping costs, central bank governor Patrick Njoroge has said lenders are charging “remarkably high” rates and that it was time they made a “credible down payment” to borrowers.
Large Kenyan banks are better placed than their small counterparts to manage the expected fall in profitability and rise in loan impairments that could result if the limits are imposed, Fitch Ratings Ltd said in a note last week.
— Bloomberg | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/kenyan-treasury-secretary-says-banks-making-much-profit/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/d4836e776b82b980135f9262f431450613338462b5f428dc01b256723e042c1b.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T02:49:49 | null | 2016-08-28T04:46:37 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Fzpc-kariba-continue-winning-ways%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/placeholder_100x100.png | en | null | ZPC Kariba continue winning ways | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | TSHOLOTSHO . . . . . . . . . 1(1)
ZPC KARIBA . . . . . . . . . . 2(2)
ZPC Kariba got their third win on the trot, beating troubled Tsholotsho on a day a veteran Thomas Sweswe received his marching orders nine minutes before the final whistle at Luveve Stadium yesterday.
BY FORTUNE MBELE
Sweswe was twice shown the yellow card by referee Allen Basvi for dissent following a confrontation with the match official after Tsholotsho were a awarded a free-kick in an incident that didn’t even involve the veteran player.
But the two first half goals from Timire Mamvura in the fourth minute and Lincoln Zvasiya in the 36th minute saw the power utility side surge to position three on the log-table with 34 points, dislodging Dynamos and Highlanders who play their Week 21 matches today against Ngezi Platinum and How Mine respectively.
Tsholotsho got their goal from a Denford Chirwa header a minute before the break and they threw everything at ZPC Kariba in the second half but could not get an equaliser.
ZPC Kariba coach Sunday Chidzambwa, said they were lucky to leave Luveve with the three points from a determined Tsholotsho whose stay in the premiership hangs by a thread.
“Here is one game that I would like to forget. We were lucky that we scored two goals in the first half. They gave us are hard time. Luck was on our side. At the beginning of the season, my employers said take each game as it comes so my target is my next game against FC Platinum,” Chidzambwa said.
On Sweswe’s sending off, the veteran gaffer said: “The referee is in charge of the game. I don’t know what happened. I am sure he said something to the referee. He was not just going to show him the red card.”
Tsholotsho could have restored parity on the stroke of full time but striker Mostapha Ponyera watched his effort sail over the bar from inside the penalty box. But coach Lizwe Sweswe is still putting on a brave face saying they have a chance to survive relegation, although they have been losing week in week out.
“My attack lacked maturity. ZPC played very well. Unfortunately we got our chances but failed to score. I am confident we still have a chance to remain in top flight. We still have 27 points to play for and we just must stop losing matches,” Sweswe said.
Meanwhile, at Ascot Stadium, a second half brace from veteran striker Alec Marime and another goal from Philip Marufu ensured Chapungu eased their relegation fears after a 3-0 win over basement side Border Strikers
Teams:
TSHOLOTSHO: G Saungweme, M Phiri, N Moyo, T Ncube, S Dube, Z Moyo, D Chirwa, O Ncube (B Sibanda 67’), C Dhuwa (N Mundandishe 63’), M Ponyera, N Gama (R Mupfudza 79’)
ZPC KARIBA: T Hove, M Kunyarimwe, T Munyanduri, S Appiah (O Mukuradare 46’), T Sweswe (red card 81’), T Mamvura, L Zvasiya, N Tigere (G Mangani 63’), P Kabwe (D Phiri 85’), L Chikafa, T Nyamandwe | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/zpc-kariba-continue-winning-ways/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/074c80fa6a82ec219119fe8b0ccf31881e761ece8d016d044962eecb45999978.json |
[] | 2016-08-27T22:49:20 | null | 2016-08-21T07:25:38 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Felectorate-must-not-give-electoral-reforms%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/elections.jpg | en | null | Why electorate must not give up on electoral reforms | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | I was a bit taken aback after reading an article that alluded to the fact that electoral reforms being demanded by Zimbabweans are not possible under President Robert Mugabe’s rule, as Zanu PF will not “reform itself out of power”.
SUNDAY OPINION BY SYDNEY CHISI
While I agree with this understanding of a regime that has lost elections, beaten up people, and without shame continued to rule for the past three decades, it was the conclusion by one of the analysts who thinks making people go out and vote in their millions will dislodge Zanu PF that I disagree with.
Millions have gathered under trees and at night, risked property and life to vote and yet 36 years later, Mugabe is still in power.
This is the because the call for electoral reforms must be viewed beyond just encouraging people to come out in their numbers to vote or making noise to a defiant regime. I witnessed many opposition rallies and each one of them brought so much hope, not to mention the “cross-over” rally of 2013 at the Freedom Square. After seeing all those people, Morgan Tsvangirai never expected a defeat.
Both the civil society and opposition political parties have demanded the independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). Some of the fundamentals that work against ZEC emanate from the formulation of such commissions, whose origins are at parliament building, which is dominated by Zanu PF.
The final selection is done by the president who is an interested party in any election. Also ZEC chair, Rita Makarau doubles as the secretary of the Judicial Council and also is also a Supreme Court judge, hence likely to compromise objective electoral challenges given that she is a presidential appointee.
While these are genuine concerns by the electorate, it is the power and encroachment of the executive into electoral management that will weaken even an independent ZEC.
The executive, through different government departments or ministries have encroach into the electoral field. Some of the key elements that the executive targets before the 90-day election date proclamation include:
The land reform beneficiaries. Following the land redistribution process at turn of the millennium, 70% of the land is now held by small-scale producers, 13% by middle scale farmers, and 11% by large farms and estates. This has resulted in changes in wealth distribution. These changes on the land have created a new “entrepreneurial dynamism” and “productive potential”, resulting in new areas of economic activity with novel marketing and value chains. This patronage will definitely shape the voting options in favour of Zanu PF.
The development, especially of Zanu PF’s social base is also visible in the rapid growth of the informal mining vendors’ sector. In the 1990s this sector was in its incipient stages and was not an area that the ruling party actively cultivated. For example, gold-panners and vendors then lacked access to channels of political representation and were largely unrepresented as the formal sector was dominant and well-organised.
However, by the mid-2000s these sectors, especially the mining sector grew rapidly as the contribution to the GDP grew from 3,2% in 2008, to 9,5 % in 2010 reaching 13% by 2012, with the mineral sector accounting for 73% of the country’s total exports. Small-scale mining, largely carried out (71%) by young men under 35, accounted for 40% of total output.
The executive and state organs have penetrated these new social relations to increase Zanu PF dominance in these areas. The executive has initiated various rural programmes around irrigation, farm inputs, marketing of products, education and electrification in the rural areas. However the increasing move towards re-instituting traditional authorities (through rewards and authority) resembles the colonial state practices of imposed traditional structures on the citizens who in turn will frog march people to polling stations.
While ZEC is a creation of the constitution and, therefore guided by the same, it is the hand of the executive that can cause discord within electoral management and kills the international best practice. A few weeks before the elections a new Constitution was adopted in Zimbabwe following a successful referendum held in March 2013. Consequently, the legislative framework governing elections was conducted using an electoral framework that had been reformed through the Electoral Amendment Act of 2012, of the new charter and various statutory instruments that were passed shortly before the elections.
This gave the citizens the hope that elections would for once be meaningful and worthy participating in. However, during the constitution-making process indications that the executive was not keen on the new supreme law were evident. Even now Zanu PF is not keen on the new constitution.
The controversial legal decision on Jealous Mawarire vs Mugabe case allowed executive to push ahead with its preferred date for the election, largely bypassing the requirements for consultation with other parties to the Global Political Agreement, and the Sadc demands for the full implementation of the agreement before elections. ZEC in the process was supposed to respect the courts.
The immediate response of Lindiwe Zulu from the Sadc facilitation team was that: “With or without the court ruling, we are going ahead to meet the parties as the facilitation team ahead of the Sadc summit which (decision) was agreed on in Addis Ababa. All parties have been invited.
As the facilitator put it at the summit, we want the comfort of having a clear roadmap to the elections, with timelines agreed upon by the parties themselves. The ultimate is to have credible elections. We want to avoid the 2008 scenario”
Zulu’s statement resulted in a hail of invective from Zanu PF spokespersons that continued past attacks on her and was a prelude to a major verbal assault by Mugabe himself saying “An ordinary woman says ‘no you can’t have elections on July 31.”
Really, did such a person think we, as a country, would take heed of this street woman’s utterances?”
When the MDC-T set out a political response to an uneven playing field through its “no reforms no elections” campaign as contained in a document “Without Reforms No Elections”
(WReNe), which was adopted by 13 other opposition political parties under National Electoral Reform Agenda (Nera), it was very clear that Mugabe through his executive powers has made the transfer of power a pipedream. Some of the factors that have been used and are not even contained in the texts of any Electoral Act, yet play a pivotal role in determining the electoral outcome include:
– Harvest of fear
- Humanitarian crisis and politics of patronage: food
- Rewards associated with being Zanu (PF): favours
The skewedness of voter registration by ZEC is not entirely its fault, but the executive’s politics that would have been at play during the electoral cycle which is usually five years. Taking from the three f’s mentioned above one can actually see that many government ministries or departments play different roles with one major expected outcome; that Zanu PF must win the elections.
Harvest of fear: Deployment of the military “on leave” in most rural communities compounded by past memories will ensure that prospective opposition voters will be intimidated into voting for Zanu PF. This also goes with the current reintroduction of the militarised National Youth Service, which has a history of causing havoc in communities.
The local, traditional and government structures have been used as commissariats of the ruling party, where overt threats or violence are made against known opposition supporters.
Food: With both El Niño-induced drought and total agrarian mismanagement by the government, hunger is everywhere. This means that the responsibility to feed or declare a national state of disaster rests upon the executive. Food distribution will be key in swaying voters.
Favours: This component has not spared the urban electorate through the creation of housing cooperatives. The Local Government ministry is heavily involved in the exercise, disregarding city councils’ directives not to.
So, without electoral reforms, we are 10 steps behind the struggle we have set to finish in the next election.
Feedback: sydtawa@gmail.com | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/electorate-must-not-give-electoral-reforms/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/eed24cfaeb66a6555261908cc6cd03b41726cd57dbac49e084958443ba412764.json |
[] | 2016-08-28T04:49:55 | null | 2016-08-28T05:00:58 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F28%2Ftuku-snubs-zimbabwe%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Steve-Makoni-share-the-stage-with-Oliver-Mtukudzi-during-Olivers-Birthday-who-is-61-1.png | en | null | Tuku snubs Zimbabwe | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | It seems jazz maestro Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi (pictured right) has found a better market in South Africa and locals will have to wait further for his new music after he released his second project this year titled Ehe Nhai Yahwe in South Africa again, it has emerged.
By Kennedy Nyavaya
His large fan base has been made to take a chill pill for the second time after he also released a 10-track gospel offering titled God Bless You: The Gospel Collection on the other side of Limpopo in April.
All locals have to hold on to currently is a chain of unfulfilled promises that an official album launch locally will be organised soon.
A source close to the developments revealed that indeed the veteran musician released his 65th album last week and is in South Africa where he is holding shows to promote his latest offering which is already on the market.
“He is here in South Africa, promoting his album, which was released last week,” said the source.
“I have his latest album Ehe Nhai Yahwe which I got last week and its available on the market here in South Africa.”
Tuku left Zimbabwe last week for South Africa where he had been holding shows. On Friday and yesterday he held sold-out shows.
The icon’s publicist and drummer Sam Mataure once said the initial album would hit local streets soon, but that has so far been a pie in the sky.
Efforts to get Mataure’s comment from South Africa were fruitless yesterday.
Tuku failed to release the album Ehe Nhai Yahwe on an Africa Day gig despite the show promoters having publicised that.
It is not yet clear why Tuku has decided to starve the local market, but word has it that it could be way to avert piracy.
Tuku, who has 65 albums under his belt, has had a flowery career, dating from the 1970s. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/28/tuku-snubs-zimbabwe/ | en | 2016-08-28T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/aa6d62d7f94c148ca15250575d6daba49a670ec0a209038afd30450dd188e8e2.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T13:01:34 | null | 2016-08-24T12:02:14 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F24%2Fthe-magnificent-peach%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Peach-1.png | en | null | The magnificent peach | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | When we were young girls, there was a peach tree at my uncle’s house in Chitungwiza and we would eat the peaches straight from the tree. We didn’t care whether they were washed or not. The slightest sign of ripening meant it was gone and I mean the very slightest shade of a little pink. We would have a competition to see who had the most stones (seeds). Those were the good old days well spent with my cousins Emma and Winnie. And today, I am going to tell you about the health benefits of peaches and why you should encourage your children to climb that peach tree and eat up all the fruit.
All things food with Edith
Health benefits of peaches
Anti-oxidant capacity
Chlorogenic acid in peaches increases the anti-oxidant capacity of blood plasma. Lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-crytoxanthin are anti-oxidants that help in scavenging the oxygen-derived free radicals and protect the body against the harmful effects of various diseases.
Reduction of hypokalemia
Hypokalemia results from the lack of potassium. Hypokalemia can affect mascular strength and can cause palpitations. Peaches contain potassium, which is essential for nerve signalling and cellular functioning of the body. The potassium also helps metabolic processes and regulation of mascular tissues.
Anti-cancer capacity
Peaches are very rich in phenolics and carotenoids which have anti-tumour and anti-cancer properties. These compounds also help to fight against various types of cancers like breast cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer.
Maintenance of good eye health
Peaches contain beta-carotene, which is converted into Vitamin A within the body. This beta-carotene plays an important role in maintaining healthy eyesight and prevents various eye diseases like xerophthalmia and blindness.
Skin care
Like most fruits peaches contain a good amount of Vitamin C that helps in maintaining a healthy skin. The Vitamin C provides a defence against harmful free radicals and infections.
Whenever I think of peaches, I think of the traditional Peach Cobbler because that’s what a lot of us have been accustomed to. In the column, I try to look for recipes that are new and a deviation from the norm, this week I have decided to go for the Peach Cobbler. So here it is; eet smakelijk (Dutch for bon appetite)!
Peach Cobbler
Ingredients
l1/2 cup unsalted butter
l1 cup self-raising flour
l2 cups sugar
l1 cup milk
l4 cups fresh peach slices (or 2 cans sliced peaches)
l1 tablespoon lemon juice
lGround cinnamon
Method
Melt butter in a medium-sized baking dish. In a separate bowl, combine flour and one cup of sugar. Add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over butter (do not stir). Bring remaining one cup sugar, peach slices and lemon juice to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Pour over batter (do not stir). Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired. Bake at 180°C for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve cobbler warm or cool with ice-cream or whipped cream. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/24/the-magnificent-peach/ | en | 2016-08-24T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/5f53d26d7981118bde887b9ea5a5ebb01425cbefc1f88b48883f49a0ccfb5614.json |
[] | 2016-08-26T12:55:54 | null | 2016-08-21T10:00:30 | null | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestandard.co.zw%2F2016%2F08%2F21%2Fmujuru-coalition-close-tsvangirai%2F.json | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/joice-and-Tsvaangirai.jpg | en | null | Mujuru coalition close: Tsvangirai | null | null | www.thestandard.co.zw | MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai says a coalition with other opposition parties including former vice president Joice Mujuru’s Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) is now close as the country gears for the 2018 general elections.
BY Everson Mushava
Tsvangirai and Mujuru on August 13 joined hands during an MDC-T demonstration against President Robert Mugabe’s rule in Gweru before the former prime minister addressed a ZimPF rally in the same city.
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka said they were happy with the progress made so far in talks with ZimPF.
“Zimbabweans are slowly converging against misgovernance and unmitigated cluelessness in the seat of government,” he said.
“We are slowly coming together and we are beginning to cultivate the necessary trust and confidence among ourselves as a collective.”
Tamborinyoka said Tsvangirai was recovering well after he started treatment for cancer of the colon, dispelling speculation that the former unionist was paving the way for Mujuru because of poor health.
“It is natural that sometimes the body gets shaken by the vagaries of nature but it does not mean that one is dying. Sickness is not death and health challenges are not permanent,” he said.
Tamborinyoka said the appointment of Elias Mudzuri and Nelson Chamisa as vice presidents to work with Thokozani Khupe was strategic to ensure the party was prepared for the polls.
Khupe, Chamisa and Mudzuri were due to address a joint rally in Harare’s Kuwadzana constituency today.
Mujuru, while addressing a rally in Binga yesterday said there was no reason why opposition political parties bound by the same objectives could not join hands and work together.
There have been efforts to bring together all the opposition political parties under one tent to fight Mugabe.
The efforts have been hampered because Tsvangirai and Mujuru, who reportedly have the biggest support base, had appeared disinterested until their show of unity last weekend. | http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2016/08/21/mujuru-coalition-close-tsvangirai/ | en | 2016-08-21T00:00:00 | www.thestandard.co.zw/797da95cc81a09c63137b8e4f05c5ce5d1e9a981194b17552c5012f638f8a636.json |
[
"Andrei Kolesnikov",
"Out With The Old",
"In With The New For Russia S Political Elite",
"Putin Won T Take All Of The Members Of The Old Guard With Him In",
"As Demonstrated The Recent Removals Of Officials Like Russian Railways Boss Vladimir Yakunin",
"Drug Tsar Viktor Ivanov",
"Others. The List Of Ret... | 2016-08-26T13:11:49 | null | 2022-08-25T00:00:00 | null | https%3A%2F%2Fthemoscowtimes.com%2Fnews%2Flukashenko-gives-steven-seagal-the-carrot-treatment-during-belarus-visit-55106.json | en | null | Lukashenko Gives Steven Seagal the Carrot Treatment During Belarus Visit | null | null | themoscowtimes.com | Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko flaunted his country's agricultural output during a recent visit from American actor Steven Seagal.
The film-star was taking a tour of Lukashenko's country residence on Wednesday when the Belarussian leader, known for his heavy-handed approach to human rights, gave him a fresh carrot and said: “Eat it, it's healthy.” Seagal dutifully obliged, according to footage broadcast by Belarussian media.
He was later handed a watermelon by Lukashenko's son, Nikolai, but was not required to eat it on the spot.
Seagal received a warm welcome to Belarus, with Lukashenko greeting him on arrival with a hug and the words: “Hello, dear friend.” During the visit, Seagal told Lukashenko he had Belarussian ancestry.
The Hollywood star was in Belarus to do business with a local online game developer, Rossiya 24 reported.
Seagal is no stranger to meetings with controversial leaders. The action-star is among the Western celebrities who have come out in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the actor's blues band playing a concert for pro-Russian separatists in Crimean capital Sevastopol following the peninsula's 2014 annexation. | https://themoscowtimes.com/news/lukashenko-gives-steven-seagal-the-carrot-treatment-during-belarus-visit-55106 | en | 2022-08-25T00:00:00 | themoscowtimes.com/f2872e61be2722a056fed3ee78f4c18eab90d22ef6feb8d7fcd0df4479f46fe4.json |
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