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Tidbits - Nov. 5, 2020 - Reader Comments: 2020 elections; #CountEveryVote; Migrant Children; Comments on lots of Culture posts; Armistice Day resources; Announcements;
Reader Comments: 2020 elections; #CountEveryVote; Migrant Children; Israeli Conscientious Objector; Comments on lots of Culture posts; Armistice Day resources; Announcements; more....
November 5, 2020 Portside
Tidbits - Nov. 5, 2020 - Reader Comments: 2020 elections; #CountEveryVote; Migrant Children; Comments on lots of Culture posts; Armistice Day resources; Announcements; Published November 5, 2020
Tidbits - Reader Comments, Resources, Announcements, AND cartoons - Nov. 5, 2020,Portside
Count Every Vote! (Organizing Upgrade)
Re: Strike for Democracy! (Daryl McClover; Carlos Alvarez)
Re: As Trump Spouts Last-Minute Lies, Top Pennsylvania Officials Make Clear: 'Election Will Not End' Until All Ballots Are Counted (Laurel MacDowell)
The Finish Line -- cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz
A vote's life begins -- meme Joe Praino
Re: Why Leftists Should Vote for Biden in Droves (Deborah Gerson; Mike Liston)
Electoral College -- cartoon by Rob Rogers
Re: US Detained Migrant Children for Far Longer Than Previously Known (Joseph Maizlish; Grace Carriker; Debra Howell; Sigi Heim Roberts)
I Love a Crowd -- Bill Bramhall cartoon
If You Still Won't Wear a Mask....
Re: Israeli Conscientious Objector Begins Third Stint in Military Prison (Paul Buhle)
Re: The Real Reason Democrats Didn't Stop the Barrett Confirmation (Stan Nadel; Elliott Barowitz)
Re: Google AI Tech Will Be Used For Virtual Border Wall, CBP Contract Shows (Sonia Collins)
Re: Where are the Social Movements in Fiction (Harry Targ; Timothy Sheard)
Re: The New Borat Movie's Best Moments Mock a Trump-era Fixation on a Particular Female Aesthetic (Stella Caldwell)
Re: In Defense of Knowledge (Bookworms; Disraelly Gutierrez Jaime)
Re: Why the Alt-right's Real Power Is In the Narrative It Sells (Eleanor Roosevelt; Cliff Gulliver; Emmett Pittman)
Re: HBO's 'The Undoing,' Starring Nicole Kidman, is a Cliffhanger-filled Ode to Rich White People (Paul Swiatek; Stacy Leigh)
Armistice Day / Remembrance Day 103 Is November 11, 2020 (World BEYOND War)
A Transforming Moment: What Next?"with Mark Solomon - music by Alastair Moock - Boston - November 8 (Community Church of Boston)
Imagining De-gentrified Futures" Exhibition - November 4 - December 19
Trump is claiming victory, but he is losing.
He hoped large-scale voter suppression would be enough to ensure his re-election. It didn't work.
So now he wants to use his packed-by-the-GOP Supreme Court to stop states from counting votes, and to declare himself the winner.
But it's the voters, not right-wing judges, that should and will decide the election. It's no wonder Trump doesn't want that. If he loses Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan – where Biden pulled into the lead after Trump spoke – he loses the election. And if every vote is counted in Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina, major states where the outcome is uncertain as of this writing, Trump could well go down to a crushing loss.
So it's time to focus every bit of election defense work on the push to count every vote. For resources and how to connect with The Frontline, Protect the Results, Choose Democracy, Labor Action to Defend Democracy, Seed the Vote and other pro-democracy organizations, go here.
This election is closer than it should have been. We can post-mortem the reasons we need to take these extra steps to defend democracy and defeat Trump later. There are many complex issues to sort through. But any evaluation that doesn't include looking squarely at the way white supremacy is deeply embedded in the very structure of the U.S. would miss the forest for the trees.
Count Every Vote!
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Organizing Upgrade
Re: Strike for Democracy!
(posting on Portside Labor)
America!!! Sometimes God Almighty uses who he wants, even the out cast, the rejected, even the one who was despised, to cause an awakening of a people that has been asleep ?? for 400 years, crying for the freedom of their ancestors that was a only a dream .. But this time it's not a dream!! (The Awaking) , WE WOKE NOW !!????
Daryl McClover
Posted on Portside's Facebook page
XENOPHOBIA: is the phobia of the foreigner or immigrant, whose manifestations can range from simple rejection, through various types of aggression and, in some cases, lead to murder. Most of the times xenophobia is based on the exacerbated feeling of protection of a nation, although it can also be linked to racism, or discrimination based on race. MEDITATE YOUR VOTE
Re: As Trump Spouts Last-Minute Lies, Top Pennsylvania Officials Make Clear: 'Election Will Not End' Until All Ballots Are Counted
Like many others I am deeply disappointed that Americans en masse have not clearly voted Trump out of office. He is the worst President you have ever had. So the quarrels and counting will go on and he will continue to pretend he has won.
I am angry that the Republican Party adopted him in the first place. But I am mostly just very annoyed that after 4 years of inaction on anything reasonable, that many citizens supported him anyway. I listened to one voter say well he gave us a good economy. He inherited a booming economy from the Obama administration and did not positively influence the economy. What he has influenced is the rising attitude of intolerance by encouraging armed right wing groups. He has done nothing about Covid, except to humiliate Dr. Fauci. He accentuates racist sentiments that exist by his own bigoted, intolerant world view.
The U.S. is a rich, powerful, great country. Those who live in countries that are allies have watched this election and others hopefully. But somehow the elections are mostly disappointing and this one is particularly so. There are no new ideas, no really good and interesting politicians since Obama came on the scene and this lack is unfortunate and even dangerous in the current world we inhabit.
Where are the good leaders? Where is political education of voters? Where are coalitions of progressives who find it hard to exist in the current right wing and dumb political environment?
Laurel MacDowell
Lalo Alcaraz
Mexican Judge
Re: Why Leftists Should Vote for Biden in Droves
YES YES YES. It's so obvious. Vote out the fascist threat. Vote in the possibility of struggle.
Deborah Gerson,
74 year old daughter of Communists, and long term socialist feminist.
I hate the idea of having to vote for Biden, but I did it anyway. Politics is a messy, stinking business at times, but you have to do the best with what you have. I too think Biden can be pressured especially if we have the right people in Congress. As for the Supreme Court, Congress can fix that too given the power to impeach and add more judges and if that doesn't work, we can shut the place down until a bunch of those cretins decide it's time to retire.
All the best and stay negative,
Mike Liston
Rob Rogers
robrogers.com
Re: US Detained Migrant Children for Far Longer Than Previously Known
This is far more than a 'systemic failure.'
It is an acknowledgment by a political culture that it is so damaged that in its preoccupation with whatever enactment of power and control has seized its reins, it is cut off from the simple appreciation of internal experience of children.
Joseph Maizlish
This is so awful! Mistreating children is a major sin.
Grace Carriker
Never forget Trump and his cronies did this!!! THIS IS NOT OK!!!!!
Debra Howell
Need to be brought before The Hague...for crimes against humanity !
Sigi Heim Roberts
Bill Bramhall
Re: Israeli Conscientious Objector Begins Third Stint in Military Prison
an Israeli heroine
Paul Buhle
Re: The Real Reason Democrats Didn't Stop the Barrett Confirmation
This is ridiculous, the Democrats had no way to stop the confirmation so of course the outcome was never in doubt--but not because the Democrats could have stopped it and chose not to.
Stan Nadel
What you say about Democrats and corporations are so. But had you not listened to, and watched the hearings? Did any democrat senators agree with anything she said?
Elliott Barowitz
Re: Google AI Tech Will Be Used For Virtual Border Wall, CBP Contract Shows
So, our advanced technology will be used to chase down terrified refugees running from famine and violence. We can do better.
Sonia Collins
Re: Where are the Social Movements in Fiction
(posting on Portside Culture)
There are several. This article is superficial. There were over 200 "proletarian novels" published in the 1930s. Granted less since then but the genre survives. It would be more useful t point to these examples, identifying the best ones.
Harry Targ
Great article and super web site, thanks or posting it. Humbled to be listed alongside so many giants. Tim
Timothy Sheard, editor Hard Ball Press, member National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981
Re: The New Borat Movie's Best Moments Mock a Trump-era Fixation on a Particular Female Aesthetic
"Unless I missed it, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm never tips into baiting men into decrying the Me Too movement outright. But it's clear what the filmmakers are implying: In America, those who idolize a certain kind of female aesthetic and feel free to ogle are laughably easy to exploit, whether by grifters, or spies, or social climbers, or just screwball comedians. And if Bakalova, playing a teenager with a mediocre dye job and some lopsided lipstick, can lead various men to embarrassing acts even when they know a camera is around — including an adviser to the president of the United States — that's a pretty damning thing to capture on moviefilm."
Stella Caldwell
Re: In Defense of Knowledge
"Wherever they burn books, they will also, in the end, burn human beings."
This new book, by the head of the Bodleian Library in Oxford, is a timely warning. "Its tone is set early on, with an epigraph from Heinrich Heine," writes reviewer Larman: "Wherever they burn books, they will also, in the end, burn human beings."
Disraelly Gutierrez Jaime
Re: Why the Alt-right's Real Power Is In the Narrative It Sells
You can pretty much boil all of capitalism down to just that.
Because "conservatism" is about rhetoric. Those who lack reasoning skills will always easily fall for it.
Cliff Gulliver
Economic Fascism and Oligarchy--Greed and Power!
Emmett Pittman
Re: HBO's 'The Undoing,' Starring Nicole Kidman, is a Cliffhanger-filled Ode to Rich White People
Judge Barrett is starring in a movie about herself?
Paul Swiatek
Nicole Kidman cannot lose her accent! Every so often she reverts to her Australian accent.
Stacy Leigh
November 11, 2020, is Armistice Day 103 — which is 102 years since World War I was ended at a scheduled moment (11 o'clock on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 — killing an extra 11,000 people after the decision to end the war had been reached early in the morning).
In many parts of the world this day is called Remembrance Day and should be a day of mourning the dead and working to abolish war so as not to create any more war dead. But the day is being militarized, and a strange alchemy cooked up by the weapons companies is using the day to tell people that unless they support killing more men, women, and children in war they will dishonor those already killed.
For decades in the United States, as elsewhere, this day was called Armistice Day, and was identified as a holiday of peace, including by the U.S. government. It was a day of sad remembrance and joyful ending of war, and of a commitment to preventing war in the future. The holiday's name was changed in the United States after the U.S. war on Korea to "Veterans Day," a largely pro-war holiday on which some U.S. cities forbid Veterans For Peace groups from marching in their parades, because the day has become understood as a day to praise war — in contrast to how it began.
The story from the first Armistice Day of the last soldier killed in the last major war in which most of the people killed were soldiers highlights the stupidity of war. Henry Nicholas John Gunther had been born in Baltimore, Maryland, to parents who had immigrated from Germany. In September 1917 he had been drafted to help kill Germans. When he had written home from Europe to describe how horrible the war was and to encourage others to avoid being drafted, he had been demoted (and his letter censored). After that, he had told his buddies that he would prove himself. As the deadline of 11:00 a.m. approached on that final day in November, Henry got up, against orders, and bravely charged with his bayonet toward two German machine guns. The Germans were aware of the Armistice and tried to wave him off. He kept approaching and shooting. When he got close, a short burst of machine gun fire ended his life at 10:59 a.m. Henry was given his rank back, but not his life.
Let's create events around the world:
Find and add events for Armistice Day 2020 to list here.
Use these resources for Armistice Day events from Veterans For Peace.
513 E Main St #1484
Charlottesville, VA 22902 USA
A Transforming Moment: What Next?" with Mark Solomon - music by Alastair Moock - Boston - November 8 (Community Church of Boston)
The defeat of Donald Trump augurs well for a democratic transformation. How do we, the progressive majority, seize the moment to deliver a fatal blow to reaction and usher in a new era of progress, equality and peace? (Subject to change.)
Mark Solomon, Professor Emeritus of History at Simmons University, Boston holds a B.A. degree in History from Wayne State University, an M.A. in History from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in The History of American Civilization from Harvard University. He has written scores of articles on African American history, race and racism, U.S. foreign policy, globalization, and war and peace issues. Prof. Solomon has written or edited five books. He is also past member of the Presidential Committee of the World Peace Council, past national co-chair of the US Peace Council and the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism.
Music by Alastair Moock - A Grammy-nominated American folk and family music performer from Boston, Massachusetts. Alastair is known for his gruff voice, playful lyrics, and finger-picking guitar style.
Join Mark Solomon on Sunday with this new ZOOM Link:
Join the Zoom program here.
To access by One Tap Mobile phone:
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Working class communities, immigrant communities, and communities of color across U.S. cities have been disproportionately impacted by hyper-gentrification and displacement over the last fifteen years.
Is it possible to disrupt dominant narratives that depict gentrification as "inevitable" and a "natural" part of urban evolution—monolithic assertions that often come from real estate speculators, developers, extractive industries and the 1%? Can we harness our collective resources and trace a new trajectory that allows communities to flourish without being priced out of our neighborhoods?
Imagining De-gentrified Futures is an interactive exhibition attempting to imagine socially-just futures for our cities and aiming to rethink the assumed trajectory of urban development. Drawing inspiration from antigentrification resistance across the U.S., decolonization movements, and Afrofuturism, this exhibition gives permission to imagine, to dream, to unleash and explore ways in which socially-just futures can exist for city communities.
Works on view take a variety of approaches to examine and suggest strategies for the challenges in cities like Hollywood, Philadelphia, New Orleans, New York City's Chinatown and Brooklyn's Sunset Park.
It's an interactive exhibition attempting to imagine socially-just futures for our cities and aiming to rethink the assumed trajectory of urban development. Drawing inspiration from anti-gentrification resistance across the U.S., decolonization movements, and Afrofuturism, this exhibition gives permission to imagine, to dream, to unleash and explore ways in which socially-just futures can exist for city communities (more info below).
Betty Yu is a multimedia artist, filmmaker, educator, and activist born and raised in NYC to Chinese immigrant parents. Ms. Yu integrates documentary film, new media platforms, and community-infused approaches into her practice, and she is a co-founder Chinatown Art Brigade, a cultural collective using art to advance anti-gentrification organizing. Her work has been presented at the Brooklyn Museum, Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival, Tribeca Film Festival's Interactive Showcase, The Eastman Kodak Museum, and the 2019 BRIC Biennial. She holds a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and a MFA from Hunter College, and currently teaches video, social practice, art and activism at Pratt Institute, John Jay College, and The New School, in addition to 20 her years of community, media justice, and labor organizing work.
On view Thurs. - Sat. 1 pm - 6 pm
Nov. 5 - Dec. 19, 2020
3D Online and at 291 Church Street, NYC (reserve a timeslot)
Featuring Work By:
Imani Jacqueline Brown
Sandra de la Loza
Chinatown Art Brigade
Robin Holder
Betty Yu
Radical Housing Manifestos:
Thomas Angotti
Alicia Grullon
Hate Free Zone
Lynn Lewis,
The Picture the Homeless Oral
Antoinette Martinez,
Protect Sunset Park
Robert Robinson
Pati Rodriguez,
Mi Casa No Es Su Casa
Samuel Stein
Sunset Park Popular Assembly
#CountEveryVote
migrant children
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LONDON MARKETING NEWS
Wednesday April 3 2019
Reviews or stars which hotel rating should you pay attention to?
Many of us like to scour around online before committing to booking a hotel for our trips away. According to TripAdvisor's Path to Purchase report in 2017:
· 33% of people around the world visit travel sites
· 74% of hotel purchasers check TripAdvisor
With so many of us reading and checking online reviews, the question must be asked: just how important are star ratings in the modern world of hospitality? Do people still value them, or are they deemed less important than the words of a (purportedly) real guest experience?
In this article, we'll explore the star standard for the hotel industry to find out if guests can still glean worthwhile information from it.
A history of stars
It used to be that a hotel's star rating was the go-to check for travellers looking to book a room. The star system used to be quite simple and, without the digital word of mouth, really the only information guests had to go on.
Now, the star system is as varied and unsettled as they come, with hotels claiming everything from five to ten stars instead of the traditional rating. Plus, many have noted that a four-star hotel in Madrid might not feel the same as a four-star hotel in Cardiff.
This is down to the fact that there is no global star rating system.
The star-rating system for the UK was introduced in 1912 by the AA as a means of classifying hotel standards. Back then, the maximum number of stars was three. It wasn't until 2006 that the AA developed the Common Quality Standards with the help of a number of UK tourist boards, which increased the maximum rating to five stars. Plus, in 1956, the AA introduced an additional Rosette Award scheme to 'assess the quality of food served in restaurants and hotels'.
The AA's UK hotel star rating system
The AA's star system has a basic level of entry requirements that must be fulfilled regardless of star level. These include:
· Public liability insurance
· Fire risk assessment
· Food safety/hygiene compliance
· Health and safety compliance
· Planning compliance
· Licensing compliance
· Hotel Proprietors Act compliance
· Data Protection Act/GDPR compliance
· The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 compliance
· Equality Act 2010 compliance
· Safety and security minimum requirements
o This includes staff to be on site and on call 24-hours a day, printed instructions for emergencies in the night and for evacuation procedures in every bedroom.
o Symbols, diagrams, and multilingual emergency notices in every bedroom.
o Registered guests should have access to the hotel at all times, with the hotel entrance illuminated in the dark and identifiable. Lighting in all public areas, stairways, and landings.
o Telephone access 24-hours a day.
o A key or card for guests to lock bedroom doors inside and out, and security fittings on windows.
In addition to the above, hotels looking to enter the AA star system need to abide by a minimum level of maintenance, such as fixtures, electrical and gas equipment in the building being clean and fit for purpose. There's also a minimum requirement for cleanliness, with the AA stating that there must be 'a high standard of cleanliness maintained throughout the property' regardless of star level — cleanliness is not expected to vary between star level.
The differences between levels
From here, the differences between star levels becomes more apparent in the AA's Common Quality Standards. For example, where a one-star hotel is required to offer an iron and ironing board, a five-star hotel is expected to offer 24-hour return laundry service. A one-star hotel can verbally explain the breakfast menu, where a two-star hotel must have a clean, well-presented menu provided for breakfast items. But then for dinner provisions, both one and two-star hotels (as well as three and four) all need to serve dinner at a specific time advertised, communicate if no dinner is provided, and can provide a self-service buffet. The only difference in dinner requirements is for five-star hotels, which need to provide all courses, served to guests at their table.
There's a huge level of detail for the requirements of each level outlined in the full document, which can be accessed here. But just how relevant is it in this digital age?
The problem with stars
The problem keeps coming back to the fact there's no global star standard. Other countries run their own systems, with some having multiple different boards with their own star systems. Some hotels might even give themselves their own 'unofficial' star rating. Then, there's the matter of tour operators running their own star rating system, which can make four-star hotels look like five-star hotels to unsuspecting bookers.
Even within the UK, a hotel may have an AA two-star rating, but a tour operator may advertise it as three-stars based on their own rating system.
The rise in trusting reviews
It's hardly surprising then that more and more people are turning to review websites before booking a room. Plus, it seems there is an increasing level of trust in those online review and ratings.
Back in 2009, C. Cox et al noted that while 95% of internet users at the time relied on online research as part of their travel information search process, few were actively trusting them as a primary means of gauging a hotel's quality. This was deemed to be because '[it] is not always easy to identify and access the profile of people who post information on blogs and other social networking sites, [so] the reader cannot easily gauge the credibility of the information provided' (pg. 749).
Fast-forward nine years, and we've become very trusting of what we see online, with a reported 84% of people placing online reviews on the same level of trust as a recommendation from a friend. As mentioned at the start of this article, one of the main ways potential guests scout out hotels is to look on TripAdvisor, meaning they are placing a lot of value in the ratings there compared to the star-rating of a hotel.
The risk of ratings and reviews
But even that isn't wholly without flaws. It is as relevant now as it was in 2009; we simply do not know much about the person who rates or reviews a hotel on TripAdvisor and the like. In fact, there's even a 'fake review' market present in the digital world that is said to be able to get around the detection processes in place. So much so that one man managed to get a restaurant that doesn't exist rated as the top restaurant in London.
Which holds more value?
So long as you know to look out specifically for AA stars, the star rating system is useful for knowing the minimum you will receive from a hotel. By checking the minimum requirements set out by the AA, you can see the standards the hotel had to achieve to be granted not only entry to the star system at all, but the star level they have achieved. For example, the AA has rated The Majestic Hotel as a four-star hotel. You can take this and check their Common Quality Standard to find out that this means the hotel must provide such things as televisions with a screen larger than 24 inches, and a high degree of spaciousness within the rooms.
This forms a good foundation for what to expect of a hotel. From there, a look at guest reviews can help to cement an idea of the experience, but with caution for the above-mentioned flaws for the online review process.
All in all, it seems a certain degree of balance is required when considering ratings, reviews, and stars. Approached the right way, they can provide a keen insight into your potential booking. Just remember to check which stars are being shown!
https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/uk-hotel-chains/article/hotel-star-ratings-explained
https://www.theaa.com/hotel-services/ratings-and-awards
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/advice/Confusion-over-hotel-star-ratings/
https://www.abta.com/help-and-complaints/frequently-asked-questions/i-booked-four-star-hotel-arrival-its-official
https://mk0tainsights9mcv7wv.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/comScore-worldwide-Path-to-Purchase-2017.pdf
Carmen Cox, Stephen Burgess, Carmine Sellitto & Jeremy Buultjens (2009) The Role of User-Generated Content in Tourists' Travel Planning Behavior, Journey of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 18:8, 743-764
https://www.inc.com/craig-bloem/84-percent-of-people-trust-online-reviews-as-much-.html
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prankster-oobah-butler-cooks-up-top-restaurant-the-shed-at-dulwich-fx6hfwj89
"The star-rating system for the UK was introduced in 1912 by the AA as a means of classifying hotel standards."
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Enhanced Weathering Process
Olivine Weathering From the Lab to the Beach: Evaluation of data and deployment plan for the accelerated weathering reaction of olivine on beaches for carbon dioxide removal and ocean deacidification - AGU 2019 Poster
Plain Language Introduction and Contextual Discussion (unofficial):
Weathering rocks for planetary scale carbon dioxide removal is not a novel idea, in fact, the weathering of silicates and carbonates in the long-term carbonate silicate cycle is how more than 99.9% of carbon on Earth has come to be stored in rock. This weathering cycle is Earth's natural carbon dioxide removal (CDR) process, however, it normally takes millions of years to occur, so methods of "enhancing" or accelerating the weathering rate have been proposed.
A majority of the proposals for large scale CDR with enhanced weathering have looked at distributing olivine (the fastest weathering silicate) on land or in the open ocean. These proposals have generally not been implemented for large scale CDR though because the weathering rate of stationary olivine on land may be too slow, and in the open ocean, the particle sizes required for the olivine to weather completely before reaching the seafloor is too energy-intensive to efficiently mill.
To overcome these issues, the coastal environment of high-energy tropical beaches has been proposed as an optimal place to weather olivine rapidly with low energy use. The strategy of using beaches to accelerate the olivine weathering rate overcomes the typical impediments to feasibility by avoiding a potentially prohibitive energy penalty. The strategy is further kept efficient by minimizing the transport distance of the olivine, utilizing only quarries within a limited distance of the beaches.
Considering olivine is highly abundant, making up over 50% of the upper mantle, and each 1 tonne of olivine can remove up to 1.25 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, there is theoretically enough olivine to remove total current yearly and historical anthropogenic emissions from the atmosphere. There is great potential to utilizing the weathering process to meet the negative emissions requirements of the majority of IPCC models that keep global warming below 1.5°C (2.7°F). However, aspects of the process that have been proposed, have yet to be tested. If enhanced coastal weathering is to be implemented on a large scale in the coming decades, research needs to be carried out on the weathering rate, efficiency, and safety of the process.
Prior research has used mathematical models of weathering rates, table top shakers, and flumes to measure the weathering rate under continuous motion with encouraging results, yet no real-world pilot project has been carried out to test for speed or the environmental effects on wildlife that the addition of large quantities of olivine might have.
The most pressing task in this field is to carry such an experiment on a pilot beach in the real world. This experiment will need to determine the olivine weathering rate on a real beach, as well as safety and other metrics that would be necessary to quantify prior to the large scale deployment of coastal enhanced olivine weathering. This poster lays out aspects of the experimental design and other processes that would go into deploying a pilot project so that coastal olivine weathering can finally go "from the lab to the beach."
The experimental design and need for implementation discussed in this poster are not just theoretical, as Project Vesta and our associated scientists plan to actually deploy the proposed pilot experiment in 2020.
This poster was presented at the 2019 AGU100 Conference in San Francisco, CA. It was featured in the poster session "Marine Based Management of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Ocean Acidification" convened by Greg H Rau, Matthew Eisaman, and Phil Renforth.
This poster and Project Vesta were featured in the SF Chronicle article "Could putting pebbles on beaches help solve climate change?" and on local Bay Area CBS and Fox TV affiliates.
Ground olivine in large-scale coastal applications has been proposed as a low-tech, low-risk approach to remove CO2 and to counteract ocean acidification. With each 1 tonne of olivine weathered, equating to 1 tonnes of CO2 stored eventually stored in magnesium bi-carbonate. As a highly abundant mineral, there is sufficient olivine to remove significant quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere and oceans. Models and experimental studies have provided proof-of-principle, but lack a real-world, overall assessment covering costs, CO2 balance, weathering rate, optimal particle size, consequences to marine and beach life, behavior of heavy metals, legal, logistical, and practical concerns.
This paper reviews past attempts at this problem and sets forward a plan to take the science to the next step by putting the "olivine beach" concept to the test in real-world, tropical beach conditions. Amongst other topics, we will analyze and observe the real-world enhanced weathering rate of olivine on a tropical beach, provide an updated life cycle efficiency of the process from mine to beach, design and test a methodology to quantify impacts on marine life in the environment, and address other common criticisms that stand in the way of deployment of the concept on a large scale.
Enhanced weathering is a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy that is inexpensive, modeled on nature's natural long term carbon removal cycle, and requires no new or untested technologies in order to be deployed on a large scale. All that stands in the way is a scientific consensus on the details mentioned above and as such, this paper takes a detailed look at the entire process of mining, milling, transporting, weathering, and monitoring. There is a dire need to push this research forward and "move olivine weathering from the lab to the beach."
Authors: Francesc Montserrat, Pol Knops, Eric Matzner
Why Green Sand Beaches?
The olivine weathering reaction consumes protons (H+) and in doing so, de-acidifies ocean water, thereby sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere (Fig. 1).
The weathering reaction is inherently slow, but can be sped up by grinding down the mineral rocks to sand-size grains and by introducing the mineral (sand) grains into high-energy environments, like coasts and estuaries.
Model, literature and laboratory studies have demonstrated the proof-of-principle and have indicated the potential for enhanced weathering in coastal environments by waves and biotic effects.
A large-scale pilot project is needed to demonstrate its feasibility, quantify the weathering rate and to investigate the environmental impacts in an integral manner. We plan to carry out such an experiment.
Proof of Principle
Relationship between reaction time and percentage of olivine reacted for various particle diameters. For the calculation it is assumed that the olivine particle shrinks as it reacts with the (dissolved) CO 2 according to the shrinking particle model, see Appendix 1. The rate of dissolution is assumed to be 6.010 -8 moles m -2 *minute -1 and molar density is assumed to be 23245 mol/m 3 . This is the dissolution rate that corresponds to a pH found in soil and rainwater (Hangx and Spiers 2009). (via Joris Koornneef*, Evert Nieuwlaar)
Table Top Shaker
Natural processes enhancing dissolution include the surface abrasion by grain-grain collisions, creating minute slivers (with high surface-to-volume ratios) weathering an order of magnitude faster, and biotic activity such as microbial effects, and sediment processing by worms and other macrofauna.
Fine fraction olivine generated after 2 months on a table top rotary shaker from olivine originally sized with 75% 1.4-2.38 mm and 25% >2.38 mm (Schuiling 2011)
Desktop shaker experiments demonstrate the shortcomings of the mathematical models on taking into account the effect of grain-on-grain collisions. The collisions result in the creation of fine fraction that itself rapidly weathers and it causes abrasions on the surface that can remove the build-up of silica, which in stationary olivine slows the reaction down.
Flume Experiment
In prior studies, the proof of principle of enhanced olivine weathering has been established. Olivine in seawater increases pH, Total Alkalinity (= acid buffering capacity) and consequently increases the Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC = total dissolved CO2 species) in the seawater. Water movement in experimental setups in the lab momentarily increases the pH, demonstrating instantaneous olivine weathering.
(de Boer & Schuiling 2015)
This experiment was carried out using a large recirculating flume filled with coarse sand made up approximately ~30% of olivine with all fine-grained sediments removed prior to the start.
The water was moved at a speed to model basic ocean currents of 40-60 cm/sec. When the water flows, the olivine is transported and tumbled as can be observed in the accompanying image.
Real-World Pilot Project Needed
In the large-scale pilot experiment proposed here, the olivine would be applied in a tropical marine coastal environment. This way, the weathering rate in a natural setting, as well as the environmental impacts, can be determined in an integral manner.
We propose beach characteristics and an experimental design required to carry out a safety study and initial costal enhanced weathering pilot experienment in the real world. Further this poster evaluates key processes & co-benefits, as well as logistics and costs related to potential upscaling. Common concerns, as well as the net impact on efficiency are also addressed through a life cycle assesment.
A real-world examination of the environmental factors of the "shelf milling engine" as well as safety and co-benefits to the local fauna is needed. (Image: Meysman & Montserrat 2017)
Weathering Reaction For CO2 Removal
We utilize Forsterite, the Magnesium rich form of olivine.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) dissolves into the ocean at a higher rate as the atmosphere contains more CO2
The CO2 is transformed into bicarbonate, and will eventually turn to CaCO3, calcium carbonate, which is used by marine animals like corals for their shells.
Bicarbonate is alkaline and so its creation in the water raises the pH making the water less acidic.
Silicate is the limiting factor for diatoms. Diatoms are a type of plankton that makes up the base of many marine food chains. They are threatened by increasing ocean acidification and nutrient deficiencies. This silicate increases their numbers, and they in turn further sink carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.
Corals and other marine calcifying organisms use pull calcium ions and carbonate out of the ocean to build their skeletons.
Even at the proposed, full-scale yearly CO2 offsetting level for 100 years, it has been calculated that the magnesium level would only rise slightly from 1296 to 1296.6 ppm (and bicarbonate from 42 to 45 ppm), which is within normal global ocean water concentration ranges.
Over long time scales, as corals and diatoms die, their skeletons settle onto the seafloor, eventually turning to sediment and then limestone. The CO2 will be stored there for millions of years, until potentially being subducted through tectonic forces and then maybe released from a volcano in millions of years.
Beach Characteristics
A tropical climate ensures higher year-round temperatures, maintaining higher dissolution rates.
Corals are important key organisms both ecologically and for the purposes of this pilot experiment.
For practical monitoring and sampling purposes the embayment for the experimental beach should not be deeper than 15 m at its seaward end.
Median particle diameter 250-500 micrometer. Calcareous sand, or simple silicate sand, increases the measurability of olivine reaction products.
A semi-enclosed embayment with limited wave exposure, rather than an open-ocean beach face, increases seawater residence time, needed for the detection of reaction products.
Seawater exchange rate of the experimental embayment with the open ocean should be 24-72 hours.
Mahana Bay, a natural green sand olivine bay and beach found in Hawaii. (Image: courtesy of Francesc Montserrat, co-author of this paper, who took this photo while studying the corals and marine life found in this olivine-rich bay)
The experimental setup and monitoring scheme needs to adhere to a Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) design. In this manner, any measured effects can be unequivocally attributed to the olivine application.
Geochemical flux measurements are required to measure the olivine dissolution rate, to effectively convert it into carbon credits. The proxies for measuring olivine dissolution are:
Dissolved Silicate
Dissolved Nickel
Total Alkalinity (TA)
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC)
Floating, solar-powered pH monitor
Flux measurements of reaction products (above) over the sediment-water interface (SWI) are to be done both in situ and ex situ, by extracting sediment (with added olivine) from the system and incubating them in the lab.
The compartments of the ecosystem that need to be sampled are:
Overlying water
Sediment solid phase
Sediment pore water
Biota encountered in the ecosystem
Sediment core sample
Key Processes & Co-Benefits
Fluxes of reaction products from the sediment (with added olivine) to the overlying water will demonstrate the weathering rate, associated with sequestering a given amount of CO2.
Alkalinity (and pH) increase will create favourable conditions for calcifying organisms, like corals, shellfish and calcareous algae.
Release of Si from the weathering olivine may cause a fertilisation effect on siliceous organisms, like diatoms and radiolarians, but also sponges. Changes in environmental stoichiometry may cause shifts in community composition.
Release of (trace) metals, notably nickel (Ni), is monitored both in the seawater and throughout the trophic web. Tissue of organisms of different trophic levels (primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, apex predators) is analyzed for potential accumulation.
Minimize olivine transport to beach to less than 300 km (or 1000 km) for efficiency.
Open 30-50 large mines in the tropics, with > 100 million tonnes / year.
Less than 2 million people needed mining globally for total anthropogenic emission offsetting (~50 gt).
Dunite reserves with beaches within 300 km and 1000 km
Cost Model
Cost today at European mine €12.5 / tonne
Cost today with shipping €32 / tonne @ 8000 tonnes
Theoretical mining cost at @ 80,000 tonnes a day = €4 / tonne
Average mining, milling, and transport within < 300 km = €4-€5
Working cost for Phase III level olivine delivered to environment < €19 / tonne
Proposed future cost for 1 tonne of olivine to the beach Phase III-V < €10
Olivine prices go down as demand and supply increase.
Potential Upscaling
Yes! Olivine is the most abundant mineral in the upper mantle, making up over 50% of it. There are large reserves near the surface (dunite), consisting of >90% olivine.
Yes! Annual mining of coal, oil equivalents, and construction minerals occurs in larger volumes than the volume of olivine needed for the removal of humanity's yearly CO2 output
Yes! 6-8% of the Earth's shores are the type of high-energy, shelf-seas necessary to adequately enhance the olivine weathering.
Entire process can be 95% efficient with a net loss of < 5%, if transport is minimized, as well as grinding size and energy use.
Process can be made further efficient through the use of electric transport and milling techniques.
Transportation creates the majority of CO2 emissions.
(Olivine weathering LCA 2011)
Need for CDR Pilot Projects
The goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and a majority of the scenarios to stay below 1.5°C of change in global average tempeartures cannot be achived without significant levels of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) by 2100. Without the deployment of pilot experiments like this concept, that take the leap from the lab to the real world, policy makers may not have the data and tools available with enough time to make decisions that can stave off even the best case scenarios of climate change.
Project Vesta is operating as a not-for-profit under Far Away Project, a California registered 501(c)(3) organization. Donations are 100% tax-deductible as allowed by law.


Blazers Lose Second Straight Heartbreaker to Thunder
Part two only brings more pain.
By Ryan Rosback@RyanRules21 Dec 21, 2022, 7:30pm PST
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Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
The Portland Trail Blazers and Damian Lillard had a chance to avenge Monday's heartbreaking loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Lillard even fired off a last-second chance to take the lead in an almost-identical scenario to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's game-winner that spoiled Lillard's record-setting night. But instead of memorable heroics, Lillard's contested elbow fader didn't touch rim and the Blazers fell on the road again 101-98.
Jerami Grant led the team with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Lillard got off to a slow start and finished with 16 points and 8 assists. Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 27 points and 6 rebounds.
With the "how do you do's" already out of the way, both sides needed little adjustment time to get right back into the swing of things from Monday. Oklahoma City had found gold in the hills of driving it to the rack in the previous matchup and immediately doubled-down on that tactic tonight. Josh Giddey — who did not play Monday — jumped right into the party, getting the Thunder on the board with a pair a transition buckets at the rim and it looked like the Blazers had their work cut out for them.
But like a veteran team, the Blazers countered with smart basketball, slowing down the pace and relying on patience and ball movement to neutralize some of OKC's length and youthful energy. Seven different Blazers scored in the period (even more surprising, Dame was not one of them) and it felt like just about everybody wearing a Portland jersey was involved one way or another.
With Thunder defenders all out of sorts trying to chase the Blazers as they shuffled around the half-court like a slide puzzle, Josh Hart was the primary beneficiary of the chaos. Hart was a perfect 4-4 from the floor in the quarter and led the way with 10 points as Portland started to build a lead. Shaedon Sharpe came off the bench and coolly knocked down a pair of threes, and Drew Eubanks — back to his reserve role — checked in and immediately threw down an alley-oop tomahawk from the weak side.
More so than any point in Monday's contest, things were trending Blazers and they were able to seize a 32-22 lead after one.
A pair of buckets from Nurkic to open the quarter gave Portland a 14-point lead, but it was rough sailing the rest of the way. OKC proceeded to go on a 8-0 run over the next three minutes led by Giddey, who continued to punish the Blazers in the open floor. A baseline dunk from Eubanks off a pocket pass from Lillard helped the stop the bleeding, but any hopes for burying the Thunder early were gone. Portland would have to earn it.
Lillard started to get his own scoring back on track with 9 points in the period, but had to work hard to get them. OKC essentially fielded a NBA 2K lineup with five rangy, athletic, switchable defenders who had all eyes fixated on Lillard whenever he sniffed the basketball. It was enough to fend off, but not outduel Gilgeous-Alexander, who came alive down the stretch and scored 10 of the Thunder's final 14 points. His length and shot-creation gave the Blazers fits. Portland has strength and even some length of its own to throw at him, but when a player can just rise up and shoot a 15-footer over a defender, much of that is negated.
The Blazers still held onto a lead, but momentum trended OKC heading into the break 54-49.
After Anfernee Simons and Jalen Williams traded long-balls to open the third, both teams went a tad three-point happy to little success, going a combined 0-5 over the next four minutes. The ugly spell was broken by a straightaway triple from Nurkic, which began really the only positive stretch for Portland in the period. Justise Winslow knocked down a rare three from the angle and then Lillard connected on a 29-footer which gave the Blazers a 10-point lead at 70-60.
But the Thunder responded with yet another back-breaking run, outscoring Portland 16-4 over a four-minute stretch behind Gilgeous-Alexander, who continued to play like Portland took his gift at the white elephant exchange.
To make matters worse, at the 1-minute mark, Winslow came down on the foot of Kenrich Williams on a rebound attempt and rolled his ankle. He was slow to get up and looked to be in pain as he exited the game and was helped to the locker room.
Another alley-oop finish from Eubanks tied the game at 78-78 heading into the final frame.
Portland was their own worst enemy for much of the fourth. After a pair of Trendon Watford baskets near the rim, the Blazers suddenly couldn't keep their hands on the ball. Nurkic and Keon Johnson both committed errant passes and Josh Hart was called for a charge after barreling out of control into an OKC defender.
For every move that Portland made the Thunder countered. A Williams layup with 1:30 remaining gave OKC a 99-98 lead, and while Lillard and the Blazers had several opportunities to regain the advantage, Portland couldn't will much of a solid look the rest of the way. Dame's fader with 3 seconds remaining was about as ill-advised as one could remember from one of the game's masters of clutch.
The Thunder held on the rest of the way and walked out with another last-minute victory.
Stay tuned for our extended recap coming soon!
The Blazers will get on a plane and head west to take on the Denver Nuggets Friday evening at 6 p.m. Pacific.


Home People Where else, but Homewood
Where else, but Homewood
by ANNA CATE LITTLE
Photo by Anna Cate Little.
0612 Where else, but Homewood
The Homewood Star contributor Anna Cate Little with her husband, Matt, and daughter, Caroline.
By the time you read this, I'll be gone… in Georgia, surrounded by boxes, with my face in my hands. My husband would call that dramatic, but dramatic doesn't begin to explain the way I feel about leaving home, sweet, Homewood.
Six years ago, I moved to Homewood, a newlywed. Three years ago, Matt and I brought home our precious daughter, Caroline, from Brookwood Medical Center to a warm reception of bows and signs from our neighbors. Speaking of neighbors, that's where I'll begin.
Where else can you walk out of your front door and know there's an instant social hour awaiting you, complete with frolicking kids and great adult conversation? Our street, Shades Park Drive, was a treasure. Our neighbors were the kind who come running when houses get struck by lightening or kids fall off bikes. I have to pay special homage to the Griggs family: Alison insisted on spending the night during Caroline's infancy to handle feedings so I could sleep. Randy, a stay-at-home dad, always kept an eye out for me and my house, as my husband was often traveling on business. Their kids, Jackson, Sam and Pete, doted on Caroline, teaching her how to kick a soccer ball and swing like a big kid.
Where else can you walk to two parks, a library, not to mention countless of the city's best shops and restaurants, all within blocks of your house?
Where else can you drive a half mile to Early Arts, Caroline's fantastic preschool, and then hang a left and be at your gym, Studio Fitness, where Haley and Leslie tirelessly encouraged me to be a healthier, happier version of myself?
Where else could we have started a business from the ground up (Icing on the Cookie) and left it in the hands of a gracious community and good friends, Katie and Shelby Adams?
Where will we find another Twin Construction? William and David and their crew renovated our house, built our guest house, constructed our business and became our friends along the way.
Where else can I sit and watch the most adorable tutu-clad two-year-olds dance around to a live pianist? The Children's Dance Foundation is yet another Homewood gift.
Where else can I plop Caroline in her BOB and walk to each of her best friends' houses within minutes? And just what will our lives be like without Emmett, Kate L., Kate D., Anna, Sydney, Anderson, Noah and their mommies, among others?
Where else can we visit, within ten minutes, a superb zoo, a gorgeous botanical garden and a fun-filled science center?
And, speaking of over-the-mountain, where, oh where, will we find another Red Mountain Church? Our church has been our haven, our family, a place where God's grace and deep friendships have collided in a way that allowed us to celebrate the most joyous highs and survive the most devastating lows. Where will we find a community of believers who like to drink beer as much as we do?
Our counselor, Gordon Bals, who married us and has humbly shepherded us over the years, lives in Homewood with his family. Our quirky, funny, but most importantly, loving pastor, Tom Cannon, also lives in Homewood with his family. Caroline's godfather, Griff Israel, whose family has shared with us many meals, trips to Seagrove Beach and seedy visits to Starz Karaoke, lives in Homewood as well.
Where else can I sit on my back porch and have a perfect view of a giant iron statue with a bare butt, and feel an odd sense of pride at that?
Where else would our kid go around telling everyone that "the elephant says, 'Roll Tide!'" when she should be yelling "Go Dawgs!"?
And where else will I find a gig like the one I've had here at The Homewood Star? Writing about the people and places in my own community has been a blast and a blessing. And I'm so proud and honored to have been a part of the inaugural issue and watched it grow for over a year now.
There really is no place like Homewood. Believe me, I've looked. And while I know God has placed our family on a new path, His path, I still leave with a heavy heart. But I am so thankful for the time we've had here, and the friends we've made. For those of you who get to remain in this lovely place, enjoy and take care of it. It's the best placed I've ever lived.


The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei
M. Berriman, Lucio Marcello
The Rivers and Lochs Institute
1167 Citations (Scopus)
African trypanosomes cause human sleeping sickness and livestock trypanosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa. We present the sequence and analysis of the 11 megabase-sized chromosomes of Trypanosoma brucei. The 26-megabase genome contains 9068 predicted genes, including ∼900 pseudogenes and ∼1700 T. brucei–specific genes. Large subtelomeric arrays contain an archive of 806 variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes used by the parasite to evade the mammalian immune system. Most VSG genes are pseudogenes, which may be used to generate expressed mosaic genes by ectopic recombination. Comparisons of the cytoskeleton and endocytic trafficking systems with those of humans and other eukaryotic organisms reveal major differences. A comparison of metabolic pathways encoded by the genomes of T. brucei, T. cruzi, and Leishmania major reveals the least overall metabolic capability in T. brucei and the greatest in L. major. Horizontal transfer of genes of bacterial origin has contributed to some of the metabolic differences in these parasites, and a number of novel potential drug targets have been identified.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1112642
10.1126/science.1112642
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.1112642
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Trypanosoma brucei brucei Medicine & Life Sciences
Trypanosoma Medicine & Life Sciences
Leishmania major Medicine & Life Sciences
Pseudogenes Medicine & Life Sciences
Membrane Glycoproteins Medicine & Life Sciences
Parasites Medicine & Life Sciences
Berriman, M., & Marcello, L. (2005). The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei. Science, 309(5733), 416-422. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1112642
Berriman, M. ; Marcello, Lucio. / The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei. In: Science. 2005 ; Vol. 309, No. 5733. pp. 416-422.
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title = "The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei",
abstract = "African trypanosomes cause human sleeping sickness and livestock trypanosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa. We present the sequence and analysis of the 11 megabase-sized chromosomes of Trypanosoma brucei. The 26-megabase genome contains 9068 predicted genes, including ∼900 pseudogenes and ∼1700 T. brucei–specific genes. Large subtelomeric arrays contain an archive of 806 variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes used by the parasite to evade the mammalian immune system. Most VSG genes are pseudogenes, which may be used to generate expressed mosaic genes by ectopic recombination. Comparisons of the cytoskeleton and endocytic trafficking systems with those of humans and other eukaryotic organisms reveal major differences. A comparison of metabolic pathways encoded by the genomes of T. brucei, T. cruzi, and Leishmania major reveals the least overall metabolic capability in T. brucei and the greatest in L. major. Horizontal transfer of genes of bacterial origin has contributed to some of the metabolic differences in these parasites, and a number of novel potential drug targets have been identified.",
author = "M. Berriman and Lucio Marcello",
note = "{\textcopyright} 2018 American Association for the Advancement of Science.",
doi = "10.1126/science.1112642",
journal = "Science",
publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",
Berriman, M & Marcello, L 2005, 'The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei', Science, vol. 309, no. 5733, pp. 416-422. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1112642
The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei. / Berriman, M.; Marcello, Lucio.
In: Science, Vol. 309, No. 5733, 15.07.2005, p. 416-422.
T1 - The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei
AU - Berriman, M.
AU - Marcello, Lucio
N1 - © 2018 American Association for the Advancement of Science.
N2 - African trypanosomes cause human sleeping sickness and livestock trypanosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa. We present the sequence and analysis of the 11 megabase-sized chromosomes of Trypanosoma brucei. The 26-megabase genome contains 9068 predicted genes, including ∼900 pseudogenes and ∼1700 T. brucei–specific genes. Large subtelomeric arrays contain an archive of 806 variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes used by the parasite to evade the mammalian immune system. Most VSG genes are pseudogenes, which may be used to generate expressed mosaic genes by ectopic recombination. Comparisons of the cytoskeleton and endocytic trafficking systems with those of humans and other eukaryotic organisms reveal major differences. A comparison of metabolic pathways encoded by the genomes of T. brucei, T. cruzi, and Leishmania major reveals the least overall metabolic capability in T. brucei and the greatest in L. major. Horizontal transfer of genes of bacterial origin has contributed to some of the metabolic differences in these parasites, and a number of novel potential drug targets have been identified.
AB - African trypanosomes cause human sleeping sickness and livestock trypanosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa. We present the sequence and analysis of the 11 megabase-sized chromosomes of Trypanosoma brucei. The 26-megabase genome contains 9068 predicted genes, including ∼900 pseudogenes and ∼1700 T. brucei–specific genes. Large subtelomeric arrays contain an archive of 806 variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes used by the parasite to evade the mammalian immune system. Most VSG genes are pseudogenes, which may be used to generate expressed mosaic genes by ectopic recombination. Comparisons of the cytoskeleton and endocytic trafficking systems with those of humans and other eukaryotic organisms reveal major differences. A comparison of metabolic pathways encoded by the genomes of T. brucei, T. cruzi, and Leishmania major reveals the least overall metabolic capability in T. brucei and the greatest in L. major. Horizontal transfer of genes of bacterial origin has contributed to some of the metabolic differences in these parasites, and a number of novel potential drug targets have been identified.
U2 - 10.1126/science.1112642
DO - 10.1126/science.1112642
JO - Science
JF - Science
Berriman M, Marcello L. The Genome of the African Trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei. Science. 2005 Jul 15;309(5733):416-422. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1112642


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Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama: A Memoir (Hardcover)
By Bob Odenkirk
2 on hand, as of Jan 29 11:44pm
(FILM TELEVISION)
Like many middle aged (former) slackers, I will forever be a Mr. Show superfan. And I was not disappointed when Odenkirk makes it clear that Mr. Show is his favorite thing he's done, at least in his comedy career. Also, wow– Bob does not hold back here! He talks about Chicago and Second City, Lorne and Saturday Night Live, and the LA comedy scene of the 90s. He doesn't name drop for the sake of it, but he's worked with many of the greats of my lifetime.
Odenkirk's later chapters are rich with detail about what comes after- his struggles and triumphs post-Mr. Show as well as his surprising turn to drama. In between vignettes from his life, he stitches together a theory of comedy that is both self aware and audience aware. He acknowledges his comedy snobbery, but is genuine and constructive in his criticism.
— From Erin's Picks
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this "essential" (Entertainment Weekly), "hilarious" (AV Club) memoir, the star of Mr. Show, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul opens up about the highs and lows of showbiz, his cult status as a comedy writer, and what it's like to reinvent himself as an action film ass-kicker at fifty.
"I can't think of another entertainer who has improbably morphed so many times, and all through real genius and determination."—Conan O'Brien
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Vulture, Newsweek
Bob Odenkirk's career is inexplicable. And yet he will try like hell to explicate it for you. Charting a "Homeric" decades-long "odyssey" from his origins in the seedy comedy clubs of Chicago to a dramatic career full of award nominations—with a side-trip into the action-man world that is baffling to all who know him—it's almost like there are many Bob Odenkirks! But there is just one and one is plenty.
Bob embraced a life in comedy after a chance meeting with Second City's legendary Del Close. He somehow made his way to a job as a writer at Saturday Night Live. While surviving that legendary gauntlet by the skin of his gnashing teeth, he stashed away the secrets of comedy writing—eventually employing them in the immortal "Motivational Speaker" sketch for Chris Farley, honing them on The Ben Stiller Show, and perfecting them on Mr. Show with Bob and David.
In Hollywood, Bob demonstrated a bullheadedness that would shame Sisyphus himself, and when all hope was lost for the umpteenth time, the phone rang with an offer to appear on Breaking Bad—a show about how boring it is to be a high school chemistry teacher. His embrace of this strange new world of dramatic acting led him to working with Steven Spielberg, Alexander Payne, and Greta Gerwig, and then, in a twist that will confound you, he re-re-invented himself as a bona fide action star. Why? Read this and do your own psychoanalysis—it's fun!
Featuring humorous tangents, never-before-seen photos, wild characters, and Bob's trademark unflinching drive, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is a classic showbiz tale told by a determined idiot.
Bob Odenkirk is an actor, comedian, writer, director, and producer. Odenkirk got his start in improv comedy in the motley Chicago comedy scene of the mid-eighties and went on to write for Saturday Night Live. He has starred in AMC's Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul and written and starred in the sketch comedy cult hit Mr. Show. He has written and produced a number of television shows and directed three films.
Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs
Humor / Form / Essays
Performing Arts / Comedy
Publisher: Random House
"I've known Bob [Odenkirk] for over 30 years, and yet I had to read this book to believe his stunning career arc. I can't think of another entertainer who has improbably morphed so many times, and all through real genius and determination."—Conan O'Brien
"Written before his heart attack, the actor's memoir was already appointment reading—he regales his audience with stories of his time coming up in Chicago's comedy scene and breaking into Hollywood—but now it feels even more essential."—Entertainment Weekly
"This book would have been welcome news no matter what, but it's especially sweet following Odenkirk's recovery from a scary July heart attack that saw the star collapse on the set. We'll take all the Odenkirk we can get."—USA Today
"One of the greatest comedy minds and comedic actors of his generation . . . Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama offers rare insight into the mind of a next-level genius."—Vulture
"Bob Odenkirk's elegantly titled Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama takes readers on a hilarious tour of the comedian and actor's career. . . . Celebrity memoirs are a dime a dozen, but if there were one we'd put our money on as being well worth the time this year, it's this one."—AV Club
"For laugh-worthy stories from nowhere comedy clubs to red carpets, pick up Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama from Emmy-winning Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul actor Bob Odenkirk."—Parade
"Bob Odenkirk (sp?) is an exceptionally and uniquely talented man who has had a huge influence on comedy for more than three decades. And now he's given us his P.O.V. on that journey. This book is filled not only with lessons on 'making it' in 'showbiz' but also regular old life lessons as well (including his killer recipe for 'Granny's Sunday Loaf'). It's funny, informative, and like the author himself, disarmingly honest. I look forward to meeting him one day."—David Cross
"Fascinating . . . illuminating . . . [a] fun, thoughtful book."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"All readers who enjoy truth telling and satire will find Odenkirk's memoir engaging, as will all his fans who want to know why and how this famous comedian transformed himself into a serious actor."—Booklist
"Oftentimes hilarious . . . gleeful and irreverent . . . Comedy fans will find plenty of laughs and some heartening lessons, too."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Odenkirk recounts fascinating and humorous behind-the-scenes stories from the many sets he's worked on, plus insights about big names in entertainment. . . . [His] account of triumph, struggle, and his firm belief that comedy is a unifying source of connection will inspire his fans and motivate aspiring entertainers."—Library Journal
Read More Women: Dominicana by Angie Cruz
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Conservatives Can Unite Around the Constitution
After their dismal performance in November, conservatives are taking stock...
Hoover Institution fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses his Real Clear Politics article "A Misguided Resolution to the Culture Wars."
Peter Berkowitz on the John Batchelor Show
Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses free speech on university campuses on the John Batchelor Show.
Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses Suicide of the West on the John Batchelor Show.
Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses his recent book review of Inventing the Individual on the John Batchelor Show.
Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses political pragmatism on the John Batchelor Show.
Peter Berkowitz: Identity Politics Is A Threat To Society. Is There Anything We Can Do About It At This Point? (17:15)
Research | Videos
Hoover Institution fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses identity politics and what can be done.
Peter Berkowitz On The John Batchelor Show (7:45)
Hoover fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses Charles Cook's The Conservatarian Manifesto: Libertarians, Conservatives, and the Fight for the Right's Future as well as his views on conservatism, libertarianism, freedom, and what it is to be an American.
Notable and Quotable: Peter Berkowitz on the contradictions within conservatism.
Both the quest for purity and the quest for unity [among conservatives] are misguided...
Peter Berkowitz Discusses Democracy On The John Batchelor Show (30:15)
Hoover Institution fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses the threat to democracy worldwide with a focus on democracy in Europe.
Peter Berkowitz: The Disorder Of Identity Politics & What Is To Be Done?
Hoover Institution fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses his RealClear Politics article "Liberal Education as an Antidote to Identity Politics."
Peter Berkowitz's Five Books
His reading list focuses on how liberty is won, lost, and neglected. By Jonathan Rauch.
"Education Emancipates"
Hoover fellow Peter Berkowitz ponders the pursuit of understanding. An excerpt from his Bradley Prize speech.
Substance versus style
Hoover Fellow Peter Berkowitz has a scathingly accurate analysis of higher education in today's Wall Street Journal op-ed page. . . .
Restoring Prosperity: Contemporary And Historical Perspectives
Peter Berkowitz, the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at Hoover, speaks on "Restoring Prosperity: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives."
Berkowitz on the John Batchelor Show: "there's a great confusion when we talk about religion"
Hoover senior fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses religion in the United States on the John Batchelor Show. Topics include the discourse on freedom of religion in the United States, Islam in the United States, and John Rawls's political theories.
Berkowitz discusses his recent book on NewsBusters
Peter Berkowitz, the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, discusses his new book, Constitutional Conservatism.
Berkowitz discusses liberal bias on college campuses on KQED's Forum
Peter Berkowitz, the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, discusses whether or not students at the University of California are receiving a biased and compromised education from activist professors.


The Heart and the Mind – New Research into ESP
Medical research and quantum mechanics appear to be converging as new research points to specific areas in our bodies that may be involved in precognition or ESP.
After the Asian tsunami in 2004, scientists were baffled by reports that certain aboriginal tribes in its path had somehow 'sensed' the impending danger and moved along with wild animals, to higher ground. Of course it can be argued that indigenous people are naturally in tune with the other inhabitants of their environment and would have learned over generations to pay attention to any unusual behaviour exhibited by animals. New theories suggest however that something else was at work that enables us on a subconscious level to recognise and avoid potentially life-threatening situations and may form the basis for scientifically proving the existence of a 'sixth sense'.
While many scientists still discount the theory that we have a 'sixth sense' which operates like an early warning system for danger, new research from Washington University in St. Louis has identified a region in the brain that clearly does just that – the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and which monitors environmental cues, weighs possible consequences and helps us adjust our behaviour to avoid dangerous situations.
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is an area of the brain located near the top of the frontal lobes and along the walls that divide the right and left hemispheres. "Our brains are better at picking up subtle warning signs than we previously thought," said Joshua Brown, Ph.D., a research associate in psychology in Arts & Sciences and co-author of a study on these findings in the Feb. 18 issue of the journal Science.
But other factors or areas of the body may have their own part to play in intuition. Research conducted by the Institute of HeartMath in California, points to the fact that the heart may also respond to future events and plays a key role in helping us interpret intuitive information.
Dr. Rollin McCraty, Director of Research at HeartMath devised a study to examine any physiological indicators of intuitive perception. The study sought to test whether we somehow 'receive' information about a future event before it happens, and, if so, to determine where and when in the brain and body the information is processed. The findings, published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, show how the heart and the brain appear to interact with one another when it comes to processing intuitive messages.
The researchers found that we can actually be aware of an event five to seven seconds before it happens. Volunteers were shown a series of images. Most of the images were peaceful and calming, such as landscapes, trees and cute animals. Other photos, randomly inserted throughout included violent and disturbing pictures such as a car crash, a bloody knife or a snake about to strike. The volunteers were all monitored for changes in respiration, skin conductance, EEG (brain waves), ECG (electrocardiogram) and heart rate. What was discovered was the participants' physiological indicators registered an emotional response five to seven seconds before an emotionally disturbing image would appear on the viewing screen with significant changes in the heart rate occurring. This did not happen prior to a calm and serene image appearing however!
In the past, science has taken the view that the brain is exclusively involved in the processing of information – intuitive or otherwise. This study however not only provides us with evidence that we may all be intuitive beings, but that intuition is a system-wide process involving at least both the heart and the brain working together to interpret intuitive information we receive.
Quantum physics seems to take this one step further. The author of The Holographic Universe, Michael Talbot draws on the works of physicists such as David Bohm and neuro-psychologists such as Karl Pribram and expands on the theory that our world and indeed, the universe as we perceive it and everything in it, is nothing but a projection of a reality which lies beyond space and time – the 'dream' or 'Samsara' which Buddhists refer to. This also provides an explanation for phenomena such as ESP. intuition, the 'sixth sense' or whatever we want to call it. Furthermore, Talbot believes that our brain is not what is doing the thinking and our consciousness as we perceive it, is not located in our brains but is part of this 'holographic' universe at which point it would mean our brain and any other part of the body responding to intuition, would literally be receiving these insights from a 'higher self'.
It's all mind-bending stuff no matter where you think your mind may be located! There is a long way to go before there is hard scientific evidence to 'prove' the existence of intuition. What we do know however is that by listening to and acting on our intuition we have not only survived but more importantly – evolved and we continue to grow both as individuals and as a whole.


Festival of Saint Agatha in Catania
Saint Agatha in art
Martyrdom of Saint Agatha
c. 231[1]
Catania or Palermo, Sicily
Pre-congregation by tradition confirmed by Pope Gregory I
shears, tongs, breasts on a plate[2]
Sicily; bellfounders; breast cancer; bakers; Catania, Sicily; against fire; earthquakes; eruptions of Mount Etna; fire; jewelers; martyrs; natural disasters; nurses; Palermo, Sicily; rape victims; San Marino; single laywomen; sterility; torture victims; volcanic eruptions; wet nurses; Zamarramala, Spain,[3]
Agatha[4] of Sicily (c. 231 – c. 251 AD) is a Christian saint. Her memorial is on 5 February. Agatha was born in Catania or Palermo, Sicily, and she was martyred in approximately 251. She is one of several virgin martyrs who are commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass.[5]
She is the patron saint of Catania, Molise, Malta, San Marino, Gallipoli in Apulia,[6] and Zamarramala, a municipality of the Province of Segovia in Spain. She is also the patron saint of breast cancer patients, martyrs, wet nurses, bell-founders, bakers, and invoked against fire, earthquakes, and eruptions of Mount Etna.
Agatha is buried at the Badia di Sant'Agata, Catania.[7] She is listed in the late 6th-century Martyrologium Hieronymianum associated with Jerome,[8] and the Synaxarion, the calendar of the church of Carthage, ca. 530.[9] Agatha also appears in one of the carmina of Venantius Fortunatus.[10]
Two early churches were dedicated to her in Rome,[11] notably the Church of Sant'Agata dei Goti in Via Mazzarino, a titular church with apse mosaics of ca. 460 and traces of a fresco cycle,[12] overpainted by Gismondo Cerrini in 1630. In the 6th century AD, the church was adapted to Arianism, hence its name "Saint Agatha of Goths", and later reconsecrated by Gregory the Great, who confirmed her traditional sainthood.
Agatha is also depicted in the mosaics of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, where she appears, richly dressed, in the procession of female martyrs along the north wall. Her image forms an initial I in the Sacramentary of Gellone, which dates from the end of the 8th century.
One of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs of Christian antiquity, Agatha was put to death during the persecution of Decius (250–253) in Catania, Sicily, for her determined profession of faith.[8]
Her written legend[13] comprises "straightforward accounts of interrogation, torture, resistance, and triumph which constitute some of the earliest hagiographic literature",[14] and are reflected in later recensions, the earliest surviving one being an illustrated late 10th-century passio bound into a composite volume[15] in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, originating probably in Autun, Burgundy; in its margin illustrations Magdalena Carrasco detected Carolingian or Late Antique iconographic traditions.[16]
Agatha in front of the judge as depicted in a stained glass window from 1515 in Notre-Dame, Saint-Lô[17]
According to the 13th-century Golden Legend (III.15) by Jacobus de Voragine, fifteen-year-old Agatha, from a rich and noble family, made a vow of virginity and rejected the amorous advances of the Roman prefect Quintianus, who thought he could force her to turn away from her vow and marry him. His persistent proposals were consistently spurned by Agatha. This was during the persecutions of Decius, so Quintianus, knowing she was a Christian, reported her to the authorities. Quintianus himself was governor of the district.[18]
He expected her to give in to his demands when she was faced with torture and possible death, but she simply reaffirmed her belief in God by praying: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, you know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil." With tears falling from her eyes, she prayed for courage. To force her to change her mind, Quintianus sent Agatha to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel, and had her imprisoned there. Agatha never lost her confidence in God.[19]
Quintianus sent for her again, argued, threatened, and finally had her imprisoned and tortured. She was stretched on a rack to be torn with iron hooks, burned with torches, and whipped. Amongst the tortures she underwent was the cutting off of her breasts with pincers. After further dramatic confrontations with Quintianus, represented in a sequence of dialogues in her passio that document her fortitude and steadfast devotion, Agatha was then sentenced to be burnt at the stake, but an earthquake saved her from that fate; instead, she was sent to prison where St. Peter the Apostle appeared to her and healed her wounds.[20]
Agatha died in prison, probably in the year 251 according to the Legenda Aurea. Although the martyrdom of Agatha is authenticated, and her veneration as a saint had spread beyond her native place even in antiquity, there is no reliable information concerning the details of her death.[8]
Osbern Bokenam, A Legend of Holy Women, written in the 1440s, offers some further detail.[21]
According to Maltese tradition, during the persecution of Roman Emperor Decius (AD 249–251), Agatha, together with some of her friends, fled from Sicily and took refuge in Malta. Some historians believe that her stay on the island was rather short, and she spent her days in a rock-hewn crypt at Rabat, praying and teaching the Christian Faith to children. After some time, Agatha returned to Sicily, where she faced martyrdom. Agatha was arrested and brought before Quintanus, praetor of Catania, who condemned her to torture and imprisonment. The crypt of St. Agatha is an underground basilica, which from early ages was venerated by the Maltese. At the time of St. Agatha's stay, the crypt was a small natural cave which later on, during the 4th or 5th century, was enlarged and embellished.[22]
After the Reformation era, Agatha was retained in the calendar of the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer with her feast on 5 February. Several Church of England parish churches are dedicated to her.
The Festival of Saint Agatha in Catania is a major festival in the region, it takes place in the first five days of February. The Catania Cathedral (also known as Cattedrale di Sant'Agata) is dedicated to the saint.
Catania's duomo during the festival
Saint Agatha's breasts sculpted in the fortification walls at Mons, Var in the south of France
Saint Agatha is the patron saint of rape victims, breast cancer patients, wet nurses, and bellfounders (due to the shape of her severed breasts). She is also considered to be a powerful intercessor when people suffer from fires. Her feast day is celebrated on February 5.
She is also a patron saint of Malta, where in 1551 her intercession through a reported apparition to a Benedictine nun is said to have saved Malta from Turkish invasion.[22]
She became the patron saint of the Republic of San Marino after Pope Clement XII restored the independence of the state on her feast day of February 5, 1740.[23]
She is also the patron saint of Catania, Sorihuela del Guadalimar (Spain), Molise, San Marino and Kalsa, a historical quarter of Palermo.
She is claimed as the patroness of Palermo. The year after her death, the stilling of an eruption of Mount Etna was attributed to her intercession. As a result, apparently, people continued to ask her prayers for protection against fire.[24]
In Switzerland Agatha is considered the patron saint of fire services.
Minne di Sant'Agata, a typical Sicilian sweet shaped as a breast, representing the cut breasts of Saint Agatha
Saint Agatha is often depicted iconographically carrying her excised breasts on a platter, as in Bernardino Luini's Saint Agatha (1510–1515) in the Galleria Borghese, Rome, in which Agatha contemplates the breasts on a standing salver held in her hand.
The tradition of making shaped pastry on the feast of St. Agatha, such us Agatha bread or buns, or so-called Minne di Sant'Agata ("Breasts of St. Agatha") or Minni di Virgini ("Breasts of the virgin"), is found in many countries.
Basques have a tradition of gathering on Saint Agatha's Eve (Basque: Santa Ageda bezpera) and going round the village. Homeowners can choose to hear a song about her life, accompanied by the beats of their walking sticks on the floor or a prayer for the household's deceased. After that, the homeowner donates food to the chorus.[25] This song has varying lyrics according to the local tradition and the Basque language. An exceptional case was that of 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, when a version appeared that in the Spanish language praised the Soviet ship Komsomol, which had sunk while carrying Soviet weapons to the Second Spanish Republic.
An annual festival to commemorate the life of Saint Agatha takes place in Catania, Sicily, from February 3 to 5. The festival culminates in an all-night procession through the city.[26]
St. Agatha's Tower is a former Knight's stronghold located in the north west of Malta. The seventeenth-century tower served as a military base during both World Wars and was used as a radar station by the Maltese army.[22]
St. Agatha is also commemorated in literature. The Italian poet Martha Marchina wrote an epigram in Musa Posthuma that commemorates her martyrdom. In it, Marchina characterizes Agatha as powerful and she reclaims that power because she has become more beautiful through her wounds.[27]
Agatha is a featured figure on Judy Chicago's 1979 installation piece The Dinner Party, being represented as one of the 999 names on the Heritage Floor.[28]
Alessandro Turchi, Saint Agatha Attended by Saint Peter and an Angel in Prison, The Walters Art Museum
Saint Agatha, detail from a painting of Francisco de Zurbarán
Saint Agatha bearing her severed breasts on a platter, by Piero della Francesca (c. 1460–1470)
Burial of St Agatha, by Giulio Campi, 1537
Saint Peter Healing Agatha, by the Caravaggio-follower Giovanni Lanfranco, c. 1614
Saint Agatha virgin and martyr
Incorruptibility
Saint Agatha of Sicily, patron saint archive
Santa Gadea, a church of historical importance devoted to Agatha, located in Burgos
^ D'Arrigo, Santo. Il Martirio di Santa Agata (Catania) 1985
^ Delaney, John P. (1980). Dictionary of Saints (Second ed.). Garden City, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-13594-7.
^ "Saint Agatha", Catholic Culture
^ Latinized form of Greek Ἀγαθή (Agathe), derived from Greek ἀγαθός, agathos, "good" (Behind the Name: the etymology and history of first names); Jacobus de Voragine, taking etymology in the Classical tradition, as a text for a creative excursus, made of Agatha one symbolic origin in ἅγιος agios, "sacred" and Θεός Theos, "God", and another in a-geos, "without Earth", virginally untainted by earthly desires ("Agatha", III.15).
^ V. L. Kennedy CSB, The Saints of the Canon of the Mass, Pontifico Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, Città del Vaticano, 1938
^ The relics of S. Agata, in particular her breasts, were stolen, on orders of the saint herself, and brought to Gallipoli in 1126. She is the patron of the diocese of Gallipoli, the cathedral of Gallipoli, and of the city. Ravenna, Bartolomeo (1836). Memorie istoriche della città di Gallipoli (in Italian). Napoli: R. Miranda. pp. 316-326.
^ D'Arrigo 1985, p. 15; the present rebuilding of the ancient foundation is by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (1767).
^ a b c Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Agatha." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 25 Apr. 2013
^ W.H. Frere, Studies in Roman Liturgy: 1. The Kalendar (London, 1930), p 94f.
^ Carmen VIII, 4, De Virginitate, noted by Liana De Girolami Cheney, "The Cult of Saint Agatha" Woman's Art Journal 17.1 (Spring – Summer 1996:3–9) p. 3.
^ Sant'Agata in via della Lugaretta, Trastevere, and Sant'Agata dei Goti, (Touring Club Italiano, Roma e dintorni [Milan, 1965], pp 444, 315).
^ (date in TCI, Roma e dintorni; a letter from Pope Hadrian I (died 795) to Charlemagne remarks that Gregory (died 604) ordered the church adorned with mosaics and frescoes (Cheney 1996 note 5).
^ Acta Sanctorum IV, February vol. I (new ed. Paris, 1863) pp. 599–662
^ Magdalena Elizabeth Carrasco, "The early illustrated manuscript of the Passion of Saint Agatha (Paris, Bibl. Nat., MS lat. 5594)", Gesta 24 (1985), p. 20.
^ The volume comprising texts of various places and dates was probably compiled when it was in the collection of Jean-Baptiste Colbert from which it entered the French royal collection.
^ Carrasco 1985, pp. 19–32.
^ Bey, Martine Callias; David, Véronique (2006). Les vitraux de Basse-Normandie. Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes. p. 157. ISBN 2-84706-240-8.
^ "Agatha of Sicily", Saints Resource, RCL Benziger
^ "Fabio, Michelle. "Feast of Saint Agatha in Catania, Sicily", Italy magazine, 2 February 2009". Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
^ Stracke, J. R., "Saint Agatha of Sicily", Georgia Regents University, Augusta Georgia Archived August 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^ Osbern Bokenham, (Sheila Delany, tr.) A Legend of Holy Women (University of Notre Dame) 1992, pp. 157–167.
^ a b c "St. Agatha", St. Agatha's Crypt, Catacombs & Museum
^ Nevio and Annio Maria Matteimi The Republic of San Marino: Historical and Artistic Guide to the City and the Castles, 2011, p. 23.
^ Foley O.F.M., Leonard. Saint of the Day, (revised by Pat McCloskey O.F.M.), Franciscan Media ISBN 978-0-86716-887-7
^ J. Etxegoien, Orhipean, Gure Herria ezagutzen (Xamar) 1996 [in Basque].
^ "Feast of Saint Agatha in Catania, Sicily", Italy magazine, February 2, 2009
^ Marchina, Martha (1662). Musa Posthuma. Rome. p. 76.
^ "Agatha". Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Heritage Floor: Agatha. Brooklyn Museum. 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agatha of Sicily.
EB1911:Saint Agatha
"St Agatha - St Peter's Square Colonnades"
"Here Followeth the Life of St. Agatha," from Jacobus Voragine, The Golden Legend, tr. William Caxton.
"Saint Agatha of Sicily" at the Christian Iconography website
Butler, Alban. The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints, Vol. I, D. & J. Sadlier, & Company, 1864
"Saint Agatha Movie" at the Delusion website
The Saint Agatha Virgin and Martyr Catholic Church" at the Nova Crnja municipality.
The Votive Aedicules in honour of Saint Agata in Catania


1001 Songs Challenge #809: Waterfalls (1994)
TLC – Waterfalls (1994)
Waterfalls (TLC song) – Wikipedia
" Waterfalls" is a song by American hip hop group TLC. It was written by Marqueze Etheridge and Organized Noize along with a verse written by group member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes for TLC's second album, CrazySexyCool (1994), with production also by Organized Noize.
Lyrics (via Genius)
Read "Waterfalls" by TLC on Genius
We're staying in the US today, dear reader, but leaving California so we can head to Atlanta in Georgia. Formed in 1991 TLC were originally comprised of three members who each donated a letter of their name to the band – Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and Crystal Jones. The all girl group specialised in R&B, hip hop, soul and pop. We join them in 1994 with the release of their second album – CrazySexyCool – and 1001 Songs have gone with the track Waterfalls.
Waterfalls explores social issues that lead others into difficulty and even to early deaths. The opening verse looks at a
despairing mother whose son is going out onto the streets and getting into all kinds of mischief, ultimately being found dead in the gutter. The second verse looks at a couple not using contraception and one day the guy looks in the mirror and realises he is ill and deteriorating. Turns out he has AIDS! The chorus sees the three singers offering the advice of not chasing waterfalls and to stick to lakes and rivers. This metaphor suggests staying in calmer waters that we can control around us to a degree rather than plunging head first into the vortex of heavy falls where we're at the mercy of the unrelenting currents.
This song brought back memories. I have heard it many times before and seen the accompanying music video a lot as well. I wasn't really aware of what the song was about prior to this challenge though I do recall the music video touching on some of the scenes described in the song. I was too young at this time for in-depth analysis and some might argue that hasn't really changed. CrazySexyCool was a big success, as was Waterfalls. TLC are one of the biggest selling girl bands in US history. They survived the tragic death of Lopes in 2002 in a car accident, and continued as a duo.
The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)
Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)
The Beatles – A Day in the Life (1967)
The Doors – The End (1967)
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)
Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)
Ultravox – Vienna (1980)
Tracy Chapman – Fast Car (1988)
U2 – One (1991)
Suede – Animal Nitrate (1993)
1001 Songs Challenge #798: Connection (1994)
1001 Songs Challenge #604: Rock of Ages (1983)
Pink Floyd Pilgrimage #8: The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
1001 Songs Challenge #808: Interstate Love Song (1994)
Interstate Love Song is semi autobiographical. At the time of its composition Scott Weiland was ...
1001 Songs Challenge #807: Black Hole Sun (1994)
1001 Songs Challenge #806: Hurt (1994)
1001 Songs Challenge #810: Cornflake Girl (1994)
I found the background to Tori Amos's Cornflake Girl fascinating and the metaphors used extremely ...
1001 Songs Challenge #811: Hallelujah (1994)
1001 Songs Challenge #812: Red Right Hand (1994)