Study: Extremists still flourishing in Indonesia's prisons
FILE - In this June 6, 2011, file photo convicted militant Muhammad Syarif Tarabubun, right, who was sentenced to 15 years for his role in a karaoke club attack that killed two Christians in Maluku islands, speaks during an interview outside of his cell in Porong Prison in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia. Indonesia's overcrowded prisons are ill-equipped to deal with Islamic militant inmates, hampering efforts to prevent the spread of violent radicalism, a new study has found, adding to years of warnings by experts that the country's prisons have become a jihadist training ground. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File)
FILE - In this June 6, 2011, file photo, inmates attend a religious class led by convicted militant Arif Syaifudin, right, in Porong Prison in Sidoarjo, East Java. Indonesia's overcrowded prisons are ill-equipped to deal with Islamic militant inmates, hampering efforts to prevent the spread of violent radicalism, a new study has found, adding to years of warnings by experts that the country's prisons have become a jihadist training ground. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File)
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia's overcrowded prisons are ill-equipped to deal with Islamic militant inmates, hampering efforts to prevent the spread of violent radicalism in institutions that have become known as jihadist breeding grounds, a study has found.
The research by University of Indonesia psychologists, which adds to years of warnings by experts, found that prison staff lack the ability to identify "high-risk" prisoners who could recruit other inmates because they're given limited information and little specialist training.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, has arrested and imprisoned hundreds of Islamic militants in a crackdown that followed an attack on the island of Bali in 2002. Yet many remained committed to violent extremism — both during and after their incarceration — and used their time in prison to radicalize others, who went on to commit acts of violence.
The eight-month study at the four largest Indonesian prisons found staff who have close contact with inmates don't know how to limit the influence of hard-line ideologues or identify the less ideologically committed who could be disentangled with simple interventions, said Faisal Magrie, coordinator of the research, which was released Thursday.
The problems in the prison system are often defeating efforts to turn convicted militants away from radicalism, he said.
The challenges are exacerbated by poor coordination among government agencies and non-government organizations, which leads to duplicated efforts and unclear de-radicalization programs, Magrie said.
"As a result, inmates are confused by the program, bored, and eventually refuse to participate," he said.
Irfan Idris, director of de-radicalization at the National Counter-Terrorism Agency, said the radicalization of ordinary criminals by militants who support the Islamic State group continues to be a nightmare for police and prison officials.
He said at least 18 former prisoners have been involved in extremist cases in Indonesia since 2010, and most were radicalized in prison.
Efforts have since been made to isolate high-profile militant leaders to prevent the spread of violent ideology.
Two such ideologues in prison are Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader of the Southeast Asian radical network Jemaah Islamiyah, and Aman Abdurrahman, the main Indonesian translator for IS propaganda and the leader of Jemaah Anshorut Daulah, a network of almost two dozen Indonesian extremist groups formed in 2015.
Both Bashir and Aman have followings in and out of prison. Aman inspired those who staged a 2016 attack in Jakarta that left eight people dead, including the four perpetrators. After that attack, the two were isolated from other prisoners and visitors were restricted.
Yudi Zulfahri, a graduate of Indonesia's civil service training college who later became radicalized in an Islamic study group, said he was talked out of radicalism by convicted Bali bomber Ali Imron, who cooperated with police and recanted his extremist beliefs.
"Imron opened my eyes and my heart to the truth of Islam and what we did in the past is wrong," said Zulfahri, who spent five years in prison for attending a jihadist training camp in Aceh. "De-radicalization would be more effective if done by the former radical himself."
In prison Zulfahri said he witnessed how easy it was for criminals to be radicalized but added it could be easily prevented by separating militant prisoners from the general prison population.
Overpopulated prisons are the main reason de-radicalization efforts are struggling, said Bahrul Wijaksana, a senior program manager of Search for Common Ground, a non-government organization based in Washington that works with Indonesia's Directorate-General of Corrections.
Currently, he said, the 477 prisons in Indonesia, which were built to accommodate 115,000 inmates, are holding about 254,000 prisoners. In big cities, prisons are four to five times overcapacity. Jakarta's Cipinang Prison, built to hold 900 inmates, has nearly 4,000 prisoners.
Meanwhile, at current staffing levels in prison, there is one officer for every 55 inmates, making it difficult if not impossible to closely monitor all prisoner activities.
"The deradicalization program is not going to be effective unless some of these issues are addressed," said Wijaksana.
Zainal Arifin, an official at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, said a "grand design" for handling high-risk inmates is being implemented.
A "one man one cell" prison, located in the Nusa Kambangan area, is under construction and will be able to hold 124 convicted militants when completed this year, he said.
Arifin said the ministry is assessing 276 militant inmates scattered across 108 prisons to decide which should be separated from the general prison population.
"Deradicalization is a big job and we cannot work alone," Arifin said.
The effort even needs to include the public, he said, because released militants are known to return to jihadist networks because they're often ostracized and unable to find work after release.
"People are urged not to exclude those who are released to prevent them from returning to their old habits," he said.
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Career and Technical Education FEATURED STEM
Defense Industry Calls for STEM Talent
November 15, 2018 January 11, 2019 Tom Shaw	0 Comments Defense Industry, STEM Education, Technical Education
source: https://www.afcea.org
In the information age, military operations are becoming more and more dependent on network-based capabilities. Meeting the rising communication technology challenges of the future means having a workforce versed in science, technology, engineering and math, leaders suggest.
Barbara Borgonovi, vice president, Integrated Communication Systems, Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, shared that talented workers are needed to fill employment gaps at defense companies as well as in the military. She refers to the challenge as the talent imperative.
To fill positions, industry and the government need to change how they identify, hire and retain talent, Borgonovi said.
"For years, we've heard about the challenge that we don't have enough college students that are going to study science, technology, engineering or math, STEM," she stated. "And that's absolutely true." The United States has seen some progress in STEM education. Between 2000 and 2014 there was a 53 percent increase in the number of students pursuing STEM degrees, Borgonovi cited. However, it is not enough, she stated.
"Technology could be as important as any weapon for the United States' ability to maintain its advantage over adversaries," Borgonovi said. "If your company is in the business of providing secure protected network services for the military, you are already a part of our nation's defense. So it's incumbent upon each of us to help bring these technological solutions forward and support the next generation of military network."
Rear Adm. Christian "Boris" Becker, USN, commander of the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), explained how the command is heavily technically oriented. "We're a tech-savvy workforce of about 10,500 folks, about 9,500 civilians," he noted. "You can see the degree programs. We have a pretty high concentration of Ph.D.s doing phenomenal research in conjunction with the Office of Naval Research."
Still, SPAWAR has unmet needs for data scientists and specialists in communications technologies, such as high energy communications and very low frequency-based technologies. "It's science-heavy stuff," he stated. "And we need those people."
And although SPAWAR actively engages STEM students with outreach and events for all ages, more is needed. "We literally have thousands of STEM events each year at our work centers," Adm. Becker said. This past summer, the command held an underwater robotics competition. Teams from around the world competed at Point Loma, California. The winning team, the admiral said, was from China. The second place team was from Russia.
Lt. Gen. Bruce T. Crawford, USA, the Army's chief information officer (CIO) and G-6, confirmed the military needs skilled employees. "We're the third-largest organization in the world and one of the most complex organizations," he said. "And we are in what I consider to be a race for talent."
As the Army has worked on an introspective review of its networks, the service realized it won't have the institutional talent to deliver on its modernization priorities by 2028 if it doesn't have enough STEM workers.
"So we're going to need your investment," Gen. Crawford told academia and the industry. "We're going to need data scientists and computer scientists and computer engineers as fast as you can produce them."
Gen. Crawford advised the military to maintain its collaborative relationship with industry and academia to be able to access needed talent. "What I would like to do is go through you to tap into those who have done this before, to tap into the very best and brightest that commercial and the defense industry has to offer, in blue team talent."
"America's got talent," Adm. Becker stated. "That's a TV show, right? Well, I'll tell you what, America's got talent."
The leaders shared their views at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and AFCEA International's MILCOM conference in Los Angeles on October 29 and 30.
Kimberly Underwood
Kimberly Underwood joined SIGNAL Magazine in August of 2017. She brings with her more than 15 years experience as a reporter, writer and analyst, mostly within the energy industry—both the electric utility sector and natural gas industry. At SIGNAL, Underwood has turned her attention to emerging communication technologies, cyberwarfare, the intelligence community, military command operations and weaponry research, among other topics, for feature print and online articles. She is also the point of contact for the monthly ProductQuest print column, and she reviews industry contract award announcements for online publication. Underwood earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economic Theory from The American University in Washington, D.C.
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Geoffrey Arnold Beck
Born 24 June 1944 (age 75) Wallington, Surrey, England, UK
Genres Blues-rock psychedelic rock, instrumental rock, jazz fusion,
hard rock, electronica progressive rock
Instruments Guitar
Associated acts The Yardbirds, Jeff Beck Group, Beck, Bogert & Appice,
Rod Stewart, Roger Waters Tal Wilkenfeld
Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He is one of the three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds (the other two being Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page). Beck also formed The Jeff Beck Group and with Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, he formed Beck, Bogert & Appice.
1/3 videos
Cause We have Ended as Lovers
Much of Beck's recorded output has been instrumental, with a focus on innovative sound, and his releases have spanned genres ranging from blues rock, hard rock, and an additional blend of guitar-rock and electronica. Although he recorded two hit albums (in 1975 and 1976) as a solo act, Beck has not established or maintained the sustained commercial success of many of his contemporaries and bandmates. Beck appears on albums by Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Morrissey, Donovan, Diana Ross, Jon Bon Jovi, Malcolm McLaren, Kate Bush, Roger Waters, Stevie Wonder, Les Paul, Zucchero, Cyndi Lauper, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Stanley Clarke, Screaming Lord Sutch, ZZ Top, and Toots and the Maytals.
He was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and the magazine, upon whose cover Beck has appeared three times, has described him as "one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock". He is often called a "guitarist's guitarist". Beck has earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times and Best Pop Instrumental Performance once. In 2014 he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. Beck has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as a member of The Yardbirds (1992) and as a solo artist (2009).
Guitarists Through The Decades
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1950's Guitarists
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Biographies on Jeff Beck
Hot Wired Guitar: The Life of Jeff Beck
The definitive account of Jeff Beck's journey from his childhood in 1940s South London to the worldwide success of 2010's album Emotion and Commotion and beyond. Hot Wired Guitar is the most complete and comprehensive account of the life and times of Jeff Beck, the man who took the electric guitar and showed the world just what could be done with just six strings and "one hell of an attitude."


Oversight and Homeland Chairs Issue Statement on DHS IG Report Confirming Findings in Joint Investigation
'We cannot allow racism and discrimination to continue to go unchecked in this country'
(WASHINGTON) - Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, the Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and Rep. Lou Correa, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, issued this statement following a report issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) on the U.S. Coast Guard Academy's handling of race-based harassment allegations:
"Last December, our Committees reported that the Coast Guard Academy was failing to investigate allegations of harassment, bullying, and retaliation and failing to hold perpetrators accountable. Now, the IG has found the exact same failings in the Academy's handling of incidents of racism involving cadets. The Academy's arbitrary and ineffective investigatory and disciplinary processes cannot ensure that civil rights complaints are handled fairly. However, the IG's deeply troubling findings also call into question the Coast Guard's commitment to ensuring that the Academy is a place where racism and discrimination will not be tolerated. We cannot allow racism and discrimination to continue to go unchecked in this country. We plan to convene a hearing to consider these urgent findings, and we expect the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Karl Schultz, to testify after he refused to appear before the Committees last year."
Key findings from the DHS IG report:
The IG identified 16 allegations of race-based harassment involving cadets between 2013 and 2018 that the Coast Guard Academy "was aware of and had sufficient information to investigate and address through internal hate and harassment procedures."
Of those 16, the IG "identified issues in how the Academy addressed 11 of them."
In six incidents, "the Academy did not thoroughly investigate the allegations and/or did not discipline cadets. In some instances, cadets committed similar misconduct again."
In one incident involving potential hate allegations "the Academy did not follow the Coast Guard process for addressing hate incidents."
The IG's review determined "race-based harassment is underreported at the Academy for various reasons, including concerns about negative consequences for reporting allegations."
The IG noted: "Underreporting is especially concerning because our questionnaire results and interviews indicate harassing behaviors continue at the Academy."
The Committees' joint investigation into the Coast Guard was initiated two years ago by then-Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings and then-Ranking Member Thompson, in consultation with Representative Joe Courtney, to examine the handling of complaints of harassment and retaliation in the Coast Guard, including at the Coast Guard Academy, and the Academy's responses to disparities identified in the Equity Scorecard review.
Aryele Bradford (Oversight and Reform): (202) 226-5181
Adam Comis (Homeland Security) 202-225-9978


Michele Goodwin Biography
Michele Goodwin is an accomplished Chancellor's Professor of Law at the University of California. She is the founding director of the famous Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy which serves as a reference point for research, policy development, and advocacy for science, biotechnology, bioethics, and healthcare in the United States and abroad. She is also a well-known author and has written more than 80 articles and books.
Michele Bratcher Goodwin was born in 1971 in Irvine a master-planned city in Orange County, California, United States. The name of Michele's parents is still not revealed by her, but we will get the information about her parents and siblings to you asap. According to the sources, Michele's father was a pedophile and he raped Michele when she was just 10 years old. Michele become pregnant when she was 12 years old because of her father's brutality.
Michele's father used to domestically abuse her mother, and he was a complete psychopath. They got divorced when Michele became pregnant because of her father. Michele completed her schooling in California, US. She has done Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Legislative Law from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has also completed Juris Doctorate (Honors) from Boston College Law School.
Michele Goodwin Career
Michele founded the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy which helps to educate the public and serve as a catalyst for the advancement of society through research, educational outreach, and advocacy. She has served for the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Issues in Organ Donor Intervention Research. Michele is an elected member of the American Law Institute, she is an accomplished advocate and serves on the executive committee and national board of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Michele is also a skilled author and has written many articles, books chapters, opinion editorials, and blog posts. One of her aspiring books is – "Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood" which tells us about the ways in which women have become the targets of secretive state surveillance of their pregnancies. Her writings are published by some famous platforms like are published by Forbes, Politico, Ms. Magazine, The New York Times.
Real Name Michele Bratcher Goodwin
Birth Place Irvine, California, United States
Profession Author
Shoe Size 7 (U.S.)
College University of California
Who is her husband? Gregory Shaffer
Michelle is happily married to Gregory Shaffer, who is also a Chancellor's Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, and President-Elect of the American Society of International Law. The couple has two kids together. Michele is not a social media freak kind of person. She is on Twitter under the username @michelebgoodwin and has 9k followers. She doesn't have a verified account on Instagram and only has 500 followers under the username @michelebgoodwin although, she doesn't use Facebook.
Michele Goodwin Net Worth
Michele Goodwin has achieved a lot with her hard work and skills. She has a strong self-built career and earns a decent amount of money. She lives a wealthy lifestyle, but there is no exact information about her net worth.
Michele loves spending time with her daughter and making her learn some adventurous activities like jumping off a 35 ft. high bridge into the ocean, which she herself is afraid of.
She was very close to her maternal grandmother, she still has her handmade Quilt with her which was her grandmother's last remembrance.
Michele loves planting and she is fond of growing plants, she often does gardening at her home.
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Home/Quickies/Quickies: South Korea's "Gamergate," Scientology in Taiwan, and Men's Inherent Distrust of Women
Quickies: South Korea's "Gamergate," Scientology in Taiwan, and Men's Inherent Distrust of Women
Mary Send an email August 1, 2016
Instagram is building the anti-harassment tools Twitter won't – "Instagram has been building a series of anti-harassment tools and plans to roll some of them out to all users in the coming weeks. According to The Washington Post, Instagram will let each user create their own banned words list, which will stop unwanted comments from being posted on their photos. Users may also gain the ability to turn comments off on a photo-by-photo basis, so someone could potentially disable comments entirely if they wanted to." From Alex.
The Curious Rise of Scientology in Taiwan – "Scientology around the world is in broad retreat, but to be in Taiwan you would never know that. In an area slightly smaller than the combined size of Delaware and Maryland, with a total population of 23.4 million—roughly the same as that of the New York metropolitan area—Taiwan has 15 Scientology missions and churches. Per capita, it's one of the most Scientology-friendly countries on earth. The island serves as a major source of donations and new members for the church, which has capitalized on L. Ron Hubbard's early suggestions that he was a new Buddha."
South Korea Is Contending With A 'Gamergate' Of Its Own — Over A T-Shirt – "Twelve hours after posting a photo of a shirt reading "Girls Do Not Need A Prince," Kim Jayeon — who had been providing a voice for the popular video game Closers — was out of her job. Part of the problem was the source of the shirt. It's put out by Megalia4, a South Korean feminist group. When Kim's tweet surfaced on July 18, scores of male gamers demanded that she apologize for supporting what they call a 'anti-man hate group.' When Kim refused to budge, they bombarded Nexon, her employer and publisher of Closers, with complaints and refund requests, and soon, she was out."
Could Women Be Trusted With Their Own Pregnancy Tests? – "Ms. Crane brought her model to work and begged her managers to consider her idea. They all said no. The company's market was doctors, and doctors would hate this product that made their services seem less necessary. On top of that, her managers seemed terrified by scenarios in which hysterical women killed themselves. 'What if a senator's daughter, unmarried, found she was pregnant and jumped off a bridge?' one asked. 'The company would have to go under for that.' " From Lance.
3-D Printing a Better Prosthetic – "Sengeh's idea is that a good-enough algorithm can eventually reproduce the expertise of a human prosthetist. Anywhere in the world, an amputee can send Sengeh a minimal set of data, and he can mail back a comfortable prosthetic socket. Alternatively, a 3-D printer in the amputee's town could produce the socket on the same day the measurements were taken."
Mary Brock works as an Immunology scientist by day and takes care of a pink-loving princess child by night. She likes cloudy days, crafting, cooking, and Fall weather in New England.
Quickies: Vaccines, Bananas, and Impostor Syndrome
Quickies: From anti-vax to pro-vax, breakthrough infections, and more…
Much Belated Quickies…
Quickies: Getting back on a positive note
Bjornar says:
That Times piece on home pregnancy tests was a great read.


Seton misses out on BMW Motorsport Junior drive
> News > GT
By Mat Coch
Friday 8th February, 2019 - 3:24pm
Aaron Seton pic: Facebook
Aaron Seton has missed out on becoming a BMW Motorsport Junior driver after coming up short in the final stage of the shootout in Germany.
Seton was one of 20 candidates from across the globe selected to participate in the program, which saw him head to Europe at the expense of a start in last weekend's Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.
The 20-year-old was then selected to progress through to the final four, alongside Ben Tuck, Benjamin Lessennes, and eventual winner Erik Johansson.
Had he been successful, Seton would have picked up a factory drive with the Bavarian marque in the Italian GT Championship.
"I gave the 2019 BMW Motorsport Junior Shootout everything I had but unfortunately I just came up short," Seton wrote on his Facebook page.
"I feel so privileged to have got the opportunity from BMW to come to Germany, all the way from Australia and be in the eyes of such an amazing motor company.
"I have grown so much as a person and a driver because of it. I'd also like to say congratulations to the winner Erik Johansson, you did an awesome job man and it was a pleasure to meet you. Good luck in the 2019 Italian GT Championship!
"To my family, sponsors and everyone who has been behind me throughout this journey, thank you!"


Proprietary Tools and Techniques
System Uprating Johannesburg City Power
In South Africa, recent economic growth in the region had created critical demand that was outstripping the capacity of the country's 1950s electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure. The need for infrastructure upgrades in Johannesburg was put on a fast-track for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
City Power in Johannesburg, contracted Quanta to re-conductor the existing 88 kilovolt (kV) network around Johannesburg to increase capacity and reliability (approximately 200 MW per circuit) and upgrade to ACCC High Temperature Lisbon conductor using Quanta proprietary LineMaster™ energized robotic arm technology. Although live line work is becoming more common in the U.S. and Canada, this was the first use of the technology in South Africa.
The project started with a complete condition assessment of the lines, towers insulators, tower footing and access roads and facilities. This was followed by line design, conductor selection and general engineering studies. Most of the tower and footing re-conditioning were done first before the energized work started. Although the sophisticated and patented LineMaster™ equipment requires the unique live-line skills of Quanta crews, the project was executed by a combination crew from Quanta and a local construction company in a highly populated urban setting in far less time and at a reduced budget than otherwise would be possible using conventional upgrading techniques and taking system outages. The other hidden benefit using this energized recnductoring technique, is the cost benefit of no outages, hence no revenue loss for the client.
The 12-person Quanta crew arrived in South Africa in August 2009 and received one month of training related to local rules and regulations. The remaining part of the crew (10 linemen) was made up of local authorized barehand linemen. The crew utilized barehand techniques to complete the projects. Phase 1 of the contract – from the Kelvin Generation Plant to Cydna Substation – began early in the summer of 2009 and involves the energized re-conductor of four 88 kV circuits on double-circuit, lattice towers. Each circuit is approximately 10 miles in length. Additional circuits to be worked were identified as the project progressed. By the end of December 2011, Quanta has installed approximately 400km of Lisbon conductor under energized conditions.
Critical system improvements were made in time for the arrival of more than 1.3 million people for the World Cup's first round. During the 2010 World Cup, Quanta also provided emergency restoration, and was kept on standby to ensure that the event was free of disruptions or outages. During the world cup, a tower was damaged and Quanta was contracted in to replace the tower under energized conditions. In 4 hours, Quanta replced the old lattice type tower with a monopole.
Economic and Other Benefits of Energized Work
Increase system capacity –50% target. Achieve 100%
Mechanically harden transmission system, extended life
Improve reliability and enhance economic performance
Emergency Support During World Cup
Voltage: 88kV
Scope: Reconductoring to increase transfer capacity of existing lines
Quanta Team: Quanta Technology, Allteck Line Contactors, Quanta Services Africa
Line Condition Assessment
Energized Services
Live Reconductoring
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The Southern Cross Hotel
by museumoflost December 23, 2021
In 1962 the Southern Cross Hotel opened on Exhibition Street, and the international jet set came to Melbourne.
Eastern Market location, Melbourne
The city block on the corner of Exhibition and Bourke Streets, at the east end of the city, has always played a role in the history of Melbourne.
The first principal building on the site was the Eastern Market, which opened in 1847. It was one of several markets in the fledgling city, which provided, among other things, fresh produce, hardware, and agricultural equipment.
Remodelled Eastern Market interior, 1880
Originally a series of small wooden shops, grouped around a central open space, in the 1870s the Eastern Market was remodelled.
A large, low, main building was constructed, and a series of sheds for the market stalls. This development took several years, during which many of the stallholders relocated to the Queen Victoria Markets, at the other end of the CBD.
After the Eastern Market reopened, one of the stallholders was Charles Cole, a jack-of-all-trades entrepreneur turned bookseller. Cole turned his market stall into 'Coles Book Arcade' on Bourke Street, a hugely popular local shop eventually billed as the world's largest bookstore (read more about this, here).
Outdoor sheds, Eastern Markets
By the early 20th century, the Eastern Market had begun to specialise in fresh flowers, while the associated shops evolved into a curious assortment of attractions; tattoo artists, fortune tellers, even circus acts.
The surrounding streets steadily developed a seedy reputation.
Nearby was 'Little Lon', a notorious early Melbourne slum, and the eastern end of the city was best known for its brothels and dive bars.
The Eastern Market, shortly before demolition
Its reputation was compounded in 1921 with the murder of Alma Tirtschke, a 12 year old whose body was found in Gun Alley, a block from the Eastern Market (read more about this famous unsolved crime, here).
The press reporting of the story highlighted the unsavoury nature of the neighbourhood; The Age called it 'squalid and depressing'.
The Eastern Market stallholders agreed, and through the 1930s and 40s resumed their. Many stalls sat empty, the main building grew shabby. The market struggled on until the late 1950s, when it was finally closed, and the site sold.
The new owners had a very different idea for the location.
The iconic Pan Am logo
From the perspective of the present day, it is difficult to imagine the size and impact of the 20th century's most famous airline: Pan Am (AKA: Pan American Airways).
The company was founded in 1927 by two former US Army Air Corp officers, and began modestly: their first contract was a mail route between Florida and Cuba. Passenger services in Central America began the following year.
But Juan Trippe, Chairman of the Board of Directors, had oversize ambitions. Trippe's strategy for expansion hinged on three tactics: aggressively countering rival airlines (or acquiring them), investment in cutting edge aircraft, and his political connections, which he used to get a monopoly on popular routes.
Under Trippe's leadership, Pan Am grew rapidly; from a network of a local flying boats, known as 'Clippers', to the first regular transatlantic flights in the 1940s.
A Pan Am 707
Jet aircraft arrived after World War II, bringing a new era of planes: bigger, faster, and with more range.
Pan Am was at the forefront of this change, acquiring pioneering jets from manufacturers Douglas and Boeing.
The advanced planes opened up new routes, and their larger size meant more passengers; the economy of scale then lead to cheaper airfares.
Air travel, previously the preserve of a select few, was now a viable option for many. International travel became much more common, and the leisure and tourism industry expanded dramatically to service a huge new customer base.
People who followed this new trend, regular overseas travel by plane, were given a name: the jet set.
Pan Am was closely associated with these developments. It's logo and uniform were iconic, the airline became one of the world's most recognisable brands, associated with glamour and adventure.
The company's expansion continued through the 1950s and 60s; the Boeing 707 arrived in 1958, the Douglas DC8 in 1960.
The first InterContinental Hotel, in Belem
Alongside its burgeoning air passenger business, Pan Am also looked to diversify.
One of its offshoots was a hotel chain, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, which Trippe launched in 1946. Similar to its parent airline, the InterContinental chain began in South America, before expanding globally.
With its own line of hotels, Pan Am was able to offer another novel innovation: the holiday package, with flights and accommodation bundled together.
Travel packages proved popular, and InterContinental hotels sprung up around the world.
The 1956 Olympics at the MCG
In 1956, Melbourne became the first city in the southern hemisphere to host the Olympic Games.
This event brought international attention, and proved to be a catalyst for change. Many of Melbourne's major buildings had been constructed in the 19th century, or between the World Wars.
The local government felt the city had an old-fashioned look, and rushed to modernise. In the scramble, and in the absence of any meaningful heritage legislation, a lot of the older buildings were simply demolished, and their architectural legacy lost (you can read more about this, here).
More modern buildings would be constructed in their place.
In June 1956, John Murray, Senior Vice President of Pan Am, visited Melbourne to inspect sites for a new InterContinental Hotel.
Murray viewed three locations, eventually settling on the block formerly occupied by the Eastern Market. A deal was struck between Pan Am, local investors, and the city council; Melbourne companies would build the hotel, which would then be run by the InterContinental.
A 99 year lease was signed between the government and the hotel consortium.
Model of the Southern Cross Hotel
The design of the new building would be a partnership as well; Los Angeles architects Welton Becket & Associates teaming up with local firm Leslie M. Perrot & Partners.
Both the government and the airline wanted a bold design. The architects would not disappoint.
The plans they produced envisioned an eleven-storey rectangular tower, housing the hotel's 435 rooms (making it the largest in Australia).
The tower would be principally white, with the room's exteriors providing a contrast; they were decorated with mosaic tiles, in 23 shades of eye-catching blue.
Alongside the tower was a glass fronted shopping plaza, which would be home to a range of high-end retail outlets.
It was to be a striking, modern building, unlike any other in Melbourne. To give it some local flavour, the new hotel would be called 'The Southern Cross'.
Construction commenced in 1961, and was completed the following year. The building had a lavish launch on August 24, 1962: the guest of honour was Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies.
Press coverage was voluminous, and highlighted the hotel's up-to-date design and features, including individual air-conditioning and a television in every room, both uncommon at the time.
The lounge at the Southern Cross Hotel
The hotel had nine different bars and restaurants, a number of them themed.
The 'Mayfair Room' featured 19th century fixtures and gas lighting (some of it salvaged from the old Eastern Market), the 'Coolibah Restaurant' aboriginal artwork, and the ground floor 'Tavern' was styled like a traditional English pub, with dark wood panelling, and lead light partitions.
Below ground was a 300 capacity carpark, and a 500 seat ballroom.
Noted local writer Keith Dunstan paid a visit to the hotel, the year it opened:
'This new building is certainly different.
The walls on the outside are decorated with a rich blue, mosaic tile. How can I describe it? In drab Exhibition Street the Southern Cross stands out like something imported from the Gold Coast, or Florida.
The bedrooms look most comfortable. As a special concession to Australians, one can open the windows, in defiance of the air conditioning. The passages on alternate floors are in blue and gold, and there are 7 different colour schemes in the rooms.
As you walk through the concourse of shops, inside there is a courtyard, away from the madness of the streets. In the centre there is a garden and a waterfall sculpture.
It is really its own city, on Exhibition Street.'
– Keith Dunstan, 'Walkabout' magazine, July 1962
The new hotel proved immediately popular, attracting curious locals and international visitors in high numbers.
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, February 1964
In June 1964, The Beatles came to Melbourne.
The rock group had been growing rapidly in popularity over the previous two years, but had been catapulted to global superstardom earlier in 1964, when they appeared live on the Ed Sullivan show. An estimated audience of more than 70 million had tuned in to watch them perform, a subsequent series of live stadium concerts were sold out.
But more than their success as musicians, the band became associated with a kind of hysteria that followed them. 'Beatlemania' manifested itself with hordes of excited young people, crying, screaming, scrambling desperately to catch a glimpse of the group.
As part of a whirlwind world tour, the band agreed to several shows in Australia.
The Beatles with stand in drummer Jimmy Nichols, Melbourne
The Beatles landed at Essendon airport, then Melbourne's principal airport, on June 14, 1964. An estimated crowd of 5 000 turned out to watch John, Paul, George and drummer Jimmy Nichols disembark.
Ringo, who had been unwell and who did not play in Australia, joined the band later the same day.
The band were booked into the Southern Cross Hotel, and a much larger crowd, estimated as high as 200 000, had gathered in the surrounding streets. Most had been waiting for hours, since the early morning.
A large police presence was on hand to control the throng, but struggled to keep order. Barricades erected on Exhibition Street to keep the hotel entrance clear were swept aside by fans, many of whom then climbed trees, or on top of cars, to get a better view.
The Beatles on the Southern Cross Hotel balcony
After arriving in a closed car via a staff entrance, the Beatles appeared for a few minutes on a hotel balcony.
They laughed and joked amongst themselves, and did mock Hitler salutes to the crowd below; a favourite joke.
The already excited crowd went into hysterics, and surged towards the police guarding the hotel:
'During the "big crush" the lounge room floor of the Australian-American Club was like a battlefield strewn with bodies.
Crushing, foot and leg injuries and hysteria cases were laid out on blankets and carpets all over the floor and propped up in armchairs lining the walls.
Many were unconscious when brought in, while others sobbed in pain, or were hysterical with emotion.
Unconscious people were passed over the heads of the crowd to get them to safety.'
– 'The Age' reports The Beatles arrival, June 15, 1964
Things calmed down once The Beatles retreated inside. The band were tired from travel, their touring schedule was relentless, and were in bed by 9pm. A smaller crowd kept vigil on Exhibition Street, throughout the night.
The Southern Cross Hotel says, Thank You Beatles
The Beatles performed at Festival Hall the following three nights, before moving on.
After they left, the bedsheets they had used at the Southern Cross Hotel were cut into pieces and sold off, the proceeds going to charity.
Other celebrities would stay at The Southern Cross in the ensuing years, as it became the place to stay in Melbourne.
Frank Sinatra arrives at Festival Hall, July 1974
In 1974, Frank Sinatra was a guest when a furore erupted during a concert tour.
Annoyed by questions from a female journalist during a press conference, Sinatra (also appearing at Festival Hall) remarked on stage that all Australian journalists were 'hookers'.
Outrage at this slur was instant. Local unions, whose members were required for transport and logistics, advised they would no longer support the tour unless an apology was forthcoming.
The besieged Sinatra fled The Southern Cross when the story broke, eventually holing up at a hotel in Sydney, as negotiations to get the tour back on schedule unfolded. Peace was eventually brokered via the intervention of future Prime Minister, then ACTU kingpin, Bob Hawke.
Prince Diana greeted on the streets of Melbourne, 1983
Other famous guests at The Southern Cross included Judy Garland, Rock Hudson, John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich, Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
The hotel was considered chic and fashionable, a pocket of cosmopolitan cool in a city still shaking off its colonial roots.
Live from the Southern Cross Hotel: Brownlow '88
The ballroom also became the go to venue for large events in Melbourne.
Starting in the 1970s, both the TV Logie Awards, and AFL's Brownlow Medal count, were regularly held at The Southern Cross. It was also the usual location for the Victorian Liberal Party's election night celebration.
Liberal Prime Minister Malcom Fraser, a Victorian, announced each of his election wins – 1975, 1977 and 1980 – to delirious crowds in The Southern Cross ballroom.
The garden at the Southern Cross Hotel
But by the 1980s, the hotel's heyday had passed.
As Melbourne's international standing had continued to grow, other luxury hotels had been built in the city. The Southern Cross faced competition from The Hyatt, the Hilton, The Langham, and others.
The building's design, bracingly modern in 1962, now seemed old fashioned, even kitsch. Architecture historian Lewis Miles, writing in the 1990s, called it 'garish'.
An attempt to tone down the hotel's features was attempted: removing the themed rooms, and painting over the blue tiles, turning the whole building white. These changes drew a mixed response.
Pan Am bankruptcy reported in the New York Times
Pan Am was also in trouble.
Its era of dominance had peaked in the 1960s, and from that time it began a long, slow decline. In a way, it was a victim of its own success: the airline had always had too many routes, too many planes, and too many staff.
Overheads were enormous, and it faced increasing competition from smaller, more budget conscious airlines.
The company's position gradually worsened through the 1980s, and it filed for bankruptcy in 1991. What had been the world's dominant airline for decades, ceased operating the same year.
InterContinental Hotels was now successful in its own right, and continued as an independent business. As part of the restructure it streamlined its portfolio; one of the property's it sold off was The Southern Cross Hotel.
Southern Cross Hotel: abandoned and partly demolished
The building was purchased by The Republic of Nauru, in 1994.
Nauru, a tiny south Pacific Island nation, had extensive business dealings in Australia, and had invested significantly in Melbourne real estate.
The new owners originally intended to demolish the shopping plaza and refurbish the hotel, but changed their plans due to ballooning costs. The shopping plaza was demolished as planned in 1995, before the project went into hiatus: the hotel tower then stood, empty and abandoned, on its corner for 8 more years.
A bid by the National Trust for heritage protection was rejected.
Southern Cross Tower, present day
The government of Nauru eventually sold the property again, and the site was completely redeveloped. A nondescript, mixed use building, including a Commonwealth Bank and Victorian government offices, stands on the site today.
The new building was named, The Southern Cross Tower.
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2 thoughts on "The Southern Cross Hotel"
Maree says:
In 1972 we spent the first night of our honeymoon at the Southern Cross. It was the logies night and we ended up in a lift with Bert Newton, but we were too shy to say anthing to him. Of course we now regret this!
museumoflost says:
Wow! What a great story, thank you for sharing that!


Walking Dead Season Three Ratings Soar
The third season premiere of The Walking Dead, which first ran on AMC cable on Sunday, October 14, 2012, not only blew away the show's previous records, it pretty much blew away everyone else's, too. Only Sunday Night Football drew more viewers that night, and that goes for the broadcast networks and all of basic cable.
"The season-three premiere of The Walking Dead shattered ratings records with 10.9 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode of any drama series in basic cable history.
"Dish Network customers were not able to tune in due to the carriage dispute with AMC, so you can only imagine what the numbers could have been with those added eyeballs. The network tried to stream the episode online for Dish subscribers missing out on the premiere, but the site crashed from the overwhelming traffic," the site reported.
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Day to day high acutely aware and even designer recipient patients in Hermes which are loyalists belonging to the product always choose to classic Hermes plastic bags with the replacement varieties given that the classic talks to you in style and even quality.


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Preview: Penultimate meeting of the season at Roscommon Racecourse
Michael Finneran August 28, 2017 0
Picture Credit: Andrew Fox
Mother Nature hasn't been kind in recent times, but racegoers here at Roscommon Racecourse and in the greater region will hope that the sun will re-emerge ahead of the penultimate meeting of the season which takes place on Monday next, September 4th.
The first race is off at 4.45 pm (Note change from 4:35pm).
General ground conditions were testing for a number of the meetings this year and the race committee and all associated with the course will be hoping that the weather will pick up for the last two meetings.
EBF are generously sponsoring four races on the evening, three flat and a handicap hurdle.
This meeting is a mixed card, made up of four flat races, two hurdle races and a bumper.
The re-fixing of one of the meetings has made a busy season even busier for Roscommon Racecourse, but Manager Michael Finneran is happy that the reschedule accommodates all parties.
"When you have no choice but to call off a meeting due to weather conditions, everybody has to change their plans. But we're delighted to be able to facilitate sponsors, owners, trainers, racegoers and everyone involved to ensure that they don't lose out when the weather dictates a change in the diary."
"We have enjoyed a good year at the track and we hope that for the final couple of meetings that things will run smoothly. Of course, good weather always makes an evening at the races much more enjoyable and we hope that will be the case for the next meeting," said Mr. Finneran.
As of 8:07am on Monday September 4th the going is as follows: Flat – Heavy, National Hunt – Heavy. The meeting will go ahead today after a track inspection at 8am. Very light showers this morning, clearing this afternoon.
Adults: €15 – Buy now
OAPs and Students: €10 – Buy now
Children under 16: Free.
Attractive deals are available for groups of all sizes. Call Michael on 090 6626231 or 087 2203288 to discuss a personalised package to suit your needs.
Priced at €30 The "Ros Special" includes Admission, a Race Card, a Two Course Meal and a €10 betting voucher. It can be purchased here or at the Stile on the day of a Meeting.
Keep an eye on facebook.com/RoscommonRacecourse over the coming days for the chance to win Tickets and more.


Mon / 9 December 2019 / 15:34
Category: Culture and Art
Albert Lamorisse's "The Lovers' Wind" in Cinema Vérité opening
Tehran (ISNA) - The 13th edition of Iran's international documentary film festival widely known as Cinema Vérité was opened on Monday in Charsou complex while screening the unique scenes of "The Lovers' Wind" directed by the French docmaker, Albert Lamorisse.
The opening ceremony hosted the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the director of the event as well as the prominent docmkers and producers from Iran and the world. The Narrator of the "The Lovers' Wind", Manouchehr Anvar also attended the ceremony.
Some awesome behind the scenes shots and unique unseen rushes from The Lovers' Wind were showcased during the ceremony to honor its French director Albert Lamorisse and the narrator Manouchehr Anvar. The film is about Iran's deserts, eye-catching landscapes, exquisite mountains and beautiful cities and areas.
Roughly 6,000 documentaries from more than 100 countries have been already sent to the festival secretariat to compete in an international panel.
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Dolphins Can 'Speak Just Like Humans' Finds New Study
By : Ben Hayward On : 12 Sep 2016 19:27
We're all aware that dolphins are among the most intelligent animals on the planet – you can see it in their creepy, beady little eyes…
But scientists now believe the smug mammals are capable of 'highly developed spoken language' resembling human communication, reports The Independent.
Researchers at the Karadag Nature Reserve in Crimea now believe the pulses, clicks and whistles made by dolphins are listened to fully by other individuals before a response is made.
In the journal Mathematics and Physics, lead researcher Dr Vyacheslav Ryabov wrote:
Each pulse produced by a dolphin is different from another in its time span and frequencies.
We can assume that each pulse represents a phoneme or a word of the dolphin's spoken language.
According to Dr Ryabov, the 'highly developed' language has all the design features present in human spoken languages, which indicates a high level of intelligence and consciousness in dolphins.
Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like we'll be able to decipher their language anytime soon – so no hope of finding out exactly when they're planning to takeover the world – as Dr Ryabov says their speech lies 'beyond the time and frequency characteristics of the human hearing'.
He does, however, believe the findings should provide incentive for humans to further develop relationships and improve communication with the creatures.
Rather them than me…
Scientists discover dolphins 'can speak almost like humans'


Attorney General James And State Police Superintendent Corlett Announce Convictions Of Brooklyn Couple For $1.3 Million Mortgage Fraud And Money Laundering Scheme
Zwick downgraded bank
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Analysts Set Bank Of Princeton (BPRN) Target Price at $32.00 Analysts Set Bank Of Princeton (BPRN) Target Price at $32.00 Boenning & Scattergood analyst Erik zwick downgraded bank of Princeton (BPRN) to Hold today. The company's shares closed yesterday at $31.[.] Apr. 24, 2019 at 6:56 a.m. ET. 702 ash street 802 san diego (city) MLS #180060212. You are viewing the for at 702 Ash Street 802 with.Elmira Savings Bank (ESBK) Declares $0.23 Quarterly Dividend Buying A Home In Foreclosure – Tawnya King Carole King to perform at fundraiser for Sen. Ed Markey – Singer-songwriter Carole King will help U.S. Sen. Ed Markey raise money for his re-election next weekend by performing at a fundraiser at the Cambridge home of Lori and Eric Lander, according to an.elmira savings bank (esbk) declares $0.23 Quarterly Dividend. – Elmira Savings Bank (NASDAQ:ESBK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.23 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, June 12th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield [.]
A Marblehead man was among 10 people indicted in connection with a sex trafficking and money laundering operation in which women were sold for sex through a purported online escort service that.
Attorney General James Announces The Criminal Convictions Of Two Licensed Nurses And The Former Director Of A Brooklyn Hospital For Larceny Scheme New York Attorn. 01/07/2019 – 19:21
LAUNDERING AND TAX EVASION CHARGES IN. with a $2 million dollar mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney James. G. Martin announced today.. Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General.. If convicted, these charges carry a penalty range of five to thirty years in prison.
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with United States Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General New York region Special Agent in Charge Scott J. Lampert, New York City Department of Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks, New York State Medicaid Inspector General Dennis Rosen and New York State Department of.
Three Men Indicted for Elaborate Mortgage Fraud Scheme in Athens March 16, 2011 A Clarke County Grand Jury returned a three count racketeering indictment yesterday against Brian C. Dupree, Marc Canty and Rashid Wilson for conspiring to commit theft by fraudulently inflating real estate values in an Athens subdivision development.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, February 16, 2017. Nine Alleged Gang Members and Associates Indicted for Stealing over $94,000 in Bank Larceny Scheme Allegedly Deposited Counterfeit Checks and Withdrew Funds before Banks Discovered the Fraud; Charged in Four Separate Indictments. Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill.
Individuals Allegedly Stole Thousands of Dollars from the State. BALTIMORE, MD (January 26, 2017) – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh and Comptroller Peter Franchot today announced the filing of four criminal cases against four defendants who allegedly stole tens of thousands of dollars from the State of Maryland through tax fraud schemes.
NEW YORK – Attorney General Letitia James and state police superintendent keith M. Corlett today announced the sentencing of John F. Iacono. The codefendants were convicted for mortgage fraud, money laundering and scheme to defraud. "This couple knowingly defrauded financial institutions and.
Superintendent George P. Beach II said, "This couple concocted a series of. I commend the Attorney General's Office, our state police financial crimes. iacono and Gjekovic allegedly applied for mortgages, a construction loan, net worth in excess of $1.1 million, with cash on hand of $400,000, while.


JSIF, Police to sign MoU on crime information system 10:35 am
Antigua abolishes personal income tax
ST JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC) – Prime Minister Gaston Browne yesterday announced that, effective April, personal income tax will be abolished in its entirety.
The prime minster, who made the announcement in his presentation of the 2016 Budget yesterday, said this was a promise made to the people of Antigua and Barbuda during the election campaign.
"That was a major campaign promise and my Government honours its word to the people. Promise made, promise kept. Abolishing personal income tax is an important reform. Not only will it put more money in the pockets of the people, so that they can save or spend more for the benefit of the economy as whole, it will help to re-establish our country as one of the most competitive in the Caribbean and beyond."
He said with the elimination of the income tax, more than EC$30 million (One EC dollar =US$0.37 cents) will be back in the pockets of the people.
"The cost of collecting PIT (personal income tax); the difficulty of enforcement; and its unfairness, with most of the self-employed not paying or not paying their fair share; make it sensible to remove the PIT from our books," said Browne who is also finance minister.
He noted that with this move, Antigua and Barbuda will be a location that is competitive and also the choice of retirees.
"Antigua and Barbuda will become a competitive location to attract the headquarters of companies and for professionals to relocate, thereby creating more jobs. Retirees will choose Antigua and Barbuda as their retirement home; Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) investors will invest and choose Antigua and Barbuda over our competitors," said the prime minister.
"… Concerning the loss of $37 million in revenue with this decision, the elimination of the PIT will be partially substituted by an increase in the Revenue Recovery Charge from 10 per cent to 13 per cent, which is expected to yield an additional $20 million in revenue. "
He added that all food items in the basket of goods will be exempt from this increase.
"Therefore, to those who speak of the regressive nature of consumption tax, we say a little learning is a dangerous thing, taxing income is destructive to investment, savings and consumption. Also, it penalises entrepreneurship. "
He said abolishing personal income tax will increase individual disposable income, not only for consumption but investment, and this is one of the necessary steps for mass wealth creation and income redistribution.
"We expect a more buoyant and expanded economy to empower the Government with increased revenues to fund the socio-economic development of the masses."
Regressive taxation must be considered in the context of the entire tax ecosystem; transfer payments and welfare support provided by Government, including socialised health care, education and subsidised services.
According to the prime minister, when all these measures are taken into account, higher income earners do pay the most taxes in Antigua and Barbuda.
He said that based on this, additional measures will be made to compensate for any loss in revenue.
These include the establishment of a Revenue Court, which will allow for the efficient and effective enforcement of tax collection; an adjustment to the corporation; and business legislation and the introduction of the Unincorporated Business Tax Act.
A fourth measure will target the smuggling of alcohol and tobacco products into the country which robs the treasury of revenue.
The prime minister also told legislators that a security bond mechanism, utilised in several other countries, will be introduced and used to identify legally landed alcohol and tobacco products.
"These measures combined will ensure that together with the three percentage point increase in the Revenue Recovery Charge, there will be full replacement of revenue loss by the removal of personal income tax."
Concerning the cost of fuel, Browne said as of February 1, the Government will reduce the price of gasoline and diesel.
"The price per gallon of gasoline will be reduced from $13.50 to $12.50, and the price per gallon of diesel will come down from $13.20 to $12.20."
He, however, noted that the consumption tax on gasolene and diesel will not be reduced "until my Government had stabilised the financial system and laid a foundation for the future".
In the area of manufacturing, Browne said the Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Brewtech to establish a modern brewery in Antigua and Barbuda that will manufacture a range of products for domestic use and export.
"The products will include beers, stouts, malts, aerated beverages, sodas, juices and sports drinks. The people of Antigua and Barbuda will see a direct benefit from this project as the Government will hold up to 20 per cent equity in Brewtech."
In the agricultural sector, he disclosed that the Government will boost agricultural production in the private and public sector.
"We will expand the defence force and prison farms, which will also include animal husbandry, to provide produce and meat for Her Majesty's prison, defence force, and other government institutions.
"The Government will also focus on reorganising the Agriculture Development Corporation to boost production. Funding will be made available through the Antigua and Barbuda Development Bank for the development and expansion of the farming sector."
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Sharon Czapnik Down
Here is my story for the reason I adopted Salomon Czapnik:
My father Sydney Czapnik was the first cousin of Salomon Czapnik who was murdered at Auschwitz on 7th September 1942 aged 9. Salomon and his family, brother Leo, sister Fanny, and parents Chaim and Frajdla lived in the same neighbourhood of Tilburg as my father, his twin sister Frances and his parents Nathan and Priscilla Czapnik.
My father and his family were among those lucky enough to escape with their lives, although the whole family spent horrific times in various concentration camps including Westerbork. When they were released, thankfully my Grandmother Priscilla was British and with the help of her sister who worked at Bletchley Park they managed to bring them back to the UK, where they eventually settled in London, where we all still live. Sadly we lost my father in 2008 and his twin sister in 2016, but this memorial means a lot to our family.
Fanny Czapnik, Salomon's sister.
My father Syd aged 70.
Syds father and aunt, the brother and sister of Salomon's father who both survived the war.
I have so much more info! But this is probably enough for now.


HomenewsFree essaysThe Neo-Imperialist Construct essay
The Neo-Imperialist Construct essay
Historically, the development of the world was accompanied by the wide disparity between advanced civilizations and poorly developed countries, which suffered from technological, political and socioeconomic backwardness. In this respect, the mid-20th century could become a turning point in the history of the world because it was the end of the imperialist era. It is in the mid-20th century the emergence of new, independent states marked the end of the imperialism and start of a totally new epoch, the epoch when all countries seem to have equal opportunities because they were independent to conduct their own policies and define their own future, regardless of the position of developed countries, which used to play the dominant role in the world. However, the high expectations associated with the larger opportunities developing countries have got after gaining independence have failed to come true because the second half of the 20th century was marked by the rise of a new, neo-imperialist era, when the inequality between countries did not only persist but even grew wider and wider. Today, the gap between leading, developed countries of the world and underdeveloped countries of the third world is enormous.
In this respect, it is important to underline the fact that gaining independence by ex-colonies of developed countries, being a significant historical event, proved to be inefficient because the independence of developing countries was a highly controversial issue. To put it more precisely, the independence of developing countries was rather nominal, formal, than real. In fact, they got political independence, but they did not have experience of building up independent states. As a result, they could not develop as independent, democratic countries. Instead, many developing countries faced a problem of the limited access of people to political power and economic opportunities.
What is meant here is the fact that masses of people in developing countries were deprived of an opportunity to get private property, they could not elect their authorities, human rights and liberties were widely violated. As a result, a limited number of people got all the power in developed countries. Often the ruling elite established a dictatorial regime to facilitate the exploitation of masses of people. Obviously, in such a situation, developing countries could not improve their socioeconomic position. In stark contrast, internal conflicts and the struggle for power between elites resulted in the economic stagnation and further deterioration of socioeconomic situation in developing countries.
Moreover, the situation was deteriorated consistently by the ongoing economic dependence of developing countries from developed ones. In other words, developed countries gave their colonies independence, but economically they kept dominating in the world. As a result, developing countries could rely mainly on the export of natural resources, which made their economies very sensitive to the situation in international markets, while developed countries could benefit from use of cheap raw materials and natural resources imported from developing countries and enter international markets with their own products without facing any resistance from the part of local companies, based in developing countries.
In such a situation, developing countries attempted to protect national economies by means of fiscal barriers which were elected to stimulated the development of local companies, which were protected from expansion of foreign competitors by lower fiscal pressure compared to foreign rivals. However, the process of globalization accelerated neo-imperialist trends in the world.
The process of globalization has defined the development of the world in the second half of the 20th century and plays the determinant role in the contemporary world. On the one hand, globalization has accelerated the economic cooperation and integration, stimulating economic progress worldwide, while, on the other hand, it has widen the gap between rich and poor and contributed to the emergence of civil wars and disparity of wealth, especially after the end of the Cold War.
Basically, the process of globalization produces a dubious effect on the world. At first glance, globalization has a positive impact on the well-being of people worldwide since the progress of economic cooperation leads to the growing investments into the developing economies and free movement of capital from developed countries to developing countries, where new jobs are created and, therefore, the local population should prosper.
However, in actuality, the process of globalization is the process of the economic expansion of developed countries into developing countries. To put it more precisely, developing countries are just new markets for companies based in developed countries. The elimination of fiscal barriers and progress of free trade made markets of developing countries practically defenseless in face of companies from developed countries. Moreover, foreign investments in economies of developing countries are consistently lower compared to mutual investments of developed countries.
At the same time, developing countries have only one dominating industry, while developed countries generate new technologies, introduce innovations and use cheap labor force and material resources of developing countries and supply markets of developing countries with their expensive, technologically sophisticated products and services.
As a result, globalization contributes to the growing disparity since rich get richer while poor get poorer that provokes social instability, civil wars, and terrorism. Thus, the wealth and power are concentrated in hands of developed countries. Naturally, developing countries cannot oppose the growing pressure from the part of such superpower as the USA. In this respect, it is necessary to understand that the ruling elite of developing countries can benefit consistently from the process of globalization, while peoples of developing countries become practically enslaved by the modern socioeconomic system, since the price of the labor force in developing countries is extremely low, while rights of employees are either poorly protected or not protected at all. In contrast, the ruling elite controls the major exporting industry of developing countries. As a result, the elimination of fiscal barriers increases benefits of the ruling elite because it can increase export and maximize its profits due to elimination of fiscal barriers and free trade agreements. Moreover, the ruling elite of developing countries can invest safely in economies of developed countries, while the national economy is viewed by the ruling elite of developing countries as a source of natural resources which are exported to developed countries to enrich the ruling elite.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that the new-imperialist era is progressing fast and this new era of the involvement of developed countries into the developing world is marked by the ongoing exploitation of developing countries by developed ones. In actuality, the process of globalization, which is a characteristic of neo-imperialist era, widens the gap between rich and poor countries leading to the enrichment of the most developed countries and total degradation of the least developed ones.


January 3, 2023 Chelsey Sleator
Chris Wilkins with his son, Chris Wilkins Jr.
[Wilkins, Chris 11/23 7:16 AM] Your history is not your destiny. Things can change, but you have to commit to changing them. 🙏🏾👑❤ #WisdomWednesday #MakeTheGoldenDecisions
These inspirational words were posted to Schwab's Diversity & Inclusion internal communications channel by a wise man: Chris Wilkins. Chris, who is based out of DFW, is not only speaking the truth, but he's also speaking his truth.
Chris grew up in a family that struggled. He experienced bouts of homelessness from middle school to college and had to live one day at a time to make it through. But he persevered and was determined to change his future.
I'm here because I have a greater purpose. And I knew I was only going to get to that greater purpose by not giving up on myself.
- Chris Wilkins, Relationship Manager, Charles Schwab
After graduating college, Chris served in the U.S. Navy, where he says he learned the value of sacrifice for the greater good. And after his military service, he started a career in social services. He was passionate about the work but was feeling emotionally and physically burnt out after working 80-hour weeks for three years.
"Someone asked me 'What do you like to do in your free time?'" explains Chris. "And I didn't know how to answer. I didn't have any free time. It all went to the work and the people and the communities. I realized I'm 30 and I haven't done anything for myself since I was 26."
So, for the sake of his wellbeing Chris decided to make a career change. He had a budding passion for financial services and financial literacy, so he jumped at an opportunity to join Schwab as a Relationship Manager in February of 2022.
[Wilkins, Chris 11/22 7:32 AM] The biggest dream killer is the fear of failure. Don't be afraid to fail, it's actually success if you learn from it. Push through your fear and take the risk. 🙏🏾❤👑 #WisdomTuesday
"There were days I completely questioned my career change," says Chris. "You hold yourself to a certain standard and moving from a field where I was established to a field where I didn't know anything was really hard."
It was on the days that he struggled that Chris would look for bits of motivation. He started posting motivational quotes and thoughts on the Diversity & Inclusion internal communications channel as a way to have something to go back to and to reassure himself that he was going to figure it out. And it started to resonate.
"I realized I was starting to help other people at the same time," explains Chris. "And when I saw that, it started to resonate with me even more."
Chris has developed quite the following with his daily posts as evidenced by the responses he gets:
"I needed that today, thank you!"
"This is going on my office wall and to my entire team, thank you!!"
"ALL. OF. THIS!!!"
"Gratitude Friday: Chris, I'm thankful for your daily reminders to live a full meaningful life–you make my day great!"
He recalls one individual who reached out to him directly in response to a post about not getting caught up in the eye of the storm. She was struggling with the stress of work, and he told her, "Everyone in this building is here because they're supposed to be here. You were chosen and you are equipped to handle what you are supposed to handle."
She told him that he likely prevented her from making the mistake of turning in her resignation letter that day.
[Wilkins, Chris 12/1 7:32 AM] Bad days are going to happen! Long as you get back up every single time and refocus and remind yourself that you absolutely got this, you are UNTOUCHABLE. 🙏🏾❤👑 #MotivationThursday
Chris is feeling more confident in his new career. He's taken much of his own advice, and he says he's learned a lot and has built a lot of good connections and networks. He continues to post daily motivations to inspire himself and others, and to continue his quest to keep growing and learning. In his own words:
[Wilkins, Chris 11/28 7:20 AM] Remember, success doesn't come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently. 🙏🏾❤👑 #MotivationMonday
Leading with empathy to improve digital accessibility
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Maternal Safety
Ensuring maternal safety is a patient safety priority. This library reflects a curated selection of PSNet content focused on improving maternal safety. Included resources explore strategies with the potential to improve maternal care delivery and outcomes, such as high reliability, collaborative initiatives, teamwork, and trigger tools.
Global Guidelines on the Prevention of Surgical Site Infection.
Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018. ISBN-13: 978-92-4-155047-5.
Efforts to reduce surgical site infections have achieved some success. The World Health Organization has taken a leading role in eliminating health care–associated harms and has compiled guidelines to address factors that contribute to surgical site infections in preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care. The document includes recommendations for improvement informed by the latest evidence. The second edition of the Guidelines was released in 2018.
Avoiding Unconscious Bias: a Guide for Surgeons.
London, UK: Royal College of Surgeons of England; 2016.
Biases can affect decision making and behaviors toward colleagues and patients. This guidance provides information for surgeons to help them identify individual and organizational biases and to address disrespectful behaviors through training and peer support mechanisms.
National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs).
NHS England Patient Safety Domain, National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures Group. London, UK: National Health Service; 2015.
Patients face risks when undergoing invasive procedures. This report provides recommendations developed by multidisciplinary consensus and outlines how organizations can implement the standards to improve safety of invasive procedures.
Oversight Hearing on Recent Patient Safety Issues.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Hearing before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. 109 Congress, 2nd sess June 15, 2006. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 2007.
These testimonies addressed issues within the Veterans Affairs health system that contributed to recent sterilization and labeling lapses.


A Message From TECO: Health and safety are No. 1 priority; Critical electric and natural gas service
TAMPA ELECTRIC AND TECO PEOPLES GAS PROTECTING CUSTOMERS, EMPLOYEES
Health and safety are No. 1 priority; Critical electric and natural gas service will continue
Tampa, Fla. (March 14, 2020) – At Tampa Electric and TECO Peoples Gas, the health and safety of customers, employees and the communities we serve is our top priority. The utilities are prepared for the coronavirus pandemic and are taking steps to help customers – and to prevent the virus' spread as we continue to provide vital energy to the community.
Essential work will continue: For Tampa Electric, power plants, including solar facilities, will continue to generate electricity, and power outages will be restored. For Peoples Gas, natural gas service will continue, and the company will respond 24/7 to gas leak and emergency calls. For both utilities, employees stand ready to serve customers and provide customer support by phone and online.
But a few things will change until further notice:
Effective immediately, no customer's service will be disconnected for non-payment, at least through the end of March.
Employees are reducing direct contact with customers, to allow appropriate social distance.
They will not participate in large community events.
Non-essential customer contact will be rescheduled, such as energy audits in customers' homes and businesses.
The Manatee Viewing Center closed for the season on Friday, March 13.
"Reducing service to our customers is never easy, but our greater priority is the health and safety of our customers and employees," said Nancy Tower, president and chief executive officer of Tampa Electric. "Tampa Electric will continue to provide our 780,000 customers with safe, reliable and affordable electricity."
"As we continue to monitor the situation, it is important for our customers to know that we're here for them," said T.J. Szelistowski, president of Peoples Gas. "We will continue to deliver safe, reliable and environmentally friendly natural gas to the more than 200 communities we serve across the state."
The reduction in face-to-face visits is part of the companies' comprehensive pandemic plan. The companies will continue to monitor the pandemic and will respond quickly as the situation changes.
Tampa Electric, one of Florida's largest investor-owned electric utilities, serves about 780,000 customers in West Central Florida. Peoples Gas System, Florida's largest natural gas distribution utility, serves more than 400,000 customers across Florida. Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas are subsidiaries of Emera Inc., a geographically diverse energy and services company headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Media Contacts: Cherie Jacobs 813.228.4945 ǀ Sylvia Vega 813.228.4381


Falkenblog
Romer's Growth Theory
It is generally presumed that Paul Romer will win a Nobel prize for his 'endogenous growth theory', so I was intrigued when Kling and Schultz interviewed him in their new book From Poverty to Prosperity. Their book hits on a lot of issues I find interesting, not so much as providing a novel big idea, but noting a lot of outstanding puzzles and how the non-Left Establishment thinks about them.
Growth Theory is about long-term economic growth, which means, abstracting from business cycles. Given the power of compounding, and the ephemeral and intractable nature of business cycles, it is rather a shame for most economists to focus on recessions because over they don't matter too much over time. Sure, East Germany had fewer recessions than West Germany, but over a couple generations, West Germany had 3 times the living standard. Wisdom is primarily prioritizing tasks according to importance and solubility.
Robert Solow started growth theory in the 1950s, and it basically broke the macroeconomy into three drivers: capital, labor, and productivity. It did not explain productivity but highlighted that this factor seemed to be what really mattered, so no longer could one say, Tanzania needed more 'capital,' because after you apply the model econometrically the problem is not capital or labor, but their productivity. Solow's growth model does not tell us how things work, but it did dismiss a popular incorrect idea, no small feat.
Romer highlights the fact that great economists, according to economists, are those that create great models. These models usually formalize existing intuition, as the Welfare Theorems of Arrow and Debreu really just proved the 'Invisible Hand' using set theory (ie, that a competitive equilibrium is Pareto Optimal, and that a Pareto Optimal Equilibrium is a competitive equilibrium). Or consider the Lucas Islands model, which modeled economic fluctuations as the result of unpredictable monetary growth an inflation. In the 1970's, this was a leading explanation of business cycles, but no longer. Nonetheless, the model remains in the canon because it is self-contained, has a lot of intuition, and inspires economists as to what they are trying to create. The hope is that one creates a mathematical model, like the Black-Scholes equation, that sheds light on new truths. Good models calibrated to existing phenomena should generalize in unexpected ways. Alas, this is rarely the case in economics, as the model usually remain parochial explanations of the economic fact that inspired it (eg, the Phillips Curve).
Romer's model is motivated by the fact that while there is convergence among various economies, such as developed economies, there is not convergence among all of the economies. So, Japan, France, and the US all vary around a similar GDP/capita, but Africa remains mired in poverty, seemingly unaffected by worldwide economic growth. The existing Solow Growth Model could not explain this, except to trivially note the African economies had lower productivity, a parameter in the Solow Growth Model.
The Romer model has the form
Y=F(x(i),k(i),K)
and x(i) is the labor of an individual, k(i) a firm's capital (assume people are also firms). K=sum(k(i)), reflecting the idea that bigger economies have more knowledge, and thus, greater productivity. F is increasing in all its arguments. The key technical point he makes is to assume Y is a concave function of k(i) and x(i), which is necessary for an equilibrium to exist, yet because F is increasing in K, you have increasing returns to scale in aggregate. Thus, a competitive equilibrium exists even with increasing returns to scale, because their individual effect on total output K is insignificant (otherwise, with increasing returns to scale, everyone soon chooses infinity to maximize their production/utility).
Most interestingly you get multiple equilibria, in that if you can coordinate everyone to invest a lot, growth is higher than otherwise. This highlights the potential for good institutions to incent greater growth, say by offering more secure property rights, or intellectual property laws. Prosperity becomes a coordination problem, seemingly soluble by abstruse mathematics.
This is the cause of great joy among economists because it allows for lots of modeling: you can prove an equilibrium exists in the infinite horizon case using Hamiltonians, which have proved very useful in physics (the gold standard for science). The end result of this is Bob Lucas's Recursive Methods in Economic Dynamics, a book with a lot of math but not much insight (ever since John Nash successfully used a fixed point theorem to prove his eponymous equilibrium, economists have been eager to apply fixed point theorems to other problems, without much success).
The new growth theory tries to explain productivity 'endogenously', as opposed to Solow's exogenous treatment. Yet what is Romer's take away, when translated into words? First, he repeats again and again that higher productivity leads to higher productivity. But that can't be right, in the sense that growth rates of developed countries are not increasing over the past 100 years. I think what he means is that developed countries keep growing, while undeveloped ones don't, due to their 'bad equilibrium'. So we are back to, why does the US have the good one and not Haiti?
Then Romer seems really happy about noticing that productivity is not merely more stuff, but stuff differently arranged. He notes there's a machine that using carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and a few other atoms that is smaller than a car, renews itself, fixes itself, and creates valuable output. What is it? A cow! See, all we have to do is arrange atoms into cow-like things, and the future of robot maids, jetpacks, and holodecks will finally arrive. I don't see this kind of insight rising above the fantasies of your average comic book reader.
In Romer's Fora.tv talk, he talks about these issues, and highlights that a growing economy has 4 major pieces:
1) competition
2) entry
3) emulation
4) exit (loser firms are reallocated to winner firms)
He gets excited by the idea that many countries could be like Hong Kong in the pre-Chinese era, taking Britain's superior laws, customs, and technology. Yet, even in the US, things like competition, entry, and exit are heavily legislated against by entrenched interests. Sure, Haiti or Paraguay could allow in foreigners to set up franchises, but they don't, because that seems to many as exploitation, and has the stench of racism. So we are back to the old ideas about international trade, the distribution of wealth, and especially the distribution of wealth among various ethnicities. A ruling clique would keep their people poor rather than turn over, say, Petrobras to Exxon.
Japan in 1854 seems the best model for an economy that emulated existing technology, where the Japanese noted their technical deficiency after being defeated by the US Navy and then adopted Western technology without having the Westerners actually own anything. So the question is why did Japan do this, but not the hundred or so other undeveloped countries? Romer's big idea seems best addressed by much less mathematical analysis; his model is sterile when applied to the real world.
Romer's asking the right questions, but as Michele Boldrin noted in Against Intellectual Monopoly, the question about the value of various forms of patents is an empirical one, not deducible from theory. If Romer's 'growth theory' has anything really to add, I haven't seen it.
Posted by Eric Falkenstein at 12:14 PM
Jim Glass said...
the Japanese noted their technical deficiency after being defeated by the US Navy and then adopted Western technology without having the Westerners actually own anything. So the question is why did Japan do this, but not the hundred or so other undeveloped countries?
Romer's ... model is sterile when applied to the real world.
Maybe move on from there to Public Choice?
I really appreciate your practical approach to economics, generally.
"The hope is that one creates a mathematical model, like the Black-Scholes equation, that sheds light on new truths. Good models fit to existing phenomena should generalize in unexpected ways. Alas, this is rarely the case in economics, as the model usually remain parochial explanations of the economic fact that inspired it."
Yours is a scientific approach, expecting models to yield useful predictions about phenomena as yet unobserved (or unnoticed).
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