Why VIAC
Arbitral Proceeding
Model Clause
List of arbitrators
Costs of Arbitration
Costs of Mediation
Rules of Mediation
List of Mediators
Recommened Forms
Legal Normative Documents
Home > View of arbitrators
View of arbitrators
Tough odds for VN market upgrade
Việt Nam's securities market has a 25 per cent chance of being upgraded to the "emerging market" status
from its current "frontier market" level by 2021. — Photo ndh.vn
Việt Nam's securities market has a 25 per cent chance of being upgraded to the "emerging market" status from its current "frontier market" level by 2021, according to Võ Trí Thành, senior economist at the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) cum VIAC arbitrator.
The market status levels are regulated by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), the US independent provider of research-driven insights and tools for institutional investors. A review of any particular stock market and its reclassification carried out by MSCI would increase the attractiveness of that market to global investors.
However, Thành said there were three factors that would make it difficult for Việt Nam to get upgraded by 2021 as expected by market analysts, investors and regulators.
"The challenges that Việt Nam has encountered so far are information disclosure or corporate and market transparency, openness to foreign investors and capital, and opening the capital and financial market to the private sector," he said.
While information disclosure is quite costly for both market regulators and traded firms, the two others would require the Government and its agencies to make stronger efforts to make trading standards more accessible for foreign investors, according to Thành.
Information disclosure has remained an obstacle for foreign investors if they want to make investment in Vietnamese companies as many companies have hesitated to make their business more transparent for highly-costly interpretation of financial and corporate reports.
In addition, foreign investors are allowed to own up to 100 per cent of a Vietnamese company if that firm does not operate in the sectors involved in national security and safety such as banking, property and transportation.
In such cases, foreign investors can have a maximum of 49 per cent ownership in the business. For commercial banks, the foreign ownership is limited at 30 per cent.
Thành delivered his cautious outlook for the Vietnamese securities market at a seminar held on Wednesday by the US Embassy's American Centre and the Vietnam Executive MBA Programme in Hà Nội of the University of Hawai'i (VEMBA Programme).
Cấn Văn Lực, chief economist at the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BIDV), said "even if Việt Nam is determined to get approval from MSCI on promoting the status of its securities market, it will be quite challenging".
He said Việt Nam would have to be admitted onto MSCI's watchlist for a market reclassification, which is expected to occur in 2019. Then it would take the Vietnamese securities market at least two more years to become an emerging market as regulated by MSCI.
"An upgrade of the Vietnamese securities market's status will attract more foreign capital, encourage local firms to make their business more transparent and motivate market regulators to standardise the market's trading regulations," he said.
"It also would prove that the Vietnamese securities market is among the most attractive in the world and encourage the Government to improve the economy's investment and business conditions," Lực said.
Positive 2018 ahead
Việt Nam's economy in general and its securities market in particular are showing positive signs and higher achievements are reachable in 2018.
Chief economist Lực at BIDV forecast the benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange would advance 30-40 per cent this year with trading liquidity rising 20-25 per cent and foreign capital increasing by approximately 30 per cent.
"More products will be launched this year, including covered warrants and other futures for the derivatives market," he said, adding other changes for the securities market are the revision of the Securities Law and the possible merger of the two local exchanges.
"Such potential achievements are supported by the prospective growth of the Vietnamese macroeconomic conditions," he said.
Việt Nam's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in 2017 was 6.8 per cent and it is forecast to reach 7 per cent at the end of this year, boosted by good performances in industrial production, exports and consumption, according to Lực.
Both direct and indirect foreign investment will also play an important role in boosting the Vietnamese economy, he said, adding that efforts will be made by the Government to improve the business and investment climate, and local companies will benefit from the recently-signed Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). — VNS
http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/424432/tough-odds-for-vn-market-upgrade.html#Eidkfdd9cp8QbXO4.99
SOME OTHER NEWS
Concerns raised over largest infrastructure project in Vietnam 11/07/2019 14:10
The tentative total investment for the North-South high-speed railway, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), is about US$26 billion – $32 billion less than the previous proposal by the Ministry of Transport (MoT).
EU-Vietnam pact to deliver trade and investment bonanzas 08/07/2019 16:03
The EU will eliminate duties for 84 percent of the tariff lines for goods imported from Vietnam immediately at the entry into force of the EVFTA.
Finding ways to develop central area economy 20/06/2019 14:17
Associate professor Trần Đình Thiên, former director of the Central Institute for Economic Management and member of the consultancy team for developing the central coastal area, talks to Đầu Tư (Investment) newspaper about economic development of the area.
European firms seek to speed up EVFTA approval 05/06/2019 14:50
Nicolas Audier, co-chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham), told participants at the launch ceremony of the Whitebook 2019 in Hanoi that European firms want to speed up approval of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
Another way to attract foreign investment 14/05/2019 11:33
Most enterprises are not willing to increase their foreign ownership limit because when this ratio rises above 51% the companies will be treated as foreign investors. This will curtail several business areas and require companies to change investment criteria to that of foreign investor. Meanwhile, many foreign investors claim that it is very difficult to buy good stocks due to limit in foreign ownership in various companies.
Foreign businesses accelerate indirect investment in Vietnam 07/05/2019 10:04
Vietnam high and steady economic growth in the past years has strongly drawn foreign capital and investment in local firms considered as the shortest way for foreign investors to enter the Vietnamese market.
Vietnam well-positioned to develop industrial property 07/05/2019 10:01
Vietnam is well-positioned to develop industrial property, experts said at the Vietnam Industrial Real Estate Forum 2019 in Hanoi on April 23.
Vietnam mulls PPP Law with sovereign guarantees to reassure investors 19/04/2019 08:12
A proposed new law envisages offering sovereign guarantees to attract private investment in large transport infrastructure projects.
VIAC and BIAC Deal on ADR 28/04/2016 13:51
2nd Annual Construction Risk Management 21/09/2015 09:49
PHOTOS EVENTS
Copyright (c) 2008-2014 VIAC All rights reserved.
REGISTER EMAIL WITH VIAC


Home » Reviews » Bengali Review » Taqdeer on Hoichoi is a well-made, well-performed crime thriller series
Taqdeer on Hoichoi is a well-made, well-performed crime thriller series
Chanchal Chowdhury plays a freezer van driver who gets embroiled in a murder mystery in the Bangladeshi web series.
by Sankhayan Ghosh
Director: Syed Ahmed Shawki
Writer: Neamoth Ullah Masum, Syed Ahmed Shawki
Actor: Chanchal Chowdhury, Manoj Pramanik, Shohel Mondol, Sanjida Preeti, Partha Barua
Streaming on: Hoichoi
Whatever little we've seen of contemporary cinema from Bangladesh — the best of the lot, namely those by Mostofa Sarwar Farooki — there's something to be said about them having a distinct flavour, and how different they feel from films made in West Bengal. The language is the same, but the dialects different; the physiognomy is not too different either; neither is the landscape, defined by its rivers. And yet the films seem to be informed by their own socio-political reality and the peculiar rhythms of the spoken word, coupled with an urge to possess a language of its own that's decidedly different from Calcutta arthouse or Bollywood, the two big influences close home.
The web series Taqdeer ticks all those boxes, although it has a story that could be set anywhere: Taqdeer (pronounced 'Toq-deer'), the driver of a freezer van that's used for the purpose of transporting the bodies of the departed to their final destination, gets embroiled in a murder mystery; the body of an unknown woman lands up at the back of his van — a body that's later found to be that of a renowned journalist who was on the brink of uncovering a damning story about the rape of a woman by men associated with a politician.
Over eight episodes, each about 20 minutes long, Taqdeer must get out of this mess — the meaning of his name bearing heavily on the events of his life: from being raised by a mother who had to sell her body to send him to a Madrasa, to, a few years ago, being falsely convicted of smuggling organs from dead bodies.
Chanchal Chowdhury (who was the lead in Farooki's Television) plays him with the ambivalence of a noir hero, who must also ensure that the truth the journalist was trying to uncover is out. It's an urgent, busy performance, full of rash talk and small movements, seemingly more to do with the situation at hand but alluding to unknown depths; he allows the camera to capture his high-strung anxiety ridden face in close-ups. The character attains an existential dimension that's rooted in his vocation: the macabre business of body and soul.
Created by Syed Ahmed Shawki, Taqdeer takes a couple of episodes to settle in, before it draws you in with the loopiness of the plot. You feel as trapped as Taqdeer, and his loyal companion Montu (Shohel Mondol). Other characters, like Rana (Monoj Kumar Pramanik), the photographer accompanied the journalist on the assignment, join them. Should we trust Rana's version of events, who is bit of a weakling and could well be an unreliable narrator? All the actors pull in compelling performances, including those who play the journalist, Afsana (Sanjida Preeti), and her husband, with a scene-stealing Partha Barua as a seriocomic hitman. This is a well-made, well-performed crime thriller series that takes its time to unfold but doesn't overstay its welcome.
There is some impressive filmmaking on display, whether it's the use of authentic locations like the country's inland water transport system, or an unexpected touch of beauty: the sudden burst of a field of barley in twilight; or the seamless cutting to the backstories of Taqdeer and Montu; the minimalistic background score (with a haunting central theme; by Ruslan Rehman). There's a particularly riveting episode involving a 'dom' who's been called to cut a dead body and who must get drunk on country liquor before he conducts the 'surgery'. That scene, in a web series made in Kolkata, might have been played for cheap laughs, or for sensationalistic effect; in Taqdeer it's just chilling and fascinating to watch.
bengali cinema
Sankhayan Ghosh
Sankhayan was working for newspapers like The Indian Express, The Hindu, and Mint Lounge before he joined Film Companion. He likes movies and hates writing bios.
Gora Piggybacks on the Glorious, Messy Casualness of Ritwick Chakraborty
All Eyes On Anirban Bhattacharya
The Best Bengali Film and TV of 2021
Golondaaj on Hoichoi Turns A Great Real Life Story into a Preposterous Movie
Recommendation: 5 Thrilling Harlan Coben Adaptations On Netflix
by Siddharth Menon
Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth Is an Audacious Formal Experiment
Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, On Netflix, Winks In All The Right Directions
Human Is An Ill-Timed, Ill-Conceived Medical Thriller
Thinkalazhcha Nischayam, On Sony LIV, Finds Humour In The Mundane
by Anupama Chopra
Download The Script Of Sherni
The 30 Best Movies On Netflix
Recommendation: The Tender Bar, On Amazon Prime Video


Education Week's blogs > Digital Education See more Ed-Tech news
Personalized learning, artificial intelligence, adaptive testing, digital curricula, data privacy, future of work, and all things technology. Education Week reporters help you stay on top of the latest developments in ed tech.
« Student-Data-Privacy News Roundup | Main | U.S. Ed. Department's Ed-Tech Nonprofit Was Born This Week: #TBT »
In L.A. iPad Evaluation, Pearson Curriculum Again Comes Under Fire
By Benjamin Herold on September 18, 2014 3:27 PM
An independent evaluation of the Los Angeles Unified School District's ambitious—and much-maligned—effort to provide digital devices to all students found that the new, multi-million dollar digital curriculum purchased as part of the initiative was seldom used last year because it had gaping holes, was seen by some teachers to lack rigor, and was plagued by technical glitches.
The curriculum, touted by LAUSD and Pearson officials as central to the effort to prepare students for new Common Core Standards and for the related online assessments that will be administered beginning this year, was in use in just one of the 245 classrooms that researchers observed.
Here's how the evaluator, Washington-based American Institutes for Research, summarized the problem:
At nearly all schools, staff stated that the Pearson curriculum that was promised during initial [training] was not available during the school year. Administrators at three schools said that components of the ELA curriculum were missing (e.g., narrative writing, Grade 3 curriculum), and administrators at two schools said that mathematics components were missing...
In addition to a lack of robust content contained in the application, respondents from two schools indicated that the application's content upload was cumbersome and lengthy. Five schools indicated experiencing issues with login and accessing their Pearson accounts and reported these were barriers to using the application. Furthermore, one elementary school characterized the curriculum as lacking rigor and preferred utilizing the Treasures Reading Program...
Education Week first reported on the big problems with the Pearson curriculum, known as the Common Core System of Courses, in October of last year. At the time, LAUSD and officials from the company, which has headquarters in New York and London, defended the product and its rollout. They refused at the time, however, to divulge how much money had been paid to Pearson, who was a subcontractor to Apple on the $30 million first phase of the project.
Information provided in a report from the LAUSD board last month suggests that amount was somewhere between $4.5 million and $9 million.
In recent weeks, the LAUSD's Common Core Technology Initiative has come under intense scrutiny, in part because of reports detailing the extensive email communications that Superintendent John Deasy had with officials from Pearson and Apple prior to the formal bidding of the project. Last month, Deasy halted the continuation of the district's contract with Apple and Pearson, leaving future device purchases to go through a new bidding process. Deasy has since defended the initiative and his role.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the 651,000-student district has to date purchased 109,000 iPads, 62,000 of which have the Pearson curriculum loaded on to them.
The interim evaluation report from AIR contains a wealth of other information. In addition to running through the well-documented litany of troubles the LAUSD ran into while rolling out the devices to schools—"some of the data collected in spring 2014 suggest that the current deployment model is not sufficient to meet the goal of full-scale deployment throughout the entire district on the currently envisioned schedule"—the researchers go into tremendous detail as to how the iPads have actually been used in the classroom.
For anyone interested in getting a detailed snapshot of what the first stage of a 1-to-1 computing initiative looks like in real life, the full report (or at least the executive summary) is a must read.
Device usage: During May 2014 classroom observations at 15 schools that were part of the first phase of the Common Core Technology Project, AIR researchers found iPads were present in 79 percent of classrooms, but in use in just 48 percent of classrooms. For context, at four non-CCTP schools, laptops were observed in 60 percent of classrooms, but were in use in just 28 percent of classrooms. Three of the 15 schools—20 percent—had made the decision by spring 2014 to stop using iPads altogether. Elementary schools generally demonstrated the highest usage levels, and high schools the lowest.
Type of use: Despite the frequent talk of digital devices being a vehicle for personalized learning, the most frequent use of iPads and other devices in LAUSD classrooms was for whole-class instruction (observed in 26 percent of classrooms). This chart from the report shows what that meant in practice:
Internet research (16 percent of classrooms) and math or reading practice (12 percent) were the next most frequent types of use.
In just 25 of the 245 classrooms observed did students use technology to "create or present a product or project."
In just 20 of the classrooms observed were students using their iPads as a "learning resource"— i.e., for activities like notetaking, making calculations, image creation, and the like.
In only 12 of the classrooms observed were the devices used to present a text or stream a movie to support instruction.
And in just two of the 245 classrooms AIR researchers observed were teachers using the technology to support collaborative student learning efforts, such as jointly writing and editing a document.
Apps: Students and staff downloaded and used apps fairly widely, the AIR researchers found. The most commonly used were iPad tools apps, such as PowerPoint, Word, and iMovie. ST Math, an instructional math app featuring a wildly popular animated penguin named JiJi, was the most commonly observed instructional app.
I'll present the researchers' final takeaway for the LAUSD in their own words:
The challenges discussed above should be addressed promptly, as they impede progress in Phase 1 schools and are likely to impede implementation and subsequent progress in the next phases. Of greatest importance is making sure that adequate support structures are in place, both at school and district levels. Adequate support occurs at three levels.
First, it is crucial to ensure that schools are technologically ready (i.e., that adequate infrastructure is in place) before deploying devices.
Second, school- and district-level support systems and individuals should be prepared to handle technological issues that arise (e.g., nonworking devices) and should provide training to teachers and other staff who are not familiar with using the devices.
Third, to move toward the goals of transforming instruction with technology and ensuring that students have access to 21st century technology and innovative applications of technology to teaching and learning, it is not sufficient to simply provide classroom access to devices. Teachers must be prepared to integrate the technology into instruction, redefining how they present and design instruction. School- and district-level training and professional support must therefore be geared toward developing teachers' skills in this area.
Finally, as the district brings CCTP to full scale, it will be important to have a fully developed communication and feedback plan in place to ensure that these support structures are happening as planned in every school, and are perceived to be effective by various stakeholders.
Photo: Students photograph themselves with an iPad during a class at Broadacres Elementary School in Carson, Calif.--Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times/AP
Chart from American Institutes for Research September 2014 Evaluation of the Common Core Technology Project, Interim Report.
Follow @BenjaminBHerold and @EdWeekEdTech for the latest news on ed-tech policies, practices, and trends.
1-to-1 Computing
American Institutes for Research
education technology news
John Deasy
Many Teens Sleep With Digital Devices, Report Finds. Is That Why They Are So Cranky?
Online Credit Recovery Fuels Higher Grad Rates, But Learning Suffers, Report Finds
Tech Advances, Automation Fueling Employers' Demand for 'Soft Skills'
'Mission Accomplished' on K-12 Internet Connectivity: A Conversation With Evan Marwell
Can Artificial Intelligence Predict Student Engagement? Researchers Investigate
--- Select a Category --- 1-to-1 Computing (132) Adaptive Technology (24) Apps (32) Archives (3) Artificial Intelligence (1) Assessment (102) Blended Learning (44) Broadband (142) Business (256) BYOD (4) Common Core State Standards (41) Computer Science (93) ConnectED (17) Contests (5) Credit Recovery (1) CTO/CIO (20) Curriculum (106) Cyberbullying (8) Data Privacy (158) Devices (80) Digital Collaboration (22) Digital Divide (128) Digital Instructional Materials (102) E-rate (86) Educational Data (94) Federal Communications Commission (49) Federal Policy (225) Flipped Classroom (2) Games and Simulations (62) Instructional Tools (129) ISTE (40) Leadership (62) Librarian (4) Maker Education (16) Mobile Learning (97) MOOCs (5) Online Learning (501) Online Safety (112) Online Testing (8) Open Education Resources (42) Parents (60) Personalized Learning (80) Professional Development (63) Publishers (5) Research/Reports (330) Social Media (72) Software (29) State and District Policy (264) STEM Education (73) SXSWedu (8) Teachers (67) U.S. Department of Education (25) Virtual Schools (36) Wi-FI (19)
Select a Month... May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008


Home » 273: How Top Earners Consistently Win Even When They're 'Busy' by Josh Wyles
273: How Top Earners Consistently Win Even When They're 'Busy' by Josh Wyles
"If you don't have the resources, you've got to get resourceful." Josh shows us what truly happens when you make the decision to win. And also, the secrets to building your business when life is busy.
Who is Josh Wyles?
Josh Wyles had a tough childhood. His mom died in a car accident when he was only 5 and he ended up being raised by his abusive dad.
Josh eventually became a police officer but found himself broke and on welfare.
In December 2011, he was introduced to MLM and in just 9 months, he was earning more than his police officer salary. In just 3 1/2 years, Josh earned over $800,000 and built a team of over 40,000 people in 7 countries.
Asides from being a MLM leader, Josh is also a single dad raising 2 daughters while living in North Carolina.
"Doubt has killed more dreams than failure ever will."
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma
Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by John C. Maxwell
Notepad App
JoshWyles.com


CIRCE (Coordinated Ionospheric Reconstruction CubeSat Experiment)
UK (Dstl)
US (NRL)
Agency UK (Dstl), US (NRL)
Instruments IRIS
Launch UK Payloads US Payloads References
CIRCE is a collaborative space mission between the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in developing small satellite ionospheric physics capability. The overall aim of this collaboration is to build on the existing relationship in this area to address emerging priorities through joint research. Key areas of interest are improved space situational awareness, C4 (command, control, communications & computing), space weather and investigating options for affordable space capabilities. 1)
The CIRCE mission objective is to accurately characterize the dynamic ionosphere. The mission is scheduled to launch in 2021, supported by the US DoD Space Test Program, and will be inserted into a circular 555 km ± 10 km orbit with a 90º ±5º inclination. CIRCE will exploit multiple sensor measurements across a two-satellite constellation to characterize the short-timescale dynamics in the ionosphere. The constellation consists of two near-identical 6U CubeSat buses, provided by Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT). The satellites will be flown in a 3-axis stable configuration, with the 2U x 1U axis facing the ram direction, and the 3U x 1U axis facing the nadir direction. The two spacecraft will use differential drag to achieve and maintain a lead-trail configuration, with an in-track separation of between 250 and 500km, allowing for short timescale dynamics to be observed.
Each of the CIRCE CubeSats will carry a complement of three UK and two US payloads (Figure 1). These instruments have all been contributed from academic, industrial and government partners across the two nations.
Figure 1: Schematic of the CIRCE spacecraft, showing the positions of the UK payloads (left) and US payloads (right) within the lead spacecraft bus (image credit: Nicholas et al., 2019).
The Ionosphere & Relevance of the Space Environment
The Earth's ionosphere occupies a region around 85 km to more than 600 km in altitude. Formed by solar radiation that ionizes the neutral species of the atmosphere, this charged plasma interacts with the ambient electric and magnetic fields in the near-Earth environment. Despite being orders of magnitude less dense than the neutral atmosphere around it, the ionosphere exhibits significant interaction with the upper atmosphere. The ionosphere can also transmit, refract and reflect radio waves. The ionized gases comprising the ionosphere have airglow signatures visible throughout the day and night, providing an opportunity for them to be observed and characterized.
While the overall climatology and diurnal variability of this ionized layer of the atmosphere is relatively well understood, the ionosphere exhibits a remarkable dynamic variability in response to space weather events (e.g. the radiation, charged particles, and magnetic fields associated with solar flares and coronal mass ejections), and dynamics driven from the lower atmosphere (waves, tides, circulation, meteorological events). The resulting ionospheric behavior and structures can dramatically affect the propagation of radio waves, even disrupting them completely. These effects can interfere with technologies such as communications links, geolocation systems and radar.
Thus, characterization of these short-timescale dynamics of the ionosphere is vital to enable an understanding of the origins of disturbances to systems, discriminating between environmentally-driven effects and technical malfunctions, and enabling space situational awareness. Additionally, understanding the dynamics of this region allows engineers to better protect equipment and personnel from the effects of space weather, and provide a more resilient capability.
The Dstl's (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory's) miniaturised space weather instrumentation suite will be aboard Virgin Orbit which is aiming to launch from Spaceport Cornwall later in 2022. 2)
The CIRCE satellite mission comprises two 6U CubeSats that will be launched into a near-polar low Earth orbit in a string-of-pearls configuration (targeting 555 km altitude). Each 6U satellite bus measures 10 x 20 x 30 cm (the size of a cereal box), and will fly almost identical instrument capability on both satellites. Dstl is partnering with the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) on the joint mission.
The UK contribution to CIRCE is the In-situ and Remote Ionospheric Sensing (IRIS) suite, complementary to NRL sensors and comprising 3 highly miniaturised payloads developed for Dstl by University College London (UCL), University of Bath, and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), drawing on expertise from the University of Surrey. CIRCE will characterise a region of the space environment, the ionosphere, which is important for a range of defence and civil applications and can impact GPS, communications and sensing technology – both in space and on the ground.
All 3 IRIS payloads together occupy a small volume no more than 10 x 10 x 20 cm. Miniaturisation of space weather sensors means that a significant capability is packed into each satellite bus provided by Blue Canyon Technologies. This type of miniaturisation could pave the way for deployment of many more such sensors as a routine inclusion on other satellites thanks to their small size, weight and power. The result would expand data collection for the near-Earth space environment, and enhance space weather modelling capabilities.
Understanding space weather is crucial to the safe operation of satellites. Solar flares and geomagnetic storms can severely impact satellites in space, as highlighted by the recent loss of 40 Space X Starlink satellites in February 2022.
Figure 2: CIRCE mission patch (UK Space Agency)
CIRCE comprises twin 6U CubeSats flying at 555 km in a lead/trail formation 300-500 km apart in the same orbit plane to measure Earth's ionosphere and particle radiation environment. The payload includes five low size, weight, and power in-situ and remote space environment sensors from the Department of the Navy (US) and Ministry of Defense (UK). 3)
Figure 3: The CIRCE dual CubeSats will fly in tandem in low Earth orbit to characterize the ionospheric 2D structure (vertical and horizontal) using advanced UV and radio remote sensors and tomographic methods. Miniaturized in-situ sensors provide key insights to the radiation environment and density and composition in the spacecraft environment (image credit: NRL)
Figure 4: Signal propagation depends on the structure and density of the ionosphere (image credit: NRL)
UK Payloads: IRIS Suite
From the UK, Dstl is contributing the In-situ and Remote Ionospheric Sensing (IRIS) suite. 4) With one installed on each spacecraft, the IRIS suite comprises three distinct and highly capable scientific payloads in a compact ~2U volume (Figure 5).
Figure 5: IRIS Suite CAD model, comprising INMS (top right), the TOPCAT GPS antenna top left), RadMon (center left), and the TOPCAT GPS receiver (bottom left), image credit: Dstl
The three payloads showcase the capabilities of UK academia/industry:
1) University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (UCL/MSSL) contribute the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS). The objective is to improve understanding of the variability of atmospheric drag, the chemistry of the thermosphere and the impact of space weather on the upper-atmosphere.
2) Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL)/University of Surrey contribute the RadMon radiation monitoring payload.
3) University of Bath contribute the TOPside ionosphere Computer Assisted Tomography (TOPCAT II), a tri-band GPS receiver that measures signal propagation delay to map the ionosphere.
The IRIS payloads are designed to make in-situ ionospheric particle and radiation measurements, combined with remote sensing of GPS signals to derive the electron density of the ionosphere and plasmasphere. Two IRIS suites are provided for CIRCE, occupying the front 2x1U of the lead satellite, and the rear 2x1U of the trailing satellite. With each spacecraft passing through the same region of the ionosphere with a short time delay, CIRCE will be able to observe environmental changes over far shorter timescales than the typical satellite revisit rate of one orbital period.
The datasets derived from the IRIS payloads are anticipated to:
• Improve our understanding of the variability of properties such as atmospheric drag and the chemistry of the thermosphere, and measure the impact of space weather and other effects on the upper atmosphere;
• Assist in the design and planning of future space missions by highlighting areas of LEO (Low Earth Orbit) with particularly increased radiation, and helping to shape orbital and shielding requirements for future satellites;
• Validate the MIDAS (Multi-Instrument Data Analysis System) 5) tomography algorithm for characterizing the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere, measuring the differential phase of received GPS signals to infer total electron content (TEC) of the atmosphere between the receiver and GPS satellite, and thus deriving the electron density of the region.
In addition to providing substantial scientific interest independently, the sensors comprising the IRIS suite were specifically selected to enrich the scientific output of the US Tri-TIP payloads, providing contextual environmental data alongside the UV photometry measurements of electron density.
It is noteworthy that the IRIS suite was developed, from concept to final flight model delivery (Figure 6), in just one year.
Figure 6: The IRIS Suite Flight Model undergoing integration with one of the CIRCE buses (image credit: BCT)
INMS (Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer)
Developed by University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, the INMS is a cylindrical electrostatic particle analyzer, utilizing innovative technology to miniaturize the sensor to smaller than 1U in size (Figure 7). The sensor is capable of measuring the density of various ionized and neutral particles in the environment the spacecraft passes through, but is optimized to measure O, O2, NO and N2 ion and neutral particle concentrations in the thermosphere.
Figure 7: The Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (image credit: UCL/MSSL)
The key sensor components, shown schematically in Figure 8, consist of a collimator/ion filter, an ionizer and a charged particle spectrometer. Charged particles entering the aperture can be rejected in the ion filter region by applying voltages to its electrodes. The ionizer consists of an electron source, an energy selector and a beam steerer and provides a beam of up to 50 eV electrons that is steered into the charge exchange region. The spectrometer consists of a cylindrical geometry electrostatic analyzer and a Channel Electron Multiplier (CEM) detector.
Figure 8: Schematic of INMS internal components (image credit: UCL/MSSL)
When voltages are applied to the ion filter and the ionizer is turned on, ions are rejected in the filter whereas the neutral particles are ionized by the electron beam, and subsequently energy analyzed in the analyzer. On the other hand, when both are turned off, neutral particles pass through a gap in the analyzer whereas the ions get energy analyzed in the analyzer. At any instant in time, the INMS operates either in ion or in neutral particle detection mode, with the capability to acquire full distributions at as low as 16 ms per mass species. In most applications, the instrument is typically operated alternatively in ion and neutral particle detection mode with the mode configurable via a UART interface as desired.
The INMS sensor installed on the lead CIRCE spacecraft will permanently face the ram direction to collect incoming atmospheric particles, while the trailing spacecraft will periodically rotate to alternate the ram facing section of the spacecraft, allowing the second INMS sensor to collect data from the dayside while the US Tri-TIP sensors are not operating.
The sensor technology has proven flight heritage, having successfully flown on the TechDemoSat 2014 and on the QB50 missions.
TOPCAT II (TOPside ionosphere Computer Assisted Tomography)
Designed and built by the University of Bath, the TOPCAT II payload is a triple-frequency GPS receiver. As previously discussed, the variable density of the ionosphere can interfere with the propagation of radio signals passing through it. TOPCAT II derives the total electron content (TEC) of the propagation medium from the differential phase of the received signals. The calculated TEC allows for four-dimensional mapping of the ionosphere. 6)
Figure 9: TOPCAT II receiver engineering model (image credit: University of Bath)
The TOPCAT II payload (Figure 9) consists of a GPS receiver, payload controller board, and a triple frequency antenna. TOPCAT also has previous flight heritage: the TOPCAT I payload was the output of a PhD project and demonstration of the use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components as a cost effective way to construct an upper-atmosphere scientific payload, which flew on the CubeSat UKube-1, in 2014. 7) The TOPCAT II payload is an updated model of this design, an entirely new electronic design due to a new GPS receiver, and an upgrade from duel to triple-frequency capabilities.
Ionospheric (TEC) tomography is a well-established method of imaging the ionosphere, first demonstrated with LEO satellites of the US Navy Ionosphere Monitoring System (NIMS) and the Russian CICADIA satellites. 8)
RadMon (Radiation Monitor)
RadMon 3.0 is the latest in a series of mature radiation monitoring payloads from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). To date, six spacecraft have flown with SSTL developed radiation monitors, in a wide range of orbital regimes. In addition to a veritable spaceflight heritage for the technology, the monitors have provided a near continuous dataset of geomagnetic radiation environment readings since 1992.
The RadMon 3.0 provided for IRIS (Figure 10) is a real-time, low SWAP instrument which provides data on the radiation experienced by the CIRCE spacecraft, and specifically by IRIS. The design has been updated for this mission, a reduction from four printed circuit boards to only two - further reducing the payload's already small volume and mass - required fundamental alterations to the design.
RadMon will utilize three RadFET solid state dosimeters to measure the total ionizing radiation dose experienced by CIRCE: one internal to the payload and two mounted externally within the IRIS suite. Dose rate monitoring is carried out by an ultraviolet (UV) photodiode, and proton and heavy ion fluxes are measured by a large area PIN diode detector.
With two identical RadMon payloads in the same orbit, datasets from both spacecraft can be used for cross-calibration, in addition to providing a useful comparison for identifying spacecraft system upsets and anomalies. Datasets from RadMon are expected to benefit the development of orbital radiation models, in addition to demonstrating increases in particle flux and radiation following space weather events, providing monitoring of the impact of such events.
Figure 10: RadMon 3.0 engineering model (image credit: SSTL)
US Payloads: TRI-TIP (Tiny Ionospheric Photometer)
The F-region of the ionosphere, occupying altitudes from ~150 to 500 km, emits several discrete wavelengths of far ultraviolet (FUV) light. Observing these emissions from space based sensors is ideal, as Earth's lower atmosphere completely absorbs FUV wavelengths, so preventing any background light from the surface interfering with observations. These FUV emissions are known as "nightglow", and are often used to observe and characterize the ionosphere. 9)
First developed by the NRL for the Constellation Observing system for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) mission, 10) the Tiny Ionospheric Photometer (TIP) is a highly compact remote sensing instrument, designed to observe this FUV nightglow and thus measure the density and physical structures of the ionosphere. 11)
Payload Layout & Viewing Geometry
Tri-TIP is a 1U CubeSat compatible instrument, featuring three TIP sensors and a hinged deployable mirror assembly ( Figure 11).
NRL are providing four Tri-TIP instruments for CIRCE, two sensors installed on each spacecraft. On each spacecraft, the two sensors are arranged to have different lines of sight onto the ionosphere below. The in-track separation of the two spacecraft of 250-500 km was chosen to optimize the viewing geometry of the four Tri-TIP sensors, allowing for multi-point sampling of the ionosphere. The Tri-TIP observations will take place on the night-side portion of the orbit, when the nightglow of the ionosphere is most visible. While not operating, the trail spacecraft will flip 180º in the yaw axis to align the second IRIS INMS instrument with the ram direction.
Figure 11: Isometric view of the Tri-TIP instrument, with the hinged mirror assembly deployed (image credit: Andrew C. Nicholas, et al., Ref. 4)
Understanding the dynamics of the ionosphere is vital to the operation of various ground-based technologies, as well as spacefaring interests. The CIRCE mission will provide a hugely beneficial insight into these dynamics. CIRCE highlights the considerable capability that can be achieved by scientific CubeSat missions, challenging traditionally-perceived constraints of CubeSat platforms. The development of the IRIS payload in just one year demonstrates the agility of the UK space industry, and showcases the capability of UK academia to swiftly enable high impact space science. There is significant scientific benefit to be derived from the synergistic payloads comprising the CIRCE mission, especially when considering the temporal aspect of the measurements made possible by the dual satellite bus constellation architecture.
1) Alexander P. Agathanggelou, Gemma D. R. Attrill, Andrew C. Nicholas, Graham J. Routledge, Junayd A. Miah, Dhiren O Kataria, Cathryn N. Mitchell, Robert J. Watson, James Williams, Tobias Carman, Alex Fortnam, Scott A. Budzien, Kenneth F. Dymond, "CIRCE: Coordinated Ionospheric Reconstruction CubeSat Experiment," Proceedings of the 34th Annual AIAA/USU Virtual Conference on Small Satellites, August 1-6, 2020, Logan, UT, USA, paper: SSC20-III-02, URL: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4719&context=smallsat
2) "CIRCE space weather suite announced for first UK satellite launch," UK Government and UK Space Agency Press Release, 7 June 2022, URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/circe-space-weather-suite-announced-for-first-uk-satellite-launch
3) "CIRCE Coordinated Ionospheric Reconstruction CubeSat Experiment," NRL, https://cedarscience.org/sites/default/files/workshops/2019/fritz-2019.pdf
4) Andrew C. Nicholas, Gemma D. R. Attrill, Kenneth F. Dymond, Scott A. Budzien, Andrew W. Stephan, Bruce A. Fritz, Graham J. Routledge, Junayd A. Miah, Charles M. Brown, Peter J. Marquis, Ted T. Finne, Cathryn N. Mitchell,Robert J. Watson, Dhiren O. Kataria, James Williams, "Coordinated Ionospheric Reconstruction CubeSat Experiment (CIRCE) mission overview," Proceedings of SPIE, Volume 11131, CubeSats and SmallSats for Remote Sensing III; 111310E (6 September 2019), SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2019, San Diego, California, United States, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2528767, URL: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10091655/1/111310E.pdf
5) C. Cooper, A. T. Chartier, C. Mitchell, D. R. Jackson, "Improving ionospheric imaging via the incorporation of direct ionosonde observations into GPS tomography," 2014 XXXIth URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium (URSI GASS), IEEE Xplore, 16-23, 2014, https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6929839
6) Gary S. Bust, Cathryn N. Mitchell, "History, current state, and future directions of ionospheric imaging," Review of Geophysics, AGU, Published: 26 February 2008, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006RG000212, URL: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2006RG000212
7) Talini Pinto Jayawardena, "Topside Ionosphere/Plasmasphere Tomography Using Space-Borne Dual Frequency GPS Receivers," University of Bath, PhD Thesis, 24 June 2015, URL:https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/topside-ionosphereplasmasphere-tomography-using-space-borne-dual-
8) R. Leitinger, G. K. Hartmann, F.‐J. Lohmar, E. Putz, "Electron content measurements with geodetic Doppler receivers," AGU Radio Science, Vol. 19, Issue 3, May-June 1984, https://doi.org/10.1029/RS019i003p00789
9) R. R. Meier, "Ultraviolet spectroscopy and remote sensing of the upper atmosphere,"Space Science Reviews, Vol. 58, pp: 1-185, Published: December 1991, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01206000
10) Scott Budzien, Kenneth Dymond, Clayton Coker, Damien Chua, "Tiny Ionospheric Photometers on FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC: on-orbit performance," SPIE Proceedings, Volume 7438, 'Solar Physics and Space Weather Instrumentation III', 743813 (2009), SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 23 September 2009, San Diego, California, United States, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.826532
11) K. F. Dymond, S. A. Budzen, C. Coker, D. H. Chua, "The Tiny Ionospheric Photometer (TIP) on the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC/FORMOSAT‐3)," Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 121, Issue 10, Published: 05 October 2016, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022900, URL: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/2016JA022900
Launch UK Payloads US Payloads References Back to top


California Golden Bears Baseball
Three more Cal Bears were taken in the MLB Draft—including Brandon McIlwain
Big congrats to McIlwain, Arman Sabouri, and Rogelio Reyes!
By Leland Wong Jun 6, 2019, 8:00am PDT
Share All sharing options for: Three more Cal Bears were taken in the MLB Draft—including Brandon McIlwain
D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
Days one and two of the MLB Draft saw a total of four California Golden Bears get drafted—two each day.
Day three saw three more Bears get their name called, bringing Cal's total to seven Bears. The first Bear to be taken on this day was in the twelfth round—Arman Sabouri to the Milwaukee Brewers.
This guy brought the intensity every time he stepped on the mound. A look back at @ArmanSabouri's season. #CalBaseball #Brewers pic.twitter.com/A6FOA8Zlot
— Cal Baseball (@CalBaseball) June 5, 2019
"Then I heard 'Arman Sabouri' on the live stream and I just went into shock," [Sabouri] said.
The lefty split this season between starting as an "opener," usually throwing two to four innings, and coming out of the bullpen, where he recorded four saves.
Sabouri said he's likely to sign a contract and begin his professional career, and that he'd be ready for whatever role the Twins would have in mind for him.
After that, fellow member of the pitching staff Rogelio Reyes was taken in the twenty-second round by the Minnesota Twins.
Some of the highlights from #CalBaseball right-hander Rogelio Reyes this season ... he was drafted by the @Twins today. #ProBears pic.twitter.com/o0mV0rCOTW
Reyes expressed joy at the recognition that he and his six fellow Bears earned over these past three days.
"Those are my brothers," Reyes said. "We're always going to stay in touch. I'm just a proud brother, really."
The final Golden Bear to be drafted yesterday was our two-sport man—Brandon McIlwain; the Miami Marlins selected him in the twenty-sixth round. Nevertheless, it doesn't look like he'll be taking his talents to South Beach just yet as he has some unfinished business at Cal.
"It really has been my dream since I was little to be drafted," McIlwain said. "It was surreal."
But McIlwain, who played as a redshirt sophomore this season, said he's planning to return to Cal for another year. He suffered a foot injury in a late-April game at Oregon State and didn't return.
"I feel like I have some more time in me left at Cal," McIlwain said.
Congrats to these three Bears and good luck!


GREENLAND SHARK CAPTURED ON CAMERA
World's Oldest Living Vertebrate Makes Rare Appearance on Camera
Still image from the Greenland shark footage. The green laser is from a photogrammetry device used to measure body size (Brynn Devine/YouTube)
Scientists have captured some very rare footage of Greenland sharks during a research project into population distribution in the Candian Arctic.
Brynn Devine and Jonathan Fisher, researchers at the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, embarked on a project in 2015 to study the distribution of the little-known shark in the Canadian Arctic. Although the shark was caught in great numbers by Greenland and Norwegian fisheries during the first half of the 20th century, little research has been carried out into the species, hence the extent of its distribution throughout the polar region remains largely unknown.
With Arctic ecosystems facing an uncertain future through the effects of climate change, plus the problems associated with population decline through bycatch as a result of industrial fishing operations, according to the report, published in the online journal Nature, 'the paucity of data concerning [body size and survival traits] and Greenland shark population dynamics has led to its designation as 'near threatened' or 'data deficient' throughout parts of its range; in other areas it remains unassessed. Therefore an urgent need exists to address major knowledge gaps concerning past, present, and potential future population dynamics'
Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) are the oldest living vertebrates known to science, however there is so little data available regarding their lifespan that the female specimen used to determine the species' age was documented as 392 ± 120 years, meaning it could have been as 'young' as 272, or as old as 512 years of age. They reportedly grow at less than 1cm per year, and are thought to not reach sexual maturity until they are at least 100 years of age.
(Brynn Devine/Youtube)
They are some of the biggest sharks in the ocean, growing to over 6m in length, possibly more, with the largest specimens weighing in at over 1000kg, although their average length is estimated to be between 3-5m, with a weight around 400kg. Despite their large size, they are difficult to study as – like the recently identified new species of sixgill shark – they inhabit deep waters, having been observed at depths of up to 2,200m. They are apex predators, feeding on fish and rays and even small sharks, as well as scavenging the remains of polar bears, moose and reindeer. They have been reported to hunt live seals, but as the Greenland shark is an incredibly sluggish swimmer, scientists remain unaware as to how they would capture one of the fastest and most agile animals found in the sea.
During the study, cameras baited with squid were deployed during the summer months of July-September in 2015 and 2016. Out of the 31 camera deployments that were made, a total of 142 individuals were identified, and although none of them was observed during more than a single deployment, as many as 18 sharks were recorded in the same area at the same time. The researchers used their findings to calculate estimates of Greenland shark abundance and biomass based on the time it took sharks to arrive on the scene, along with swimming speed and body length derived from laser photogrammetry, observed from the video.
The report concludes that 'Greenland sharks are seemingly widespread and commonly inhabit a wide range of depth and temperature conditions,' however it 'represents the first step towards closing a major knowledge gap on the population status of the Greenland shark.'
Brynn Devine/Youtube
Brynn Devine and Jonathon Fisher's report is published in online scientific journal The Conversation. The full report, authored by Brynn M. Devine, Laura J. Wheeland and Jonathan A. D. Fisher is available at Nature.com, and both are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
8 COLD WATER DIVING DESTINATIONS
SLEEPER SHARKS FOUND IN ACTIVE VOLCANO
SCUBA TRAVEL RAISES £3K FOR BITE-BACK
THE OLDEST VERTEBRATE
GOOD NEWS FOR MIGRATORY SHARKS
THREE CHARGED IN SHARK DRAGGING OUTRAGE


Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene No Longer Serves on Committee Assignments
Headlines Politics US News
Entertainment Headlines Uncategorized
Headlines US News
Kim Potter Found Guilty on All Charges
Former Narcotics Detective Busted With Illegal Marijuana Grow
Chicago's Clean Energy Plan to Reach 100% Renewable Electricity by 2030
Democrats Must Not Lose the 2022 Midterm Elections
Headlines Health
Headlines Tech
The House of Representatives voted to strip freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.) from her committee assignments on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. She tried to walk back her professed theories stating they were "lies she was allowed to believe," as though she does not have the ability to discern fact from fantasy.
She has been seen wearing masks that support former President Donald Trump's claim that he won the 2020 General Election and one that reads censored. When she arrived at the House on the day she was expected to defend herself against the charges lodged against her, Greene wore a mask that proclaimed her right to free speech.
Greene supposedly denounced her "loony lies" in a meeting with Rep. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) the day before. He claims she stated she no longer believes in the QAnon theories.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) used an enlarged screenshot of a Facebook ad from Greene's campaign page depicting her holding an assault rifle.
"The image featured a photo of Greene holding a gun alongside isolated images of Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). Underneath was the caption: 'Squad's worst nightmare,'" reports NPR.
The House members agreed on the resolution to remove Greene from the chamber's Education and Labor, and Budget committees.
The final vote tally reflected Congress' division with the majority of Democrats and 11 Republicans voting yea — 230 to 199 with three members not casting votes.
Greene's 'Loony' Behavior
Greene wants people to believe she has dismissed the QAnon conspiracies as non-truths that she quit believing them "by the end of 2017." But that did not stop her from continuing to spread the lies. In July 2020, she explained on national television that she was "concerned about a deep state."
She was removed from her assignments because of her history of repeating Q's theories before and during her campaign. It is unlikely she will stop. However, she may tone down the language attempting to disguise her true intent.
In the past, Rep. Greene posted lengthy missives on Facebook about her theories that reflect her belief in QAnon conspiracy propaganda.
She accosted and accused David Hogg, asserting he was just an actor in the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland High School. She has repeatedly stated that mass shootings were staged as a fear tactic that the Democrats are using to take away Second Amendment rights of gun ownership.
Another of Greene's claims is about a Jewish company's satellite that supposedly shot lasers and started the recent fires in California. She is guilty of making similar unfounded antisemitic statements.
Moreover, she announced during the January 6th insurrection on the Capitol that she would submit Articles of Impeachment against then-President-Elect Joe Biden. Greene followed through with her promise and submitted the articles the day after his inauguration on January 21. While the claims she posted in the paperwork have not been released, Greene is a die-hard Trump supporter who still does not recognize Biden's presidency as legitimate.
On Thursday (three years after she claims to stop believing in Q's lies), she restated her belief in the so-called deep state in a tweet:
It's not just me they want to cancel. They want to cancel every Republican. Don't let the mob win.
WCSH: House votes to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from committee assignments; Alan Fram and Brian Slodysko
CNN: House votes to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from committee assignments; by Clare Foran, Daniella Diaz, and Annie Grayer
NPR: House Removes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene From Her Committee Assignments; by Barbara Sprunt
Featured Image Courtesy of Eric B. Walker's Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Related Topics:Featuredgreene
Burglars Remove ATMs From Chicago Businesses
Criminal Sexual Assault Report in South Chicago
Marjorie Taylor Greene 'Suggests' Harming Vaccination Workers Is Okay
Mitch McConnell Denounces Marjorie Taylor Greene's QAnon Lunacy [Video]
Rep. Marjorie Greene Starts Impeachment Process Against Joe Biden


Thursday log: Neighbor slams door
Karen Madden
» At 7:54 a.m. Wednesday, a caller reported a door open on a building in the 1500 block of Whitrock Avenue.
» At 8:05 a.m. Wednesday, a man reported someone swung a shovel at him near the intersection of Chase Street and Riverview Expressway.
» At 8:16 a.m. Wednesday, a caller reported someone stole a cellphone from the 100 block of Second Street North.
» At 9:10 a.m. Wednesday, a caller reported someone stole items from the 1100 block of Blue Iris Court.
» At 9:56 a.m. Wednesday, a caller reported water bubbling out of a manhole cover near the intersection of Fourth Avenue North and High Street.
» At 12:55 p.m. Wednesday, a caller reported someone stole a wallet from the 400 block of Grove Avenue.
» At 5:49 p.m. Wednesday, a caller reported a two-vehicle crash in the 400 block of East Grand Avenue.
» At 7:11 p.m. Wednesday, a Wisconsin Rapids man reported his neighbor slammed a door in his face in the 1400 block of 29th Avenue South.
» At 8:06 p.m. Wednesday, an officer arrested a man during a traffic stop near the intersection of Eighth and Avon streets.
» At 11:40 p.m. Wednesday, a caller reported a traffic crash near the intersection of Eighth Street South and East Riverview Expressway.
» At 4:36 a.m. Thursday, officers arrested a man during a traffic stop in the 2900 block of Sampson Street.
» At 6:48 p.m. Wednesday, a man reported a traffic crash in the 3400 block of 37th Street South, Grand Rapids.
» At 8:43 p.m. Wednesday, an officer responded to a domestic disturbance in Nekoosa and arrested a man.
» At 12:21 a.m. Thursday, a caller reported a traffic crash near the intersection of 32nd Street South and Highway W, Grand Rapids.
» At 2:14 a.m. Thursday, a deputy arrested a man for drunken driving in the 4300 block of 80th Street South, Grand Rapids.


New Talent & Track Reviews
THE SCHEMISTS
Thread starter DJsEiZe
DJsEiZe
I've been keeping my eye on this production duo for a while now and think they've reached a level which could see them get a release in the not too distant future. They've already gained support from Logistics, Loxy and Subterra. Here is their myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/theschemists
They also put on a pretty good night called Masterplan in St. Albans, Hertfordshire which is worth checking out if you're in the area. Anyway give their music a listen
logikz
I Am Not The King
www.easternpromiseaudio.com
pillow talk is great, with the swells and that. other than that the sound is cleanly, a tad too much so maybe in fact as it were
benkama.net
Halfway between the gutter and stars
Yes I can see where they are going with this. I like it, sort of reminds me of older calibre tunes. nice, and I disagree on the too clean sound issue, just about right for me, not too fancy but not too ruff either.
logikz said:
I don't understand what you mean by your second sentence. . .
Mattix
Sub Focus anyone?
Is someone with a lisp trying to say The Qemists?? AHahahahah...im hilarious!
I've never heard anyone complain about production sounding too clean, thats mad!
Well it's easy to go over produced. The key is to keep the main focus on the groove and feelign of track and keep the sound quality a secondary objective.
I can't understand how people can get annoyed by good production when there is so much shit drum n bass that gets released on a regular basis. Surely its only 'easy to go over produced' if you're a good producer? Either way I don't think this is the case with these guys, their muisc does have a good groove and soul to it, the quality production is just a bonus!
Portsmouth, UK
I saw these guys on friday night, they played a banging set together, warming up for danny byrd.
They're sick djs, got them booked for February's Undertone
DJsEiZe said:
Listen to any record from the 80's when digital was the new thing. There you have it, too clean. Somehow a lot of modern drum'n'bass production is focusing too much on "that snare needs 200Hz more" or "this synth would sound better through that lexicon reverb". There's also a lot of commotion of "filling up the spectrum" and how weird is that? How does having all the sounds possible in your tune make it better?
Thats' over production. But hey I like these guys' sound just fine, for me this isn't over produced.
I do understand about people making their tunes ridiculously loud etc, but the producers who are accused of this are usually the best producers in the scene. My point is there should be more quality control in the drum n bass scene and more done about the rubbish that gets released, before people start moaning about music that sounds good and that is of high quality. This thread was supposed to be about these guys tunes...
so do you know anything else about them?
have any links to sets or other tunes apart from them on the myspace? these guys smashed friday night.
Got a couple of links here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/The-Schemists/20656351932?ref=s
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=6943694523
There are some more tunes on their facebook page and I think there might be some mixes on that group...
Cool, cheers for that dude! Don't think I'll be able to ever make it to one of their nights (bit of a trek) but if they are down here again I'd def go along.
Apparently Loxy is playin Mr. Gribbler...
Toshminosh
What happened? Mr Gribbler is a huge tune.


Femulating on the Tube
Anna Maria and Paula alerted me to a Shiseido cosmetics advertisement featuring what is purported to be a class of Japanese high school girls, who are actually femulated boys. The ad is amazing not only because the femulations are perfect, but because of the time and effort put into producing the ad.
You can see the ad here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n3Db6pMQ-8
And you can see how the ad was produced here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM_uPPvXUXs
I'll Switch
Poking around the Internet, I discovered The Switch, a television show from Chile, which features femulators competing in song. The program is sort of a combination of The Voice and Ru Paul's Drag Race.
The contestants are drag queens female impersonators, that is "men who live a regular life throughout the day... but in the evening they transform themselves into great (pop) stars." but in In my opinion, their transformations are less drag and more ladylike, that is, they look more like professional female singers rather than drag queens.
There are a bunch of videos on YouTube from The Switch. Here are two samples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYqP2JFQ7CQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCaM1nYmYzE
By the way, The Switch is also the name of a new Canadian television program, which "features Julie Vu, a transgender woman and YouTube sensation, in the lead role of an upwardly mobile IT manager who loses her job and Vancouver apartment after coming out of the closet.
"But rather than being a downer, the Canadian single-camera comedy follows Vu's character as she rebuilds her life in Vancouver's queer underground with the help of friends, including five transgender characters, each played by a transgender actor." (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
Wearing Boston Proper.
Actor Christopher Hewett plays the femulating Roger De Bris
in the original 1967 version of the film The Producers.
Actor Gary Beach plays the femulating Roger De Bris
in the 2005 remake of The Producers.
Labels: advertisement, crossdress, crossdresser, crossdressing, femulate, femulation, femulator, stana, television, transgender, transgirl, transwoman, video, YouTube
SusieJay October 23, 2015
That Japanese video is astonishing. Wish I'd been sent to that school.
Sheila from Tampa October 23, 2015
Dear Stana,
Thank You for sharing. FABULOUS!!!
Asian males from the Orient generally seem to have the perfect facial structure and features to femulate beautifully. There are so many examples of gorgeous femulating by males from the Orient on various TV shows, etc. I believe you have posted in the past articles on cafes in Tokyo that featured entire femulated staffs. Apparently, crossdressing is not the taboo in parts of the Orient (like it is in the USA). Fortunately, American attitudes are improving regarding transgender issues ... but still a long way to go.
Hi Stana, In Spanish, and particularly in Chile, a "transformista" is not a drag queen at all. The translation into English would be "female impersonator". The voice in Spanish says "there are men who live a regular life throughout the day... but in the evening they transform themselves into great (pop) stars... soon we will broadcast a star studded talent show never seen before (in Chile I presume)... we will elect the best female impersonator in Chile..."
The way this is being presented, I get the impression that these are heterosexual impersonators and, again, not drag queens at all. I hope to be able to watch this show on-line.
Stana October 23, 2015
Thank you for the correction, Anna Maria. I updated the post accordingly.
Live Blog: Woman At Work
Live Blog Tomorrow
If Anybody Asks...
Shopping Semi-Femulated
Working Woman Meg
Nurse Paula
Shops for Plus-Sized Gurls
Tips for Halloween Working Girls
Another Working Girl Femulation
Throwback Tuesday: At Work En Femme
TGIF... not!
Throwback Thursday: No More Closets
Guy in Dress Vs. Femme Fatale
Fantasia Fair's Downside
Chris rocks in striped shorts and white tights
More Southern Southern Comfort Conference
Life in the Femme Lane
First, the Bad News
Costumes You Probably Can't Wear To The Office
How to Negotiate Stairs (and Avoid Stares)
Chic Costumes You Can Wear To The Office
In my dreams, 50 years ago...
I love this dress!


States finalizing their distribution plans
finalizing
Pressure to create a coronavirus vaccine is increasing by the day, but for a safe vaccine to enter the market, it takes time.
State public health departments say they're ready to leap into action as soon as a COVID-19 vaccine is approved but caution so many things are still unknown that exactly what that leap looks like is hard to say right now.
For Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, it's like planning an outdoor picnic for 1.3 million of his closest friends (the population of Maine) without knowing how much food he has, who's coming, how he's going to invite them and what they can and can't eat.
"We plan for things we have knowledge around and move forward from there," he said.
The good news is that the earliest date a vaccine is expected to arrive is now around Thanksgiving so that gives states a little breathing room. There had been the possibility that a vaccine could become available as soon as Nov. 1.
To get ready, in Maine the public health department is planning "down to the person," Shah said. "We're looking at how many miles our public health nurses may need to drive."
On Friday state public health departments submitted vaccination distribution plans to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The plans were as detailed as they could be given the many things that are still unknown:
When a vaccine or vaccines will become available.
Which groups will be first in line to get it and who comes next.
What kind of storage and refrigerator or freezer requirements they might have. At least one must be stored at -94°.
For vaccines that require two doses (all but one), when the second dose must be administered.
Information about whether a certain vaccine works or doesn't work in specific populations such as the elderly, pregnant women or the young.
In a call with reporters Monday, public health officials talked about how they're preparing and what they still need.
This involves hours and hours of meetings: Last week state health officials spent two hours meeting with Pfizer just about the packaging it has developed to keep the vaccine cold as it's distributed and stored, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers.
Latest news: Global COVID cases pass 40M; US nears 220K deaths; Fauci not surprised Trump was infected
Deadly discrimination: Asian Americans in San Francisco are dying at alarming rates from COVID-19: Racism is to blame
Maine's Shah said he's having multiple meetings every day and many at night to get ready for what will be one of the biggest public health pushes of the modern era.
The final plan for who gets COVID-19 vaccine first will come from the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. That committee is standing ready to meet the day or the day after a vaccine is approved, Shah said.
Where will your family be? Expert panel recommends who should be first in line for COVID-19 vaccine.
But even without the official plan, state health officials have a pretty good idea of the distribution order based on a report released earlier this month by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs answers a reporter's question during a coronavirus news briefing in Jackson, Miss. (Photo: Rogelio V. Solis/AP)
The first phase, 1a, is very likely to be front-line health care workers. That will make it relatively easy because those vaccinations will take place at hospitals, which are already set up for doing large-scale vaccination efforts, Shah said.
It's when things get to the early stages of Phase 2, which includes people with preexisting conditions that put them at greater risk for becoming seriously ill or dying of COVID that it gets more complicated.
Maine has an older population and many people with preexisting conditions. "That's a large swath of Maine's population," Shah said.
There's also a complex and delicate computer interface to create. All states have immunization registries to track childhood immunizations. Those are now being expanded to include COVID-19 vaccines.
And states are building systems to remind patients to come back for their second shot, if one is needed, and which of the possible multiple vaccines they received so they know which one to get a second time.
Also at issue: Maintaining patient privacy at a faster pace than usual – recording vaccinations within 24 hours instead of five days.
"We've been telling our providers they're going to need to be reporting into our system every night," Shah said. The state's pressure-testing its systems to make sure they can handle the influx of information.
In Mississippi, state health officials have been working hard to get ready, said Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the state health officer.
"This is going to be a Herculean effort," he said.
Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/10/19/covid-19-vaccine-states-finalizing-their-distribution-plans/3713600001/


New Kitchen Construction
The History of Coppes Napanee
The company that produced the Coppes Napanee Kitchenettes and the Napanee Line of furniture is over 135 years old, dating back to 1876. The Coppes company had its beginning when two young brothers, Frank and John Coppes, were asked to join with their brother-in-law John C. Mellinger in a small sawmill business. The Mellinger-Coppes partnership did very well, and by 1880 they expanded by purchasing a box factory and planing mill. Soon the two Coppes brothers had bought out John Mellinger, and the box factory was moved from South of the railroad tracks (now the Nappanee Milling location on South Main St. ) to newly constructed buildings north of the present Coppes Factory. The 1883 building was the first of many buildings to be constructed at that site as the company phased in and out of furniture production and then turned its focus solely to kitchen cabinetry in the early 1900's. Coppes Bros. & Zook soon became one of the leading manufacturers of Hoosier Cabinets in the country, helping to put Nappanee on the map as "Kitchen City, U.S.A." The business remained open through the Great Depression and two world wars, evolving its product line to fit the needs of the American home.
The buildings as they are today were built in many stages as the factory needed them. They are the product of at least 15 more building projects dating from 1887 to 1955. Today Coppes Commons uses these buildings to showcase its collection of unique shoppes and delicious treats.
Through it all, Coppes Napanee has managed to keep designing and producing high-quality cabinetry and has the distinction of being the longest continuously-operating cabinet manufacturer in the United States.
For a more in-depth look at the history of the Coppes businesses, visit the history page at www.CoppesCommons.com.
2020 Catalog [PDF]
Get the Coppes Napanee 2020 Catalog. Enter your name and email so we can send it to you!
How did you first hear about Coppes Napanee
Home | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
455 E Lincoln St
Take Customer Survey
© Coppes Napanee 2021
Coppes Napanee


From left: Courtesy Chanel; Courtesy Miu Miu; Courtesy Iris Van Herpen
And the designers that stood out from the rest.
By Kristen Bateman on July 08, 2019
Departures is published by Meredith Corp. and owned by American Express. While American Express Card Member benefits are highlighted in this publication, including through the links indicated below, the content of this article was independently written by the editorial staff at Meredith. Other Departures content paid for by American Express is explicitly marked as such.
Couture week in Paris is among the most extravagant of all fashion weeks. Designers spend hundreds of hours in their ateliers, producing as much of the pieces as possible by hand. Couture is also such a special niche, that it's regulated by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in Paris and all fashion houses must follow specialized rules in order to call their products "couture." This month, the fall 2019 couture shows kicked off in Paris with major brands such as Chanel, Dior, and Schiaparelli all flexing their creative muscles and craftsmanship. Here's everything you need to know about the top shows.
Courtesy Miu Miu
Miu Miu's Jockey Club
Each year in July, Miu Miu kicks off couture week by staging its over-the-top Resort show. And though the brand isn't doing couture—they also make their show equally as interesting and worthy of the time period in which it's presented. In past seasons, the sister brand to Prada has shown its resort fashion shows inside luxury hotels with an A-list cast as models (Uma Thurman, Naomi Campbell, Gwendoline Christie, Rowan Blanchard, and Sadie Sink all walked in last year's show). This time, Miu Miu took over the legendary horse race track Hippodrome d'Auteuil in Paris, France and transformed it into a chic show space. The event opened up with a steeplechase race in which guests were allowed to bid (The prize? A limited edition silk scarf by Miu Miu). After that, the runway show followed, then came a caviar and oyster dinner and, an after party. As for the clothing itself, Miuccia Prada was inspired by the conservative nature of horse racing, and wanted to address the idea (as it related to the venue and far beyond) with a dose of fun and glamour. The results came in the form of boyish shorts, sparkly sequined dresses with puffed sleeves, vintage-looking tea dresses with oversized collars, and plenty of mirrored platforms. Each model was also topped off with a double hat—cloches and floppy toppers were layered over baseball caps.
From left: Courtesy Chanel; Courtesy Schiaperelli
Schiaparelli and Chanel Reborn
The fall 2019 couture shows certainly were a season of debuts. For example, designer Daniel Roseberry (formerly of Thom Browne) revealed his very first collection as the artistic director of the brand. Bright yellow gowns trimmed in black feathers that seemed to float, black smoking jackets covered in red acrylic fingernails and crystals, and larger-than-life red, pink and rainbow ruffled confections marched down the runway while Roseberry sat at a drafting table on the runway, sketching. The collection was inspired by transformation. "At the end of last November, I was asked for a proposal reimagining the house of Schiaparelli," read the collection notes. "At the time, I had just left a job at the house where I'd spent my entire ten-year-long career. It was in that job that I discovered who I was as a designer, but also who I was as a person, as an adult, as a New Yorker, as a friend. As I began thinking about what my vision of Schiaparelli might be, I was also thinking about who I myself might be, because I didn't know anymore. This collection is the story of that December, and what I dreamt up in that little studio."
Meanwhile, Chanel presented its first show by Virginie Viard (the label's new head designer since the passing of Karl Lagerfeld earlier this year). The label transformed the entire Grand Palais into a multi-level library inspired by the one in Gabrielle Chanel's apartment on Rue Cambon, along with a collection full of streamlined tweed suits, gowns and sophisticatedly tailored librarian-chic separates.
From left: Courtesy Iris Van Herpen; Courtesy Viktor & Rolf
Iris Van Herpen and Viktor and Rolf Take on the Art of Fashion
The haute couture shows are often exercises of craft by each of the brands who have shows on the official schedule. One of the best examples this season was Iris Van Herpen's show. The Dutch designer often works with technology and 3D printing to create feats of the imagination. Influenced by the American artist Anthony Howe and his kinetic sculptures that are powered by wind, she showed a breathtaking collection of fluid silk sculptural creations. The final 'Infinity dress' took over four months to create and was constructed of a skeleton of aluminum, stainless steel, and bearings, embroidered with rings of feather which revolved around their own center as the model walked the runway.
Elsewhere, the designer duo Viktor & Rolf (Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren) created a collection dubbed Spiritual Glamour. Rather than the tech-y arts approach that Iris Van Herpen took, Viktor and Rolf's collection had a thoughtful arts and crafts aesthetic about it. Blooming maxi skirts rendered in vibrant colors were covered in suns, moons, yin and yang signs as well as embroidery hoops with completed designs. Even the more somber black hued outfits had an artistic approach, this time in the textiles (a collaboration with artist Claudy Jongstra, who has experience developing her own textiles from sheep and botanical pigments.)
Form left: Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images; SAVIKO/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images; Peter White/Getty Images
Roots Revival at Giorgio Armani, Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier
Some labels also took couture week as an opportunity to showcase traditional DNA and return to the roots of their brands. Take, for example, Armani Privé. The show opened up with a slew of conservative black outfits, with laser-sharp precision tailoring before taking a turn and delving into pastel gowns and separates covered in crystals, sheer fabrics, and feathers. They were all codes of the houses—and even the beauty look (long, vintage eyelashes curled with a spoon) was taken directly from one of the label's ad campaigns from the late '90s. Meanwhile, Christian Dior also returned to its roots by showcasing its fall 2019 couture collection in the house's legendary headquarters in Paris, as opposed to its usual Rodin Museum space. The final model in the show wore a gold box that resembled the house of Dior itself. At Jean Paul Gaultier, the designer presented a totally 1980s aesthetic in the form of hoodies styled with baseball caps, chunky faux fur coats and printed dresses and bodysuits taken directly from the archives. One leopard pelt, in fact, was upcycled from a show piece presented about a decade ago, and the last two cat suits were taken from some of the patterns he experimented with in the '90s.
From left: Courtesy Giambattista Valli; Courtesy Ralph & Russo
Classic Glamour at Ralph & Russo and Giambattista Valli
You can't go wrong with stunning, red carpet-worthy gowns at couture week, and many brands didn't disappoint here. British label Ralph & Russo presented its fall 2019 couture show at the British embassy's outdoor garden in Paris. Models walked the runway in opulently beaded, feathered, bedazzled, and ruffled gowns, all different colors of the rainbow—there was something for everyone in the 1930s soiree inspired collection.
This season, the Italian designer Giambattista Valli hosted an exhibition instead of a show, inside the Shangri-La Hotel, an American Express Fine Hotel & Resort Property. There, the designer showcased a curated assortment of his signature feminine, float-y dresses. A room full of vividly hued tulle gowns wowed guests, who had a rare opportunity to look at the pieces close-up rather than from across a runway.
From left: SAVIKO/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images; Kay-Paris Fernandes/Getty Images
Surrealism and Fantasy at Guo Pei and Valentino
Of all the shows at couture week, Guo Pei's was by far one of the most spectacular. The designer described it as an "alternative universe," and it's easy to see why. The show opened with a pair of models wearing a dress that made them look like conjoined twins in the 17th-century, their hair braided together and their faces painted white. They walked the runway under an arch covered in fake black birds. Later, another dress that looked like it came from Marie Antoinette's wardrobe emerged; inside the structure, were tiny dolls. The entire show was one of fantasy and surrealism, which had guests gasping at the craftsmanship and construction. The final dress represented a literal garden in bloom, which the model wore with a crow perched on her arm. Pei said she had been working on the dress for 7 years, and that many of the pieces took over 100 hours of embroidery to create. Likewise, Valentino presented one of its most fantasy-inducing couture collections yet, but on a more subtle scale. Creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli's elegant prints, vibrant colors and effortless evening wear had all the markings of a classic couture collection. And makeup artist Pat McGrath's glitter eyebrows, which matched the colors of each outfit, didn't hurt either.
Where the Paris Fashion Set Go for Culture, Cocktails, and Swanky Hotel Stays
Where the New York Fashion Set Go for Culture, Cocktails, and Heavenly Hotel Stays
The Most Stylish Looks From 2019 Fashion Week Runway Shows
Explore More in Fashion


2015 Richard Kershaw Clonal Selection Chardonnay, Elgin, South Africa
White | Ready, but will improve | Richard Kershaw Wines | Code: 42508 | 2015 | South Africa > Stellenbosch > Elgin | Chardonnay | Medium Bodied, Dry | 13.5 % alcohol
Spice and flint on the nose are layered with citrus pith and lemon cream. The attack is brisk and leads to an elegant, scented palate. There is a hint of grip and the oak is completely integrated, contributing to a texturally very fine wine. Fresh and very, very long.
Katherine Dart MW, Wine Buyer
Richard Kershaw Wines
Born and raised in the UK, Richard Kershaw enjoyed a successful career as a chef before discovering wine. After travelling extensively, he arrived in South Africa in 1999 and, by 2009, was Group Winemaker of Mulderbosch and Kanu. Richard became a Master of Wine in 2011 and established Richard Kershaw Wines in January 2012.
He is now pursuing his dream of making his own wine in the cool climate of Elgin, in the Overberg wine region of the Western Cape. His intention is to create site-specific, cool-climate wines from high-quality French clones of the Chardonnay and Syrah grapes. His site, in one of South Africa's coolest wine districts, Elgin, benefits from higher altitude, proximity to the ocean, specific cloud cover sequencing and large differences in day and night temperatures, all of which allow his Chardonnay and Syrah to show a true sense of place. The climate leans toward Southern Burgundy and the Northern Rhône, affording Richard's wines a surprisingly Old World feel.
They are extremely impressive, a fact recognised by John Platter, who awarded the first vintage of his Chardonnay (2012) a straight 5/5 stars, a feat that was repeated with the '13 Chardonnay. This is a small operation, however, and volumes are limited.
Chardonnay is the "Big Daddy" of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world. It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
This cool lush corner of the Western Cape is east of Stellenbosch. Historically Elgin has been better known for its apple orchards, but is fast proving its potential for wine, with elegant examples of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and even Syrah.
Circled by mountains, the cool-climate ward sits within the Overberg region. Aromatic grape varieties thrive in Elgin's slow-ripening conditions, with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Noir and even Syrah showing promise.
Recommended producers: Richard Kershaw MW


Boston Red Sox GM search: Diamondbacks not worried about Mike Hazen leaving to take job (reports)
Updated: Sep. 12, 2019, 7:34 a.m. | Published: Sep. 11, 2019, 8:21 p.m.
Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen smiles as he talks with reporters during baseball's annual general managers meeting Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)AP
The Diamondbacks don't appeared worried about the Red Sox trying to poach general manager Mike Hazen as Dave Dombrowski's replacement, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
Piecoro quotes team CEO Derrick Hall, who isn't anticipating hearing from the Sox because Hazen is under contract as the head of the team's baseball operations department.
"I have no reason to think they are going to ask," Hall said in a text to Piecoro. "He is under contract."
Hazen has been mentioned as a top candidate to succeed Dombrowski, who was fired early Monday. Hazen was a member of Boston's front office for 11 seasons before taking over the Diamondbacks in 2016, serving as the team's general manager under Dombrowski in his most recent role.
Hazen's offered a non-answer when asked by Piecoro about the Sox job. Hazen was similarly evasive in an earlier interview with 98.7 FM, Arizona's Sports Station.
"My focus is 100 percent on the Arizona Diamondbacks," Hazen said, "and that's where it's going to remain."
Because Hazen is the head of the baseball operations department, the Diamondbacks can deny permission if the Sox attempt to speak with him. If Hazen-- a Weymouth native who grew up in Abington-- has strong enough interest in returning home to run the Sox, Arizona may grant permission to fuel a potential reunion. At this point, that does not seem likely.
Diamondbacks assistant GMs Amiel Sawdaye and Jared Porter both spent many years in the Sox front office and have been listed as speculative candidates as well. The Diamondbacks would have no control over Boston wishing to speak to them about an elevated position.
How the Red Sox plan to approach the search for Dombrowski's replacement is unclear as ownership did not hold a press conference to address the move this week. A full search is expected to begin soon.


Hindu Mauritius
What's going on beyond the veil during the Indian wedding ceremony?
For those who have ever attended and most importantly, paid special attention to the details during the religious ceremony, you have probably noticed that at a point of time, a veil covers the nearly...
22 May 2017, Yashvin, pages of my life
Hindu 'leader' in US wants Overwatch to remove Devi skin from game
Blizzard Entertainment's successful shooter game, Overwatch, has drawn strong criticism from Rajan Zed, a 'Hindu leader' based in the US. Zed has asked for the 'Devi skin' to be removed as it is 'inappropriate' and 'belittling' the beliefs of Hindus.
The Mauritian cannot be separated from his religion
Religion means different things to different generations of mauritians. If a few young people have grown up in a world which is insensitive to the religious approach, it is because the other generation parenting these youth was themselves poorly immersed in religion. Religion need not apply to the life of the Mauritian as a theocratic [...]The post The Mauritian cannot be separated from his religion appeared first on Mauritius News Ile Maurice.
27 Jul 2012, KotZot
Garde carem zis pou casse li apres
The end of fasting periods are very often a much awaited period for SOME people. Do you know how many people eagerly wait for the end of the fasts?
07 Oct 2011, Yashvin, pages of my life
Do the kids know what they are eating?
A few days back, we purchased a few sweets in an outlet near a primary school. One of them was Gelatine (Bovine-based). Are the kids aware?
08 Jun 2011, Yashvin, pages of my life
The spoilt child of Navin Ramgoolam
Self-proclaimed as the protector of the hindu community of the island, a group of people has been causing a lot of disturbance for years. Officially, they are for non-violence but in real life, they tend to do things differently, adopting the thugs-attitude.
26 Feb 2011, Yashvin, pages of my life


Published April 6, 2016 5:44pm EDT
'Wall Street' stars 25 years later: Where are they now?
By | Snakkle.com
Michael Douglas in "Wall Street" and now. (Michael Loccisano, Getty Images)
Sean Young in "Wall Street" and now.
Daryl Hannah in "Wall Street" and now. (Angela Weiss, Getty Images)
"How much is enough?" "It's not a question of enough, pal. It's a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody loses." It's been 25 years since Oliver Stone's film "Wall Street" opened in theaters, but Gordon Gekko's words still ring with truth for "yuppies" and viewers alike. The game is greed, the stakes are high and Buddy Fox risks a lot more than his name to beat a Wall Street vet like Gordon Gekko. Buddy learns that in order to skyrocket to the top, someone has to take the hit. Our friends at Snakkle.com look back on the amazing cast of "Wall Street", and find out where they are now --25 years later.
PHOTOS: See all 20 pics in "The Cast of 'Wall Street': 25 Years Later" at Snakkle.com
Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko:
Who could forget Gordon Gekko, the silver-tongued villain of "Wall Street". Gekko famously quipped, "Lunch is for wimps," proving time really is money to people like him. Douglas nailed the role of wealthy stockbroker, earning him a coveted Oscar Award for his convincing performance.
Michael Douglas TODAY:
1987 was a good year for Michael Douglas. He'd achieved commercial success with the 1984 romantic comedy "Romancing The Stone", but scoring "Wall Street" and "Fatal Attraction" in the same year? Douglas was worth his weight in Oscar gold. He starred alongside Sharon Stone in the iconic "Basic Instinct" in 1992 and even reprised his old Gordon Gekko character again in 2010 for the sequel movie "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps". Douglas was diagnosed with an aggressive form of throat cancer in 2010 and is still in treatment. He lives with his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and their two children.
Sean Young as Kate Gekko
The notorious actress Sean Young had a small role in the film as the wife of Michael Douglas' character, Kate Gekko. If you thought this role should have been bigger, so did writer-director, Oliver Stone. So what gives? According to reports back in 2008, Young's role was originally intended to be larger, but was reduced after she clashed with Stone.
More On This...
Then/Now: The Cast of 'Back to School'
Sean Young TODAY:
Sean burst onto the Hollywood scene with back-to-back roles in "Stripes", "Blade Runner", and the sexy box office hit "No Way Out." However, Sean's star started to fade after 1987's "Wall Street." First, she broke her arm falling off a horse during rehearsals "Batman" and was replaced by Kim Basinger. Then, she was fired in the 1990's from "Dick Tracy." Her Hollywood troubles did not end there: soon after, she crashed the Warner Bros studio lot wearing a homemade Catwoman suit. As if that wasn't enough, another low point was reported in 2006, when she was escorted from a Vanity Fair Oscar party through the back door, after crashing it as well (sans latex cat suit). More recently, Young was voted off 2010's "Skating with the Stars", after two big televised falls on the ice.
Daryl Hannah as Darien Taylor
Darryl Hannah played the beautiful, well-meaning Darien Taylor. An interior decorator with expensive taste and Gordon Gekko's ex-lover, Darien is one of the prizes that Buddy wants to win.
Daryl Hannah TODAY:
Daryl Hannah wowed audiences with her breakout performance in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" in 1982. The hottie with a gymnastic body (she did her own stunts!) then went on to star in "Summer Lovers," "Splash" and then "Wall Street", which put her on the map. After "Wall Street", Hannah found cult fame in 2003 and 2004 after starring in Quentin Tarantino's two "Kill Bill" films as Elle Driver, the one-eyed assassin. She is an enthusiastic environmental activist and strives to raise awareness about global warming; She was recently arrested for protesting a proposed oil pipeline while on private property.
'The Young and the Restless' celebrates 50th anniversary with cast photo: 'It's like a high school reunion'
Pamela Anderson says Tim Allen had 'no bad intentions' with his alleged 1991 flashing
Friend of Julian Sands, who has hiked 'incredibly hard' Mt. Baldy with Sands, calls actor 'extremely advanced'
Britney Spears says fans went a 'little too far,' 'invaded' privacy in calls that prompted welfare check
Prince Andrew 'remains a danger' to monarchy's image amid reports of Buckingham Palace eviction: royal expert
Get the best of Fox News' entertainment coverage, right in your inbox.
Arrives Weekly


Sprint Joins Up with Google Apps for Business as Reseller
July 25, 2014 /in SMB Corner, Technologies /by Kirill Bensonoff
Both Sprint and Google are interested in capturing more of the business market and, thanks to a new partnership, they're one step closer to reaching that goal. A new partnership has Sprint agreeing to be a reseller of Google Apps for Business, Google's suite of apps designed specifically for business users.
Sprint Sells Google Apps
Under the deal, Sprint will make Google Apps for Business available to users of devices on its network. The Google Apps for Business suite includes Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Docs, and Google Sites. When used over Sprint's network, businesses will have seamless access to these popular productivity tools.
This is the first time Google has teamed up with a wireless carrier for its software. For Sprint, the news is a big one as the company continues to try to battle giants AT&T and Verizon. Last year alone, Sprint lost 2.2 million subscribers. In addition to its partnership with Google, the company is also reportedly in talks to purchase T-Mobile.
The Enterprise Market
Both Google and Sprint are aiming to capture the enterprise market, with businesses increasingly searching to increase their mobile device usage. Sprint plans to charge the same rate Google charges for Google Apps for Business, which is $5 per user per month for Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Docs. For mobile access to Google Apps with unlimited cloud storage, businesses will pay $10 per user, which also includes 30 GB of storage and additional services.
This option can bring full functionality to the business environment, with businesses now able to contact Sprint directly to get the mobile devices they want. Instead of having to work with Google to get each app loaded on every device, businesses can work with Sprint to have the full suite of apps loaded as needed, making the process easier and less error-prone.
https://www.computersupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/googleapps-300x2251.jpg 225 300 Kirill Bensonoff https://www.computersupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/StratusPointIT-ComputerSupport-logo.png Kirill Bensonoff2014-07-25 06:00:502018-01-16 12:16:27Sprint Joins Up with Google Apps for Business as Reseller