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Adsense just might be the simplest and most assured way to make money on the whole of the Internet. It is certainly the most sure-fire way that I can think of to make a few hundred bucks a month; but many people earn much, much more than that, and the elite group are known as the Fedex Club or UPS Club because Google sends their monthly checks by courier ... and to qualify you have to have earned at least $10,000 for the month. Then there are reported to be businesses earning 6 figures a month from Adsense ... but that’s an opportunity of a different scale, of course. One of the gurus, John Reese, recently posted a video showing his Adsense income in the 12 months to March 2006 ... with websites he set-up just 12 months earlier he generated $500,000, which isn't too bad, I suppose. However! While making a few bucks can be simple, going beyond this can start dragging in more and more complexity. You’ll see what I mean as you read the explanations. I find it to be still very worthwhile, even as the complexity of the techniques I use and the investment (to buy into those techniques) increases; to give it some perspective, when I got involved I made my full investment back easily in the first month, although that’s more difficult to do these days. And, the investment isn't huge in conventional terms. The 3 Primary Opportunities I’m going to describe 3 separate opportunities with Adsense on separate pages, namely: But first, an introduction to this incredible program from Google (currently being copied by Yahoo ... and probably others, soon, which will make this more competitive and potentially even more lucrative). What Is Adsense? In the GoogleCash section of this web site I explained the concept of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, and explained in some details the particular form of it practiced by Google, called Google Adwords. Essentially, people can place adverts on Google’s Search Engine results pages, and they pay Google every time someone clicks on their ad (and is taken to their website). For some popular search terms where there are big bucks associated with the marketplace, the amount an advertiser pays Google can be as high as $50 per click. However, this is very rare. Far more common are cost-per-click amounts in the $0.05 to $0.30 range; although there are plenty in the $0.75 to $3.00 range. If you think of this from a perspective of Google’s advertisers, they only want INTERESTED people to visit their web site – candidates likely to buy their products or services. If they sell fly-fishing gear, they don’t want people who are primarily interested in reclining chairs to be clicking on their ads - which costs them money per click - then declining to buy anything when they visit their site. It’s important to the advertisers, therefore, that their ads get shown ONLY to people clearly interested in their type of product. So naturally, Google aims to show their ad only to people who search on words or phrases (keywords) associated with the advertiser’s products. When you search on Google, you’ll see these ads – called Adwords – on the right hand side of the results screen, and you’ll notice they mostly relate very closely to the subject matter of your search. The ad might even include the keyword you searched on, in the headline or one of the text lines of the ad. Google Ads on Your Website = Adsense Well, you can take this to another level; in addition to searching on Google’s search engine, where else can an advertiser be confident of finding people interested in their products? Of course … visitors to web sites that focus on the relevant topic. For example, people who visit websites on fly-fishing are likely to be candidates to buy books and videos on fly-fishing, to buy rods and reels and lines and flies and clothing and fly-tying equipment and supplies and … you see the picture, I’m sure. So Google developed a program called Adsense where a web site owner lets Google place topic-relevant Adword ads on their web site, and in return Google shares the pay-per-click fee with the owner of the website every time a visitor clicks on an Adwords ad. For example, on one page of one website I own, I’ve earned about $12 so far today (as I write this) from this type of arrangement; the lowest value share-of-a-click contributed $0.07, the highest contributed $2.87. This may not seem much except if this was consistent, it’s a car payment every month, or a hefty student loan repayment every month, from just that one site (many sites do less than this, to be fair). But now ... when you consider that some people have literally hundreds of sites doing this, with hundreds or even thousands of pages on each site … you can see how it can add up to serious money. I don't want to give you the wrong impression though; like everyone else in this business, I have many, many pages on those same sites that haven’t generated a single cent in weeks. In fact, the majority of pages on my sites generate very little. This Is A Game That Anyone Can Play! So ... who can do this? It’s simple. Anyone with an appropriate web site or a “Appropriate” meaning, Google have some standards of morality they apply to this. And, if you have a website on a topic where no-one is willing to pay to run an ad ... then there won’t be any Google Adwords ads to appear on your page, and no-one will be clicking and making you money. For example, I just performed a Google search on "sculpting with toe jam." I'm not too astonished to discover that there are no Adwords ads campaigns associated with that keyword (the whole phrase is termed a "keyword," by the way). So I could build the most incredible website, jam packed (sorry) with practical hints and tips and photographs on sculpting with toe jam, the correct equipment to use, etc and no ads would show. My Adsense income would be zilch. On the other hand, I see from (key in the phrase in the top left-hand box, then enter the "code" that tells Overture you're not a robot, and you'll see what I mean) that the Overture Pay-Per-Click maximum bid for toe fungus is (at the moment) in the 60 cent range. Google's maximum bid will probably be higher. The chances are that I could build a web site on the topic of toe fungus, and make money from Adsense! Just Ask And (Usually) You Shall Receive As a web-site owner or a Blog owner (you DO have to have the site or the Blog first, in order to apply), all you have to do is apply to Google. It takes about 5 minutes to give them the information they want. Then you wait ... and if you’re approved, you’ll get an e-mail from them within a couple of days. If you’re not approved (which seems to be a rare event these days) you can tweak your site or your Blog then re-apply. Your previous rejection doesn't seem to count against you. Once approved, you log-in to your Google account, and tell Google which type of ads you want to run (blocks of ads can be in a tall skinny column, for example, or a small rectangle, or a large rectangle; you can choose to have just text ads or image ads, of different sizes, too). You also tell Google what colors you want to use for the text in the ads, the background against which the text will be displayed, and the borders around the ads. When you’ve finished, Google spits out a snippet of “code,” you cut-and-paste it onto your web pages or Blog template, and that’s it. Google visits the website or Blog where you place Adsense, decides what the “theme” is of your web page or Blog page, and whenever someone views the page, Google places the appropriate type of adverts where you placed the code. For example, on a page about fishing lures on a website about fishing, you’ll probably gets ads inviting you to click to visit a website selling fishing lures; or perhaps less specifically you’ll get ads relating to other fishing equipment, or fishing clothing, fishing trips, fishing books, etc. They call this contextual advertising, for obvious reasons. Now, Google doesn’t always get it right; sometimes there are mixed messages on a page and it comes up with inappropriate ads, sometimes there simply aren’t any ads relating to what it sees as the theme of the page ... but generally speaking it does pretty well. And the feedback I hear is that Google is still head and shoulders above Yahoo in this regard. Adsense Without Traffic Is Like Fish Without Chips So, that's the Adsense side of the story; but there is one additional ingredient in the recipe, and it's a doozy. In addition to a website or a Blog, and the Adsense code, you need to have visitors; the more traffic, the more clicks; the more clicks, the more Adsense money you make. Lack of traffic is the single biggest cause of low income for Internet Marketers. I go into the whole issue of getting traffic to your site on the page devoted to Content Rich sites, and the page dedicated to "Tools of the Trade." But that’s it. Adsense Ads + interested traffic = money in your pocket. Except, beyond the basics, there is a LOT of room for refinement here. And the refinement can make 200%, 300% or more difference in your income from Adsense. This is not trivial! For example, you naturally want to choose a website theme or Blog theme that attracts ads with a significant value per click. You will want to lay-out your pages to make the ads generate a much higher click-through rate. You should choose color schemes and ad formats that increase click-through rates. You might also think you could also use headlines associated with huge arrows pointing to the ads and saying “click here and I’ll love you for ever” but ... not too surprisingly, Google is less than happy with any overt encouragements to click; if they catch you, they’ll warn you once, if you don’t respond, your Adsense account is likely to be suspended. How Do You Know Which Keywords Carry Big Bucks? It’s in the areas of refinement that you can start spending money. For example ... how do you know which are the keywords with the big dollars attached? If you go to the Pixel/Overture site and key in a search term such as “dog training” (then key-in the code they’ll give you) you’ll see that a Pay-Per-Click search engine called Overture has maximum bids in the $5 range (at the time of writing), 2nd bid in the $2 range, etc. The chances are, Google Adwords bids will be higher because Google commands a much higher audience. Now, search instead on the term “dog photos” and you’ll probably find ads with a much lower max bid, because advertisers don’t see a solid sales opportunity in people searching for dog photos. So if you have a word in mind, you can easily get some sense of whether there’s value in it. But ... that's fine to check a keyword you already have in mind. But how do you know WHICH words to look for, to begin with? This is where you can start spending your money. You can always guess, of course; what’s popular? Xbox? Check with Overture .... yep, max bids in the $3 range. Ipods? Not as pricey but OK. Try mortgage broker ... or health insurance. You’ll find very healthy max bids, in the $5 range. Sideline: By the way ... we check with Overture, even though we're more interested in Google, and even though Google will be different, because Google simply doesn't make their bid data readily available. So we use Overture to get a good idea of what's going on. However ... there is ONE piece of software that CAN find Google bids, as you'll see in a second. So you COULD guess but instead ... there’s a beautiful new piece of software call Adsense Dominator that gives you more than 100,000 keywords with their Adwords maximum bids. And a lot more information besides, aimed at helping you find topics where you have a better chance of getting traffic from the free Search Engines. If you’re serious about the Adsense opportunity, after reading the 3 specific opportunity pages I’ll point to in a minute, then take a serious look at this software. How Do You Squeeze The Most From An Adsense Page? Still on the separate-you-from-your-money theme, you can buy an excellent eBook by a chap called Joel Comm, called “What Google never told you about making money with Adsense.” Joel is generally acknowledged as THE expert in squeezing Adsense dollars from a web page and website, and this is generally acknowledged to be THE book. It’s well written and filled with valuable know-how; it’s worth buying, I recovered my investment in about 3 days. Give Yourself A Pay Raise Every Day ... By Tracking You’ll also find that if you get serious about Adsense income it’s worth buying some software to track every ad on every page of every web site. Google does some tracking for you; but it's not good enough for you to optimize your pages and sites effectively. When you track comprehensively, you’ll find the pattern of clicking leads you to some “optimization” techniques that can make a major difference in the number of clicks you’re getting. Joel explains it all in his book, and I trusted him and bought Adsense Gold to do the tracking ... he’s right, a) it works like a charm, b) it pays for itself in next to no time (but only if you’re seriously into this game). OK, now it’s time to repeat ... there are 3 most common ways of gaining Adsense income, and I have a page set up for each of these to dive into the details.. Finally, if you already have a site and want to apply for Adsense and make some very easy money ... click below; it’ll take you directly to the simple application page. WebsiteFlipping-Home Site Map Contact Us Privacy Disclaimer Useful Sites Articledirectory (c) 2005-2009 adummygetsitright.com
Add the rice, stir briefly, then add the stock, a handful of the coriander… 4. Fry until golden brown. Serve with a drizzle of the chutney and with rice … Goes good with rice and dosa. Then add the red chillies, green chilli, and coconut along with some salt. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases Method. cool the mixture completely, and transfer to a blender. Tips and Variations for Coriander Chutney Recipe: 1. To a mixie jar, add the previously fried seeds, green chillies along with 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 7-8 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon grated jaggery and grind it into a paste Next, add the tomato … January 6, 2016 By Aarthi 5 Comments. Growing up, I hated the generous garnish of coriander or cilantro amma used to grace all dishes w… It instantly jazzes up any boring meal with lip-smacking deliciousness. Getting the consistency of the rice is the key to variety rice. Easy, tasty, and balanced! To prepare Coriander Chutney, first wash Coriander leaves and few Mint leaves thoroughly. Adding ground nuts to the chutney … This is my aunts recipe. 2. Preparation time: 3 minutes Cooking time: 7 minutes Serves 4-6. Sautè until the coconut loses much of its moisture (about 3-4 mins). Ingredients: 3/4 cup of grated coconut (thawed if frozen) 1 cup of packed coriander leaves (cilantro) 2 red chillies; 1 green chilli… Follow Me On Instagram for real-time food and life updates. Other Chutney (Thogayal) Recipes for Rice: Chow Chow Chutney Paruppu Thogayal Curry Leaves Chutney Peanut Chutney Pudina Coconut Chutney Tomato Mint Chutney (no coconut) Ridge Gourd Sesame Chutney. For the Saffron Rice, combine all ingredients in a rice cooker and cook until fluffy. In a pan, add 1 tsp oil. Though i like that way , since kiddos want this version of Kothamalli chutney, i made this few days back. DIRECTIONS. Your email address will not be published. Coriander seeds chutney is an everyday chutney that can be put together in minutes for breakfast or dinner. In … This mint and coriander chutney goes really well as a dip for Indian snacks and also as a side dish for rice and parathas. firstly, in a small blender take ½ onion, 8 cloves, ½ tsp pepper, 1 inch cinnamon, 2 green chilli and … This is a very easy chutney to make and here is how to make it. Coriander chutney recipe - in the western part of the world, coriander is called cilantro. Apart from that, it gives a good kick to the mini meals consisting of dal – rice, kulcha-Chola, Chola-chawal etc. What is Coriander chutney? Add the cilantro and mint in 3-4 batches, and blend to a paste. Taste and adjust lime juice and salt. Share. After so much googling, I finally came up with this recipe using the inputs from many other blogs. This Add half the ginger, half the chilli, all the garlic, spices, and both types of carrots to the pan, and fry for 6-8 mins until the carrot slices are starting to turn golden. The resultant chutney should be quite thick — the consistency of cake batter. For every cup of rice, use 2 cups of water. Bring to a simmer then cook for 10 minutes. 2. I like my chutneys and thogayal a bit on the thicker side so I don’t add much water while grinding. You can add garlic also instead of shallots. Grind to a smooth chutney using only as much water as required for the grinding. Put the lime juice, cumin seed, salt, jalapeños and ginger into a blender, and blend until smooth. An easy recipe for Spiced basmati rice with coriander chutney. It is popularly known as Dhaniya Chutney in different parts of Indian sub-continent. It feels just like yesterday mittus school.… I like chutneys a lot and especially with hot rice it’s just lip smacking. Let’s talk about the ingredients for coriander chutney recipe This Mint Coriander Chutney Dip or Green Chutney as we like to call is like ‘man friday’ of all meals. Amma makes coriander chutney often and this thogayal is a slight variation from it. Take ½ cup chopped coriander leaves (cilantro leaves), 2 to 3 green chilies (chopped), ½ inch ginger (chopped), 2 tbsp unsweetened desiccated coconut or 2 tbsp grated coconut, 3 to 4 medium garlic (chopped), ½ tsp cumin seeds and ½ tsp fennel seeds in a small grinder or chutney grinder. We get the “nattu malli” or the super fresh coriander leaves variety which has tiny leaves and looks so fresh. Can also be used as a spread for bread sandwiches. By nags Filed Under: Chutneys and Dips, Uncategorized, Your email address will not be published. now add 3 tbsp mint / pudina, 2 tbsp coriander and saute for a minute or till it shrinks slightly.. 2 bunches of cilantro, big stems removed (about 3 ounces, or 3 cups of leaves, packed but not tightly) 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh mint leaves. Coriander is also my favorite herb. When stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, mint coriander chutney … ; Coriander chutney – This green chutney … This is my go to chutney recipe, i make a big batch of this and keep it in fridge and use it through out the week. The recipe requires simple and readily available ingredients found in everyone’s kitchen. Its up to you on how you want the consistency of this coriander chutney but adding too much water will dilute the flavours so be careful about that. Put the herbs, garlic, and chillies in a blender and pulse until you have a soft, spoonable consistency. Goes good with rice and dosa. If required add 1 or 2 tbsp of water. « How to Make Layered Chicken Biryani, Chicken Biryani Recipe, Eggless Brownie Recipe, Eggless Chocolate Brownies ». For the dosa. May 15, 2017 - Coriander Thogayal / Thuvayal is an excellent accompaniment for either plain rice or with any variety rice. It can also be used as a sandwich spread. 2. I am Nags, the face behind Edible Garden, a food and recipes website for the busy (and sometimes lazy!) 3. ... on rice and dhal, with yoghurt, chaat, etc. Required fields are marked *. 3/4 cup of grated coconut (thawed if frozen), 1 cup of packed coriander leaves (cilantro). Add 4-5 tablespoons of cold water to ease blending. For the Coriander and Mint Chutney, combine herbs, garlic, chillies, oil and … Turn off flame, add the tamarind, and let it cool down completely. This is my family’s recipe for ‘green chutney’. All you need is a bunch of fresh mint leaves and coriander leaves (or cilantro) and some basic spices to make this no-cook green chutney … Coriander chutney is an Indian spread made using coriander, mint etc. Coriander chutney is a bright green dip that fried Indian snacks cannot do without. Recipe Coriander and Mint Chutney – (aka Green Chutney) by Sadhna wilson, learn to make this recipe easily in your kitchen machine and discover other Thermomix recipes in Sauces, dips & spreads. Coriander chutney – Indian green chutney recipe. how to make coriander chutney with step by step photo: firstly, in a small pan heat 2 tsp oil and saute 1 tsp cumin, 2 clove garlic and 1-inch ginger. Add coriander leaves to the mixer grinder and make it into a smooth paste. Keep warm until ready to serve. Add the following whole spices - 2 to 3 cloves, 4 to 5 black peppers, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 2 green … Do not forget to check out another recipe of Urad Dal Chutney Recipe, Meen Kozhambu(fish curry) here in PepperBowl. When the dal turns golden brown and the onions are roasted add the washed coriander leaves… Kothamalli Thogayal ~ Coriander Chutney for rice. May 8, 2013 - Coconut Coriander Chutney (kothamalli thogayal or malliyila chammanthi) is one of my absolute favourties chutney with rice. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle \|\| []).push({}); TH loves paruppu thogayal and I love kothamalli thogayal so usually there’s a toss up between which chutney to make for rice. Cilantro Mint Chutney Recipe. … Variations are endless. Can also be used as a spread for bread sandwiches. Its perfect for the busy mornings. It is tangy and spicy. I haven’t added a tadka to this coriander chutney but you can add make a tadka with tsp of oil, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and a pinch of hing. Tips and Variations for Coriander Chutney Recipe… When stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, mint coriander chutney stays fresh up to a … ; Coconut Chutney – The must have chutney for most south Indian dishes such as Ven Pongal, Idli, Kapparutti, etc. Do not forget to check out another recipe of Urad Dal Chutney Recipe, Meen Kozhambu(fish curry) here in PepperBowl. Can be used as a green chutney in chat varieties. share this. 15+ Easy Chutney Recipes: Let’s have a look at the 15+ Easy Chutney Recipes, which will offer you a variety of side options for idli ,dosa ,rice ,roti or snacks.. Mint Peanut Chutney. Mint Coriander Chutney needs only a handful of ingredients that are easily available. Learn how your comment data is processed. 3. Stir in the rest of the harissa, the chopped tomatoes and stock. The resultant chutney should be quite thick — the consistency of cake batter. Recipe … A popular one is the addition of 1/2 small onion and/or 1-2 cloves of garlic in the blending process. India is a land of spicy food and there are endless types of spicy chutneys which are integral part of Indian chaats and snacks. My mom makes this Kothamalli chutney without coconut and dal. This is my family’s recipe for ‘green chutney’. Taste and adjust lime juice and salt. Vegetarian. Mint Coriander Chutney is a simple and flavourful chutney that can be used along with many savoury dishes. My recipes are meant to be quick yet healthy and delicious - Nothing fancy, nothing too difficult. Wash the rice in running water 2-3 times until the water runs clear, Soak one cup of rice in 2 cups of water for 10 minutes. Can be used as a green chutney in chat varieties. Coriander is known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties. 1-inch cube of ginger, peeled and chopped (about 2 … In a pan, add 1 and 1/2 tsp of oil and add the urad dal, red chilli and shallots (if using). Now chop green chillies into pieces. ; Add the coriander … A popular one is the addition of 1/2 small onion and/or 1-2 cloves of garlic in the blending process, 2 bunches cilantro, washed and picked over thoroughly, yellow leaves and thick stem ends removed, 1 bunch mint, washed, leaves only (mint is optional), 1” piece ginger, washed, peeled (peeling optional – peel if skin is rough), cut into 3-4 pieces, 1-2 jalapeño peppers, washed, trimmed seeded (to taste). 3. I always cook the rice … The two key ingredients Coriander and Mint are well known for many health benefits. 2. On days when I have leftover kuzhambu from the previous day, I just make a vegetable side dish and a chutney to complete our meal. Soak and grind rice and urad dal. Transfer the kothimeera pachadi into a serving bowl. In a pan roast urad dal with little oil until … Green Chutney or dhaniya pudina chutney is a simple and quick recipe. Indians love their chutneys and here are some other chutneys that I have on my blog that I am sure you’ll love – Red chili chutney – a spicy and tangy chutney perfect for south Indian snacks. Serve it along with Idlis, Dosas, Pongal, rice. Mint Coriander Chutney is a simple and flavourful chutney that can be used along with many savoury dishes. Onion and Coriander Chutney Recipe – Vengaya Kothamalli Chutney Recipe. Once done take these Coriander leaves, Mint leaves, … This rice is a very easy to do recipe that can be prepared and packed within 30 minutes. 1. Mix and ferment it overnight. Take a pressure cooker and fill it with one inch of water. on Margazhi Saturdays for Lord Balaji. Spicy chutney served with any main course is absolutely delicious. I love to have thogayal as a part of my lunch menu, even with sambar and rasam rice. Mint Peanut Chutney is a refreshing chutney made using the combination of nutty flavor of the roasted peanuts with the flavored mint and coriander leaves Home » Indian Food Recipes » Accompaniments » Chutneys » Coriander chutney – Indian green chutney recipe. It goes great with both rasam sadam and curd rice, lending its perfect flavour to the combination. It goes great with both rasam sadam and curd rice, lending its perfect flavour to the combination. Place the bowl with the soaked rice … Coriander chutney is the spicy coriander flavor served with hot rice or roti is the best side dish we can have in our regular diet. cook since 2007. Instant pot Cilantro Rice or Kothimeera rice is a rice dish where the main flavoring ingredient is Cilantro or Fresh Coriander leaves. Few days back only i realised i have not posted my mom’s version of kothamalli chutney recipe. COCONUT CORIANDER CHUTNEY (CILANTRO THOGAYAL) Preparation time: 3 minutes Cooking time: 7 minutes Serves 4-6. Add half the ginger, half the chilli, all the garlic, spices, and both types of carrots to the pan, and fry for 6-8 mins until the carrot slices are starting to turn golden. Add the meatballs back in, along with the chickpeas, put on a lid and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Published on February 15, 2017 \| Last updated on December 16, 2019 \| By Anushree Shetty - This post contains affiliate links. Add the rice, stir briefly, then add the stock, a handful of the coriander, a good pinch of salt and grinding of black pepper. It is indispensable for Indian chaat repertoire. The fresh cilantro gives a rich and deep flavor to the rice and makes a awesome alternative boring plain rice… Kothamalli Thogayal or coriander chutney is easy recipe where fresh coriander is sauteed and ground to a coarse paste. My mom’s signature chutney and my family’s favorite too. Also known as cilantro chutney or dhaniya chutney, it is thick, spicy and a little zingy thanks to green chillies and a generous sprinkling of lemon juice. Coriander is also called as Dhania or “dhanya” which literally translates into rich or wealthy. Coriander Pickle Recipe \|\| Home Made Coriander Pickle For Rice In this video I'll be Showing about how to Make Coriander Pickle. Serve coconut coriander chutney (cilantro thogayal) with rice and any kuzhambu or rasam of choice. It has spicy, slightly sweet and tangy taste. Though I like all the chutneys served, green chutney tops the list and I usually go for extra serving :) Jany also loves that green chutney and hence thought of trying it at home. Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until the mixture become a paste. Green Chutney Recipe is one of the delicious item which you can tang it for the items like as dosa,rice,or chops or cutlets .Ingredients required for this particular item like as the fresh coriander … Hence this chutney is also known as cilantro chutney.. Mar 29, 2017 - Coconut Coriander Chutney (kothamalli thogayal or malliyila chammanthi) is one of my absolute favourties chutney with rice. Cook the rice according to the packet instructions and then stir in the coriander, lime zest and juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper and olive oil. This Coriander and Mint Raita recipe is a great cooling side dish for Indian and Pakistani curries and rice recipes such as Biryani and Pulao.It’s a quick and easy side dish to make, and … Serves 6. Pour and spread the batter evenly. Add the chopped coriander leaves and saute until wilted. Wash coriander leaves 3 to 4 times and drain the water. Method Coriander pachadi. In the batter, add 2 tbsp grated cucumber, 1.5 tbsp grated fresh coconut, 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves, 1/4th tsp chopped green chilli, 1/4th tsp salt and mix the batter well. Kothamalli Thogayal or coriander chutney is easy recipe where fresh coriander is sauteed and ground to a coarse paste. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Flip and roast on the other side. Serve it along with Idlis, Dosas, Pongal, rice. Serving Suggestions: 1. Coriander chutney \| Kothamalli chutney\| dhaniya chutney, is made with coriander leaves and a perfect side dish for idli \| dosa. If the mixture gets too thick for the blender, add a little water.. Serving Suggestions: 1. Method. Heat oil in a pan and add the urad dal. Mint Coriander Chutney needs only a handful of ingredients that are easily available. Variations are endless. To make coriander pachidi, combine the green chillies, tamarind, salt and 2 tbsp of water together and blend in a mixer to a smooth paste. 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This electric fireplace has a great variety of flame effect levels and colors There are also ambient lighting effects that radiate from the sides of the unit. If you choose to recess the unit into the wall you would lose the ‘surround’ lighting effect. The Classic Flame has a patented ‘Spectrafire’ effect which allows the incorporation of blue flame into the flame effects at five different levels. Utilizing this effect simulates a gas fire effect. The blue effect can be turned off to provide a more classic yellow/orange burning effect. The surrounding ambient side lighting effect has 2 colors amber and blue and 5 different settings/combinations: Blue\| Amber\| Blue and Amber \| Cycle the colors \| Off. The fireplace can be operated without the sidelights – they can be turned off. You should not have to worry about changing light-bulbs as they are LED, energy saving and have an estimated lifespan of 100,000 hours. Classic Flame Heater Functions How big a room does it heat? The manufacturer claims this fireplace heater will adequately heat a 1000 ft.² room. The specifications for this fireplace are similar to other manufacturer’s models who claim to heat 400 ft.². This manufacturer backs up the claim of 1,000 square foot heating capacity that claim by an independent testing lab constructing room roughly 32 feet high 32 feet with 8 foot ceiling. The independent lab “ test results substantiate the claim that Twin-Star’s 1,500 Watt, InfraRed Heaters raised a 1,000 square foot room on average 8.3 degrees and were able to maintain the increased temperature throughout the 24 hour test period. (Yes some a little bit of a geek I actually read the whole report ). So, if the room started at 60°F the heater would raise the temperature to 68.3° and maintain it. To me, that is just taking the chill off a room. Placed in a smaller room, you have real good heat. The difference appears to be the patented ‘InfraRed Quartz Technology’. It was difficult to verify whether this is true infrared heat or some hybrid approach. I contacted a manufacturer’s distributor and here’s how they answered my question: “The quartz infrared heating technology creates a soft, moist heat while maintaining a cool-to-the-touch surface. It does have a blower. It provides supplemental heat up to 1000 sq. ft. The conventional fan forced air units provide supplemental heat up to 400 sq. ft.” So leaving the techno-geek stuff behind, let’s move on. The heating element and fan blows the heat out of the front of the unit just above the LED control screen. It blows the heat forward and slightly downward. So mounting a TV set above the fireplace should be no problem. It has a thermostatic control that can be set to exact temperature. There is also a timer function they can be set from 30 minutes up to nine hours, which is really handy for preheating a room. The fireplace flame and fire effects can be used without the heat being turned on. There were a few buyer complaints about the noise of the fan, but that is one of those subjective things.. - Azure Napoleon 50″ Electric Fireplace wall Mounted - ClassicFlame Felicity Does it have a full function remote control? This unit does come with a multi-function remote control with 2 AAA batteries included. You have full control of all the features including the thermostat, heater and lights. This remote control has good range don’t have to be up close to the fireplace or pointed directly at it to have it work. - On/Off switch - Thermostat – these settings controlled by up and down arrow buttons and are scaled from 62°F to 82°F. There is also a Centigrade scale. - Up-lights – controls the lights that shine on the logs (blue, white, blue/white, and cycling between the 2, blue to white. - Flame control- 6 brightness levels of the flames. - Sidelights – controls the ambient light shining out to the side (blue, amber ,amber/blue, auto-cycling amber to blue, and Off). - Timer – ten incremental timer settings to shut off the fireplace (30 minutes, Hours = 1 to 9 and off). - The power cord is a three pronged plug that is 6 feet long. We, and every manufacturer, recommends not using an extension cord or power strip. If you do use an extension cord it must be heavy gauge wire capable of handling more than 12.5 A and 1500 Watts. Electric Fireplace Safety This unit comes with an automatic shutoff safety feature. It also has patented “Safer Plug Fire Prevention Technology”. I had a devil of a time finding out exactly what that was: it’s technology to continuously monitors the temperature of the plug to prevent circuit, product image or an electrical fire. As with almost all electric fireplaces the unit remains cool while functioning even with the heating function on. It may be a little warm right at the top of the event were the heat is discharged but certainly not enough to burn fingers. The face and the tempered glass do not get hot; in that regard it is pet friendly and child safe. This unit is CSA (Canadian Standards Association International) certified safe This is the Canadian equivalent of being UL approved. Click on this link for: a detailed look at electric fireplace safety practices, for even more information. Setting Up – 4 Ways Is assembly required? We have some good news and bad news. The bad news is those dreaded words ‘some assembly required’ do apply with the ClassicFlame The good news is most people were able to assemble the fireplace, and have it functioning, in anywhere from 20 minutes to 60 minutes. A helper, though not absolutely necessary, is recommended as the unit is a little bulky and heavy. We have examined the assembly manual. The parts are very clearly labeled and the diagrams are very clear. The basic assembly consists of inserting your chosen media, crystal stones or the log set into the heater box, attaching the front glass plate to the heater box. The only tool needed here is a Phillips head screwdriver. Further assembly depends on how you choose to use or mount your electric fireplace heater. If you choose to use the stand that comes with it, you will simply attach the base to the fireplace, and the stand to the base. This is simply a matter of screwing in the appropriate screws with a Phillips head screwdriver. Should you choose to hang the fireplace on the wall, the process is simply to first attach the bracket to the wall using the anchors and screws. Secondly, you then hang the firebox and display assembly on the wall mount. Tools needed for a wall mount installation are a Phillips head screwdriver, an electric drill, a level and a hammer. It is almost the same as hanging a heavy picture – not hard at all. Check out: How to Install a Wall Mounted Fireplace If you are opting for a flush mount installation or are going to install the fireplace custom furniture, the preparations are more complex. Be aware that the electric fireplace insert is wide enough that you will be cutting through wall studs and have to create headers to support the load. This may be a bit beyond the skills of the average homeowner, but a simple job for a carpenter or handyman. Tools Needed: Phillips (star) tip screwdriver ( for stand mount). For wall mount add – hammer, level and electric drill. Cost Of Operation In calculating the cost of operation we are giving you an estimate, a ballpark ide of what it will cost to run an electric fireplace. Generally, if you operate the fireplace in flame effect only mode and it runs with incandescent, candelabra bulbs it will cost about $.02 (2 cents) per hour to operate. If the electric fireplace uses LED lighting the cost to operate can be even lower, about $01/hour to use.. For a 1500 watt fireplace operating on high heat and using the flame effects the cost is about $.15/hour. So if you operate in heat and flame mode it will cost about $.15 per hour. So, running the unit every night for 5 hours would add $22.50 to your electric bill for the month. The 2 variables that will greatly affect your actual cost are how long you run the unit each month, and the cost of electricity in your state. If you would like to get more precise to estimate your costs visit the 2 sites listed below to calculate costs more accurately: - The first site will show you your states energy cost per KWH or you can get it off of your electric bill (use residential column). - Then visit the quick calculator at the second site site and use this calculator to your determine your cost: Values= 80 watts flame only, 1500 watts heat + flame, fill in your states KWH cost, hours used and generate results. Dimensions/Specifications There are 2 sets of dimensions depending on type of set up. The first given below is if you set it up utilizing the stand provided. The second set if utilized as a wall hung, flush mount, or inserted into a surround. Using the stand: Overall Height – Top to Bottom: 23.25 inches - Overall Width – Side to Side: 36 inches - Overall Depth – Front to Back: 10.25 inches All other applications: - Overall Height – Top to Bottom: 19.75 inches Overall Width – Side to Side: 36 inches - Overall Depth – Front to Back: 5 inches - Overall Product Weight: 50.2 lbs - Shipping Weight: 59 lbs Specifications: - - Flame effects produced are very attractive, whether you like realism or special effects. - Plenty of variable settings for intensity and colors on the flames. - Heater is stronger than most and uses a hybrid infrared technology. - Can be set up 4 ways: on a stand, wall hung, flush mount or as an insert in furniture or existing fireplace. - This ClassicFlame product includes a 1 Year limited warranty. - Easy and straight forward assembly. Cons - Some find it a little noisy. - Is a somewhat heavy unit at 50 lbs. so mounting must secure. If set up on the stand, you may need help moving it from room to room. - If wall hung consideration must be given to location of cord to power outlet and hiding it. If you are looking for electric fireplace pros and cons in general: Click Here Consumer Ratings There is very high praise for the Classic Flame 36II100GRG . The vast majority of ratings were 5 stars, a few 4 star ratings and only one 3 star rating, none lower . NOTE: If you want to see even more proof of what a great value the Classic Flame wall hanging electric fireplace actually is, then we recommend clicking through on the link below to check out the exact star ratings and reading more buyer reviews: Summary This could be the fireplace for you if you are looking for a medium price electric fireplace with more lighting options than most, coupled with an increased heating capacity. The Classic Flame functions very well in three key areas: - The flame effects are pleasant and have a great variety of settings.They can definitely set a variety of moods. - It has an attractive design and great versatility in use. - The heater functions much better than most. On The Image Below For Current Price ClassicFlame 36II100GRG Elysium 36 Here Are More Electric Fireplace Options: We hope you enjoyed our wall mounted electric fireplace review – Classic Flame Wall Mount Electric Fireplace Review Elysium 36II100GRG . Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Pros - Special flame effects - Variable flame colors + intensity - Hybrid infrared heater - Versatile ways to set up Cons - A littly noisy - Consider hiding power cord - Heavy for wall mounting Good post. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It will always be useful to read through content from other authors and practice something from other websites. Heya i’m for the fiгst tkme here. 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click price to see details click image to enlarge click link to go to the store Book. ... Read more Comprehensive, readable and written for the student, Haviland/Prins/Walwrath/McBride's market-leading text, CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, is a highly relevant, high-quality teaching tool. The narrative voice of the text has been thoroughly internationalized and the "we:they" Western voice has been replaced with an inclusive one that will resonate with both Western and non-Western students and professors. In addition, gender, ethnicity, and stratification concepts and terminologies have been completely overhauled in accordance with contemporary thinking and the narrative streamlined using more fully developed, balanced, and global examples. In CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, the authors present students with examples of "local responses" to challenging globalization issues, designed to provide students with a "cross-cultural survival guide"for living in the diverse, multicultural world of the 21st century. This edition is a truly exciting and unique examination into the field of cultural anthropology, its insights, its relevance, and the continuing role of cultural survival issues. ... Read more Reviews (6) I agree with the previous reviews... This text was required reading for my anthropology course and although I was looking forward to learning about the subject matter, I felt that Haviland wrote in a way that made it much less enjoyable than it should have been. Often repetitive, always with his own biased version and even his terminology (using such phrases as something like when using descriptives)were not what I expected from someone of his caliber. To make matters worse, the Original Study segments which were some of the most interesting parts of the book were printed on a green background with the print lightened so that it was barely readable...what were the publishers thinking? I was greatly disappointed. Book Sucks This book is down to earth stupid! Through out the text, haviland insults Western countries by saying that they are all uncivilized and their way of life is far inferior when compared w/ other indegineous cultures. If he has a Ph.D., he should know better that insulting any culture is the trait of a narrow-minded person - not a guy who holds a ph.d. He also mocks religion constantly and the book repeats the same thing in several chapters...its like after a while you'll say "dude, we get the point, move on!". Don't buy it, unless u are a college student and your teacher requires it (I don't know y they would). Intolerable This is among the most frustratingly uninteresting textbooks I've ever read.Every chapter takes the same dull, sensationalistic view of its subject, citing a limitless number of redundant examples of life in lesser-known cultures while condemning every aspect of modern, industrial cultures.Each unit restates the same cliches ad nauseam, and reading this material does nothing to enhance one's appreciation for humanity or for science.It is a terrible and tiresome introduction to anthropology. Disappointing for the Educated Reader The editors' review would lead you to believe this is an unbiased, thorough and scholarly examination of cultural anthropology.It is not.There is subtle age, gender, cultural and religious bias.Although it is a thorough look at various cultures, it is by no means comprehensive or accurate.It is inaccurate in highlighted descriptions of minor aspects of Native American culture, especially of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation.It seems to imply Western European cultures and various organized religions are the greatest evil on the planet.The portrayal of some cultures, such as the Malaysian, Pacific Island, and a few of the African Bushmen cultures, are very nice but that is the only redeeming quality of this text.Real scholars should avoid this text at all costs! Misleading text This text explores human nature in a completely dry, systematic, and cliched manner. It conveys none of the realities of human experience.It describes the customs and practices followed by only a handful of societies in the world, and it does so in a distorted and often sensationalized manner.For example, it portrays Christianity as a simple religion of snake handlers, and it describes the Christian practice of eating the body of God in the COMMUNION WATER!The text communicates that there is no meaning or reason to human existence, and it picks apart each aspect of humanity until there is nothing left but the absurdity of all human thought and belief. If you wish to understand Man's history, get a firsthand look at what Man has written, built, believed, and striven for throughout the ages. Don't go to this book to have your questions answered.I don't know who wrote that ridiculous one sentence review about this book being wonderful, but they were a moron to do so. ... Read more. ... Lawyers. Accountants. Radiologists. Softwareengineers.. ... Read more @COURSE = For the basic Behavior Management course. Scholarly and empirically-based, this market-leading bookgives readers what they need to know to understand and use the principlesand practices of applied behavioral management in the classroom. Thecontent is presented clearly, in a friendly, accessibleeven funmanner.Chapters flow, step-by-step, through an actual behavior analysis,using classroom-based examples and practices firmly grounded in research.Content is presented in the order of decision-making by: 1) a teacherwho has a student exhibiting challenging behavior in class; or, 2)a student who needs to execute a behavior-change project.This book covers: identifying target behavior, collecting and graphing data, experimental design, arranging antecedents and consequences, and generalizing behavior change.For professionals in the fields of teaching and behavior management. ... Read more Reviews (1) Understand data collection and applied behavior analysis One of the best texts on Applied Behavior Analysis! It is extremely user friendly with lots of examples applicable to today's classroom. I've used several editions of this text...as a grad student, a classroom teacher, and now as a college professor. I would highly recommend it to any teacher (or future teacher) or any university instructor as a college text. ... Read more. ... Read more Reviews (2) One of the Best Intro to Stats Texts Having taken statistics before, I know a good book when I see one. This is hands down, one of the best intro to stats book. Unlike other stats textbooks, Essentials gives you the information in a concise manner accompanied by varied step-by-step examples towards understanding all the statistical tests. Psychology students have it lucky to have a book like this. Understandable Statistics at Last! This is the first statistics textbook that I have actually understood and enjoyed, and I have read many of them. The authors take students through the material step by step and do not make assumptions about prior knowledge. The charts and examples are very helpful and clearly presented. As textbooks go, this is the best! ... Read more Amazon.com Jeff Hawkins, the high-tech success story behind PalmPilots and theRedwood Neuroscience Institute, does a lot of thinking about thinking.In On Intelligence Hawkins juxtaposes his two loves--computersand brains--to examine the real future of artificial intelligence. Indoing so, he unites two fields of study that have been moving uneasilytoward one another for at least two decades. Most people think that computers are getting smarter, and that maybesomeday, they'll be as smart as we humans are. But Hawkins explains whythe way we build computers today won't take us down that path. He shows,using nicely accessible examples, that our brains are memory-drivensystems that use our five senses and our perception of time, space, andconsciousness in a way that's totally unlike the relatively simplestructures of even the most complex computer chip. Readers who gobbled up Ray Kurzweil's (The Age of Spiritual Machines and Steven Johnson's Mind Wide Open willfind more intriguing food for thought here. Hawkins does a good job ofoutlining current brain research for a general audience, and hisenthusiasm for brains is surprisingly contagious. --Therese Littleton ... Read more. ... Read more Reviews (7) Gravetter's Statistics book This is one of the clearest books on introductory Statistics that I have read. Extremely logically written in a straight forward style. If you can't grasp Statistics using this book...try a different pursuit in college. Every concept is precisely explained and one subject builds upon the next. Gravetter provides one example after another in an attempt to hammer the concepts home...and a successful one I might add. This book also provides a solid foundation for the 1st half of an advanced, Stats II course. This book has saved my life I am about half way through this book and I actually understand, maybe even a bit excited about statistics. This book is definetly the best math/statisics textbook I have ever used. If you have hidden in fear from math but want to go to grad school, pick up a copy of this and you will not regret it. A must buy! This is great book for learning statistics. The best I've seen so far. Statistics is a subject I hate, but this book has given me hope. I know use it as a supplement for other textbooks. It was a book that was written with the student in mind. I am in a class with an awful stats book now, Statistical Methods for Psychology. But, the Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences text will be a permanent fixture on my shelf and I recommend it often. I will continue to look for textbooks written by these guys. Thanks, you made one of my semesters much better. statistics for the math phobics OK, here it is: I am a math phobic, have been all my life, as long as I can remember myself! So, when I started studying psychology as a second degree, I was kind of anxious about taking all kinds of statistics courses: it seems that statistics are a major part of any psychology degree, & so it was important for me to learn them well, from the beginning. Well, with this book (which I shopped around for, looking for the best introductory book on the subject) my math-phobia has not disappeared, but is slowly & surely getting smaller & smaller. This is a textbook that guides you, step by step, so you can understand all the basic concepts of statistics, without feeling you're making an effort. Lots of problem-solving & learning checks help, lots of revision at the end of each chapter...the book is organized in an excellent & thoughtful way, perfect for a student who will take the time sto study (it covers almost everything) but who wants to do it in an organized way. Kudos to these guys!!! I used an older copy of this book as an undergrad and was asked by a fellow doctoral student what I might recommend for use as a good stats book for the "stat phobic" ... Hands down, I say that THIS is the book to use. I've used thinner stats books that pretend to be cute. But if "cute" is not what you need, and you need to learn the stuff as well as reference the stuff. This is the book for you. I suppose I ought to update my copy ;-) mine is dog eared! Need stats? Buy this book to learn. Good stuff! ... Read more. ... Read more Reviews (20). THE number one cognitive therapy book! If there was ever a book that could change your life, this is one of them. It's so practical, insightful, intelligent, and useful. It has had a big influence on myself, and on my outlook on life. I love the way the authors (Dr's Greenberger and Padesky) use complete and incomplete thought records to "teach" the reader how to do it for him/herself. It has truly been of great help to me in recognizing my own patterns of distorted thinking as well as the "alternative/balanced" thinking which has helped to improve my mood on several occasions. I consider it one of those rare gems that helps the reader to "see the light" (as a true friend would) without forcing it upon him/her. It Helped Me to Change my Life This book helped give me exercises to learn how to deal with my depression and anxiety. It's important to slowly do the exercises and complete the entire book. I feel like a new person in control of my thoughts and feelings. I recommend it highly. It Cured my Anxiety If you suffer from Anxiety this is a MUST READ book! The book is simple but yet highly effective in the treatment of depression and anxiety. The worksheets along with the examples are fabulous. I have been anxiety free since reading the book. I definitely give it 5 stars. Excellent Workbook -- A supplement to cognitive self-help In my opinion this is a truly excellent WORKBOOK. The couple of negative reviews seem to be missing the point that workbooks are, by their nature, supplements -- either supplements to therapy or to a text-rich psychology book that is not done in workbook form. OK? I think that is the key issue. I use this workbook as a supplement to working through the chapters of my favorite book on cognitive self-help psychology, which is The Positive Power of Negative Thinking by Julie Norem. For me, it is a very helpful, insightful, and practical workbook. If you are looking for a cognitive therapy supplemental workbook, I can recommend Mind Over Mood without reservation. ... Read more students,). ... Read more An Excellent Introduction The book is up-to-date and effectively presents the basic concepts. Deals with current power and sphericity concerns. Example SPSS-keyed analyses and APA-format results sections are especially valuable for research training. Uses post-hoc Tukey HSD test. Separate nonparametric chapters. The authors know their material (not always the case with statistics texts) and they provide a solid (higher-level) introduction. Good selection of topics and fairly thorough. Perhaps a bit wordy at times. One of the best available introductions. From a long-time teacher of statistics with no connection to authors. The Best Introductory Text for Today's Students Jaccard and Becker's preface says it all: "Introductory statistics, unlike content areas in the behavioral sciences, does not become dated quickly. Many of the concepts taught ten years ago are still relevant today. So why another text? ....Most introductory statistics texts fail to integrate sufficiently the subject matter of statistics with what students will encounter in the behavioral science journals. A statistics course should not only teach students basic skills for analyzing data but also make them intelligent consumers of scientific information. ....Because of the way chapters and exercises are organized in most texts, students are essentially told which statistical procedure to use on a given set of data. This state of affairs is simply unrealistic. It is just as important to teach students when to use a particular statistic and why it should be used as it is to teach them how to compute and interpret the statistic. ....A common complaint among students is that statistics is irrelevant and boring. This view is fostered, in part, by the tendency of statistic texts to use examples and exercises that are irrelevant and boring. Yet, it is possible to provide interesting applications of statistics (which this text does successfully). ....In the present book, a unifying structure is provided [(1)in contrast with other texts and (2) in order to provide students with conceptual relationships among the various stastical analyses]. ....The book emphasizes a conceptual understanding of statistics [rather than the chosen outdated computational emphasis of the vast majority]. ....Another unique characteristic of this text is a chapter on research methods. ....Appendixes to several chapters explain in more detail certain advanced concepts referred to in the body of the text [for advanced students]. ....[The material covered is systematically thorough, allowing the professor to choose a customized curriculum and providing the student with a tremendous resource for further study and reference long after the course]." (pp. xiii-xvi) The book triumphs as the most relevant introductory text on the market today. ... Read more This best-seller covers a wide range of theoriesconditioning, social-cognitive, information processing, and social constructivismwhile. ... Read more Human Learning This is an amazingly well written text. Ms Ormrod actually practices what she preaches, so the book is organised as an exemplar of how to help students learn. I bought the book as an optional text for a Masters in Education, then I sat up one night to check it out. It became compulsive reading, very hard to put down. It gives a broad overview of Educational Psychology thinking over a wide period of time, and encapsulates it. It is full of useful references. Many of my colleagues have borrowed this book for various courses and for course development for educational projects. This is a good practical reference book for teachers. Human learning gives a good basic understanding of learning theory for teachers and others who are interested in educational psychology. There are some very good examples for all theories discussed. The book jumps around a bit and some of the explanations are too technical. ... Read more. ... Read more Reviews (11) This book takes the struggle out of working with BPD This book is designed for use in skill training groups for BPD. The author offers advice on adapting it to be used in individual therapy however. Linehan is forging a place in the mental health field as the foremost clinican in dealing with BPD. The reader is immediately aware of the extensive amount of research that went into this book. The author is not writing about opinion, she is writing about the results of years of extensively scrutinzing the work of herself and others. On the downside the book has the amount and quality of information one would expect from a textbook. This is not light reading, it is however a page turner (as far as academic texts go) if you have ever felt inadequate when dealing with BPD. After applying the ideas in this book I found that BPD was not the same beast in treating than in the past. Respectful to BPD individuals. Techniques used pragmatic As a person with Bipolar Disorder my psychiatrist recommended this book. I devoured it. For a text the reason it was actually enjoyable was because so many of the techniques of therapy I could incorporate on my own. The Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is not limited to BPD. The Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of which DBT is alongside, can be put into use immediately. Also, Linehan is respectful in her writing style toward patients/clients, with BPD. She is not quick to prescribe medications, (that being only a brief mention). Linehan's style is to focus on environmental reasons a person becomes BPD but not to the point where the client feels helpless to change. She respects people where they're at but wants to take them where they want to be-and that's by integrating positive thoughts about themselves into positive actions-skills training-to have steadier relationships in work and life. I highly recommend this book to anyone diagnosed with any mood or personality disorder. Effective for higher functioning, motivated borderlines I work in a residential treatment facility for SPMI (all clients also have at least one Axis I diagnosis), and most of our clients have too low of intellectual functioning to grasp many of the DBT concepts. As an intellectual and a practicising Buddhist, I enjoy Linehan's text (especially the focus on Zen aspects: primarily mindfulness). I have encountered many therapists who have succesfully utilized DBT with other client populations. Dr. Linehan has poured years of experience and research into this text. For my clients, I have to significantly alter and simplify many of the tennants of this treatment. If you are reading this, you know that Borderlines are a growing (and very timeconsuming) population of consumers and this text should be in the library of all mental health workers. Fascinating! I found this book to be so fascinating and eye opening. Although this book is written for those who TREAT borderline personality disorder, I think it will be very helpful to those who have the disorder. I know it has been a great learning tool for me, and I suffer from BPD. Marsha Linehan shows an amazingly compassionate understanding towards the mind of a person with this disorder. I found myself astonished at her incredible ability to understand the way I think. I think the author is nothing short of a genius. The book is great...but it is complicated and it is not a good book for those who don't enjoy intensely intellectual reading. If you are looking for a book to give you quick facts, this is not the book for you. You must enjoy reading to get into this book. A Total Waste of Paper At first I thought the author, Marsha Linehan, was a mental patient herself or perhaps foreign-born because this book is so badly written. It's full of new age cliches, tossed in with Eastern mysticism and the author's own ramblings. The author repeats the same words and phrases over and over again, and is fond of making vague circular statements. I'm surprised that an academic like Linehan has such poor writing skills. Maybe a good editor could make sense of Linehan's gobbledygook. I certainly can't. ... Read more Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to confidently administer, score, and interpret the WISC®-IVThe. ... Read more Thecustomer. ... Read more Best the third time through This book is a very complete and well done review of the history and mechanisms of human error. I can't think of a better reference book. It takes some work to extract the knowledge from the rather concentrated material, but it is well worth it. I generally like an easier, novel-type read, but there are plenty of other books on human factors that provide that. This one shines in the very systematic and complete treatment of the subject. And the bibliography is excellent, because it facilitates the easy branching out into all of his sources. Speaking of people mentioned, I knew I would like it when he spoke highly of Donald Norman. He also mentions Perrow's 'Normal Accidents', which is an excellent book. Also the quote from Ernst Mach can lead into a fascinating side trail of discovery on that man. But mainly his dedication of the book to Jens Rasmussen sent me off on a trail of his work, which is quite prolific. I think this is academia at its best - building on the work of predecessors to help further development of tools and understanding on how to solve practical, real world problems. Human Errors by James Resson I'm Manassawee Lila, I'm Buyer form Johnson Control@SummitInteriors Ltd. My team interesting in your books but I have some problem :- I want to order your books for Human Errors by James RessonI did't pay by cradit card but I need by mail. If I can choose thiscase please tell me more imformation. Best Resource for Latent Human Errors This book is a must have resource for the serious failure analyst. I am responsible for root cause analysis of events at a nuclear power station and we have this as required reading for our root cause analysts. An excellent treatise on the subject of human error, written with a cognitive psychology approach. The treatment of the subject matter is more theoretical and less practice-oriented. The book begins with clear definitions, classifications and explanations on the different types of errors, quickly runs through the relevant literature and scientific studies and expands on the typology using Rasmussen's classification as a base. The author then goes on to describe his well-known Swiss Cheese model and provides an excellent overview of accident causation from a system-thinking perspective. He ends with a note on the methodological assessment of error risks which is perhaps more relevant to safety practitioners. The entire book is written in clear simple language that is easily understood, fascinating and intellectually stimulating, even to non-psychologists. The fundamentals Anyone with any interest in error reduction, or in the way humans interact with technology should start here. The psychological analysis of how and why we commit errors is fascinating, and influences the way one thinks about daily events. I find myself saying "Aha, that was a capture error," and "Damn! I've fallen for the fundamental attribution error again." The real lesson is that errors derive from the very nature of human behavior--the mechanisms which enable us to solve complex problems also make errors inevitable. This realization changes entirely one's concept of industrial accidents and medical mistakes. ... Read more
- Research - Open Access Changes in vasoactive pathways in congenital diaphragmatic hernia associated pulmonary hypertension explain unresponsiveness to pharmacotherapy © The Author(s). 2017 - Received: 5 July 2017 - Accepted: 31 October 2017 - Published: 7 November 2017 Abstract Background Patients with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) have structural and functional different pulmonary vessels, leading to pulmonary hypertension. They often fail to respond to standard vasodilator therapy targeting the major vasoactive pathways, causing a high morbidity and mortality. We analyzed whether the expression of crucial members of these vasoactive pathways could explain the lack of responsiveness to therapy in CDH patients. Methods The expression of direct targets of current vasodilator therapy in the endothelin and prostacyclin pathway was analyzed in human lung specimens of control and CDH patients. Results CDH lungs showed increased expression of both ETA and ETB endothelin receptors and the rate-limiting Endothelin Converting Enzyme (ECE-1), and a decreased expression of the prostaglandin-I2 receptor (PTGIR). These data were supported by increased expression of both endothelin receptors and ECE-1, endothelial nitric oxide synthase and PTGIR in the well-established nitrofen-CDH rodent model. Conclusions Together, these data demonstrate aberrant expression of targeted receptors in the endothelin and prostacyclin pathway in CDH already early during development. The analysis of this unique patient material may explain why a significant number of patients do not respond to vasodilator therapy. This knowledge could have important implications for the choice of drugs and the design of future clinical trials internationally. Keywords - Nitric oxide - Endothelin - Prostacyclin - Development - Lung - Vasculature - Vasodilation Background Three major pathways involved in vasodilation and vasoconstriction. a Schematic overview of the major pathways and the key proteins involved in vasodilation and vasoconstriction. b Aberrant expression of key factors in the three pathways in both human and rat congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Solid arrows represent up- or downregulation in human CDH, dashed arrows represent up- or downregulation in rat CDH. ECE-1 = endothelin converting enzyme 1, ETA = endothelin A, ETB = endothelin B, eNOS = endothelial nitric oxide synthase, sGC = soluble guanylate cyclase, COX = cyclooxygenase, PGIS = prostaglandin synthase, PGI2 = prostaglandin I2, AC = adenylate cyclase, TBXAS1 = thromboxane synthase, TXA2 = thromboxane Overview of studies in human CDH Overview of studies in experimental rat CDH Since CDH patients respond poorly to current treatment strategies, we hypothesized that these effects might be due to an aberrant expression of important vasoactive factors. Here, we are the first to analyze the expression of the direct targets of the most commonly used vasodilator drugs, as well as some of the important members of the three major vasoactive pathways. Using unique patient lung material, we show an increased expression of both endothelin receptors and the rate-limiting endothelin converting enzyme (ECE-1), as well as a decreased expression of the prostaglandin-I2 receptor in human CDH. Moreover, we found changes in the expression of these and other important factors of the pathways in rat CDH (Fig. 1b). Methods Human lung samples Patient characteristics Animal model The well-established animal model was used, where in short pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats received either 100 mg nitrofen dissolved in 1 ml olive oil or just 1 ml olive oil by gavage on gestational age day E9.5 [27]. Nitrofen induces left-sided CDH in approximately 70% of the offspring, while all pups have pulmonary hypertension. At day E21 pups were delivered by caesarean section and euthanized by lethal injection of pentobarbital. Immunohistochemistry staining Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on 5 μm thick paraffin sections of lungs of both rats and humans according to standard protocols, using the Envision™ detection system (Dako Cytomatic, Glostrup, Denmark) [28]. Briefly, sections were deparaffinized with xylene and rehydrated in gradual series of ethanol, after which antigen retrieval was performed by boiling samples in 10 mM Tris (pH 9.0), 1 mM EDTA. Primary and Horse Redox Peroxidase conjugated secondary antibodies were diluted in antibody dilution buffer (DAKO) with 0,5% Tween-20, and the peroxidase was detected with diamino-benzidine tetrahydrochloride (Fluka, Buchs, Switzerland). Validated primary antibodies used for IHC were Endothelin receptor A (ETA; 1:5000 (rat) 1:100 (human); Alamone, Jerusalem, Israel), Endothelin receptor B (ETB; 1:2500 (rat) 1:500 (human); Alamone), Endothelin Converting Enzyme (ECE-1; 1:500 (human); Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS; 1:400 (rat); Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) and prostaglandin-I2 receptor (Ptgir; 1:1000 (rat) 1:500 (human); Cayman Chemical, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA). Negative controls were performed by omitting the primary antibody. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) Statistical analyses Data are presented as means (SD) for normally distributed variables. Univariate analyses were performed using independent samples t-tests for normally distributed variables. The analyses were performed using SPSS 21.0 for Windows (Armonk, NY, USA: IBM Corp.). All statistical tests were two-sided and used a significance level of 0.05. Results We analyzed the expression of receptors which are targeted during treatment, as well as other critical factors of the different vasoactive pathways, in order to unravel the unresponsiveness of CDH patients to current vasodilator therapies. Therefore, a unique set of lung material of CDH patients was used and the data were verified using the more dynamical nitrofen rat model. Human Suppressed progression of prostaglandin-I2 receptors during gestation in human CDH. Representative images show progressive expression of PTGIR in the vessels during gestation in human control lungs, which is reduced in lungs of human CDH patients. Scale bars represent 20 μm. Patients: GA 18 + 0, 33 + 0 and 38 + 0 (control), GA 21 + 4, 36 + 2 and 37 + 2 (CDH) Increased expression of ECE-1 and both ET receptors in human CDH. a Representative images show increased expression of ETA in the smaller vessels and clear expression of the ETB receptor in vessels in lungs of CDH patients compared to control. b ECE-1 is increasingly expressed in the vessels in human control patients during gestation, whereas the expression is already high in the fetal stage of development in CDH patients. Arrows indicate vessels, A indicates airways. Scale bars represent 100 μm (low power) and 20 μm (high power). Patients: GA 38 + 3 (control), GA 38 + 0 and 37 + 2 (CDH) (A + B). Patients: GA 18 + 0, 26 + 5 and 38 + 0 (control), GA 21 + 4, 36 + 2 and 37 + 2 (CDH) (C + D) Expression of prostaglandin and endothelin factors in human LH and PH patients. Representative images show expression of PTGIR (a), ETA (b), ETB (c) and ECE-1 (d) in patients with lung hypoplasia (LH) or pulmonary hypertension (PH) unrelated to CDH. The expression of ETA is increased in the smaller vessels of patients with LH and PH (b), and the expression of ETB is only increased in the vessels of patients with PH (c). ECE-1 is not differently expressed in the vessels both LH and PH lung samples (d) Scale bars represent 20 μm. Arrows indicate very small vessels. Patients: GA 38 + 3 (control), GA 41 + 0 (LH), GA 34 + 3 (PH) Rat Upregulation of ET-receptors in lungs of rat CDH. a Relative expression of the ETA receptor (Eta) and ETB receptor (Etb) shows a significant increase in rat CDH pups (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively), whereas RNA expression of ET-1 shows no differences between control and CDH and Ece-1 is significantly increased (p < 0.05). b Representative images show increased expression of the Eta receptor in the parenchyma of CDH lungs at all stages of development and in the larger vessels at E21. c Representative images show expression of the Etb receptor in the bronchial epithelium of both control and CDH lungs at all stages of development. Inserts represent higher magnifications of a pulmonary vessel. p < 0.05, p < 0.001. Error bars represent SD. Arrows indicate vessels, A indicates airways. Scale bars represent 100 μm (low power) and 20 μm (high power) Increased eNOS expression in lungs of CDH rats. a eNOS expression compared to total rat lungs (left) or to the pulmonary Sma+ smooth muscle cells fraction (right) shows increased expression in CDH lungs. b Representative images show increased expression of eNOS in the vessels of the lungs of CDH rat pups at E21, but not at other stages of gestation. p < 0.01, *p < 0.001. Error bars represent SD. Arrows indicate vessels, A indicates airways. Scale bars represent 100 μm (low power) and 20 μm (high power) and 50 μm Prostacyclin expression in rat pups. a Relative gene expression of prostaglandin I synthase (Ptgis), thromboxane synthase (Tbxas1), prostaglandin-I2 receptor (Ptgir) and prostaglandin-E1 receptor (Ptger1) in lungs of control and CDH rat pups. b Representative images showing the protein expression of PTGIR in the pulmonary vessels in control and CDH lungs.p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Error bars represent SD. Arrows indicate vessels, A indicates airways. Scale bars represent 100 μm (low power) and 20 μm (high power) Discussion This is the first combined study showing the aberrant expression of different important factors in the endothelin, NO and PGI2 pathways in CDH patients (Fig. 1b) and human patients with LH or PH unrelated to CDH, possibly explaining why a large number of patients do not respond to the current vasodilator therapy. We focused our research on direct targets of the most frequent used drugs to investigate the effectiveness of the current approach and combined this with the analysis of some key factors of the different pathways. Since our unique human CDH material is scarce and a limiting factor, since only specimens of newborns who lived for a short period were analyzed to prevent secondary morphological changes, supplemental analyses were done on lung tissue of the nitrofen rat model. In line with previous studies in both human and rat, we found a significant increased expression of the ETA and ETB receptor, important targets of vasodilator therapy, in human CDH patients and the rat model [6, 7, 29]. However, we are the first to show an increased expression of the crucial ECE-1 enzyme in both human pulmonary vessels of CDH patients and whole lung homogenates of nitrofen treated rat pups. ECE-1 converts big ET-1 into the active form of ET-1 and is the rate-limiting step in the production of ET-1 [30]. Although there was no apparent difference in total ET-1 in CDH pups, the higher expression of ECE-1 in lungs of CDH pups may lead to an increase in the active form of ET-1. Previously, we and others showed no apparent differences in the NO pathway [16, 19]. In contrast to other studies [13, 14, 19, 29], we found an increased expression of eNOS in CDH rats in this study. This may be explained by the decreased NO availability, or by the process of eNOS uncoupling. In case of decreased bioavailability of the cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), eNOS produces superoxide instead of NO [31]. This superoxide leads to oxidative stress, which has been observed in vessels of patients with PH [32]. The enhanced activation of the ETA receptor, as mentioned before, might lead to the increase in superoxide production through the induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and can thereby induce SMC proliferation and vasoconstriction. Thus, eNOS uncoupling leads to a reduction in NO bioavailability without a necessary change in the amount of eNOS [31]. Furthermore, we have shown a slight increase in expression of the cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase 5 (Pde5) in the NO pathway in nitrofen treated rat pups previously. However, no differences were found in its phosphorylation or its downstream targets, protein kinase G1 (Prkg1) and Prkg2 [27]. The increased expression of PTGIR in control lungs during gestation could result from the gradual increase of placental PGI2 toward term [33]. The decreased expression in CDH may be a sign of reduced activation of this pathway. In contrast to our human results, we found no differences in the expression of Ptgir in CDH rat pups and an increase of this receptor on mRNA level. Since PGI2 is a potent vasodilator and thromboxane A2 (TXA2) a potent vasoconstrictor, the increased expression of Ptgir and decreased expression of Tbxas1 was unexpected. However, this aberrant balance between PGI2 and TXA2 in CDH was already previously described by our group [34]. We showed an increased level of 6-keto-PGF1α, the stable metabolite of PGI2, and an increased ratio of 6-keto-PGF1α and TXA2 in both lung homogenates and broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of nitrofen treated rat pups. The discrepancy between the increased mRNA expression of Ptgir in CDH lungs and the absence of differences at the protein level is most likely caused by the difference in sensitivity between qPCRs and IHC. Furthermore, the different results in human and rat could be explained by the fact that we only used the most severe cases of human CDH where the rat model covers all cases. Current treatment of CDH patients with PH is not evidence based [3] and most patients respond poorly to the used medication. Inhaled NO (iNO) is most commonly used as a first line drug, but its use varies significantly among different centers internationally [35]. In contrast to the promising results of iNO in patients with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn [36], studies in CDH have failed to show its efficacy [35, 37], as no trials have been performed to evaluate the potential role of iNO specifically in CDH patients. Apart from iNO therapy there are some case reports on the use of sildenafil and prostacyclins in CDH patients with variable results [25, 26, 38, 39]. However, administration of enteral sildenafil in neonates leads to highly variable plasma concentrations because of variable gut absorption and/or limited hepatic clearance [40]. The recent availability of intravenous sildenafil may change its application [41], but solid pharmacokinetic data on optimal dosage are still to be published. Treatment with endothelin receptor antagonists is even a bigger problem since these drugs are only available in oral form, while data of its use in newborns are virtually absent concerning dosage absorption and safety. The fact that the current therapy should be considered mainly as” trial and error” and is effective in the minority of patients with CDH strengthens our results that there are possibly more pathways affected. Furthermore, the severity of PH in CDH patients has been known as an important predictor of the outcome and further evaluation of current therapies has been recommended by experts in the field [5]. Future treatment should become more personalized in this group of patients using pathway directed clinical trials and risk stratification [42]. Although the nitrofen rat model is well established, there are still differences in embryonic maturation between rat and human, which may have affected the results. Furthermore, ideally, we would like to be able to directly correlate the findings of aberrant expression of the different vasoactive pathways with the individual response of patients to specific vasoactive drugs. However, given the overall limitations of these types of studies and the lack of material of patients who did respond to one of the three therapies, this remains impossible as repeated lung biopsies would be needed to accomplish this. Conclusions In conclusion, our study shows the aberrant expression of specific vasodilator drug targets and crucial, rate-limiting factors in human CDH and the nitrofen rat model in both the endothelin, NO and PGI2 pathway already early during development. Since PH is still a major problem and the most important cause of morbidity and mortality in CDH patients nowadays while current treatment strategies are disappointing, a good insight in these pathways is needed for specific and patient directed targeting of pharmacotherapy. Abbreviations - CDH: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia - cGMP: Cyclic guanosine monophosphate - ECE-1: Endothelin converting enzyme 1 - eNOS: Endothelial nitric oxide synthase - ET: Endothelin - ET-1: Endothelin 1 - ETA: Endothelin receptor A - ETB: Endothelin receptor B - IHC: Immunohistochemistry - LH: Lung hypoplasia - NO: Nitric oxide - PDE5: Phosphodiesterase 5 - PGI2 : Prostacyclin - PH: Pulmonary hypertension - PRKG1: Protein kinase G1 - PRKG2: Protein kinase G2 - PTGER1: Prostaglandin-E receptor - PTGIR: Prostaglandin-I2 receptor - PTGIS: Prostaglandin-I2 synthase - qPCR: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction - TBXA2r: Thromboxane receptor - TBXAS1: Thromboxane synthase - TXA2: Thromboxane Declarations Acknowledgements Not applicable. Authors’contributions Concept and design of study, D.S.M., D.T. and R.J.R. Acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data, D.S.M., M.J.B., D.T. and R.J.R. Drafting of manuscript, D.S.M., D.T. and R.J.R. Review of manuscript for important intellectual content, D.S.M., R.M.H.W., D.T. and R.J.R. Final approval of manuscript, D.S.M., M.J.B., R.M.H.W., D.T. and R.J.R. Study supervision, D.T. and R.J.R. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Funding This study was supported in part by the Sophia Foundation for Medical Research grant number 678. Availability of data and materials The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Ethics approval and consent to participate Human lung samples were retrieved from the archives of the Department of Pathology of the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, following approval by the Erasmus MC Medical Ethical Committee. According to Dutch law following consent to perform autopsy, no separate consent is needed from parents to perform additional staining of tissues. 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How to Disable Hot Corners (Charms Bar and App Switch List) in Windows 8.1? One of the big annoyances present in Windows 8 was "Hot Corners" feature which allows users to access some predefined shortcuts by moving the mouse cursor to top-left or top-right corners of computer screen. When you move the cursor to top-left corner of screen, the "App Switcher" or "App Switch List" is shown which allows you to navigate between running apps or close running apps. When you move the cursor to top-right corner of screen, "Charms Bar" is shown which provides quick access to 5 shortcuts: Search, Share, Start, Devices and Settings. Although these hot corners were designed to help Windows 8 users but most of the users found them annoying and useless. They wanted to disable these hot corners but Microsoft didn't provide any option to disable these irritating hot corners. That's why we had to take help of 3rd party tools such as Classic Shell to disable hot corners in Windows 8 as shown in following tutorial: How to Disable Hot Corners (Charms Bar, Start Screen Thumbnail, App Switch List) in Windows 8? Now Microsoft has released Windows 8.1 update for Windows 8 users which comes with many new features and fixes and one of these new features is the built-in option to disable hot corners in Windows 8.1. Now Windows 8.1 users will not need to use any extra software to turn off these hot corners. You can disable hot corners quickly and easily using Taskbar Properties or PC Settings. If you are using Windows 8.1 and want to disable "Charms Bar" or "App Switch List" hot corners, this tutorial will definitely help you: METHOD 1: Using Taskbar Properties 1st option will disable Charms Bar and the 2nd option will disable App Switch list. 4. Apply the changes and it'll immediately disable hot corners in Windows 8.1. METHOD 2: Using PC Settings You can also disable hot corners using PC Settings (aka Metro Control Panel). 1. Move your mouse cursor to top-right or bottom-right corner of screen and click on Settings icon present in Charms Bar. 2. Now click on "Change PC settings" option. 3. It'll open PC Settings page. Now go to "PC & devices -> Corners & edges" section. 4. As you can see in the above screenshot, you can disable the hot corners by setting both options present in "Corner navigation" section to Off. NOTE 1: If you still get Charms Bar on your Windows 8/8.1 computer, try to turn off "Enable Edge Swipes" or similar option present in "Control Panel -> Mouse" properties to disable Charms Bar gesture as mentioned in following tutorial: [Fix] Charms Bar Randomly Appears on Windows 8/8.1 Devices NOTE 2: If you want to make these changes using Registry Editor, check out following tutorial: Registry Tweaks to Customize Taskbar and Start Screen Settings in Windows 8.1 Share this article: Facebook \| Twitter \| Google+ \| Reddit \| Tell a friend Posted in: Troubleshooting, Windows 8 / 8.1 Other similar articles that may interest you - Personas: New Easy to Install & Easy to Use Skins for Mozilla Firefox - Collection of Some Useful Tricks and Extensions for Mozilla Firefox - [Windows 10 Tip] Restore Classic Context Menu in Explorer and Desktop - 5 Tips to Customize “File Save” Page in Microsoft Office Applications - Download Best Free Bootable Rescue Disks from Popular Antivirus Companies - Windows 7 Logon Reworked: Get Longhorn Style Aurora Login Screen in Windows 7 Addy Is There any way to modify the charms in this update?? NZero I had thought of that too (since using W8 for first time). I want to hide/replace the Share and Devices button, they just seems useless to me. VG No. You cant customize Charms. You can only disable Charms Bar. Addy Are there any 3rd party tools available to do that?? VG ^^ No. No 3rd party software allows you to change Charms Bar functionality. Addy If we disable charms , how do we search in News , Travel , Sports etc. ??(cuz they have a broken Search at the top-right corner ) ... VG ^^ It disables top-right hot corner. You can still access Charms Bar using bottom-right hot corner. Addy So is there no way to disable bottom right hot corner?? VG ^^ Without 3rd party software? No. Wolf Kittler Thanks for the detailed instructions, but, unfortunately, it did not work for me. I did everything you suggested, but the annoying "charms" bar still pops up. Any solution to this problem? Thank you, Wolf. Thomas Thank you :) But i use a second screen here.. and one hot corner is already active -_- On the primary screen everything is fine. But on the second screen, the right bottom corner already shows this annoying bar. Any ideas? :( Ray Thanks, but does not work on Toshiba Satellite C850, I have done all the regedits recommended as well, a tad annoying. ( switched off in PC settings as well ) Alex Doesn't work on my Acer Aspire V7 laptop either. I've tried everything... the Synaptics disable, the registry trick and even 3rd party charm killer.... charms still popping out killing my productivity. I heard MS may be releasing Windows 9 soon... I hope it finally addresses the annoyances of Win 8/8.1 I can't F'ing wait. rkkdjb @VG Just an observation: if we disable the app switcher according to method 1, it only disables it from the top left corner but is still present in bottom left (start button) corner. To check open start screen open any app like store or skydrive and dont close them, now go to bottom left corner or start button and u will still be presented with app switcher option. To disable it completely, in method 2 pic(upper portion) app switch needs to be disable,try this again and now app switch is completely disabled. -11th Feb 2014, 02:19 GMT VG ^^ Yeah. That option disables it in Metro mode. John Bird There is an extra setting in Control Panel/Mouse - in my case under the Synaptics settings - "Edge Swipe" which brings up the charms menu when the mouse is swiped right to left. However the setting being on by default means the charms menu keeps popping up unexpectedly when moving the mouse. Turning this option off fixes this most annoying behaviour. I still have the mouse going to the top right or bottom right corners turned on to bring up the charms menu. Hope this helps others. More Info: [Fix] Charms Bar Randomly Appears on Windows 8/8.1 Devices M. Keith I hope it helps others too, because so far these fixes don't work, and these giant black charms keep popping up no matter what, invading pc screens from the side and the bottom, with that flashing strobe like quality which becomes more and more irritating the longer it goes on. It's great to keep learning new things, but Microsoft needs to address this problem. again. Victim Of Charms Bar Killer Beware of this Rogue Software: Charms Bar Killer. I downloaded it cleanly right from their site. It did nothing to kill the Charms Bar Menu on the Horrific Windows 8.1 OS. Futhermore- It embedded Trojan Horse Virus- Malware.Generic.746983. This rogue software hid itself so I could not uninstall it from my registry or from the programs menu. I contacted the developer 3 times on this issue, they refused to respond. Anvisoft Smart Defender finally found & killed this rogue, fake program. The virus allows a backdoor to be wide open on your computer to enable programs to be run from an attacker. Charles Did not work on Win 8.1 Toshiba Satellite Karen I, too, have been incredibly annoyed by the charms bar.. I've tried all the fixes I've found on the internet and even contacted Microsoft, who gave me a link to a page explaining how to turn them off in the registry.. That only worked for one day.. They were back the next morning when I turned my HP laptop on (using Windows 8.1) I went to walmart and purchased a $16 wireless mouse. It actually stopped the charms from popping out. The only time they pop out if I run the cursor as far as it can go on the right side. Otherwise, the charms have stayed hidden.. Small investment to keep my sanity, because these ridiculous charms were driving me bonkers, constantly popping up, blocking what I was working on.. So annoying. I was about the throw my new laptop out the window.. The wireless mouse saved it, and my sanity. Herra Käpitän Thank you so much for creating charms bar removing program, it really makes life easier. I have no shortcuts in the harms bar so it was really annoying. Doreen I tried the solution on the page linked at the end of this article for Touch devices and I was SO thrilled it worked! Now I see that the charm bar appears randomly, but only sometimes, which is much better than EVERY TIME I went near the scroll bar. Thanks so much! Tobasha For Toshiba 8.1 Satellite, it works for a minute but when you're on the Internet the "charm" bar continues to pop up. Any other suggestions? Barry Windows 8.1 edge swipes have been a disaster for us with the dell venue 8 pro. Its no longer possible to build reliable enterprise devices using windows 8.1. Who ever came up with the idea that edge swipes should be permanently enabled should be shot,. And then stamped on. Repeatedly. GD Stardock Start 8 allows you disable all corners in desktop mode so it looks and acts like Windows . Just go under Control in the program and Disable all Corners GD Stardock Start 8 allows you disable all corners in desktop mode so it looks and acts like Windows 7. Just go under Control in the program and Disable all Corners Lin @GD I don't know why you would want to install a 3rd party software when you can just change the settings in windows itself. STEVEN John Bird you are a life saver it worked on my hp chrome book I have tried ev thing navigation and edgeui nothing worked so thank you Tulash Hi Guys Please take a look at this, I have managed TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM FOR GOOD and so will you. Nobody would have been as much annoyed as me with this irritating charm bars which in my understanding is the worst thing ever invented by micro soft windows. I have tried so much suggestions by other guys here but all in vain. particularly waste of time about this task bar suggestions. Now what to do? Go to control panel, choose mouse and open property and there will be Touchpad option for the make of your laptop. On mine its Dell touchpad on the very left hand corner, and it has got option to "change the touchpad setting option" and turn it off from this setting. This really does the good trick. Well! Did on mine. Good lucks. Thanks amanda Allen These instructions do not seem to be working? CAn anyone verify if Windows 8.1 has updated and these directons are no longer viable? VG ^^ They work. Also try following: carolyn johnson IT DIDN'T WORK. I tried the first method - Taskbar, Properties, Navigation, unclick the first two items, and it does not work at all. Yes, I clicked on "apply" as well. Thanks a lot. Audrey-Bean I did these things. Now it doesn't appear when I point to the corner, but it still appears every time I open a new window. So if I click on a link that opens a new tab or window, my mouse defaults to the right hand side of the screen and the whole charms thing is there on top of the window. I have to keep moving my mouse and clicking it away--annoying when you have to do it so many times. Matt H Thank God! I finally got rid of those 2 annoying black "charm bars" that would popup every time I would swipe on my mouse pad. I unchecked the "enable edge swipes" under mouse settings and that took care of it. No more freakin black boxes poping up on my screen! Thanks for the info. on how to turn off that dang poping up of black boxes. John Griffin Anyone recommend a better system? Ive tried Everything, so now I would like to dump Windows Why not join me? as it seems windows dose not care. Randy The only program that helped a little killing to charms menu was onestart by anvisoft. But they do not update the program so it started to lose it's hold on the charms bar. Microsoft level II techs even tried to fix my new Acer aspire laptop 3 times, they completely screwed my registry, now my Windows 8.1- the worst Microsoft product ever will not install any critical updates for over 8 months now. Microsoft has screwed us royally by refusing to admit & fix these 2 major issues. Charm Bar Virus, that is what it is & update failures. If yiou are considering a new PC. Run as fast as you can to MAC. Mark You are the best, thanks. Amanda John Bird, thanks SO much! In my case it was just the Synaptics settings, exactly like you mentioned. Now the annoying bar is off. Thanks you very much! john To stop annoying Charm bar and Start menu randomly appearing in Windows 8.1, the following worked for me on a Toshiba Satellite laptop: Control Panel; Mouse; Device Settings; click on Settings in the box; then unclick Enable Edge Swipes, Thanks to person above who also seemed to suggest this solution. So glad that annoying problem is fixed Keeksee Followed all above instructions just to be sure, charms bar still shows up. Guta Tulash great job!!! just follow his instruction! bacon get your start menu back on windows 8: classicshell.net your welcome JAY I'm running 8.1 and tried turning off charms using both methods. Neither worked. They should have called them "Pains" instead of "Charms". Stephanie I forgot my password and i can't get in. Can anyone help me out of this TDS I have a Toshiba Satellite. I finally think I found how to do it on my computer. It seems to be working anyway. Go to Control Panel, Hardware & Sounds, click on mouse, go to the Device Settings tab, click on settings, and then uncheck edge swipe. Lisa I have an HP Pavillion and used Tulash's method but it looked a little different. I searched for mouse properties. Clicked it and chose Touch pad. Then I clicked the highlighted "click to change touch pad settings". Then I chose Edge swipe. I unclicked the three boxes in here and this worked! Hallelujah! No more annoying pop ups!!! James Thanks. That worked. Windows 8.1 is actually "Microsoft Classic" as in its been engineered so only the developer team fools at Microsoft find it to be logical and user friendly. Alan Sinclair HOW COULD ANYONE DEVOLOP SUCH A TERRIBLE WINDOWS After all these yours of using windows I am going back to windows 7 and will NEVER by a new windows. Brenda HP laptop: go to Control Panel, click on HP Control Zone Settings and wah-lah...you are there! Uncheck "Enable Edge Swipes." I've done it and now, I'm gonna see if it works. :) (On my computer none of the other instructions matched my HP layout...until I stumbled across the HP Control Zone Settings item sitting right there in the list within Control Panel. Gonna be SO easily accessible!! I'm thrilled. Panhead Pam YES! Right-click taskbar to disable corner activation of CHARMS worked for me (HP ENVY TOUCH). I'm happy with that. Playing with edge-swipe, I decided not to remove the option after discovering that I really don't have to click OUT of the unexpected display, all I have to do is repeat the right->left edge-swipe. Much easier to deal with accidental CHARMS display. Thanks for the simple, straight-forward instructions! Yanna This isn't working for me either in an up to date install of 8.1. I was able to remove the charms from appearing at the top corner, but they're forever popping up from the bottom. I've done taskbar, touchpad, mouse, and registry changes and the bottom corner is still active. As that's where I naturally rest my mouse pointer while using operating systems that aren't garbage, it's driving me crazy. Katherine This does not work, I tried it, I also went into pc setting, pc devices and corners and turned it off and it's still on, I went to properties/navigation and this does not work either, I hate this stupid thing!! Sherry NONE OF THIS WORKED with my Acer Aspire V laptop. I've tried everything to get rid of these annoying Charms - if EVER I've known of anything to be mis-named, it's Microsoft's Charms. How about just calling it The Microsoft Annoyance Bar? bre can disable all corners but the most annoying, bottom right hand, HATE THE BOTTOM RIGHT! such a pain in the a--! I despise windows 8 on the sole idea of dealing with that corner popping up constantly and unwantedly! boo Peter The bar only appears when you swipe towards the left on the right side off your mousepad, not on the left side. So i keep my left finger on the left side of the pad :) and when i want it to appear, i swipe my right finger towards the left, on the right side of the pad.. Zey I'm using windows 8.1 and have an Acer computer. This solution does not work and there is no touchpad option to choose from in the Mouse section. The Charms bar along with the date bar both show up randomly out of the blue. This feature is incredibly nerve-wracking. Had I known, I would never have bought a computer using windows 8 or 8.1. Aggravating! Georgous George I think the only way to stop them is by uninstalling the os and revert back to 7 or XP, my laptop is still under warranty so its going back today, had enough of these charms to the point where I'm close to throwing the lap top out the window and if it wasn't for the warranty I probably would! Jandy @ John Bird, your solution works, thanks. Jen John Bird - THANK YOU! This finally disabled that annoying swipe from the right that brought up the Charms menus and big clock! I couldn't find any other way, though the left swipe option is available to be disabled in the touchpad options, the swipe from right is not. Frank Download Classic Shell – Go to Windows 8.1 Settings tab Select “Disable Active Corners” – All Problem solved. VG ^^ Its here: ;) Fr3dY I managed to completely disable this annoyance by using Start8 software, although it's not free. Fr3dY Amazing... Start8 didn't work 100% either, charms bar still appears sometimes :( Jennifer Winkler Neither Method 1 nor Method 2 remove lower right corner activation of the charms, so it should not be stated here that "You can disable hot corners quickly and easily using Taskbar Properties or PC Settings." These two methods only remove upper right corner activation of charms. Mike I followed your instructions but was stumped when the mouse properties box was not the same as yours.I had spent weeks trying to find a solution so I kept going.I went to task bar and navigation icon in control panel and disabled the right swipe charm bar there.Best thing was to put control panel into large icons.
Hello "Poetry" Classics Words About Guidelines © 2020 HePo by Eliot Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member #matt Words: matt View all 643 found Matthew Berkshire Chicago From Miami, studied in New England, live in Chicago. Inspired by everything, awed by most, saddened by little. Matt 34/M/Los Angeles I enjoy history, documentaries, and golf. Tyler Matthew 26/M/U.S. "I am large, I contain multitudes" Poems View all 878 found Yesenia Acevedo Sep 2015 Eve 3 Yesenia Acevedo Sep 2015 Eve 3 Six hours later the sun rose in Peach Springs shinning down on the little busy police station in the middle of town. Eve sat in a tiny well lit room hand cuffed to a bar attached to the wall. She felt dizzy from the tears she had shed unsure how she could still produce them, one after another they fell. The door opened announcing the police officer who uncuffed her and lead her to a room with a table in the center surrounded with chairs. She sat silently gripping to what was left of her sanity as the tears continued to fall. Minutes later two detectives entered, one female, one male, they sat down looking at each other stating their names and titles. The female detective asked Eve her fist question, "Do we have you permission to record this conversation?" "Yes, you do." She pressed the record button and the interrogation had officially began. "Tell us what happened prior to you arriving at the hospital." Eve began to tell her truth fading in and out of the memory as she told the events before and after she decided to get out of bed with Sam. Six hours earlier... Eve and Sam were restless unable to return to their dreams. She hoped Matt would come back to bed and realize he was being a **. He doesn't even know what the situation is between me and Jake. Eve decided to leave the bed with her son oblivious to the consequences that awaited. She kept her shoulders square, her eyes on the path that lead to the kitchen as she passed Matt in the living room. She peeked in the master bedroom searching for Julie when Matt's mother spoke in an overpowering voice, "I'm in here, close the door." Eve felt her son squeeze his legs around her and quickly closed the door. She walked towards the back door listening to faint voices coming from Matt's room. She joined them sitting across from Julie with her son in her lap she asked, "What are you up to Jewels?" Eve wished she would've stayed in bed when Julie pointed to the coke offering her some. She refused it but knew it wouldn't be that easy to get away with. Like with most things Julie told her to try it and stop if she didn't like it. Eve asked her what it felt like then agreed when Julie told her it felt good. She placed her child on the bed opposite to Jake, she shooed Jake"s hand away when he tried to grab her. Agitated she walked over to Julie who held the foil steady while she inhaled her hit. As she exhaled she washed the taste clean from her lips. When she looked up she realized Matt was sitting on his bed drinking a beer. Eve shook her head at Matt agreeing with his sister who was telling stop or he'd go back to jail. *** ***, he's doing this on purpose. she told herself when he downed four more. Eve followed Julie's lead yelling at Jake not to give Matt any of the *** when he offered it to him. Eve held her anger while she watched him as he snorted the fine white powder. Julie told her brother, "Your *** stupid." Eve shouted at him, "Yeah you are." "Why do you even care.", he asked in voice that stabbed at Eve. Lost in her thoughts she barely notice when Amanda walked in. Eve heard her whining but couldn't make out what she was saying. She looked up in time to hear Julie invite her somewhere. Automatically she refused using the excuse that her son was awake. Amanda threw a fit telling Julie to leave Eve behind then she turned to Eve glaring at her as she left the room with Jake following behind her. "Ignore her. Lets go.", Julie insisted. "I can't.", Eve pointed to her son. "Ask Matt to watch him", she told her. Eve looked at Matt who was shaking his head with his answer no. "It's only for a few minutes Matt." Julie told him. Eve walked towards Matt telling Julie, "It's okay Julie, Amanda doesn't want me to go, remember." " her." Julie said laughing. Eve reached for her son taking him from Matt, but Matt pulled him back telling her, "I'll do it." "No, it's okay, give me my baby." Eve insisted pulling on Sam. Eve frowned at Matt when he refused to let go of Sam. They both tugged at him til he started crying, with sounds of his cries she let go of Sam. "Are you sure Matt? I can take him, he's my baby, just give him to me. " Eve studied him, Matt pouted saying, "I'll do it, I always do it anyway?" Feeling uneasy Eve handed Sam's bottle to Matt then left the room with Julie. They met Amanda, Jake and Jeff at the curb where the cream colored Cadillac was parked in front of the house. Immediately Amanda threw a fit at the sight of Eve. Eve shrugged her off as they drove to the store. Jake went in then returned empty handed explaining it was two a.m. and the store clerk refused to sell him alcohol. They drove the four blocks back to the house with Amanda pouting a fit that had them all in distress. Upon arriving to the house Eve smoked a cigarette on the front porch with Julie keeping her company. She finish the cigarette proceeded to the kitchen retrieving a yogurt from the fridge. Eve step out on the back porch listening for Sam. She stood there for several minute while she ate her yogurt thinking, Sam's probably asleep. If i go in that room and end up waking him Matt will flip. I'll just wait a few more minutes and smoke another cigarette, if Sam cries i'll get him, if he doesn't i'll leave it be. She finish her cigarette certain everything was perfectly fine. She believed Sam was sleeping in the safety of Matt's protection. Matt had always referred to Sam as his son ever since Eve's belly began to show she was pregnant with Sam, she trusted him. With her mind at ease she returned to the living-room and out the front door. The Cadillac took off leaving Amanda behind. She watched Amanda walk along side of the house heading towards the back yard. Eve followed Amanda until she turned snapping her words she instructed Eve to leave her alone. Eve turned around entering the house through the front door. Amanda entered the house through the back entrance minutes after eve had sat down next Julie. Amanda joined them in the living-room visibly upset making it clear she was not happy that Jeff left to take Jake home. Soon after Matt ran through back door yelling , "Help! He's not breathing, he's not breathing!" The girls met him at the frame of the door leading to the kitchen. They shouted at him demanding to know what had happened. He told them Sam must have swallowed a rock. Everything swirled into a blur and Eve took her baby from him grabbing her coat on the way out running, following Julie. Eve blinked through tears returning her to the room where the detectives sat in front of her. She shook head resting her arms on the table saying, "That's all i know." "Tell us again, from the beginning, what happened?" The detectives took turns insisting she tell them over and over again what she knew. After the fifth time through the events of that night she lost her composer. Eve slammed her hands down on the table as she stood from the chair screaming, "I already told you what happen. Why are you doing this? How many times do I have to tell you?" She hung her head low clearing her mind making sense of the situation. She looked up at them, in a confused voice she said, "You think i killed my baby?' Her voice hardened raising slightly. "Is that what you think? Is that why your doing this? I didn't my baby, I didn't him." Defeated she fell into her chair. The detectives looked at each other then turned off the recorder. "We're finished." They both said softly standing then leaving the room. Some time later a police officer opened the door leading her to another room with a table in the center surrounded with chairs and a two-sided mirror next to it. Her eyes leaked endless amounts of sorrow flowing, falling with every step she took towards the chair she pulled out sitting so that she faced the mirror. The door closed with the officers exit and she let out a wail of enormous heartbreak, sorrow, and just flat out pain. What happened? Oh god, bring him back. Tell me what happened. Why? She pleaded silently with her God. She watched herself in the mirror thinking, I should have never left the bed. I should have made him fall asleep. Feeling faint her eyes throbbed making her head pound deeper pulsing down her neck. Eve pushed two chairs together curling on to them making her hands her pillow. She closed her eyes wishing that when she opened them she'd be next to Sam in bed. But she open her eyes and saw the carpet of the room, she began to sob. The door opened with the familiar face of the officer who lead her to the exit of the police station informing her she was free to go. The light of the sun blinded her sending her into a daze. Nora and Julie soon joined her and she asked Julie's mother Nora, "Where's Matt?" Nora turned to Eve shushing her with a finger to her lips. When they arrived home Nora requested the girl join her in her room. Once there Nora instructed the girls to sit on the bed. They did as asked then Nora faced the floor slowly and clearly she said, "Matt killed Sam!" With the sounds of those words Eve's world turned, crumbling. Nora informed the girls what Matt had done to the child. They all cried in pain knowing nothing could ever be the way it was before. Now those loving feeling she felt for Matt in the darkest corners of her mind echo'd, slithering, completely tainted by the unspeakable evil he committed against her son resonated throughout her being. #story Continue reading... Yesenia Acevedo Sep 2015 Matt Yesenia Acevedo Sep 2015 Matt Matt opened his eyes when he felt the shift in the bed. He turn towards Eve frozen he watched Jake kissing what was suppose to be his. Eve laid there as Jake kissed her. With heartache accompanied by disbelief Matt regained his ability to react but instead he left the comfort of the warm bed. Just then Eve slapped Jake. Typical, now that she sees i'm awake she goes into defense mode. she always doing this, *** with my head. God your such a *** , Eve! He left the room quickly making his way to the recliner. His head was pounding feeling the need of destruction rise with in him. Unwilling to give into the desire he settled his sights on the television. He turned it on flipping trough the channels and raising the volume wanting to drown out the sounds he knew would shortly follow from what he had witnessed. He covered his ears refusing to hear her moans penetrate his heart as Jake penetrated her. She would, that *. Just give herself to another man, another man who isn't me. As the unfamiliar voice floated unclear from the man on the television to his ears he remembered the first time he had laid eyes on Eve. He was with his cousin visiting his sister at her friends house. Matt and his cousin were entertaining with their playful rough housing. He had his cousin in a head lock about to take him down when she stepped out from behind the bedroom door. Her eyes met his and he stood still. She flashed a smile at him as he unsuccessfully tried to do the same. He hadn't even realized his cousin had escaped his grasp. He felt the corners of his mouth begin to turn up into a smile and she turned her attention to the right of him. It was then he knew he was going down. He hit the ground hard feeling the vibration pulsing from the ground beneath him where his back made impact. He quickly rolled to his stomach rising up on his knees and hands. He looked up at Eve, she was laughing, her eyes where lit and he was in awe. Her expression change to match the feeling of the impact of his cousin lunging himself up in the air and crashing down on his back. Matt's cheeks filled with heat as he focused in on his cousin. He pinned him down then scanned the room for Eve, but she was gone. The memory faded with a crash that startled him. He looked around the room then realized the noise had come from the television. He turned it down, way down deciding he wanted to hear if she would dare him in his sisters bed. He sat in the recliner balling his hand into fists waiting, listing for the faintest of sounds from Eve. Moments later he heard a distorted laugh and turned his upper body in its direction. Jake stood there staring back at him with smug amusement plastered on his face. Matt's already tense body began to flare engorged muscles. He was ready to take him when Jake sent a smile at him. Matt could feel his blood boiling, pounding, rushing through his veins reaching his heart quivering in anticipation waiting for the slightest movement in his direction. He studied Jake. What does Eve see in this **? He cant be that great, its only been five minutes. I'll bet she'll be on to the next guy by tomorrow, or back to Derek. Ah ! Images of Sam's father plagued Matt. She *** knows i hate Derek. Flashes sparked in his eyes and he played the memory's tune. They had been arguing on the front porch while Matt's little brother ran circles around them. "If you ever let Derek come over here, ill kick his *** !" ,Matt informed Eve. "Whatever Matt! He's Sams father and if he wants to see his son, he's gonna." , she countered. Matt bounced up and down with anger. Eve dismissed his primitive dance and went inside. Matt blinked escaping the memory, fixating his eyes on Jake. Jake turned his attention down the kitchen then back at Matt. Matt narrowed his eyes when Jake dared another smile at him before going into the kitchen. The destructive desire with in him ignited and he beat his fists into the arm rests of the recliner. Shortly after Eve appeared. "Where's your sister at?" , she asked. "****, you hateful *, *** ." , he said in a whisper. "What?" , she said. Matt was over flowing with the urge to devour her with hateful slurs. He slightly turned his head to her refusing to look at her directly. "How should i know, maybe she's with your boyfriend." ,he said. "What's you problem Matt?" , she questioned him. Matt took pleasure in the irritation in her voice and retaliated with, "You should know." "Whatever Matt." , she sneered at him. As Eve entered the kitchen Matt inhaled and swallowed his breath. He fought the desire to slap the out of Eve. Matt bathed in relief when he saw Eve out of the comer of his eye a few seconds later. She walked by heading to the bedroom with Sam and a bottle. She looked his way only to see his eyes piercing her with a glare. She tilted her head up at him calling him out on his ** and stuck her tongue out at him before she disappeared into the room. With that his jealousy was extinguished. Matt, Jake and Eve intertwine as a story. #story Continue reading...
. 38 comments: i love your porcelain statues! :) wonderful couple. and these self textile is great too! Really interesting Richard! They sure put a lot of hours into making those. Very beautiful!! Your talents continue to delight and amaze me. Hello Richard, I'm astounded! Like 'The Tailor of Glouster' you must have little mice working for you. Such fine work - beautiful. Anyes XX That is beautiful needlework Richard. I like that you designed the center piece differently, almost like a crest. Pamela Your lambrequin is delightful, and is clearly the product of many many long hours. It completes your mantle so beautifully. I learned something again, Richard, thanks! I love how your lambrequin has a similar shape to your fireplace screen. Beautiful!...Christine I'm in awe that you charted the canvas for your lambrequin. I spent years as an artist designing custom needlepoint canvases. I spent many years as a mad stitcher. The center swag that you designed is really my favorite. It leads the eye to the wallpaper border beautifully. You've created a true treasure! Thanks for inviting us for a peak. Cherry Kay Oh Richard, you're just amazing! The lambrequin is simply gorgeous and the central panel just makes it perfect. You're so talented and hardworking. Have you considered making the needlepoint pattern for sale? I'm sure there's a lot of interest in putting an original design into a Victorian house and 19th century lambrequins are hard to find, as you found. A man with many talents for sure. Is there anything you can't do? for that grand house? The lambrequin and the curtains sister made for you are so special I had no idea what they were called .Just thought they were fire place scarfs so glad people are responding to your newspaper article and I was looking for the new Victorian Homes magazine at Barns & Noble over the weekend. It's not here yet That's a new word for me, Richard:)Thanks for the definition! And this is really exquisite! It looks so beautiful, the colors and the needle point are a work of art for future generations to preserve and enjoy. You've created a masterpiece,indeed! You are your sister, both are incredibly talented:)The valances she made looks gorgeous! Thanks for stopping by and leaving me such an endearing comment. I'm following you now through GFC and would love to have you follow me. Have a wonderful evening!~Poppy @ With a Dash of Color See I always learn something new when I come for a visit... I would have had no idea what those were called! I just scored a Moorish piece like a Persian Rug that fits around a door jamb and I have no idea what those are called either, but I fell in Love with them and recently found one during a Junquing forray for 80% less than they're selling at the Import Shops, I was Delighted!!! Can't wait to hang it and Photograph it and have you take a look so you might be able to tell me what it is? Thanks for stopping by for a visit, I Loved that Hat too... but way out of my budget. sob Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian Richard, I had no clue. You are a font of information about your era of houses and I actually own an antebellum home (although it is falling apart). This piece is lovely and note I did not try to spell it. hugs, olive Wow Richard, I am truly impressed! Soph and I would love to come by and take a tour, and get a sugar from Sissy girl! You are so talented and I am simply amazed at all that you have done and are doing. God bless you for saving this house and all the history you have brought into her walls. Love your newspaper article below. What a great read and I hope it brings you and Sissy more visitors. I love the history lesson.You have the most beautiful home! Smiles Richard, You never cease to amaze me! Your lambrequin is goreous!!! Blessings, Kim Richard you would make someone a GREAT husband..do you cook and do windrows I'll marry you ha ha!! GREAT and fun post as always my dear friend..give Sissy some fur love for me..Hugs and smiles Gloria Greetings, Richard! I have seen comments from you on different blogs that I visit, and you are always so nice with the words you leave. :) So I wanted to visit you myself. ;) Your home looks beautiful and what a wonderful job you did on your Lambrequin... I had never heard of something like that! And you are so lucky that you have a loving sister to make your window coverings to match your work! You are blessed, and she is gifted in sewing (I can barely sew on a button). Well, it was nice meeting you, and I will visit again, you seem like a lovely person. And I would LOVE to meet your dog one day! LOL! I can tell that your doggie is much loved. :) Best, Gloria Richard you are so clever to have stitched so beautifully. I'm sure it will be a treasure forever. Your parlour is a treasure in itself, so beautiful and as you know I love mirrors and yours is gorgeous. :) jeanetteann OMG..I have crafted many cross-stitch projects so I know how much work you put into this needlepoint lambrequin! What a treasure to behold and an heirloom for certain! Thanks for sharing. I love your home. I was born and raised in NE AR and love seeing "close" neighbors handiwork. Have a wonderful week! You are so clever, Richard. I had no idea what a Lambrequin was until I read your very informative post. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just beautiful! I love how you always educate me too! see u soon. Love It! Great post Love It! Great post Hi, I agree with Rhissanna's comment. Why don't you sell your lambrequin pattern or design one slightly different for sale? I have looked in antiques shops for lambrequins without any luck. No one has any and most people have never heard of them. At least where I live. I've done so much counted cross-stitch that I don't mind making a chart for myself, but I think the real challenge lies in getting the size and proportion of each section correct. And that, of course, depends on the length of the mantel. Perhaps sometime you wouldn't mind sharing the width or dimensions of your lambrequin along with the length of your mantel? I could work out the ratios for mine from there. Also, how do you attach it to your mantel? See? I want ALL your secrets! Deb You are so very talented...and you have such a kind and generous and talented sister. The lambrequin you created will be here long after all of us are gone So lovely! Kisses to my dear Sissy! xoxo Andie Hello Richard. Love Love Love this post. Lambrequin, how I adore this type of historical needlework. You did a faboosh job on it. I do a lot of canvas work and appreciate hearing that you produced this with the basketweave stitch. so many folks don't realize that this only midly distorts if at all. Your work is amazing. so glad you shared this with all of us. Richard, Richard, Richard! Have I told you lately how AWESOME YOU ARE????? Oh my heavens.... you MADE that? I did not even know they had a name! You are so true to your home's character and it's period. Brilliant! We must meet... someday. I am your biggest fan. :) Richard, As always your posts are such a delight!! So informative and your mantle and everything on it is breath taking!! The needlework piece is beyond comparision to anything I have ever seen! You are amazing, kind Sir!! Hugs, Deb Hi Richard, I just love learning something new, and you never disappoint! I can't believe that you made these stitch by stitch!? You are amazing! We'd love to have you share this at WIW, they are fabulous! Hugs, Patti Such a lot of work-are you blind now from all that stitching? It is a beautiful piece though and I do love those curtains and curtain rods!Give Sissy a kiss. I'm always amazed at the treasures that you share with us. The lambrequin is so beautiful. Your work is so lovely. Greetings, You are very creative and your home is spectacular. Love, love your historical home! Your Lambrequin is so lovely...alot of time must have went into creating your masterpiece. I'm certain it will be around for 100 years from now! Hope you will visit Magnolia Cottage. I'm your newest follower. Lisa First Richard I can clearly see the inspiration you garnered from Mrs. Jefferson Davis....The style and colors are so like yours! Second I'm bowing to your needlepoint abilities my friend! I know what a labor of love that lambrequin must have been for you, having done some needlepoint myself...And many pieces never finished from the tedium.winks It's gorgeous! I'm with Janice...Is there anything you can't do? Lol! I hope your dog walker brings back that key to ya...And WAY more importantly Ms Sissy girl! winks She needs to be there with that kiss waiting for me! I'm blowing one to both of you right now smack And Richard why oh why would you sell that dinner bell? It's so YOU! Vanna Richard! I'm back! And I'm your newest Follower. And I STILL can't believe all the work you put into that piece. I re-read and looked at the post again, and I don't think I could even do one block... So you should be commended. You must have a lot of PATIENCE to complete that whole thing. You also must NOT be a Leo. LOL! (As I am -- NO patience.) Well, you put out that invite, so I will be there next Tuesday, please meet me at the airport. And I will bring a biscuit and toy for Sissy. --Only kidding. ;) Best, Gloria We learn something new everyday! I never heard of a Lambrequin before! You did a marvelous job of making yours and I rather like the center piece being different. It makes a statement! Your sister did a wonderful job on the window treatments too! Richard, its me again! I am devouring your blog. Loving every thing I see and read! That needlepoint is amazing. I would never take on a project that big because I know me and I would never finish it. Lol I would love if your darling sister would share some details and advice on how she made your window treatments. I would love some in my front parlor. Thank again, smiles, Dolly's Cherry Heart
One of Portugal’s best cities to visit, Évora, is only 1.5 hours away from Lisbon by train. Although some may consider making it a day trip to the capital of the Alentejo, it is wise to plan for a few extra nights. With its UNESCO medieval sites, delightful regional foods and wineries to visit, Evora will keep you busy for two days or more. To immerse yourselves in the local culture and tradition, Vitória Stone Hotel offers the perfect Alentejano experience. With sophisticated architecture and design rooted in the region, Vitória Stone Hotel, the best Evora hotel, pays a tribute to genuine Alentejo. With a gourmet restaurant serving the flavors of the region, the Vitória Stone Hotel is the best Evora hotel to eat your way through Alentejo. The Best Evora Hotel – Vitória Stone Hotel The Vitória Stone Hotel goes far beyond a name. It is a beautiful sanctuary born from an immense passion for the Alentejo region. It is rooted in the traditional, without leaving sophistication aside. This boutique Evora hotel has 48 rooms spread out over three floors. Staying at a hotel that offers a slice of the true life on Alentejo as well as an award-winning gastronomic restaurant, were two of the key reasons that attracted us to Vitória Stone Hotel. As soon as we walked in, we were immediately struck by the sophisticated design, with imposing granite stones and rustic elements. The warm colors and subdued tones welcomed and immediately put us at ease. Warm and Cozy Rooms Our room in the beautiful Evora hotel was cozy and warmly decorated. Featuring high ceilings and a private balcony, the room felt much larger in size. Modern conveniences with wifi, English language TV channels, small luxuries like robes, slippers and L’Occitane bath products, we felt right at home. Our only disappointment is that we did not have a king or queen bed. The hotel had run out of rooms and instead gave us a room with twin beds. Book early to avoid the same mistake. Infinity Pool & Fitness Center To stay active and relaxed, Vitória Stone Hotel offers a fitness center, sauna, spa services and infinity pool on the rooftop terrace. The infinity pool offers panoramic views over the historic center of Evora. This is a great spot to lounge by the pool or take a dip in the hot summer months. Our only regret is that we did not have enough time to fully enjoy the pool. We could have lounged by the infinity pool all day! While small, the fitness center is well equipped and the perfect place to work off all the delicious Alentejo food. With treadmills and free weights and expansive glass windows, we worked up a sweat overlooking the surrounding area. Award Winning 5amêndoas Restaurant Finding a unique restaurant in an Evora hotel is not common. At Vitória Stone Hotel, the 5amêndoas Restaurant has made a name for itself. With a focus on local products from the Alentejo region, 5amêndoas Restaurant prioritizes partnerships with small local producers. You will find local cheeses, sausages, olive oils, black pork, herbs, wines and much more. Under the command of the innovative Chef Duval Ferreira, 5amêndoas was awarded the Best Mediterranean Traditional Restaurant in 2016. The signature dish, black pork from Alentejo, is the one dish we were most excited to try. Sopa de Bacalhau con Migas As the restaurant celebrates the local flavors of Portugal, it was no surprise to see bacalhau or codfish on the menu. There are over 365 ways of eating bacalhau in Portugal and the restaurant has its own delicious version. In huge soup bowl, perfect for sharing, was a fleshy and tender piece of bacalhau placed on top of migas or bread dish, swimming in a light coriander flavored broth. The fresh coriander flavors exploded in the mouth. The texture of the migas combined with the soft codfish was simply delightful. The perfect blend of local Portuguese flavors. Signature Dish Made with the Famous Black Pork from Alentejo We could not miss this dish that was instrumental in the restaurant receiving the Mediterranean Award. The black pork or porco preto is the most popular meat in Alentejo cuisine. What makes the pork so tender and flavorful is that the pigs are allowed to roam freely, grazing on acorns from the oak trees. In this dish, we had the plumas or pork shoulder. The black pork is grilled, served with sweet Potato lightly sauteed and a broad beans puree. The meat was literally melting in the mouth with a tender and juicy texture. The sweet and savory combination of the sides made for the perfect accompaniment. It is a truly amazing dish that deserves the recognition. A Trilogy of Delicious Conventual Portuguese Desserts to Share For the sweet course, 5amêndoas Restaurant offers a trio of traditional conventual desserts to please your sweet tooth. These desserts are made in the tradition of the conventual desserts with lots of sweet and egg yolks. To start, we had the Encharcada de Évora, a creamy and soft dessert served with cinnamon on top. It is mostly made of lots of egg yolks and sugar. Battered and mixed with water, the ingredients are then cooked in a pan and served with cinnamon. The second dessert was the 5amêndoas Restaurant Marble. This dessert is made with almonds, egg yolk and sugar. And finally, the traditional Sericaia dessert, a typical Alentejano dessert from the convents of Elvas, a city east of Évora. It is an egg pudding dessert, made with the traditional recipe including wheat flour, sugar and egg yolk ingredients. This was our favorite dessert with a smooth texture and a nice sweet finish. To finish the meal, 5amêndoas Restaurant offers 5 caramelized almonds to their guest inspired by an old Alentejo wedding tradition. Each almond represents a wish for: health, longevity, fertility, prosperity, and happiness! Local Alentejo Drinks Vinhas Velhas Alentejo Wine The Alentejo region has numerous vineyards that date back to the Middle Ages. Wines from the region are very popular in Lisbon cafés and restaurants and found on wine lists all over the country. With our meal, we enjoyed a delicious bottle of red wine, Vinhas Velhas, from one of the most renowned Portuguese winemakers from the Alentejo region. The wine had notes of plum and wild berries and a slight touch of spice. Not too strong, the perfect wine for the pork and Miga dishes. Pennyroyal Digestif to End the Meal Pennyroyal is an herb found in the Alentejo fields. It’s a very popular herb that grows like coriander in the region. When it’s harvested, it’s essence is distilled into a light aromatic liquor. We had it as a digestif after our meal and were quite surprised by its fresh taste. In the mouth, the flavors are minty and the taste surprisingly not too strong. In Summary One great way to experience an area like a local is to live like a local. The Vitória Stone Hotel offers you the best of the Alentejo region. The unique decor using elements from the region and the friendly staff, you can comfortably refer to the hotel as your home away from home in Alentejo. The food at the award-winning restaurant 5amêndoas Restaurante is exceptional. With ingredients sourced from small regional producers, you can enjoy the local and authentic flavors of the region. The breakfast buffet deserves a special mention. Find a large variety of fresh fruits, local bread and cheeses, meats and much more. The Vitória Stone Hotel is the best Evora hotel to immerse yourself in the local culture and gastronomy Book Your Stay Address: Rua Diana de Lis 5, 7005-413 Évora, Portugal Book Your Stay: Check dates & prices on Booking.com Savor The Adventure! Our stay in Évora was supported by the Visit Alentejo Tourism Board. Opinions expressed in this article are always our own. Love it? Pin it! Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. When you book on Booking.com, we earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. It helps us keep eating our way around the world at Authentic Food Quest. Thanks I remember trying the Vinhas Velhas Alentejo Wine a few years ago in a restuarant in Lisboa. It had a very aquired taste to it. I remember the after taste. It was alright for me as I don’t drink wine often. I prefer beer. 🙂 But seeing the photo of it did bring back some good memories. There are so different kinds of wines in Portugal. I’m more of a wine drinker and really like the Alentejo wines. The craft beer scene is growing and there are lots of excellent options as well. Whatever your beverage choice, Portugal has a drink for you 🙂 Thanks for stopping by. Wow, the pool and the food look amazing! Ah, the twin bed thing seems to be common in Europe – it always happens to me! But this hotel looks lovely – especially since they have l’Occitane on hand. You are right Sofia, the amenities did make up for the amazing stay. A great stay all around. Thanks for stopping by! Oh man, I was in Portugal in June and didn’t even know this place existed. There is so much to see there! That stone hotel looks right up my alley- I love unique accommodations. Hi Tamara, now that’s a reason to go back to Portugal. Don’t miss Evora and Vitoria Stone Hotel on your next trip. You’ll not regret it! My latest post is about Portugal, and now I’m reading a post about it. Maybe it’s really time to go visit? Évora looks perfect for me since I’m interested in heritage sites. Would love to stay at Vitória Stone Hotel too. That infinity pool looks great. That’s a sign…time to go back to Portugal. What an amazing country. And since you love culture and heritage, you must explore Evora, one of the best preserved medieval cities in Portugal. Thanks for stopping by! The style of the hotel looks really interesting with its granite stone interiors. We love Portuguese food and the food in this region looks great, especially like the sound of the black pork. It is good to find a hotel’s restaurant which serves authentic local food. We were quite impressed with the overall experience and especially the integration to the local culture. The restaurant was for us the best experience. Stay at Vitoria Stone on your next trip to Portugal. Thanks for stopping by. What a lovely hotel. I might not even mind working out with those views to look at while plodding away. They are a lot better than my current gym’s views. The food looks so interesting and is presented beautifully. Great introduction to this hotel. So glad you enjoyed the article, Kathleen. I worked out at sunrise overlooking the city and it was magical seeing that perspective of the city. With the amazing food, you’ll definitively need to hit the gym! Hope you get to Vitoria Stone Hotel soon. Thanks for stopping by. Any hotel that offers L’Occitane bath amenities is a winner in my books. I love the look of that fish – especially with an egg on top. I’ve put eggs on pizza and with pork, but never fish. Suddenly I’m craving Portuguese food! What’s amazing about Vitoria Stone Hotel is that the sophisticated side is always present. Those little amenities do help make the experience. The food, though is at another level. Incredible service and flavorful regional food and wine. You can’t ask for anything more! Thanks Jody. This hotel sounds amazing – give me a view like that for the pool and fitness center and I’m in! The wine looks delicious, but I’d be interested to try the Pennyroyal and see if it actually helps with digestion. A great stay indeed. The pennyroyal was quite interesting in flavors – a little minty and refreshing. Well worth the experience. Highly recommend Vitoria Stone Hotel if your travels take you to Evora. Cheers. This looks like a fabulous hotel … and I’m picky! What a great way to explore Evora and it’s food and cuisine. I’d love to try Vinhas Velhas, as it sounds like a Portuguese classic. Glad you enjoyed discovering this hotel Carol. Truly the perfect way to experience the best of the region. The food and wines are absolutely amazing!! Thanks for stopping by. I love when hotels have a phenomenal restaurant. It looks like a great place to experience some of the best flavors of Portugal. My husband and I run into the two twin beds pushed together a lot! I also love the extra amenities like the gym and the pool! Looks wonderful! Thanks so much Paige and glad you enjoyed discovering the hotel through the article. Indeed the twin beds was an inconvenience, but the food and amenities made up for it 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!!
1. We earned a point last night because the game went to OT, and, eventually, a shootout. Commence celebrations in the form of nipple clamping and bukkake sandwiches. 2. According to The Triple Deke and The Production Line, Johan Franzen rocked a sweet mustache. And in addition to feeling distraught over missing the Mule's first game back since his 1,247-year-long stint on IR (no, seriously, doesn't it feel like it's been that long?), we're equally disturbed we missed out on that, as well. After all, TSO is your one-stop shop for all things mustache rides and dirty Sanchezes, which are a form of mustache, if you think about it. (Go ahead and think about it. You know you want to.) 3. Further according to TPL (in a guest post written by Chris Hollis of Motown Wings and The Obstructed View fame), Henrik Zetterberg should not be allowed in a shootout ever again. Not seeing the game last night, I can't judge his effort; however, he has not had a particularly strong year when it comes to shootouts. Ballin' B and I talked about this yesterday while we awaited the results of the riveting game summary during the shootout (refreshes every 30 seconds for your convenience). The last time I saw, his shootout success rate hovered somewhere in the early 30% range. Far be it for me to question seriously Babcock's judgment in selecting his shooters (oh, puh-leeze, like anybody takes this site seriously, anyway), but it does get frustrating to watch the same players fail to convert time and time again (ahem, Dan Cleary, during all the injuries, way back about 3+ weeks ago). Then again, how shitty would it be if Babcock replaced his star players with under-the-radar guys and still came up short? Six in one hand, half a dozen in the other. Shootouts suck; I have no problem watching other teams participate in them, but when it comes to the Wings, my heart sinks every time the OT clock winds down. 4. Jimmy Howard stopped 42 of 45 shots on goal last night, including the 5:00 of OT. Twenty of those shots were in the first period. The mind fucking reels. 5. Kris Draper's persistence as of late paid off last night in the form of scoring the first goal of the game. Questions I have for people who caught the game: 1. How the fuck did Todd Bertuzzi manage to commit a penalty only 0:28 into the game? Did somebody urinate on his skates? Threaten to force him into a glass-bottom boat scenario? Taunt him with accusations of his mom smelling like cheese? 2. Brad May got into a fight. How did that work out? And that's all I really want to know. No, seriously. We're going to adopt the motto of the drag queen/transvestite in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: "Two tears in a bucket, motherfuck it." The Wings take on the Sharks on Thursday. Go big or go...home? How does that work if they're already at home? I guess it's go big or leave home, in that case? Whatev. Our satellite is still jacked up (SNOWPOCALYPSE!--no, really, we now have 4+ feet of snow and counting...I'm 99% sure I'm going to build an igloo and live in it for free or else charge someone for all my construction labor), so you may get another fantastic recap like this one or one of our oh-so-awesome real recaps when we watch it and still have nothing productive to say. Gear down! *** Let's get to the point with our Wednesday question. This one's been asked all over the blogosphere, plus we delved into it the other week in our Wednesday comments, but it's hard not to bring it up formally since we're only two days away from the Opening Ceremony: Which men's ice hockey team do you hope wins Olympic gold? This is a toughie for me; I've been all over the place with my loyalties. Obviously, I'm an American and would be proud of my home country for winning the gold, despite Patrick Kane's craterfaced presence on the team. (No, seriously, there are no cab rides involved in ferrying the players about Vancouver, right? Just checking. Don't embarrass the stars and stripes, assfuck, or you'll have a lot to answer for 'round these parts.) We've got Rafalski on the roster, plus players TSO likes in the form of Ryan Miller, Tim Thomas, Jonathan Quick, and Jack Johnson. On the other hand, we also have Brooks Orpik, who annoys us only because he plays for Pittsburgh, and Ryan Whitney, who plays for the Ducks and has a girl's last name. I'll be happy enough if Team USA nabs the gold, but I won't be surprised if they don't because the competition is stiff. Like many of you, the only thing I care about regarding Team Canada is Stevie Y and Babcock. Other than that, the team at large makes me ralph. Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf (who may return from his injury for some of the games), Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Corey Perry, and Dany Heatley? Words fail me. How are Canadians dealing with this level of code red douchiness? I know Olympic gold is more important to our neighbors to the north than sex, air, or water but...blehhhhhhhh. Team Sweden is stacked with winners, never mind the controversial snub of one Johan Franzen. Despite the annoying Sedins' presence on the roster, it's damn near impossible to find any reason to dislike the blue-and-yellow rascals, considering how many Wings made the cut. The only thing is...they've already won the gold. Other than being inherently biased toward Team USA, I'm rooting for Team Russia. Their roster is stacked with fantastic NHL-ers: Our own Pavel Datsyuk, plus Ovie, Semin, Kovalchuk, SNB, Nabokov, and Bryzgalov. The only downer is that Russian gold means Malkin and Gonchar benefit, which is a bonafide tragedy, but really, I would love to see Pasha with a gold medal. In any event, there's obviously a lot to root for--and against--each particular "powerhouse" team. Any of the aforesaid four countries taking home top honors will bring some sort of happiness, as well as a teeny, tiny iota of strife, to our lives. One thing I think we can all agree on is hoping that Team Slovakia is a wash; Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik, and Tomas Kopecky with a gold medal in their hands? I'd rather watch somebody sign my own death certificate. And now, a little mood music...because nothing gets me fired up for Team America (fuck, yeah!) quite like Waylon: Stealin' mah words, glitchin' mah matrix. Also, I thought there'd be at least a MENTION of Team Norway for our boy Andy. It's fun rooting for the little guy. Nice little Petrella fact for you: I LIVED for the Dukes of Hazzard as an infant. I have no idea why. It went off the air when I was three, but apparently I went batshit crazy for it. I didn't even want to TOUCH Team Norway; Andy did such an excellent job breaking down the roster after they announced the team back in December, and I knew if I screwed up anything about it (which I probably would), he would be on my case like white on rice. Besides, I know if he comments on here, he'll be sure to let us know exactly why Team Norway is in gold medal contention. Brian loved the Dukes of Hazzard, too. I'm pretty sure it went off the air before I was born, so I've only seen reruns (ziiiing, for stealing MY words!). And for the record, the Bert shirt just got a lot more ridiculous. "bukkake sandwiches" I think I have IMDB credits for that DVD. Q1: He's Bert. He's like Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde but mostly Mr. Hyde right now. Q2: There was a fight? Oh yeah. It really energized the bench as you can tell by the shots on goal. My only hope for the Olympics is that none of our guys get hurt. Other than that, I'd like to see Pavel walk away with the gold. I wish Babs & Company all the best but I really would like to see Canuckistan humbled some more. "Own the Podium"! Please. Dukes went off the air in 1985 and I think my hair was two-tone at that time. I don't believe I ever saw a single episode. Being a full blooded Irishman I'm still trying to figure out why Ireland has no hockey team. They do well in swimming and boxing... I would think combining both those things would make a good hockey player. In fact, why aren't there like any drafted players. I think we need to start and Hockey is for Ireland campaign.. Ireland as the new Sweeden of the hockey world! Russia, duh -- and I'm not just rooting for them, I already know the outcome. But I have soft spots for Latvia and Sweden. Owen Nolan is from Belfast. Does that count or is Northern Ireland like the Upper Peninsula: "it counts..... I guess...." Little known fact: I was working my way through the Italian Olympic Ice Hockey Program after high school, but gave it up when it became apparent I'd have to move to Italy and the chances of Italy making the Olympics were slim AT BEST. Unless they hosted the Games, then the host gets an automatic entry into every sport. I walked away, playing college hockey instead, just before the '06 Torino Games were announced. FAIL! FAIL SO HARD! Yo Crater -- there is Hockey in Ireland, and they do have a national team, it just sucks lots and lots of ass. I'm married to a Galway man, and while he's clueless about hockey, we make comparisons to hurling. Owen Nolan is practically a narrowback, his parents migrated from Ireland when he was like 6 months old... but it does surprise me that the sport never got off for the paddies, it seems like something they'd have much passion for. Q1: Can't answer. I was listening on the radio so didn't see it, and then screaming at the radio so missed the explanation. Q2: I was confused about everyone's reaction to the May fight. It was just the normal pretend fight he always has. I guess it's been so long since he's even done that? Olympics: I am rooting for Team USA (because I'm American) and Team Sweden (because of all the Red Wings players, plus I don't think there is anyone I hate on that team). If they ever play each other, well, we'll see. I will try my hardest to root for Team USA, but no guarantees. I'm fine if Russia wins though. Or really anyone, just as long as it's not Canada. This comment is brought to you by the free internet at the Hilton Garden Inn; where I am snowed in. Woo! Special thanks to my company for footing the bill and making all this possible. I loved the shit out of the dukes of hazzard as a child. I have no idea why. Probably the car chases. In retrospect, a car with a rebel flag on top is sketchy, but kids are silly. And I grew up in WV, so it was kind of commonplace. Olympics? Team USA, but I know deep down they dont have the horses to get it done. Sweden, and Russia would be nice. In lieu of any of those.....some really big underdog. Maybe Switzerland? So neutral. And Belarus. Crater, I can't claim any credit whatsoever for "bukkake sandwiches"; Brian referenced that in one of his infamous recaps, and I totally stole it. Where could we get our hands on a copy of that DVD, though? Also, re: team Ireland--can you fucking imagine how awesomely scrappy they would be if they were a competitive team? Holy Jesus, Mary AND Joseph. As a mutt who knows she's at least part Irish--and as the proud girlfriend of a full-tilt leprechaun--I'd like to see Team Ireland get their act together. (And before Vicky pointed it out, I had NO IDEA Ireland had a national hockey team, either.) Krononymous, thanks for pointing out "own the podium". Bleh. Watching the World Juniors gold medal game this year was enough to make me fall in love with the mute button on my remote. (For the record, my hair is like seven-tone, and it's 2010. No excuses for me.) Vicky, I should have given you a shoutout in the original post because I remember you saying your dad is from Russia. Just out of curiosity: What causes your sentimentality toward Team Latvia? Michael Petrella, that is simultaneously the most awesome and most horrible story ever. How do you get into an Olympic ice hockey program? Did you at all seriously consider moving to Italy? I think living in Italy would be kickass, but that's mainly because I would eat and drink my way into a 700-pound handicap/death, but at least I'd go happily. I suppose that doesn't qualify you for the Olympics, unless there's an event for gastronomical prowess. Jenn, thanks for your insight on the game, as well. I have nothing against May as a person--he seems like an all right guy--but I'm sick of seeing him on the team. But that's true of a handful of people these days. Oooooh, yes. Brian is totally right about the Dukes of Hazzard/West Virginia thing. There's a car in our hometown that the owner restored as an exact replica of the General Lee, complete with the Dixie horn and everything. Go, Dub-Vee. Does Team China count as an underdog in hockey? Or not, simply because they pretty much bankroll our livelihood these days? Natalie, I was born in Latvia, and grew up there until I was 9, then we moved to good ol' USA as political refugees. My accent comes out only when I'm shitfaced and belligerent. Anyway, Latvia is super mellow (read: boring) and every citizens is quite happily obsessed with hockey there... or body building. After joining the EU the influx of Latvians in Ireland started the push for the Irish Ice Hockey League. Even longer story short(ish), I was involved with USA Hockey in Michigan from age 9 to about 14, when it was announced that pros were going to be allowed to play a few years later, at the '98 Olympics. It was clear that I stood absolutely no chance of playing for Team USA anymore, but it was always my dream to play in the Olympics. Thanks to Team Italia's shitty (by comparison) hockey program, they have more lenient eligibility requirements, and since I was the first one in my family NOT born in Italy, I qualified. So, in 1996 or '97 I shifted focus to Team Italy, hoping to play in '02 or '06. In 1999, I had to make a decision about my future (because I was graduating in 2000). I wasn't prepared to move to Italy (as awesome as Italy is) for a chance to MAYBE make the team that MAYBE qualifies for the Olympics. It was too many maybe's for me, so I committed to go to DePaul University and I played there. Later that year ('99), it was announced that Torino was hosting '06 so Italy would at least field a team. There's no guarantee I made that team, but - frankly - it was definitely possible. They were TERRRRRRIBLE. It's kind of a good thing I didn't play, considering I'm 5'9" and would have played a round robin game against guys like Joe Thornton (presumably, ending badly...physically). BUT! I have a pair of Team Italy jerseys, so maybe if there's an H2H drop-in game one day, I'll sport one... I'm giving Flips gorgeous ass some luv. Go Team Suomi (or whatever). Yeah, yeah, there are alot of douches on Finlands team, but someone has to have Flippy's back. Also, if Teemu Selanne wanted to get naked, I don't think I could say no. Besides there are umlats and double vowels. Awesome. I have not viewed the game as of yet, just about to though.I'm hearing alot about Franzie's mustache. Seeing that I will be attending the game tomorrow evening, in person, I would like to cash in my free mustache ride. Could we make that happen? And on the Dukes of Hazzard. I was a prepubescent teenage girl, and I loved me some Luke Duke. I used to fantasize that he was my boyfriend and we would ride ponies together and eat ice cream.... What, Luke, you ask? I have always preferred brunettes over blondes. But you stick a red head in the mix. I am a HUGE sucker for a red head. I do have to add this statement. Anytime Calgary plays the Wings at the Joe, I have to watch Mikka Kipprusoff do his pregame stretches. Mmmmmmm, he's so bendy and gingery. Natalie, Seven tone is fine. Mine is at least three tone at the moment. It's when the top of your hair is a single tone, say white/blonde, and the bottom of your hair is another single tone, say red, then it might be a little dated. Not that there weren't some good looks in the 80s, I am just pretty sure we don't need to see them again (for example, I saw a bimbo in stirrup pants the other day). Dean, your infatuation with the Kipper is very interesting, albeit unexpected. In retrospect, I cant believe I graduated with the guy who has a replica dukes of hazzard car. the mind reels. 10 year old me wouldve LOVED it. Gingery and bendy might be the greatest thing i've heard ever. Mr. Petrella, I had no idea Italy had a hockey team. Being so, you probably couldve made it. Shitty situation sir. I wish there was some wierd ass non-typical team in the olympics; like maybe Costa Rica or something. Not that they even have a team, but it would be great to root for that big an underdog. I'm probably the only one who thinks so. whatever. Brian, Team Jamaica. Head Coach John Candy. They would have my full support. The whole Team Jamaica with Head Coach John Candy is the BEST IDEA EVER. Just a question, does Iceland have a hockey team, because they should for obvious reasons. Iceland does have a hockey team; I had to google that to find out.ReplyDelete's_national_ice_hockey_team I also assume that Bjork is somehow involved. I assume she's involved in anything Icelandic in nature. What is funny about that is that they played Israel (?). I would pay to see a bunch of my bretheren playing ice hockey. Do they wear yarmulkes on their helmets? Say Oy vez, the cold is really doing a number on my di beyner. Petrella: Team Italy at that time was steady in the World Championships and did decently (like losing all their games in the preliminary rounds, then narrowly avoiding relegation). Their team was always mostly Canadiens who had changed Nationality. Natalie: Team Norway will win gold just because Norway is the pinnacle of fucking awesome. Honestly though, they will suck. I am very conflicted about who to root for (except for Norway of course, but we suck). I like the Red Wing contingent on Sweden, but rooting for Sweden is kind of an act of treason. I'd like to see Russia win for Pasha, but Malkin and even worse, Fedorov (FUCKING HATE THAT FUCKING FUCKER) with a gold medal would be painful. I like Filppula, but the Finns are such a weird people. Well, if they win I get to swear in Finnish, so maybe. I'd like USA to beat Canada, but I in general dislike the team. I hate everything about Canada, except for Stevie, Kenny and Mike. 100 points for Waylon, the only good country singer ever. Andy --- totally, not "TERRIBLE," I guess I mean in comparison after being close to the HQ for Team USA and relatively close to Canada. They're no Norway, that's for damn sure. Haha, we used to have close games with them, but win. BTW, are you happy now that you know the Ace of Base pronounciations? It was Ace of Base right? Vicky, that is awesome that you grew up in Latvia; you are officially the first Latvian I have ever "met" (met-ish?). I also did not know there was a strong contingent of Latvians living in Ireland, but that would explain the newfound interest in hockey on the Emerald Isle. Also out of curiosity, have you been back to Latvia since your family immigrated to the US? Michael: Brian and I both agree that no matter what the circumstances were or how it ended, it's very kickass that you were in the running for playing for Team Italy (and in the Team USA program as a kid). You at least MUST bring the Team Italy jerseys for all of us to see at H2H. That's just completely awesome that you had the experience of training for the teams. Dena and Andy: Team Finland is an offbeat, but understandable choice. I love this, Andy: "Finns are such a weird people." Also, your attitude toward Sweden reminds me of Herm and his unadulterated hatred of Argentina. I wonder which set of countries has the bigger rivalry. As a sidenote, Dena, I am a huge sucker for redheads in that the only redhead I've dated is the redhead I'm happily dating now. There's just something special about a ginger. I have died my hair red a couple of times, and it happens to be one of the seven colors I'm currently sporting. Ha! (Hi, Krononymous. Oh, and stirrup pants? I'm pretty sure Brian works with someone who STILL wears those. They were uncomfortable even when they were in style back in the day! The mind reels...) Brian, what about Team New Zealand? After all, we know Murray would always be present for the team meetings. Michael, I hadn't thought about Cool Runnings in for-ev-er. Excellent reference! (Continued due to fascist word limits...) Dena & Brian re: Team Iceland: You know how Iceland is a pretty progressive country, what with its openly gay president and geyser-fueled energy grid (not to mention CA-RAZY banking system)? I heard their men's hockey jerseys involved live swans wrapped around the torso. Hope you're keyed up for it. Andy: What would we all do if Team Norway DID pull a Miracle-level upset on the rest of the world and snatched the gold? I'm pretty sure the entire nation of Canada would spontaneously combust. It would be a global meltdown of epic proportions. I'm rooting for Russia. I want a gold medal for Pavel and even for Sergei, I want to see if Ovechkin explodes with sheer joy and the shrapnel takes out a mortified Don Cherry, and I want to see if Malkin and Gonchar show off their gold medals to Crosby. :) Also USA because they aren't supposed to do anything very good, and the team is so absurdly young, it would be fun to see them perform better than expected - even with the cabbie-puncher on it. Late to the party, but I'll root for Canada, beating someone good in the gold medal game. Reasons: -it will be on TV, I don't want dark horses Latvia and Belarus in the last game, I want someone good -Winter Olympic year is soccer World Cup year, and Canada is to hockey what Brazsil is to soccer. That said, I want Sweden and Russia eliminated in the first round, so Pavel and Hank comes back in one piece (two pieces, whatever). Herm, the party is ALWAYS going. you are never late. Interesting take. I can understand wanting our players back healthy. I'd have to say if for some reason they dont medal, i'd like them done in the first round so they're back alive. Re: Stirrup pants - yes, I do work with someone who wears stirrup pants. I have to describe this, because its funny. They are CUTOFF STIRRUP HIGHWATER PANTS. meaning they USED to be stirrups, but they were cut off at the stirrup. STRETCHY PANTS. at a professional office. ONE WITH A DRESS CODE. I have no idea how this flies. We love gingers because they are evil and have no souls. I have confirmation on that, from a Mr. Eric Cartman. I hear he is an expert. The thought of cheering for the Canadian hockey team at all makes me throw up in my mouth, alot. Princess Cindy and her court need to go out in the first round. Come on Norway! Re: Stirrup pants. I noticed this winter that Victorias Secret had revived the "legging". And stirrup pants are a bastardization of the legging. I will admit, back in the 80's, I owned both. It seems that the only people that are sporting this look again are people that should not be wearing them,EVER.I like to call pants like these I've given up pants. Just because they make it in your size doesn't mean you should wear them. I am a runner, who runs in half-marathons/marathons and I see ALOT of spandex leggings. These people are usually in phenomenal shape and they shouldn't wear them either. The guys look like they are hiding their marbles and the women, come on. These are trends that need to die a quick death. Natalie: Finns are really weird. They are known to be kinda dark, they don't like strangers, they don't like to talk much. They struggle with a lot of alcoholism and depression and has a high suicide rate. Their favourite thing in the world is a sauna. Every Finn has a sauna in their house. They have, in a country of just a few million people, had two HUGE school shootings in the last three years. They are a dark, tragic and fucked up people, with a language that has nothing to do with the other scandinavian ones. Their movies (I am pretty sure I have mentioned it before) goes like this: Man and wife in a sauna. They drink. They swear. The man beats the woman. The man feels guilty. The woman feels guilty. They drink. The man swears. Repeat ten times. Norway - Sweden and Brazil - Argentina, not excactly the same. As I am sure that Herm will tell you, the rivalery between Brazil and Argentina is fierce as fuck and there is no brotherly love included in it. Norway and Sweden has friendly rivalery that goes way back. In 1396 Norway, Sweden and Denmark became unionized under the rule of the Danish queen. In 1536, Sweden pulled out, leaving us as kind of a Danish sub-country. In 1814, as a result of the end of the Napoleonic war, the Danes had to give us to the Swedes. In 1905, we broke free from them. We were ready to go to war for our freedom, but they gave it to us without a fight. Since then there has been a lot of brotherly rivalery. We have made jokes about them, they have the same jokes about us. They are bigger and used to be the richer, more developed brother. But then in the 60s we found oil and became one of the five riches countries (in GDP per capita) in the world. We also beat them in a ll ski sports, so the rivalery has grown. But on the bottom of it, we love each other. There are thousands and thousands of young Swedes working in Norway (because we earn more money, but on the other hand our prices are higher). And Swedish chicks are as sexy as it gets. So while Brazil vs. Argentina is built on hate, our rivalery is built on love, envy and inferiority complexes. If Norway wins I will proceed to make out with every single person in Vienna (where I will be at the time of the finals). I am pretty sure that America as a result will turn communist and we will find out that Bertuzzi is the second coming of Jesus. On the Iceland thing: Iceland used to be one of the most progessive countries in the world and be in the top 5 on the UN living standard list (you know, the one Norway always tops). But the banking system depended waaaay too much on foreign (and American) banks and their economy went to hell. I am kinda freaked out that I just took a huge loan to buy an appartment in Iceland street, Oslo. :P Dena: Me and my brother dream that Norwegian veteran defensman Tommy Jakobsen breaks Cindy's leg. This would be fun sinc he is about 173 cm tall (5-8, 5-9? fuck knows, why don't you guys change to a sensible system?). I'm just catching up here on all this hotness...and I can't read fast enough to get through the 5,000 words of comments...but as far as I can tell nobody is questioning your patriotism for this RUSSIA pick. Until now. How can you, in good conscience, honestly consider pulling for Russia? Are you not a child of the Cold War? I'm not saying you pull for Canada or anything like that...GAWD no...but if you start rooting for Russia, who in the hell else is next on your list of Olympic hopefuls? North Korea? Those communists in the Netherlands (I need to fact check that)? "If I can change...and you can change...everybody can change." I don't know how that fits into all of this, but it's from Rocky IV and by placing it here, I'm asserting my patriotism. I learned a long time ago to never question Stallone. Do we need to have an FCK YEA AMERICA-OFF between TSO and TPL? Herm, nobody is EVER late to the party because the party is ongoing here at TSO. Like Brian, I like your perspective, too. It's definitely a concern we all should have heading into the Olympics, no matter how exciting the games actually are. I guess we'll all have to keep our fingers crossed... Andy, I died laughing when reading your description of Finns. I had no idea. It's actually really sad, although your description of their movies really did make me laugh for five good minutes. Too funny. And yeah, I was actually not being sarcastic about Iceland being a progressive country, even though I used it to build to a Bjork joke; it's really sad what happened to their banking system, but, like most of the Western world, it was built on literally unreal money. It's a big, convoluted mess that's too huge in scope for me to wrap my mind around. Rob: If you want to have a patriotic showdown, bring it on. Just watch out because I'll put a boot in your ass--it's the AMERICAN way. I didn't spend my formative years in hillbilly honky tonks and monster truck rallies to go down without a fight... Finland is a tragic nation, and if the reports are right, it is also quite an ugly, grey and bland nation. But their movies are, as you might guess, unintenionally hilarious. What's even better is Finnish television theatre. Let me just begin by saying Uh-merica, Fuck Yeah!! I have feverishly been trolling the internet all afternoon trying to find the demotivational poster that says: America, Fuck Yeah!, with a picture of a huge lady riding an amigo pushing her riding lawn mower, to no avail. :( ( I think this speaks to how the world pretty much views us, obese and lazy. Awesome.) On a side note: I hope my Patti cakes does do something completely disgustingly douchy with his shirt off and belt unbuckled. Everytime he does something douchy, it makes me happy. I'm coming for you Kaner and you better be ready. On an even sider note: I just volunteered to hold a sign against the glass tonight over at Fight Night (Dr. Seuss rhyming!!!) that will say something about me wanting to have baby mules with Franzie. Awesome. If you want someone to humiliate themselves for the sake of comedy, I'm your girl. I won't even need drinks, I'm naturally goofy and doofusy. Since I doubt I'll wear a Team Italy jersey to H2H, I took a photo of them for ya... Dena: Hey, don't forget ignorant, nationalistic, hypocritical, overtly religious, overtly conservative and like 1000 other stereotypes... Michael: Nice! Dena, I like to think that that fat lady with the mower picture is Kaner in about 20 years. Hope you had a good time at the game last night. One question, though: Won't Kronner become insanely jealous of your babymaking with the Mule? Michael, I love the jersey! I especially like the flag on the sleeves, and the shield on the front is tight, too. In fact, I'm pretty sure I would wear that everyday. Andy, your honestly is hurting my feelings. Now I'M going to cry...not really, though, because you're right. At least we know it, and at least you're hanging with some awesome Americans. I hope we prove that our horrible stereotypes aren't a universal truth about ALL Americans. Andy: Spot on with your adjectives. Don't forget zenophobic, racist, and money-grubbing. There is a small percentage of us that are pretty cool. :) Natalie: It was a night of the fantabulous gingers. If only Drapes had scored. The Mulestache is luxurious and I just basked in its awesomeness. I better leave it to just basking because you're 100% right, Kronner will become insanely jealous, you know what a temper he has. You guys are the good kind of Americans and I believe I adressed this in the Swedegian thing. I think the legion of Swedes have made Detroit hockey fans very unxenophobic Oh and I forgot, JAILSEXED! If Herm showed up late to the party, then I showed up on a completely different day. I also feel totally sad that comment will turn your # of comments from one of AWESOME (Helm) to FAIL (Tuzzi). Yes, like Sara, I measure things by Wings #s. I want to thank Andy for his insight into the Finnish people. Honestly, when I read his description of them, I thought to myself, ahh, Ville Leino makes a lot more sense. He just always "looked" depressing, kind of I guess like what Finns are... Maybe he's been jailsexed, I dunno. Contrast that with Fil's hair, which Sara & I are convinced is like a "ray of sunshine." Yes, I just said that. Anyways, for the Olympics, I'm obligatorily rooting for Team USA, and I'd love to see them get into the medal rounds, but I'd have to go with Team Sweden. It won't happen because I think ultimately it'll be Canada vs. Russia for the gold, but I'd love to see Nick Lidstrom win gold again as captain of Team Sweden. That and I think it would give our players a big boost of confidence to come back to the Wings with to make the big playoff push. I'd love to see Pav come home with some hardware too, but I feel like Team Russia is spending a lot of time using this tournament as an agenda to prove that the KHL is just as good or superior to the NHL. I give the edge to Canada though. It's their home ice, being played on NHL-sized rink, and frankly, the best over-all team. But then again, if Sid the Kid DOESN'T win the gold here, doesn't that guarantee that Bettman's gotta let the NHL-ers compete in 2014?? I dunno... Nurse Nitz, you make an AWESOME point with the politics of Crosby and Canada; the "controversy" with letting players play in the Olympics is a topic we could all hash out at length. I intentionally didn't ask "Who do you THINK will win?" because honestly, as difficult as it is to decide between rooting for Team USA or someone else, I think it's even harder to predict who's taking the gold, no matter whether we like it or not. Team Canada has a huge advantage, and despite disliking 99.9% of the players on the team, it would be special for them to win the gold on home ice. And don't we know how hardcore the home crowd is going to be. In any event, it will make for some exciting viewing, for sure. And yes, I completely agree with the assertion that Leino looks exactly like what Andy described in his description of the Finns. How did the Finns get to be that way, Andy? Andy, you are right when you say that it would be difficult for Detroit fans to be xenophobic considering the large number of Swedes we have on board, unless said person was a complete lost cause (i.e., related to Don Cherry). I know the rest of the world looks at us Americans and sees all the crappiness that the most vocal of us have put out there, and it really is embarrassing to me, at least. I'm just glad we've gotten to show at least one Norwegian that not all of us are as prejudiced and narrow-minded as many of our country's practices and policies suggest. Dena: You're right. The last thing you want to be is KRONWALLED (in a bad way). ;)
This story is available exclusively to Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. - Cryptocurrency accounts for a fraction of the billions of dollars flowing into federal elections. - But candidates and political committees are increasingly open had might directly "purchase goods and services with bitcoins it has received as contributions." - The ruling specifically addresses bitcoin, the predominant cryptocurrency used in political elections, but doesn't address by name various altcoins that have proliferated during the past seven years. - While the FEC expressly says or oppose politicians, accept unlimited amounts of cryptocurrency? The FEC didn't say. - While the FEC provides guidelines for publicly reporting cryptocurrency contributions, an Insider review of federal records and data provided by 25 federal political candidates and political committees that have, of late, led the way into the uncertain realm of cryptocurrency and elections. Andrew Yang, former candidate for US president and New York City mayor The former technology entrepreneur, who announced in October that he was leaving the Democratic Party, is starting a new political party, the Forward Party — which will accept donations in cryptocurrency. "Yes! We will have a BitPay page for accepting donations soon," the party website's FAQ says. Yang touted a universal basic income as his signature policy during his 2020 Democratic presidential primary campaign, and he tweeted in August that cryptocurrency was "one path" to the policy. During that campaign, FEC records show that he accepted bitcoin and ethereum contributions but did not liquidate all of them. Yang was asked on Twitter whether he'd make advancing bitcoin and the free market a primary part of his Forward Party campaign. "Big proponent of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies generally — and want to allow fiat prices to go down as they should as things get more efficient instead of assuming the inflation model," Yang responded. Chamber of Digital Commerce PAC In October 2020, the Chamber of Digital Commerce's political action committee wanted to make a pro-cryptocurrency statement. So it contributed $50 worth of bitcoin to every member of Congress regardless of their politics — from ultraliberal Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York to archconservative Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz in Florida. "There's a very large education gap in Congress involving bitcoin, and we wanted to give members a hands-on experience with the technology," the Chamber of Digital Commerce's president, Perianne Boring, told Insider. About a dozen political campaigns have recently asked the Chamber of Digital Commerce about how to best accept cryptocurrency payments, Boring said, adding that her organization had a website, Crypto for Congress, that provides details. It also published a 20-page "Crypto for Congress Toolkit." "This is the future — it's where politics are going," Boring said. "People should have options to donate, and campaigns should have options to reach different kinds of people." Boring declined to say whether the Chamber of Digital Commerce's PAC would again donate cryptocurrency to members of Congress running for reelection in 2022. Aarika Rhodes, a Democratic congressional candidate in California This elementary school teacher has made preserving cryptocurrency part of her platform in her Democratic primary bid to unseat an incumbent, Rep. Brad Sherman, who wants to ban it. Rhodes told Insider she's against banning bitcoin and cryptocurrency because people should be able to invest as they choose and "because I do believe that this is going to be, like, the next big thing like the internet." "And so as a science teacher, I want to be at the forefront of those kinds of things but I also want people to be aware of what these investments are," said Rhodes, who is also calling for financial literacy courses in schools. Rhodes said she was initially concerned about complying with federal rules when young campaign staffers suggested she should accept cryptocurrency donations. But as Sherman pressed the issue of banning it, she did more research and became excited about it as an innovation and a job creator. The cryptocurrency community gave her campaign a "really big boost" in donations when she added a way to donate on her website, she said. She expects more candidates to warm up to the bitcoin in 2024. "I think what you're seeing with the emerging of Bitcoin is innovation at its finest," she said. "And it's kind of like the internet. Everyone's like, 'Oh, this is weird' or it's kind of like, 'We don't know what to do with it,' and then it blows up to be this transformative thing." National Republican Congressional Committee House Republicans' campaign arm announced in June that it would be the first national party committee to start accepting cryptocurrency campaign contributions. The committee is accepting the currency using BitPay, the same cryptocurrency payment service mentioned by Andrew Yang's new party, and crypto donations are converted into dollars before landing in its account. That allows the committee to accept individual donations of up to $10,000 a year instead of the $100 value for transfers of cryptocurrency, Axios reported. The NRCC is led by Rep. Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican who is a cryptocurrency advocate and cochairman of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, which promotes a "hands-off regulatory approach" to blockchain technology. Announcing the decision, Emmer said, "We are focused on pursuing every avenue possible to further our mission of stopping Nancy Pelosi's socialist agenda and retaking the House majority, and this innovative technology will help provide Republicans the resources we need to succeed." Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California Swalwell, a California Democrat who mounted a short-lived 2020 presidential campaign, has not been shy about his crypto cravings. While vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, Swalwell said he would accept campaign contributions in the form of half a dozen cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ether, and stellar. A blockchain firm, The White Company, made the announcement on Swalwell's behalf and provided the tech support for donations to his campaign. As CoinDesk reported, Swalwell has spoken in support of cryptocurrency in the past. "Blockchain can change the world, if we let it," he said in 2019. "So much of our public life now exists online, and there's no reason to believe we can't extend this further into our democracy and our economy — from exercising our right to vote, to how we look at cryptocurrency." Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming Lummis collects most of her campaign contributions through more conventional means — credit cards, debit cards, paper checks. But she's all too happy to accept bitcoin, too, making the option available on her website via payment processor BitPay, which converts crypto into dollars before entering Lummis' campaign account. Lummis has become one of Congress' leading cryptocurrency evangelists. As such, she says she hopes to lead by example. "What bitcoin is, what blockchain is — it's a total mystery to most members of Congress," Lummis told Reason magazine. "So the first part is going to be to inform, educate, bring in experts who can help explain the importance of this." Rep. Warren Davidson, a Republican from Ohio Davidson got attention in crypto circles for once noting the difference between bitcoin and "shitcoin" during a House Financial Services Committee hearing in 2019. The Ohio Republican accepts cryptocurrency campaign donations and told Insider that "it's important for candidates to be ahead of the curve." "As the crypto industry continues to grow, I'm hearing more and more from crypto enthusiasts that they prefer giving in crypto over more traditional giving methods," he said in a statement to Insider. "In keeping with my view that blockchain will revolutionize the world, my campaign is equipped to meet these political donors where they are while signaling my own enthusiasm for the industry." Davidson told Bitcoin Magazine Podcast in May that he's a bitcoin fan because it "represents freedom." "Bitcoin as a money system — you could debate pros or cons — but it is a phenomenal store of value," he said then. "And when you look at what's going on with the US dollar, you can't say the current dollar is sound, which is part of what you see in the rise of bitcoin and other other assets over the past year in particular." Davidson was first elected in a 2016 special election, called to replace former House Speaker John Boehner. He is a former Army Ranger who graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point. Laura Loomer, a former Republican congressional candidate Loomer, a far-right, anti-Muslim political activist, offered options to donate with cryptocurrency on her congressional campaign website. She was defeated last year in her bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel of Florida. "Bitcoin promotes financial freedom," Loomer told the publication Government Technology last year. "We are telling the old power structure that we don't need them anymore. During the Bitcoin 2021 conference, she heckled Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey over "censorship" and "interfering in elections" as he delivered a speech. Libertarian National Committee The Libertarian Party ranks among the first federal-level political committees to go crypto, having accepted bitcoin contributions since 2013. Nevertheless, most all of the Libertarian Party's contributions still come in a form other than bitcoin — credit card payments, for example. It's last cryptocurrency contribution came in June 2021, when it accepted $2,500 in cash from the conversion of a bitcoin contribution from a Libertarian National Committee donor to dollars, via payment service provider BitPay. Overall, the committee raised about $158,000 that month. Bitcoin "isn't a large portion of what we take in by any stretch, but we feel it is important to give those in the cryptocurrency community and those who want to embrace a monetary alternative to fiat currency a direct way to support the political party that most represents them," Tyler Harris, executive director for the Libertarian National Committee, told Insider. "The Libertarian Party embraces values of personal freedom and individual choice, so giving our supporters a wider range of options to support us in their preferred way just naturally reinforces how thoroughly we live the same values we espouse." Is there any downside to accepting bitcoin? "I can't really think of one," Harris said. "We've been doing this for so long now, any upfront effort required to implement it operationally is now a distant memory. It's become a routine part of the myriad ways that the growing ranks of Libertarians around the country are able to contribute to our cause." Matthew Diemer, a Democratic congressional candidate from Ohio Diemer said his campaign was accepting cryptocurrency donations to support the community, the technology, and innovation in general. "It's kind of like, why drive an electric car if there's more gas stations?" he told Insider. "Because you want to support the green environment, you want to support the electric-car companies." Diemer, who hosts the crypto news podcast "The Decrypt Daily," describes himself on his Twitter account as a "Practical, Solution Focused, Tech-Savvy #Bitcoin Democrat Running for Congress in Ohio." He accepts the currency using the company BitPay, so all such contributions land in his account as converted dollars. This year he has raised about $900 from donations that were converted from cryptocurrency, according to his own records. (He donated $50 to try out the system.) Diemer said he and other Democratic candidates were asking the online fundraising platform ActBlue to accept cryptocurrency so "people can go to one link and donate the way that they want to donate." To date, ActBlue, and its Republican analog WinRed, do not facilitate donations via cryptocurrency. Blake Masters, a Republican US Senate candidate in Arizona Masters, who is angling to challenge Democratic US Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona in 2022, told supporters in September that his campaign had started accepting bitcoin — and invited them to Twitter direct-message or email him directly "for info & to donate." Masters himself is a major cryptocurrency investor, with seven-figure holdings in bitcoin, litecoin, dogecoin, filecoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash, Zcash, and tezos combined, according to a personal-financial disclosure he filed October 7 with the US Senate. Florida Conservative Fund The Florida Conservative Fund, a super PAC, reported receiving a contribution — "3.0485 Bitcoins received, not liquidated" — in May 2018, according to a disclosure with the Federal Election Commission. In the disclosure, it valued the contribution at $25,000. The fund did not hold onto the cryptocurrency for long. Within three months, in early August 2018, the Florida Conservative Fund liquidated the bitcoin and paid a $332 exchange fee to the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. The contribution came from Castar Capital, a firm linked to Chuck Johnson, whom Gaetz, the embattled congressman from Florida, invited to the State of the Union address earlier that year. As Open Secrets reported, Gaetz had previously distanced himself from Johnson after the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Anti-Defamation League labeled him a Holocaust denier. Three years later, Gaetz is facing a federal sex-trafficking investigation. A one-time associate of his, Joel Greenberg, has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl and told prosecutors he witnessed the Republican lawmaker having sex with her. Gaetz has denied having sex with a 17-year-old and said he has never paid for sex. The fund's treasurer, Nancy Watkins, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Rep. Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota Emmer, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, read "The Age of Cryptocurrency" in 2015 and quickly became smitten with the stuff. In recent years, Emmer has emerged as a vocal defender of cryptocurrency. Just last week, he pushed back against the Securities and Exchange Commission's effort to expand the regulation of bitcoin and other digital tokens. Emmer is also inviting cryptocurrency into his campaign coffers. The Minnesota Republican said last year that he would accept crypto-donations. In an interview, an Emmer spokeswoman, Abby Rime, said the campaign liquidated cryptocurrency donations upon receipt and reported their cash value, explaining why bitcoin and other currencies didn't appear in the Republican's financial disclosures. Rime said cryptocurrency donations amounted to a minimal portion of the overall contributions to the Republican's reelection efforts. Rime said the call for cryptocurrency donations was intended, in part, to "generate some conversations with his colleagues so that he can educate them about what the potential benefits are to not overregulating." Rep. Darren Soto, a Democrat from Florida Soto found legislative success this year with a pair of cryptocurrency-related bills. In June, the Florida Democrat applauded the passage of legislation directing federal agencies to submit reports on blockchain technology and deceptive practices involving digital tokens. His embrace of cryptocurrency has extended to the campaign trail. Soto, a cochairman of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, reported receiving two donations — one worth $10, another $70 at the time of receipt — in the form of "Bitcoins not liquidated," according to disclosures filed with the FEC. In an interview, Soto told Insider that he expects cryptocurrency to figure prominently in the future of political fundraising. Last year, he said, the Chamber of Digital Commerce held a fundraising event that netted almost $2,900 in cryptocurrency donations. "I anticipate, as so many young people are investing in or utilizing cryptocurrency, that it will become a bigger share of small-dollar donations over time," he said. "Right now, they're definitely event-centric for the most part for us." 3.14 Action Fund During the 2018 election cycle, the 3.14 Action Fund — its mission is to "elect more scientists to Congress, state legislatures, and local offices" — reported accepting more than $187,000 in bitcoin and ethereum in total from seven donors, according to FEC records. "That cycle, we had donors who wanted to contribute using cryptocurrency, so we made a decision to accept it. It's not really different from accepting stock, which groups do regularly," a 3.14 Action Fund representative, Alexandra De Luca, told Insider. Since then, however, no donor has asked to contribute to the 3.14 Action Fund using cryptocurrency, and the group does not "currently retain assets in cryptocurrency," De Luca said. Matt West, Democratic candidate for Oregon's 6th Congressional District When Matt West announced his run for Congress on October 12, he prominently mentioned his doctorate degree in chemical engineering and said he was "running to be among the few scientists in the US House." But the Democrat campaigning in Oregon's newly created 6th Congressional District said his expertise didn't end there. West said his experience in cryptocurrency development would "position him as the first member of Congress with the experience needed to make informed policy decisions around cryptocurrency regulation." He told Insider that he was bringing his embrace of cryptocurrency to his campaign contributions and accepting donations in the form of bitcoin, ethereum, and other well-known digital tokens. "The reason I'm accepting cryptocurrency and why it's so important to me to accept it — it's not just like a hook," West told Insider. "This is an area that I've been involved with for quite some time, and this is my way of just showing the people that I work with that I truly do take it seriously, that this is, in many ways, part of the future of our financial system." West did acknowledge one downside of accepting crypto-donations: "My compliance firm is charging me more money because there are a lot more hoops to jump through." He added: "People know how to handle ActBlue and the other, more traditional methods of fundraising. This is newer. There's a little bit more red tape, so that is one of the downfalls right now, is just making sure that we do stay compliant." Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican of Kentucky Paul accepted bitcoin during his 2016 presidential run, becoming the first presidential candidate during that election to do so. "Senator Paul will run the most tech-innovative campaign in 2016," then-spokesman Sergio Gor told the New York Times when asked about Paul's decision to accept the digital currency. "From Snapchat to bitcoin, we'll engage in various forums before anyone else." But it appears Paul has since disengaged from accepting bitcoin to help fund his political ambitions. Neither his Senate re-election campaign committee, nor his leadership political action committee, RANDPAC, allow donors to contribute bitcoin via their websites. Paul's Senate and campaign offices did not respond to Insider's requests for comment. Brian Forde, a former Democratic congressional candidate in California Forde, who unsuccessfully ran for California's 45th Congressional District seat in 2018, to this day ranks as one of the most successful crypto-candidates in US history, raising just short of $200,000 in bitcoin. The independent 2020 presidential candidate Brock Pierce, a billionaire, was among several dozen people who donated bitcoin to Forde's campaign. Forde did not respond to Insider's requests for comment, but he told Politico in 2018 that he'd accept contributions most any way his supporters wanted to make them. "We'll take contributions via check, we'll take contributions via credit card, we'll take donations via cryptocurrency," said Forde, who worked as a White House technology advisor during President Barack Obama's administration. "There are people in the cryptocurrency community who come to our fundraisers, and we welcome them." Rep. Jeff Duncan, a Republican from South Carolina Duncan, now in his sixth term in Congress, is a member of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus. His campaign's website accepts bitcoin and various altcoins through payment processor Bitpay. Duncan did not respond to questions. Kelli Ward, a former US Senate candidate in Arizona In her unsuccessful Senate run, Ward opened a portal for supporters to make contributions in the form of cryptocurrency. None came. Through a spokesman, Ward, now the chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party, recalled that her campaign set up a mechanism for accepting cryptocurrency but wasn't familiar with how it worked. On the lack of crypto support, Ward said, "I guess I was ahead of my time," the spokesman relayed to Insider. Eric Brakey, a Republican 2020 US House candidate from Maine Brakey, a Republican from Maine who ran for the US Senate in 2018 and the US House in 2020, accepted bitcoin during his unsuccessful campaigns. But it was as a successful candidate for the Maine Senate in 2014 when Brakey became a political innovator, accepting cryptocurrency at a time when many politicians had little idea what cryptocurrency even was. "The Maine Ethics Commission has to invent a whole new procedure because nobody has really tried this," Brakey told Insider. Brakey said a few of his donors while he was running for Congress wanted to specifically contribute in cryptocurrency, and he was happy to oblige. One advantage for political donors contributing to candidates in cryptocurrency, Brakey noted, is that they may do so without converting the asset into cash, thereby avoiding capital-gains taxes. "To some degree, it's still a novelty," Brakey said. "But I think it'll become more and more common in campaigns." Wendy Hamilton, a Democratic candidate for congressional delegate from Washington, DC Hamilton, an ordained Christian minister, is attempting to unseat Democratic Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has represented Washington, DC, as a non-voting delegate to Congress since 1991. To help fund her campaign, Hamilton is accepting cryptocurrency contributions through cryptocurrency payment processor BitPay. "Rev. Wendy feels right at home with the crypto community: She is a blockchain-aware candidate running on innovative economic policies like Universal Basic Income," her campaign website states. "The crypto community's support is humbling to Rev. Wendy. She's interested in diving in and learning more about how these emerging technologies can forge a more human-centered economy." Federal Election Commission disclosure reports offer no indication, however, that anyone had contributed cryptocurrency to Hamilton's campaign as September 30. Hamilton's campaign reported $8,279 cash on hand as of that day. Former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican from California Rohrabacher, whose pro-Russia politics helped precipitate the end of his career in elected politics, received several bitcoin contributions during his failed 2018 reelection campaign, together valued at more than $10,000, according to FEC records. Austin Petersen, a 2018 US Senate candidate in Missouri The former GOP candidate experienced the other side of the bitcoin when he had to turn down a $130,276 donation in 2018. "To whoever tried to give us $130,276 in #Bitcoin on Saturday, we had to refuse your donation," he wrote on Facebook. "Please donate $5400 to in order to comply with FEC regulations. Also, start a PAC or something mate!" Petersen, who founded the website The Libertarian Republic, lost his GOP Senate primary bid to Josh Hawley, who now represents Missouri. He also tried but failed to win the Libertarian Party's 2016 presidential nomination. "I am a big fan of the digital currency community because of what it represents, which is ultimately decentralization," he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2017. Adam Kokesh, 2018 Libertarian US Senate candidate and 2020 Libertarian presidential candidate Kokesh ran for president as a Libertarian in 2020 and, before that, as a Libertarian write-in candidate for US Senate in Arizona. He personally made a series of three- and four-figure cryptocurrency contributions to his campaign committee in 2018, federal records indicate. This article originally published on October 11, 2021, and has been updated to include new information about political candidates and committees that use cryptocurrency. - Congress - Eric Swalwell - Politics - Andrew Yang - Brian Forde - Matthew Diemer - tom emmer - darren soto - Bob Latta - Steve Chabot - david joyce - NRCC - Dana Rohrabacher - Eric Brakey - Matt Gaetz - Blake Masters - Litecoin - Dogecoin - Chamber of Digital Commerce - Perianne Boring - National Republican Congressional Committee - crypto - cryptocurrency - AOC - Rand Paul - Cynthia Lummis - warren davidson - Jeff Duncan - altcoins - shiba inu - BitPay - wendy hamilton - Eleanor Holmes Norton For you
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Thursday, October 26, 2006 Volume 82 • Number 7 Jim Wallis spurs dialogue noto by Danica layers Benson Great Hall was packed to the max Monday night for Willis and Boyd's debate. Placing 'bull's-eye' Q&A wjth WaMjs on faith and politics By Cory Streeter Greg Boyd and Jim Wallis dressed in jet black suits Monday night, passionately addressing a capacity crowd in Benson Great Hall. Like their suits, they boih agreed on a multitude of topics relating to a Christians role in politics. Their differences reflected the sense that, unlike their hair colors, the answer to the correct mix of faith and politics is not black and white. The respectful dialogue belween Wallis, author of "God's Politics: Why ihe Right Gets It Wrong and the Lefi Doesn't Get Ii," and Boyd, author of "Mylh of a Chrislian Nation," satisfied not only a growing question for the Church, but also a national media interest in the two prominent theologians. Boyd laid out the agreement both shared in some aspects of faith and politics: Jesus cares deeply for social justice, political issues cannot have an official "Christian label" attached, the necessity for individual piety, God is both a personal and public God, and the association of evangelicals have been "hijacked" by right wing politics. Boyd even commented as they responded to opposing views that they agree on more issues than previously realized, bul stressed that the "bull's-eyes" were different for their positions relating to the kingdom of God. Wallis, reiterating his main poinls of his chapel address Monday morning, said that the United Stales is hungry for a new moral center lhat isn't defined by a right or lefi wing, but one thai is defined by going deeper. Going deeper into a spiritual foundation in Jesus Christ is lhe way io create a social movement of change, explained Wallis. That change comes in the form of fighting for social justice issues, Wallis said. Mimicking the example of Martin Luther King, Jr., Christians aren't called to jusl live claiming a need for social justice, but engage in it, "My politics are from the politics of Jesus," he said, ciiing the 2,000-plus verses in the Bible dealing with social justice. As Christians, we need to "change the wind" on government issues, Wallis said. Boyd emphasized the danger of claiming any sort of politics "God's politics," because that will only lead to polarization. Boyd explained that Jesus was for social justice, yet never looked to politics to advance his cause. Jesus "consistently refused" to deal with politics when they were brought to his table, Boyd said. Instead of focusing on politics, Boyd illustrated how Jesus transformed society by his example of self-sacrificial love. People are transformed by receiving that love, and "only when people are genuinely transformed can society be genuinely transformed," he said. Boyd wagered that there is no right or wrong way for Christians to deal with issues of the poor. Unlike Wallis' urging for Christians to "change the wind" to social justice, Boyd emphasized that "people's hearts changing is what creates the wind." Curiiss DeYoung, professor of reconciliation studies, summed up the initial speeches to a roaring applause. "This is whal we need more of in the world," he said. By Chris Tompkins Q: In your book you talk about a progressive and prophetic vision of politics. What does that look like? A: I think it means focusing on some key issues. I'll say tonight, it doesn't mean becoming partisan. You have to hold both sides accountable. Martin Luther King never endorsed a candidate. He made them endorse his agenda. Prophetic but not partisan. 1 think the cluster issues are around poverty, around the environment, and how to resolve conflicts. Darfur and trafficking and HIV/AIDS, these are the issues that will fire and inspire a new generation. Its movements thai change politics, not jusi changing one politician for another. % Q: In your March column in "Sojourners," you talk about the new young environmental Christian. Do you think this group will have an effect on where American politics is going? A: For len years there have been a lot of new environmental initiatives coming from the evangelical movement; now we have evangelicals talking about global warming as a religious issue. Now if evangelicals join the battle for global wanning and see it as a matter of creation care and stewardship, that could be a tipping point on the issue. There are secular environmentalists who have been closed lo faith because they haven't seen people of faith evolved in the environment. If they see is they might think...hey, maybe this faith stuff isn't so bad. Q: Some statements in your book imply that both current political parties have been lead astray by a "civil religion." As a campus with growing democralic and republican groups, how do you suggest a healthy dialogue to avoid these ideologies? A: This notion that God has a special blessing and place in America; there is nothing about that in the Bible. If anything, we are subject to special judgment because we are in power. We are judged by how we treat the poorest and most vulnerable nations. There is a lot of American religion like 'God helps those who help themselves.' People think that is in the Bible. A loi of these mythological notions of popular religion in America, [are] more American than Christian. I like what Boyd has to say: We are Christians first, and Americans second, third or fourth. Q: Thanks for coming to speak and for your time, where are you heading next? A: Well, it's on io a Chicago io visit a number of colleges until the weekend, then home to coach little league baseball. We have a winning streak going. Sea of orange walks for Uganda's children Students play an integral role in annual Gulu Walk By Jiliian Bergin Over 50 students participated in the Gulu Walk on Saturday to raise awareness and instill hope to end the on-going war in northern Uganda. Gathering in Loring Park, siudenis walked alongside fellow Twin Ciiies dwellers and Ugandan. The streets flooded with orange as people of all different backgrounds marched for peace in a land torn by war for the lasl 20 years. Photo by Jordan Groh Bethel Students and local Ugandan community walked around Minneapolis to raise awareness and support. courage my RIOT floor." While walking, commuters in cars honked their encouragement al the signs that read: "We walk because they walk," "Slop Gulu continued on page 8 Hannah O'Reilly, a sophomore RIOT leader, brought five of the girls hom her RIOT floor lo the Gulu Walk to encourage ihem to become aware of things outside iheir immediate world. "I'm here because I really care aboul the war in northern Uganda," she said. "1 think it's really important io be globally aware at Bethel and everywhere you are, and I wanted also io en- Taking the Next Step Campaign benefits both current and future students Photo by Danica Myers President Brushaber clarifies plans for Bethel's present and future By Marie Hansen Students strolling along the paths of Seminary Hill will soon find new scenery to view. In 2007, construction of a new student center will begin next to the CLC,overlooking Lake Valentine, along with several other important renovations on Bethel's campuses. The Taking the Next Step campaign kicked off a few weeks ago, illustrating plans to make campus improvements by the summer of 2008 and support its future with a 5105 million plan. The most noticeable campus improvement will be the 110,000-square foot University Commons area built next to the CLC, which will include a larger dining center, lounges, a new campus store and more space for student organizations. The Commons area will also free space in the current University buildings for more classrooms and offices. A new Fitness Center in the SRC, the already completed Lissner Hall and renovations in the St. Paul and San Diego seminary campuses will also be completed with the campaign's funding. The rest of the money donated for the campaign will help Bethel function and expand today and into the future. Some current students argue, however, that they are paying for the campaign, but will not feel the impact of these future projects during their time at Bethel. President George Brushaber debunked the myth that current student tuition will be used for the new campaign. "None of this construction will be funded by student tuition and fees. Donors must make these buildings possible, if we are to have them at Bethel," he said. "All of these millions of dollars in gifts have immediate benefit for every student currently enrolled," Brushaber said. Part of the campaign also includes raising another $25 million in gifts. This money will immediately finance campus resources, student research, musical tours and other student endeavors. Even without the new campaign, "every student is receiving far more [in donations] lhan he or she has paid in tuition and other fees" every year, Brushaber said. "For siudenis who graduate this year or next, there is also the benefit and satisfaction that they hold a degree from a university thai grows in quality and reputation each year as a result of the generosity of thousands of ordinary folk who care much about Bethel students," Brushaber said. "A positive and supportive attitude from current students will go a long way in helping us achieve success in this endeavor," he said, "but even more importantly, it will be the foundation of a healthy sirong Belhel for decades to come." Brushaber urged students to remember the school that provided their college education in the years to come. "Current students will soon be alumni and must be willing to make gifts to help future students enjoy the benefits of Beihel," he said. He also said students must remember that "this is not 'Brushaber's Campaign.' It is yours." A Bostonian Fall Break experience Literature students encounter East Coast American history By Laura Jones "Will. Hey, Will!" I said as 1 stumbled off the train car, my bag tangling around my feet. Senior Will Becker turned around in surprise. "1 just landed," 1 explained. "Are you on your way to the hostel?" Receiving the affirmative, I walked with him up the metro transit stairs to the streets of Boston. It was only lhe beginning of eight students' Boston adventures with Professor Thomas Becknell and wife, exploring first-hand America's literary history for Fall Break. After checking in, I followed up on some advice for great late-night pizza around the corner at a hole-in-the-wall pizza counter. My $1.75 slice of cheese was bigger than my face and everything pizza should be. As I marveled at its size, I was joined by some local students. The ubiquitous "Come here Boston continued on page 8 . Object Description Description Add tags for Page 1
- Derek Tokarzewski Blaine Ochoa Miss Houston USA 2019 World Class Beauty Queens Magazine would like to welcome amazing Queen Blaine Ochoa Miss Houston USA 2019 . Full name: Blaine Janell Ochoa Title/Year: Miss Houston USA 2019 Pageant System: USA Age: 26 Zodiac sign: Leo Hobbies: Traveling, baking, ballroom and salsa dancing, and volunteering. Platform: International Relief Years competed: 4 Countries visited: 7 Likes: Music, food, fashion, movies, and the beach Dislikes: Rude people and not getting enough sleep Status: Single World Class Beauty Queens: Please tell us about yourself. I grew up in the small beach town community called Bolivar Peninsula. I am the oldest of two siblings and am very close with my family. I am resilient, courageous, hardworking, and kind. I am passionate about life, following my dreams, and making a difference in the lives of others. I am a writer, professional in the mass media industry, and am also an actress and singer/songwriter. My faith in Jesus Christ is where I find my purpose, and is what inspires me to do my best and give my all each and every day. World Class Beauty Queens: What does women Empowerment means to you? To be confident in who you are, love yourself, and stand up for what's right. To work hard to diminish non equality in the workplace, family, and community. To speak words of life and to support and uplift other women. World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your pageant history. I competed in pageants a couple times as a young girl, and have competed in the USA system for almost 4 years now. I won Miss Houston USA on my third attempt. I was previously 1st Runner Up and 2nd Runner Up. World Class Beauty Queens: What inspired you to do your first pageant? I looked up to the women who I saw competing in beauty pageants on TV and always wanted to compete. I admired the beauty, elegance, bravery, and wisdom the women embodied and possessed. World Class Beauty Queens: Why did you choose to compete for your current title? Becoming Miss Houston USA has been a dream of mine for years. I love the prestigious city of Houston and wanted to share my heart and story with others and give back. Also, I've always loved all things glamorous and beauty pageants are the perfect fit! Competing for Miss Houston was also a way to challenge and better myself. World Class Beauty Queens: To those unfamiliar with your pageant system please tell us what is it about? I compete in the USA system. It is the official system under the Miss Universe Organization. World Class Beauty Queens: What are you being judged on during the competition? Personal Interview, Swimsuit/Fitness, and Evening Gown. World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your experience during the competition. Even though sometimes difficult, I've always loved the whole pageant experience. The personal growth process during the preparation period and being on stage competing. While on stage I feel empowered, beautiful, and strong. World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about your platform or what cause do you volunteer for. My platform is International Relief, focusing on ending childhood hunger and poverty and assisting in child education initiatives. World Class Beauty Queens: What appearances have you done with your title? Some of my favorites appearances have been speaking to the Lamar University TV News class, speaking to the United States Coast Guard for Hispanic Heritage Month, walking in the Best Buddies Fashion Show, speaking to Hoffman Middle School on Career Day, escorting my dear friend Joanne King Herring to receive the St. Jude Philanthropic Icon Award, and hosting my own Holiday fundraiser for Impact Africa, a charity organization very dear to my heart. World Class Beauty Queens: What are some of your achievements? Becoming my high school class Valedictorian, going on a mission trip to South Africa, graduating from Texas State University with a degree in Communication Studies, being a professional in the TV and Radio industry, releasing a Christmas music single, having a lipstick named after me, and being the founder of Beauty with Blaine. World Class Beauty Queens: What makes you stand out from all those other beautiful girls? I am someone who takes action. Someone who tries, and tries again. Someone who falls down and gets back up. I am not perfect and have learned that in my failure is where I learn and grow in wisdom. I am determined to continue to pursue my dreams and purpose, no matter the obstacles. I have learned to be resilient and courageous, and that all things are possible. World Class Beauty Queens: Tell us about the moment your name was called out as the winner. A dream come true! It was such a surreal moment! I think I went numb! It is such an incredible feeling to have a dream that you've worked hard for for years come true, and actually live in the moment of it. It's one of the most amazing feelings in the world. I'm so thankful. World Class Beauty Queens: What does it mean to you to be a Beauty Queen? Being a beauty queen means being a strong leader who uplifts and empowers others. A women with a beautiful heart and soul, a strong mind, and a voice that speaks words of life and truth. World Class Beauty Queens: How did competing in pageants helped your life? Pageants have given me a greater self confidence, and have equipped me with resources and tools that I will use throughout my entire life. I have improved my communication skills, made personal and business connections, and have been given opportunities that have advanced my humanitarian, professional, and personal goals all through pageantry. World Class Beauty Queens: How did pageants helped your selfesteem and body image? Pageants have challenged me to be the best I can be. On the inside and the outside. They have made me more aware of taking care of my body and also loving myself for who God made me to be. They have taught me to embrace my imperfections while striving to grow and become better. World Class Beauty Queens: You are an inspiration to all the girls out there. How does it feel? It feels like a blessing and is very humbling. It also feels like I have a great responsibility to lead in the best way possible. To inspire, to uplift, and encourage others the best that I can. It is a great gift that I have been given to use. World Class Beauty Queens: What is your on stage strategy to win the judges over? Let your beauty shine from the inside out. Be genuine and walk with confidence and poise. Show the judges and audience why you should win from the way you present yourself. World Class Beauty Queens: How did you prepare for your competition? A lot of preparation and training, physically and mentally. Having a strong mind is most important, knowing who you are and why you really want to compete and win the title. Physical training is also important. You want to make sure you are healthy and in the best shape possible for the swimsuit and evening gown competitions. World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for learning better pageant walk? Practice! Hire a great coach who can train you to walk with elegance, confidence, and grace. World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for choosing right pageant dress? Choose the dress that makes you feel the most beautiful! It's wise to choose a dress that works best with your body shape, but overall I've learned that you'll feel the most confident in a dress that you absolutely love. World Class Beauty Queens: What are your tips for winning interview? Be yourself and speak from your heart! Speak with confidence and compassion. Also, I suggest practicing your potential questions and answers as much as possible. World Class Beauty Queens: What is one mistake that you've done during competing you wish you could redo and fix it? Doubting myself during my earlier pageant years. I've since learned to fully believe in myself and that I am worthy and capable of achieving my dreams. World Class Beauty Queens: What other mistakes are made by girls during the contest? Not being genuine, and trying to be like someone else. World Class Beauty Queens: Any modeling or acting experience? Yes, I've been modeling for about 6 years now and I am a professional actress signed with Page Parkes Texas located in Houston. World Class Beauty Queens: What are your plans for 2020 as a Queen? To finish my reign with power, beauty, and confidence knowing that I positively made a difference in the lives of others. I plan to fully pursue a career in the music industry as a singer/songwriter and release a single. I also plan to continue pursing my acting career, as well as expand Beauty with Blaine. World Class Beauty Queens: What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? I want to be an inspiration to others and an example of courage, faith, and resilience. I want my life to be a testament for people to know that they are capable of achieving their dreams and destiny. All things are possible with God and never let fear have power over you. I want to share a few important statements that have made a lasting impact on my life: "Start where you are, there will never be a perfect time, and you may never have clarity, but you must always have faith, when pursuing your dreams and goals." "Your dreams will have a greater meaning when they are tied to the betterment of humanity." "Help people help themselves." "Success is never easy, it takes hard work and discipline, and working while others play." Your Local Director: Crystle Stewart Pageant website: World Class Beauty Queens Magazine would like to say thank you for this amazing interview. Blaine Ochoa Miss Houston USA 2019 , World Class Beauty Queens Magazine, Photos: Grant Foto Makeup: Kiss and Makeup Houston Provided by: Miss Academy<<
All Adoption Stories Black, White and the Cornrow In Between We brought our son, Nathanael (our 8th child), home from Hong Kong on February 12, 2001. During the process of adopting him, and since he’s been home these past three years, I always find it amazing the numbers of families who are unaware there is even a Hong Kong program or who think it’s somehow tied to the China program with the CCAA in Beijing. While a relatively small program (only 15-20 children or so arrive home to the USA from Hong Kong each year), it has certain qualities which may make it a very viable option for families who could be considered “too old” or who may have “too many children” for other international adoption programs. The program in Hong Kong is run entirely through the Adoption Unit (“AU”) of the Hong Kong Social Welfare Department and there is no connection at all with the CCAA and Beijing. US citizens not residing in Hong Kong will adopt their child through one of three agencies in the USA, licensed by SWD, and with the assistance of one of two agencies in Hong Kong: either Mothers Choice () or International Social Services () , but always through SWD. Most of the children are residents of small private group homes or in foster care arranged by the group home, though occasionally a child will be residing in a crèche (similar to an orphanage). SWD gives great attention to detail in the adoption process and runs things very smoothly and ethically. All 3 of the USA agencies licensed in Hong Kong are very reputable, older organizations, with a long history of ethical and exemplary service to both children and families. For citizens of the USA, the children will usually be 2-3 yrs of age on up as a minimum (though occasionally you will see children as young as 12-18 months old or so coming home) and there almost always is a special need of some kind involved, from moderate to severe in most cases. Additionally, Hong Kong is somewhat flexible on parental age and the number of children in the home as it relates to adoptive parents. The process, from time of submission of dossier until the child is ready to travel, is approximately 4-8 months depending on how fast the paperwork moves through SWD and on to the High Court. Families may travel for approximately 5 business days (one or both parents) or the child can be escorted. The dossier for Hong Kong is very simple and most of the items only need be photocopies. No notarizations or authentications are required. Families must also have their physicians fill out a detailed 5-pp medical history form and certain tests (such as a chest x-ray) are required. Families adopting in Hong Kong will receive good information regarding their child’s background history, medical issues, etc. Our son had several surgeries to correct syndactly of his hands and a clubfoot and we know without a doubt he received the best of care. In fact, when we were there to bring him home, we were able to travel to the hospital where he had all his surgeries and meet the staff and surgical team of the pediatric orthopedic surgery unit. The pediatric orthopedic surgeon he sees here at home was very impressed with how well Nathanael’s medical needs were attended to prior to his coming home. I’ll never forget Nathanael’s first visit with him shortly after he came home. The dr. took one look at his repaired right clubfoot and exclaimed with much enthusiasm “Great Cincinnati Release!” (A ‘Cincinnatti Release’ is a type of procedure used to correct a clubfoot.) As stated earlier, pre-adoption finds children being cared for in a small group home or foster home (occasionally a crèche). Our Nathanael lived, from 14 months of age until we came to get him at 3 yrs 10 months, at Mothers Choice in Wee Care, which was the area for special needs children 3-6 yrs of age. He had in-house OT and PT and was attending Small World Christian Kindergarten three days a week. Volunteers came to spend time with the children, they attended field trips, had outings and without a doubt much love and care was put into their well-being. There is also the Home of Loving Faithfulness, located in New Territories, as well as foster care arranged by either ISS or Mothers Choice. When we traveled to bring Nathanael home, we (my three teenagers—two of whom had been to Hong Kong before, and our daughter, Emilee, adopted from China and also a previous Hong Kong traveler) had a long all-day outing with him and our social worker our first full day, and then were able to have him with us from the next night on. Nathanael had a going-away party, which enabled him to say good-bye to everyone who had meant so much to him. He received not only a life book, which would have made any Creative Memories scrap booker proud, but he also received a book filled with pictures of those who had known him. Written beside each picture there was a special wish for Nathanael, as he left Hong Kong for his new life in America, along with a verse of scripture and sometimes an address or email. To this day, we keep in touch with a whole list of people who wish to remain a part of his life and to know how he is doing as he grows up. We feel the connections he has in the place of his birth will be vital to him in the years ahead as he will most assuredly have people with whom he can relate to when and if he returns to Hong Kong to visit. Pat and Dennis are a good example of a couple that was able to adopt from Hong Kong despite the fact they are both in their mid-to-late 50’s! They not only have older, biological children, but they are also grandparents!! They used Holt to adopt Amanda, Amelia and Arthur, who were all school-age at arrival home. Amanda and Arthur both have Downs’ Syndrome and Amelia has brain damage but all 3 are doing well and bringing joy to their mom and dad!! Polly and Kevin adopted their son, Grayson, in August 2001 at 4 yrs. of age; he was escorted home. Grayson has Downs’ Syndrome and is part of a family of 12 children ranging in age from 2-1/2 on up to 21. The children are from the USA (biological); Korea, Cambodia and the Philippines. Today, Grayson is a homeschooled kindergarten student. Polly says: “I loved the HK program, the process goes smooth and we received a lot of medical information. We were very informed throughout the process.” ${media.get("sideBar5")} Pam and Jim adopted their son, Thomas, in December 2001, when he was 9 years old, using Family Connections. Thomas was residing at Home of Loving Faithfulness. The entire family, including Thomas’ new grandmother and little sister Katie (from China), traveled to Hong Kong to bring him home. His special needs are beta thalassemia major (requiring transfusions every 5 weeks) and Moya Moya Disease (discovered after his arrival home). Currently, Thomas is a homeschooler and participates in children’s choir and AWANA club at church. Pam and Jim had originally set out hoping to adopt a son who was about 3 yrs of age or so and ended up with a 9-year-old boy!! Pam relates: “As for Hong Kong adoptions- you know how we feel about them-they are great! We loved the process, so simple, and the preparation and medical records are great!” Mike and Jeanne adopted Eva Wu in 2001 when she was 8 yrs old. Eva is completely hearing-impaired and partially blind and has kidney, cardiac, nose, throat, dental, and growth issues as a result of a congenital condition called C.H.A.R.G.E. Syndrome. My children and I personally met Eva when we were in Hong Kong to bring Nathanael home and let me tell you from first-hand experience, this is one amazing young lady!! She received a cochlear implant and is doing beautifully and brings a radiant joy to her mom, dad, brother and sisters (Eva Wu has siblings adopted from China, Taiwan and Ethiopia). Jeanne relates of their experience in adopting from Hong Kong “No worries with Hong Kong. It is the best and smoothest program by far! We have adopted 4 times and our HK adoption was a dream. It took only 8 months and I think it would have been only 7 months if Sept. 11th hadn't happened. Really fast, really predictable, tons of information, the ability to ask questions about your child (and get the answers!!!!!!!!!!!), etc.” Marion and her husband have 7 children, including Lia, who was adopted from Hong Kong last year at 18 months of age using Bethany; Lia has Downs Syndrome. Her husband and their older daughter traveled to bring her home. They had such a good experience with Hong Kong adoption the first time (they also have children from Korea), that they decided to do it again and their son, John , recently arrived home via escort. He was residing at The Home of Loving Faithfulness and is the first boy in the family!!… John is 5 yrs. old and also has Downs Syndrome. Marion says of their experience with Hong Kong adoption: “What impresses me most about Hong Kong adoptions is the personal involvement and care the staff at Mothers Choice has with the children. It’s very evident from all the child studies and also the pictures and items the children arrive with, that they are treasured. I also like it that you are able to ask questions about your child any time in the process. I felt more present and more connected to my children during the wait than during the wait for our other adoptions.” Bill and Cindy already had one biological son and set out to adopt another little boy. They traveled to bring their son, Michael, home from Hong Kong in March 2001; he was 16 months old at arrival and has mild CP and microcephaly but his head size has continued to grow and he is doing very well. Of their adoption experience, Cindy says: “Our Hong Kong experience was amazing! The people we met in HK were so wonderful and our son was so loved. His transition into our family was spectacular. They really know what they are doing in caring for and preparing the children. A bonus to the HK program was getting to travel to HK itself. It is an awesome sight to behold and I will never forget the beauty and breath taking views. I am a city girl and this is the ultimate city to get to visit! It says something that we have not one negative comment on our HK adoption experience!” Marvin and Apryl are another mid-50’s couple that decided they still had room in their hearts for more children (despite having older biological children and being grandparents as well!)… John-Gabriel arrived home from Hong Kong via escort at 2 years of age. Marvin and Apryl consider him their miracle boy. He had such severe retinopathy of prematurity that he should have been blind, but his vision is fine and he keeps the household hopping… In addition to the ROP, John-Gabriel was 12 weeks preemie and had Grade IV IVH, bilateral kidney reflux, bipartificated uvella (a cleft palate that didn’t finish forming), slight CP, mild hypospadism. Apryl says of their Hong Kong adoption experience: “ABOLUTELY WONDERFUL...The staff really loves the kids at Mothers Choice, takes optimal care of them as far as they are able which makes it much easier for parents to build on that love when they come home. As the parent of four SN adoptions, two from Russia, one from China and one from HK, I believe the kids from HK are better off physically, mentally and socially in spite of the sometimes more severe needs, than their counterparts in other countries.” Australia is another country where children from Hong Kong are placed. All families living in Australia and adopting in Hong Kong go through their requisite governmental social services department and all the children will come through International Social Services. Australian families are required to travel and escorting is not an option as it is for families residing in the USA. Here are two families who may be typical of those from Australia adopting in Hong Kong: Anne and her husband are awaiting the arrival of a pre-school age daughter with some minor issues and hope to have her home relatively soon. They had been in process for China when Hong Kong became an option. Carmel, a single mom, adopted her daughter, Sarah, in April 2003 at 2-1/2 yrs of age—she had some family background issues which made her available for adoption and she was diagnosed with mild CP and some epilepsy after she came home. Sarah joined an older sister, adopted from Romania. Of her experience, Carmel says: “My experience with ISS in Hong Kong was very good which included visits to the foster parent’s home on three occasions and then she was in the care of myself in the hotel for the remainder of the seven days before arriving back in Australia.” In the USA there are primarily three agencies who place children from Hong Kong: Bethany works with both Mothers Choice and International Social Services; Holt also works with both Mothers Choice and International Social Services; and Family Connections (Modesto, California) works with Mothers Choice. For Australia, it may depend on which state one lives in—families should contact their social services division and make an inquiry. While small, the Hong Kong program is a good option for families who may not fit the age requirements or family size requirements of some other international adoption programs. Families need to be prepared for a definite special need (or multiple needs) which more times than not is in the moderate-to-severe range, but in turn they can also count on getting good medical information as well as thorough social and background information and to know without a doubt that their child is being well-cared for. The program is affordable and offers flexibility regarding traveling or escorting (for those residing in the USA). Over the course of our two China adoptions and just going back to Hong Kong to visit our friends we have made numerous trips and Hong Kong has become very near and dear to our hearts. To be able to have adopted there was extra-special to us and and has further strengthened our family’s ties to a place we truly do feel is a second home. 09 Feb 2017 10 Feb 2017 03 Feb 2017 11 Aug 2015 02 Apr 2015 17 Feb 2017 11 Jul 2015 03 Apr
Brush Lettering: Flourishes & Ornamentation Lesson 4 of 8 Flourishes for Lowercase letters Brush Lettering: Flourishes & Ornamentation Lesson 4 of 8 Flourishes for Lowercase letters Lesson Info Flourishes for Lowercase letters Yeah, so let's talk, you know, like while you guys were doing some practicing here, I want to discuss how you know to consider drawing flourishes for the lower case, so replacement of them is a little bit different than how you would handle the uppercase letters. So for example, most of the flourishes are going to end up being in the inn at the top of the letters, the thunders they're the d senders or towards the end of the letter, because if you think about it most the time you're going to be using an uppercase letter, you don't really have a lot of need for entrance type are beginning flourishes. Most of the need for flourishes comes in to play in the middle of a word or the top part of the word, the end of a word to be, you know, keep that in mind as you're doing that couple more examples here, and these are some examples of ending flourishes and thinks of what you can do in the middle of the letters. We have a couple of oddball letters, which I drew down here, like the f from the v... a and the f and they kind of play their own little bit of a roll, and so, you know, depending on, you know where they said within your word frame you know they kind of they beat march to the beat of their own drummer they're not exactly a senders or d senders but there's more things that you can deal with them so just you know kind of keep that in the back of your mind is we're doing this so let's talk a bit about tips on letter flourishing on howto actually letter the flourishes which is a much different process than you know doing the letters that we have now we run into things like horizontal strokes we have these really long strokes toe work with lots of curls and swirls and there's so much more plec city to them that actually taking a brush to them becomes a little bit more of a challenge then it would be without so here's kind of my little diagram on howto letter flourishes so generally you know what I tried to do is you know of course practices big thing go over the flourish several times with the pencil to commit it to memory and try it with the brush is well the point of doing that going over flourish again repeated amount of time is it's develops muscle memory again it's kind of like a dance metaphor you know when you're learning to dio a noose you know if you're learning to do a new step the great fine whatever you have to practice at several times so that your muscle just automatically repeats those movements without even thinking about it so with flourishes it's important to really take like your pencil is your sketching it out or your brush and do it multiple repeated times and your training the muscles in your arm to make that movement so that it's much easier to do the first time around khun b a little sketchy so another thing that I like to talk about is really using pulling strokes as much as possible we really want tio you know take advantage of that remember pulling strokes are easier to make than pushing strokes pushing strokes tend to be a little jagged ian a little harder to control take advantage of this polling strokes and another thing that I like to dio is I like to try tio use the same process in the same tech me because I'm doing flourishes so I generally will you know start at a clockwise direction when I'm creating these strokes so for example and I usually stop and start at horizontal and vertical axes so you can see here like with this crazy long stroke I actually turn this paper to the side and that's another important thing is that the paper doesn't have to remain in exactly the same position remember what we're talking about about moving the paper not your body so with flourishes the paper will move you'll have it upside down you'll have it at diagonals we'll have that all kinds of strange you know directions that make it easier for you the letter so what I like to do is also a start here it this stroke right here and then you know curb out that way again that's like a counter clockwise stroke and then I flipped and then I create the second one at the same time while my paper is turned horizontally and then I'll come in to create you know the third stroke which again is a clockwise stroke and then are actually that one's a little bit of a counter clockwise and then I make a four at that time and connected that way and this is the fifth stroke to go out that direction so really kind of where you want to be stopping and starting again horizontal and vertical axis that's where that's where the the flourishes need to be kind of constructive and put together and those air really good starting and stopping points for conducting all of those little pieces together so with that said I want you guys to go through and we have some great stuff in the bonus materials that will give you a chance to practice this there's one thing for me to tell you this and give you a little diagram but it makes a lot more sense when you start doing it so now that you've drawn and sketch some of your own flourishes that are looking amazing by the way take out this sheet right here there's several of them in your bonus materials and I want you to spend some time going over these with their brush and actually giving it a try you know giving give it a shot with figuring out how to construct these letters so remember practice pulling strokes practice turning your paper and practice putting those stops and starts in the flourishes at the horizontal and vertical zx so any time that you're going to be working with a horizontal stroke is when you want to be turning your paper or any time that you're starting you know if you start to struggle with it you go not feeling right about this start turning your paper but generally you know like for example like I would turn my paper to d'oh this part of that struck right there that's where I would turn my paper or this started the stroke right here so those horizontal become much easier when they're turned to the side because they become verticals and they become pulling strokes you know otherwise horizontal zehr kind of pushing strokes and they're a little bit harder to handle so give that a shot it just let her right over the top of that exemplar pull that up too I'm in a demo this a little bit as well all right so I tried to keep these when I when I put this together I wanted to keep these letters in a monoline format because I think that that's a lot easier for you to not be locked into trying a certain style but developing your own style you know if I put in too much of the contrast then it's kind of like oh you know I'm training you to do something exactly the way that I would do it and you know really you know you want to develop your own style so so I would say let's do this really difficult one here so draw the first part of my g it's like I would normally draw ji turn the paper to decide here to create this and I just kind of miss line create that stroke at the same time that one little slip of paper completed that way and let's get this one a try yes I have a tendency to do a little bit of correcting as I go and really let your hands in your arm kind of dragged down the pages you're doing some of these strokes I'm glad you said correction do you find it to correct often time a lot of the time in fact I mean a lot of times I barely even make it through like when I was doing this long stroke I just really wanted to do this yes I am I correct as I go you know a night I think that's a really pretty common thing and it just it just kind of you know helps I think it's actually good thing to do because it really helps get your mind into the place where you know how you want the letter to look and it's just kind of a good habit to get involved in let's give like this each try here right there's more particular tips and maybe just doing another one as to where you're pushing isn't there more pressure or picking up or just maybe as you do another one you really owe question because on access plays a really big role in this so you know where we want the fix in the thins ultimately to come fire to draw say like an o kind of like through the I would say what is that eleven o'clock to five o'clock that's where the majority of the the that's where a lot of the light strokes are going to be and then the opposite it's where your heavy strokes are and so if you kind of pay attention to that you know like thiss a little bit of a diagram on access you kind of get a good idea where those lights and have these they're supposed to be so say for example need show you on this last one that I did you can kind of see that coming through so we have you know a light stroke there there there you see it I mean it's it all kind of starts toe make a little bit of sense and then our heavy strokes here here here here so again you know going back to that eleven o'clock and five o'clock are going to be like where the lightest part of stroke would be and then the opposite for the heaviest Class Description Be sure to check out our other Brush Lettering classes on Brush Lettering Basics and Putting Together a Final Piece. Lend grace and beauty to your words. Flourishes are an opportunity to loosen your grip and add a bit of personal style to your brush lettering. Join type designer Laura Worthington for this class, and you'll learn: - Different styles of flourishes per letter - Ligatures as flourishes and how to letter flourishes - Adding in ornamentation (similar to flourishes, but not attached to the letters) Reviews April S. I am watching the Brush Lettering courses live. I did quite a bit of lettering years ago and have wanted to start again. It was serendipitous that Laura's classes were being re-broadcast now. I have them playing while I'm at work so I'm not fully focused but I stop and look when something catches my attention. I really like Laura's straightforward, uncomplicated method of teaching. She doesn't hem and haw, her voice is friendly, she speaks and moves confidently and I really just enjoyed listening to the course even when I couldn't watch. I did watch enough to catch some important examples and tips. I would definitely recommend Laura's brush lettering courses for beginners, and I think those with some experience will also get some tips and motivation from the courses. MikeD I think the last time someone said something positive about any piece of "art" I produced, including my handwriting which was a school subject in the 1950's, was about 1962. It has been pretty much downhill from there. Since retiring I have made a commitment to practice these "worthless" skills since I have ignored them my whole life. Watching these classes on Brush Lettering is giving me hope I can actually do this and Laura seems to be an extremely patient instructor who actually loves her work. I've ordered the brushed and paper and such and I'll be purchasing the series of classes as soon as the supplies arrive. I love it, look for me to post my work in the student session when I get an acceptable product completed. a Creativelive Student love Laura and the class! Learning so much! Perfect for me to write my own word then scan it into Illustrator and go from there! Excellent!
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Feedback to [email protected] Part Three “Wha…” Kearney turned toward the noise that had roused her. In the gray light of morning, in the doorway, she spied a blob that resolved gradually into the form of her cat. Lexie obligingly repeated the sound, enabling her to identify it as a plaintive meow. Damn. What time is it anyway? She turned sleep-encrusted eyes toward her clock radio, just in time to see its numbers flip to 6:00. “I got you, babe. I got you, babe…” “Augh!” She lunged for the machine, which had its volume set to Seriously Annoying and was purposely placed out of easy reach. Sonny and Cher had finished their chorus and the announcer had launched into the news and weather for Friday, December 19, before she managed to slap the snooze button and return the room to near silence. “Miaou!” Turning off the alarm had, unfortunately, not muzzled Lex. She sat up groggily. “What is with you this morning? Cool your jets till I get mine revved, okay?” Lex, looking slightly abashed, muted her cries. “That’s better.” She stood. The cat rubbed against her legs hard enough to threaten her balance. “I’m living on borrowed time, eh?” Bowing to the inevitable, she shuffled into her slippers and down the cold hallway, behind Lex’s self-satisfied saunter. “Aaah!” The aroma of freshly brewed coffee welcomed her to the kitchen. Thank god she’d remembered to set the timer last night. “Whoa!” Her eyes swiveled to the kitchen window and its view of the Jarretts’ driveway. The tracks of the previous night were gone, erased by what looked like more than a foot of fresh flakes. “Holy…” She scooped Lex up, melting as usual when the cat wrapped her forepaws around her neck in a little hug and nuzzled her under the chin. “Look, babe. No sparrows or robins today, just snow, snow, snow.” “Babe.” The word rang a tiny bell. Oh yeah, Sonny and Cher. Ick. And that snippet of weather report I heard. Ah. School closings! Children throughout the state are glued to the morning TV broadcasts, waiting for the magic words that will release them to the wild wonder of a day of sledding. “No such luck for me, though.” Lex bumped her chin with her head. “The students have headed home for the holidays, but college offices will be open still, I suppose. I might get away with it if I lived farther away, but I really have no excuse for not being able to hike ten blocks. Unless …” She looked at the thermometer. Twenty-five above. Not life threatening. Especially on what was shaping up to be a clear, cloudless day. “It’s worth checking, though…” She flipped on the tiny television set she used to keep her company while she cooked and studied the trailers scrolling under the CBS Morning Show. Hmm. Bloomington, Blue Earth … got a ways to go before they get to Northfield. Lexie stirred in her arms. Time enough to take care of this, I hope. Let see, what can I pontificate about today? She took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. Hmm … Okay, that'll do. She lowered the cat to the floor and returned to the back door. “Today’s word to the wise, Lex, is simply this: Wake up and smell the coffee. Not that coffee means a whole heckuva lot to you, I realize. Wake up and smell the catnip? No. That implies something entertaining, instead of unavoidable and unpleasant. Wake up and smell the kitty litter? Ah, much better … “In any case, buddy, it is time to read the paw prints on the wall.” She cracked the door open. “To see the light. Bite the bullet. Call a spade a spade and the heart of winter the heart of winter.” She watched the inrushing cold freeze Lexie in place. “In short …” A shudder rippled through the cat, breaking her free of her trance-like state. “In short, it’s time to face the music and – dash!” She laughed as the cat skedaddled back to the bedroom. “Oops!” The scrolling announcements had reached Northfield. School’s cancelled … She imagined she could hear the cheers of the children down the block – and their parents’ groans as they tried to figure out day care options. “Looks like Christmas vacation will be starting a day early. Oooh! And four hours late for the colleges. All right! And speaking of java …” She danced over to the coffeemaker and filled a mug, adding an inch of 2% milk and a packet of sweetener. She climbed onto the stool to contemplate her breakfast options. A day like today called for something more substantial than the usual Toaster Strudel. Something like … She flipped open the cupboard door. Yes! Malt-o-Meal! Not only had the hot cereal been a staple of the snow days of her own childhood in Nebraska, but it was manufactured locally. She put some water on to boil, her mouth watering in anticipation of the sweet toasted grain taste. Her morning wakeup call tickled her consciousness again. Weird… She took a sip of French roast, waiting for the wisp of memory to come within reach. She swallowed another rich mouthful of coffee, teasing forth the association … “Oh my god! Groundhog Day!” She’d seen the movie in college – and a time or two on television after that. The intriguing notion that there were definitive moments in a day, moments that determined who you were, where you would ultimately end up, had showed up in shows like “Quantum Leap,” “Early Edition,” even “Xena.” Still, the thought of doing the same day over and over again, until you got it “right,” was downright … scary. Especially if every day begins with listening to Sonny and Cher. Ugh! Still. Bill Murray eventually found the incentive to go on living. Once he recognized the opportunity he'd been given to get to know himself better. Not to mention the opportunity to get to know the delectable Andi MacDowell. “Wait a gosh darn minute.” Unable to shake the sense that something was terribly wrong, something more serious even than Sonny Bono’s lack of talent, she trotted down the hall to the bedroom and checked the setting on the clock radio. 89.3. “The station’s set for public radio, all right. I shouldn’t have heard anything remotely resembling Sonny and Cher. One of the sons of Johann Sebastian Bach, maybe, but not … Huh. Must have been dreaming.” Kearney grinned at Lexie, curled up on the comforter, and slid into the bathroom. A dream? Ha. More like a nightmare! She stared at her reflection as she scrubbed at the fuzz on her teeth. Or maybe my subconscious trying to tell me something? She spit and rinsed. Nah. More likely a byproduct of eating that piece of cold pepperoni pizza while I was reading Orlando. Heh! Now there’s a combo guaranteed to generate apparitions. * * * * *“It’s all about you, isn’t it, Lexie?” Kearney refilled the cat’s dish with dry food and placed it on the floor, whipping her hand out of the way as Lexie dove in and began to chow down. She put her cereal bowl in the sink and started pondering how to use the time with which she’d been gifted. While it was tempting to just crawl back in bed and read, she was reminded of all the times she’d wished for an extra hour or two. What had she wanted them for? Well, last summer she would have used them to tend to some yard work. She’d been chagrinned to learn during her dinner with the Jarretts last June that the tiny blue flowers that she’d admired in the lawn when she was buying the house were not approved ground cover, but Creeping Charlie, a noxious weed. At least as far as Frank was concerned. “Just nuke it,” he advised, right after suggesting which dentists, doctors, vets, carpenters, plumbers and electricians she should patronize. “Creeping Charlie’s a real bitc.. er, a beast to eradicate once it gets a foothold, and yours is headed straight for my lawn. Go to Lansing’s Hardware and get the weed killer Jess uses. It’s dynamite. Keeps the yard looking like a veritable golf course.” She’d reached for another lemon bar, careful not to catch Jesse’s eye, sure she’d find another indulgent twinkle there at Frank’s use of the word “my” in relation to the lawn. Kearney had seen him patrolling the yard on occasion, paying particular attention to the point at which the lots adjoined. Scouting for insurgents probably. She’d yet to see him do much more than that, however. Except for watering it now and then. What is it with guys and hoses? she wondered. Dad spends hours in the yard, standing there like some kind of Bermuda-shorted garden gnome, hose in hand, pondering exactly how much water each patch needs. Frank didn’t lave every blade in the loving way her father did. He saved that level of care for his Eddie Bauer edition Ford Expedition, washing it down every sunny Saturday without fail – despite the fact that the SUV rarely traveled outside of Northfield. When it was on hand, he also washed his sister’s car, a compact Honda Hybrid. Always to the accompaniment of Car Talk on one of the cars’ radios. She grinned, remembering the first time she’d witnessed the weekly ablutions. He’d just been so darn cute, guffawing at the antics and advice of Tom and Ray Magliozzi while polishing the finish on the cars to a high luster. It was like watching a Greek god doing chores – while wearing orange flip flops, a sleeveless T shirt, and a pair of faded 501 jeans. Jess was the one who actually worked on the yard, the one who spent her Saturdays pushing a reel mower, the old-fashioned, non-combustion kind, over the lawn, her bronzed arms and legs glistening with the effort it took to keep the surface groomed within a centimeter of pure perfection. Kearney laughed out loud, remembering the day last June when Jesse had revealed to her the secret of cultivating the quintessential lawn. Ladies and gentlemen – the real Jesse Jarrett! The woman giving the lawn a manicure looked nothing like the polished professional who had been her hostess the week before, Kearney thought. And nothing like her brother had earlier in the day. Frank’s car-washing garb had had … a studied casualness. That kind of thing seemed to be as natural to him as breathing, judging from the linen sports jacket and slacks he’d worn when they’d gone to a concert in the park the previous evening. Jesse’s weekend attire was, in contrast, downright ratty: a cut-off tank over a sports bra, jeans hacked off a little unevenly about seven or eight inches above the knees, and running shoes. The shoes, which appeared actually to have been run in in a previous existence, were flecked with grass clippings, as were her calves and forearms, and her long, dark hair was pulled through the back of a blue baseball cap to keep it off her neck. Her eyes were covered by a pair of Ray-bans, unfortunately. That made it harder to assess her mood. She was smiling as she mowed, however. Which made it as good a time as any to ask her questions, Kearney decided. She grabbed a second glass from the cupboard and filled it with ice and lemonade to match the one beaded with moisture on the counter. She gathered them up – along with her courage – and went out and offered Jesse one, along with a shady stoop to sit on while she consumed it. “Best offer I’ve had today. Thanks.” Jesse followed her to the back steps, pressed the cold glass briefly to the side of her sweating neck, then sucked down a mouthful of the tart sweetness. “Mmm. This is great. Did you make it from scratch or …?” “God, no. The closest I come to home cooking is something my family calls Kearney’s Killer Grilled Cheese and Chili. The jury’s still out on whether that’s because it’s devastatingly delicious or merely devastating.” Jesse grinned and took another gulp. Before the silence could get more awkward, Kearney blurted her request. “So. Listen, I was wondering if you could tell me what you use on your lawn – for the Creeping Charlie, I mean? Frank mentioned it again at the concert last night, I think, but I forgot to write it down when I got home. I mean, the least I can do is keep my weeds from invading your yard. Not that my lawn will ever rival yours, you know, but …” She paused for breath, aware suddenly that she was babbling. She opened her mouth again, but before she could apologize, a cool, clear voice said … “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” “Huh?!” “Sorry.” Jesse smiled. “I forgot you aren’t familiar with my sense of humor.” She slid her sun glasses down her nose and trained her piercing blue eyes on Kearney. “The thing is this … What keeps the Charlie out of the yard and what Frank THINKS does so are two very different things. Since I took on doing the yard work, I’ve been using Earth-friendly techniques.” Her gaze narrowed menacingly. “If I was to tell you I’ve been saving the local bumblebees by skipping the Weed-Be-Gon in favor of aerobically composted turkey poop and 20 Mule Team Borax, well, you might let that slip to Frank during one of your dates. In the event, you see, that you did inadvertently discover the secret – if you learned, that is, that the best way to eradicate ground ivy in your lawn is to apply organic fertilizer to keep the grass healthy and to discourage the ivy by sprinkling it with the mineral your granny used to do her laundry – that knowledge might fall into his hands and with it the opportunity to once again tease me unmercifully about my tree-hugging ways.” She paused, to make sure Kearney understood how serious a matter that would be. “I can’t take that chance. So if you persuaded me to tell you … much as it would pain my hippy dippy, peacenik soul … I’d have to kill you.” She smiled genially at the astonished redhead and gulped more lemonade. “To preserve my relationship with my brother. I’m sure you understand.” Encouraged by Kearney’s giggle, Jesse paused dramatically and looked up the street and down, as if checking for eavesdroppers. Leaning close, she whispered, “It’s not just me you have to worry about either. Truth be told if your lawn ever started to rival his, Frank would probably have to kill you himself. I mean … How would it look?” “I fully understand,” said Kearney, when she could speak again. “My father and brothers are the same way about their lawns. They can’t help themselves, can they?” “It’s a terrible thing, isn’t it? Grass envy, I mean?” Jesse shook her head ruefully. “Best not to risk it.” “I have but one life to give,” Kearney responded, “and I am not prepared to give it for my yard.” “You are wise, Grasshopper.” The dark head dipped approvingly. “It’s probably just as well then that you never mentioned to me the name of this amazing turkey poo?” “What’s your e-mail address at the college?” the lawyer answered. “I’ll send you the particulars, including application instructions. Anonymously, of course. Look for a message from WeekendWarriorPrincess.” Kearney stifled another laugh. “Thanks,” she said, grabbing her pen and scribbling her addy on the back of a grocery receipt that she found in her pocket. “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Louis.” “Casablanca!” exclaimed Jesse, flashing a brilliant smile. “Another closet romantic! Give me five!” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ “So. It’s probably none of my business, but … doesn’t it bug the hell out of you that Frank calls it his lawn?” Jesse smiled genially. “Nah, it used to be. His lawn, I mean. Before the accident. I think he was more proud the day Dad handed the lawn care over to him than he was when he passed the bar. It damn near killed him to have to ask me to handle it until he was up to it again. If we had a power mower that might be now, but Dad always cut it with the push mower, so …” Her voice tightened during the recitation. She eased her throat with another swallow of lemonade. “It’s scary, really. How quickly things can change on you, I mean. One minute your folks are giving you a lift to pick up your car at the service station so you can go do some last minute Christmas shopping and the next minute someone barrels through a red light at highway speeds, your parents are dead, and you’re wishing you were, too.” She snaked her index finger under the sun glasses and dabbed at the moisture there. “He almost got his wish, damn it. By the time I got here from Boulder, though, they’d saved his life and were trying to figure out how to save his leg.” Kearney put a comforting hand on Jesse’s arm. “Sorry, I didn’t realize …” “He’s pretty good at hiding the limp now, especially when lovely ladies are around,” Jesse said. “But they probably should have just amputated. It’s been a long, tough road back.” “Thanks for telling me.” “Well, I didn’t want you to think … I mean, I know he can come off sometimes as being a little self absorbed …” “Gee, ya think?” laughed Kearney. As she half expected, the gibe earned her a playful punch on the arm from his loyal sister. “He’s had to be self-absorbed the last few years. You’re just lucky you didn’t meet him earlier.” She smiled. “He’s come a long way, baby. And I mean a loooong way. Physically and emotionally. I may never get him into another compact car, but hey, I talked him out of buying a Hummer at least.” Her expression grew solemn. “He’s got some issues still, but he’s dealing with them. And he’ll keep at it until he gets to where he knows he should be. That’s the up side of that damned pride of his.” She stretched her legs out and massaged an aching calf muscle with long, strong fingers, then continued. “Heck, we all have our foibles, right? I’ve been told, for example, that I tend to be too intense too soon when it comes to emotional entanglements.” She gave a comic shrug. “Other people, it turns out, don’t actually show up for a second date with a moving van filled with their furniture and books. Who knew?” Her self-deprecating laughter was infectious. “I’m working on that. Or I will if ever I go on a second date again. So. What about you?” Kearney pointed at herself. “Me? You talkin’ to me?” “Yeah, you, De Niro. What’s your fatal flaw?” “Sorry. I’m pretty near perfect.” She got a raised eyebrow in response. Ah, what the hell. I started it, didn't I? With my impertinent question about the lawn? “Um … the opposite. Kind of. Off in a world of my own – quite possibly another universe entirely – and utterly clueless. So involved in cerebral stuff that the rest – other people’s emotions, my own – don’t even register. Getting out of grad school has helped with that some. I feel kind of like I’m waking up. If that makes any sense. Like now that I no longer have to spend every blessed hour of the day puzzling out what made Jane Austen tick, maybe I can figure out me – and some of the interesting people around me.” “People like Frank, maybe?” She nodded. “I’m biased, but I think that’s a great choice.” Jesse paused, as if considering how much more she should say. “Mind you, he’s a homely looking mutt.” Kearney laughed. “Yeah, a real dog. I noticed that right off.” “But a kind, caring, sensitive one,” Jesse added. “Well, he was and will be again, I think. Most days he still is. With occasional flurries of vanity, insecurity, and judgmentalness. Is that even a word? Anyway, he’s getting better, but he can be as stiff necked and critical of other people’s imperfections as he is of his own. And picky? My god! Mom said she was going to shoot off fireworks the day he went out with someone for the fourth time. He always said that he wasn’t going to settle for anyone who wasn’t as special as the woman Dad had found. At which point, Dad would smack him upside the head and say ‘I thought we agreed that you were NOT to tell your mother about her!’” They shared a laugh. “Anyway, one of these days I’m going to have to tell Frank I’ve been spreading boron on his lawn instead of Weed-B-Gon, but I’m kind of looking forward to it. That and the day he wears shorts in public again.” “Aren’t you worried about all the women in the vicinity drooling uncontrollably?” “If they’re orthopedic surgeons, maybe.” The expression on Jesse’s face informed Kearney that she was being given a heads up … and a warning: She’d regret it – deeply – if she didn’t respond appropriately if and when the occasion presented itself. “Frank’s right leg is messed up pretty badly, Kearney. Lots of puckered scars and damaged muscle. Standing for any amount of time – the kind of thing would-be politicians have to do over and over again – can be close to agonizing. He’s figured out how to handle that. Letting somebody actually see ‘Frankenleg’– that’s what he calls it – that’s going to take a while, though.” She paused, waiting for Kearney’s response. “So, I shouldn’t expect to look out any day soon and see him wearing an outfit like yours while washing the cars?” She looked pointedly at the length of leg protruding from Jesse’s cutoffs. “No …” Jesse appeared perplexed. “Whew! That’s a relief!” Kearney laughed at the confusion on her new friend’s face. “I’m not sure my heart could take having both of you strutting your stuff next door every weekend.” Jesse snorted and rose. “Better get back to my mowing. Thanks for the refreshment – and the refreshing conversation.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next door, an engine coughed to life and drew her eyes to a tall, fur-hatted figure in Carhartt brown coveralls bending over a snow blower. “My hero! We’re saved, Lexie! The cavalry’s arrived!” With a little gas-guzzling help from next door, it would take no time at all to clear the sidewalk for pedestrian traffic and free her VW from its snowy prison. Kearney hurried down the hall to throw on more warm layers. After assuring herself that her human was fully occupied in those incomprehensible fur-changing activities of hers and wouldn’t be doubling back unexpectedly, Lexie leaped to the counter top and peered outside. She jumped back down before Kearney could catch her, landing with her usual grace and with a heart made much lighter by her survey of the scene next door. Continued in Part Four Return to the Academy
“I want to go on talking to you as freely and intimately about what we live and die for as if I knew you better than anyone else whom you know.” – Tennessee Williams Sooo last week on Sunday I gave you a homework assignment that I told you NOT TO THINK ABOUT all week long. I know that was a tough assignment, but I believe in you and your ability to follow through with this one. LOL! (If you are just joining us this week, CLICK HERE to see post #24 from last Sunday.) Okay, so… back to the question in question… On a fine summer’s day in Central Park, while sitting on an ancient rock, surrounded by supportive friends almost three years ago, with my Artist’s Way group, … I asked myself this question... and the answer slowly began to transform the trajectory of my life. Q: What would you do if nobody told you that you couldn’t (not even you)? A: (My answer to myself) What would I do??? I would earn an MFA in acting from one of the top drama programs in the country. This may not be “new news” to you now. You probably could have guessed my answer after reading all this process/grad-school-obsessed blogging that shows up in your inbox every day (except Friday). But for me, three years ago, this was profoundly “new news.” … And being that I had NEVER auditioned for ANY schmancy drama schools before (my undergrad degree is in History), I was thoroughly overwhelmed and terrified by the prospect. So the first person that had to stop telling me that I couldn’t do it… was ME. I think I was the most difficult person to convince… for sure. And it wasn’t an ACTIVE process. It was just like this week’s homework assignment… me NOT thinking about it for years, just letting it sit on the back-burner and simmer… until I finally sat down on that rock in Central Park one day and admitted to myself that this scary-thing-that-I-had-never-done-and-would-probably-fail-at was the one thing that I really wanted to do. I had to find a way to get over my fear and go for it… but HOW? Rewind.. So, I knew what I wanted... Great. And, after a while, I had built up enough confidence that I could actually tell myself (fairly believably) that it could be possible for me to have it... Great. But HOW to make it happen? Ugh. So far to gooooo! So many things to DO. Bleh! Overwhelming!!!... Maybe I should go watch TV and eat microwave popcorn? NO!!!! This is my "HOW"...That I slowly learned over-time works best for me... I focus on one thing… TODAY. Today is my focus. Right now. Today. What is one TINY, EASY, NOT-OVERWHELMING thing that I can do TODAY to move a millimeter closer to becoming my dream? I don’t want to freak myself out by doing anything too BIG… So by doing something SMALL, I am ensuring that I am actually doing SOMETHING. And many, many small somethings, done consistently every day, lead to large, awesome, successful outcomes that don’t feel like they’ve been so HARD to achieve after all. Easy. I can do easy. "In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency, not to worry about the numbers. If you dwell on statistics you get shortsighted, if you aim for consistency, the numbers will be there at the end." - Tom Seaver So in a nutshell… that’s my way, my process, my practice... Do it small. Do it daily... That’s how I roll. “You can relax about your acting career. You are giving it attention and focus every day. You cannot fail to progress.” – Unknown… (Maybe Kathryn Bild said it? Sounds like something she’d say.) And it all started with a question, a powerful question… So, back to the homework... I am posing this question for YOU again. And this time I want you to think about it and DO the following: - Ask yourself the question and listen for the answer without judgment. The first thing that comes into your mind is often the most honest answer. So go with your gut. (This may be the hard part… Example: “Ugh, my gut… We are estranged. We hardly speak… How can I know the mind of my gut?” …. Shhhhhh. Breathe. Listen. Be patient. It may not answer today, but it WILL answer.) - Tell what your gut says. Admit it. (This may also be the hard part… Example: “Ok, I clearly hear what my gut has been trying to say… But I really don’t want to repeat my gut’s message because… [insert your own fear-based excuse/justification here].” …. Breathe. Feel the fear. It’s great! That’s how you know you’re on the right track.) - DO something about it TODAY. (Don’t let fear keep you paralyzed. Fear-Schmere!!! Excuses-Schmecsuses!!! Do the smallest thing you can handle in this moment to move towards becoming your dream, even if that thing is NOT THINKING ABOUT IT for another week/month/2-years. What is the one tiny thing that you will do TODAY to move one step closer to becoming your dream? Think EASY... Right... Good.... No...wait... even EASIER than that.... The thing that's so easy that you cannot possibly come up with an excuse for not doing it... That's forward motion.) Get ready... Here it is... Your question... Q: What would you do if nobody told you that you couldn’t (not even you)? Think... Think... Think... Let me know you’re out there. It can’t be a conversation unless you participate. Your perspective is valuable and your words are more powerful than you know. Take your soap box and stand on it. Here… (She brushes off the soap box with a smile.) You can borrow mine! Let your voice be heard for posterity by commenting on the blog page. If you're reading this by email or FB you can comment on the blog page by CLICKING HERE. Don't want to freak you out tooo much... but people do read these comments, ya know. Show yourself how freakin’ courageous and ballsy you are… and hit me with your thoughts RIGHT NOW. To comment or not to comment... Up to you. My guts = spilled... Your turn!!! :-) Yours, Virginia "The thing about making it big, and doing it fast, is that invariably the first steps will be small and slow. Which oddly, for many, is the same reason they don't take them." - Mike Dooley, Tut's Universe P.S. If you’ve read this far… You definitely deserve a gold-star for commitment. Gold-star for YOU!!!! I honestly don't know how to answer this question... I feel really lucky to have my life as it is right now. I've actually been feeling pretty euphoric these days. I do have a few big dreams that I haven't given up on yet... I want to take my family to live abroad for a year in a spanish speaking country. I would love to write and illustrate a children's book. But these are things that need more time, and I'm focused on other things right now. Like, the little growing human inside my fetus :) And I am really excited to be returning in a year to my dream teaching-job. But right now, I'm simply enjoying THIS moment! I want to be a leading role in a sexy new TV series, like yesterday. I want it to be topical and inspiring. I want my character to be funny and vulnerable and very human, I want to come from me. I want to work with passionate people that bring their own gifts and crazy to each part of the process. I want community at work. I want the work at work. I want people to be changed in some way by this series. I want it to leave it's mark of greatness on the world. Is that too much to ask? Well, too late. ;) I'm in the process of figuring out exactly what I want right now so I'm glad you posted on it :). If no one told me I couldn't, I suppose I would say I want it all. The first thing that comes to mind is that song from BABY, the musical "I Want It All". Insert quote here: "I want adventure, love, career, kids large and small. I want it all!" Greedy, I know, but true. I don't want to have to choose this life or that life. I want a life filled with the things I love and am passionate about! I know there's a quote you've used in one of your posts that I should insert here... something about you can't do everything... but we're taking that out of the equation so... lol. I, unabashedly, want it all. Now, how to make that happen? Well, that's another post ;). <3 This isn't exactly a response to the question, but a good thing to ponder as we all work towards whatever our goals are. How often are we holding ourselves back out of fear? In order to expand my career (and, yes, have a lot of fun) I've been working towards recording an animation/videogame demo. At my last session with my coach I had brought in a series of newly developed characters... but was terrified about presenting them to the coach. What if they were embarrassingly bad? The coach - the genius Jay Snyder of Edge Studio - said, "Hey, wouldn't it be great if we were both on your side, here? I'm on your side. How about you?" Uh, yeah. How about that? Thanks for driving these discussions, Virginia. Thank you all for these awesome comments!!! You're all creating dream-come-true lives for yourselves bit-by-bit every day. Keep it up! Cannot wait to see what good things are to come... Love, V P.S. Alexis... You must mean this one: "I can do anything I want, but I can't do everything I want." - Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project :-)
« Still More Asshattery \| Main \| Comments, Trackbacks Off » May 19, 2005 Bush: Betting On Democracy What will history make of The Shrub? He has been called every name in the book. Gee Dumbya, The Twig, Bu$Hitler, peeResident Evil, the Chimperor-in-Chief, cowboy, reckless unilateralist, liar, arrogant imperialist. The sobriquets hurled at this one man are so many and varied that even his admirers (like the half-vast editorial staff) can't help adopting them, tongue-in-cheek. But how will history view him? We see through a glass, darkly. Current events whiz by us at so blinding a pace that it is hard to put things into perspective. Few of us have the command of history that would allow us to step back and see the panoramic view - to see today's news story as just another piece in the jigsaw puzzle. To find where it fits in the overall pattern of history and snap it into place: there. Historian John Lewis Gaddis has been doing just that; looking at George Bush's place in history, weighing his policies and actions against those of previous administrations. He recently gave a speech at Middlebury College. He begins with an anecdote that must have surprised listeners used to seeing Bush as an insular, stubborn man who never reads and won't entertain criticism of his policy. Gaddis was called to the White House by Condoleeza Rice, who said the President had just finished Gaddis' latest book and loved it. Moreover, he had asked his staff to read it, too. Puzzled, Gaddis leafed through the book to see what he'd said about the President: I said that he had “failed miserably” in getting United Nations support for the invasion of Iraq. I said that his solutions to complex problems tended to be “breathtakingly simple.” I said that the phrase “axis of evil” originated “in overzealous speechwriting rather than careful thought.” I said that the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq had “diminished, in advance, the credibility of whatever future intelligence claims Bush and Blair might make.” I said that the so-called “coalition of the willing” there had been “more of a joke than a reality.” The interview that followed was cordial and wide-ranging. Gaddis found a President who was not only open to criticism but seemed determined to correct the problems that plagued his first term. While critical of his mistakes, Gaddis does (I think) a better job than anyone else I know of summing up Bush's "grand strategy". The meat of his speech is here. It is a lengthy excerpt, but I hope you will read it because I believe it is incredibly important: The key to understanding the administration’s position now, I think, is this: that while everyone in the world may not know what democracy is, everyone certainly does know what tyranny entails. The validity of that assumption became a lot clearer on January 30th, when even in the face of persistent insecurity, literally at the risk of their lives, Iraqis who’d not had the opportunity to vote in a free election for decades turned out to do so in percentages that compare favorably with the number of Americans who turned out to vote in their own far safer presidential election last November. So while there may still be all kinds of disagreement about what kind of government will be best for Iraq, there is apparently agreement about one thing: tyranny is not that form of government. That much the Bush administration has accomplished, and let us be clear about how that happened: without the invasion of Iraq – and without the sacrifices of a lot of Iraqi and American and British lives – it would never have happened. As even The New York Times, at last, has got around to admitting. Are the costs worth it? Only time will tell, but as the President commented in his inaugural address – in what was surely the first time Dostoyevsky has ever been quoted in one – a fire has been ignited in the minds of men. And if recent events in Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Egypt, Ukraine, and even Kyrgysystan are any indication, that fire is spreading. All right, my students and even some colleagues have argued, but isn’t idea of ending tyranny a departure from the more sensible policies the United States has followed in the past? No way: there were echoes in Bush’s speech of the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, Wilson’s Fourteen Points, FDR’s Four Freedoms, the Truman Doctrine, Kennedy’s inaugural, Reagan’s 1982 speech to the British Parliament, and any number of speeches by Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. What is new is this: previous presidents tended to distinguish between ideals and interests. The expansion of freedom was an aspiration – but the interests of the United States lay elsewhere: in securing independence, suppressing secession, winning world wars, containment, deterrence, the maintenance of a balance of power, the promotion of capitalism, the encouragement of predictably pro-American regimes elsewhere, even if they didn’t meet our own standards for representative government and the defense of human rights. Bush has now conflated ideals and interests. As he put it in the inaugural: “America’s vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one.” Freedom itself is to be the strategy, not just the aspiration. It may, in this sense, be radical. It is hardly un-American. But isn’t it impractical? However will we get to the point of ending tyranny throughout the world? How will we ever afford it, given our overstretched finances and our even more overstretched military? That’s where Bush’s view of history comes in. As he pointed out in the inaugural address, the past four decades been defined by “the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen.” It is, he added, “an odd time” to doubt the continuation of this trend. Or, to put it in terms my friend and neighbor Paul Kennedy – a former bookie’s runner – would be familiar with: if you had to place a bet on which form of government will expand its reach over the next four years – or, if you prefer, the next forty – where would you put your money: on the growth of tyranny, or on its further decline? The test of a good grand strategy is to align itself with trends already underway, so that you minimize, as much as possible, what Clausewitz called “friction.” My bet is that we’ll encounter more friction from now on if we support tyrants than if we resist them. So it does seem to me that the Bush administration has placed its bet in the right place. Doesn’t the Bush grand strategy violate John Quincy Adams’s great principle that “the United States goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy”? Not really, and this brings us back to 9/11. Because the danger now is that the monsters from abroad, if nothing is done to counter them, will seek to destroy us here at home. The trend in global politics is indeed toward democracy, but the trend could be reversed by just a few more well-placed attacks on the scale of 9/11 or greater, whether in this country or elsewhere. In this sense, the world itself is now like Iraq, in which the depredations of a few place all at risk. Given the choice, the President insists, people will choose freedom. But tyrants and terrorists – even just a few of them – could still deny that choice for many if they were to obtain and use weapons of mass destruction. If we wait for them to act, it will be too late. That’s why it’s necessary now – as it has not been in the past – to go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. I suspect that even John Quincy, no shrinking violet, when confronted with this choice would have seen its logic. So this is where we are: with great power has come a great aspiration, which is to end tyranny throughout the world. The historians will decide, in the end, whether it meets Spiderman’s test of great responsibility – but this historian, for one, is leaning in the direction of saying, yes it does. It would be irresponsible, I think, to have such great power, and not to try to use it in this way. I could not agree more. Unfortunately, it is far easier to hide one's head in the sand and hope that the danger will pass us by. The present costs of complacency are low and the benefits high. It is only the next generation that will pay the price of inaction. Gaddis is not the only one to see this marrying of hard-headed realism and idealism as a continuation of history. The two need not conflict: policy is more successful when they support and compliment each other. Recently Henry Kissinger (hardly a wide-eyed ingenue) made the same point: Though advanced as a new doctrine, the regime-change prescription follows well-established precedent. It was the impetus behind the religious wars of the 17th century, the wars of the French Revolution in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Holy Alliance, the Trotskyite version of Communism, and the contemporary Muslim jihad. Realists judge policy by the ability to persevere in the pursuit of an objective in stages, each of which is imperfect by absolute standards but would not be attempted in the absence of absolute values. American exceptionalism, viewing itself as a shining city on the hill, has always insisted on representing universal values beyond the traditional dictates of national interest. In a world of jihad, terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, President Bush in his second inaugural address put forward a challenge at once going beyond the interests of any one country and that different societies could embrace without prejudice to their own interests. He elaborated that the United States seeks progress toward freedom, not its ultimate achievement in a defined time, and that it recognizes the historical evolution that must be the foundation of any successful process. On this basis, realists and idealists should go forward together. This is a subtle goal, and one that CardinalPark, to whom I am indebted for the Gaddis link, notes the media seem unable to grasp:.This is a point I keep returning to: where is the historical perspective in all of this? We are embarked upon a grand enterprise and all the media can do is focus upon the latest car bombing. Will that be in the history books in 50 years? Which events will stand out when our grandchildren study this century? September 11th The overthrow of Saddam Hussein The ouster of Syria from Lebanon The fall of the Taliban The elections in Iraq and Afghanistan Women getting the vote in Kuwait Perhaps democracy coming to Iran? These are, truly, events of historic importance. Take a step back, and a deep breath. Shake off the tyranny of trivia for just a moment and look at the big picture and it is impossible to escape the conclusion that these are only minor perturbations in the grand scheme of things. Most of what we read in our daily newspapers will seem, ironically, much less important in six months or even a year. Very shortly, no one will care about, nor remember, prices at the gas pump. But I suspect George Bush will seem much, much larger when viewed through history's lens. Posted by Cassandra at May 19, 2005 05:25 AM Trackback Pings TrackBack URL for this entry: Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Bush: Betting On Democracy: » Potpourri from Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. Cassandra is going to take a short blog break. I wondered if this wasn't on the horizon - given the quantity (high) and quality (higher) of her output of late. It's obvious that her brain has been in overdrive... and... [Read More] Tracked on June 3, 2005 03:41 PM test Posted by: Cassandra at May 19, 2005 08:49 AM I remember Reagan. Their hatred these days seems watered down by comparison. Posted by: Ciggy at May 19, 2005 11:21 AM Good, thoughtful stuff. You didn't just quote Gaddis, you built sensibly on his insights. Love that. I linked this post here: Posted by: Patrick O'Hannigan at May 19, 2005 03:18 PM I tried linking to your post but it didn't seem take. But it's here Posted by: CoolBlue at May 19, 2005 06:04 PM Nice post. It is thought provoking. On an extension in the same light I ask myself, "What will be history's view on the way our military conducted the WoT?". As of right now with all the blantant attacks and lies trying to be spoon fed the public on everything from the average intelligence level of our troops to outright slanderous lies about their behavior I really wonder how history will judge them. Those of us that know these young people have no doubt as to not only their intelligence level but their moral sensibilities as well. But you have to ask, "Where are the Heroes?". To me there is a concerted effort not to report on the actual heroism that is being perfromed in combat. An actual conscious decision is being made on how the WoT is being covered. And it is not in a positive light on these fine young people. I grew up on stories of heroism peformed in battle. Not so today. It is politically incorrect to "glorify" a Serviceman for "killing". No way will this generation be allowed to be trundled into the same heroic stories that I grew up on. Again, how will history judge them if their stories are not told? Sorry to go off on a tangent Cass but it struck me soundly while reading this piece. Have you even seen any award ceremonies for Silver Stars et al on the evening news? Seems all we get are the "human interest" stories of young men and women fighting back from mangles bodies. Those stories are important in and of themselves but the total lack of anything resembling heroism in battle says a lot about certain agendas. Oh well, I know in this household and family stories of boys that have aquitted themselves in the finest tradition of those that went before will be told and retold. They will be passed down as well as the other stories of all our Heroes! Our FAMILY history will continue to revel in their exploits and courage under fire! Lest we all fall under the same turpitude as those attacking the very fiber that provides our survival I say this to them: Kiss My Grits! ;-) Posted by: JarheadDad at May 19, 2005 06:18 PM Thanks for the link Cassandra and nice post. Clearly, we are in agreement. It will take competitive pressure to move the MSM around to reporting on heroism rather than "trivia" as you put it (bluntly and coldheartedly, but accurately). We need somebody like that fellow Simon from American Idol to create a TV show on USMC heroism in battle. Or John Walsh and america's most wanted. It will feel tacky, but Hollywood largely has ceded this ground. We have no swaggering John Wayne or Charleton Heston. The American public would enjoy it. And the right producer would put the historical meaning in context too. I haven't found that show yet. Maybe Roger Simon can write it! Posted by: cardinalpark at May 20, 2005 08:29 AM
Car? - Caribou: It’s been really good so far. We started with a few festivals in Europe and then did a month around the UK, Germany and France. Over here we just did Canada and this is the start of a big tour for us around the States. Then Europe for another month. It’s pretty full on, but I love playing shows. DS: How do European and American audiences compare to each other? - Caribou: I get asked that all the time and I feel people are expecting some kind of an answer like we are better received in Europe, and I don’t know if people expect that of an electronic musician. DS: But they are more electronic in Europe than they are here, right? - Caribou: Maybe, but my experience is that people are more similar than different in all the shows, and the reaction is more similar than different. DS: You reach the same fans in each place? - Caribou: Yeah people are so connected to the interests that they share with other people around the world. It’s not like one place is completely different from another anymore. DS: Do you play to larger audiences over there or here? - Caribou: It’s about the same, again. When we play in London we play about same size venue and size crowd as we do here. DS: Do you have a favorite venue? - Caribou: A few, actually. Bowery Ballroom is one of my favorites. It's always awesome. The sound is so good here, which is really important. It sounds good on stage, which is important for getting into the show. We always have really amazing crowds in this place called Richards on Richards in Vancouver. This venue in Slovenia we played that is this old commune squat that has lots of gigs and art going over there called the Metalkova. The best ones are the surprises we'll play in a tiny little town in some venue that is like whatever. DS: What would be a dream venue to play? - Caribou: Something along the lines of this place we played in the south of France that was this 1920s arts patron villa where Cocteau and all these people lived and worked, and we played just outside there overlooking the French Riviera during this tiny little festival, so those ones are always fun when you just end up at some idyllic spot where they have put together a little festival with great bands. Those tend to be in Europe, to be honest. The surprise is part of the enjoyment when you arrive and it's like, this is an insane place to play. DS: Is there a continent you haven't played where you would like to? - Caribou: We have never been to South America. Brazil. - Caribou: I can't remember, I think people—I'd love to go to Rio, but friends who have played in Brazil have said that shows are amazing everywhere. DS: How has the Iraq War affected you as an artist? - Caribou: Not too much, directly, to be honest. The process of recording music, for me, is very insular. I'm just recording at home and it's very much headspace music. I'm escaping and I'm not a social commentarian or anything. It's more about escaping into this world of sound in my head. I don't think it's affected the business of us touring or anything at all. DS: Has it affected you as a person? - Caribou: I'm an opponent of the war and I live in the UK where I live under a government that has taken troops to the war or whatever. It hasn't changed my perspective that much where I feel there have been lots of terrible situations like this in the past and you just have to do whatever is in your power. I was at the big march in London. Use your vote and protest in whatever ways you can, but I haven't dropped everything in my life and drastically changed my life. DS: Do you find you're more inspired by manmade things or things in nature? - Caribou: I think manmade things, but specifically ideas. I'm not interested in things in the real world as much as I am interested in mental ideas and mental contexts. That's why I did a PhD in Pure Maths, this elegance of pure ideas and things that are somewhat intangible and about ideas. Music is very much like that, playing around with ideas and creating this aesthetic of sound. DS: What sort of ideas inspire you? - Caribou: In mathematics at the PhD level when I was studying was about constructing these elaborate systems and concepts, playing around with them, and fitting them together. More than ideas is playing around with the ideas, constructing them, and creating something out of them. For example, in music I will have an idea to put some different sounds together or a melody that meshes with a chord sequence or a sonic mood, or whatever. I'm not the type of person who takes physical things apart and plays around with them, but I like taking mental ideas apart and playing around with them. That's what appeals to me about what I've spent my life doing. DS: Would you consider your music to be mathematical? - Caribou: No, not at all. It's completely aesthetic almost. It's about tinkering around with ideas in my head and seeing what kind of sound that actually produces. DS: Do you have a favorite mathematician or unsolved mathematical problem? - Caribou: I'm not that kind of person. I liked doing mathematics and learning about it, but I was never into mathematical history beyond what I was working on. DS: What's a trait you deplore in other people? - Caribou: Apathy or laziness. I'm the kind of person who is always doing something and get excited about something, and I find it frustrating when people get good ideas that are interesting and don't make the most of that. Anything I want to do, I'm all about doing it as much as possible. Meanness, selfishness, obviously. DS: What’s a trait you deplore in yourself? - Caribou: It’s probably twined with my possessiveness and being too controlling of the things I’m doing, which is probably related to the fact I’m so excited to do things. That’s the flip side of it, I suppose. Even more so, my self-centeredness. I spend all my time making this music, and I’m really proud of it and happy with it, but I kind of feel it is indulging my interests. DS: You think that might be a negative? - Caribou: I do, because there are better things I could be doing in this world. I don’t know, I could be more helpful to humanity than just sitting in my room making music, but I enjoy doing it so much that I make the decision to do it. DS: That's a challenge for any human of whether or not to pursue something you think is a greater good or indulge yourself. How do you wrestle with that question? - Caribou: I guess like most people I avoid it to a certain degree. I hopefully strike some kind of compromise, but very heavy on doing what I’m excited about. DS: Well, we need music in this world and if people are responding to it, you’re giving something to them. - Caribou: Yeah, I hope so, or maybe you are just trying to make me feel good. DS: Maybe. [Laughs] Hillary or Barack? - Caribou: My gut reaction would be Barack, but I’m not really on top of American politics to endorse either. DS: What do you think of Gordon Brown? - Caribou: He's a funny one to pin down. I can’t figure him out. The effect of having him in government is probably going to be pretty close to the effect of having Tony Blair in government, which is a shame. I’d like to see someone more old Labour and Socialist, I guess. There's always a hint that he is that, but I don’t think it will be reflected in his policies. DS: What would be a bigger turn-off for you in bed, someone who was overly flatulent, or someone who spoke in a baby voice? - Caribou: I could get over the baby voice, but the flatulence is a tough one to stomach. DS: Do you have a favorite curse word? - Caribou: Nothing is springing to mind. DS: Favorite euphemism for breasts? - Caribou: Nope. DS: If you had to choose between the destruction of the entire continent of Africa or the entire continent of Asia, which would you choose? - Caribou: Oh, God. So, population-wise. It’s tempting…I think that is the only way to choose. Killing a greater number of people has to be a greater evil. That’s maybe the bottom line. I would hate to make that decision. DS: What are traits you respect in a woman? - Caribou: The same traits I look for in anybody else in the world: kindness, thoughtfulness. DS: It doesn’t differ in men? - Caribou: No. Being a nice human being is what I look for in anybody. DS: What’s your most treasured possession? - Caribou: I have a massive record collection I obsess over, and it would be hard to let that go. DS: Any favorite films? - Caribou: I haven't been able to see any in the last couple of months, but in the last year I went through a complete Herzog obsession. I watched all of his films, I read Herzog on Herzog and even read Kinsky’s biography. Almost all of his films are incredible. DS: What difficult question in an interview do you anticipate but are never asked? - Caribou: I actually don’t anticipate the difficult ones, which is why when you asked me to destroy one continent I didn’t see that one coming. DS: What question are you tired of answering? - Caribou: The ones I get asked the most, and I don’t mind answering them, but I don’t relish answering them: I had to change my name from Manitoba to Caribou a couple years back due a law suit. I don't mind this one anymore, but at first I got asked that in every interview. And also, the connection between mathematics and music, which you asked me in a form. That’s a valid question, though, because it’s a point of interest about the way that I work. The lawsuit is like reciting a history of facts I’d rather forget. DS: In the last year, where have you drawn most of your influence, and you can’t have been listening to them beyond a year ago. - Caribou: The big thing for me in the last year that is reflected in this album more than in previous ones is songwriting. I never wrote songs I just built tracks out of loops. There were melodies in them, but there wasn’t any structure to the songs. One artist I didn’t’ listen to before a year ago was Ariel Pink who is a lo-fi indie songwriter and producer. His production is amazing, but it turns people off because it’s so lo-fi; but also, his song-writing is amazing.
<div class="section">\r\n <div class="col span_3_of_12">\r\n <div class="sidebar sticky-sidebar">\r\n <div class="block block-cms-menu block-faq-menu faq-nav">\r\n <div class="block-title">\r\n <strong><span>Topics<\/span><\/strong>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <div class="block-content">\r\n <ul>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('shipping-info');">Shipping Information<\/a>\r\n <ul>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('when-ship-2');">When will my order ship?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('shipping-cost');">How much is shipping?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('how-ship');">How do you ship items?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <!--<li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('fedex-lost');">Fedex package has not moved in days?<\/a><\/li>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('fedex-tracking');">Fedex invalid tracking number?<\/a><\/li>-->\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('express-shipping');">Do you offer express shipping?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <\/ul>\r\n <\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('frequently-asked-questions');">Frequently Asked Questions<\/a>\r\n <ul>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('order-status');">What's the status of my order?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('printed-catalog');">Do you have a printed catalog?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('fedex-tracking');">Can I mix and match promotional seed packets?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('hardiness-zone');">What is my hardiness zone?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('when-ship');">How are your plants and bulbs shipped?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('when-items-arrive');">What if I can't plant right away?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('when-plant');">How and when do I plant this?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <\/ul>\r\n <\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('policies-and-guarantees');">Policies & Guarantees<\/a>\r\n <ul>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('guarantee');">What is our guarantee?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('return-policy');">What is your return policy?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('plants-fail');">What if my plants fail to grow?<\/a><\/li>\r\n <\/ul>\r\n <\/li>\r\n <li><a href="javascript:scrollToElement('planting-guides-list');">Planting Guides & Product Inserts<\/a><\/li>\r\n <\/ul>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <div class="col span_9_of_12 faqs">\r\n <h1>Help and Frequently Asked Questions<\/h1>\r\n <p>If you have any questions about our products or services, or would just like some friendly advice from our\r\n expert staff, simply <a href="\/contact-us">contact us<\/a> and send us an email; or give us a call (toll free) at\r\n {{configShipping Information<\/h2>\r\n <div class="pretty-dl">\r\n <dl>\r\n <dt class="when-ship-2">When will my order ship?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>\r\n <h4>Promotional Flower Seed Packets<\/h4>\r\n <p>Most orders ship within 48 hours or less.<\/p>\r\n <h4>Wildflower, Grass and Vegetable Seed<\/h4>\r\n <p>Most orders ship within 48 hours or less.<\/p>\r\n <h4>Spring-Planted Bulbs and Perennials<\/h4>\r\n <p>Spring-planted bulbs and perennials start shipping in late March depending on your hardiness zone. <a\r\nClick here<\/a> to determine your zone or check your order confirmation for\r">11, 10<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of March 18th, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">9, 8<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of March 25th, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">7<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of April 1st, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">6<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of April 22nd, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">5<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of April 29th, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">4, 3, 2, 1<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping the week of May 13th, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <\/tbody>\r\n <\/table>\r\n <p class="note"><strong>Note:<\/strong> These dates are guidelines, and may be somewhat revised due to\r\n inclement weather anywhere along the shipping route.Orders for Ornamental Grasses and Elephant Ears will\r\n start shipping the week of April 8th, 2019.<\/p>\r\n <!--\t\t\t<h4>Gardening Tools and Accessories<\/h4>\r\n\t\t \t\t<p>All gardening tools and accessories, if purchased with live bulbs or plants, will be shipping with that product when it is appropriate to plant (by USDA Hardiness Zone - See table above). Gardening tools and accessories purchased with seed will ship within 5 business days. Gardening tools and accessories that are purchased on their own will ship within 5 business days.<\/p>-->\r\n <h4>Fall Flowering Crocus Bulbs<\/h4>\r\n <p>\r\n <!--Most orders ship within 5 business days.-->Fall Flowering Crocus bulbs start shipping in mid August\r\n depending on your hardiness zone. <a href="\/usda-zone-map">Visit our USDA Zone Map<\/a> to determine your\r\n zone or check your order confirmation, 5<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of August 12th, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of August 26th, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody>\r\n <\/table>\r\n <p class="note"><strong>Note:<\/strong> These dates are guidelines, and may be somewhat revised due to\r\n inclement weather anywhere along the shipping route.\r\n <!--All orders for Lilies and Poppies will be shipped the week of September 26th.-->\r\n <h4>Fall-Planted Bulbs<\/h4>\r\n <p>\r\n <!--Most orders ship within 5 business days.-->Fall-planted bulbs\r\n <!-- and perennials--> start shipping in early September depending on your hardiness zone. <a href="\/usda-zone-map">Visit\r\n our USDA Zone Map<\/a> to determine your zone or check your order confirmation for detailed shipping\r\n<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of September 9th, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">5<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of September 16th, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">6, 7<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of September 23rd, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">8<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of September 30th, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">9, 10, 11<\/td>\r\n <td class="data">Shipping begins the week of October 7th, 2019<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody>\r\n <\/table>\r\n <p class="note"><strong>Note:<\/strong> These dates are guidelines, and may be somewhat revised due to\r\n inclement weather anywhere along the shipping route. <br>\r\n <!--All orders for Lilies and Poppies will be shipped the week of September 26th.-->\r\n <h4>Amaryllis and Paperwhites<\/h4>\r\n <p>Amaryllis and Paperwhites will start shipping to all regions in mid October.<\/p>\r\n <\/dd>\r\n <dt class="shipping-cost">How much is shipping?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>\r\n <p>Our shipping costs are the same for all products. If your order requires more than one shipment and all items are shipping to the same address, there are no extra costs. Shipping charges for the contiguous United States are shown in the chart below.<\/p>\r\n <table class="data-table">\r\n <tbody>\r\n <tr>\r\n <th class="label">Merchandise<\/th>\r\n <th class="label">Shipping Charges<\/th>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">Up to $9.99<\/td>\r\n <td>$6.95<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">$10 to $19.99<\/td>\r\n <td>$7.95<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">$20 to $29.99<\/td>\r\n <td>$8.95<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">$30 to $39.99<\/td>\r\n <td>$9.95<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">$40 to $59.99<\/td>\r\n <td>$11.95<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">$60 to $79.99<\/td>\r\n <td>$12.95<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">$80 to $99.99<\/td>\r\n <td>$13.95<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <tr>\r\n <td class="data">Over $100<\/td>\r\n <td>$16.95<\/td>\r\n <\/tr>\r\n <\/tbody>\r\n <\/table>\r\n <\/dd>\r\n <dt class="how-ship">How do you ship items?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>We use either USPS or UPS, depending on weight and address. You will receive an email the day your order ships telling you how it has been sent. If you would like Express or overnight shipping, please either <a href="\/contact-us">email Customer Service<\/a>, or call toll free {{configFedex says my package hasn\u2019t moved in days, is it lost?<\/dt>\r\n\t\t\t\t<dd>No. FedEx often doesn't scan packages at every location. We ship from the east coast and it often can take 5 business days to arrive on the west coast. If your package hasn't arrived within a week please either <a href="\/contact-us">email Customer Service<\/a>, or call toll free {{configFedex says that my tracking number isn\u2019t valid, what\u2019s wrong?<\/dt>\r\n\t\t\t\t<dd>You may receive shipping confirmation email with tracking information before FedEx has scanned your shipment. It can take up to 24 hours for tracking numbers to be active.<\/dd>-->\r\n <dt class="express-shipping">Do you offer express shipping?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>Yes. We offer overnight, 2 and 3 day shipping options. Please either <a href="\/contact-us">email Customer\r\n Service<\/a>, or call toll free {{configOther Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\r\n <div class="pretty-dl">\r\n <dl>\r\n <dt class="order-status">What's the status of my order?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>\r\n <p>Most Wildflower Seed orders ship within 5 business days year round. Other plants are based on region.<\/p>\r\n <p>After placing an order you will be emailed an order confirmation that says when your items will be shipped. Once your order has been shipped you will receive a second email with your shipping information.<\/p>\r\n <\/dd>\r\n <dt class="printed-catalog">Do you have a printed catalog?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>Customers often ask us if we publish a catalog. In short, the answer is \u2018No\u2019. We rely strictly upon our website to represent the wide variety of products that we offer. For more info see our <a href="\/catalog-requests">Catalog Requests page<\/a>.<\/dd>\r\n <dt class="fedex-tracking">Can I mix and match promotional seed packets?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>Yes. You can mix and match promotional\/event packets to receive the bulk discount. Please call us toll-free: {{configWhat is my hardiness zone?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>You can find your USDA hardiness zone by entering your zip code on our <a href="\/usda-zone-map">US\r\n Hardiness Zones<\/a> page. When ordering, you can determine if an item will be "Winter Hardy" in your area\r\n by checking the "Zone" information on the item's description page.<\/dd>\r\n <dt class="when-ship">How are your plants and bulbs shipped?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>\r\n We ship our plants and bulbs in different forms, depending upon the variety and the time of year. The goal\r\n is to ship the plants in a form that minimizes transplant shock, so they can adapt quickly to their new\r\n home in your garden. The plants and bulbs you receive may range from being fully leafed out and actively\r\n growing, to being in a dormant (resting) state, showing few if any signs of life. However, you can be\r\n assured that all our varieties are ready to spring to life once they're planted. See details about how each\r\n of our plants and bulbs are shipped, with photos, <a href="\/how-our-plants-are-shipped">in our article<\/a>.\r\n <\/dd>\r\n <dt class="when-items-arrive">What if I can't plant right away?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>\r\n <p><strong>Seed<\/strong> - If seed is not sown soon after purchase, don't worry. You can store it in any\r\n cool (not freezing) dry place that is not subject to extreme temperature variations. Viability (seed\r\n life) varies species to species, but all wildflower species in most mixtures will maintain good\r\n germination quality for at least a year or two. In fact, most are viable for 5 years or more, some for\r\n decades.<\/p>\r\n <p><strong>Spring-Planted Bulbs<\/strong> - Bulbs need to be kept dry and cool to keep them from sprouting\r\n before you plant them. If you have a dry basement, and things down there don't freeze on cold nights,\r\n that's probably the best place. Lots people find the perfect places are in unheated closets that stay\r\n cool or utility rooms where the household heat is weak. <a href="\/blog\/2016\/03\/02\/how-to-care-for-bulbs-perennials-if-you-cant-plant-right-away\/">More\r\n information on storing bulbs<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n <p><strong>Fall Planted Bulbs<\/strong> can be stored for a month or longer if you keep them in a cool, dry\r\n place. However, they do need to be planted in the fall that you received them. They won't last till next\r\n season. <a href="\/how-to-plant-flower-bulbs">More information on storing bulbs<\/a>.\r\n <p><strong>Perennial Bareroot Plants<\/strong> should be opened immediately and the peat should be\r\n moistened. Keep the package in a cool place out of direct sun and protect from freezing. <a href="\/blog\/2016\/03\/02\/how-to-care-for-bulbs-perennials-if-you-cant-plant-right-away\/">More information on storing perennials<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n <p><strong>Perennial Potted Plants<\/strong> should be watered as soon as you receive them. Keep them in a\r\n cool room where they get some sun through a window, protect them from freezing and keep the soil moist\r\n but not soggy. <a href="\/blog\/2016\/03\/02\/how-to-care-for-bulbs-perennials-if-you-cant-plant-right-away\/">More\r\n information on storing perennials<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n <\/dd>\r\n <dt class="when-plant">How and when do I plant this?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>\r\n <p><strong>Seed<\/strong> can be planted in spring, summer or fall depending on your region. <a href="\/wildflower-seed-planting-instructions">Read\r\n our full instructions on how to create your own wildflower meadow<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n <p><strong>Spring Perennials<\/strong> need to be planted as soon as you get them, even if there is still a\r\n danger of frost. As long as your plant is recommended for your USDA Hardiness Zone you can plant 1-2\r\n weeks before the last frost date. <br>\r\n\r\n <strong>Bareroot Perennials:<\/strong> dig a hole slightly larger than the root and plant so the top of\r\n the root is level with the soil line.\r\n\r\n <strong><br>\r\n Potted Perennials:<\/strong> dig a hole that is slightly larger than the pot the plant came in. Place\r\n the root in the hole, gently loosen the roots, fill dirt in around the roots and gently pack down the\r\n soil with your hands. Water deeply once the hole is filled in. <a href="\/planting-perennials">Get more\r\n information on planting perennials.<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n <p><strong>Spring-Planted Bulbs<\/strong> should be planted after all danger of frost is past and the soil\r\n temperature is above 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Dig a hole to the required depth, place the bulb (pointed\r\n side up with roots facing down) at the bottom and fill in dirt on top of the bulb. <a href="\/planting-bulbs-spring">More\r\n information on planting spring bulbs<\/a>. <\/p>\r\n <p><strong>Fall Planted Bulbs<\/strong> should be planted as soon as the ground is cool. In most parts of\r\n the country, this would be around the time of the first frosts, when evening temperatures average between\r\n 40° to 50° F. But you should plant at least six weeks before the ground freezes. Dig a hole to\r\n the required depth, place the bulb (pointed side up with roots facing down) at the bottom and fill in\r\n dirt on top of the bulb. <a href="\/how-to-plant-flower-bulbs">Learn more on how to plant fall bulbs<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n <p>See our <a href="\/planting-guides">Planting Guides<\/a> for more detailed information.<\/p>\r\n <\/dd>\r\n <\/dl>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <h2 class="policies-and-guarantees">Policies & Guarantees<\/h2>\r\n <div class="pretty-dl">\r\n <dl>\r\n <dt class="guarantee">What is our guarantee?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>Top-quality seeds, bulbs and perennial plants are all we sell. They are the very freshest and finest available anywhere and we work with our growers and importers to ensure that you receive products that will bring you back to American Meadows year after year.<\/dd>\r\n <dt class="return-policy">What is your return policy?<\/dt>\r\n <dd>Please contact us via phone to discuss product returns. Depending on the status of the product, we will determine the right course of action for your return. 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Will your job disappear? 24/7 Wall Street and Douglas McIntyre look at middle class jobs that may be obsolete by 2024. The U.S. job market is expected to grow by about 7% over the next decade. At that rate, roughly 10 million more Americans will be employed by 2024. However, these new jobs are not likely to be created evenly across all occupations and industries. The nation’s middle class has been shrinking at what some call an alarming rate, and even as the nation’s job market is expected to grow, demand for many mid- to low-skilled, primarily middle class positions is expected to rapidly decline. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects a loss of hundreds of thousands of such jobs in the coming years due to outsourcing and the development of new technology. More than 90 million of Americans work in jobs that require little to no prior experience and less than a bachelor’s degree. These positions tend provide any needed training on the job. In some cases, a two-year associate’s program is all that is required. A low educational requirement and a lack of specialization means these jobs are much more accessible. However, this also means workers in these fields tend to be poorly compensated. The typical worker in the vast majority of the fastest disappearing middle-skill jobs has an annual salary of less than $40,000. Another significant downside to these low-skill jobs is that a lack of specialization typically translates to a greater exposure to replacement by new technology. The now-widespread use of computers and the Internet for commerce and communication has resulted in hundreds of thousands of layoffs, from the post office to brick-and-mortar retailers. The print industry, for example, has been reduced to a shadow of its former self, as consumers have transitioned from newspapers and books to news sites and e-readers. The ranks of printing press operators and print binding and finishing workers — jobs tied to the dwindling popularity of physical print — is projected to decrease by 12.5% and 13.7%, respectively, by 2024. Automation and computing will also continue to contribute to sharp declines in certain middle-class jobs. The need for computer operators is steadily decreasing, as is demand for typist jobs and office machine operators. The most dramatic change in employment due to the Internet will be among postal workers. The U.S. Postal Service has seen usage plunge as Americans switch from physical mail to email, and as businesses now conduct transactions online. Between 2005 and 2014, the number of full-time postal workers fell from over 700,000 to 487,000, and the service will likely continue to contract for years. The BLS projects a nearly 34% plunge in the number of Postal Service mail sorters and processors, for example, by 2024. While technology and computing advances are responsible for the declining demand of most jobs on this list, outsourcing of the country’s manufacturing jobs outside the United States is also a factor. For example, the number of metal and plastic machine workers is projected to decline by 13% as many of those jobs will move overseas. Some specific occupations in the field, such as those working on molding, coremaking, and casting machines, will likely shrink by 25% within the next decade. To identify the middle class jobs disappearing the fastest, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed jobs with the largest projected employment percentage decline from 2014 through 2024. To be considered, an occupation needed to have a minimum of 50,000 workers employed as of 2014 ,require minimal prior work experience, and typically require no education beyond an associate’s degree. Worker characteristics such as median annual wages, typical education needed for entry, and on-the-job training needed to reach competency came from the BLS’ Occupational Outlook Handbook. In some cases, multiple jobs with similar classifications made the list. In these cases, only the class with the largest projected decline was listed. These are the 17 disappearing middle class jobs. 17. Bill and account collectors > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -5.6% > 2014 employment (thousands): 350.4 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 330.9 > Median annual wage: $33,700 Bill and account collectors are typically tasked with reaching out to customers with overdue bills and negotiating repayment plans. Persons employed in this occupation typically have just a high school diploma, as any other necessary skills can be obtained through a moderate amount of on-the-job training. While overall, jobs are expected to grow by 7% across the United States from 2014 through 2024, the number of bill and account collectors is expected to decline by 6% over that period. This decline is in part due to the ongoing consolidation of collections agencies, as most small private operations are disappearing. Also, the increasing use and sophistication of software and automated calling systems has reduced the need for these occupations. 16. Mechanical drafters > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -6.8% > 2014 employment (thousands): 65.7 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 61.2 > Median annual wage: $52,200 Mechanical drafters are the only position on this list that requires some post-secondary education — an associate’s degree in drafting. For this reason, the position also pays more than most positions on this list, at over $52,000 annually. Mechanical drafters create technical drawings of machines based on the designs of engineers. Unfortunately for these workers, manual drafting practice is on the decline due to the increased sophistication of CAD (computer-aided design) software, which allows engineers to create their own technical designs without drafters. 15. Surveying and mapping technicians > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -7.6% > 2014 employment (thousands): 57.3 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 52.9 > Median annual wage: $40,770 Roughly 57,000 surveyors and mapping technicians work in the United States to collect data on terrain and geographic features. While mapping technicians often need a specialized education, most surveyors can get by with just a high school diploma. These positions tend to rely on the strength of the construction industry. However, even as most construction-related positions are projected to grow faster than the national job growth rate over the next decade, surveyors and mapping technician positions are on the decline in the United States, with a projected loss of 4,400 jobs through 2024. Technological advancement in the field such as the development of robots capable of replacing surveyors will push out a number of these workers. 14. Tellers > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -7.7% > 2014 employment (thousands): 520.5 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 480.5 > Median annual wage: $25,760 Bank tellers are one of the largest middle-class jobs in the country, with more than 520,000 tellers. A typical person employed in this position earns just $25,760, and the job typically requires just a high school education, as any necessary additional training is typically provided on the job. The number of tellers working at American banks will decline by as many as 40,000 through 2024. The advent of online and mobile banking is driving this decline, as bank customers are now able to take care of many of the tasks that comprise the bulk of a teller’s duties, including transferring money between accounts and depositing checks. ALSO READ: America’s Most (and Least) Reliable Car Brands 13. Chemical equipment operators and tenders > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -8.3% > 2014 employment (thousands): 66.3 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 60.8 > Median annual wage: $48,090 There will be roughly 5,500 fewer chemical equipment operator jobs in the United States by 2024. This projected 8.3% decrease is one of the largest among the country’s middle-skill jobs. While the vast majority of rapidly disappearing jobs have relatively low salaries, ranging between $25,000 and $40,000 a year, chemical equipment operators are relatively well compensated. The typical worker in the field earns more than $48,000 a year. The higher compensation may be due the inherent danger of fire and explosions on the job. Job responsibilities of such workers include operating equipment where chemical reactions take place in the process of manufacturing industrial or consumer goods. 12. Procurement clerks > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -8.3% > 2014 employment (thousands): 72.3 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 66.3 > Median annual wage: $39,930 Those working in procurement typically perform buying duties for an organization by preparing and sending out purchase orders, managing bills and billing issues, and ensuring receipt of shipments. As Internet commerce has eased the buying process for businesses, employment in the field is projected to decline by 8.3% from 2014 through 2024. Procurement clerk jobs generally require more education than most of the disappearing American jobs. While a majority of workers in rapidly contracting fields have little more than a high school education, more than half of all procurement clerks have an associate’s degree, and a fifth have a bachelor’s degree. 11. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -8.4% > 2014 employment (thousands): 1760.3 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 1611.5 > Median annual wage: $36,430 Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, while crucial for any organization, will be in considerably less demand in 10 years. Job responsibilities typically include maintaining accurate financial records by tallying, tracking, and categorizing expenses. Due to technological changes, such as improved accounting software, there will be about 8% fewer such jobs by 2024. Jobs in the field tend to require higher education levels than most of the country’s jobs with dwindling demand. Over a quarter of those employed as accounting clerks have some college education, and nearly a fifth have a bachelor’s degree. 10. Travel agents > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -11.7% > 2014 employment (thousands): 74.1 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 65.4 > Median annual wage: $34,800 Travel agents are one of the most rapidly disappearing professions in the United States. The job primarily entails booking transportation and lodging and planning itineraries and destinations for clients, tasks the traveler can now accomplish with relative ease through the Internet. Becoming increasingly obsolete, the number of jobs in the field is projected to decline by 12% by 2024. The vast majority of travel agents need little more than a high school diploma as a prerequisite for the job. 9. Printing press operators > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -12.5% > 2014 employment (thousands): 173.0 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 151.4 > Median annual wage: $35,100 Few occupations are disappearing at a faster rate than printing press operators. Roughly 173,000 Americans were employed as printing press operators in 2014. That number is projected to drop to 151,400, a 12.5% decline, by 2024. Printing press operators have a range of responsibilities, including setting and aligning the presses, using the proper ink to meet job specifications, and random inspections of printed material in order to identify the need for any adjustments. Declining employment in the field is a byproduct of the decline of the newspaper industry, where revenue has dropped by more than a third since 2005. 8. Print binding and finishing workers > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -13.7% > 2014 employment (thousands): 51.2 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 44.2 > Median annual wage: $29,500 With the advent of digital reading platforms, the demand for physical books has declined, and employment in the print binding and finishing field is suffering. By 2024, there will be roughly 14% fewer people working in the field than there were in 2014. Like many of the most rapidly disappearing jobs, print binding and finishing is a highly procedural, routinized job that rarely requires post-secondary education. Duties include installing binding machinery and inspecting finished products for defects and imperfections. 7. Word processors and typists > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -15.7% > 2014 employment (thousands): 90.7 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 76.5 > Median annual wage: $36,700 Word processors and typists are rapidly disappearing from the American workforce. The duties of a typist range from using a word processor to transcribing voice recordings to typing out final copies of reports, letters, and drafts. The BLS estimates that the number of jobs in the field will decrease by over 15% between 2014 and 2024. Most typists jobs do not require post high school education or certification. Like most disappearing jobs, typists are likely not in high demand due to advances in computers and new technology that have made electronic business transactions more popular. ALSO READ: States Getting the Most (and Least) Sleep 6. Office machine operators, except computer > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -16.6% > 2014 employment (thousands): 69.6 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 58.0 > Median annual wage: $28,510 Only a handful of American jobs are disappearing faster than office machine operators. Workers in the field use machines such as scanners, printers, and photocopiers for clients or coworkers. Like many rapidly disappearing American jobs, the educational requirements for office machine operators are minimal. The majority of the roughly 69,600 employed in the field do not have a post secondary education. By 2024, the number of office machine operator jobs is projected to decline by nearly 17%. 5. Non-postal service mail clerks and mail machine operators > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -18.8% > 2014 employment (thousands): 104.9 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 85.1 > Median annual wage: $27,890 The U.S. Postal Service has been truly decimated over the past decade, as the number of employees plunged by 31% over than time. The widespread use of email has drastically reduced the need for physical mail. For non-government mail workers, the trend is not quite as bad, but still worse than most jobs. Thousands of mail clerks and machine operators not employed by the Postal Service will likely lose their jobs through 2024, a projected 18.8% drop. 4. Computer operators > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -19.0% > 2014 employment (thousands): 61.1 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 49.5 > Median annual wage: $39,590 Computer operators’ primary tasks include monitoring and responding to computer error messages and entering commands at a computer terminal. However, with the increased sophistication of computer hardware and software, the computer operator profession has become less relevant in recent years. While currently about 61,100 workers are employed in the field, the number of computer operator jobs is projected to contract by 19% between by 2024. There are relatively few educational requirements for computer operators. Roughly 43% of those employed in the field reported having a two-year college degree, and nearly one-quarter of computer operators have only a high school diploma. 3. Molding, coremaking, and casting machine workers > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -25.0% > 2014 employment (thousands): 129.5 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 97.2 > Median annual wage: $28,810 Many different occupations fall into the category of setters, operators, and tenders, workers who maintain and operate the machines used in the manufacturing of plastic and metal parts. As is the case with nearly all of the declining middle class jobs on this list, the increased sophistication of computers and robots that maintain these machines will drive down demand for this type of worker in the coming years. In addition, metal and plastic manufacturing has been moving overseas, contracting the industry overall. While the overall class of operators and tenders is expected to decline by 13% in the next decade, some subcategories will be likely hit harder. The subclass of workers expected to be hit worst in the next decade is of those working in molding, coremaking, and casting. The field is expected to lose one-quarter of its jobs by 2024. 2. Switchboard operators, including answering service > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -32.9% > 2014 employment (thousands): 112.4 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 75.4 > Median annual wage: $26,550 Technological advances are rapidly making part or all of the occupations on this list obsolete. It is no different in the case of switchboard operators. Some 112,000 switchboard operators and answering service workers are still employed in the United States, but they face difficult prospects. The increasing sophistication of telecommunications networks is projected to drastically cut into these workers’ ranks. Between 2014 and 2024, the number of workers in this field is expected to decline by roughly one-third. 1. Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators > Projected employment change, 2014-2024: -33.7% > 2014 employment (thousands): 117.6 > 2024 projected employment (thousands): 78.0 > Median annual wage: $54,520 About 490,000 people are currently working for the U.S. Postal Service. Some 300,000 of these handle mail delivery, and roughly 117,600 work in postal offices sorting and processing the mail. While this occupation does not require education beyond a high school diploma, it pays quite well, with a typical sorter earning nearly $55,000 annually. Unfortunately, the demand for this relatively well-compensated and accessible job is declining considerably. The BLS projects employment in the field will decline by more than a third within the next decade, even faster than the 26.2% decline among mail carriers. While it may be more difficult replace mail carriers with a machine, the increased automation in the mail room will likely push out many mail sorters..
Kakazabih January 28, 2022 Hi. We are 2 person's have plan to climb Mount Everest this year. I read all the info in webpage and there was nothing about the costs. Could you please tell us, how is the costs and value? Thank you Kakazabih ABC ANG March 27, 2018 how much price for this? 2 person Feb2018 Roshan August 3, 2017 Can you send me the total cost of hike to Panch pokhari from kathmandu ? Monika Wołoszyńska July 30, 2017 Ghorepani Poon Hill, Nepal – Nepal Planet Treks You can read Sanjib’s story here about how he came to own his own adventure travel company in Nepal Nepal Planet treks and Sanjib The last guide on this page is Rajendra Kumar Khatri who was my most amazing, funny, knowledgeable, handsome trekking guide ever! Not sure why Sanjib has two websites nepalguideinfo.com nepalplanettreks.com, but check them both out. He maintains both of them himself. Monika Wołoszyńska June 14, 2017 We did it EBC trek with best travel company in Nepal We did a 12 day Everest Base Camp tour with Nepal Guide info . It was such a great experience! We picked the trek as there was a 95% June 14th 2017 Elia Lya June 14, 2017 Trek to Mt Everest Base Camp with nepal planet Treks I recently completed a trek to Base Camp with a Company by the name of Nepal planet treks exp and they were fantastic. From the moment we were researching the trip Sanjib from their office was informative and helpful and was always available to provide information and reassurance. Our Guide Rajendra,he was fantastic. We were all inexperienced trekkers and he guided us the entire way. He was always checking on us to make sure that we were well and understood the plan. A couple of our group were ill along the say and he ensured that everyone's health was his priority. In his 12 years as a guide everyone he has been responsible for has made it to Base camp. We were fortunate enough to also have a guide/porter by the name of Hari and he was fantastic also. Along with Rajendra they looked after every possible detail, we were very fortunate. Our two porters Krishna and hari were fantastic. These guys a marvellous, to watch them carrying such large weights up the mountains. They ensured that our luggage was always in our rooms when we arrived each night and ensured that there was a seat around the fire at night. The trek is challenging and the conditions testing but we were so lucky to have selected Nepal planet Treks and to have the boys was the best bit of luck we could have been blessed with. I can't recommend them highly enough. A trip full of life time memories Visited :14th June 2017 Joe Murray June 14, 2017 Best Trekking in Himalayas with Nepal Guide info We are a family (2 adults and 4 children of 6,8, 10 and 12 years old) and did the trek from Lukla to EBC and Kala Patthar. It took as 14 days to do it. The trek is wonderful and the landscape is impressive (even for the swiss we are). In order to reach EBC we spend a lot of time for By doing so, all our family reached EBC. To return to Lukla count 2 days if you are very fast, three days normally (climbing Kala Pathar in the morning), and 4 days if you are slow thank you for your best organized and guiding during the ebc trek sanjib see you next trip in Nepal you are best guide in Himalayas Olivier Dugué April 15, 2017 "Everest Base Camp Trek guide recommended ” I did the Everest Base Camp Trek starting in late March 2017 . with Nepal Guide Info Team and had a great experience. Sanjib had everything arranged and all transfers were on time and done well. I really enjoyed the Kathmandu city tour and the My Sanjib was very pleasant and knowledgeable. My guide for the hike was Ramkumar . I couldn't have asked for any better than the service he provided. I enjoyed his company very much and since I was hiking alone this was very important to me. I had several other hikers tell me how lucky I was to have him for my guide because they all liked him and were amazed at all of his knowledge of the area and how he was able to communicate it to them. I highly recommend nepal guide info team company in Nepal if you are planning a trip to Nepal. Visited April 2017 Arleta wojas April 15, 2017 “Annapurna Base Camp Trek with Best Guide Team ” I found Nepal Guide Info Team through a friends recommendation and they exceeded my expectations. The Annapurna Basecamp trek was a breathtaking experience. Nepal Guide Info Team are extremely professional, warm and friendly. Everything was well organised and catered to my needs. Sanjib the trek guide and our porter Raj was great and companions during the long treks. They also did their best to get the best accommodation even in the busy season near the Annapurna base camp. The communication with NJ before the trip was also excellent. I can't say enough about nepal guide info team and the trekking experience. I definitely recommend nepal guide info team ( Nepal Planet Treks and Expedition ) and cannot wait go back for another trek as soon as possible. Nepal is beautiful with its nature and people. Visited April 2017 Gorge Anna April 12, 2017 Upper Mustang Trek with Nepal Guide Info Team ” This was our third trek with the nepal guide info team trekking agency and again and again , the trip has exceeded our expectations. Guides are very experienced and reliable and the trek has been tailor made to our needs. Most important however: we had so much fun with our little crew!! One reason for this is, that assistants/ porters are not allowed to carry too much weight and do wear proper hiking equipment. Unfortunately, most other trekking agencies do not live up to this standard, We Know many company in Nepal if you want to go for a trek, which is pleasant as well as safe, we can only recommend the Nepal Guide Info team trekking agency. We will definitely come back! Visited 2017 April Nikki Tibrewala April 11, 2017 “Good memory at Nepal 2017” My friends and me booked ABC trekking trip with this nepal guide info team . And it was great time there!! Both guide and porter gave us very good service. The guide name "Sanjib Adhikari" is professional in trekking tour, he always look after us to stay safe. Moreover two porters name Hari and his uncle are very strong and friendly. All of 12 days that we stayed with them are good memory so I recommend this agency if you want your Nepal trip to be memorable : ) Visited April 2017 Naira Gyulnazaryan April 6, 2017 “Nepal Guide Info Team - Annapurna Trek” I had the best time doing the poon hill trek these last few days. My guide Sanjib did a great job showing us the various attractions and teaching us about the history of Nepal and the trekking routes! Definitely will be returning with my family for sure! Visited April 2017 Marianna April 6, 2017 “Annapurna Base Camp best adventures in World ” I had a fantastic time in during the Nepal .This expedition to Annapurna Base Camp will not be possible if not for our experienced guide mr Sanjib Adhikari. He led, coordinate and support our 15days expedition to Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal. I strongly recommend you to contact him if you are thinking of some adventures in Nepal. Joanna Jarocka March 30, 2017 Great trekking in Ghorepani/Poon Hill Annapurna With Nepal Guide info team ” We had a wonderful trip all around the Nepal. From airport pickup to drop off, hotel and tea house stays, food, ease of transportation to and from bus stations, etc - it was really relaxing from a logistical standpoint. My friend is he really trekker, but I'm not, and so normally he wouldn't have hired a company to work with. However, having a guide and a porter made everything so much easier and relaxing - all we had to focus on was the beautiful trek! We loved Sanjib as our guide and would highly recommend Nepal guide info team and Sanjib! Visited February 2017 Scott Mccrae March 30, 2017 porter, Babu Lal, were unbelievably kind and attentive the entire trip. Even before we got to Nepal, we had a few changes to our original itinerary and his staff was helpful in making that happen. It was easy to communicate our needs (both via email and in-person) and we felt that we were well taken care of. I would highly recommend Nepal guide info team to anyone looking for professional, down-to-earth, and attentive services while in Nepal. This will definitely not be our last trip with them! Visited March 2017 Kelly March 29, 2017 'Excellent Everest Trek March 2017 ” Sanjiub arranged a fantastic 12 day trek to Everest Base Camp at an excellent price. Our guide was very helpful and conscientious and the accommodation booked along the way was more than enough. Highly recommend. Visited March 2017 Pete Kelly March 29, 2017 “Inspiring trekking in Nepal with Nepal Guide Info Team” I had a great experience with nepal guide info team, traveling and trekking in Nepal 2017. I learned more about the culture, the local history and the mountains, things that made this experience more valuable. The nepal guide info team were helpful and lovable. They did an amazing job guiding our group to accomplishing the EBC. Visited: March 2017 Blevins March 27, 2017 “Excellent service and Guide with Everest Base Camp Trek ” I booked an Everest Base Camp Trek through the company nepal guide info team ( Nepal Planet Treks Expedition )and was thoroughly impressed with every aspect of the trek. Having met other trekkers on the trail, I can honestly say that the service from Nepal Guide info Team was far superior to other companies. I would definitely book through them again if I return to Nepal . I can highly recommend. Visited March 2017 Linda Burton Blevins March 27, 2017 "Beautiful view of Annapurna from poonhill hiking ” This is my first trek to such a high elevation and my guide Mr. Ram Krishna Adhikari made it possible. He was not only my guide, he was my friend and life because he carried my bag sometimes and helped me all the way to Poonhill and back so this trek was amazing and beautiful. The arrangement was wonderful like Pokhara hotel, Transportation and all the stay was excellent. I have got the best service and food during my trek. I will be back for another longer trek next year and i will use nepal guide info team ( Nepal Planet Treks ). Visited March 2017 Mark Ashton March 27, 2017 “Excellent trekking with excellent nepal guide info team ” Excellent trekking with excellent guide. Sanjib Adhikari, the guide, is very professional and always wants to help you in case of need. He is very friendly and speaks very nice English. He has a lot of culture not only nepali but also knows about world other cultures. Very recommend thank you Sanjib and Nepal Guide info team ( Nepal Planet Treks and expedition ) Visited March 2017 Jose Rodriguez March 27, 2017 Camp going through Gyoko Valley trek . Doing lots of research beforehand, I wanted to go with a company that I can trust and worth the value. We are diffidently come to Nepal you are best guide team in Nepal Visited March 2017 Anamika Chauhan March 26, 2017 Great Everest base camp trek” We were two friends for Everest base camp trek with this nepal guide info team ( nepal guide info team ) , The arrangement for the trek was really organized from arrival to departures. Our guide Raj was so helpful and knowledgeable. He look after our foods,accommodation as well all needed things . We are a happy customer of his company. Visited March 2017 Noraini Ani March 26, 2017 friendly personality was perfect, not to mention his 18 years guiding experience. Raj was the assistant guide and I've never met such a funny, genuinely caring person. Kamal and Madhav were the porters and both where brilliant. Friendly, fun and went above and beyond the call of duty each place we stayed they couldn't do enough for everyone not only our group. Safety wise our sets where monitored daily and Sanjib had a full first aid kit and satellite phone. I would recommend organizing a trip with Nepal guide info team (Nepal Planet Treks and expedition) has a great team and genuinely nice guy. Visited 2017 Lee Kong March 6, 2017 Gokyo Lakes and EBC Organised a Private trekking tour with nepal guide info team and they exceeded our expectations. Great organisation, our excellent trekking guide, Sanjib, was experienced and flexible in their arrangements especially regarding our safety at the high Chol-la pass and arranging our departure flight as we were early by 1 day. We felt well looked after and it was an excellent trek. I will use Sanjib team again without hesitation. Visited February 2017 Margaret Carey March 6, 2017 very nice porter I like theirs staff ( staff are very polite and smile during the trekking) their service are very good and guide give us a lot information about the Nepal and Related area . Myself I'm very happy to choose this trekking agency for my nepal trip . If you are looking for best trekking agency in nepal you can choose this trekking Agency Have a nice and good time with Nepal planet treks and expeditions Thank you sanjib you are best guide in world Cheers ! ! Alfio Pelliccetta March 6, 2017 “A great short trek with sanjib ! If you are limited on time, Poon Hill is an exceptional trek that can be done in less than 5 days. It is not overly difficult and can be done by most people regardless of fitness level. The tea houses on the way are fun and accommodating. You will meet great people from all over the world and best of all when you finally reach Poon Hill the view makes the challenge completely worth it! thank for your best guidance Sanjib Visited February 2017 Fernando Andino March 5, 2017 “Poon Hill Hiking with Sanjib Adhikari” My Sister and I trekked with Sanjib and the porter with 2017. One of the best experiences of our lives! Sanjib is friendly, funny, thoughtful, fun and considerate and is a very experienced guide. I thoroughly enjoyed our trek with Sanjib and can't wait to go back to Nepal and do Base Case with him! All the best Sanjib!! Visited Feb 2017 Rose Sahani March 5, 2017 “GHOREPANI POON HILL TREK 2017 WITH SANJIB ” Well-executed itinerary meeting all expectations. I asked Sanjib for a perfect trek for my Friend and I and he came through. I asked for waterfalls, sunrise, snow-capped mountains, rivers, greeneries, local villages, plantations with mixture of challenging/moderate days and I got what I asked for. Highly recommended! Visited: March 2017 Edi March 5, 2017 Hello... How much is the total cost of a hike to Panch Pokhari? Can you give me a breakdown of expenses? Thanks. Cyril February 27, 2017 “EBC in February ” My daughter, my son, and I did the 14 day EBC trekking in February . It was just wonderful. It does get cold at night but during the day, with sun, it's actually very pleasant. December seems to be a good month as you enjoy the trails and tea houses without being crowded, and it's before the rainy season. We started hiking FEB 10th and finished by the 23 was Nepal Guide Info Team. They were well organized and accommodating. Eva Wong February 27, 2017 rekking and hiking to Poon Hill Trekking I visited Nepal in Feb '18 and completed the 5-day Poonhill Trek. Probably one of my favorite vacations of all time! Rhododendrons in bloom with views of the Annapurnas... breathtaking. Our Nepali guide, Sanjib, was one of the best in the business. His English is great, and we had very clear communication over email while making the trekking plans beforehand. Upon arrival in Kathmandu, he took our group out for momos and tea and actually spent time getting to know us. He has been a guide for over 18 years and so has extensive knowledge of the area, and a great sense of humor. You can tell he loves his job and has a deep passion for his work, the Nepali people, and his homeland. During our trek, our comfort was his biggest concern, and he always made sure everything was to our liking. In the evenings, we'd spend some time chatting about Nepal, the culture, and he even taught us some Nepali card games. After talking with other travellers, I believe our trekking rates were very competitive too. I had such a great time that I'm really hoping to visit Nepal again, but for a longer duration. One week was not enough! Visited february 2017 Mike Tracy February 27, 2017 “Annapurna base camp” We chose to go for a ten day trekking to annapurna base camp. Here we had arranged the trip through a trekking company "Nepal Planet Treks and Expedition P.Ltd". In this way the whole trip was set in advance and we just needed to enjoy the trip. Including was the journey to Pokhara, all food, drink, a place to sleep and we were well looked after by great people. Porters were amazing, and our guide Sanjib was brilliant in every way. We received great service, he knew area perfect, and helped us with absolutely everything we needed help for. The best part was that we also got to know the people, and made good relations over the 10 great days. We A fantastic trip, excellent guide and porters, and just a beautiful country! Visited 2017 Gad Meyer February 27, 2017 Nepal Trekking, Ghorepani-Poonhill with Local Guide ” May-June, October-November are the best times for trekking in this region. Did a 7 day trek with my 14 year old teenager and while it was tough for the typical city girl that she is, our guide was careful to calibrate the intensity of the trek to suit her fitness level and was still very attentive to her progress through the period of trek. Do contact him at nepalguideinfo.com if interested. Our trek started from Nayapul and covered Ghorepani, Poonhill, Tadapani, Ghandruk, Landruk, Tolka and Australian camp. The climax was at Poonhill but the sights along the way, particularly Tadapani and Australian camp were just as spectacular. Apart from views, this is a good trip if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of city living. The trek among the locals, watching how they live off the earth with organic produce was enriching for the teenager as it is for me. I will certainly do this again. Visited 2017 Patrizia Camillo February 22, 2017 We did it EBC with Nepal Guide Info Team !” We did a 14 day Everest Base Camp tour with Nepal Guide Info Team. It was such a great experience! We picked the trek as there was a 99% 2017 David Smith February 22, 2017 “Best experience of my adventures life!” Me and my girlfriend has been trekking for 14 days in the Everest Base Camp ! We had a wonderful sherpa friend, he was the best, I can tell! We found him through a friend so not a company. He has been on the EBC 100 times and a lot other as well. If anyone wants, I can give contact information. The whole trekking is just amazing, that's all I can say. It was cold ( we've been there in the beginning of February 2017) and we didn't have a chance to take a shower, but still it worth it! I would recommend this trip to everybody! Visited February 2017 Małgorzata Pietraszewska February 22, 2017 The Everest Base Camp trip was a lot more physically demanding than I had expected but the guides, assistants and porters were fantastic, so supportive and accommodating, that we all made it to Base camp and back safely Visited 2017 Kajol Jain February 22, 2017 It was an amazing trip to Everest base Camp . I enjoyed the guides and Porters , the trekkers and of course Nepal. Amazing views and landscapes everywhere you looked. The support was fantastic. thank you so much Sanjib we are definitely back to Nepal you are the best guide and organizer in Worlds ! Phuong Ngoc Lan Pham February 21, 2017 “Awesome Trek to Ghorepani poon hill vai Annapurna ! ” I had the best time doing the poon hill trek these last few days. My guide Sanjib adhikari did a great job showing us the various attractions and teaching us about the history of Nepal and the trekking routes! Definitely will be returning with my family for sure! Visited February 2017 Larysa Starostiuk February 21, 2017 “ good for hiking in Nepal” Ghorepani poon hill is very famous trekking spot in pokhara. it took me 5 days. my guide Sanjib was very good guide and very helpful who carried my bag and helped a lot Visited:2017 Taylor Aldridge February 21, 2017 “Worth the early start PoonHill adventures ” Had this morning tour with Nepal Guide Info Team. Early wake up, and out of the guest house with headlight on before 5am . Uphill climb to the top of Poon Hill to see the sunrise. Once again we were well looked after by Sanjib our guide. It was a clear sky and the views unique. One of the highlights of our Nepal trip. Visited 2017 Mimi Markel February 20, 2017 “12 days Everest Base Camp Trekking ” Our group spent a wonderful 12 days trekking around Everest regions , and reached Everest Base Camp. Such magnificent views! We would like to thank our guide Sanjib for accompanying us on our trip of a lifetime and this firsthand experience of Nepal. He made sure we enjoyed our trip, and even made some changes to our itinerary for us. We had heard that most of the teahouses were pretty similar to one another, but the ones Sanjib chose for us seemed much better than we had expected them to be. We absolutely fell in love with the villages, and we were constantly amazed by the beautiful scenery.Nepal Guide Info Team organized an amazing and wonderful trip for us in Khumbu, and I cannot thank them enough! Visited February 2017 Doria Hileman February 20, 2017 and overall well organised trip by Nepal Guide info team,and it's amazingly cooperative and helpful staffs and well versed guides on the ground. Without a doubt and second thought, I highly recommend and encourage other visitors to engage the nepal guide info 's services, so you will be fully satisfied with their professional conduct of services and have a lifetime memorable experience. Visited February 2017 John Roche February 20, 2017 “3 High Passes and Everest Base Camp with Nepal Guide info team ” I did the 3 passes and Everest Base camp frist week of february 2017 , it was one of the amazing experience I have so far. Every trail has gorgeous scenery and although the trail was very hard, my guide was very friendly and helpful. Also, anytime that I have questions/requests even while I was in the trek the with Mr. Sanjib was immediately responding on my concerns/questions through messages or calls. I highly recommend Nepal Guide Info team ! Jana kovacova February 13, 2017 “Unbelievable Everest Base camp with Nepal Guide Info team and guide Sanjib!” Everest Base Camp 12 days -very short!-with Nepal Guide Info team was just an amazing adventure. Sanjib-my guide-did everything to make this trek successful and enjoyable .Actually I did finish even in 11 days.The scenery of Himalayas is just out of my mind,so surreal. Accommodation and food was carefully chosen by my guide considering my best needs.Thank you Sanjib and thank you Nepal Guide Info team for making my dream come true!! Visited 2017 Jhon Mark February 13, 2017 “ Ghorepani Poonhill and Annapurna Base Camp 2017 ” Amazing experience with amazing guide! Sanjib extensive knowledge was shown during the trek always helping and explaining everything. We done a 10 days trek to Ghorepani Poon hill vai Annapurna base camp , everyday was different scenery with breathtaking views the whole way from waterfalls to vast jungles in the heart of the himalayas. I would definitely recommend nepal guide info team company for any of your trekking/mountaineering needs as they are so friendly, down to earth and made this experience amazing! Will definitely be back to Nepal doing more treks with these guys! Mark Lorentzen February 13, 2017 Everest Base Camp Trek 2017” We booked the a trip with Nepal Guide Info Team- 14 days to EBC, had a great time- no problems whatsoever. The base camp trek was thoroughly enjoyable staying at tea houses & getting used to the high altitude. The guide knew exactly what he was doing & helped me get the best prices on everything. Also stayed at their Hotel Holy Himalaya (Sanjib picked me up from the airport & organised everything), amazing all you can eat breakfast & tidy rooms. Would highly recommend this company to everyone. Very welcoming to everyone. A++++ Visited February 2017 Mackenzie Ziegler February 13, 2017 Best Trip with Best Guide My friends and me booked ABC trekking trip with this Nepal Guide info team . And it was great time there!! Both guide and porter gave us very good service. The guide name "Sanjib" is professional in trekking tour, he always look after us to stay safe. We have two porters name Raju and Jivan are very strong and friendly. All of 12 days that we stayed with them are good memory so I recommend this agency if you want your Nepal trip to be memorable : ) Visited February 2017 Cesar Aspiazu February 13, Ermanno Locatelli February 12, 2017 Magnificent view of the Annapurna Himalayan Range” I will tell you a secret that my guide ( Sanjib Adhikari) revealed to me. We were planning to go up to Poon hill at dawn to see the sun rise, but he said to us the day before that we should be going there during the sunset. The secret is that during sunset the orange light projects on the mountains and this is just amazing view. Let me know if you need more tips in Nepal thank you Nepal guide info team and Sanjib you are the best ! Rebecca D. Visgaitis February 12, 2017 “Breathtaking ” If you are going to trek the Himalayas, Pun Hill is a wonderful way to experience some of the world's highest peaks without actually climbing them! The hike from Ghorepani up Pun Hill took us between 45 minutes to about an hour, starting in the early hours of the morning while it was still dark. Although it was a little bit steep at some points along the way, it was not a difficult hike and there was a small shack at the top where we bought cups of hot tea to sip while waiting for the sunrise. Finally, the sun started to cast its light from the east and the snow-capped mountain tops surrounding us began to glow a bright gold. From here, we could see Annapurna South and the Dhaulaghiri range and a little further in the distance, Machhapucchre or Fishtail Mountain. Such a beautiful sight to behold. There were lots of people from all over the world sharing this moment with us and the atmosphere was almost festive, which was really nice! Visited Feb 2017 Riya February 12, 2017 The trekking is good for Ghorepani poon hill , we enjoyed the trekking but the good part of whole trekking is poon hill there is best sunrise ever i have seen including mountain view . Visited February 2017 Babken Arzumanyan February 9, 2017 Now we're back from our five days trek in the Himalayas! From Phedi (1100m) to Mardi Himal Base Camp (4500m) in 2,5 days and then down for a bath in a hot water spring. All the time the nature was stunningly beautiful and even if it's gonna be nice to take a shower I'll miss waking up and going down with the sun. It might have been my first trek outside Norway but it definitely was not my last! Thank you for you best guiding Mr .Sanjib We are definitely back to Nepal Visited Feb 2017 Ruby Maya February 7, 2017 Breathtaking views to all the way to Mardi himal base camp , there is NO time to blink your eyes!!! I love it, one NOT to miss. Also short n sweet trek! thank you for great organized and guiding Namaste ! Morgan Shirley February 7, 2017 “Awesome! Unforgettable moment Lhasa Tibet !” If you want to see Mt. Everest up close, this is the place. Relatively easy to go with tour from Lhasa, just need to be prepared for Altitude Sickness along with uncomfortable ride & stay (basic, no tap water, no heater even at -20C then) BUT...experience is truly amazing and awesome. I've still been thinking about it even now or 5 months later. Loved every moment of it. So pure, beautiful, and grand. Really recommended to do if you can :) Ankita February 7, 2017 “Humbling Experience with Nepal Guide Info Team” Everest is definitely a sight to behold. On the way up to Base Camp, you will see a lot of mountains and go meh, but when you lay eyes on Everest, it is a whole different feeling. Being in the presence of something so huge and tall makes you feel tiny. We arrived at Base Camp at approximately 4pm, so it wasn't cold, there were no winds either. Also, when we were there, the were no Everest expeditions cos the climbing season was over, so it was just a plain land where tents should have been. Nonetheless, it is a trip of a lifetime. We were a group of 10 who engaged a tour guide from Nepal Guide Info team Kathmandu . Their itinerary planning was rather impeccable - they spaced out the journey to EBC in order to allow us enough time to acclimatize and to take it slow. Our entire journey there included camping, trekking and stays in guesthouses. A long journey indeed, but it was worth it. Tina February 5, 2017 "Awesome guide go to ABC !!” Im glad that Sanjib is our trekking guide during our trip to ABC. I still remember when a local asked when we first arrived at the airport. He offered rather a lower price than what we would pay for our guide. I guess we are lucky because we didn't took that offer but instead we chose Sanjib. We had a great trip and we had fun a lot along the way. Awesome ! I will definitely choose him to be my guide for my upcoming future trip to Nepal. Stephanie Johanna January 31, 2017 Amazing experience with amazing guide! Mr.Sanjib extensive knowledge was shown during the trek always helping and explaining everything. We done a 10 day trek to Annapurna base camp vai poon hill, everyday was different scenery with breathtaking views the whole way from waterfalls to vast jungles in the heart of the Himalayas. I would definitely recommend this nepal planet treks company for any of your trekking/mountaineering needs as they are so friendly, down to earth and made this experience amazing! Will definitely be back to Nepal doing more treks with these guys!!! Rebecca smith January 30, 2017 “Excellent Everest Trekking with Sanjib ” Nepal guide info team arranged a fantastic 14 days trek to Everest Base Camp at an excellent price. Our guide was very helpful and conscientious and the accommodation booked along the way was more than enough. Highly recommend. Meredith Guzy January 30, 2017 5 day trek from Pokhara Nepal” A fantastic trek with nepal guide info team guided by Sanjib, who was knowledgeable, informative and supportive. 3 days up and 2 days along and down including sunrise on Poon Hill An unforgettable trip. Michelle Kim January 29, 2017 “Amazing EBC with Sanjib Team ” January 2017 - Just amazing. The views are breathtaking (as is the altitude!), the atmosphere is buzzing even though nearly everybody is exhausted and the culture has to be seen. Watching the sun rise and set over Everest is something I will never forget. The nepal guide info team are great, the food is delicious (most of the time) and although tough at times, the best trek I have done so far. Don't hesitate, just book it and make sure you have put in the training so you can really enjoy it! Armen January 29, 2017 “Amazing Langtang trek with the best Trekking guide in Nepal!!” I came to Nepal knowing I wanted to do some trekking in Langtang but was not sure if it would be possible or not. I did some research beforehand and all suggested that Langtang trekking route was not yet open due to earthquake consequences... Lucky me I came to just the right person. Sanjib is the best of the best. I can guarantee that you can hardly find a more knowledgeable (yet humble)/attentive/thoughtful/experienced/professional (yet entertaining at the same time: D)/passionate guide in Nepal than him. Sanjib and his brother – NJ made me feel very much at home right when I stepped into their office. They helped me plan out my trip and went out of their way to make it safest/ most enjoyable possible. I had an amazing 8 day trip to Langtang with unforgettable memories. I cannot recommend enough these people. They are the best at what they do not only because of their knowledge and experience but also the love for their wonderful country. And to all of you guys who are still hesitating about whether or not Langtang is now safe for trekking. I can confirm that it is!!! Please consider Langtang as you can help the local people there by using their services on trekking route!! Cyril Lifart January 29, 2017 “NOTHING BEATS SEEING THE TALLEST MOUNTAIN WORLDS! BEST DAY EVER!!” I trekked to base camp of Mount Everest Base CampTrek from Lukla. I spent 3 days prior in Kathmandu. I did this trek with Nepal Guide Info Team and they did a fantastic job. Our guides and porters were awesome! If you are looking for truly the adventure of lifetime then this is a MUST! Dianatul Huda January 26, 2017 “Mardi Himal Trek 2017 with nepal guides ” Firstly, what an amazing trek ! I've done Annapurna Circuit & EBC & this one impressed me just as much as the other two. Sanjib was very helpful with all aspects of the trek and organizing it for me, I will defiantly use him again in the future! My guide Vishnu was amazing ( I used him for Annapurna Circuit so asked for him again) and trekking solo, I have every confidence in him. My porter Ram, was equally as nice, always there to help, nothing was to much trouble and always had a smile on his face. He spoke very good English & would also highly recommend using him. Altogether, another great experience here in Nepal, with incredible scenery, pleasant company nepal guide info team & all at a very reasonable price. Don't shop around , you will be wasting your time, just book with these guys & you won't be disappointed ! Namaste Arthur Mkrtchyan January 25, 2017 "Best Trekking Guide company in Thamel Kathmandu " A peace of heaven on earth!! We did 14 days Everest base camp trek with Nepal Guide Info Team locally owned company based in Kathmandu. The guide, porter and driver of this company is excellent. We had got a very good price as well. If you are thinking of Nepal, think of Nepal guide info team. They are the best!! Dietmute Graf January 25, 2017 Excellent Everest Base Camp Trek with amazing guide” I booked an 13 night trek to Everest Base Camp with Sanjib in the Guest house after arriving in Kathmandu with no intention of doing Everest Base Camp (EBC) but a naive hope to get to Tibet. Was a great choice. From speaking with other travellers in the guest house - who had also booked various trips with Sanjib - i had heard that with nepal guide info you get exactly what you are sold. Ask for Raj to be our guide. He is a fantastic guide. He speaks perfect English, has a great sense of humour and is extremely knowledgeable. If he doesn't know the answer (which is rare no matter how much I tested him!) he wont BS you (unlike many guides) but will find out. You will leave Kathmandu as strangers and come back as true friends. My 13 night trek from from Lukla to EBC included a return flight to lukla, a down jacket, a sleeping bag, all accommodation and meals. Other than the original cost you wont spend too much more. Water is free if your using tap water with chlorine. Couple of beers, cokes, coffee (in namche) and snacks wont cost more than $100 or so. There is an ATM in Namche. If you are light on equipment stock up in Kathmandu. Sanjib will take you around Kathmandu to pick up whatever you need (altitude tablets and chlorine tablets/drops, trekking gear etc). If you not that fit I wouldn't worry - just higher a porter to carry your backpack. Its the altitude that gets people not the trek itself. Pick nepal guide info for your trek, ask for Raj and enjoy what will be an amazing adventure!! Visited 2017 Lola Racheal January 20, 2017 .Everything went according to plan.As soon as I arrived at Kathmandu Airport,they where there to pick me up ,and take me to my Hotel in Thamel it called Hotel Nepalaya .First day went well with our guide and we saw a lot of sights in the city.Sanjib provided Sleeping bags,Jackets etc, In Lukla we where greeted by our guides and porters,and had a good trek to our first Tea house,where we overnight ed. Since I was to go only to Thayboche,I had my own guide and porter.Jivan and Raj where really very good.We had a lot off fun.I truly admire these young men for their stamina and the ability do go up and down the Mountains with us Tourists,and are always in a good mood.I know because of my positive experience I will come back to this fabulous country,and would hire nepal guide info team again .And would definitely recommend to others. Visited 2017 Dubravko Manola January 17, 2017 “Amazing Trekking in Himalayas ” We hiked Ghorepani Poon hill in the last week of January with Nepal Mountain Guide team and it is by far one of the greatest experiences I have enjoyed. We started walking at 5 am arriving at 6am to see that we were standing above the clouds. As the sun rose above the clouds the colors on the Himalayas was amazing. If you ever have the chance do it. Rassarin Soonchan January 15, 2017 “Ghorepani PoonHill round trekking Annapurna ” The organisation Nepal Guide Info Team tour from the pick up at the airport to the drop off was just excellent! Our guide Sanjib and porter were extremely friendly and helpful. The tea houses we visited were well chosen and we where really extremely satisfied. We walked 4-7 hours /day. Before the trek we also had a sightseeing tour in Kathmandu. Thanks to Sanjib and Jivan for making that a really awesome experience for us. Visited January 2017 Grace Loos January 14, 2017 Hi there, I just came back from my first trip to Nepal and I did the Ghorepani Poon Hill trek. I too did not have much time and did it in 4 days. I'm not particularly a very fit person but managed to do it comfortably. The hardest part of the trek is the early morning walk to poon hill. But I tell you now as soon as you get up there, you will forget about those stairs. Seeing the mighty annapurnas and Dhaulagiri during sunrise is a sight you will never forget. Such a spectacular view. And for cultural village life, ghandruk is beautiful. Be sure to spend some time here. If you are planning to travel with a guide, I can highly recommend you my guide, Sanjib Adhikari. He is very personable, professional and highly informative. Loves the mountains thus very passionate about his job. If you are interested let me know and i will send you his details. Hope that helps. Grace Michael Wang January 13, 2017 This is a must do! The guides are amazing and knowledgeable. I highly recommend it Nepal Guide Info Team for All around Nepal Cindy Loos January 12, 2017 “Ghorepani poon hill Trekking 2017” We enjoyed sunset at Poon Hill as part of our 5 day trek with Nepal Guide Info Team. We made good time when trekking to Gorephani and so decided to climb Poon Hill for the sunset rather than wake early for the sunrise. This turned out to be a really good choice as we avoided the morning crowds and also had the opportunity to see a spectacular sunrise later in the trek. Great support from our NGIT guides and porters along the way. Olive Florence Smith January 12, 2017 “Great views and accessible hike with nepal guide info team” This was my first multiple day hike and I really enjoyed it. Had great company with my girlfriend and our guide Sanjib Adhikari. We were very lucky with the weather as well. There were literately no clouds once we got up Poon Hill, so the view was breathtaking. We walked each day around 8-12 hours at a quite easy pace and didn't had much muscle ache, so it was very enjoyable! krris January 11, 2017 the company is very much informative and he has young team for Adventure tourism. I would suggest to use this company to anyone who wants to doing a trek in Nepal. Thanks Again Sanjib Visited 2017 Erika Clark January 9, 2017 “14 Day Base Camp Trek with Nepal Mountain Guide Team” Defiantly would recommend Nepal Mountain Guides Team and Sanjib for Nepal trekking and Hiking. I absolutely loved it. We were looked after from start to finish and nothing was a hassle for them. Our guides on the trek were fantastic very knowledgeable and could answer any question we had, nothing was too much for them some of the best service I have ever had and they were the most wonderful people, if I ever do a trek again, it would, without a doubt be with this Nepal mountain guide team again and I would want to do it with the same guides. Something I really like as well is that this company uses people to carry your bags to base camp rather than yaks, therefore providing employment for people in this area and the porters carrying our bags do a fantastic job, they are the unsung heroes. The memories and friends on this trek I will never forget Thank again Sanjib and Nepal Mountain guide Team Visited January 2017 Barbara Sue Kluger January 7, 2017 This is our amazing guide Sanjib (I don't think you can find a more caring and funny guide) from our trip to almost Mt Everest base camp. . Thanks to NJ Adhikari and Nepal Planet Treks and Expedition for a great job arranging this trip in the last minute. A great family company with a caring and trustworthy feeling. If you're planing to go trekking in Nepal then don't hesitate to contact them, I will do so again. Visited 2017 Nadeen Srouji January 6, 2017 included Everest, Lhotse, the Gokyo lakes, Ama Dablam, etc. The trek was tough, but the Nepal guide info team (under the guidance of Sanjib, Raj, Sukram and Hari) ensured we made the trip safely and enjoyable along the way. Nepal Guide info customized the hiked to suit our needs and requests, and included a number of stoppages, routes and attractions which few other travellers visited. We all thoroughly enjoyed the Nepalese experience (scenery, food, people, etc.) and would highly recommend visiting the country and engaging Nepal Guide Info Team if wishing to undertake any hiking adventures. Visited 2017 Marianna Anna Kowieska January 5, 2017 “Langtang valley trekking With Best Guide from Nepal” I've just returned from the Langtang Classic hike and what an amazing experience! From the beginning, NJ was quick to reply to emails, friendly and flexible with my plans. Couldn't have asked for an easier booking process. Sanjib, my guide is the most wonderful and lovely man. Very experienced guide who was knowledgeable and friendly. If you have the opportunity to request him, you won't regret it. The Langtang region was just spectacular .it was a real pleasure and humbling experience to visit the area with someone as experienced as Sanjib. Thank you to the whole team for such a great trip! Visited December 2016 Karen Davtyan January 4, 2017 “Breathtaking trek over 13 days With Nepal Guide Info Team” From start to finish this was unbelievable for us. We were delayed at the start due to weather conditions in Lukla . Which we didn't mind as we didn't have time restrictions. Please note don't leave too little time either side of your trek as it can get delayed. Once we had the all clear to fly the flight in itself was amazing, seeing the Himalayas from the plane window (small Plane) was breathtaking. The landing in Lukla was out of this world, the airport is insane..... The trek was hard work but worth every step.... The views, scenery, small settlements pulled us through. Once we reach Everest base Camp it’s was fantastic. The base camp itself was occupied by hopeful climbers wanting to reach the summit. We would walk and talk with them on the trails every day. Which was an experience itself? Some had trained and saved for a lifetime to do it. Sharing the trails with Yaks, farmers, hikers, guides and locals was all part of it from start to the finish. The trek back to Lukla was just as hard as going to EBC. Make sure you can hire a good guide/ good company as they will keep you healthy and make sure you eat the right food. Don't get ill up there..... We used Nepal Guide Info Team who was fantastic. I would recommend this trip to anyone. Attitude can play a big part of succeeding or not, just take your time and you'll be fine, no more than 600 meters ascending per day..... Enjoy the natural beauty of Nepal Visited 2016 Karen Davtyan January 4, 2017 “Unbelievable Everest Hiking with Nepal Mountain Guide Team and guide Sanjib!” Everest Base Camp 9 days -very short!-with Nepal Mountain guide Team was just an amazing adventure. Sanjib -my guide-did everything to make this trek successful and enjoyable .Actually I did finish even in 8 days. Due to lack of time I was aware of the risk going so fast with no extra days for acclimatization. The scenery of Himalayas is just out of my mind, so surreal. Accommodation and food was carefully chosen by my guide considering my best needs. Thank you Sanjib and thank you for making my dream come true!! Visited 2017 Kelly Egan Pepper January 1, 2017 “Shortened Annapurna Round Trekking” Due to our limited vacation leave days, my partner and I had only 14 days in Nepal for the Annapurna Circuit trek. So we signed up with Nepal Mountain Guide Team nepalguideinfo .com to come up with a shortened 12 day trek though the Annapurna Mountains. We began on foot at Chamje, crossed the freezing 5416m as Throng La Pass and ended at Muktinath before relying on shared jeeps and buses all the way back to Pokhara. We went in the first part of Dec 18 and were rewarded with clear blue skies and zero precipitation throughout the 12days. The trek really brought us out of our comfort zones (as city dwellers) and we had to deal with basic amenities which was part of the out worldly adventure. We were proud of what we accomplished and that might be a lot harder without the help of our guide Sanjib and Jeevan Tamang . They were professional and easy to get along with. i feel that Nepali people in general are helpful and honest. Under Nepal Mountain Guide Team, safety was never compromised despite the packed schedule and we had a very authentic Himalayan mountain experience. Trip of a lifetime. Urban December 29, 2016 EBC TREK - NEPAL MOUNTAIN GUIDE TEAM - EXCELLENT, FRIENDLY & GREAT COORDINATION “My friend and I went for the EBC trek for 14 days - Right from the start after booking the trip nepal mountain guide team was with us through Emails on what we will require for the trek, Briefing us on itinerary & accommodation etc. As communicated earlier unique was supposed to pick us from the airport and drop us at the hotel but our Flight had got delayed by more than an hour and I don't expect them to be there but the guy was right at the front with our name, right from there their coordination was excellent all throughout the trek, our guide Sanjib was a great friendly, helpful guy who didn't rush us at any point of the trek and we went at our own pace but he still v reached Base camp as per schedule & he is very familiar with the route. Also he made sure that we got the best possible accommodation throughout the trek in the tea houses. I highly recommend nepal mountain guide team and would definitely go with him on my next trek!!! Bradley Payne December 29, 2016 EXCELLENT EVEREST BASE CAMP TREK WITH SANJIB “I would like to thank Sanjib for an amazing trip to Nepal. December 2016 From the moment we arrived, Nepal Mountain Guides Team was there to help with all ours needs. It was truly 5 star service. I would also like to thank our guide Sanjib and porter Raj Thapa, for a challenging yet surreal experience to Everest base camp. Both these young men made sure every part of the trek was serene. I could go into detail about places you go and the amazing scenery, but if your looking at this, you're already thinking of your own adventure and I can recommend this company to suit your needs. Safe travels” An overall great experience with nepal mountain guide team Bristol December 29, 2016 “Perfect time to Mardi Himal Trekking With Nepal Mountain Guide Team " Mr. Sanjib adhikari nepal mountain guide team organizes a wounded full trek to mardi himal trek for me and my wife. We had fantastic guide mr Raj K.C who make made us feel very welcome he is best guide in Nepal. We are highly recommend to him and Nepal Mountain Guide Team Joy December 26, 2016 I am just back to home after spending two weeks in Nepal and it was great adventure in Nepal with Nepal Mountain Guide Team . Even though the trekking route and visibility was poorer than my adventures , By the Nepal Mountain Guide Team , the organizing company was more than satisfactory. Great services provided and a happy to be with trekking guide in Nepal. They are great people and highly recommended for your Nepal trekking. Go and enjoy your adventure in Nepal with them it was life time experience khopra dada trek with Sanjib Team " Mark December 26, 2016 “We had a wonderful experience trekking up to Khopra Dada Trek (even during Monsoon season), and Nepal Mountain Guide Team was a perfect company to book with. Our plans had to change quickly from EBC to Khopra Dada Trek due to poor weather and the change was seamless. Our guide Sanjib was excellent and was very passionate about his job and country which made the Trek that more meaningful. We highly recommend Nepal Mountain Guide Team to anyone who is looking for an incredible journey in Nepal.” Stefano December 21, 2016 “I hiked the Annapurna Circuit trek with my Brother and had an amazing time! While planning the trip, I emailed frequently with Sanjib and was impressed by his knowledge and responsiveness. When we arrived in Kathmandu he was very welcoming and invited us for tea in his office several times before and after the trek. We discussed the details of the trip and he lent me a pair of hiking poles. Rajendra was our Nepali guide; He was very experienced and knowledgeable (15+ years of experience). He took excellent care of us and catered to our many requests. I felt very safe in his care. He guided us along the path, told us about the culture, acted as a translator, served all our meals, monitored us for signs of AMS, reserved all our rooms (including a night at high camp and rooms with attached bathrooms)- and he did it all with a smile and a positive attitude. He was very flexible when we changed our plans nearly every day (we were the only two on the tour). He knew the area very well and gave a lot of input. We had such a great time that we may go back to hike the Kanchenjunga base camp trek in a few years. We will definitely be booking with Nepal Guide Info Team! ” Christoph December 18, 2016 , an excellent guy and someone I am now happy to call my friend. He did a great job guiding us, but at the same time he had a very laid-back attitude/easy to get along with. Nepal Guide Info Team was very helpful as well, they set everything up for a reasonable price. The owner, Sanjib, is very hands-on. He is very attentive to all of the needs of the trekker Visited 2016 Inge Dessing December 18, 2016 “I was 17 days trek around the Manaslu circuit 2016 , it was amazing and one of the best experiences of my life. I went with my American friend Owner of the company Nepal Guide Info Sanjib was awesome, a very friendly and helpful guy who from the moment he contacted me about the trek sorted everything out for me and it was super easy to booked the trek! Once we arrived to Kathmandu, Sanjib picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel, then the next day he took us to dinner were we met our guide Bishnu Adhikari . The next day we set off with Bishnu, he is a very nice man and a fantastic guide with great knowledge of the entire Manaslu region. He was with us every step and made our entire trip very easy and comfortable. I would 100% recommend Bishnu as a guide and Nepal Guide Info Tema and Sanjib book your next trip to Nepal! they were both fantastic and next time i come back to Nepal I will be booking with Sanjib again! John Wells December 18, 2016 What a great trekking and excellent guide Mr. Sanjib! We did Mardi himal Trek one month before with sanjib and really liked his hospitality, proffesionality and knowledge of culture, nature and geography. When we made plans to return to Nepal again it was easy to ask him to set up a good schedule for a longer trek. We did the Annapurna Circuit then, with a small detour to Tilichio Lake vai Jomsom, Poon hill. Sanjib provided is with all services: flights, hotel bookings and a porter. Really all above expectations. This year we will go again with a bigger group, again we will book with him. If you are abroad and want a perfectly organized trip book it here. If you are in Nepal, make sure to drop by in the Kathmandu office it called Nepal Guide info Team (Nepal Planet Treks and Expedition) Paknajol Thamel. See you soon future Sanjib! Carlos December 18, 2016 Excellent 8-day Mardi Himal Trek with Nepal Guide Info Team” Great job of organizing & managing this Mardi Himal Trek bySanjib Nepal guide info team. The trek started at Kande (at 1770m) from sea laval traveling through beautiful forest & ridge trails to the 4300m ridge at the foot of the Mardi Himal. This vista point provides an excellent close-up view of the magnificent 6997meter Machhapuchhre (Fish Tail) plus 13 other beautiful snow covered peaks. Trek final night at a home-stay in historic, fascinating, & charming village of Lwang (1460m). Was a truly fabulous trek! So our guide Raj and Porter Ram Chandra were excellent, knowledgeable, entertaining and all accommodations were taken care of very professionally. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! Thank you Sanjib and everyone with NGIT for an incredible trip!! Karoliina Hautala December 15, 2016 Mardi Himal Trekking with best guide and best company in Nepal We stumbled upon Nepal Mountain Guide Team walking down the main trip in Kathmandu , we couldn't have asked for a better company to organize a Trek with. There internal advice was friendly and informed with no expectation of booking. They made sure we were choosing the best Trek for us and our experience not the one which made the company the most money. We really did not want a busy trek, there are many tourists doing Poon Hill and Annapurna base camp , jomsom Trek and we wanted to avoid this as much as possible. We also had a desire to bird watch and explore the forests of Nepal. The Mardi Himal trek was the perfect trek, we rarely saw other hikers, we spent three great days in Rhododendron forests in the foothills of the Himalayas and finished with two great alpine days above 3500m in waist deep snow. Our guide Jivan was accommodating and made sure our every need was looked after. Upon arriving back in Kathmandu we were taken out for a nice Dhal bhat by the gracious owner of Nepal Mountain Guide Team .Sanjib showed us around his new office space in Thamel Kathmandu . I would recommend this company to anyone who is looking to do a trek with a family owned company, with over 18 years of experience. You will not be disappointined by the service you receive. It was a special treat!! It was a trip of a lifetime for us and we would highly recommend Nepal Mountain Guide Team ! Barbara Kluger December 15, 2016 Best Trekking guide and Tour Operator in Nepal Great company. They are easy to work with and will customize the type of trio you would like you your own specifications. Whether you are. Trekker and climber or just doing some sight seeing and taking in some of the culture, Sanjib or NJ will plan the perfect trip for you Christoph December 13, 2016 Me and my wife did Manaslu trek with Nepal Mountain Guide Team ( Nepal Guide Info ) Treks from 10th Oct 2016 to 24 Oct 2016. Mr. Sanjib Adhikari fantastic organized our trip. When we had query in email for Manaslu trek he did prompt answer what we need. He make quick answer, gave us good program, and reliable price too. in Nepal airport he make us warmly welcome himself and organized good hotel in Kathmandu. Our guide Mr. Ram Kumar care us a lots in our during trek period. He had very good knowledge about culture and mountain. He is not hesitating to answer us regarding to mountain and culture of the local people. Always attend with us honestly to serve us during the Manaslu . Our porter Mr Raj was so funny. He carries our baggage nicely and carefully. Our all team was great. Thank you so much Sanjib for this you're organized. Food, accommodation was no problems for us. Whether was so fantastic. People are so happy even after Earthquake in Nepal. We cannot stay without recommend this Local guide agency in Nepal "Nepal Mountain Guide Team" to Frence people who want to visit Nepal. we promise we will visit again in 2017 for Upper Mustang or Kanchenjunga Base Camp Trek . Thank you so much Sanjib Irina Raschendörfer December 13, 2016 Great save and lovely staff with Nepal Guide Info Team Paknajol , Thamel “ Every staff of Nepal Guide Info Teams is friendly and helpful. I am going to in Annapurna base camp trek is imagine to see good mountains view and sunrise view in mountains. I am join to Nepal Guide info Team same like to happy journey to help and care me and my family .I am sure that my experience with this agent was very excellent, and I am must grateful for the excellent service with this company December 2016 Margret Aerts December 13, 2016 It was an awesome time with nice porter and experienced Guide Sanjib Adhikari! I will go again in 2017 with them for another trek! Zaneta Wojas December 11, 2016 We went for EBC trek with my sister, we hired a guide from Nepal Planet Trek & Expedition. The whole experience was really good and professional. I spoke with Sanjib Adhikari by emails and by phone, Sanjib was really helpful, organizing the permits for us, hiring a porter, booking tickets, hotels and gave us some advice about what we will need for trek. When we arrived to Kathmandu he picked us up from the airport, everything went smoothly and we didn't have to worry about anything. Sanjib is a very helpful person, he introduced us to other guide working in the company, who took care of us while being in Kathmandu and showing the city. I can really recommend the Nepal Planet Treks & Expedition, they are all very nice people and also competent. Thank you for the best holiday in my life! Zaneta Margret Aerts December 9, 2016 I can only say one word: Great! Everything was very well organised and I enjoyed every minute with reliable guide Sanjib Adhikari and porter! Next time I will definetly go again on trek with Nepal Planet Treks & Exp! Margret Aerts December 9, 2016 In nov. 2014 I did this trek with Sanjib Adhikari from Nepal Planet Treks & Exp. Everything was very well organised with this realiable guide and porter! I enjoyed everyting very much and we even walked to the top of the Kyangi Ri! Next time I will certainly go again with Sanjib Adhikari and porter! Margret Aerts December 9, 2016 In nov. 2014 I did the Langtang Trek with Sanjib Adhikari from Nepal Planet Treks & Exp. It was a lovely time! Everything was well organised and I slept in lovely rooms in the guesthouses. I am always travelling alone in Nepal but I feel very safe, especially with a reliable guide as Sanjib Adhikari! The mountains were so beautiful and we walked even to the top of the Kyangi Ri! In the beginning of 2015 Nepal was hit by 2 earthquakes and Langtang was hit hard! Now it is all safe to do this trek again! The locals will heartly welcome you! The next tim I will definetly go again with Sanjib Adhikari and Porter from Nepal Planet Treks & Exp! Margret Aerts December 9, 2016 In november 2014 I decided to come to Nepal again and this time I did the Langtang Trek. I did this trek with Sanjib Adhikari and porter from Nepal Planet Treks & Expeditions. We had a lovely time! The trek started with a drive by jeep to the starting point of the Trek. After that we walked in forest, along the river, through small villages and we even walked to the top of the Kyiangi Ri! Everything was very well organised and I had lovely rooms in the guesthouses. I am always travelling alone in Nepal but always feel safe. Especially with a reliable guide as Sanjib! Unfortunally in the beginning of 2015 Nepal was hit by 2 earthquakes and the Langtang area was hit hard! Now the trek is open again and it is safe to visit again. Next time I will definetly go again with Sanjib from Nepal Planet Treks & Exp! Jim Davidson October 13, 2016 Sanjib !!!! Very good we are in New Delhi...But the Mountain is in my earth !!! We miss you and thank you very much for your ospitality.... We was very good with you !! I Hope that many people have a good time with you because you are a very powerful guide and a good friend!!! See you and jam jam!!! Micheal September 21, 2016 We trekked with Sanjib Adhikari from Nepal Planet Day Tours from 15.4.2015 to 28.4.2015. On 4.25.2015, the massive earthquake struck while we were on our descent from Base Camp, in Namche. Sanjib picked us up from the airport when our flight arrived 12.4.2015. He took us to our hostel, and visited us again the next morning, taking us to various places to get final provisions prior to our trek. His office is very nice and he served us tea. He picked us up the morning of our flight to Lukla. Upon arrival in Lukla, we met our porter and we had breakfast. The cost of our trek was extraordinarily competitive and everything was included. The only thing I had to pay for was if I wanted something like a candy bar while trekking–and then only if it weren’t a scheduled meal or break. I honestly feel we had the best deal available for this trek in Nepal. Sanjib commands a certain amount of respect from the Nepalese and other guides. He is very tall and in excellent shape. He seems known by everyone on the trail, from the teahouse owners to the other guides to airport personnel. It seemed as if he arranged everything in advance, getting us excellent lodgings in teahouses. Each of our dinners came with pomegranate seeds and tangerines–but no one else in the dining area had these. To this day, I don’t know where Sanjib found this stuff. My travel partner and I are 57 and 53 years old respectively. Sanjib did not push us to make our miles in any amount of time. It was a leisurely pace, although still very difficult. He explained many of the sites and cultures. He knew everything it seemed. His English was good enough where we had absolutely no problems with communication. Sanjib has an excellent sense of humor, and even with the extreme difficulty, I found something to laugh about daily. On the day from Tengboche to Lobuche, I ended up very ill. I couldn’t even carry my pack. I would say this is one of the sickest I’ve ever been. When we reached Lobuche, I immediately laid down under two sleeping bags and two huge wool blankets. I could not get warm. I had no appetite. Shortly after, Sanjib appeared with a bowl of porridge and cup of tea. He very calmly but sternly explained that it was necessary I choke this down if I had to. He left. I choked it down, and within 1/2 an hour, my strength began returning and I started tow arm up. The next day I woke up about 80% of my usual strength, able to continue on to Gorekshep. It wasn’t until later I found out we were headed out in a helicopter the next morning if I woke up in the same condition. On our descent, while in Namche, the earthquake struck. This isn’t a review of the earthquake, so I’ll say no more about that event. Sanjib decided, along with my travel partner (I was overruled) to head out the next morning to Phak Ding. The trek to Phak Ding was treacherous, with earth clearly waiting to slide off the mountain. We reached a landslide area that destroyed the trail, so we had a vertical climb up and around this landslide. The ground we had to climb was very loose and I was fearful it would not hold our weight. Sanjib made steps with his feet, after taking my pack, and assisted me with getting to the top. I was fearful, knowing I left a kid back at home. A half hour after we got off the trail, a 6.9 aftershock occurred. Sanjib had insisted we be off the trail by noon because of “tales” of another earthquake. I told him that was superstition and he should not worry. He said ok, but we need to hurry up and get off the trail. The 6.9 aftershock occurred 12:30. Upon arrival in Lukla, so many people were waiting to get out of the airport and back to Kathmandu. Our flight was cancelled, so we were now at the end of the line of hundreds of trekkers trying to get out. We were looking at that time at a good one week delay. Somehow, and he has not told me how this happened, he got us on the first flight out on the day after we were scheduled to leave. People who trekked the same time as us were stranded for up to two weeks. We were delayed one day. You tell me what kind of pull Sanjib had, to get us out of Lukla only one day later. When we arrived in Kathmandu, our hostel was closed because of damage. Sanjib found us a very good high rise hotel at a very reasonable cost who took us in. He visited us everyday until we left. I owe this guide my sincere thanks for the best trek we’ve ever taken–and we are world trekkers–and for in all likelihood, saving our lives. I cannot wait to again visit Nepal and visit Sanjib Adhikari.
B.Arch. 1985 Montreal, QC Interview by Jim Donaldson What we would like to talk about is how you decided to become an architect and why McGill. I, for the longest time, since I’m a kid, ten, eleven, twelve years old, always talked about being an architect. I used to love to draw, I used to love math and for me that seemed to be the most logical destiny. In fact, I was very quiet in those days. When I was a youngster, politics was the last thing that anyone would have predicted that I would fall into. And I loved to draw, loved sketching buildings on a piece of paper and thought that architecture was for me. McGill being right here, of course, in Montreal was my first choice. And when I was accepted to McGill, I felt I had it made. This was the early eighties where my whole life was right before me. I was all excited, accepted into the McGill School of Architecture, visions of tall buildings and buildings, designing schools and public institutions in this naïve, bright, brave new world that I was about to enter into and I even framed my letter of acceptance from McGill when I got it in the mail in the early eighties. And there I was. There was such a sense that my future is now set, I know now what I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life: designing buildings. [1:29:05] How old were you at that age? Probably about nineteen or eighteen or nineteen. I was about nineteen, twenty years old. So tell us about your days at McGill. As much as you can remember. Well, McGill, I think the first thing that most people of my generation at McGill think of is the mood box. The mood box was a first-year project that we had to do. Bruce Anderson and David Covo were our teachers. We had to- we were each assigned in groups of four a place, a location, a space in Montreal and we had to represent that space or that place in a box, in a small box, which was about 18 x24. So it combined a number of things. It forced us into a team with three other strangers and going through the whole design creative process with three other people, which was something that none of us had really been comfortable with. So that was first, learning to compromise and debate and discuss different creative issues, fight with our colleagues creatively. That in itself was an experience. And then I think that combined with the rude awakening of having our work out on display for others to hack away at, to pick at, was itself very much a learning experience and an opportunity to grow and mature somewhat. And some of us found that very difficult at the beginning. I also noticed that here I was, finishing high school and CEGEP, I had always been considered a good artist, I had always been top of my class in mathematics, and here I was flung into a group of forty people who all were excellent artists, they were all- had a scientific disposition to them and all of a sudden, you were thrown into the middle of the larger pond somehow, and that in itself was an adaptation that I had to make as well. [3:24:08] Now, how about some of the professors, not necessarily in chronological order? Or some of the ones that you have better memories or influenced sort of your own career, which is rather unusual. Well, I think in the beginning, Bruce Anderson was very much a prominent, intimidating presence at the beginning, whether it was his physical appearance with his menacing eyebrows or just because of his manner and his stern disposition, which was very intimidating for people to the point where in that first year, during a crit, we were absolutely petrified of him. Covo, Professor Covo was the softy and Anderson was the toughie. And we were always very scared of Mr. Anderson. But this was all part of, you know the combination of teachers that we had, interestingly enough, being so diverse prepared us to adapt to different situations. With Mr. Anderson, it was a tough crowd out there. With Mr. Covo, it was more of a congeniality. We tried to appeal in a more friendly, social way. Just the different characters taught us to deal with different projects, present different projects, handle ourselves very differently. And it was a learning process. The crits in the first year were very much an influence on me, very much something that I can even point to as having somewhat of an impact on my future career in politics, where you had to get up in front of a group of people, defend yourself, present an opinion as articulately as possible, make a case for yourself, debate the merits and then stand there in a hail of bullets as everyone fired back and attacked or criticized. A thick skin was very important to develop in those days and of course a thick skin is an absolute necessity when one is in the wonderful world of politics. [5:23:18] What about some of the other people who were on staff? Was Norbert one of your professors at anytime? Norbert Schoenauer was our professor. He didn’t teach- I never had him for design but he, of course, gave a number of courses on housing. A very, very- for me it was very exciting. I wanted to be an architect since I was a kid and I remember those first years sitting there, looking around at my classmates, looking at the teacher at the front of the class discussing architecture, whether it was the history of architecture, whether it was how to design a building, whether it was how to analyze function, the functioning of a building or project, whether it was Norbert teaching us about housing or Derek Drummond speaking to us about civic spaces. I just sat there marveling about the fact that for years I had this notion of being an architect when I got older and here I was actually having professors teaching me about it, discussing it. I was very much caught up in that and swept up in that and I became quite, I guess, the keener, which was the term in those days. I worked very hard. I was not at the top of the class as far as artistic ability was concerned, despite what I had been used to in high school, but I made up for it in very, very hard work and eventually I did well because of that but I was so enthusiastic because of the fact that this was something that I wanted to do for a long time and here I was actually being immersed in something that I so enjoyed. [6:50:25] So there weren't really any disappointments. Was it five years then or six years at that time? It was four. Four years, okay. It was a four-year programme, the first three for the B. Sc. (Arch) and the last year was the Bachelor of Architecture programme. And I was very shy and intimidated at the beginning but as I became more comfortable and more caught up in it, I became a bit of a social butterfly in the class. In fact, I co-founded what was known as the Richard-Robert lounge with another colleague of mine, Richard Jaeger. We founded this lounge, which became the communal space of our class and he and I were called upon to host baking competitions in the form of buildings or pumpkin sculpting competitions. And we became somewhat of a duo, somewhat of the social ambassadors for our class. And even that had, in certain ways, an influence on me in becoming more extroverted, outgoing to the point where, later on- another necessity of politics is the opportunity, ability to mingle with others and to joke around on occasion and the throw some lighter moments into very serious issues. And these were all the opportunities that were afforded to me as I became more and more comfortable with the class and as I founded this Richard-Robert lounge with my confrere. [8:14:11] Did you- was Stuart Wilson or Peter Collins there at the time you were there at all? No, Peter Collins had passed on the year before I arrived at McGill. Stuart Wilson, I took for a couple of elective classes. And I spoke earlier about the cast of characters. He was another one of those cast of characters that shaped each of us, or left an indelible mark on each of us in a very distinct way. And that is very much the shaping of a graduate architect from McGill has so much to do with the cast of teachers that we go through for those four years, whether it's a Pieter Sijpkes and his style or Rad Zuk and the way he tries to create a certain rigor in our thinking or Ricardo Castro who was there or Julia Gersovitz, just the way she was with us. And as I mentioned, Anderson and Covo and Drummond. And all these professors, by virtue of their own distinctiveness, shaped each of us in a certain way or modified our way of thinking or helped guide our way of thinking in a very unique way. It's such an eclectic mix and that has a lot to do with the way we became- I think from McGill, the graduates from McGill don't graduate, or at least in my time didn't graduate with a specific orientation or architectural discipline, but very much approaching things in an eclectic way because of how different the staff was through our four years. [9:46:11] Do you remember any events, anecdotes, or even talking about Sketching School, which might sort of bring forward a few other thoughts of your good times at McGill? Well, I'd rather not get into some of the midnight escapades that a number of us became involved in at some of our Sketching Schools. We had a lot of fun, needless to say, as any group of students in their young, early twenties would have. We had a lot of fun. Our class was a great class. We hung together very, very well and some of us are still in touch. There were, of course, so many moments that stand out, whether it was building the ice structure in second year and the phenomenon of building that ice arch, that Pieter Sijpkes I'm sure still talks about fifteen years later. Our trips to New York or Chicago or Boston. There's something very special about a group of forty very individual people with a lot of enthusiasm and energy and bursting at the creative seams to do things different and break new ground. There's something special to be said about forcing forty of us to live together in the studio for four years. It forges very important bonds and a very special relationship between us. And there are so many moments that one remembers, particularly the overnights and the way different people reacted to the stresses and the strains of that and I have to say, my four years in the School of Architecture were very, very special. I have very, very fond memories. Whenever I think back to any of those times, it puts a smile on my face. And it's a time that seems so far back now, but when our classes had the opportunity, as we have on occasion, to get together and have reunions, it's wonderful reminiscences and it's something that is special and that other faculties do not benefit from. It's because of the stress and the pressure of working together in that studio, having our own special space in that studio, working and having the creative juices flowing and the [unclear]. I guess it's easier to talk about when it's in the past than having to go through it, but it was a great time, a great, great time. [12:01:26] It was tough at the time. In retrospect, it seems like a wonderful period of your life. No question. Was there any one event or any particular course that might have influenced you more than the others? Or perhaps one that you enjoyed more than any of the others? Well, I think what had the most profound impact on me is having to- you know, you invest a lot of emotional time and energy and commitment into a design project. Having to get up and defend your design project in front of a lot of people, having to present it, having to sell it and then having to withstand the criticism of it or the constructive or not constructive itself was for me, I would say, the most influential aspect of McGill. It's that aspect: design, presentation, defending it and then learning to deal with the reaction, for me had very much to do with my ability to speak in public afterwards and to develop a thick skin and a sense of confidence, building one's own self-confidence and self-esteem. All that had a lot to do with development. And it builds character, that process. And I think as masochistic as it seems at times, I think that is so crucial to the development of an architect, having to be forced to go through that process as we all did at McGill. [13:30:17] And unfortunately, a lot of people do drop out. They can't persevere and the drop out of the process, out of the system. And some come back and some don't. A little while after graduating McGill, I actually went on a trip to Europe with a co-graduate of mine. We took our notes from Bruce Anderson's History of Architecture classes. So in our travels through Italy and England and France, we sought out the buildings that Bruce Anderson had discussed and we sat right there in the middle of those buildings with our notes out and we read through our notes and we looked around and lo and behold, Bruce Anderson's lectures had come to life! When I returned from Europe, I got a wonderful job working for Jacques Béïque and Associates. I worked on a couple of very interesting projects for Béïque. And it was very- that transition from the theoretical world of McGill and thesis and designing wonderful projects, my thesis was twin skyscrapers for Montreal, the two tallest buildings in the city. So you go from that and all of a sudden, you're into the work environment and a real architectural office working on mundane details. So that is a first transition that I had to get used to. But I was lucky to be- or to have graduated in a time where construction was really taking off in Montreal, the mid-eighties. I was working on some interesting projects at Jacques Béïque's office. The old POM bakery building, for example, was being transformed into Les Tours du Parc Westmount, the luxury condo project, which I worked with. And then shortly after that, I got a job with Tolchinsky and Goodz. And Tolchinsky and Goodz in the late eighties was really the place to be for a young graduate. There were so many projects that we had, in particular downtown high-rise buildings, and they were so busy that they had to throw a lot of responsibility at the young architects. And I had a great opportunity during those years to handle bigger projects and in fact, Tolchinsky and Goodz was almost like a reunion of my class at McGill. There were a number of people from my class and the year ahead of me that were working there so it was almost like we displaced some of the fun of the studio at McGill into Tolchinsky and Goodz's office, but this was for real. And we had a great opportunity during a very, very busy time in Montreal, during the construction boom, to work and then sink our teeth into real, exciting projects that we actually got to see built, which was very, very exciting for me at the time. [16:03:05] Now, in a strange way, I graduated from McGill in '85, rode the crest of the construction boom, and just before I guess construction went over the cliff was when I was elected to the National Assembly. And it emanated or my career as a politician began in a boardroom at Tolchinsky and Goodz. After hours was where I started convening a few friends of mine to discuss the possibility of creating a new political party and that literally is where the Equality Party was born. The Equality Party I founded in the late eighties because of the sense that the English-speaking community was not being represented in the Quebec National Assembly. And I called friends together in the boardroom there. And sometimes we had small meetings and sometimes we had bigger meetings. And as the momentum began to develop as political circumstances evolved, we had to move to my father's office, who had a bigger boardroom. And you know, I don't want to go through the whole history of how the Equality Party was founded, but after the dust settled, in the election of 1989, I was elected to the National Assembly with three colleagues and it became very much the election story. And then I guess at the beginning, this was quite a novelty and the journalists started digging into the past and they had interviewed some of my professors at McGill, such as Covo and Drummond, to see if they had seen back then when I was in McGill any signs of my future political career. And Covo made some comments about some of the things that I had mentioned earlier. So here I was in the middle of the National Assembly, thrust into the limelight as a politician with very, very little political background. And one of the most disappointing things for me at the beginning was the realization that architecture, or the profession as an architect, which is something that I had wanted to do since I was ten, twelve years old, was going to have to take a back seat, that I would not be able to practice architecture for the next number of years. Who knew how long this political adventure of mine would last. And that was somewhat of a disappointment, but politics is exciting as well. And the nineties was a very difficult time to be an architect, so in certain ways, it was very fortunate that I should fall into a profession such as politics, which in the early nineties was going through a very exciting period with the whole constitutional debate. I guess we can say that every decade but we were going through an exciting period in Quebec politics. But I had the opportunity to sit on important parliamentary commissions and deal with some of the major issues affecting the future of Quebec and Canada. And that type of profession started to become very exciting as well. And it lasted, of course, until 1994. [18:52:22] After the election of '94, it was not the most compelling time to try and make a re-entry into architecture. There wasn't enough exciting work and I was given a wonderful offer to work at the human rights agency that I mentioned. And then a few years later, this past year, 1998, the opportunity presented itself to run for mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc. The incumbent who was here for twenty-two years had decided to retire. And ironically enough, years ago, I had looked at municipal politics as something being more in line with my background. Municipal politics deals with a lot of issues such as urban planning and building construction and public works and environment. And this is something that, when I looked at the prospect of running for mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc, I saw as an almost perfect marriage between my background as an architect on the one hand and my five years as a politician, as a member of the National Assembly. And since I've been the mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc, I've very much enjoyed the elements that deal with building and construction and architecture. I'm an ex-officio member of the town planning commission and the planning advisory committee. I'm involved in every discussion on granting of building permits for projects and I very much participate in the debates at the town planning commission level as far as minor derogations are concerned, as far as zoning changes are concerned on any building project and I feel almost as if I've come home in that I'm getting an opportunity by being the mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc to involve myself very closely, very intimately in some of the projects and some architecture and some construction, which is something that I so missed for the past eight to nine years. And I cannot see a more ideal way to combine what have become my two passions, than being mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc. [20:55:29] Is your job today a full time job here? I'm still very much involved with B'nai Brith Canada, the human rights agency, but my job here as mayor is taking up more and more time and I've scaled back my participation with B'nai Brith to give more time and effort to the job here in Côte-Saint-Luc. And there are so many issues that I've put on our agenda for the council to look at future development in Côte-Saint-Luc, developing certain planning guidelines for Côte-Saint-Luc for new construction. We're hoping that the CP rail yards relocate out of Côte-Saint-Luc. In fact, a third of Côte-Saint-Luc territory is occupied by CP rail yards. If CP can be encouraged to leave in the next ten years and the land be developed, it would be a wonderful opportunity for me to really become involved in the urban planning process and zoning this area. And I work very closely with our town-planning department, our engineering department. As I said, I couldn't be happier right now at having found what I really feel completes my sort of background in those two vocations. [22:02:17] And at a very young age. At a relatively young age. I don't always feel very young. It's a demanding job. Believe me, anyone that's been involved in politics and has had to deal with the media, has had to deal with the various complaints. Municipal politics is very different from provincial politics. Provincial politics is very theoretical. Municipal politics deals with the nitty-gritty, the bread and butter, my backyard, your backyard, my fence, your fence, speed bump, "I want a speed bump in front of my house" or "I want a speed bump on my street because the cars drive too fast". And then someone says "I don't want a speed bump next to my house because it's too loud when the cars hit it". Everything is so conflictual. And I guess the powers of negotiation and persuasion are every much as part of this job as anything else. [22:47:29] Any final thoughts? You know, I look at what I'm doing now or I look at my political background and you know, upon reflection, I can see the School of Architecture very much being the launching pad for that. You know, being an architect or learning to be an architect, you have to present yourself a certain way. You have to be able to express your ideas clearly. You have to be able to develop a thick skin, as I've mentioned earlier, but you have to have a creative way of looking at things. You have to be open. Your horizons have to open outwards instead of straight ahead. And to be a successful politician, it involves consensus building. You've got to be able to deal with people, talk to people, bring a lot of people together under a tent. You have to be able to explain things, debate, express yourselves as clearly and concisely as possible. You have to withstand, you have to be able to take things. You have to let things roll off your back. You have to be able to be a rounded person and you have to see all around you. And there are so many comparisons. When you look at it in that way, there are so many comparisons that you can draw from my background or learning to be an architect that prepared me for that. I would never have been able to, in my view, be elected to the National Assembly, be able to stand up in the National Assembly with any degree of confidence or self-esteem to make a point, to argue, to debate, to point my finger at the government minister and make a point, if I hadn't been prepared for that at the McGill School of Architecture. McGill School of Architecture stiffens your spine, or it forces you to have a stiff spine and a thick skin and to be able to be ready to meet the world with your eyes wide open. I never would have been able to- I wouldn't be sitting here as the mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc today if it weren't for that grounding that I was forced to endure at the McGill School of Architecture. And this is, I guess, in an implicit way, one of the reasons too that I have such fond memories of the school and I very much enjoy going back on occasion and seeing some of the professors. [25:02:06] It certainly was character-building. One last question. Being young in a job like this, I know the energy level is much higher than if you were twenty or thirty years older, but is there any disadvantages being a young mayor? I'm sure you're one of the youngest right now that ever existed probably around this- in the province. Well, sometimes I walk into a meeting; there was a meeting recently of a group of residents on one side and a community, a rabbi and a group of his parishioners who want to build a synagogue on a special site. They want the city to bring about a zoning change but the residents in the neighbourhood are absolutely, ferociously against any zoning change to allow an institutional building, 'cause the rabbi wants to build a synagogue, to allow an institutional building in their residential neighbourhood. So finally, after a lot of arm-twisting and many phone calls, I got the two groups together, the representatives from the two groups, and they're sitting at the two sides of this long board room and then I walk in and I sit down at the meeting at the head of the table and I hear one woman off in the distance say, "He looks younger than my grandchild!" You know, so I guess the question of respect, you know, when you look young or when you are young in a milieu where everyone is much older, I guess respect or exerting authority is sometimes a bit of a challenge, but I always hope that once you get into a discussion and once you can make your case convincingly, people's preconceived biases, perhaps, fall by the wayside and they accept you for your ideas or your thinking as opposed to your appearance. But I guess in twenty, thirty years from now, I'll be glad that- I hope I'll still look younger than my age. Good. Well, thank you very much. I've thoroughly enjoyed that. [26:54:00]
San Sebastián Spain : September 2017 We stayed in a lovely Airbnb in Donostia, the Basque name for San Sebastián, most things here are written in both Spanish and Basque. Gros, the area of SS where we are staying, is just over the bridge from the main part of the city and is well know for its surfer beach and hence it’s slightly more laid back vibe. It’s only a 20 min walk across the bridge so we rate it as a good choice. The apartment is owned by Lourdes and she was extremely hospitable. Provided us with everything we needed as well as some fresh tomatoes and peppers from her garden. We have been to Donostia before and really fell in love. It’s just a beautiful city. With beaches and shopping and amazing architecture; then we come to the food which as you know features high in our list of life’s priorities. The pintxos bars are world famous. Pintxo means stick, the idea being that these are mini mouthfuls of deliciousness pinched together with a stick. Not to be confused with tapas ( although I think it’s a fine line). They are not as bread based. The secret is to not only order the cold ones on the counter ; but to also order hot ones from the kitchen which are freshly made. And then each bar has its speciality. Sounds like Logroño? Very similar. So Lourdes told us that Gros was as good for pintxos but without the bodies packed together like in the old city. She gave us 2 recommendations and both were right on the mark! I’m digressing from our story but in fact my poor darling husband Chris started feeling ill, so our first night was spent at home with him in bed. Although we did manage some bread and yummy jamon! Next day he felt well enough to venture out BUT it rained, no it poured! Bucketing down with a force preventing us leaving the house. So we stayed and read and relaxed and waited for the rain to stop ,eventually it did. We wandered around Gros and admired the beautiful architecture . We had a look at the prices of apartments and realized that San Sebastián including Gros were really quite pricey. In fact I read that it’s one of the most expensive areas in Spain. I suppose who wouldn’t want to live with 3 beaches, shopping and food Mecca on your doorstep. We had done the city in depth a while ago as we had stayed for 3 days but this time we went into the old part of the city and explored the pintxos bars for a late lunch. Not a bad idea as they are less busy. Seriously, last time we came you had to literally squeeze your body into a bar to get near a pintxo. So this was a much more pleasant experience. We had a ‘bola de bosque’ which were croquettes made with seasonal mushrooms. We had foie la plancha which is foie seared on a grill with a grape sauce. Hard to describe the food as it’s a myriad of tastes in a small mouthful. We had to find the cheesecake place we remembered and we were quite pleased we could. Here they serve a ‘queso torta’ which is essentially a baked cheesecake. You order one portion and we could barely manage to finish it. We also ordered a portion of boquerónes( anchovies) which were the best I’ve eaten. A lovely lunch followed by a walk around town. Maybe we bought a pair of sneakers or a few bits and bobs for ourselves and then home for a siesta. That evening we started our pintxos crawl at 8.30pm. On Thursdays, it’s good to know they do ‘pintxo-pote’. This is a free drink with your pintxo, or a free pintxo with your drink. It’s normally the house specialty but still it’s a good deal. Of course the Parsley’s pursuit of the perfect pintxo meant the bar we eventually settled on, a place named Bergera, was the only bar in Gros not offering pintxo-pote. We ordered some cold and some hot with my improving spanish and found a spot to sit and enjoyed our pintxos. Because we enjoyed them so much and because we saw a few other delicious things to try we ordered another round. See pics as I cannot quite remember each one. Again one featured foie la plancha and one a sardine. Our staple diet it seems. It was a lovely place and a lovely atmosphere with people just chilling and chatting. After this we took a long walk around Gros admiring the many bars. Really nice ones from a Ginoteria to artisanal beer bars. Then we landed up at Senra, another of Lourdes recommendations. Here we decided on a dessert that brought back a memory for me! All my life when I ate French toast at a restaurant or at someone’s house it was just not the same as the one my grandmother made me. Her’s was sugary and oh so delicious. Through the years I added sugar to my kids fresh toast to get a caramel flavour but it was never right. Now at this restaurant we ordered torrijas and what arrived was exactly how my meme made it! Thick slice of bread with an almost vanilla cinnamon custardy type of sauce soaked into the wedge of bread. Indescribable for me and I’m so happy I rediscovered this childhood memory. The walk back home up the steep hill was the best thing to walk off those calories. The next morning is ‘the day’! Time to pick up our camper van. I’m sure you will remember from last time that the camper van depots are never in the city or close to public transport so this time was no different. We had to collect from a depot close to Hondarriba which thankfully is close to the airport ( where we have to drop our car off) . We had left Gros early as we decided to spend some time exploring the coastal town of Hondarriba and have a nice lunch. All very well but as we get to the car park it pours and pours and pours. And you would think that we would not be put off by this. Just put on our rain jackets and take out our umbrellas and go? No it’s a long long story of the Parsley’s Pursuit of the perfect rain jacket. It started in London( the perfect place to buy the perfect rain jacket ) but no we have looked and looked and tried on and decided to buy it in Spain. Not sure sunny Spain is the best place but then it’s raining so maybe they do need them and so do we! Right now but we don’t have one. Ok moving on. We read our books in the car for 30min until the rain abated. Then we explored. Hondarriba is right across the river from France so you look out from the car park over the river mouth and harbour to France. Chris says he can see the French influence in the town with delicious French style pastries. We had coffee and a piece of toast with jam.( tostado con marmalade ) We wandered around exploring small shops and wandering down little alley, poof just like that it was lunch time. We found a place offering a menu del día for €18. It was packed but the bosslady found us a spot and the rest was heaven. Mussels for Chris and clams with beans for me. Fresh hake and duck confit followed by a flan and a yoghurt with mango dessert. All yummy see the menu below. Washed down with wine, water and coffee. PS: gossip alert. The guy next door with his family of 5, drank 4 big bottles of sidre( cider ). He drank most of it! Not judging of course, but seriously lunch time and driving. Only bad note was that we paid the bill seeing that they added the wine and coffee. We were a little unsure to complain but then we went outside and it poured so we had to wait a few minutes. It was a sign and when we saw the barman we asked him why it was not included. He said it was and apologized. Some story that the wine I drank was not part of the deal but credit to them they refunded us. So after this lovely lunch we off to pick up Pozzi2.( new version is ScootR) Such a different vibe, the Spaniard was chilled smoking his cigarette flirting with me cos he thought I spoke Spanish which I did tell I couldn’t anymore. And then he showed us around. None of that Germanic efficiency, much more fun 😉 Same as last time but called a Globescout R. Basically the same but slightly older model. The shower config is better and the fridge at eye level much better, but the storage space too shallow. So we rush off to drop off the rental car down the road and hurry back in a taxi. And we are off … Pamplona here we come! 5 thoughts on “Donostia: San Sebastian the gateway to heaven for food lovers…& surfers” Gosh……I have missed quite a few of your posts so will have to catch up…..sorry, but catching up on Season 1,2 & 3 of Poldark has taken preference of late….but I’m up to speed now so have some spare time. Your blog is great Rose….and you have me mouth watering, leaving me wanting to try all the wonderful specialties you’ve been indulging in. Am I right in assuming that Chris has dedicated his time to pursuing the perfect whatever’s while you document your amazing adventure? It’s going to be hard for you to settle down to the humdrum of our boring existence here in Capetown, even though the political scene here never ceases to amaze and entertain with Bell Pottinger, KPMG, Mckinseys, the Guptas, Zuma & Escom being the Principal players in our never ending political drama of corruption and intrigue, which has the makings of an award winning movie. If only it was fiction! Anyway…..let’s not spoil your adventurous escape on the road to discover more amazing places, beautiful buildings, delicious food, enticing shops and all the while sharing it with each other. Safe travels, love to you both and looking forward to seeing you when you eventually come ‘home’. Sending hugs and kisses xx LikeLiked by 1 person Dear Someone. (Your name does not appear?) thank you for reading and yes even though we are the pursuit of the perfect place we can’t escape those regular ‘breaking news pings’ which leave us torn between laughing and crying. Xoxo I see I’m anonymous…..but I won’t make you guess…..it’s Cheryl xx I was wondering who anonymous was! Glad to see you reading xx
![CDATA[ [if IE 9] ]]> Savings & retail banks' contribution to fair, sustainable development 21 March 2018 >> Read .pdf version >> More on WSBI event on G20 Argentina >> Link: Argentina G20 presidency Context significantly been implemented by its members. A series of action plans are impacting the environment in which The World Savings and Retail Banking Institute member banks operate. Therefore, WSBI has actively been in dialogue with the G20 implementing partners like the IMF, FSB, the World Bank, OECD and the United Nations and taken part in consultations related to new policy initiatives, principles and guidelines managed by the G20 partners. In addition to WSBI's on-going contribution to global policy debate, WSBI would like to take this opportunity to highlight: Assets Loans Non-bank loans Deposits Non-bank deposits Outlets Employees Customers The G20 Argentinian Presidency is building on the Germany Presidency's work to strengthen the global economy as a whole. WSBI fully supports its view that an inclusive, fair and sustainable financial system that offers all households and companies appropriate access to financial services is a key element for the stability of the financial system and the global economy. In this respect, WSBI would like to highlight that financing the real economy is a core function of WSBI members' business model. Savings and retail banks safeguard deposits and put them to work through effective and responsible lending valued at close to US$ 10.9 trillion. WSBI members have played an essential role in providing a model that is part of a diverse banking system which remains crucial to maintaining the stability of the financial system. Preventing the concentration of economic and financial resources in the hands of the few is paramount to a resilient financial system. Globalisation has proven to make the world more prosperous and move society forward, but the issue of greater social exclusion and inequality is emerging. WSBI believes that locally focused savings and retail banks help bring those people in and give them the opportunity to fully participate in the local economy. Close to customers, and in their communities for the long haul, they are ideally placed to help people better navigate their financial future in an inter-connected world. Local banks give citizens a chance to participate in the real economy, to start or expand a business and seek export markets. The Economist magazine once noted that SMEs, especially mid-sized firms, hire people regardless of the business cycle. Their approach is different compared to large companies, which oftentimes slash payrolls when times are tough. Globalisation has also had a negative impact such as widening social inequality. In this regard, WSBI believes that national governments, in particular those from developing countries, have put in place some measures to promote social inclusion. Social exclusion, poverty and racism are issues which, e.g. vocational loans, promoting financial education and integrating vulnerable people in communities through financial education. The Argentinian Presidency highlights the importance of unleashing people's potential in the new digital age. Savings and retail banks have advanced to adopt new technologies and incorporate them in their products. However, they also note that not all citizens, senior citizens for example, are able to cope with the digital evolution. For the sake of this, savings and retail banks maintain a close, synergistic relationship with the community as a whole and leave nobody behind. WSBI welcomes the Argentinian's position on the importance of providing citizens with tools and skills, empowering them to shape their own futures. WSBI and its members recognise the significance of promoting financial education for all citizens worldwide and carrying out a wide range of initiatives aimed at preventing social and economic exclusion, but also providing citizens with a better knowledge of financial issues, enabling them to make informed choices and to gain the adequate skills for full insertion in the labour market. Based on the principle that financial education should be introduced at an early age, WSBI believes that it should be provided to everyone and at any age. Financial education should be a continuous process that constantly adapts to the changing social, financial and political context, and where several actors from different sectors of society shall play a key role in improving its efforts. The lack of entrepreneurship skills, such as business skills and financial literacy, can be a barrier to success for potential entrepreneurs. Thus, when fostering entrepreneurship, financial education and financial literacy can be a desired objective associated with entrepreneurial skills. WSBI members undertake dedicated financial education initiatives to foster entrepreneurship skills, particularly amongst the youth. Empowering vulnerable groups via financial education remains one of WSBI's priorities. As such, WSBI members also undertake dedicated initiatives to empower women, in the form of innovative payment solutions, national action plans or financial literacy campaigns to improve their levels of income and livelihoods. Policymakers should build upon the experience of public banks for the development of financial inclusion policies, for the promotion of an entrepreneurial culture, and to improve the access and the use of financial services by vulnerable populations. By delivering a joint effort, they will be able to influence positively the global situation market. New digital systems and business models can indeed help to boost productivity and lower costs while enhancing customer centricity and financial offerings. Digitalisation has been proven to improve access to financial services and create greater social inclusion. In emerging countries with high levels of poverty, the focus should be on the promotion of access to broadband but also on the financing of regional economic structures that allow people to progress in the regions where they live and access decent work. Support should also be given to the collaborative and transparent use of "big data" technologies based on common interest, for example to improve access to finance and risk management, to provide insurance against natural catastrophes, to revitalise labour markets, and to smoothen the relations between companies and banks. WSBI is glad that the G20 Argentinian Presidency continues to put digitalisation high on the agenda and that it shows its willingness to explore the developments in digitalisation, including its possible effects on financial stability and its potential in financial inclusion. WSBI supports the Argentinian G20 presidency's aim to take the first steps towards a secure regulatory setting, in which the benefits of new technological breakthroughs can be fully explored without neglecting the potential risks to the stability of financial systems. Policymakers should take measures to eliminate regulatory arbitrage to secure a level playing field. A level playing field is of importance: FinTech - “Financial Technology" - describes an activity not a specific entity. FinTech is thus being fostered and used by banks just as much as start-ups, IT companies or third-party providers. Considering FinTech firms as different entities can lead to misjudgement in terms of defining a regulatory approach to FinTech activities. The business models of financial service providers thus need to be respected whilst at the same time ensuring competition law is enacted. More comprehensive action is still required regarding the needed new regulatory framework for digitalised finance. This framework should, on the one hand, create the right environment for innovation in the financial sector and, on the other hand, protect both companies and customers in the light of new regulatory challenges regarding digital. Regulation on digitalised finance should particularly act on: Data protection: providing harmonised clarification on the use of consumer data by regulated and supervised institutions, making a clear distinction between raw data and the handling of processed data (possibly anonymised/pseudonymised); E-identity: Legislators need to make sure that everyone has a valid identification document, and a low-cost, accessible means for customers to be authenticated. Policy should support the industry when onboarding people digitally. This will involve the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and other institutions in the Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and electronic identification (e-ID) sphere. Cloud computing: providing for legal certainty and harmonisation in using cloud service providers cross-border, and for clarity and harmonisation of the supervisory requirements applicable to banks in this respect; Cyber security: It has to be borne in mind that aiming for and maintaining cybersecurity is a shared responsibility among all stakeholders in society, with governments and authorities leading and facilitating, enabling those players to exchange critical information, in real time, standardising incident reporting formats and setting up (per country) a single point of contact to deal with these; Platforms: Platforms should be subject to the same transparency requirements. Effective enforcement of rules is crucial (in particular considering the cross-border nature of platforms), and principle-based self-regulatory and co-regulatory measures including industry tools for ensuring application of legal requirements and appropriate monitoring mechanisms can play a role. Automated financial advice: equal treatment across regulatory channels is paramount to an effective framework which promotes innovation while protecting all types of customers. With respect to completely new technology (such as distributed ledger technology), legislations (or parts thereof) which at present are not technologically neutral would need to be revised in order to erase this deficiency with respect to the required neutrality. Policy support is also required to advance financial inclusion commitments, in terms of policy guidance and incentives, to promote and accelerate the building of social credit schemes. Developing infrastructure, including financial infrastructure and physical infrastructure – mobile networks, transportation, among others – should be addressed. Coordination should be enhanced at national level to make sure that central banks, finance ministers and banking supervisors work hand in hand with national authorities and bodies in charge of non-financial areas. Credit identification is critical for substituting collaterals, reducing the risk and cost of inclusive finance, and solving the problem of information asymmetry. Government sectors are expected to introduce unified data standards and formats as soon as possible to facilitate normalised data fusion, break “information islands" among data resource departments, integrate credit information resources scattered in financial institutions, judiciary, industry and commerce, taxation, public utilities and other departments, form a unified information sharing platform, lay a solid foundation for a society-wide credit reporting system, and enhance the risk control capability of banks with big data. Information exchange in the digital age has gone beyond the boundaries of industries and fields, which blurs the bounds of finance and non-finance and thus increases the difficulty of financial supervision. Meanwhile, weak and flawed regulation also poses great risks for low-income people who lack financial knowledge about risk identification. A regulatory system keeping pace with the times should be able to find the optimal equilibrium among stabilising financial system, protecting consumers' interests and encouraging innovation. Policy makers should enact legislations that favour business models that contribute to social inclusion and reduce inequalities, especially by promoting entrepreneurial spirit, micro, small and medium enterprises and access to assets that allow people to remain out of poverty. Linking companies and banks with local initiatives and development groups could prove to be a good solution. Digital technologies, systems and processes have a massive impact on daily life in general and the labour market specifically, and on the type of skills needed in the economy and society. By way of example, the structure of employment is changing, leading to the automation of “routine" tasks and to the creation of new, different types of jobs. There is a need for digital skills for nearly all jobs where ICT complements existing tasks. Careers such as engineering, accountancy, nursing, medicine, art, architecture, and many more require increasing levels of digital skills. Every citizen needs at least basic digital skills in order to live, work, learn and participate in the modern society. Job seekers and employers are connected in new innovative ways. Ensuring that everyone has the right skills for an increasingly digital and globalised world is essential to promote inclusive labour markets and spur innovation, productivity and growth. The industry can play a role here. WSBI particularly welcomes initiatives to enhance digital skills of the youth, such as the Digital Opportunity initiative, launched by the European Commission, aimed at boosting digital skills on a cross-border basis through internships. These initiatives, bringing together countries, companies, social partners, non-profit organisations and education providers, are crucial to address the mismatch between the skills of job seekers and the needs of the labour market. Digitalisation also opens new opportunities for innovation in learning infrastructure. Examples such as MOOCs (massive open online courses) and OERs (open educational resources) already offer opportunities to learn for many workers. Companies could make use of these resources in order to promote and harness employees' digital skills to the extent that this is relevant and feasible. Financial inclusion and financial education initiatives can also indirectly empower citizens regarding their digital skills. Retail banks that adopt a gender approach focused on the needs of women, will not only be promoting greater financial inclusion with relevance in meeting the needs of women, but will be contributing more to the development of local economies, especially in the countries with the greatest lag in the inclusion of women in the real economy. Women require appropriate products. It is therefore necessary to enable flexible guarantees to finance their productive activities and continue applying methodologies that have proven to be successful, such as promotion of savings groups, as well as services and channels close to their homes. Inclusion of migrants in the formal system The global phenomenon of migration and displaced people due to climate or terrorist crises, or simply seeking for better opportunities, needs to be tackled. The legal framework should enable retail and locally focused banks to provide financial services to migrants and their families both in the areas of origin and in the countries to which they migrate. Migrants that do not necessarily have the appropriate identification mechanisms nor the possibility of meeting the requirements to open an account, still need to be able to pay and to send remittances, and establish a relationship with a bank without having the traditional collateral for a loan. Migrants often have no possibility to make transfers and rather carry cash with them on dangerous journeys and are subject to theft and extortion. Policymakers should consider exploring mechanisms that allow migrants to deposit their funds in accounts that are accessible to them in the country to which they migrate, taking into account the fact that migrants will not be able to present documents to start a relationship with a financial institution. The risk assessment would need to be done on a case by case basis, and retail and locally focused banks are ready to contribute their experience. Yet, policy makers should recognise that this phenomenon exists and that it is preferable to give institutional options to the migrants to protect the equity they may generate on the way, rather than the informal mechanisms which in most cases is the only available way for them. WSBI welcomes the approach of development financial institutions to support locally focused financial institutions to become more efficient and competitive in the digital age. In the framework of the G20 Presidency held in Latin America this year, we pay particular due to the work done by the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) as a strong ally for WSBI and its members in this front on the following areas: As the G20 Argentinian Presidency highlights, investment growth is frequently regarded as far less than what is needed to sustain vigorous growth and make this growth truly inclusive. WSBI welcomes that the G20 will seek to develop infrastructure as an asset class, particularly by improving the instruments designed to fund infrastructure projects. Enhancing trade and investment ties is a crucial task in order to reinvigorate strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth as well as SME participation in global value chains. As far as investment is concerned, WSBI would like to highlight that the role of banks in fostering investment should be well recognized, and the capability of banks to fund investment should not be impacted by the evolving regulatory framework such as rules on capital requirements and liquidity. Progressively introducing capital conservation buffers and countercyclical capital buffers as part of the Basel III regulation is expected to significantly increase minimum capital requirements for banking institutions (with a particular burden on smaller banks) thus providing a rationale for a decrease of bank lending capacity in the short run. Because alternative finance providers may only partially fill the gap between available bank capital and the multi-trillion-dollar medium-term investment programmes, WSBI encourages regulators to design policies that could further boost bank lending for infrastructure projects. Due to the crucial transmission role of savings and retail banks to the wider economy, such policies would further enable the capacity of banks to transform deposits into loans for sustainable long-term projects. Since the role of banks is to adequately assess risks for given projects while the role of institutional investors is to provide returns, the complementarity of both models should be strongly encouraged in order to provide a level playing field for infrastructure finance providers, which would in turn be beneficial for both growth and financial stability. WSBI welcomes blended finance as the strategic use of development finance for the mobilisation of additional commercial finance towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing countries. It has been estimated that 2.5 trillion USD per year will be needed by developing countries alone to successfully deliver the Goals. Implementing strategies to deliver SDGs will engage banks at all levels, as they have a key role to play in delivering the 2030 Agenda. In this respect, WSBI welcomes and fosters public–private partnerships in the framework of blended finance strategies. Working with development funders via strategic partnerships, be it foundations, development finance institutions, World Bank Group and actors alike, is at the core of sustainable minded institutions, such as WSBI membership. Agriculture remains a major source of livelihood and a primary sector for the majority of rural populations in developing economies. Ensuring that it receives adequate access to financial products and services, including smallholders, can significantly impact economic growth and development. However, despite its importance, effective delivery of agri-finance products, a lack of coordination among the value chain actors and the need to apply price pressure on agricultural commodities represent persistent constraints. The impacts of climate change on the agriculture industry are also becoming more prevalent and represent major challenges. To overcome these constraints and challenges, actions are needed to increase both public and private investments in agri. It is estimated that a food production increase of 100% is needed by 2050 to supply an expected global population of 10 billion and that the majority of this production will take place within developing economies.[1] In order to meet this rising demand, a significant number (estimated at 75%) of the poor living in developing economies which rely on farming for revenue and their own food source will need better access to markets and the ability to effectively enter the value chain. A formal credit delivery system is thus needed to support this development and provide funds to farmers engaged in agricultural projects. Expanding access to formal sources of finance to rural smallholders requires a number of considerations and approaches. For example, providing smallholders with financial literacy training has been shown to increase yields and incomes.[2] New loan models enabling smallholders to utilise their crops as primary collateral are also becoming more common.[3] The digitalisation of the value chain has the potential to further financial inclusion significantly, particularly when coupled with other technology solutions such as mobile payments as ways of expanding access to the formal financial sector. Finally, an appropriate regulatory framework providing incentives to finance providers delivering products to the farm sector may also be beneficial. Without access to finance, rural smallholders are extremely limited in their ability to expand and meet the rising demand for agriculture. The fusion of agriculture and technology, also referred to as “agri-technologies or agtech" provides important opportunities for farmers to increase their profits. By utilising new technologies, smallholders can find ways to rely less on chemicals, collect and use data more effectively to increase productivity, reduce waste or access better market information. By promoting efficient agricultural reforms along the entire agricultural value chain, governments can help farmers in both reducing their costs (cultivation costs can be put down with the use of efficient water, fertilizer and nutrient usage) and increase their revenue (governmental targeted scheme to ensure that farmers get remunerative prices). Utilising digital technology in agriculture can also potentially reduce environmental risks by providing technology support to farmers and helping them combat the impacts of climate change. There are a number of ways in which governments can play a leading role in supporting the growth of the agriculture industry. Some examples include: WSBI welcomes that the G20 Argentinian presidency will continue the G20 German presidency's initiative to further strengthen the international financial architecture and global financial safety net. As highlighted by the G20, risk associated with volatility, macroprudential measures and capital flow management tools are at the top of the agenda. those that might have unintended effects should be recalibrated – in order to focus more on fostering economic growth. For example, the capability of banks to fund the real economy has been restricted by new regulations under Basel III and could also be hindered once the Basel IV framework has been mirrored in regulation. In this regard, we call on decision-makers in all jurisdictions should give due consideration to the possibility of undertaking thorough public impact assessments with updated data, enhancing a constructive and transparent dialogue with stakeholders. Transposing Basel IV texts into national law must be done in a way that does not harm banks' ability to finance the economy. Locally focused banks that make up WSBI's membership, which are strong building blocks of national financial systems in particular in the time of a financial crisis, should not be hurt by ongoing financial rules reform, but should thrive within an innovation-driven, framework. A proportionate application of international and national banking regulations would allow local banks to perform a wide range of services to their customers - SMEs and households, some of whom are in regions where only local banks provide services. in the books. Furthermore, before initiating new regulatory acts, it is especially important to carry out detailed impact assessments that also take into account the impacts on smaller and less complex banks as well as the interactions between different regulatory pieces. The G20 Argentinian Presidency has rightly committed to continuing the current G20 tax policy agenda. That agenda namely applies to implementing the recommendations for preventing base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and encouraging tax compliance by achieving the broadest possible participation in the exchange of information in tax matters. Aiming towards increased transparency is needed, along with initiatives to develop a global multilateral system for the exchange of information with clear and equal rules for everyone. Effective monitoring is required, however, a disproportionately large reporting requirement putting them at a competitive disadvantage compared to larger and globally focused financial institutions. WSBI fully agrees with the G20 Argentinian Presidency's decision to expand on the German Presidency's commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development. Locally focused banks should be included in the international evolutions on sustainable finance. In addition, standardising sustainable finance activities and product terminology is important. Harmonising definitions and labels for green products should be carried out – including for insurance products which guarantee the quality and efficiency of the energy being used – which should be discussed between the private sector and regulators/supervisors. The benefit of such harmonisation is clear: Making sustainable finance more organised and more scrutinised, reinforcing its credibility and efficiency. It also ensures that citizens are better able to clearly identify which products would help support a sustainable future. WSBI members stand ready to increasingly cooperate with municipalities to organise financing of new products, especially to increase energy efficiency such as buildings and infrastructure. The G20 Argentinian Presidency is right to build on the Energy Efficiency Leading Programme agreed upon in China 2016 and the Toolkit on Renewable Energies created under the Turkish presidency of 2015. WSBI also backs the G20's plan to push forward issues on the energy agenda such as inefficient fossil fuels and energy data transparency. SMEs are the backbone of economies throughout the world as they contribute to the most significant share of employment and added value creation in both developed and developing countries. Enhancing the contribution of SMEs in a globalised world is therefore vital to relaunch growth and boost the world economy. Outlook forecasts that global infrastructure investment needs to reach 94 trillion USD by 2040[4] in renewable energy, transport, energy infrastructure and buildings. Given the constraints on public finance in many countries, the majority of these investments will have to be financed by the private sector, i.e. SMEs and households. The role of SMEs in a sustainable environment should also be highlighted and has garnered more attention from institutions in recent years. In a context of rapid international expansion of the green sector, estimated at 5% per year, SMEs should be considered as a changing force with the capacity of transmitting innovative solutions to the economy. Increasing SMEs' access to bank credit can help to reduce the supply–demand gap in financing SMEs. Developing these programmes is necessary to ensure that SMEs have access to the financial means they need for their projects. Since is expected to reduce credit availability for SMEs and further widen the borrowing cost gap between large firms and SMEs. On diverse non-traditional bank financing instruments and channels, WSBI-ESBG underlines that only complement bank lending. WSBI calls upon development financial institutions and international cooperation agencies to enable a greater availability of funds in the form of non-reimbursable grants, such as technical assistance for emerging countries with high levels of poverty, in order to promote financial inclusion and education, not only through digital means, but also through the "person to person" relationship in places with geographical barriers and formal access. De-risking brings wide consequences for the financial industry as a whole. The most worrying aspect of de-risking is the fact that people still need to make payments – and if traditional banking channels are no longer available, transactions are likely to be forced into alternative channels, which may be less well regulated. It has an effect on financial access for individuals and populations and hinders financial inclusion progress. It affects remittances flows between countries, as small local intermediaries active in financial inclusion suffer the effects of accounts being closed down in global banks, which effectively reverses the financial inclusion effect of rural and marginalized populations. De-risking represents a regulatory failure. Policymakers, regulators, standard setting bodies and other stakeholders should take necessary accountability and leadership to solve challenges related to dealing with accounts of clients perceived to be “high risk" rather than 'De-risking'.Fighting corruption Recent years have shown financial institutions worldwide that money laundering and corruption can be interlaced. Both offshore companies, as well as domestic (EU) companies controlled by offshore companies (e.g., UK LP/LLPs) without any clear purpose of that structure, can be vehicles for facilitating not only money laundering and corruption, but fraud, tax evasion, illegal arms trade and avoidance of international sanctions. Financial institutions which have taken a clear stance to reduce and clean up their client portfolios of offshore companies and domestic companies controlled by offshore companies will not only strengthen their obligated work to comply with anti-money laundering, but will also assume their expected social responsibility and make it more difficult for bribery and corruption to be facilitated through financial institutions. By doing so, they will also inherently help the international community in fighting corruption and other crimes. Governments worldwide have a big role in helping financial institutions. Governments also need to take responsibility in this matter and open up company registries and make them easily available and transparent with reliable and updated information (e.g., UK Registry) on beneficial ownership. A continued, enhanced dialogue and cooperation between the private sector and the authorities are also needed to handle these issues. WSBI is an international banking association that helps member savings and retail banks thrive, focus on servicing local communities and boost the small and medium-sized businesses that form the bedrock of the real economy. Representing savings and socially committed retail banks that offer their services mainly to private clients, micro and SMEs and local authorities, they work through more than 180,000 branches worldwide to provide banking services through a socially responsible approach to communities where they serve. The 110 WSBI members, representing about 7,000 banking institutions, are active in some 80 countries throughout the world, in developing and developed countries alike. Assets of WSBI members active in the G20 countries amount to €15 trillion and they serve more than 1.2 billion people.: 21 March 2018 [1] [2] [3] [4] World Bank, Global Infrastructure Outlook, 2017 >> .pdf version
, who still says thank-you prayers under her breath. And to you, wherever you find yourself tonight. I wrote this for you. It’s not much, but it’s something. They tell me the Man Upstairs made this whole world in six days. On Saturday, he took a coffee break and looked over his artwork. Sprawling oceans, majestic Appalachians, Waffle Houses, and American Bloodhounds. “It is good,” he probably said when he saw it. I’m writing this on a Friday night. I’m on a porch in the woods. I’m thinking about this world, and about the fine people in it. Nurses who raise abandoned men. Those who encourage writers, just because. dogged if the Man Upstairs wasn’t right when he said it. It is good. So very good. Tracy - October 27, 2018 6:12 am Amen. So very amen. Kim Steele - October 27, 2018 6:41 am Very good Becky - October 27, 2018 8:00 am It is 2:57 AM and I just Finished reading this. I needed It. Thank you. It is good. My brother took his own life a few months ago. He was 61. My daughter just got served divorce papers. She is 41. Has 3 wonderful boys. I cant Sleep. But it is still good. God is still good. And thank you again. Nancy Rogers - October 27, 2018 9:55 am And the people said amen. Diane - October 27, 2018 10:20 am Amen… Margaret Peggy Barnes Jones - October 27, 2018 11:18 am Dear Sean, I love the way you write. I am a teacher of English to middles schoolers. The insistence for five sentence paragraphs in the blocky intro, three details ,and concluding sentence always stymied me. How restricting. Now, God has released me from that fine job, and I can pursue my talents in other ways. As you, I care to write as I feel the words flow. Your words in “Good” moved me this morning. When one door close, another open as so many people like to say and tell me. I am a witness to this miracle. The woman who divorced her second alcoholic husband. The kind, country story teller who is/was the step-father to my three children. I raised those kids by myself with lots of their alocoholic father’s money. That man is a better father today than he was when they were little. Thank you, God. My racing buddy passed on October 3rd. Rest In Peace Bobby Jones. Number 3 Forever. The Father, the Son, and the Hooy lGhost.l. Bobby is in Heaven with all loved nes. Do dogs go to Heaven? My teaching contract was pulled from me this year due to God. I trust now. I am no loner depressed. I do worry and stress and allow anxiety to batter my soul. I am addicted to Xanax because a silly, selfish clinic said it was ok. I am admitting myself, if they”ll help me, to a psychiatric hospital in order to release the last milligram. I can not tolerate drugs anymore. Chemo and radiation have changed my physical self. It’s ok to be me. Think fast. Change the subject. Create. Laugh. Dance. Make music. I do not have to slow myself down for anyone. I feel abandoned by my family in certain ways. I know my siblings love me as I do them. They live across the great US of A. My children love me so much they think I’m crazy. The darn Xanax withdrawal makes me talk my head off and God is introducing me to wonderful people. Stranger danger according to my children. So, I’m driving to a psychiatric hospital today iwith hopes and prayers to get off the Evil drug. I want to be admitted so I don’t have to drive so far every day. So, I can be all done. My heart cannot handle the pain any longer. Coronary spasms. Ouch! You move me. Your words are set just so. Wonderfully. Thank you for sharing. I apologize for not proofing my writing. The tears are getting in the way. Peggy Jones Pamela McEachern - October 27, 2018 8:46 pm Peggy you are in my prayers and God will not let you down. Naomi - October 27, 2018 11:11 pm Pamela, where do you live? Are you related to the McEachern family in Powder Springs, GA. Our high school is named after them. They started Life of Georgia Insurance Company. They left the HS an endowment that made it able to build buildings and give teachers bonuses, unlike any public HS in Georgia. Debbie Shiflett - December 18, 2018 2:12 pm Naomi, where are you from? I graduated from McEachern High 1971. The campus looks a lot different now. Naomi Storey - December 18, 2018 8:57 pm Debbie, my husband and I still live on the farm in Powder Springs where he grew up. His father Carl Story was one of the first school bus drivers at McEachern. One of our pastors, Mark Isley road his school bus. We are in a second marriage (39 years next month) but all 3 of his boys went to McEachern–Steve, Bob & Ben. Naomi - October 27, 2018 11:19 am If anyone who reads this knows the lady who has epilepsy, my daughter-in-law recently had brain surgery to stop her epileptic seizures. There is a neurosurgeon at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA, who can do this kind of surgery. Evidently he is one of only a few neurosurgeons who can do this because he has a one-year waiting list. My daughter-in-law has had nocturnal epileptic seizures all of her life, but as she got older, they were so frequent she had to resign from her job as a pediatric nurse, a job that she loved. Since the surgery, she has not had any seizures and has been able to sleep through the night for the first time in her life. If anyone with epilepsy wants more information, you can send a reply. You must have health insurance or be a multi millionaire. Glenda - October 27, 2018 9:42 pm May God bless you as you move on with your life; believe in your heart, you are strong, you are beautiful, always remember “No One Can Take the Fire out of Your Soul, the Stars from Your Eyes, the Passion within Your Heart ~ these belong to YOU and no one can take them away. Debbie - October 27, 2018 11:45 am Soooooooo good! Thanks!!! Steve - October 27, 2018 12:10 pm I have experienced a portion of which you wrote Friday night in the last 8 days. Nurses, techs, docs, family, real friends. Man o man. There are a lot of truly good and kind folks. God is good. Barbara - October 27, 2018 12:15 pm Thank you Sean for this message of Hope and Good in this messy world. I read your posts every morning and they give Love, Peace, and Hope. It is Good. Thank you. Barbara Terri C Boykin - October 27, 2018 12:31 pm Love you much Sean. Sandi Watkins - October 27, 2018 12:47 pm Love to start my day with your writing. Even when it makes me ugly cry. Thank you for reminding me to be thankful every day for all I have and all I don’t. Your admirer Sandi Watkins Janie's Jottings - October 27, 2018 12:55 pm I read this to my husband as he was driving. We both started crying. Sean Dietrich, you have a GIFT. You put your readers right into your stories. I love that! This is one of the most touching things I’ve ever read. May God bless you and all the people you share with us. Nancy - October 27, 2018 1:03 pm And when God created you He said, “He is very good and will touch many people with his words!” Thank you Father for Sean. Love you big, Sean! Brenda - October 27, 2018 1:08 pm “….what a wonderful world.” Thank you, Sean, for such a lovely reminder this morning. Gene Brannon - October 27, 2018 1:09 pm Gene Brannon from Hartford. I have the info on the Sister City (Litchfield, MN) Breakfast at Mom’s Kitchen on Tue. Nov 6 and Fri Nov 9. A fish fry at noon Wed at the Hughes Community Center. The Civic Club is hosting the visitors at Ketfhem’ss venue on Fri at noon. Pick out which you want to visit or come up and visit them all if you would like. We have a guest room you and your wife are welcome to use if you would like.My phone # 334-797-8191. Give me a call and let me know what you would like to do. Carol - October 27, 2018 1:35 pm Please God heal these people of their cancers Two more in my family and friends are battling My son in law. Was told just a small prostrate removal. Now they say they see more. He is is backbone and like you Sean , the apple of his mother in laws eye! My friend Ramona has lost the side of her tongue and more is coming back, no didn’t smoke! Please remember them and pray for God’s mercy! Thank you for sharing everyday! I just needed to lean on your shoulder a few min! Love ya! Carol - October 27, 2018 1:37 pm PS. Michael took their homes in Fla too at PCB GOD HAVE MERCY ! Shirley Brown - October 27, 2018 1:47 pm There are good people all around us but unfortunately we sometimes get distracted by the negatives in life. Thank you for reminding us that each day we should take the time to smell the roses around us and while we’re stopping for that, to stop and see the goodness and kindness in others. Debbie Britt - October 27, 2018 1:57 pm What a blessing you are!! What a way with words!! Dianne - October 27, 2018 2:17 pm Amen…………..Yes, Sean, it is very good!! Fred - October 27, 2018 2:37 pm I enjoy reading your writings Sean but one correction. He is not the man upstairs. He is God, The Creator, The Almighty. Stuart - October 28, 2018 5:49 am Amen Fred. His name is above all others. If he were a man like us, we’d have no hope. Debbie Shiflett - December 18, 2018 2:22 pm Fred, lighten up, said with I smile and a bit of a hug. If you’ve read much of Sean’s writing, you know he knows, God, the Creator, the Almighty, the Prince of Peace, the Lily of the Valley. I could go on, but won’t. Bonnie Oswald - October 27, 2018 3:07 pm He’s the Man Upstairs…….. like us, He’s been called worse! Thank you, great written pictures…… Phillip Saunders - October 27, 2018 3:34 pm Super duper, Sean! Great words. You need to sit and breathe in that fresh night air more often if it inspires you like it did last night. Yes, this old world that He made IS good. We just need to look around us and see it. Debby Haddock - October 27, 2018 3:46 pm Indeed! Shirley McGraw - October 27, 2018 3:48 pm Sean, you have an excellent writing skill to show others the good in this world! God bless you!!!! Edna B. - October 27, 2018 3:50 pm The older I get, the more I realize just how good this life is. I have been very blessed and I’m ever so thankful. I’m thankful for someone like you too, Sean. You’re a ray of sunshine on this wet, gray morning. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B. Minnie Bourque - October 27, 2018 5:06 pm Amen, Sean! The world is good…..we just have to look for it and it’s often right in front of us. Naomi - October 27, 2018 5:40 pm Minnie, I disagree with the statement that “The world is good”. although there are good people in the world. According to the Bible, the world will get worse; “There will be wars and rumors of wars” until the Lord returns. Turn on FOX News and see what happened in Pittsburg just this morning. Pamela McEachern - October 27, 2018 6:16 pm I too believe the world is good, unfortunately there are some really bad people in it. I choose good and I always will, we are all in this together. I want to be the difference for anyone that needs me. Peace and Love from Birmingham Judy Kate - October 28, 2018 1:12 am ❤️ Rebya Falk - October 27, 2018 6:56 pm Sean, I so love your writing. May God bless you richly! Christine Lance - October 27, 2018 10:03 pm I’m so thankful my friend invited me to hear you speak and told me of your blog. It feeds my soul everyday and has become even more pivotal in my life since Hurricane Michael destroyed our town. Thank you for what you do! We all need your words now more than ever. Melanie - October 27, 2018 11:49 pm Thank you Sean. I needed this. ❤️ Jack Darnell - October 28, 2018 12:53 pm Well I’ll be dogged. I ain’t heard that in a few years but I know a bunch of good folks too. So yep, God is RIGHT! Shelton Armour - October 28, 2018 4:58 pm Let’s hear it for those who lift others up; those who step up when needed because of a parent’s inability to cope; parents who stick with their kids through thick and thin; and for those who look past physical infirmities to see the beautiful person inside. I know a few good folks and am proud to know them. KJ - October 30, 2018 3:14 am Amen to what Sean and Shelton said. Sue Cronkite - November 6, 2018 10:47 pm Fantastic column!!! Judith Pierce Croxton - December 18, 2018 12:24 pm I do so love the beautiful flow of your writing. Continue to allow me into your life music. audrey vincent - April 28, 2019 2:14 am soooooo beauifully said
During Arad has optioned the rights to produce a film based on the EA-owned property. Variety reports that the film is still in a planning stage, with Arad likely looking to attach a writer, director, and studio to the project. It's worth noting that a myriad of gaming properties have been optioned by Hollywood players to no result in the past, including NCsoft's City of Heroes, Midway's The Suffering, and Arad's own EverQuest. EA and BioWare had not responded to GameSpot's requests for comment as of press time. Arad is no stranger to making movies based on games. In addition to the aforementioned EverQuest movie, the producer stands on more solid ground with Capcom's David Hayter-penned Lost Planet film, which was the subject of the publisher's press conference at this year's E3. Arad has also been credited with sparking Marvel's recent spate of well-received comic-book based films, including Spider-Man and X-Men. For its part, EA has made substantial moves into broadening the reach of its various brands to other media. In July, the publisher announced that it had signed with United Talent Agency for representation in the film and television space. EA has also professed its intention to extend Will Wright and EA Maxis' evolution simulator Spore to a breadth of media, including TV and movies. Discussion PLEASE BE GOOD Bioware is starting to be even more progressive than usual, but I am absolutely sure that they won't make it unless they are completely confident that it is going to be good. Jason Stratham masseffect no, but might make a fine lead for halo movie he's got the voice down pat. Why not Viggo Mortison from Lord of the Rings and history violence. I'm not con convinced that the lost dude fits he's too tall for one. Let's hope that Legend doesnt try to fit the stories from ME1 to 3 into the one movie, please god no! I said it once ill say it again the dude from lost NEEDS to be commander shepeard or it fits so well he plays a leader in the show he'll already be used to being called sheapard AND he even looks like him and can do the whole calm and serious tone thing. @kite467. Books don't necessarily have endings, they have series just like tv shows and movies. And no, they don't have to make 2 movies (If they were to it in a series, it would be three movies because they're making a third one too), not to mention it's gonna be a movie BASED on the video game. SCREW YOU EA! Stop messing with good games by making crappy movies! I hate EA. I hope this movie fails. Just stop, EA. Just stop...please. Just give developers money to make good games, give them time to do so, and take a percentage of the profits to make a fair profit. Thats it. Please don't screw this up! i hope this movie will be as epic as the game, but we'll see =/ um IF this happened it would be REALLY retarded, even though mass effect is crazy good. cuz if they did... they would have to make 2 movies MOVIE1-good ending MOVIE 2-bad ending the best idea would be for them to make the BOOKS into movies cuz A.theres obviously 1 ending B.cuz there AWESOME C.it would make more sense to do that (^_^) OK..... one thing to say- DO NOT make this unless it is very, very good, and this should be judged by players by releasing certain scenes of the movie to gaming websites and on services like xbox live and having players vote on it. This may be asking a lot, but I'm sure you can understand with the history of game movies. Hopefully this will overcome the past horrid movies based on games. I really hope so. If they do make a movie i think it should be about the war between human and turians Cetrie has a point Biowear have to have compleate control over this film or it wont work I'd write a long summary about all my thoughts about this but I think that this time I'll just say: Not another one :( Fitch129 brings up a good point. No real actors. Make it all CG. They could probably even take the assets from the actual game and up-res them and make em' purdy for the big screen. [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster] if they are to make a movie, they should base on the mission that took place before the game. the one that udina and anderson are talking about when the game begins and its telling the story of how sheppard got there. otherwise, if they make the movie based on the game that we play it wouldn't be the same because we choose what happened to our character. i don't think that they should ruin the video game cause honestly, its the best game i've played since the halo trilogies. i've already played it all the way up to expert about two times. i hope they don't make a movie. :[ as mutch as it sounds like a good idea if you don thtink ubout it makes it seem cool but if you do think ubout it it isent a very good idea i mean mass effect was one of the best games iv ever played probliy is the best. the grafics where totaily awsome but makeing a movie you woodent be able to fit the hole storry in 1 movie and i reckan that it shood just stay a game its just 2 good to be a movie and i allways try and show my family how good games reely are there no tjust presin ga button its heeps more then that and if they make a movie then i wood probliy have a beter chance for them to relize games are more then just what they seem and allso when is mass Effect 2 comin gout plzzzzzz giv us more info on that. why the hell are they making a film? this is such a dumb idea I don't know about a movie, but I want Mass Effect 2. ME1 is amazing! Drew Karpyshyn better be wrting the script. i played the game several times and i think that they should do a movie of sheppard as the hero of the blitz. i think that would be the best since we all played the game and since they didn't have much back story for sheppard except for what we chose. i played all three different scenarios and the hero was the best. eh.. i dunno about this. Sheppard in a movie? Seems outa place. I have the game and read both books and it's all good by itself. I wonder who would make a cool sheppard though? No not another Max Payne !!! Oh and keep the same style of background music XD Honestly I couldn't see this being a great movie if it had Shephard in it because one of the main points of the game was for yo to decide what happens. The best thing for them to do I think is make it about something that happened before the game takes place like first contact with a mass accelerator or somethin If they do this correctly, they could make an epic space trilogy out of this, not to dissimilar to the Lord of the Rings movies. (no to all you fanboys, I did not just compare Mass Effect to LOTR). There is enough material in the first game (because you know there would be things added) to make more than one movie. I think it's a good idea if they get the right people involved. For a long time, Comic book movies sucked and no one would ever take them seriously. Now with the success of X-Men, Batman, etc, it's pretty clear that conventional wisdom in Hollywood doesn't have to be the norm. Get this done. if they end up actually making the movie. it better be good. of course we all know it will be crap cause any movies after games are always crap and besides the game was so amazing you couldnt make anything bett the only decent film of a game i ever seen was Final Fantasy VII Advent Children but i think thats because the makers of the game had full control of the movie. I know this doesn't make much sense in reality, and I know it'll never happen, but I want bioware to actually contribute significantly to the production of this movie. Most of their games are like movies anyways, and we already know that they're awesome storytellers. Dude lame, lets face it fellow gamers... most video game movies blow. They just need to do a great job on the Mass Effect 2 and it will be better than any movie. And if you think about it most of the sequel games have been pretty badass in recent years. Hmmm i agree with the comments that they should make a movie on Mass Effect, but.. not with the same timeline and characters, mainly cause of the conflicts, and the game has an awsome storyline to begin with. If they based it on something completely different to widen the mass effect universe I think that would be real cool, maybe the racni war or something else like the war that occured between the makers of the citadel and sovereign, etc. sort of what led up too the mass effect us gamers know, im sure that would be a much better angle to look at than a recreation of an already pretty perfect storyline, cause i myself aint a big fan of hollywoodization... :S This game has more potential to be a movie than any other plot I can think of, save the Halo universe. A gears of war movie will just end up like the Doom movie with all the unrealistically huge bicepts and silly weaponry, imo. Unless they give it a graphic novel style like Sin City and 300, so the ridiculous lack of realism actually works. I dunno. I don't think this is a good game to make into a movie. I think the best thing about the game was the fact that you were able to decide what Shepard felt, said, and did, even to the point of deciding who dies and who lives. To just sit there and watch someone else decide what happens would be kinda depressing. Also, imagine all the conflict there will be over Shepard's gender. They are most likely going to make Shepard a guy. Just imagine all the pissed chick gamers--like me. Seriously, have you guys ever played it as a chick? It's so much better. I want to direct and write this movie. We need to make the movie as authentic and realistic to the games as possible. I would pack as much as I could into movie around two and 1/2 hours long, keeping the emotion within the characters, and making Shepard, Paragon as that is the basis of the game, but with a real renegade side to him, so you don't know really what he's going to do. I would have to build up a sense of hatred, because there is no real reason within the game, why Shepard wants to kill Saren. Okay he has his reasons like he kills one of his team mates but there isn't enough to show why Shepards really wants to kill Saren. I would build the characters up in around 2 hours with there being some sacrifices to the game, like cutting out Noveria, and having the racni and Benezia on Virmire. In not too sure yet which love interest I should do, if one at all. And I don’t know which one I would sacrifice, I have to, to keep it authentic to the game. after all this in 2 hrs maybe 2 hrs 15 mins, I would make a dramatic and awesome citadel space fight, real gritty, proper awesome, like Serenity, but longer.....but not over exaggerated. I’m telling you I’m destined to make this movie, I have all the fans at heart, and what they would want to get out of the movie, not just raking in the money. This is a game that people love, it can’t be ruined by Hollywood. if a movie did come out, i hope it is completely digital. and it should be a prequel because i want to reserve the sequel storyline for ME2. and keep uwe boll away If they do make a movie of mass effect they should use digital animation for the whole movie and not use real life actors, that way the movie will look just like the game. If they do make a movie of mass effect they should use digital animation for the whole movie and not use real life actors, that way the movie will look just like the game. No no no. Just leave the IP alone. Why must it always be a movie? I want a TV series based on Mass Effect universe. It's been ages since I've seen a decent sci-fi series. If sci-fi isn't good enough, just make Desperate Spectres, Ugly Spectre, Are you smarter than a Spectre or anything. I'm really desperate to get back to the world of Mass Effect. =)) Any movie less than say, 4 hours, won't do justice to Mass Effect's huge universe. Unless they make a trilogy like the games. think it would be difficult for them to work in Faros AND Noveria. They'd probably do Noveria and just scrap the bit about the Cipher (Really, wasn't that just an excuse to throw in another mission?). I would have to hope for a female Commander Sheperd, because the default male model always looked really lame to me. I for one would be impressed if they would undertake such an ambitious project, but it would probably have to be at least 2 to 2 1/2 hours long to contain enough of the story line and game play aspects. I look forward to seeing what comes of the making of the MASS EFFECT MOVIE. You pretty much said it, KaH-LenS. i wanna see a movie of the First Contact War, or the Krogan Rebellion I really hope this pans out! Do a ''Halo'' movie, do a ''Gears of War'' movie, do a ''Beautiful Katamari'' movie, as long as Uwe Boll or Paul W.S. Anderson don't direct it EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE !!!! =D
/------------------------------------------------------------------------- * storage.c * code to create and destroy physical storage for relations * * Portions Copyright (c) 1996-2009, PostgreSQL Global Development Group * Portions Copyright (c) 1994, Regents of the University of California * * * IDENTIFICATION * $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/catalog/storage.c,v 1.6.2.1 2010/02/08 20:00:55 heikki Exp $ * * NOTES * Some of this code used to be in storage/smgr/smgr.c, and the * function names still reflect that. * ------------------------------------------------------------------------- / #include "postgres.h" #include "access/visibilitymap.h" #include "access/xact.h" #include "access/xlogutils.h" #include "catalog/catalog.h" #include "catalog/storage.h" #include "storage/freespace.h" #include "storage/smgr.h" #include "utils/memutils.h" #include "utils/rel.h" /* * We keep a list of all relations (represented as RelFileNode values) * that have been created or deleted in the current transaction. When * a relation is created, we create the physical file immediately, but * remember it so that we can delete the file again if the current * transaction is aborted. Conversely, a deletion request is NOT * executed immediately, but is just entered in the list. When and if * the transaction commits, we can delete the physical file. * * To handle subtransactions, every entry is marked with its transaction * nesting level. At subtransaction commit, we reassign the subtransaction's * entries to the parent nesting level. At subtransaction abort, we can * immediately execute the abort-time actions for all entries of the current * nesting level. * * NOTE: the list is kept in TopMemoryContext to be sure it won't disappear * unbetimes. It'd probably be OK to keep it in TopTransactionContext, * but I'm being paranoid. / 00052 typedef struct PendingRelDelete { RelFileNode relnode; / relation that may need to be deleted / bool isTemp; / is it a temporary relation? / bool atCommit; / T=delete at commit; F=delete at abort / int nestLevel; / xact nesting level of request / struct PendingRelDelete next; /* linked-list link / } PendingRelDelete; static PendingRelDelete pendingDeletes = NULL; /* head of linked list / / * Declarations for smgr-related XLOG records * * Note: we log file creation and truncation here, but logging of deletion * actions is handled by xact.c, because it is part of transaction commit. / / XLOG gives us high 4 bits / #define XLOG_SMGR_CREATE 0x10 #define XLOG_SMGR_TRUNCATE 0x20 00074 typedef struct xl_smgr_create { RelFileNode rnode; } xl_smgr_create; 00079 typedef struct xl_smgr_truncate { BlockNumber blkno; RelFileNode rnode; } xl_smgr_truncate; / * RelationCreateStorage * Create physical storage for a relation. * * Create the underlying disk file storage for the relation. This only * creates the main fork; additional forks are created lazily by the * modules that need them. * * This function is transactional. The creation is WAL-logged, and if the * transaction aborts later on, the storage will be destroyed. / void RelationCreateStorage(RelFileNode rnode, bool istemp) { PendingRelDelete pending; XLogRecPtr lsn; XLogRecData rdata; xl_smgr_create xlrec; SMgrRelation srel; srel = smgropen(rnode); smgrcreate(srel, MAIN_FORKNUM, false); if (!istemp) { /* * Make an XLOG entry showing the file creation. If we abort, the * file will be dropped at abort time. / xlrec.rnode = rnode; rdata.data = (char ) &xlrec; rdata.len = sizeof(xlrec); rdata.buffer = InvalidBuffer; rdata.next = NULL; lsn = XLogInsert(RM_SMGR_ID, XLOG_SMGR_CREATE, &rdata); } /* Add the relation to the list of stuff to delete at abort / pending = (PendingRelDelete ) MemoryContextAlloc(TopMemoryContext, sizeof(PendingRelDelete)); pending->relnode = rnode; pending->isTemp = istemp; pending->atCommit = false; /* delete if abort / pending->nestLevel = GetCurrentTransactionNestLevel(); pending->next = pendingDeletes; pendingDeletes = pending; } / * RelationDropStorage * Schedule unlinking of physical storage at transaction commit. / void RelationDropStorage(Relation rel) { PendingRelDelete pending; /* Add the relation to the list of stuff to delete at commit / pending = (PendingRelDelete ) MemoryContextAlloc(TopMemoryContext, sizeof(PendingRelDelete)); pending->relnode = rel->rd_node; pending->isTemp = rel->rd_istemp; pending->atCommit = true; /* delete if commit / pending->nestLevel = GetCurrentTransactionNestLevel(); pending->next = pendingDeletes; pendingDeletes = pending; / * NOTE: if the relation was created in this transaction, it will now be * present in the pending-delete list twice, once with atCommit true and * once with atCommit false. Hence, it will be physically deleted at end * of xact in either case (and the other entry will be ignored by * smgrDoPendingDeletes, so no error will occur). We could instead remove * the existing list entry and delete the physical file immediately, but * for now I'll keep the logic simple. / RelationCloseSmgr(rel); } / * RelationTruncate * Physically truncate a relation to the specified number of blocks. * * This includes getting rid of any buffers for the blocks that are to be * dropped. / void RelationTruncate(Relation rel, BlockNumber nblocks) { bool fsm; bool vm; / Open it at the smgr level if not already done / RelationOpenSmgr(rel); / Make sure rd_targblock isn't pointing somewhere past end / rel->rd_targblock = InvalidBlockNumber; / Truncate the FSM first if it exists / fsm = smgrexists(rel->rd_smgr, FSM_FORKNUM); if (fsm) FreeSpaceMapTruncateRel(rel, nblocks); / Truncate the visibility map too if it exists. / vm = smgrexists(rel->rd_smgr, VISIBILITYMAP_FORKNUM); if (vm) visibilitymap_truncate(rel, nblocks); / * could spell trouble at WAL replay, into a * certain PANIC. / if (!rel->rd_istemp) { / * Make an XLOG entry showing the file truncation. / XLogRecPtr lsn; XLogRecData rdata; xl_smgr_truncate xlrec; xlrec.blkno = nblocks; xlrec.rnode = rel->rd_node; rdata.data = (char ) &xlrec; rdata.len = sizeof(xlrec); rdata.buffer = InvalidBuffer; rdata.next = NULL; lsn = XLogInsert(RM_SMGR_ID, XLOG_SMGR_TRUNCATE, &rdata); /* * Flush, because otherwise the truncation of the main relation might * hit the disk before the WAL record, and the truncation of the FSM * or visibility map. If we crashed during that window, we'd be left * with a truncated heap, but the FSM or visibility map would still * contain entries for the non-existent heap pages. / if (fsm \|\| vm) XLogFlush(lsn); } / Do the real work / smgrtruncate(rel->rd_smgr, MAIN_FORKNUM, nblocks, rel->rd_istemp); } / * smgrDoPendingDeletes() -- Take care of relation deletes at end of xact. * * This also runs when aborting a subxact; we want to clean up a failed * subxact immediately. / void smgrDoPendingDeletes(bool isCommit) { int nestLevel = GetCurrentTransactionNestLevel(); PendingRelDelete pending; PendingRelDelete prev; PendingRelDelete next; prev = NULL; for (pending = pendingDeletes; pending != NULL; pending = next) { next = pending->next; if (pending->nestLevel < nestLevel) { /* outer-level entries should not be processed yet / prev = pending; } else { / unlink list entry first, so we don't retry on failure / if (prev) prev->next = next; else pendingDeletes = next; / do deletion if called for / if (pending->atCommit == isCommit) { int i; / schedule unlinking old files / SMgrRelation srel; srel = smgropen(pending->relnode); for (i = 0; i <= MAX_FORKNUM; i++) { if (smgrexists(srel, i)) smgrdounlink(srel, i, pending->isTemp, false); } smgrclose(srel); } / must explicitly free the list entry / pfree(pending); / prev does not change / } } } / * smgrGetPendingDeletes() -- Get a list of relations to be deleted. * * The return value is the number of relations scheduled for termination. * ptr is set to point to a freshly-palloc'd array of RelFileNodes. If there are no relations to be deleted, ptr is set to NULL. * If haveNonTemp isn't NULL, the bool it points to gets set to true if * there is any non-temp table pending to be deleted; false if not. * * Note that the list does not include anything scheduled for termination * by upper-level transactions. / int smgrGetPendingDeletes(bool forCommit, RelFileNode ptr, bool haveNonTemp) { int nestLevel = GetCurrentTransactionNestLevel(); int nrels; RelFileNode rptr; PendingRelDelete pending; nrels = 0; if (haveNonTemp) haveNonTemp = false; for (pending = pendingDeletes; pending != NULL; pending = pending->next) { if (pending->nestLevel >= nestLevel && pending->atCommit == forCommit) nrels++; } if (nrels == 0) { ptr = NULL; return 0; } rptr = (RelFileNode ) palloc(nrels sizeof(RelFileNode)); ptr = rptr; for (pending = pendingDeletes; pending != NULL; pending = pending->next) { if (pending->nestLevel >= nestLevel && pending->atCommit == forCommit) { rptr = pending->relnode; rptr++; } if (haveNonTemp && !pending->isTemp) haveNonTemp = true; } return nrels; } / * PostPrepare_smgr -- Clean up after a successful PREPARE * * What we have to do here is throw away the in-memory state about pending * relation deletes. It's all been recorded in the 2PC state file and * it's no longer smgr's job to worry about it. / void PostPrepare_smgr(void) { PendingRelDelete pending; PendingRelDelete next; for (pending = pendingDeletes; pending != NULL; pending = next) { next = pending->next; pendingDeletes = next; / must explicitly free the list entry / pfree(pending); } } / * AtSubCommit_smgr() --- Take care of subtransaction commit. * * Reassign all items in the pending-deletes list to the parent transaction. / void AtSubCommit_smgr(void) { int nestLevel = GetCurrentTransactionNestLevel(); PendingRelDelete pending; for (pending = pendingDeletes; pending != NULL; pending = pending->next) { if (pending->nestLevel >= nestLevel) pending->nestLevel = nestLevel - 1; } } /* * AtSubAbort_smgr() --- Take care of subtransaction abort. * * Delete created relations and forget about deleted relations. * We can execute these operations immediately because we know this * subtransaction will not commit. / void AtSubAbort_smgr(void) { smgrDoPendingDeletes(false); } void smgr_redo(XLogRecPtr lsn, XLogRecord record) { uint8 info = record->xl_info & ~XLR_INFO_MASK; /* Backup blocks are not used in smgr records / Assert(!(record->xl_info & XLR_BKP_BLOCK_MASK)); if (info == XLOG_SMGR_CREATE) { xl_smgr_create xlrec = (xl_smgr_create ) XLogRecGetData(record); SMgrRelation reln; reln = smgropen(xlrec->rnode); smgrcreate(reln, MAIN_FORKNUM, true); } else if (info == XLOG_SMGR_TRUNCATE) { xl_smgr_truncate xlrec = (xl_smgr_truncate ) XLogRecGetData(record); SMgrRelation reln; reln = smgropen(xlrec->rnode); / * Forcibly create relation if it doesn't exist (which suggests that * it was dropped somewhere later in the WAL sequence). As in * XLogOpenRelation, we prefer to recreate the rel and replay the log * as best we can until the drop is seen. / smgrcreate(reln, MAIN_FORKNUM, true); smgrtruncate(reln, MAIN_FORKNUM, xlrec->blkno, false); / Also tell xlogutils.c about it / XLogTruncateRelation(xlrec->rnode, MAIN_FORKNUM, xlrec->blkno); / Truncate FSM too / if (smgrexists(reln, FSM_FORKNUM)) { Relation rel = CreateFakeRelcacheEntry(xlrec->rnode); FreeSpaceMapTruncateRel(rel, xlrec->blkno); FreeFakeRelcacheEntry(rel); } } else elog(PANIC, "smgr_redo: unknown op code %u", info); } void smgr_desc(StringInfo buf, uint8 xl_info, char rec) { uint8 info = xl_info & ~XLR_INFO_MASK; if (info == XLOG_SMGR_CREATE) { xl_smgr_create xlrec = (xl_smgr_create ) rec; char path = relpath(xlrec->rnode, MAIN_FORKNUM); appendStringInfo(buf, "file create: %s", path); pfree(path); } else if (info == XLOG_SMGR_TRUNCATE) { xl_smgr_truncate xlrec = (xl_smgr_truncate ) rec; char path = relpath(xlrec->rnode, MAIN_FORKNUM); appendStringInfo(buf, "file truncate: %s to %u blocks", path, xlrec->blkno); pfree(path); } else appendStringInfo(buf, "UNKNOWN"); }
Helpful Links The actual official FAQ thread from the FAQ subforum: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=35133 Reqs: --LinkRemoved-- --Note, this is slightly out of date. For example UPenn's "optional" essays are not optional this year. Decision Dates Chart: When you might hear back if you applied in Oct: Class of 2013 Median/GPA: Hidden Fee Waivers: Negotiating Merit Aid: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=79373 How do I update my application? If you're sending in an LOR or LSAT afterwards, the LSAT auto-updates and the LOR you just need to assign. Disclosure of Disciplinary Actions/Law Problems Although NYU's app does not give specifications on the criminal offense question, I called them and confirmed that minor traffic offenses do NOT need to be disclosed. --Eskimo for the 2010-2011 cycle. Dean's Certifications somebody start a thread about this for 2011-2012. Can you submit one before you submit your app? Yes. Timing of Application Submission When should I submit it? When is early? As soon as possible without sacrificing due care of quality. General rule of thumb: Super Early: Before Halloween Early: Before Thanksgiving On Time: Before Christmas Lateish: After New Years. The longer you wait, the lower your chances become and the less scholarship money there is. Exception: Yale, which does not do a rolling admissions process. Interview with Dean of Admissions for UCBerkeley I'm retaking, but I want to submit some of my applications now. Can I do that? or If I submit apps now with the old score, will schools wait to review my file until the new score shows up? If you ask them to. However, if you ask them to review it as is, they will probably do that too. You just need to e-mail them, let them know you've submitted an application, and tell them you would like them to wait for the new score before reviewing or to please consider your application complete without the new score and review your file as is. They usually say they won't even look at your app if they know a second score is coming in later... unless you tell them specifically to consider your application complete without the new score. I wouldn't do an addendum. They might not read it until they are reviewing your file, or possibly not at all. Just e-mail the Admissions office and let them know. That way you are sure they received the information. -Lzyoverachiever Letters of Recommendation Basics:- ... ation.html Q: Can the LOR writer fax it instead of mailing? LSAC has updated their FAQ: "LSAC does not recommend faxing because the image of the letter is not always clear, and the barcode on the form can be distorted. Either of these problems can cause a significant delay in processing. If faxed documents are clear they will be accepted; however there is no guarantee." I faxed all of mine and they were fine. Q: Can you e-mail or fax the signed sheet to the LOR writer? Yes. Q: How many? Most want just 2. 3 should only be sent if you think all 3 are strong. One idea is to send the recommended, and save the extra for waitlists. Q: How do I give the forms to professors? Either give it to them in person, mail it, or through e-mail. Be sure you send them a signed form, so if you're e-mailing it, print it out, sign it, and scan it in. Q: What is with this Evaluations thing? It's new. You probably won't need it. I'm not doing it. Check with each school. Q: How do I submit LOR after I've submitted the app? Just go in and assign the LOR to the schools you want. It will update. Q: My LOR writer showed me the letter--have I screwed up the waiver? Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, educational institutions are supposed to allow you to see recommendations that are part of your file after enrolling at the institution as a student. If you waive this right, you will waive your right to ask your institution to show you this letter. This does not mean you cannot view the letter--it means you cannot view it because the university, rather than the letter writer, gave it to you post-enrollment. If the writer wants to share it with you, that's fine, and totally within the requirements of the waiver. Q: Should I waive this right? It's generally considered a good idea--you don't want admissions officers wondering what you might be trying to hide or what you're afraid of writers saying. Q: Can I use someone famous? Only if they've supervised you in an academic manner. -- Q: How long are LORs on file for? LSAC will store them for up to five years. Should I use non-academic references? This is going to be school-dependant and something you might consider asking individual schools about. If you don't want to call, scour for Dean interviews. For example, this response from Yale: "Academic references are going to carry the most weight. Period. Particularly if you have a weaker part of your application, you really need to have phenomenal academic references who are willing to vouch for your performance as a student. If you’ve been out of school for a few years, I would suggest going back to your college professors and seeing if anyone would be willing to write one for you. If you think you’re going to be out of school for a while before you apply to law school, then plan ahead and get some professors to write you letters of recommendations now and place them on file with your undergraduate institution or set up an LSDAS account and let LSAC store them for you for up to five years. I think only as a last resort -- you’ve been out of school for 10 years, none of your college professors remember you, etc. -- only then should you seek out employer recommendations that will speak to the kinds of things that an academic reference will. So, you’d want your employer to address writing and analytical skill, your intellectual curiosity, etc. Obviously, the closer they can be to the legal field, the better it will be for you. So if you’ve been a paralegal in a law office or worked for a judge, then that might be helpful, again, as a last resort."--Dean Asha from AdmissionsDean ... a-rangappa Should I write my own if the professor/boss/etc. tells me to? No. 1) It's against the rules. This should be enough to convince you. However.. 2) If a professor doesn't like you enough to take the time to write it, just no. 3) You're sending at least one, if not multiple essays. You think they won't be able to tell it's the same person? For other opinions, see this thread: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=127028 What if I've been out of school for a while and I can't get in touch with profs/they don't remember me? They really want to see at least one academic LOR though from someone who can evaluate your ability as a student. Teaching assistants are also acceptable in place of professors. See response above. Still can't? Well, then, of course you have to ask an employer, who else could you ask? Help! One of my professors suddenly backed out/hasn't been responding to me/etc. What should I do for the LOR now? Figure out a backup professor--same guidelines for when you first selected it. Contact them ASAP and give them 3-4 weeks to do it. I personally wouldn't explain why you're asking so late. Just ask and give them time and don't pressure. You'll take a little bit of a timeliness hit, but whatever. To speed it up, have them fax (it works, many on here will vouch for that). Also, if you can't get to them physically, print out a form, sign it, scan it, convert it to a pdf (many websites will let you do this for free, just search for "jpg to pdf converter" ), and send in e-mail. Fee Waivers Basics & list: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=159780 Q: Do they mean I have a better shot? No. They just want to increase # of applicants so they can reject more people. Q: How do you get them? CRS on LSAC. Look around. You can also e-mail and ask for them. If you do, basic form: Hello, I am really interested in applying to XXX Law School and am writing to ask if could be considered for a merit-based fee waiver. My LSAT is 1XX, GPA is X.XX, and my LSAC # is #######. Thanks, Eager Applicant What about need-based waivers? Eugenie says that it's apparently easier than getting one through LSAC to go directly to the schools (though some only honor LSAC): "I emailed 10 schools with a basic request (no financial details). 8 replied within 2 days saying, "Here you go!" 2 asked for pretty basic financial info, and I'm waiting to hear. I just saved about $700!" Q: I took the LSAT in previous cycles or am re-applying and am not receiving them, what should I do? Last updated for the 2010-2011 cycle. This thread has more info: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=127020 Wait until after the CRS wave goes out(which you can see in the thread linked) and e-mail politely and ask. So far this cycle(08/26/2010). Schools with ninjas for admissions officers: (Managed to find us despite nobody else being able to) Duke Santa Clara Horchata asked for a second fee waiver to use. Schools that said yes: UVA Michigan Boston U. U. Illinois UCLA Vanderbilt Minnesota USD ASU Schools that said no: Columbia Penn Q: When should I e-mail them to ask? After the CRS wave. Resume How long should the resume be? Some people insist you shouldn't go over 1 page, and Yale doesn't want more than 1. I did well with a 2 page resume. There is no TLS consensus. Essay Reqs Yale--App not available yet, and website is vague, so no idea. Separate 250 word supplemental required. No specific prompt. Harvard--"Two pages, double spaced, using a font size that is comfortable to read (not less than 11 point)." Stanford--"Enclose a statement of about two pages describing important or unusual aspects of yourself not otherwise apparent in your application." Columbia--1-2 pages. Addendums Should I write an addendum for my LSAT score increase? viewtopic.php?f=2&t=127964 Specific Application Questions Do I need to disclose minor traffic violations? This varies by school, here's a list of some of the known ones: Schools That Do NOT Require Disclosure of Traffic Violations Harvard NYU How much information do they need if they do require traffic violation disclosure? Often a short list will suffice. Date - Violation - Result (traffic school, paid, etc) What are my chances? Wrong forum, go here: viewforum.php?f=9 Also: Also: Also, 99% of our answers are based off of those two websites anyway. Selecting Schools Reaches, Targets, and Safeties. Depending on your LSAT & GPA score, you might have a bizarre combination of schools that fall into these categories. People differ on what they think is appropriate, so feel free to discuss, but I think in general it's good to build from the bottom up. Find 1-2 safeties that you know you'll be happy with, then a handful 3-5 targets, and then decide on how many reaches to apply to based on how much money you can spend. The benefit of having more targets is that you can usually negotiate scholarship offers between them if they view each other as peers, and also wait until you've visited properly to decide. I'm a fan in general of applying to a number of reaches. Of course, this depends on what you can afford. You'll have to really find the balance on your own. Using LSAC Q: If I delay, will the things I send in (ex: LOR) still be there/available to use the next year? Yes, as long as your account doesn't expire. The expiration date is listed in your account info. How do I update transcripts? Send them into LSAC. It will auto-update every single school you have sent a report to in that cycle. Finding your official LSDAS GPA: [All transcripts must be processed & your Academic Summary Report completed.] Academic Summary Report -Summary (bottom) --Undergraduate Summary ---Cumulative GPA Formatting Q: How do you head personal statements and other essays? Is there supposed to be some sort of title (i.e. "Personal Statement")? Titled what it is("Personal Statement", "Addendum", "Diversity Statement", "Supplemental Essay", etc.) with your name and LSAC number should do. An artistic title "My Life as a Ex Pop-Star" is unnecessary. How do I take the LSAT 4 times? UPDATE: This was changed in June 2011. Probably won't work anymore. Contact LSAC. "I contacted a law school through e-mail asking for a waiver. When they said they would give me one, I gave them LSAC's fax number. If they do fax it, make sure that you give them LSAC's general fax number not their LOR fax number. If you send it to the general one they'll process the request quicker. Note that if you have to do this, you'll have to call LSAC up and get your seat through the phone. Unless they've changed it for this cycle, the online LSAC system won't recognize the waiver."
You are certainly correct that the cameras are there for the revenue. I disagree on your speed assertion, though. Traffic congestion is Amarillo's main traffic problem, not speed. Congestion is caused by slow and timid drivers and our archaic traffic control schemes which were developed in the 1970s to control 1950s traffic. The problem with speed limits is they need to be variable, depending on traffic and other conditions. I don't view them as a suggestion, though. I view the posted limit as a minimum. idjit, I just love you. My biggest problem on city streets and the highway in Amarillo is slow drivers. Every day I am in say....40-45 mph zones and people are driving 25-30, etc. and then traffic starts getting crazy trying to deal with the bumpkins impeding traffic. Talk about congestion! And you all know people stopping on freeway onramps drives me crazy. People need to put their foot in it and get on!!! I submit that you CAN'T set your cruise to the posted limit or you will be plowing over the bumpkins. My wife and I have stopped at numerous red lights without cameras and I have lost track of the amount of people that have pulled up beside us, stopped, and then look around, and then proceed on through the intersection once there was a break in traffic. Most of these drivers look to be in the age brackets of their late 20's to early 40's. One of these days one of them will misjudge the distance and someone will get seriously hurt or killed, and I sure as heck hope that we are not there to witness it. GOD forbid if a fatality accident should ever happen at an intersection equipped with a red light camera. If it happens to be captured, I would hope that the officials would do a little research to see if the violator that caused the accident had run any red lights at any of the other intersections equipped with cameras. If they have, hopefully it could be provided as evidence at their trial. The violator then could explain why their vehicle was caught on tape running a red light and who was driving. I would like to see cameras installed at every intersection that is equipped with a traffic signal and put a stop to these lawbreakers, and if it generates revenue, then so be it. Now about the so called speeders on I-40 & I-27. The minimum posted speed is 45 and I recommend that the drivers that decide to drive the minimum speed limit to 55 mph should stay in the far right lane for not only their safety, but for the safety of all the drivers on the road. I am a firm believer if your vehicle is equipped with a cruise control, use it. It is obvious when you pull up behind someone and they are either using their cruise control or not. It's illegal to use cruise control inside a city limits. Besides that, if there is a major break in traffic, say for enough time to turn left and a few more cars turn left, then the city needs to recalibrate the red light. Lights are supposed to smoothly allow traffic to go through the streets safely, and as Hollywood Rd and Loop 335 prove, the lights are impeding the flow of traffic (which is considered illegal, similar to if you parked your car intentionally in the middle of the road on a busy street). I don't agree with people breaking laws, but remember, laws should be written and determined by the people they are written for, therefore, we should adjust them as time moves on. How can anyone verify the camera's only take photos after the light turns red? Ever heard of a glitch? Oh that is right Potter County has a big one in the courthouse. Since people in Amarillo refuse to stop running red lights, I am glad the city continues to deploy and utilize the red light cameras since it seems the only way to get people's attention is to lighten their wallets or purses. No one has to be somewhere or someplace that bad to speed and run red lights. If better use of their time and proper planning were techniques applied all the time then there would be less traffic problems. Everyone knows while driving in town traffic lights, speed limits, vehicles entering and exiting parking lots, and etc. are a constant activity and everyone has to be prepared to react in seconds. This doesn't even take into consideration weather, construction activities, and emergencies which are real and ever present. Also, if you think you can avoid paying the fine think again. They will send remittances again and again until the debt is satisfied or if you still refuse to pay they will use whatever means is necessary to get the fine plus more to include impacting your credit score. The way to avoid all this is to practice safe driving and be courteous on the road. Please, for the love of God stay out of the right lane on the highway. Drive in the middle, pass on the left, merge on the right. And quit slamming on your brakes on the on ramp! Bumpkins! (is it OK to call people bumpkins? Close to "white trash"?) Bolt55, please stop spreading misinformation about these camera tickets impacting your credit score. They do not, at least not in Amarillo, Texas. The cameras in Texas also do not identify the driver, regardless of what some people will post on here. If you are a vehicle owner and you are not in the business of renting or leasing vehicles to others you also cannot get out of the fine by proving you are not the driver. So if your mechanic runs one while road testing your car you are stuck. And you are stuck whether or not you even receive the ticket in the mail. If Amarillo's drivers were as good as Lubbock's or Albuquerque's we could have a 65 MPH speed limit on our interstates within the city limits. Spend most of your adult life driving in Austin, DFW and/or Houston. Amarillo's traffic hassles are MINIMAL. Just a perspective. It is assinine to declare slow driving is the problem. Perhaps we all need to be reminded that speed limits do not define the speed on a roadway, but define the limit of speed on the roadway. Speeding is undoubtedly a problem, and probably contributes to most red light runs. Congestion is most definitely not a problem in Amarillo, even though everyone and their dog drives all the time everywhere. While some roads are full, the principle dangers are simply bad driving. Failures to yield, lane changes or turns without signals, and speeding all contribute to the dangerous driving conditions in this town. Plus there is a certain attitude of ownership of the roadway that is expressed quite well by idjit, LG, and others in this conversation. How dare we slow down idjit who finds himself/herself above the law! A few more minutes to get across town are not going to kill your day. We need to come to a realization of just how dangerous driving is: tens of thousands of people are killed each year in this country while driving. I agree with Hugh Jorgan's question, please post the law stating it is illegal to use cruise control inside a city limits. Amarillo's traffic problems do not approach those of some other major Texas cities, true. But it is asinine to think that congestion is not a problem here. Congestion has been growing at an exponential rate for about the last 10 years, maybe more. We want to be a big city for some reason, but we have a small town traffic infrastructure and we are not correcting it as we grow. You cannot continue to dump a business driveway into a major thoroughfare every 200 feet (Coulter south of 45th) and avoid problems. You cannot continue to maintain the continuous left turn lanes all over town if you want to increase traffic capacity. You cannot continue to allow people to make left turns out of the strip malls located at major intersections. Congestion is what is leading people to run red lights, not speeding. And you cannot solve your traffic problems or your budget problems with a few cameras or even a thousand cameras. The majority of the ones you are nabbing with your cameras are actually doing you a favor by pushing the light, and you don't even realise it. While I agree the ticket is not sent to whoever is driving the car, the address where the car is registered is where the citation is sent. Then whoevers name is on the registration at that address gets the citation and they will be required to pay. If you refuse to pay, the amount will increase every month until satisfied. If you continue to refuse to pay it, they can put it on your credit report as an uncollectible debt and that will stay there for 7 years. If you have a job which requires a security clearance, bad debts reflect poorly on you during initial or re investigations to retain your clearance. Choice is yours. Well, we do at least have a variety of driving styles and attitudes in this town. Which, of course, is part of the problem. It isn't just speeders, or slow-pokes - it's the fact that drivers move at very different speeds on city streets, some of which are better designed for that sort of traffic. Amarillo is located in a rural, farming region. A lot of folks come to town from rural homes or small towns, and their driving differs greatly from those who drive primarily in town. It was a huge problem in Lubbock when I was a student at TTU. You are correct, Max, as far as a three-lane highway goes. The outside lane is for entering or exiting the highway, the middle lane is for through traffic, and the inside lane is for passing. It's a bit dodgier when the interstates narrow down to two lanes outside of town. I was taught to accelerate into the flow of traffic when entering the interstate. Drivers who stop on the on-ramp cause a terrible hazard to those behind them. I never use my cruise control in town (especially on the interstates) as it slows down my reaction time, and I have to prepared to stop for the driver ahead of me swinging into my lane, or intentionally hitting his brakes so as to cause me to rear-end him or her. But surely no one here would do that, right? Bolt55, you are wrong again. The following are selected from the text of the Transportation Code of the State of Texas. Your refusal to pay cannot be reported to a credit bureau and the maximum late fee is $25.00 Sec. 707.003 . Sec. 707.007. AMOUNT OF CIVIL PENALTY; LATE PAYMENT PENALTY. If a local authority enacts an ordinance to enforce compliance with the instructions of a traffic-control signal by the imposition of a civil or administrative penalty, the amount of:(1) the civil or administrative penalty may not exceed $75; and(2) a late payment penalty may not exceed $25. I see a couple of you don't have a sense of humor today. So what's new, LG? Why is it that the only two slow drivers in town always end up side by side in front of one of us? idjit, and grandma, why do you think you can exceed the posted maximum legal speed with impunity? That speed is reached by careful study and represents the maximum legal safe speed for that stretch of road in clear weather on a dry pavement, by a car in good mechanical condition and with adequate tread on the tires. If any of those conditions don't apply--bad weather, wet or icy pavement, inadequate tread on the tires, faulty equipment on the vehicle, the speed limit is less than the posted sign. If you consistently drive above that posted speed limit expect to be stopped and fined--heavily, for you have no excuses. Even in Amarillo, it has been repeatedly proven that if you get in one lane, travel at a constant speed near the speed limit and don't try to whip in and out of traffic, you will cross town faster or at least as fast as a person who whips in and out of traffic, trying to"make time" by speeding inside the city limits. you always run into the "slow pokes" and they will slow you down. Speed limits are posted for dry roads and unlimited visibility, idjit. The posted limit is the maximum legal speed. It's not a suggestion and it is not the minimum It is the maximum legal speed. Thank you for the lecture, Y. Actually, speed limits are initially established in a somewhat haphazard fashion that has nothing to do with safety. You take the stretch of road, monitor the speed of traffic without them knowing you are there, and set the limit at the 85th percentile. Not very scientific and not based on safety at all. And it guarantees that 15% of traffic will be radar targets. I don't ask for impunity, I just ask that you not unnecessarily keep me from going where I am trying to go. Most drivers don't know (and also don't care) how they are affecting other drivers and traffic in general. You can't be a good driver if you don't know. y, please re-read my post. In the first place it was sarcastic and tongue in cheek. In the second place, I was talking about people who drive 10-15 mph UNDER the posted speed. In the third place, I never said I was speeding or whipping in and out. I have observed people doing that to deal with people poking along impeding traffic. I don't do much whipping in and out. I usually follow the slowpokes grumbling all the while. I drove up Georgia today from I40 to 3rd Ave. The traffic was 15-20 mph the whole way. Georgia is a nightmare anymore for almost the whole length of it anyway. I don't think being irritated with people causing a traffic jam for two miles is wanting to drive with impunity. idjit is correct; I often wonder if the people out on the interstate driving consistently under 60 ever look in the rear view mirror to see what they are causing. I saw a guy doing about 45 in the left lane yesterday, another in the middle lane doing about 50-55, and one in the right lane matching speed with the guy in the middle lane. An APD officer needed to pass to get off to tend to a wreck on the Bell/access road intersection. He couldn't get around any of them because they were driving with their heads up their butts and impeding the flow of traffic..... essentially causing a roadblock. That's what I'm talking about. People need to quit doing what idjit is talking about, driving in tandem 10-15 miles under the posted speed. It causes havoc and I'm not apologizing for being irritated over their rudeness. With all due respect, LG, you have already clearly and defiantly stated that you fully intend to knowingly and willingly violate any cell phone while driving ordinance the city may pass. Therefore, your claim of abiding other traffic ordinances rings rather hollow. Either you observe traffic laws, or you cherry-pick only those you think are relevant and applicable to you. Can't have it both ways, I'm afraid. As far as slow drivers go, perhaps you are the slower driver impeding the progress of someone wanting to speed down the interstate. I mean, if you have the right to determine which laws you choose to observe, I guess speeders have the right to do the same thing. Unless, of course, your rights are somehow more valid than everyone else on the road. DO NOT RUN A RED LIGHT AND YOU WILL NOT GET A TICKET !!!!!!! I have not gotten one ticket for running a red light, is that because I OBEY the law ? Larry, the city had statistics that tell them where most of the violations occur so that is where they place the cameras, DUH. How much would it cost to place an officer at the same areas 24/7 to do the same thing. The speeding public tends to tailgate slower traffic. A lot of safety instructors will tell students to reduce their speed in order to discourage tailgating. The slower get slower. For what it's worth, that particular tactic(slowing down) led to a traffic stop on I40 a few years ago. The guy was tailgating, I slowed down. I guess he couldn't resist the urge to try to force me to change lanes or speed up...I dunno. The longer he was back there the slower I drove. I was so annoyed by the tailgating that I didn't notice I was down to 30mph. He finally went around. The off duty APD officer witnessing this was not amused. I had probably 6 APD units helping me off the freeway. I must say there was some interesting conversation going on for a few moments. But what's funny is the fact that the speeding public can't force their values off onto the those that wanna drive slow. Vice versa, it ain't so. The slowpokes can hold up the whole show and I'm sure it drives others berserk. I don't have much of a problem with red light cameras. What irritates me is the tweaking of the timing involved with turning from red to yellow to green. In particular, the last red light coming out of downtown on Pierce. It's change is out of sync with the other lights. I think it's that way for the sole purpose of drawing a penalty. I have seen red light camera systems in other cities where the yellow is flagrantly short.
Originally published Friday, March 14, 2008 at 12:00 AM Bainbridge author Warren Read writes about 1920s lynching involving his great-grandfather Bainbridge Island schoolteacher Warren Read sat down at his PC one evening to research his family tree. And what popped up on the screen... Seattle Times staff reporter Warren Read will read from his book, "The Lyncher in Me: A Search for Redemption in the Face of History," at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St., Seattle. Free. Bainbridge Island schoolteacher Warren Read sat down at his PC one evening to research his family tree. And what popped up on the screen was a newspaper story screaming the ugliest of truths: On June 15, 1920, in Duluth, Minn., a mob pulled three black men from their jail cells, beat them and hanged them from a lamppost downtown. Among those responsible for the deaths: Read's great-grandfather, local businessman Louis Dondino. And what made the discovery even more horrifying was a photo taken of Duluthians standing proudly with the bodies of the men. Such was the norm back then, images of lynchings later turned into souvenir postcards. Dondino is not seen in the photograph and it's not known how close he might have stood to the scene. But he was one of three men held responsible for the lynch mob, sentenced to five years in jail. Fast forward some 80 years, when Read, 40, uncovers his startling past. That he was connected to something so appalling leads him back to Duluth, to publicly apologize on behalf of his family. Now he's written a book, the just-released, "The Lyncher In Me: A Search for Redemption in the Face of History" (Borealis Books; $24.95). It's a powerful story not only about racial prejudice and mob violence, but how an individual faces all sorts of ugly truths and takes responsibility. Alcoholism, physical and sexual abuse also marred Read's childhood and he chronicles that too. The book's preface quotes W.H. Auden: "Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own table." Read took a break from teaching fourth grade at Capt. Charles Wilkes Elementary School last week to be interviewed. Q: Did you know you had a book in you? A: I had done some writing before. I had initially thought I would fictionalize the story but at some point I realized it would be ridiculous because there was enough that really needed to be told. And I realized it was also more than just the story that happened. It was my personal journey through it as well. That stemmed from people asking me, "Well, why would you go and apologize?" I hadn't really thought about it. I thought it was just in my nature. And so it really just compelled a lot of this self-reflection and facing issues that I really hadn't faced, which was surprising because I thought I had already dealt with that stuff. Q: Did you figure out why you needed to make that public apology? A: One of the things I realized is I have this need and this belief in taking responsibility. And my father [who was convicted of statutory rape of his stepdaughter, Read's sister] and my stepfather never really did. [Read writes in his book that his stepfather physically abused him.] When I initially wrote up the idea for the book it was more about the concept of apologizing. I looked up different examples when corporations had done it, or hospitals. I remember reading that this particular hospital had this policy about apologizing in malpractice situations and it was found that the hospital had substantially less payouts. I was really struck by that and it [the initial book concept] was a lot more on the nature of apology but people kept asking, What is it about your nature that led you to this? Q: Your great-grandfather would have been how old at the time of the lynching? A: Around 39 or 40. Q: Your age. A: Right. Q: So as you're researching the past how did you handle learning about it? A: What makes it surreal is that you're reading this documented information and it's your family member. For my mother it was a different experience because it was someone she knew and loved. For me, what kept coming to mind was my grandfather [Louis Dondino's son]. Because he was 13 at the time and I'm thinking, here's his father and he's going to jail and I'm thinking about all the stuff that happened with my dad [who also went to prison and who Read visited in jail as a young boy]. Talk about parallels! On the one hand I'm trying to understand the nature of mob violence and that's a very detached way of looking at it. And on the other hand I'm trying not to allow any excuse for it. I'm reading through this and in my mind it's barbaric, the actions of my great-grandfather. Q: What was your great-grandfather's role in the lynching? A: I know that initially my great-grandfather was charged with first-degree murder but I have no real explanation as to what exactly brought about the charge. [He'd later be convicted on charges of inciting a riot.] We know for sure he was driving the truck that was rounding people up. We know for sure he was there during the storming of the jail. That he kind of grabbed the fire hose. The fire truck had gone down there and the police were trying to use the hose to blast the mob back and the hose got away from them so members of the mob grabbed it back. I know my great-grandfather was there because there was testimony about it. Q: Was the book motivated by you wanting to reconcile whether Dondino was a monster? A: I wasn't looking to see how bad a person he was. What struck me is that when we look at something like mob violence or murder it's sometimes so much easier to look at it as black and white. That a person is either bad or good. But the reality is that they're people just like you and me and they are uncles and grandparents and I think that it's much more realistic and unsettling to realize that the concept of evil is in everyone. That it's in the shades of gray within all of us. Q: The book's title has a double meaning and you acknowledge some of your own racial prejudices. That's a rarely-heard admission. A: I don't want to make a blanket statement for everyone but most of us, I think, have prejudices that are ingrained in us that we're not aware of. Some of it comes from life experiences and some of it comes from maybe negative interactions we've had with any group of people in our past. Some of it comes from the media. The lyncher in me. It's that piece of me that is too often willing to jump to a conclusion based upon an experience that really is prejudice. And prejudice simply means to prejudge something. And I think a lot of us have that and we're not always willing to admit that because it's uncomfortable. Q: In that one chapter you talk about how you and your partner — two white men — move into Seattle's Central Area and then you begin to curse your surroundings. And how you had an inclination to — but didn't actually use — racial epithets about the drug dealers and the teenagers in their music-blaring cars. A: I think I've always understood that we all have an impulse to paint any one group with a broad brush. Men will make a blanket statement about women. People will make a statement about gays. And I don't think we always recognize that as being prejudiced, but it is. I think I've always been aware of that but for me to really sort of dig in and recognize it and place it upon myself was sort of a first. It's not something that I'm proud to admit and I don't want it to come across as me being racist but I think part of it is really looking at the inherent racism that's in society that really affects us all. And a lot of us who are progressive, liberal people might say, "Oh, I'm not prejudiced." But I think it's important to recognize that a lot of us really are and we try not to let it drive our actions but it taints us. Q: The lynchings stemmed from false accusations by a white woman that she had been raped by a black circus worker. Does it surprise you that no one else has ever come forward to acknowledge their family's participation in the lynchings? A: I can't criticize anyone else for not coming forward. I know one of the things that's not in the book is that I was able to connect with a descendant of Irene Tusken [the girl who alleged rape] and for a while we talked and he was real supportive of what I was doing. At some point I thought we might be able to have a real conversation and I might be able to work it in [the book]. In the end I just stopped getting responses from him and I just let it go. Q: You show us the ugliest of human behavior: included in the book is an image of the lynching postcard. You also write a bit about modern hate crimes: Matthew Shepard, James Byrd. A: I remembered seeing the book "Without Sanctuary," a collection showing all these postcards. I remember seeing that and thinking this is so voyeuristic and so inhuman. And I hadn't really connected the concept of lynching to hate crimes. It was once I read the back story and the mentality [of mobs] that I connected to it and I thought it's still alive and well. Q: And your reaction to how that word — lynching — is used so casually these days? A: Infuriating. We think of all this stuff in the past and I think people get real flippant about it and they don't realize the pain that's associated with it. I liken the comment — "I'm going to call for a lynching party" — to someone saying I'm going to corral him into a gas chamber, about someone Jewish. It would just be so ugly and yet the term "lynching party" is so blasé. Florangela Davila: 206-464-2916 or fdavila<<
Last time, I noted the game's allegiance to Alternate Reality: The City, reflected in the size of the city, the types of facilities available there, the large number of essentially duplicate shops, and the kinds of things you can do there. Larvin offers banks, traders, smiths, taverns, chapels, healers, inns, and guilds, all with many of the same options as Alternate Reality, such as the ability to invest money in banks or the ability in taverns to purchase both rations (including water flasks) or food that you consume immediately. Generally speaking, however, Fate expands upon the options of the Alternate Reality base. Unless I missed something in the earlier game, for instance, "chapels" are an entirely new option here. You visit them to "confess your sins" and pay a fee to cleanse your karmic slate. (I'm not yet sure if this has any real impact on gameplay.) When I visited one and chose to confess a "grave" sin, my character said that I'd killed a non-hostile person. I don't remember this, but it's entirely possible that I did so in the early stages of the game when I didn't understand encounters. The cleric wanted to charge me almost half my "piaster," so I at first said no, then found myself barred from the chapel in a most unpleasant manner. I reloaded, sucked it up, and paid the indulgence. Taverns and stores each have an option to "go around," in which the selected character leaves the party for a time to check things out on his own. In stores, this seems to be a mechanic for stealing items. In taverns, it allows the party to hear useful rumors or find useful NPCs. After some fixed or variable interval (I'm not sure), the character returns to the party with whatever he's found. In a couple of cases, though, my party member hasn't returned after quite some time and I've had to reload to avoid losing him. Taverns have an option to listen for rumors, but the other patrons always just want me to buy a round for the house. There's no explicit option to do that, so it's a bit of a mystery. I haven't quite figured out guilds yet. They seem to allow the improvement of skills and acquisition of spells, but only for certain characters and (I guess) only after those characters have leveled up. I'm not sure if, having leveled up, you can only improve in one guild per level or whether you can make the rounds of all of them that help your class. The manual is a bit obtuse on this, and I haven't leveled up enough to experiment. Aside from the inaccessible water areas, there are a few mysteries about town. Two buildings called "stations" are always closed. One square has an inactive teleportation field. Another has a fountain that serves up cool mineral water--it is perhaps simply there to provide free water.. In between the shops, the party meets a wide variety of NPCs, including simple townsfolk, beggars, mages, druids, hunters, gladiators, and hostile creatures like thieves and burglars. Not even the latter classes, however, are universally hostile. Sometimes robbers will talk with you--even help you--despite their usual disposition. When you first encounter an NPC, you have options to immediately fight, disengage, talk, move forward (if they start at a distance), or perform a number of other actions--mock, warcry, use a scroll, suicide, dig in, close eyes, and laugh. I don't know how serious some of these latter options are supposed to be. "Warcry" can scare away opponents, but "close eyes" seems to just be a joke--you close them, the screen goes dark, but then you open them and the opponents or NPCs are still there. "Laugh" just makes you go "Ha ha ha" to no avail. I don't even understand what's happening when you click "suicide." In the one or two times I've tried it, the game says, "OK! But first you must show me how to do it. I'm waiting!" then "Your click shows me that you're still alive! So I think it's better I do it too!" "Disengage" brings up its own set of options--run away, ignore, hide, pray, bribe, chant, and joke. I haven't been using it much because talking to NPCs and fighting monsters gets you experience, money, and other benefits. I'll cover combat some other time, but if you choose to "talk," you get a menu with options to ask for (something), wait, chat, (ask them to) join, trade, threaten, give alms--which, despite the name, is more of a bribe--and say goodbye. "Chat" opens its own sub-menu with options to introduce yourself, tell lies about your prowess, brag, joke, curse, adulate (compliment), insult, or enchant (seduce) the NPC. "Ask for," in the meantime, brings up options to ask about the NPCs name, profession, and "self" (characteristics), as well as ask for generic "help" and hints, including those about items, persons, and beings. The menu options are arranged awkwardly, and it took me a lot of contacts to figure out what's going on, but basically it seems that your goal is to use the various "chat" options to either ingratiate yourself with the NPC or cow him, thus increasing the likelihood that he'll give you help or a hint. Your success at the various options seems to depend on your own attributes plus the class of the NPC. For instance, warrior classes often seem to respond positively to "joke," whereas mage classes generally say "I've heard better." Almost everyone seems to respond well to "adulate," hardly anyone (so far) to "threaten," "insult," or "curse"--in fact, some of the latter options can result in an instant kill against a party member if used against a strong NPC. "Give alms," which always gives 200 piaster, seems to obviate the other chat options, immediately turning the encounter into a positive one, but some warrior types get offended by that. I've found that "enchant," when used by one of my high-charisma party members, works reliably with them. However you do it, once you have the NPC on your side, it's time to ask for help, a hint, or both. "Help" offers a small probability that the NPC will teach the character something that increases one of his attributes by 1. I've started keeping a log of what attributes each class increases. Thieves, for instance, increase dexterity, while druidesses increase wisdom. Some commenters noted that these increases won't help you above 20, but that doesn't seem to be universally true. Winwood's dexterity is 21, and when he talked to a thief and supposedly got an increase, I checked his character sheet and it hadn't gone anywhere. But later, talking to a "banshee" increased his wisdom from 23 to 24. "Hints," including information about items, persons, and beings, seem to be how you find information about the game world, including your current quest. These hints seem to come in a set order no matter which NPC gives them to you, but certain hints only certain NPC classes will deliver. So you might get a line from a mage and then need to find a warrior to get the next piece of information. From the succession of hints, I've learned that the city of Larvin is isolated from the rest of the world, and their only contact is through the "Cavetrain." The Cavetrain, however, has been broken by something called "mongards," a race of "nasty ape men," which live only in darkness. King Garloth has offered a "big reward" to anyone who can get the Cavetrain working again. Once the Cavetrain related messages ended, I started getting messages about the catacombs accessible in the northwest part of the city: they're a mysterious place, they're a nasty place, and something called "Shade Ghosts" live there. I did explore the catacombs briefly for combat experience and money. It turns out you can meet NPCs in dungeons, too. The next set of messages has to do with the inaccessible southeast part of the map: it's a small island, some wise men live there, and I might find some clues there. Maybe at some point I'll find a water walking spell that allows me to get there. For now, the direction seems to be to head out into the wilderness and find the cave containing the "Cavetrain." Before I do, let's talk a little about my party. Largely by asking random NPCs to join me, I've filled it with 6 members in addition to Winwood. (A couple have died and been replaced along the way.) Right now, it consists of (and remember these people were named by the game): - Dolly, a Bes Zarak adventurer - Howard, a Laurin magician - Elgarette, a Moron priestess - Norma, a Ter Moron valkyrie - Unaques, a Zarak hunter - Billy, a Laurin warlock I honestly don't know how many classes there are in the game. Each of the spellcasting classes in my party has a different (small) selection of offensive and defensive spells. The priestess has a healing spell which has come in handy. As for the races, as the manual gives it, they all branched off humans through magical experimentation. Zaraks are strong and dumb; they used to be slaves. Bes Zaraks are human/Zarak half-breeds. Morons (ironically) are mentally superior but fragile; Ter Morons are half-human, half-Moron. Laurins are supposedly shapechangers created by black magic. Not represented in my party are giants, dwarves, gnomes, Errins, Pheyds, and mutants. I wouldn't mind some advice from people who have played the game about my party composition. Dolly seems to me the most redundant since Winwood is also an "adventurer." Perhaps I should be looking for a stronger warrior class in that slot. Several miscellaneous notes: - The day/night cycle has a lot of consequences. Different establishments are open during different hours, and more difficult monsters come out at night (or in the rain). The world gets almost completely dark at night. - Like any good game of the era, lamplight immediately starts out strong and fades as time goes by. Unlike most games, the entire lamp disappears when you use it. - After peaceful encounters, NPCs entirely disappear from the map. - Ending a conversation with a "bye" provides a small amount of experience. - Winwood has leveled up once since the game began. - Time passes quite slowly in the game, at a rate of about 1 minute every 10 seconds. A game "day" takes 4 hours in real time. - If Winwood dies, the game doesn't end. Can the game be won without the original character? - The excellent sound includes superb rain and thunderstorm effects. I left the game running while I was making some food and it started to rain and storm in-game. Both were so good that I thought it was actually storming outside. - There are options to kiss and touch your fellow party members. I don't know why I would do this. Hints about anything I have wrong or have overlooked are more than welcome. I do quite like the game so far, but I can definitely see how it will take a long time to win. There's still a lot I don't understand about equipment and combat, but we'll save that for next time. Time so far: 8 hours Reload count: 11 ." "Insert" is not an option? That would have been... glorious...??!!?!?!?! What about the 'fire' option? Can you shoot your wand through the hole? Stop guys, you're killing me. Wow, 8 hours seems like a lot for exploring a single city and getting one level. It's astonishing how many chat options there are, I wonder how complex that really is or if you already explored most of it. I also wonder if all NPCs are handcrafted or if there is some generator behind. There are a few handcrafted NPCs - some of those can be recruited, some not. However, the vast majority is randomly generated. In the near future, we may meet two NPCs that would make life easier but that are not required. Later on, there are a very few NPCs that are actually required to solve the game. ...I think both of the inaccessible zones of the city are directly linked to the city dungeon. Same for the cavetrain. You have come quite a ways. A couple of comments without spoilers... You have indeed missed two secret doors. One unimportant one, one very much more important one (you will immediately know the important one). Go bump into some more walls. Not every small inaccessible cluster of squares should be colored black. There will still remain unreachable portions of the city. No, you won't walk over water to reach them. Guilds: when you level, you get the permission to increase a stat or one of your magic spheres. You can do this at exactly one guild per permission, so choose wisely. You should really not start spending your permissions until after you have completed the first major quest and have access to the other cities, and even then I'd wait. Different guilds increase different stats at different prices, so it's worthwhile to shop around. You'll even find that one guild increases (say) STR by 2 points per permission you spend, while another guild increases it by 3 points, so it obviously makes sense to spend your permissions at that second one. However, guilds also allow your mages to acquire new spells ("Allocation") and switch mage classes once they have learned all the spells in one class ("Bestowal"). This you should always do ASAP. Prices differ wildly. Shop around as long as cash is an issue. Happily enough, one of the cheapest guilds for both Allocation and Bestowal is right in Larvin. Finally, guilds can also "Restore", which refills your mages' spell points and also restores your stats. This is more important than you might think. Check on your stats if a character gets hit by some magical effect, like being "frozen". Or when the green stuff deeper in the catacombs does unpleasant things to you. There again are differences between the prices the guilds charge for Restoring you. Some of the options in encounters only make sense later. I hear that high level priests can at some point "pray away" enemies. No XP, but this can be good against tougher enemy groups. The maximum attribute you can reach through "Help" is 40, not 20. One point about this: if you have, say, 40 WIS and 30 INT and a mage Helps you (which would normally increase both stats by 1), neither will increase, because you have hit the limit on one of them. If you have the patience, you can plan this and save your "permissions" (which you get by leveling) for after you have hit this "conversation attribute cap". Note that people in cities and in the wilderness increase different stats. Party composition: my preference is to only have mages, plus Winwood. Fighter types are not as effective later on. Plus, some of the better weapons can be used by mages. Different mage classes can use different weapons, so you may want to try a diverse assortment of classes. That said, I'd say a Banshee is a must - she has great offensive spells, plus when she maxes out her first class, she switches to a class that starts out with an enormously useful spell. (Each mage class switches classes in a different fixed progression.) I'll usually have at least two of them in a party, even three. Archmages are also pretty good. If you can get one, keep him (or her). A Magician is good for the beginning. His "Strength" spell is useful if you, say, find something that you are too weak to do. Might happen, you know. I'd ditch him after that. A Warlock is almost as good as a Banshee. Valkyries can use some decent weapons. I've never found a use for priests, but YMMV - for healing, I'll usually use a Nymph. If you have a choice between a guy and a girl, go with the girl. There is something that the ladies will happily do, but the men won't, although it's quite useful. (You'll need to Restore the ladies to see the full consequences.) And yes, your first main quest is to reactivate the cavetrain. The wilderness won't advance that quest much. However, there are other good things you can find there, so do go out and have a little outing. (You did hear that you shouldn't be outside the city at night, right?) If someone dies, you can resurrect them at the healer. (Don't wait too long, otherwise he'll be too decomposed.) Incidentally, if you meet a dead NPC, it's the decent thing to do to resurrect him or her. A resurrected NPC has stats of all 1. Don't be misled by this. Restore him at a guild to see his true stats. However, there is indeed something that Winwood himself needs to do, so don't leave him dead. Yes, kissing can be useful... though not if Winwood does it. Thanks a million for all of this. 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So, join us now at THE BANK OF CHAOS. We promise you that you may/may not regret it! That was just great. Had a good laugh over here. Indeed. You have some rim shots now and then, Kenny, but this one was worth it. Okay, this is getting ridiculous. I've tried to post my comment 3 times now, each time it disappeared after a few minutes. Is it stuck in moderation or what? "I have no idea how secret doors work in this game." They're the 'bump into walls until you find them' type, but thankfully certain light spells make them visible. The easiest is to get an Enchanter class mage, his 8th spell, Flare, can do this. "You visit them to "confess your sins" and pay a fee to cleanse your karmic slate. (I'm not yet sure if this has any real impact on gameplay.)" Guards attack on sight if you have many grave sins. Other than that I'm not sure if anything else happens, I've always tried to keep them at 0. Maybe shops and services throw you out? Clerics also get the series of Zapsin spells that do the cleansing for free. "After some fixed or variable interval (I'm not sure), the character returns to the party with whatever he's found." This timer is random, but is based on actions taken, not real time. The fastest way is to enter a submenu (like buying rations) then pressing Enter to cancel it. Doing this a few times should make the character come back. "I'm not sure if, having leveled up, you can only improve in one guild per level or whether you can make the rounds of all of them that help your class." Nope, one attribute point gets you one session of training, that's it. Don't use Larvin guilds, most of them give 1 increase per point, guilds in later cities offer more bang for your buck. "Another has a fountain that serves up cool mineral water--it is perhaps simply there to provide free water." There are indeed some water fountains, but most of them are magical. Examine should tell you what it does, but your character might get it wrong if he doesn't have a high Wisdom score. It's probably best to just save before drinking :) "Finally, there's one square that notes a "hole in the wall."" It's just there to confuse people, doesn't do a thing. "Maybe at some point I'll find a water walking spell that allows me to get there." I'll just say that all spells are listed in the manual, there are no undocumented ones. "I honestly don't know how many classes there are in the game." 32 classes, but effectively there are only two: fighters and mages. For fighters, the only differences are maximum ability scores and equipment limitations. Each mage class starts with his own spell school and eventually learns all spells in the game, but in a different order. "There are options to kiss and touch your fellow party members. I don't know why I would do this." Only Nymphs can use them. "I wouldn't mind some advice from people who have played the game about my party composition." Winwood is necessary for the main plot, unfortunately, he's not a terribly good fighter. You should get: - A Witch. Keep recruiting and dismissing them until you find one with the Magic Ears ability (shown in Party/Info/Abilities). This provides a lot of helpful hints. They're also the only class that can use the game's most powerful weapon. - An Enchanter for the Location (coordinates), Showmap and Flare (reveal secret doors) spells. In addition they're the class that learns the Elementary spell school first that has some weather modification spells, which will be really useful at that point in the game. - A Cleric for healing. They're also the best class at using the Disengage/Pray command, which works very rarely at first, but becomes one the most broken options at high level. The last spot should be reserved for a special NPC you'll find in the wilderness, close to Larvin. One of the roads leads directly to him, shouldn't be hard to find. You should also explore the mountains surrounding the wilderness area, there's some nice magical equipment hidden there. I really appreciate all the hints and tips. A lot of this is poorly documented. "There are options to kiss and touch your fellow party members. I don't know why I would do this." And here I thought Fire Emblem was the first to let you molest members of your team. OK, I give up. This comment engine is just horrible. Here's my comment in a pastebin, maybe this will get through. Sorry it took so long to get your comment posted. The blog kept flagging it as spam. It lets the most obvious spam through and then quarantines yours. This looks like it'll be a fascinating process. Both playing the game with its odd little nuances, and the reporting of it. I've definitely run into the problem of having to "stagger" discussion when writing about larger games across several updates (most recently The Witcher 3) and that struggle of having to pace yourself with all the pressing topics - combat, level progression, side-questing - you're itching to delineate. It's probably a good thing that you're still alternating games, as it'll help to prolong burn out. Nothing like some horribly oblique foreign language RPGs from the mid-80s to help you realize how good you have it with Fates, here. Do shops or taverns offer temp. jobs as in Alternate Reality? This is an impressive game, but I am surprised. I have look a lot on the internet about AR but none of these sites mentioned this game. No temp jobs. No sidequests as such. And the game is pretty much unknown outside the German-speaking countries because reLine went bankrupt pretty much exactly when the "translation" was finished, so it was never marketed in English. (Scare quotes around "translation" are intentional.) It's got a small cult following in Germany, though. That cult following was persistant enough that there's been an unofficial Fate 2 beta going around some twenty years later. Don't know if it can be picked up anywhere anymore, though. Even in AR, the jobs were only present in the Amiga and DOS versions, I think. Very nice post about this great game! LMFAO :) I am very curious if you can finish this game. Unfortunately I had to give up playing on the halfway. I blame the annoying winuae emulator for this! :) 3 thieves, 1 scamp, 1 rascal, and 2 murderesses. That's quite an assortment of mustachioed men. I played with almost Mage party - Ninja + Winwood and that mages - Witch, Banshee, Warlock, Cleric as a base + 1 another magic class but after some timueyou have to change someone for in-game important char(s) required to finish the game. All unaccessable places are reachable via the catacombs under city, but these are not 1 dungeon but 3 or 4 independent dungeon level chains unconnected by each other. So if you cast map spell/use wand/use crystal map you will see the area around you, but some places can be a part of independent dungeon accessable from different place and never connected to your present dungeon. But the game has them on one level of map technically. Larvin city dungeon is probably one of the most complicated/hard dungeon i have ever played in RPG games (and i finished tens of RPG games since 1990`s). Do not worry about train stations, getting trains to work is the first major quest of the game - destruction of M.A., you probably got some info about this quest from conversations with NPC and if not you just did not conversate enought :-D. For some reason, I had this idea that the "Cavetrain" would be found in the wilderness around Larvin instead of in the catacombs. Thanks for clearing it up. The cavetrain is not in the catacombs. The catacombs have something to do with getting it to work. You have actually already visited the cavetrain, but since it's not running right now, your visits were not overly helpful. Go talk to a couple of people to find out what to do. Yes Gorgasal is right, train network is something different, it is not a Dungeon but just a "travelling between station around the world" feature.... and never forget to buy a ticket if you want to live :-D I give you one extremely importatnt hint about advancing and progressing the game. Getting informations by conversating with NPC is critical MUST TO DO think. This game has an anti-walkthroug features and you MUST DO the things in-game. The dungeons/world changes if you get informations about quests. For example, there is a XY coordinate with something buried (must have item) and if you just simply read the walkkthroug, go to this coordinates and click the "dig" option, Winwood will refuse to do that, because you did not finish some quest/got informations. And if you do it right way, you will really get through quest/get info Winwood "will know" a will dig up this item. This was just an example, one of many in the game, there are more situations like this - you can not speed up game progress by overriding quests or getting info by conversation, you MUSr REALLY do it in-game. But the game has an automated conversations topics system, so if you are not blind you always see if some topic ends, that means you will start getting info aboput something, for example about Train system and after some time, after you will successfully (success=you get some info) conversate with enought NPC`s Winwood will not ask about trains any more. That automatically means you finished the whole info harvesting for this quest and you are good to go. There is always Topic-chain of conversations with NPC to get info-Topic ends. This comment has been removed by the author. Finally caught up to the "present" after a long read through your blog. Thank you for providing many hours of entertainment and education! Saved me from my feeling I needed to play Wizardry 1 through 4, if nothing else. Adding to that, that Chet was able to sqeeeze out a post before May 12 was a pleasant surprise. Thanks Chet! Unfortunately, it just meant that there was a bigger gap before the next one. And thanks, Greg. I'm glad you enjoyed the entries. The more you describe this game, the more it sounds like a pre-cursor to Arena and TES- are there any earlier games that try to turn an RPG world, with multiple towns separated by wilderness, into a visceral open-world non-linear game like this? Other than Alternate Reality, of course... A much more direct precursor to TES: Arena is a Legends of Valour from 1992. Along with Ultima Underworld and Darklands. As told by one of the Arena creators. Makes sense, though I don't know Legends of Valour... Legends of Valour was a huge disappoint for me. I remember seeing the ads, and box and reading the manual. The game itself was pretty bad. At least in my opinion. I can't remember all the reasons now, but back then I was not very happy with it. The addict may have a different opinion. Will be interesting to see what he thinks. This comment has been removed by the author. The Bard's Tale II and III and Legend of Faerghail all took similar approaches to towns and wilderness (although in the latter, they were only menu towns). Still, I could believe that the author of this game had played nothing but AR:TC. Oh, and Might & Magic, of course. "if I'm going to keep up a regular posting schedule, we're really going to have to get into the weeds." We're with you! If we didn't appreciate minutiae, we probably wouldn't be here to begin with. The details are usually more interesting than the broad-brush strokes anyway. Thanks for being willing to put the time into this game. I hadn't heard of it before your first entry but now I'm excited to read more about it. There's a sense of wonder and possibility when it comes to games this large, and just the map of the first town has an interesting design to it. I hope you make it through this one, sounds like it will be quite an accomplishment. Wow great!!! You are finally doing it. (maybe you remember that i wrote to you in january 2015 about this game) I see, that you have some comprehensible problems with that game, because it's huuuuuuge and quite hard, because you don't get that much help ingame what you have to do. ;-) When you solved the problems with the cavetrain you will get access to the main area of the game which felt like 10 times bigger than the location you already know (wilderness around larvin). There are a lot of mechanics in the game which are hard to understand to get (the most) a powerful party to complete the game and i can say it's possible to mess up your party in a way, that makes it unpossible to complete it and gives you nearly no other possibilitys than a restart. :-D It's great to see, that a lot of your questions are already answered, so maybe i can get some input on one of your next posts about this game. Some background informations.. the game was developed by one Person (RIP Olaf Patzenhauer)! He had some help with the graphics and sounds, but the most things were done from himself. There are some possibilities to speed up the leveling part at the beginning (you have to get stronger for the dungeon runs). So if you want me to get you some hints about this, just let me know. "It's possible to mess up your party in a way, that makes it unpossible to complete it and gives you nearly no other possibilitys than a restart." Yikes. Is there a way you could explain how this could happen without delving into massive spoilers? There are at least 2 must-have special characters (not randomly generated, but always present in the game - you wiil found them after some very-major quests so you will know they are something special). Game can not be finished without them. There are also 2 more special characters, which i am not 100% sure if you MUST have them in the party sometime, i think one not (for 99%) but there is a one very special in Larvin who is probably MUST HAVE character for some time, after something is done you will not need this char any more for 100%. And the point is, you can kick all characters from the party and if you kick the Must-have char he will dissappear. I do not know if he will be recruitable from any place (the place where you found him first time for example) later but i think not. Better to backup your savegame directory from time to time as you progress far in the game. Maybe every 10 hours of gameplay or something like that. Kamikadze told you already the biggest problem with the main characters, which are maybe not identifiable as such important. Another reason (which is fixable with grinding up a new group) is to skill the wrong things (improving in guilds and other mechanics) that makes it very hard/impossible to get through later encounters. There are some parts in the game, where you can't leave the areas to refill stuff, so when you stuck there the game is over and you have to restart one of the earlier savegames) Just one general thing about the game. I would say to complete it you would need 5-10 or more days playtime, when you know what you do (i didn't completed it yet, so it's just a valuation).
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We are providing a Global solution to shop or Spend only with merchant stores that offer customers BMCT coins or BMToken that is redeemable in the store or traded on Exchanges BMCT and BMT are listed. This can also serve as a secured saving for the future provided customers/users are able to protect their “ PRIVATE KEY “ & PASSPHRASE of BMToken and BMCT coins respectively. Matching technology with innovation is our mantra. Visit our website and follow us across our social media handles. @BMCToken & @beepmagnet. FEATURED COVID-19: Chiji14xchange Injects N2 Million Staff Intervention Fund as it Initiates Remote Work For its Staff Chiji14xchange will create a N2 Million Staff Intervention Fund to support staff as its staff will begin working remotely. The announcement of its plan to initiate remote work for the staff of the company comes into effect as from Monday, March 22, 2020, till further notice. This announcement was made on Friday, 20th March 2020. The is following the confirmation of an increase in Nigeria’s COVID-19 cases, Chiji14xchange is a digital asset trading company, all transactions are done on the firm’s online platform as it deals with its clients remotely via the same medium. But not all engagements require online presence and can be done remotely. There exist some jobs that require human to human interaction and as such, these sets of staff reports directly to the office of the firm. The firm has assessed it’s entire workforce and identified key personnel that are of utmost importance to the smooth running of the organization in this trying times. An overview of the assessment showed that members of the tech team and a few customer service agents would be able to effectively operate remotely while other customer service agents would be required to be physically present. To this end, the management of the firm has made provisions for these essential members of the firm to move into the company’s headquarters as adequate accommodation has been provided for them. The practice of social distancing is imperative at this time and as such, this move is to encourage the practice of social distancing and isolation as is necessary to prevent the looming outbreak of the Pandemic in Nigeria – COVID-19. In addition to this, the management approved a N2million staff intervention fund to support staff welfare during the period. “This is to support every staff of the company in the isolation process (as regarding stocking up food and toiletries) as finance could be a hindrance to effective isolation practice,” CEO Odum Chijioke said. This is obviously a judicious move, one that is being adopted by many other organizations globally probably excluding manufacturers of essential commodities and other businesses whose continuity depends on physical contact with customers. But with a possible nationwide outbreak in sight, drastic decisions have to be made early enough. Generally, activation of full remote work (for all employees) could be hindered by reasonable challenges such as concerns with the reliability of personal internet compared to more reliable setups in an office environment. An even greater concern is the availability of power considering the occasional collapse of the national electricity grid in the past. Nobody’s certain what the next few months will look like, but as far as businesses are concerned, plans have to be put in place to sustain continuity. Would this system really help in preventing an outbreak? Would this result in wide acceptance of Remote Working in the nearest future? Whatever the case may be for businesses, working remotely should be seen as a necessity. As we have hope in the tackling, containment and eventual elimination of the Coronavirus, we are confident that the quality of our service will not be affected in these trying times. We wish and pray the best for all our staff, customers and the entire world population.
Spray painting Spray painting is used in a variety of industries and by a variety of workers. It is used to paint motor vehicles, buildings (inside and outside), structures, furniture, white goods, boats, ships, aircraft and machinery. Spray painting is associated with a number of health and safety concerns. A person conducting a business undertaking (PCBU) must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers at the workplace. On this page: - Hazardous chemicals - Dust - Machinery and equipment - Fire and explosion - Electrical safety - Confined spaces - Heat Hazardous chemicals Hazardous reproductive system, kidney or liver, and 'painter's syndrome' (which affects the brain). People's exposure to hazardous chemicals should be eliminated, or where it cannot be eliminated, it should be minimised. No one is to be exposed to a substance or mixture in an airborne concentration which exceeds the workplace exposure standards for airborne contaminants (Safe Work Australia). You must manage the risk to your health, and the health of your workers, from the use of a hazardous chemicals. Ways to control hazards - Use a spray booth when applying a hazardous chemical, except when it is not practical (e.g. painting a building) or when the work is minor (e.g. painting over a stone chip on a car). - Where a spray booth is not practical, use a local exhaust ventilation system to capture overspray and solvent vapour as close to the source as possible. The system should be fitted with a particulate filtration mechanism to filter overspray and should comply with AS 1482 Electrical equipment for explosive atmospheres – Protection by ventilation – Type of protection - Use fans and natural fresh air (as well as local exhaust ventilation) to displace contaminated air. Systems should comply with Australian Standard 1482. - Use water based paint instead of organic solvent based paint. - Automate the process or use a less hazardous process (e.g. use high volume-low pressure (HVLP) spraying rather than conventional spraying). - Avoid dry sanding unless dust extraction equipment is used. - Dedicate a spray zone with barriers to restrict entry. - Ensure safe spray painting operations, and keep booths clear of unnecessary equipment. Have cleanup and emergency procedures in place. - Obtain a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for every hazardous chemical. - Ensure that appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) is available and correctly used. Dust Dust from such things as sanding is a common occurrence. The following outlines ways to reduce the clean-up time and inhalation of dust. It is important to reduce the amount of dust in the workplace, as it can contain crystalline silica, which can lead to lung disease. Reducing the escape of dust - use wet sanding processes where practical - using tools that have built-in extraction or connect to dust extraction systems. Reducing dust in the workplace - use a 'local extraction' ventilation system – i.e. a mechanical dust extraction system that extracts dust from a specific part of the work area, filters out the dust and has clean make-up air - have enough general ventilation (fresh air ducted into the workplace or natural ventilation through doors and windows to dilute the amount of dust in the air - create a separate work area with walls or other dust proof barriers where tasks that generate dust are done - how to keep the workplace clean: - in a panel shop, using a vacuum cleaner rather than a broom reduces dust in the air. If hazardous dusts such as those containing crystalline silica are present, a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter would be more appropriate. - in the spray painting area, wet down the paint dust before sweeping it up. There can still be active isocyanate particles that can get into the air if swept up dry. Paint dust should not be cleaned up with a dry vacuum cleaner as it can catch on fire. - don't use compressed air to blow dust or blow contaminant from clothes. Reducing dust inhalation - use 'respiratory protective equipment' [1] – i.e. a respirator. Respirators used must meet AS/NZS 1716:2012 (it will have an Australian Standards mark on the package). For many dusts in panel beating, a 'P1' type respirator is appropriate [2] . The types of respiratory protective equipment are: - air supplied breathing apparatus, then half/full face respirators, provide better protection from inhaling dust and are more cost efficient in the long term. Important: Crystalline silica Dust from some body fillers and polishes can contain crystalline silica. If crystalline silica is breathed into the lungs, it can cause irreversible lung disease. If body fillers or polishes containing crystalline silica (check on the product's label or safety data sheet to find out this information), see if you can replace the product with a product not containing crystalline silica. If this is not possible, inhalation of the dust will have to be reduced through a combination of the ways described above. Workers breathing in dust containing crystalline silica will need to have regular health monitoring. [1] People using personal protective equipment, such as respirators, have to be trained in how to use and maintain the equipment properly to ensure its' effectiveness. [2] For more hazardous dusts, such as those containing crystalline silica, disposable and 'P1' respirators may not be enough – a better respirator ('P2', half/full face or air supplied) and use of extraction ventilation would be more appropriate. [3] People using half/full face and disposable respirators have to be cleanly shaven for the respirator to have a good seal on the face, for it to be effective. Two pack paint and varnish systems Two pack paint and varnish systems are used by painters, cabinet makers and motor vehicle sprayers to give a hard resilient finish, however chemicals used in these systems (called isocyanates) cause occupational asthma in a significant percentage of exposed people. Inhalation exposure to isocyanates should be considered as high risk. Isocyanates used in paint systems can cause health effects when breathed in during paint mixing and spraying or via skin contact. Spray painting with two pack paints should be conducted within a spray booth fitted with effective exhaust capture and filtration systems. Ways to control hazards - Provide induction and training about the health hazards associated with exposure to isocyanates. - Follow safety instructions provided in the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) accompanying two pack paint and varnish systems. Implement any controls recommended in the SDS, and ensure that workers have easy access to the relevant SDS. - Conduct air monitoring to measure the airborne concentration of isocyanates and help assess the effectiveness of control measures. - Wear a full face air-supplied respirator, full length overalls with hood and chemical resistant gloves during spraying. Also wear gloves while cleaning up. - Ensure the mixing area is well ventilated. - Arrange a registered medical practitioner to provide ongoing health monitoring for workers who have been exposed to isocyanates while spraying two pack paint and varnish. Further guidance on hazardous chemicals is provided in the Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2013(PDF, 1495.51 KB) . Restricted hazardous chemicals The following chemicals must not be used, handled or stored for spray painting: - arsenic - arsenic compounds - benzene (benzol), if the substance contains more than 1 per cent by volume - carbon disulphide (carbon bisulphide) - free silica (crystalline silicon dioxide) - lead carbonate - methanol (methyl alcohol), if the substance contains more than 1 per cent by volume - tetrachloroethane - tetrachloromethane (carbon tetrachloride) - tributyl tin. Lead Lead pigments were used in motor vehicle paints and filler products for many years. Workers who carry out surface preparation activities on old vehicles, such as sanding, may be exposed to lead. The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 contains specific requirements for working with lead. Machinery and equipment Spray painting plant and equipment Spray painting plant and equipment include spray guns, booths, compressors, pumps, ventilation systems, personal protective equipment (PPE) and hoses. Spray painters use a range of plant, exposing them to risks such as electric shock, excessive noise, hazardous chemicals and injection injury. Hazards that could arise during the normal use of spray painting plant and equipment should be managed. In addition, you should identify potential hazards when installing new plant, modifying plant, using existing plant for a different purpose or using plant in unusual circumstances. Ways to control hazards - Regularly carry out preventative maintenance on equipment. Always clean airless spray guns according to the manufacturer's instructions. - Use a pneumatic sander rather than an electrical one, or a high volume low pressure (HVLP) spray gun instead of a conventional compressed air one for touch ups. - Use a barrier to separate people from plant, and provide as much ventilation as possible. - Ensure that purchasing specifications for new equipment cover all safety features. - Clearly display equipment information regarding emergency stops/guards. - When preparing rosters, consider workload and fatigue factors. Spray painting booths Spray painting hazardous chemicals must be conducted in booths, except where it is not practical to do so or where the work is of a minor nature. Booths must be designed and built to comply with AS/NZS 4114.1:2003 – Spray painting booths, designated spray painting areas and paint mixing rooms – Design, construction and testing and regularly checked and maintained. A spray booth should have effective exhaust capture and filtration systems and must be able to maintain an average air flow rate (measured when the booth is empty) of at least: - 0.3 metres/second (m/s) for full down draught booths - 0.4 m/s for electrostatic spray painting booths - 0.5 m/s for any other booth. Motor vehicles If possible, remove LP gas cylinders or fuel tanks from vehicles before placing them in a spray booth/bake oven. Where this is not practical, bake ovens should be operated at a temperature where it is not possible for fuel vapour or gas to be released to the bake oven atmosphere. Ovens should be constructed so there is no ignition source within the oven air circulation zone. Any recirculated hot air should include enough fresh air to remove the potential build up of explosive gas.Guidance on plant and equipment can be found in the Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Model Code of Practice 2013(PDF, 1067.46 KB) . Vehicle hoists, jacks and frame straighteners Vehicle hoists, jacks and frame straighteners can cause serious injury if they are not used or maintained properly. Fire and explosion Many paints contain flammable substances, and spray painting is hazardous if painting mist comes into contact with a source of ignition. Possible sources of ignition include: - open flames such as matches, lighters, cigarettes, welding and cutting torches - hot surfaces including engines, motors and light bulbs - chemical reactions, mixing hazardous chemicals can generate heat or static (e.g. when the mixing of two-pack epoxy paints creates heat) - sparks from electrical equipment and portable electric tools such as abrasive grinding wheels, radios and mobile phones - static electricity from poorly-earthed equipment. Spontaneous fires may also be started by incorrectly stored flammable materials, paint and solvent soaked rags, or a build up of paint residue in work areas or on equipment. Ovens used for baking automotive coatings must have no ignition sources within the oven air circulation zone. Recirculation of hot air should include adequate fresh air intake to prevent the build up of potentially explosive vapours. Ways to control hazards - Eliminate ignition sources from hazardous areas around flammable liquids, correctly earth equipment and eliminate short circuits. (Hazardous areas for spray painting areas and flammable liquid storage areas are identified by AS60079.10.1 Explosive atmospheres: Classification of areas – Explosive gas atmospheres) - Ensure work areas are well ventilated to prevent the accumulation of flammable vapours. - Mix and pour flammable liquids in a clearly designated area with adequate ventilation and free of ignition sources. - Before pouring flammable liquids from one container to another, set both containers down on an earthed surface, then bring the containers into contact while pouring. Keep them in contact while pouring (it is best to connect them with alligator clips). - When using containers with air lines, replace the plugs as soon as the air lines are disconnected. - Treat empty flammable solvent, thinners or paint drums or cans as if they contain residual liquid and explosive vapours until they can be correctly disposed of. - Store and handle flammable liquids correctly (e.g. store flammable paints and solvents in containers with lids to prevent evaporation/generation of flammable vapours). - Remove LP gas cylinders or fuel tanks from vehicles before placing them in a spray booth/bake oven. Where this is not practical, operate the spray booth/bake oven at the lowest possible temperature and below the levels where it is possible for fuel vapour to be released to the atmosphere. - Establish a spray zone with warning signs that restrict access. Provide fire extinguishers and train staff in their use. Electrical safety Electrocution and burns are the main health risks associated with using electricity in spray painting. Great care should be taken to prevent static discharge (e.g. caused by touching two metal cans together during decanting) and during electrostatic spray painting. Information on controlling static electricity can be found in AS/NZS 1020: The control of undesirable static electricity. Don't operate electrical equipment that is damaged or not designed to give explosion protection in any hazardous area identified in AS60079.10.1 – Explosive atmospheres: Classification of areas – Explosive gas atmospheres. Ways to control hazards - Keep electrical equipment at a safe distance from spray painting zones. - Ensure that the electrostatic spraying system is operated only by trained spray painters. - Carry out electrostatic spraying in a spray zone exclusively reserved for that work. The floor of the zone should be made of an electrically-conducting material which is earthed. The exhaust system must provide air movement of at least 0.4 metres/second at the spray position. - Remove drums of paint or cleaning solvent from the spray zone. - Earth equipment and metal surfaces within three metres of the charged head of the spray gun used in electrostatic spraying. - Remove metal items (e.g. watches), material with silk or synthetic fibres, and insulating gloves (except those with the palms cut out) before entering the spray zone. - Wear antistatic or conductive footwear to stop the build up of electrostatic charge. Avoid old footwear or footwear with paint, oil or wax stained soles. - When cleaning the spray gun, check that the high voltage supply is switched off. Confined spaces Spray painters sometimes have to work fully or partly in confined spaces with poor ventilation or restricted entry and exit points. The main hazards presented by this type of work environment are lack of oxygen, toxic or flammable and explosive vapours, engulfment and mechanical equipment. Associated health risks include burns, electrocution, suffocation and asphyxiation, poisoning, crush injuries, brain damage and death. Ways to control hazards - If possible, remove the object to be painted from the confined space. - Use mechanical ventilation systems and non-sparking tools (if there is a flammable atmosphere). If an air-supplied respiratory device is needed, protect the breathing line at all times. - Allow only people wearing correct personal protective equipment (PPE) to enter the space. More information on confined spaces can be found in the Confined Spaces Code of Practice 2011 (PDF, 1034.03 KB). Heat Heat stress occurs when a person's body cannot lose heat fast enough. The person may suffer irritability, discomfort, dehydration, heat rash, cramps, heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Heat stress while spray painting may be caused by many factors other than the air temperature in the work area. People most at risk are those who are dressed inappropriately, unfit, overweight, dehydrated, suffering from heart, circulatory or skin disorders, unused to the workplace heat levels or taking medication that can change a body's temperature regulation. Ways to control hazards -. - Take frequent short breaks and drink cool water regularly. - Shade an outdoor work area from the sun or reschedule work to occur in a cooler time of the day. - Last updated - 29 November 2017 We'd love your feedback Coronavirus (COVID-19) How to help prevent the spread of infection at work and answers to common workers' compensation questions.
. Introduction Our experiences consist of combinations of features (e.g., perceptual, contextual, semantic, and affective details) that are collectively stored as events in memory (Johnson et al., 1993). A hallmark of the medial temporal lobe system, and the hippocampus in particular, is that it supports the binding of event features into an integrated memory (Squire, 1992; Johnson and Chalfonte, 1994; Davachi and Wagner, 2002; Shimamura, 2010) and allows individual cues to reactivate sets of features (Treves and Rolls, 1994). Indeed, reactivation mediated by the hippocampus may occur automatically (Moscovitch, 1992) and even implicitly (Turk-Browne et al., 2010). However, despite the potential richness of memories, and the automaticity with which features may be reactivated, remembering tends to be goal directed; that is, we typically seek to retrieve information from memory selectively. For example, returning from a wedding, one may face specific questions about the reception. Where was she sitting? What was he wearing? Frontoparietal cortex is thought to be involved in biasing mnemonic processing in favor of goal-relevant representations (Miller, 2000; Buckner and Wheeler, 2001; Badre and Wagner, 2007; Cabeza et al., 2008), though the nature of these frontoparietal control mechanisms remains under-specified. It has been argued that the cognitive control mechanisms that guide memory retrieval are distinct from the mechanisms that support reactivation per se, in that control regions do not actively represent mnemonic content (Buckner and Wheeler, 2001). However, in studies of visual perceptual attention and working memory in nonhuman primates, a hallmark of neurons in frontoparietal cortex is that they actively and preferentially represent goal-relevant features of a stimulus (Rainer et al., 1998; Duncan, 2001; Assad, 2003). For example, neurons in monkey lateral parietal cortex that typically do not code for stimulus color, will adaptively code for color if it determines the appropriate behavioral response (Toth and Assad, 2002). It is unclear, however, whether frontoparietal cortex contributes to memory retrieval in a similar manner; that is, by preferentially representing goal-relevant features of a memory. Here, we report a human fMRI study of goal-directed memory retrieval that probed mnemonic content within frontoparietal and temporal lobe regions. Pictures (faces or scenes) were studied in one of two locations (left or right). During a memory test, participants reported either the visual category of the picture (category trials) or the picture's location (location trials). Multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) of fMRI data were used to measure reactivation of visual category information during test trials (Polyn et al., 2005; McDuff et al., 2009; Kuhl et al., 2011, 2012a). Category reactivation was considered as a function of its behavioral relevance; that is, on category trials (target reactivation) versus location trials (incidental reactivation). We separately considered target/incidental reactivation in frontoparietal versus ventral/medial temporal (VMTL) regions. Our primary hypothesis was that goal-directed remembering involves preferential reactivation of target features of a memory within frontoparietal cortex. In contrast, we predicted that incidental reactivation would be relatively greater in VMTL, due to binding of event features. Additionally, we assessed whether reactivation during initial retrieval would predict subsequent memory. A tenet of episodic memory theories is that reactivation allows for re-encoding of an experience, thereby promoting memory strengthening (Johnson, 1992; Treves and Rolls, 1994; Eichenbaum, 2004). To the extent that frontoparietal cortex preferentially reactivates goal-relevant features, this bias should correspond to selective strengthening of target features. In contrast, if incidental reactivation of nontarget event features is more likely to occur in VMTL, this may represent an opportunity for goal-irrelevant features of an event to be strengthened. Materials and Methods Participants. Twenty-six paid individuals (eight female) from the Yale University community participated. Participants were between the ages of 18 and 35 (M = 21.9); all were right-handed, native English speakers. Two additional participants (both male) were excluded due to excessive head motion. All gave informed written consent in accordance with procedures approved by the Yale University Institutional Review Board. Materials. Stimuli consisted of words (e.g., candle, hose) paired with pictures of well known people (e.g., Elton John, Angelina Jolie) or locations (e.g., Big Ben, Grand Canyon). Words (144 total) were nouns from the Medical Research Council psycholinguistic database and were selected based on word length (3–9 letters, M = 5.5). Pictures were drawn from online sources and consisted of grayscale photographs (72 faces, 72 scenes). Experimental task. The experiment consisted of three phases: study, test, and post-test. Participants first studied words paired with pictures of either faces or scenes (study phase), with each face/scene appearing on the left- or right-hand side of a computer screen (Fig. 1A). Participants' memories were then selectively tested (test phase): for each word, they were either cued to recall the corresponding picture's category (face vs scene; a category trial), cued to recall the location at which a picture was presented (left vs right; location trial), or not tested at all (baseline condition). The study and test phases were conducted during fMRI scanning. Participants completed 12 functional scans (blocks), each lasting 4 min and 26 s. Each scan began with 12 study trials and was followed by eight test trials. After fMRI scanning, participants completed a surprise memory post-test during which they were shown each word again and asked to recall both the category and location of the corresponding picture (Fig. 1B). Each phase is described in more detail below. During the study, words were horizontally centered on the screen and appeared above the pictures. Pictures were presented either on the left- or right-hand side of the screen (and were thus not horizontally aligned with the words). Opposite to the picture was a rectangle with a white border and black interior (an empty box). The empty box was the same size as the picture and was included to more strongly emphasize the picture location (e.g., if the picture was in the left position, it was clear that the right position was “empty”). Participants were instructed to encode both the picture category and the picture location that was associated with each word. Each word-picture pair was presented for 4 s and was followed by an 8 s baseline period during which participants completed an arithmetic task. The baseline period began with the presentation of a fixation cross (1 s), followed by a two-digit number (1 s), an addition sign (1 s), a second two-digit number (1 s), an equal sign (1 s), and then a third number along with a question mark (2 s) that was either the sum of the first two numbers (50% likelihood) or ±1, 2,10, or 11 units (each equally likely for a total probability of an incorrect total = 50%). Participants indicated whether the sum was correct or incorrect by pressing keys corresponding to their index or middle fingers, respectively, on a button box. The baseline arithmetic task was intended to prevent participants from covertly rehearsing study items in between trials. After the 12 study trials within each block, participants were informed whether the upcoming test phase would test their memory for the picture category (face/scene) or the picture location (left/right) that corresponded to various words. Half (6) of all test phases tested category memory; half tested location memory (two pseudo-random orders were alternated across participants). Eight of the 12 items from each study phase were tested during each test phase, with the untested items functioning as a no-test baseline condition. Each test trial consisted of the presentation of a word, in the same screen position as during the study phase, along with a reminder of the test task and relevant response keys (i.e., “F–S–DK” for the category blocks, to indicate “face,” “scene,” or “don't know” as response options; “L–R–DK” for the location blocks to indicate “left,” “right,” or “don't know”). Participants were instructed to use the index, middle, and ring fingers of their right hand to make responses. Each test trial lasted 4 s and was followed by an 8 s baseline period identical to the study phase (i.e., with the same arithmetic task). Participants' responses were recorded for an additional 1 s after the trial ended (i.e., during the 1 s fixation cross) to reduce the number of trials with no response. Before entering the scanner, participants completed two short practice study/test rounds to orient them to the task. Upon entering the scanner, participants completed two additional practice rounds to further develop comfort with the task and to gain familiarity with the button box used for responding. After exiting the scanner, participants completed a surprise post-test that probed their memory for the picture category (face/scene) and location (left/right) that corresponded to each word presented during the study phases. Two-thirds of these words had been tested during the test rounds; one-third had not been tested. Each post-test trial first tested participants' memory for the picture category. They made one of four responses: “definitely face,” “probably face,” “probably scene,” or “definitely scene.” Immediately after making their response, participants were asked to indicate the picture location: “definitely left,” “probably left,” “probably right,” or “definitely right.” The post-test was completely self-paced with no emphasis placed on responding quickly. The post-test typically lasted 10–15 min. fMRI data acquisition. 12 functional scans were collected. Each scan consisted of 133 volumes; the first five volumes were discarded to allow for T1 equilibration. fMRI data preprocessing. fMRI data preprocessing was conducted using SPM8 (Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, London, UK).3 voxels and smoothed with a Gaussian kernel (8 mm FWHM). Functional data were then high-pass filtered (0.01 Hz), detrended, and Z-scored within scan. After relevant trials and corresponding volumes had been selected, data were Z-scored again. First, Z-scoring was performed across all voxels within each volume at each point in time (i.e., mean response for each volume at each time point = 0), which had the effect of expressing the activity of a given voxel at a given point in time relative to activity in other voxels at the same point in time. Second, Z-scoring was performed, for each voxel, across all volumes corresponding to the study phase and, separately, across all volumes corresponding to the test phase (mean response for each voxel within each phase = 0); this had the effect of expressing the activity of a given voxel on a given trial relative to the response of that voxel on other trials from the same phase. Thus, main effects of phase (e.g., study trials being associated with larger responses) would be eliminated. Pattern classification analyses. Pattern classification analyses were performed using a penalized (L2) logistic regression classifier and implemented via the Princeton MVPA toolbox and custom MATLAB code. Classification analyses were first performed using three broad regions of interest (ROIs): prefrontal cortex (PFC), lateral parietal cortex (LPC), and VMTL. Classification analyses were also performed using ROIs representing subregions of each of the broad ROIs. ROIs were created using the Anatomical Automatic Labeling (AAL) atlas (Tzourio-Mazoyer et al., 2002). The PFC ROI was comprised of subregions representing inferior, middle, superior, orbitofrontal, and medial frontal gyri (including anterior cingulate cortex). The LPC ROI, which was modified slightly from the AAL atlas, was comprised of subregions representing superior parietal lobule, angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and temporoparietal junction (the most inferior aspect of supramarginal gyrus). The VMTL ROI was comprised of subregions representing parahippocampal and fusiform gyri as well as hippocampus. All subregions were constructed such that they contained zero overlapping voxels. For classification analyses performed using the broad ROIs, analyses were restricted to the 500 voxels from each region that were most sensitive to category differences during encoding (face vs scene), as determined by a subject-specific univariate contrast (i.e., a feature selection step). Equating the number of voxels across ROIs facilitated comparison across regions. Similarly, for subregion analyses, the 50 most category-sensitive voxels were selected from each subregion. Each classifier was trained to discriminate face versus scene trials based on all of the scanned study trials; the classifier was then tested on the scanned test trials. Classifier performance was assessed in two ways. Classification accuracy represented a binary coding of whether or not a given test trial was correctly classified according to the category of the corresponding (studied) picture. Classifier output represented a continuous measure of the probability (range = 0–1) that the classifier assigned to the relevant category for each trial. For general assessment of classifier performance, classification accuracy was used as the measure of interest. Classifier output was used as the measure of interest when considering relationships with response speed and subsequent memory (where gradations in reactivation strength might be related to differences in memory) and for assessing region-to-region correlations. Classification analyses were performed both on a trial-by-trial basis and on a TR-by-TR basis. For trial-by-trial classification analyses, each trial was reduced to a single image/volume by averaging volumes across TRs. For study trials, TRs 3–5 (representing 4–10 s post-trial onset) were equally weighted; for test trials, TRs 3–6 (4–12 s post-trial onset) were equally weighted. A slightly wider window was used for test trials because reactivation at test (retrieval) is likely to be delayed relative to activation at encoding. For TR-by-TR classification analyses, study trials (training data) were again averaged using equal weighting across TRs 3–5, but the classifier was separately tested at each TR (1–6) of each test trial. Statistical analyses. Comparison of behavioral and classification performance as a function of ROI and experimental condition was assessed via ANOVA. Comparison of classifier evidence to chance performance was assessed via one-sample t tests using a contrast value of 0.5. Planned comparisons of classifier performance across trial types (category vs location) used paired-sample t tests. All analyses used a threshold of p < 0.05 to reject the null hypothesis and all t tests were two-tailed. Results Behavioral performance During the scanned test rounds, participants' responses were considered accurate if they indicated the correct picture category (face/scene) or location (left/right), as appropriate. Overall, participants were generally successful at remembering the category (M = 84.5%, SD = 12.5%) or location (M = 80.5%, SD = 13.2%) (Table 1). Performance in the category blocks was significantly higher than performance in the location blocks (t(25) = 2.07, p < 0.05). Accuracy and response time (RT) for category and location trials in the immediate test rounds Memory at post-test (high-confidence correct responses; Fig. 1C, Table 2) was assessed using ANOVA with two levels of feature type (category, location) and three levels of experimental condition reflecting prior testing (baseline, prior category trial, prior location trial). Overall, participants recalled category information (face/scene) with high confidence more often (M = 54.4%) than location information (left/right; M = 43.7%), as revealed by a main effect of feature (F(1,25) = 12.18, p < 0.005). Importantly, post-test memory was influenced by the testing condition, as revealed by a main effect of condition (F(2,50) = 28.60, p < 0.001). Planned subsequent comparisons indicated that category memory at post-test was greater in the category-tested condition (M = 59.9%) and location-tested condition (M = 56.7%) than the baseline (no test) condition (M = 46.6%; all t > 4.6, p < 0.001). Thus, category memory at post-test was more accurate if either category or location memory was previously tested, relative to no test. Likewise, location information was more frequently recalled with high confidence in both the location-tested condition (M = 49.9%) and the category-tested condition (M = 46.8%) than in the no test condition (M = 34.4%; all t > 5.2, p < 0.001). Notably, although testing either feature (category or location) benefitted the other feature, the testing benefit was greater for the tested feature, as reflected by a significant interaction between tested feature (category vs location) and feature memory at post-test (category vs location; F(1,25) = 8.89, p < 0.01). Experimental paradigm. A, During fMRI scanning, participants completed alternating study/test cycles. During study, participants encoded words paired with pictures of faces or scenes appearing on the left- or right-hand side of the display. Each study phase was followed by a test phase that tested source memory for some of the words. For half of the test phases, participants were asked to recall the category of the corresponding picture (F = face, S = scene, DK = don't know; category trials); for the other half, participants were asked to recall the spatial location of the corresponding picture (L = left, r = right, DK = don't know; location trials). Critically, participants did not know which feature they would be tested on until after each study phase. fMRI data from the study phases were used to train pattern classifiers to discriminate between face versus scene trials; classifiers were then “tested” on data from the test phases to determine whether patterns of encoding activity were reactivated during retrieval. B, After exiting the scanner, participants completed a post-test that probed memory for both the category and location corresponding to all previously studied words. Category memory was tested first (1 = definitely face, 2 = probably face, 3 = probably scene, 4 = definitely scene) and was immediately followed by a test of location memory for that item (1 = definitely left, 2 = probably left, 3 = probably right, 4 = definitely right). C, Post-test feature memory was considered accurate if participants selected the relevant feature with high confidence. Accuracy was considered as a function of prior testing: category previously tested, location previously tested, or no prior test (baseline). Testing a feature improved later memory for that feature, relative to baseline, but also improved later memory for the corresponding nontested (incidental) feature. The testing benefit was, however, stronger for the feature that had been tested (target) than the nontested (incidental) feature. Error bars reflect within-subject SE of the interaction. Mean confidence rating at post-test for each feature as a function of test phase condition Reactivation during initial memory test To measure neural reactivation during test trials, we considered performance of a pattern classifier that was trained on patterns of activity elicited during encoding (study trials) and tested on activity elicited during test trials. In particular we focused on reactivation of category information (face/scene) because this is a form of information that is robustly reactivated during remembering (Polyn et al., 2005; Kuhl et al., 2011, 2012a). To generate a trial-level measure of classifier performance, fMRI activity was averaged across several time points corresponding to a given trial and this averaged response was then fed to the classifier. Each test trial was coded according to whether the pattern classifier correctly identified the category to which it corresponded. Because the pattern classifier could only succeed in classifying test trials to the extent that patterns of encoding activity were reinstated during test trials, successful classification of test trials was considered evidence for category reactivation. Reactivation could then be separated according to participants' goals on a given trial; that is, whether category or location information was goal-relevant. Separate classifiers were trained and tested for three broad ROIs: PFC, LPC, and VMTL (Fig. 2A; see Materials and Methods). Goal-modulated reactivation. A, Anatomical ROIs (PFC, LPC, VMTL) displayed on a standard-space template brain. B, Trial-level evidence for category reactivation (i.e., classification accuracy) during category (orange) and location (blue) test trials. Category reactivation was well above chance (50%) both during category trials (target reactivation) and location trials (incidental reactivation). LPC was associated with robust goal-modulation: greater category reactivation during category relative to location trials. Error bars represent SEM; **p < 0.005. C, Classification accuracy on a TR-by-TR basis (shown in seconds) for each region of interest, separately for category (orange) and location (blue) trials. LPC was associated with sustained target reactivation. In contrast, VMTL target reactivation peaked earlier and subsided more quickly. Shaded area of the time course represents mean ± SEM. On trials where category information was goal relevant (category trials), mean classification accuracy for the previously studied category was significantly greater than chance (0.5) for each ROI (t test, all p < 0.0001; Fig. 2B). Thus, distributed patterns of neural activity elicited during event encoding were reactivated during retrieval in PFC, LPC, and VMTL. Critically, we next asked whether category information was incidentally reactivated during location trials; that is, whether category information was reactivated when location information was goal relevant. Indeed, during Location trials, classification accuracy for the category (which was goal irrelevant) was well above chance in each of the three ROIs (t test, all p < 0.005; Fig. 2B). An ANOVA with three levels of region (PFC, LPC, VMTL) and two levels of condition (category vs location trials) indicated no main effect of condition (F < 1). Importantly, however, the relative strength of target versus incidental reactivation differed across regions, as revealed by a significant interaction between region and test condition (F(2,50) = 5.90, p = 0.005). Planned comparisons indicated that the goal modulation effect (target-incidental reactivation) in LPC was significant when considered on its own (p = 0.003) and was greater than the effects in VMTL (p = 0.003) and PFC (p = 0.03). The effect in PFC did not reach significance (p = 0.31) and was not significantly greater than the effect in VMTL (p = 0.11). To further characterize the differences in target versus incidental reactivation across regions, we compared the temporal profile of reactivation (Fig. 2C). That is, we compared classification accuracy at each of the six TRs (2 s intervals) of a test trial (see Materials and Methods). Comparing target reactivation in LPC versus VMTL, we observed a robust time × region interaction (F(5,125) = 3.49, p = 0.006): early in the trial (4–6 s), target reactivation was more robust in VMTL than LPC (t(25) = 2.48, p < 0.05), whereas by the last time point (10–12 s), this relationship had reversed (t(25) = −2.31, p < 0.01). Target reactivation also remained well above chance in LPC at the last time point (p = 0.005) but had returned to chance in VMTL (p = 0.94). Notably, a time × region (LPC vs VMTL) interaction was not present when considering incidental reactivation (F(5,125) = 1.04, p = 0.40). Thus, whereas VMTL target reactivation was relatively transient, LPC target reactivation persisted throughout the trial (Curtis and Lee, 2010; Vilberg and Rugg, 2012). Considering PFC versus VMTL, time × region interactions were not significant either for target or incidental reactivation (all F < 1). The current LPC reactivation findings build on prior observations that LPC is activated when mnemonic information is successfully retrieved (Wagner et al., 2005; Cabeza et al., 2008; Vilberg and Rugg, 2008). However, although our LPC classifier used a broad mask, successful remembering of episodic details tends to be associated with increased responses within ventral aspects of LPC—particularly in angular gyrus (Hutchinson et al., 2009). Thus, to better characterize responses within LPC subregions we trained and tested four additional classifiers representing subregions of LPC [temporoparietal junction (TPJ), supramarginal gyrus (SMG), angular gyrus (ANG), and superior parietal lobule (SPL); Figure 3B]. We compared the overall magnitude of category reactivation (i.e., across category and location trials) as well as evidence for goal modulation as a function of subregion (TPJ, SMG, ANG, SPL). These analyses were based on the trial-level measures of reactivation (collapsing across TRs). The main effect of subregion was significant (F(3,75) = 5.54, p = 0.002; Fig. 3B), with reactivation most robust in ANG and SPL. The difference in reactivation between ANG and SPL was not significant, however (p = 0.50). The main effect of condition (reflecting goal modulation), remained significant (F(1,25) = 7.88, p < 0.01), as in the broader LPC mask. A trend toward a condition by subregion interaction (F(3,75) = 2.36, p = 0.08), reflected somewhat greater goal modulation in SMG and SPL (goal modulation in SMG and SPL: p < 0.05), particularly relative to TPJ. An additional set of classification analyses that separated the four LPC subregions by hemisphere (eight total subregions) did not reveal a main effect of hemisphere (F(1,25) = 1.65, p = 0.21) nor a condition by hemisphere interaction (F < 1). Reactivation by subregions. A, Top, Subregions of PFC; bottom, trial-level classification accuracy for category and location trials by PFC subregions. B, Same as A, but for LPC. C, Same as A, B, but for VMTL. Error bars represent SEM; p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.005. Classifier performance from PFC and VMTL subregions was also considered. In VMTL, evidence for target and incidental reactivation was comparable across fusiform gyrus (FG), parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), and hippocampus (HIPP) (condition by subregion interaction: F< 1; Fig. 3C), and closely resembled the pattern in the broader VMTL ROI; namely, there was no evidence for stronger target than incidental reactivation when collapsing across subregions (F(1,25) = 1.37, p = 0.25). In PFC, across five subregions [inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), middle frontal gyrus (MFG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)], the subregion by condition interaction was not significant (F(4,100) = 1.34, p = 0.26; Fig. 3A); however, the main effect of condition (target > incidental reactivation) was significant (F(1,25) = 4.54, p < 0.05). Thus, whereas the goal modulation effect was not significant in the broad PFC mask (p = 0.31), it was significant when averaging across PFC subregions. Similarly, whereas the goal-modulation effect was not significantly greater in PFC than VMTL when considering the broad masks (p = 0.11), this difference was significant when considering data from the subregions (p = 0.02). These apparent contradictions between data from the broad masks versus subregions can be explained in terms of the number and influence of voxels that contributed to the classifiers in each case. The goal modulation effect was, numerically, greatest in OFC (effect of condition: t(25) = 2.93, p = 0.007); however, in the broad PFC mask, OFC comprised only 9.4% of the total voxels. In contrast, the goal modulation effect was weakest in IFG (effect of condition: t(25) = − 0.37, p = 0.72), a subregion that comprised 26.4% of total voxels in the broad PFC mask. Thus, these additional analyses indicate that whereas goal-modulated reactivation was not evident across all PFC subregions, goal modulation was (1) present in PFC, and (2) stronger in PFC than VMTL. Decoding retrieval goals As an alternative to testing for goal-modulated reactivation of patterns of encoding activity, we also tested whether retrieval goals could be directly decoded from patterns of activity elicited at retrieval. That is, rather than decoding the category (face or scene?) of a retrieved image, we sought to decode the feature (category or location?) that was goal-relevant. The 12 test rounds were thus divided into six groups (folds), with each fold containing one category test round and one location test round. Using a cross-validation approach, classifiers for each region of interest were trained on 5/6 of the folds and applied to the remaining fold, with this process repeated until all trials contributed to both training and testing. Relative to the preceding classification analyses, one additional preprocessing step was included to minimize potential confounds: for each voxel, linear regression analyses were applied at the individual participant level to remove the influences of response time and response accuracy (Todd et al., 2013). Specifically, linear regression models were generated with these behavioral factors as predictors of a voxel's activity; trial-level residuals from these models (i.e., voxel activity for a participant unexplained by that participant's responses times or accuracy) were then used to train the retrieval goal classifiers. Classification was performed on a TR-by-TR basis for each trial (even though trial type was blocked). Averaging across the six TR's for each trial, “goal decoding” was above chance in both LPC and PFC (p < 0.05), but not VMTL (p = 0.68). An ANOVA with factors of TR and region revealed that accuracy varied significantly across time (main effect of TR: F(5,125) = 5.26, p < 0.001), peaking at the third and fourth TRs (4–8 s; Fig. 4A). When focusing specifically on the peak TR's (3 and 4), goal decoding was still not above chance in VMTL (p = 0.44), but was well above chance in LPC (p = 0.00002) and PFC (p = 0.0003; Fig. 4B). Moreover, goal decoding in both LPC and PFC was greater than in VMTL (p < 0.01). Thus, complementing the analyses above that specifically focused on reactivation of encoding activity, these results similarly indicate that retrieval goals influenced patterns of activity in PFC and LPC, but not VMTL. Notably, the fact that goal decoding peaked at TR's 3 and 4 indicates that goal classification was based on activity elicited by retrieval cues (i.e., based on what was retrieved), as opposed to a tonic goal state. Decoding of retrieval goals. A, TR-by-TR (shown in seconds) classification accuracy for the category versus location trial classifier for each of the three regions of interest. Shaded area of the time course represents mean ± SEM. B, Same as A, except collapsing across data from TRs 3 and 4 (4 s/6 s; gray rectangle shown in A). Error bars represent SEM; p < 0.0005, *p < 0.00005. Cross-region correlations The preceding analyses indicate that frontoparietal reactivation was modulated by retrieval goals to a greater degree than VMTL. However, goal-directed remembering likely involves interactions between regions. To explore potential interactions, the output of the category classifier for each trial in region X was correlated with the output of the classifier for each trial in region Y (Kuhl et al., 2012b). [Note: here classifier output (a continuous measure of reactivation strength; see Materials and Methods) was used instead of classifier accuracy (a binary measure) because of the requirements of correlation analyses; however, the key results reported above (which used classifier accuracy) remained significant if classifier output was used instead: region (PFC, LPC, VMTL) × goal interaction (p = 0.003) and goal modulation effect in LPC (p = 0.008)]. Correlations were separately computed within the location and category test trials. All correlation coefficients were z-transformed (Fisher's z) and statistical analyses were applied to the resulting Z-scores. Correlations were first computed for classification analyses that were performed on a trial-by-trial level (i.e., collapsing across TRs). Averaging across category and location trials, correlations were significantly >0 for all pairings (all < 0.005); however, the PFC–LPC correlation was markedly stronger than either the PFC–VMTL or LPC–VMTL correlations (p < 001; Fig. 5A). Correlations between regions were not modulated, however, by trial type (location vs category, all p > 0.07). Considering subregions within PFC and LPC, the correlation between SFG and ANG was particularly robust (Fig. 5B). When region-to-region correlations were calculated separately for each time point in a trial, the PFC–LPC correlation was stable throughout the course of a trial (effect of time: F(5,125) = 1.24, p = 0.25), whereas the PFC–VMTL and LPC–VMTL correlations peaked during the time when VMTL reactivation was maximal (4–8 s; Fig. 5C; effect of time, PFC: F(5,125) = 18.35, p < 0.001; LPC: F(5,125) = 2.76, p = 0.02). Direct comparison of PFC–VMTL versus LPC–VMTL correlations indicated that PFC–VMTL correlations were more temporally selective than LPC–VMTL correlations (region × time interaction; F(5,125) = 8.26, p < 0.001) and were weaker than LPC–VMTL correlations, when considered across the entire trial (F(1,25) = 7.21, p = 0.01). Thus, content in PFC and LPC “coupled” with content in VMTL, particularly at the point in time when VMTL feature reactivation was strong, but as VMTL reactivation subsided; PFC and LPC content became less similar to VMTL while remaining highly similar to each other. Cross-region correlations. A, Mean z-transformed trial-level correlations between output from category classifiers for each pair of regions; p < 0.05, *p < 0.01. B, Correlation matrix showing mean z-transformed correlations for all pairs of PFC, LPC, and VMTL subregions. C, Same as A, except showing correlations at each time point in a test trial (TR-by-TR, shown in seconds) and for each pair of regions. Note: all correlations were computed separately for category and location trials and then averaged across conditions. Shaded area of the time course represents mean ± SEM. Reactivation and response time The analyses reported thus far characterize how patterns of activity during retrieval were modulated by goals and whether information content was correlated across regions. We next sought to relate test phase reactivation to behavioral measures of response speed and success. Although subjects were not instructed to respond quickly during the test rounds in the present study, response times were recorded and presumably relate to the speed with which mnemonic decisions were reached. Thus, we compared reactivation across regions for trials associated with fast versus slow response times. For each participant, a median split of test trials associated with correct responding was performed. The median split was performed separately within each condition (category vs location trials) and for each image category (faces vs scenes). Because reactivation may be graded, and trial-level gradations in reactivation strength may be important for predicting behavior (Kuhl et al., 2011, 2012a), here we used classifier output (a continuous measure of classifier confidence; see Materials and Methods) as the dependent variable. Additionally, because fast versus slow trials may be associated with a shift in the time course of reactivation, as opposed to a difference in overall mean levels, we compared reactivation strength at TR's 3 versus 4 (the time points at which reactivation peaked) as a function of response time. As shown in Figure 6, in VMTL, the interaction between TR (3 vs 4) and speed (fast vs slow) was significant, both for category trials (target reactivation; F(1,25) = 8.13, p = 0.009) and location trials (incidental reactivation; F(1,25) = 13.28, p = 0.001). Main effects of speed were not significant for either condition (F <1). In each case, the interaction reflected fast trials being associated with earlier-peaking reactivation of category information. That is, earlier-peaking category reactivation in VMTL predicted faster behavioral responding on category trials and location trials. Category reactivation and response time. Classifier output on a TR-by-TR basis (shown in seconds) for PFC, LPC, and VMTL (columns), separately for category trials (top row) and location trials (bottom row) associated with fast and slow response times. Main effect of response time, p < 0.05. Interaction between TR (TRs 3/4 = onset of 4 s/6 s; gray rectangles) and response time: p̂ < 0.05, ̂p̂ < 0.01, ̂p̂ < 0.005. Shaded area of the time course represents mean ± SEM. In PFC, for category trials there was both a significant interaction between TR and speed (F(1,25) = 5.48, p = 0.03) as well as a main effect of speed (F(1,25) = 6.98, p = 0.01): that is, faster responding on category trials was associated with earlier-peaking and overall greater category reactivation. In contrast, on location trials, there was no interaction between speed and TR (F(1,25) = 1.68, p = 0.21), nor a main effect of speed (F(1,25) = 1.12, p = 0.30). Thus, PFC reactivation was related to response speed, but only when considering behaviorally relevant reactivation. Finally, in LPC, neither the TR by speed interaction nor the main effect of speed was significant when considering category trials (F <1). Likewise, neither the interaction (F(1,25) = 1.35, p = 0.26) nor main effect of speed (F<1) were significant for location trials. Thus, LPC reactivation was unrelated to response speed either when the reactivated information was goal-relevant or incidental. Reactivation and subsequent memory Behaviorally, we found that an immediate memory test powerfully benefited longer-term memory not only for target (tested) but also for incidental (untested) features (e.g., category memory at post-test was improved if location had initially been tested; Fig. 1C). We next assessed whether these target and incidental testing benefits observed at post-test were related to trial-by-trial variability in the magnitude of reactivation during initial test trials. As with the response time analysis, above, here we used classifier output (a continuous measure) as the variable of interest. To assess the relationship between target reactivation and subsequent target memory, we compared, within-subjects, the strength of classifier output for category reactivation during category test trials as a function of whether the corresponding category was later remembered with high confidence at post-test (subsequently remembered) versus all other post-test outcomes (subsequently forgotten). Similarly, to assess the relationship between incidental category reactivation and subsequent category memory, we compared category reactivation during location test trials as a function of category memory at post-test. Thus, for both the category and location trials, we tested for a relationship between category reactivation during initial test and subsequent category memory. For both analyses, only trials associated with an accurate behavioral response during initial test trials (i.e., selection of either the appropriate category or location) were included (results were highly similar when all trials were included). Two participants failed to contribute data to at least one cell and were thus excluded from all subsequent memory analyses. Note: for each subject, classifier output for subsequently remembered and forgotten trials was first computed separately for face and scene trials; these means were then averaged across categories (face/scene). A significant positive relationship between target reactivation (category reactivation on category trials) and subsequent category memory was observed in PFC (t(23) = 4.07, p = 0.0005) and LPC (t(23) = 2.23, p = 0.04), but not in VMTL (t(23) = − 0.68, p = 0.5; Fig. 7). That is, stronger frontoparietal target reactivation predicted better subsequent target memory, even when controlling for initial behavioral accuracy. Incidental reactivation (category reactivation on location trials) in PFC and LPC did not predict later category memory (p > 0.10). In contrast, incidental category reactivation in VMTL was significantly greater when category information was subsequently remembered versus forgotten (t(23) = 2.91, p = 0.008; Fig. 7). Thus, the strengthening that nontested features experienced was related to incidental reactivation in VMTL. Confirming the differential contribution of frontoparietal cortex versus VMTL to target versus incidental strengthening, the interaction between the subsequent memory effect as a function of feature (target vs incidental) and region (PFC, LPC, VMTL) was significant (F(2,46) = 5.91, p = 0.005; Fig. 7A). Category reactivation during initial test trials as a function of subsequent category memory at post-test. A, Trial-level category reactivation (classifier output) during test trials for which category information was subsequently remembered–subsequently forgotten (at post-test). Category reactivation during category trials (target reactivation; orange) in PFC and LPC predicted subsequent category memory. Category reactivation during location trials (incidental reactivation; blue) in VMTL predicted subsequent category memory. Data only represent trials associated with behavioral accuracy during initial in-scanner test trials. Error bars represents SEM; p < 0.05; p < 0.01; **p < 0.001. B, Category reactivation on a TR-by-TR basis (shown in seconds) as a function of condition (category trials, top row; location trials, bottom row) and subsequent memory (orange/blue = category information subsequently remembered; gray = category information subsequently forgotten). Shaded area of the time course represents mean ± SEM. Discussion We measured reactivation of visual category information according to its relevance to current retrieval goals. We found that category reactivation was overall robustly distributed across frontoparietal cortex and VMTL. However, category reactivation within frontoparietal cortex was greater when category information was goal-relevant (target reactivation) than when it was goal-irrelevant (incidental reactivation). In contrast, incidental reactivation was as strong as target reactivation in VMTL. The dissociation between reactivation in frontoparietal versus VMTL was further evidenced by differential relationships to subsequent memory. Target reactivation in frontoparietal cortex during initial test trials predicted strengthening of the tested (target) feature, whereas incidental reactivation in VMTL predicted strengthening of the nontested (incidental) feature. Incidental versus automatic reactivation in VMTL Here we have used the term incidental reactivation to refer to reactivation of feature information that was orthogonal to the tested feature and therefore not directly required for the participants' behavioral response (Nyberg et al., 2000; Wimber et al., 2012). However, this does not mean that incidental reactivation was either involuntary (Hall et al., 2008; Kompus et al., 2011) or implicit (Gratton et al., 1997; J.D. Johnson et al., 2009; Turk-Browne et al., 2010; Wimber et al., 2012). Indeed, participants indicated (in a postexperimental questionnaire) that category information often “came to mind” during location trials (mean frequency reported = 78.0%) and that this was “somewhat” deliberate (response options: 1 = “not at all deliberate,” 2 = “somewhat deliberate,” 3 = “very deliberate”; mean response = 2.1). Thus, even when category information was incidental to retrieval goals, it may have been strategically retrieved, which potentially accounts for the fact that incidental reactivation was present in frontoparietal cortex (cf. Wimber et al., 2012). It is striking, however, that additional strategic processing directed toward category information when it was goal relevant did not translate into goal-modulated reactivation in VMTL. Although it is clear that in some situations VMTL activity is modulated by retrieval goals (Dudukovic and Wagner, 2007; Kuhl et al., 2011, 2012a), the lack of VMTL modulation here may reflect strong binding of event features (Squire, 1992; Johnson and Chalfonte, 1994; Davachi and Wagner, 2002; Shimamura, 2010). Frontoparietal content representations The present observation that frontoparietal cortex preferentially reactivated behaviorally relevant category information is consistent with evidence of goal-modulated coding of perceptual stimuli in monkey PFC (Rainer et al., 1998; Duncan, 2001) and LPC (Toth and Assad, 2002; Assad, 2003). Although human neuroimaging studies have found that activity in frontoparietal regions is modulated by behavioral goals during memory retrieval (Dudukovic and Wagner, 2007; Quamme et al., 2010), these studies have not specifically focused on modulations in the content represented by these regions. Indeed, whereas several studies have reported reactivation that is broadly distributed across the brain, including in frontoparietal cortex (Khader et al., 2005; Polyn et al., 2005; Buchsbaum et al., 2012; Jost et al., 2012), human neuroimaging studies have more typically argued that the frontoparietal regions that guide memory retrieval are distinct from those that actively represent mnemonic content (Buckner and Wheeler, 2001; Badre and Wagner, 2007; Cabeza et al., 2008). Similarly, successful versus unsuccessful retrieval of episodic memories has consistently been associated with activation increases in PFC (Buckner and Wheeler, 2001) and LPC (Wagner et al., 2005; Cabeza et al., 2008), but it is not clear that regions signaling successful retrieval also represent mnemonic content (Vilberg and Rugg, 2008). Thus, the present results are notable in that they highlight robust content sensitivity distributed across frontoparietal cortex. Content sensitivity in frontoparietal cortex raises the question of what, precisely, is being represented by these regions. Here, decoding of category information in frontoparietal cortex cannot be explained in terms of decoding the motor response that participants made because we trained our category classifier based on data from the study phases and participants did not know during the study phases which event feature (and therefore response) would later be relevant. Moreover, if only the response and not the mnemonic representation were being decoded, there should have been comparable classification of category (face/scene) and location (left/right), but we confirmed that location reactivation was markedly lower than category reactivation (<53% for each ROI). Similarly, it is unlikely that participants simply encoded (and retrieved) verbal tags representing each trial (e.g., “Word A = face, left”). If so, again, we should have seen comparable decoding of category and location information. In addition, participants did not report such a strategy nor is it likely that such a strategy would be optimal given the potential for interference (i.e., many cue words would be associated with the same verbal codes; e.g., “face, left”). Finally, a verbal tag account does not explain frontoparietal representations of visual stimuli that have been observed (1) in monkeys (Constantinidis et al., 2001; Toth and Assad, 2002; Freedman and Assad, 2006), where verbal labels are unlikely to be generated or (2) in humans when using nonverbalizable stimuli (Christophel et al., 2012). We believe the frontoparietal reactivation observed here is most likely explained either in terms of content representations (Constantinidis et al., 2001; M.K. Johnson et al., 2003) or process representations (M.K. Johnson et al., 2003; J.D. Johnson et al., 2009; Danker and Anderson, 2010). According to a content account, frontoparietal regions represent perceptual details of an experience during both encoding and retrieval. These representations could be a fixed property of the functional organization of PFC and/or LPC (M.K. Johnson et al., 2003) or may develop purely based on task demands (M.K. Johnson et al., 2003; Freedman and Assad, 2006; Tosoni et al., 2008). According to a process account, patterns of activity in PFC and LPC differ according to visual category because distinct categories invoke distinct control processes. However, these possibilities are not mutually exclusive (Wood and Grafman, 2003) and the most likely account may be that task demands determine both the category representations that are relevant (Freedman and Assad, 2006) and the particular processes that will be engaged. Prefrontal versus lateral parietal contributions We observed strong trial-level correlations between reactivation (or classifier output) in PFC and LPC, suggesting functional communication between these regions. Reactivation in each of these regions also correlated with reactivation in VMTL. Although reactivation should initially be triggered by the hippocampus, it is unclear how and when information propagates to PFC versus LPC. It is possible, for example, that modulation in LPC was the result of bias signals originating in PFC (Tomita et al., 1999; Miller and Cohen, 2001). However, in at least some contexts, category representations in LPC precede those in PFC (Swaminathan and Freedman, 2012). Thus, reactivation in LPC may not be a simple reflection of PFC biases; rather, LPC may make distinct contributions or PFC and LPC may reciprocally interact to achieve biased reactivation (Chafee and Goldman-Rakic, 2000). Interestingly, we found that response speed was related to target reactivation (but not incidental reactivation) in PFC; that is, response speed was related to representations of behaviorally relevant information in PFC. This result contrasted with LPC, where reactivation (target or incidental) was unrelated to response time. Although caution is warranted in interpreting a null result, it is possible that PFC is more directly involved in the memory-based decision making process whereas LPC may support sustained attention to the target feature (Curtis and Lee, 2010; Guerin et al., 2012; Vilberg and Rugg, 2012) that may persist after behavioral responses are made (for review, see Mitchell and Johnson, 2009). It is also of note that we observed functional heterogeneity within PFC and LPC. In PFC, for example, goal modulation was fully absent in IFG, whereas in LPC, modulation was absent in TPJ. Interestingly, in the context of visual attention, IFG and TPJ are thought to, collectively, comprise a ventral frontoparietal network that is involved in bottom-up reorienting of attention, whereas a dorsal frontoparietal network is thought to support goal-directed attention (Corbetta and Shulman, 2002). It has been argued that this dorsal/ventral attentional framework can also explain dorsal/ventral LPC dissociations that have been observed in memory retrieval (Cabeza et al., 2008). Although targeted investigations have indicated that the neural mechanisms of visual attention and memory retrieval are not isomorphic (Hutchinson et al., 2009, 2013), a general dorsal/ventral framework does appear consistent with the present findings. Specifically, when considered collectively, IFG and TPJ (the ventral network) failed to show any evidence of goal-modulation (p = 0.66), whereas SFG and SPL (the dorsal network) displayed robust goal-modulation (p = 0.009). Although potential dissociations within PFC and LPC is a topic that will require further investigation, the present results are consistent with the view that frontoparietal regions jointly support selective reflective attention to behaviorally relevant reactivated content (Chun and Johnson, 2011). Reactivation and subsequent memory Our behavioral results provide clear evidence that the initial memory test, for which no feedback was provided, powerfully benefitted future memory for both target and incidental features, relative to a no-retrieval baseline condition (Chan et al., 2006). Moreover, target reactivation in frontoparietal cortex predicted the observed benefit for target features, indicating that the biased reactivation observed in frontoparietal cortex was related to strengthening of goal-relevant features. Somewhat surprisingly, target reactivation in VMTL did not predict target strengthening. Although not anticipated, one account of this null result is that frontoparietal target reactivation, which persisted longer than VMTL target reactivation (Fig. 2C), “masked” a potential relationship between VMTL target reactivation and subsequent target memory. Notably, incidental reactivation in VMTL did predict subsequent memory for the nontested (incidental) feature. Thus, VMTL category reactivation on Location trials may have predicted subsequent category memory because frontoparietal regions did not continue processing category information. In any case, these findings clearly indicate a behavioral significance of both frontoparietal target reactivation and VMTL incidental reactivation. More broadly, these findings are consistent with the argument that reactivation plays a causal role in memory strengthening (Johnson, 1992; Rasch and Born, 2007; Rudoy et al., 2009; Dupret et al., 2010; Tambini et al., 2010), indicating that when a memory test occurs, the benefit derived from that test is related to the degree of reactivation (target or incidental) that is elicited. Conclusions In summary, the present results indicate that although memory reactivation is broadly distributed across temporal, parietal, and prefrontal regions, retrieval goals differentially influence the selectivity of reactivation across these regions. Whereas, frontoparietal regions preferentially represent mnemonic information relevant to current behavioral goals, reactivation may be less selective in ventral/medial temporal lobe regions. Finally, reactivation across these regions not only supports remembering in the present, but also predicts memory in the future. Footnotes This work was supported by National Institute of Health Grants R01-EY014193 (to M.M.C.) and EY019624-02 (to B.A.K.), and National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01-MH092953 (to M.K.J.). - Correspondence should be addressed to Dr Brice Kuhl, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003. brice.kuhl{at}nyu.edu
This has taken me a couple of days to get to, but Hans Kristensen penned a nice post (China’s Noisy Nuclear Submarines) about China’s new Type 094 ballistic missile submarine, based on an Office of Naval Intelligence document entitled The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy: A Modern Navy with Chinese Characteristics. Three things stand out:. The last point is something we suspected, but it is nice to see in black and white — or, in this case, in full color. How Loud is China’s New Boomer? The most interesting informtion in the ONI slickee is a nice chart showing the relatively loudness of Chinese and Russian nuclear submarines. Which is more or less what we thought when we did an estimate in July 2007. (See How Capable is the 094?) This is actually the second chart that ONI has released showing the relative detectability of Chinese and Russian nuclear submarines. The first chart, released in 1996, was a nice x-y plot showing radiated noise by deployment year: Source: Worldwide Submarine Challenges 1996, Office of Naval Intelligence. Note: The “1997 edition” is online but doesn’t seem to have this chart; the image is from the 1996 copy. I incorrectly stated it was from the 1997 edition in a previous post. When one compares the 1996 ONI chart with a similar chart (below) from Tom Stefanick’s Strategic Antisubmarine Warfare and the Naval Strategy, China’s Type 093 or Shang-class SSN seems to clock in at 130-150 decibels (re 1 micropascals at one yard. Since the Jin-class is derived from the Shang, all things being should be a little louder, this worked as a conservative estimate for both. (In case you like reading the fine print, 1 micropascal is the standard reference pressure for measuring sound in water. Don’t get me started on root mean square.) Of course, the 1996 ONI chart was before the Shang and Jin class went to sea, so it was a projection. To add to the uncertainty, I was eyeballing the chart, which is not exactly a precise approach. As it turns out — based on the new ONI chart, which I’ve turned on its edge — I would revised upward the loudness of the Jin class submarine to perhaps 140-160 dB re1 µPa at 1 yard. (I would revise upward even more the Shang, which is surprisingly loud.) It is difficult to convert this in to an easily understandable measure of detection, but it seems that Chinese ballistic missile submarines lay along the same displacement/noise curve as Soviet-era ballistic missile submarines. (“As submarines grow quieter, they tend to grow in size to acommodate the sound isolating mounts,” wrote Stefanick.) The most obvious comparison for the Jin class SSBNm, in terms of size and noise, is the Soviet Delta 1 — which is not a flattering comparison. Operational Patterns? Overall, the Jin is a very impressive submarine — for the 1960s. Which brings up other questions of what sort operational pattern would you develop to operate a ballistic missile submarine that makes one hell of a racket? I continue to be skeptical that China will adopt the “continuous at sea deterrent” posture favored by the United States, United Kingdom and France. China could do so, of course, but it would probably require additional submarines and would be a very big organizational change for the Chinese military. (See: Will China’s Deterrent Go To Sea?) The Western model is not the only one. Russia, for instance, does not routinely patrol its ballistic missile submarines. Here is a chart of Russian SSBN patrols by year released by ONI, and kindly provided by Hans Kristensen: Russian SSBN Patrols by Year It is worth noting, furthermore, that in 2006, the patrols clustered, meaning that even in high years, deterrent patrols may not be continuous. Of course, Russian SSBNs sitting pier-side are within range of US targets, while Chinese SSBNs are not. (Moreover, the Russians seemed to have developed the ability to launch from pier-side, which may not be a capability that interests the geographically-distant Chinese.) So what kind of operational pattern might China adopt for its boomers? This is pure speculation, but I continue to think that the Chinese might choose to keep their submarines largely in port other than for training missions and “flush” them to sea in crisis to demonstrate “resolve.” No, I don’t think that is a good idea. But Chinese officials think about deterrence primarily as having capabilities and, in a crisis, of signaling resolve. Moreover, Chinese boomers probably maximize survivability when they head out to sea with many other submarines to occupy the US Navy. I don’t blame analysts for trying to make informed guesses about what the Chinese are going to do — it is really anybody’s guess. The Chinese themselves may not know. (Or, to put it another way, certain groups may have preferences but don’t know whether they will get their way.) We will see soon enough. One data point to track is the force size: ONI predicted five submarines on the assumption of “continuous at sea deterrence.” (Chinese Military Power continues to hedge it bets with “up to” five.) In 1999, DIA predicted just three by 2020 – a refitted Xia and two Jin. More than two years after spotting a pair of Jin class submarines side-by-side, that is where the China’s SSBN force happens to be. Does this mean the decade-old DIA projection was correct? Or is it just a coincidence, like a stopped watch being right twice, while the Chinese outfit more hulls as predicted by ONI? It is impossible to tell from the open source information. If China’s submarines are so detectable, aren’t they just as well off staying in port? That gives attack submarines less opportunity to find and follow them. And, as you say, when they do move out, they can do so in packs. By the way, do they have access to any enclosed waters comparable to Russia’s Sea of Okhotsk? Submarines docked at Hainan and Qingdao (or anywhere else in Chinese territorial waters) are out of range of the Continental United States. Although an American politician should not say that Alaska doesn’t count, Chinese leaders would certainly have their doubts about the deterrent value of holding Anchorage, instead of Los Angeles, at risk China does have access to enclosed waters, namely the Bohai Sea and a rather large area just south of Shanghai. What about using a Soviet style bastion strategy? They’ve got the ships for it Any idea why the UK’s Vanguard class are so much louder than the Trafalgers? It seems slightly incongruous, especially given their respective missions. I don’t know if I see the deterrent value of having your subs in port and your fleet of a handful of icbms warheadless. There is a 10-20 minute space between start of an attack and when your assets are turned into glowing plasma. Why would the Jin (SSBN) be noisier than the Shang (SSN)? If anything, I would assume, that more efforts were being channeled into quietening down a SSBN vs. a SSN, since noise and thus detectability are a greater concern than speed etc. … After all its my impression, that US and Russian SSBN are also quieter than their SSN counterparts?! Not being able to reach the United States does not really distinguish them from most other Chinese missiles. Perhaps that’s not the target they’re thinking about. (Remember, as we prepared to invade Iraq, Saddam Hussein was still worrying about how to deter Iran, not what we assumed he was worrying about.) They could, of course, reach a large U.S. convoy of troop transports sailing to China. Perhaps that’s want they want to deter. Just thinking out loud. @Scott The Bohai Sea (technically part of the Yellow Sea), the body of water off the coast of Tianjin extending out to the Dalian Peninsula, is enclosed, but is only a small fraction of the Sea of Okhotsk’s size. It’s also one of the busiest sea routes in the world. A detailled and informative post, but maybe a tad Americocentric? China apparently sees India as the main up-and-coming threat to its regional superpower status, and the two are already facing off with some tension over a disputed border. At which point, whether China’s boomers can launch from pierside might well be a very relevant fact, no? Regards, Steve Completely and totally off-topic, but Chinese holdings of T-bills are their ultimate deterrent vis-a-vis the U.S. But I like this stuff and wish Jeffrey and others would publish more. I think Chinese nuclear strategy, to the extent we can understand it, has much to recommend itself, particularly as (we hope) the trend lines are moving to smaller numbers of nukes. ONI certainly did not assess that the JIn is louder than the Shang or earlier boats. Quite the contrary, as the latest chart in the article shows. It is unclear why Jeffrey thinks the 094/Jin is louder than the Shang, or where his information is coming from. Clearly, ONI says that the Jin is quieter than the Shang. The comment about the Jin being a little louder was in reference to the 1996 projection, which assumed that one was derived from the other. All things being equal, the SSBN should be a little louder. Clearly, all things in this case were not equal. I’ve slightly edited the post to make that point more clearly. The real surprise, to me, is how loud the Shang is. @Silent Hunter The body of water to the south of Shanghai is Hangzhou Bay. However, due to sediment deposits from the Qiantang River, the bay is very shallow, averaging around 10m in depth. The 094’s draft is 8m. Unfortunately for the Chinese, Hangzhou Bay is a place were the sub won’t be allowed to play. “This is pure speculation, but I continue to think that the Chinese might choose to keep their submarines largely in port other than for training missions and “flush” them to sea in crisis to demonstrate ‘resolve.’” This method does however make them substantially cheaper and easier to control. Perhaps the Chinese consider the possession of the weapons sufficient and consider their regular employ to be superfluous. The US has spent hundreds of billions of dollars sending submarines all over the world, perhaps the Chinese would prefer to use their money elsewhere. Cheers, Alan Tomlinson If you were starting a SLBM project today, aiming at occasional offshore sea deployment, am I right in believing fuel cell air-independent propulsion would be the way to go? Very silent, cheaper, with useful commercial spin-offs. Much as Israel is going with the second tranche of German built Dolphin-class submarines, though they are smaller for cruise missile only. (BTW Isn’t it strange that an EU state is building a critical part of a nuclear delivery method for a middle-east nuclear state with so little criticism?)
What do Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce have in common? Together with Ginger Baker, they formed what perhaps was the ultimate blues rock power trio Cream. How about Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood? Well, they became part of the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac. Andy Fraser? He joined Free as a 15-year-old bass player. Last but not least, Mick Taylor? He of course became a member The Rolling Stones during what is widely considered their musical peak. What else do all these top-notch artists share? They all played with John Mayall, mostly before they became famous. As a ’60s blues rock fan, it is pretty much impossible not to come across the name of John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. That being said, I’m the first to admit that oftentimes my music knowledge is still pretty insular. While I was well aware of Eric Clapton’s connection with Mayall, I didn’t know about all of the other above mentioned artists. I also had not heard much of John Mayall’s music and had not appreciated that in addition to being a multi-instrumentalist, he’s a pretty good vocalist. What finally caught my attention was a great story about him for his recent 85th birthday in German national daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which I spotted on Facebook the other day. It made me start listening to some of Mayall’s more recent solo albums I dug instantly, which in turn inspired this post. John Mayall was born on November 29, 1933 in Macclesfield, England, and grew up in a village close to Manchester. He was first exposed to jazz and blues as a young teenager when he listened to the 78 record collection of his father Murray Mayall, a guitarist and jazz music fan. So it certainly was no coincidence that young John initially became attracted to the guitar and guitarists like Big Bill Broonzy, Brownie McGhee, Josh White and Leadbelly. As a 14-year-old, he began to learn the basics for playing the piano. A couple of years later, he also picked up the harmonica. Not only does this mean Mayall is a multi-instrumentalist, but he’s also self-taught – pretty cool! While Mayall had been playing music since his teenage years and during his twenties, it wasn’t until 1962 that he decided to make a living with music. He gave up his job as a graphic designer and moved from Manchester to London. Soon thereafter, he started The Bluesbreakers. In the spring of 1964, the band recorded their first two tracks: Crawling Up A Hill and Mr. James. Afterwards, they backed John Lee Hooker on his 1964 British tour. At the end of the year, Mayall signed with Decca and recorded his debut John Mayall Plays John Mayall, a live record that appeared in March 1965, but it was not successful. Things started cooking for The Bluesbreakers when Eric Clapton joined the band in April 1965. While initially Clapton only stood until August and left for another venture called The Glands, he returned in November. A few months later, the band recorded Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton. But by the time the album was entering the charts, Clapton and then-Bluesbreakers bassist Jack Bruce had already left to form Cream. The next few years saw a succession of guitarists who came and left, including Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Jon Mark and Harvey Mandel. In fact, frequent line-up changes would become a constant for Mayall, yet I haven’t read anything that he was ever annoyed about it. In 1969, Mayall moved from England to Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles and began playing with American musicians. Over the next three decades, he recorded many albums featuring artists like Blue Mitchell, Red Holloway, Larry Taylor, Harvey Mandel, Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples, Albert Collins and Mick Taylor. In 2008, Mayall decided to retire The Bluesbreakers name. The following year, he started touring with Rocky Athas (guitar), Jay Davenport (drums) and Greg Rzab (bass). In 2016, after Athas had been unable to attend a festival gig due to airline cancellations, Mayall was left with Davenport and Rzab. He liked the trio format and decided to keep it until May of this year, when guitarist Caroyln Wonderland joined the band. With a recording career of more than 50 years and 60-plus albums, it’s impossible to do Mayall and his music full justice, so the following selection can only scratch the surface. Let’s start with the above mentioned Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton. Here’s Double Crossin’ Time, a tune co-written by Mayall and Clapton. Apart from them, the core line-up of The Bluesbreakers at the time also included John McVie (bass) and Hughie Flint (drums). In September 1967, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers released their fourth album Crusade. It was the first record with then-18-year-old Mick Taylor. Check out this hot track called Snowy Wood, which is credited to Mayall and Taylor. To A Princess is an unusual tune from Mayall’s 13th album Empty Rooms, which appeared in 1970. It includes a bass duet featuring band member Steven Thompson and former Canned Heat bassist Larry Taylor as a guest. In addition to Mayall (vocals, harmonica, guitars, keyboards), Thompson and Taylor, other musicians on the record were Jon Mark (guitar) and Johnny Almond (saxophone, flute). Mark and Almond left right after the album’s recording to form the duo Mark-Almond. Next up: The title track of Mayall’s 19th album Ten Years Are Gone released in September 1973. I dig the brass work on this groovy tune, which gives it a cool jazzy and soulful vibe. The musicians on the record included Mayall (piano, guitar, harmonica, vocals), Freddy Robinson (guitar), Victor Gaskin (bass), Keef Hartley (drums), Sugarcane Harris (violin), Blue Mitchell (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Red Holloway (saxophone, flute). In 1975, Mayall’s 22nd album Notice To Appear came out. For the most part, it featured covers, including the following hot funky take of The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night. The track features Mayall (vocals), Rick Vito (guitar), Larry Taylor (bass), Soko Richardson (drums), Jay Spell (keyboards), Don Harris (violin) and Dee McKinnie (backing vocals). In 1988, Mayall recorded his 34th album called Archives To Eighties. It included revised versions of select tunes that originally had appeared on his 1971 release Back To The Roots. Just like the earlier record, Archives To Eighties featured Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor. Here’s Force Of Nature. Wake Up Call was Mayall’s 39th album. The Grammy-nominated record from 1994 brought together many prominent musicians, including Buddy Guy, Mick Taylor, Albert Collins and Mavis Staples, among others. Here’s the smoking hot title track with Taylor on guitar and Staples on vocals. In 2005, Mayall released his 53rd album called Road Dogs, one of the last under The Bluesbreakers name. The band’s line-up at the time included Buddy Whittington (guitars), Hank Van Sickle (bass) and Joe Yuele (drums), in addition to Mayall (vocals, keyboard, harmonica). Following is the record’s closer Scrambling. Here’s the title track of Mayall’s 61st record A Special Life from May 2014. It featured his then-core backing band Rocky Athas (guitar), Greg Rzab (bass, percussions) and Jay Davenport (drums), as well as C. J. Chenier (accordion, vocals). As usually, Mayall provided vocals, guitar, harmonica and keyboards. The last album I’d like to touch on is Mayall’s most recent, Three For The Road. Released in February 2018, it is his 66th record – unbelievable! It presents live recordings from two 2017 concerts in Germany, performed by the trio format of Mayall, Rzab and Davenport. Here’s Lonely Feelings. Just before his 85th birthday on November 29, Mayall made two announcements. After completing a few shows in California, he is planning a 2019 tour and has started booking gigs in Europe. A look on the current schedule already reveals 22 dates starting February 26 in Tampere, Finland and stretching out to March 24 in Ancona, Italy. U.S. dates are supposed to be announced soon. Mayall also revealed a new studio album, Nobody Told Me, which is scheduled to be released on February 22, 2019. Apart from his new guitarist Carolyn Wonderland, it includes numerous prominent guest guitarists, including Todd Rundgren, Steven Van Zandt and Alex Lifeson. I’d like to finish this post with a few quotes posted on Mayall’s website, which I think speak for themselves: John Mayall has actually run an incredible school for musician. (Eric Clapton) John Mayall, he was the master of it. If it wasn’t for the British musicians, a lot of us black musicians in America would still be catchin’ the hell that we caught long before. So thanks to all you guys, thank you very much! (B.B. King) I had this friend in London, John Mayall of the Bluesbreakers, who used to play me a lot of records late at night. He was a kind of DJ-type guy. You’d go back to his place, and he’d sit you down, give you a drink, and say “Just check this out.” He’d go over to his deck, and for hours he’d blast you with B.B. King, Eric Clapton – he was sort of showing me where all of Eric’s stuff was from, you know. He gave me a little evening’s education in that. I was turned on after that, and I went and bought an Epiphone. So then I could wind up with the Vox amp and get some nice feedback. (Paul McCartney) As far as being a blues-guitar sideman, the Bluesbreakers gig is the pinnacle.. (Walter Trout) Sources: Wikipedia, John Mayall website, YouTube
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- Research article - Open Access - Published: Bacterial avidins are a widely distributed protein family in Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes BMC Ecology and Evolution volume 21, Article number: 53 (2021) 1285 Accesses 2 Citations 3 Altmetric - Abstract Background Avidins are biotin-binding proteins commonly found in the vertebrate eggs. In addition to streptavidin from Streptomyces avidinii, a growing number of avidins have been characterized from divergent bacterial species. However, a systematic research concerning their taxonomy and ecological role has never been done. We performed a search for avidin encoding genes among bacteria using available databases and classified potential avidins according to taxonomy and the ecological niches utilized by host bacteria. Results Numerous avidin-encoding genes were found in the phyla Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. The diversity of protein sequences was high and several new variants of genes encoding biotin-binding avidins were found. The living strategies of bacteria hosting avidin encoding genes fall mainly into two categories. Human and animal pathogens were overrepresented among the found bacteria carrying avidin genes. The other widespread category were bacteria that either fix nitrogen or live in root nodules/rhizospheres of plants hosting nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Conclusions Bacterial avidins are a taxonomically and ecologically diverse group mainly found in Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, associated often with plant invasiveness. Avidin encoding genes in plasmids hint that avidins may be horizontally transferred. The current survey may be used as a basis in attempts to understand the ecological significance of biotin-binding capacity. Background The first known avidin was isolated from the chicken (Gallus gallus) egg white in 1941 [1] as a minor protein component showing extremely high avidity to biotin (Kd ≈ 10−15 M) and is a text-book example of tight protein–ligand interaction [1, 2]. This combined with the avidin’s compact tetrameric structure with four biotin-binding sites in each functional protein, and the existing methods to biotinylate a vast variety of biomolecules, has made avidin an important biotechnological tool in protein purification, detection, and assay technologies, but also in diagnostics and pharmaceuticals [3, 4]. The first bacterial avidin, streptavidin, was isolated from antibiotic-secreting Streptomyces avidinii bacteria in 1964 [5]. Since then, several new avidins have been experimentally verified from both eukaryotic and prokaryotic species. Ten avidin family members were identified in the chicken genome between the 1980s and the early 2000s [6, 7], and they were showed to resemble avidin structurally and functionally when expressed as recombinant proteins [8, 9]. Further eukaryotic avidins have been found in other avian species, reptiles, amphibians, sea urchin, fish, lancelet and fungi [10,11,12]. Several putative novel bacterial avidin genes have been detected from bacteria in a wide variety of environmental niches including symbiotic, marine, and pathogenic species. However, none of these bacterial avidins except streptavidin and closely related streptavidin v1 and v2 from Streptomyces venezuelae [13] have been confirmed to be expressed in nature. Avidins are made of beta barrels and their oligomeric state vary from loose dimeric assembly to very stable tetramer. Avidin has been suggested to have antibiotic qualities, as it renders biotin vitamin unavailable. In oviparous animals, avidins are theorized to protect the eggs from microbes [14]. Evidence that chicken oviductal tissue produces avidin in response to bacterial, viral, and environmental stress supports this hypothesis [14,15,16,17]. A recent study revealed that avidin is expressed in avian primary gut epithelial cells along proinflammatory cytokines as acute phase proteins [18]. In line with these findings, two avidin genes, Bjavd 1 and 2 [19] were found to be expressed in lancelet (Branchiostoma japonicum) in response to bacterial and heat shock stress. Interestingly, the Bjavd proteins appeared to recruit macrophages to the site of infection and thus acted as opsonins. While avidin has not been found in plants, transgenic avidin-expressing crops show resistance to insect pests [20, 21] and a correlation between biotin availability and root feeding nematodes was found in legume rhizosphere [22]. In fungi, the tamavidins (Tamavd 1 and Tamavd 2), discovered from the edible mushroom Pleurotus cornucopiae, have been suggested to protect from phytopathogenic fungi [23]. Simultaneously, biotin is essential cofactor avidin expression may cause negative effects. Known eukaryotic avidins are secreted proteins and this could be important factor to avoid the toxic effects. Reflecting the delicate balance in biotin availability, avidin-induced biotin deficiency causes low hatching success and teratogenicity in birds and mice, reflecting the toxic nature of avidin [24]. Silencing of zebavidin expression in zebrafish larvae using morpholinos did not reveal any significant changes in the early development of the fish [25]. Therefore, despite all the efforts, the exact biological role of avidins in various species is not fully understood. Although avidin genes have been found in several bacterial clades, no comprehensive phylogeny of bacterial avidin sequences has been done. In this study, we present a phylogeny of the bacterial of avidins that were identified by screening Protein Data Bank, GenBank, The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Nucleotide Sequence Database, DNA Data Bank of Japan and UniProtKB databases using verified avidins as query sequences. We identified 946 protein and 213 nucleotide sequences corresponding to new putative avidins. In addition, we identified several new putative avidin clades, each showing their characteristic sequence features. Furthermore, we inspected the genomic and habitational context of the bacterial avidin family. Our results indicate that avidins are widespread among three bacterial phyla, and that the avidin-carrying bacteria inhabit several ecological niches and represent alternative lifestyles. This study reveals avidin family being very rich and proposes that avidin encoding genes are beneficial for bacteria in various environments. Results Avidins exist widely in bacteria Queries were run against both protein and nucleotide databases with a set of nine verified avidin sequences. For the protein queries the amount of hits varied between 285 and 303, while for the nucleotide queries the amount of hits varied between 13 and 182. As the pooled query results contained a high amount of redundancy, the previously collected protein and nucleotide sequences were processed to obtain a cleaned-up set of unique 213 nucleotide and 946 protein sequences. This data together with the set of verified avidin sequences was used as a material for later analyses. Based on bacterial species information gathered via BLAST searches, we made a systematic analysis of bacterial genomes, and simplified the list of avidins by selecting representative avidins among groups of identical and highly similar proteins and associated them to representative bacterial species. This group was supplemented in the revision phase with 14 protein sequences, including representing putative avidins from Bacteroidetes. This resulted set of 118 different bacterial species are shown in Additional file 1: Table S1 and their sequences are listed in FASTA format in Additional file 2. Phylogeny, habitats, lifestyles and ecological significance of avidin harboring bacteria Those defined 118 bacterial species with putative avidins belong mainly in phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes with a single hit in phylum Synergistetes. In Actinobacteria, the most of the putative avidins belong to different Streptomyces species whereas in Proteobacteria the species are most often found within Xanthomonas, Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Burkholderia, Legionella, Methylobacterium and Mesorhizobium (Additional file 1: Table S1). Despite coming mainly from two phyla, these new avidin-harboring bacteria show varied lifestyles and live in diverse environments. We approached the potential ecological significance of avidins by analyzing the lifestyles and environmental niches of those defined 118 avidin gene-carrying bacteria (Fig. 1a). Among this group, we observed many bacteria living in soil (70 species; 59% of species), while aquatic environments (57 species; 48%) were common habitats as well. Significant portion of these bacteria have interactions with either plants or animals. Previous studies have suggested that bacterial avidins may be involved in the competition between species as a part of the defense against other microbes or alternatively, as an agent controlling the root-feeding nematode composition [22]. In the present study avidin-carrying bacteria were often associated with mutualistic lifestyle with plants being either leaf endophytes or found from root nodule rhizosphere but also some plant pathogens causing bacterial canker and blight were identified (Additional file 1: Table S1). Bacterial avidin gene was observed in 36 species (31%), which are known or predicted human, fungus or plant pathogens. Human or animal pathogens were detected within avidin-carrying bacteria, potentially causing septicemia, pneumonia, melioidosis, pontiac fewer, glanders, cystic fibrosis, Crohn’s disease and lymphocytic leukemia (Additional file 1: Table S1). Interestingly, chemolithotrophic lifestyle was also found in Cupriavidus [26]. These results suggest that avidin expression provides advantage for bacteria with diverse lifestyles. Genomic association of avidin genes with other genes We evaluated the genomic association between avidin genes and known biological pathways by inspecting the vicinity of avidin genes within bacterial genomes. This analysis revealed genes with multiple different functions being associated with avidin genes (Additional file 1: Table S2). Interestingly, avidin genes were residing in both plasmids (five identified cases) and in genomes (43 species) of the analyzed bacteria (Fig. 1b). Because > 10% avidin genes were detected within mobile elements, it is logical that genes responsible for DNA recombination were colocalized with avidin genes (Additional file 1: Table S2). This indicates that plasmid-encoded avidins can be transferred between different bacteria, and maybe even to other life forms too, via horizontal gene transfer. Thirteen bacterial species harbors more than one avidin gene (Fig. 1c), which further supports the importance of avidin for these bacteria. The enrichment analysis showed association with several DNA processing and mobile element GO-terms, which can correlate the plasmid origin of some of the identified avidins. Interestingly, two GO-terms statistically significantly associated with avidins included genes from defense pathways (Additional file 1: Table S2). Avidins falls into eleven phylogenetic clades The phylogeny tree of the putative bacterial avidins (Fig. 2a) shows that the avidin family is highly divergent with 11 separate clades potentially representing structurally and functionally divergent avidin groups. For example, verified dimeric avidins (such as rhizavidin [27]) and avidins with ambivalent quaternary structure (such as bradavidin2, which appears to have a dynamic (transient) oligomeric state in solution depending on concentration [28]) clustered together into a clearly defined clade (Fig. 2a). Phylogenetic analysis of putative bacterial avidins. a Phylogeny tree of the putative bacterial avidins. The verified avidins are shown with bold red font. The avidins with resolved 3D structure are indicated with black star symbol. The avidins containing predicted secretion signal peptide are indicated by cyan spheres. The avidins containing C-terminal extension are indicated by purple plus sign. The avidins containing predicted protease domain fusion are indicated by blue P letter. The bacterial avidins are grouped into 11 branches indicated with colors. b Phylogenetic cladogram tree of functionally verified avidins, colored according to a. c Phylogenetic cladogram tree of the verified and putative bacterial avidin sequences with collapsed subgroups. Triangle marks the collapsed clade, red text the clades containing verified avidins, and grey text that the indicated sequence was an outlier. The two outlier species, Aminiphilus circumscriptus and Rhodonobacter sp. OR444, were isolated from waste sludge and heavy metal polluted soil respectively In order to evaluate the putative avidin sequence alignment and phylogeny tree, we also built a restricted phylogeny tree consisting only of the verified avidins (Fig. 2b). Several of the distinct clades within the comprehensive phylogeny (Fig. 2a) did not cluster together with clades containing verified avidin sequences, indicating that they potentially represent completely new avidin types (Fig. 2c). Avidins reported to have fungal origin, tamavidin 1 and tamavidin 2, clustered together with the rather well-defined clade of streptavidins. Meanwhile, the rest of the verified eukaryotic avidins formed a clade together. In this context, it should be noted that there would be a significant number of avidins in the genomes of eukaryotic species, not covered in this study. Strongavidin was the only verified avidin that changed its position topologically, when the comprehensive phylogeny and the verified avidins’ phylogeny was compared. In the former, the strongavidin clustered together with avidins originating from animal species, meanwhile in the latter, it formed its own outgroup of the cluster including both streptavidins and eukaryotic avidins. Structure–function evaluation of the putative avidins Avidin proteins are well-characterized structurally (Fig. 3a–d) and the functional role of the residues lining the ligand-binding site as well as residues within the subunit interfaces have been extensively studied in previously reported research, as reviewed by Laitinen et al. [3, 29]. Here, we present a structure-based multiple sequence alignment of the verified avidins (Fig. 3e), which could be used as a reference when inspecting the putative avidins. For example, there are a number of aromatic residues strongly conserved within putative avidins which have been found to be functionally important in previous studies [30,31,32,33]. Interestingly, only few positions remain completely conserved, when the whole landscape of the putative bacterial avidins is inspected using the sequence logo method (Fig. 3f). The first beta strand and the turn between the strands 1 and 2 shows higher conservation than the rest of the beta strands (Fig. 3f). The glycine residues within the strands 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 are well conserved as are also the aromatic positions across the whole avidin sequence (Fig. 3f). These most likely reflect the strongly conserved beta-barrel structure of the avidin (Fig. 3a, d), having ligand-binding site lined up with aromatic residues in the middle of the barrel (Fig. 3c). Characteristics of bacterial avidins. Avidins are made of beta barrels and their oligomeric state vary from loose dimeric assembly to very stable tetramer. a Structure of tetrameric chicken avidin with four bound biotin ligands (PDB 2AVI). The biotin molecules are represented as sticks and coloured according to the atom (C, gray; N, blue; O, red; S, yellow). The conserved residues indicated by black stars in e are indicated by black spheres, representing C-alpha atoms of residues 10, 15, 20, 27, 29, 30, 49, 51, 64, 66, 67, 68, 77, 80, 81, 93, 95, 116 and 120. b Structure of rhizavidin showing dimeric assembly (PDB 3EW2). c The biotin-binding site has very high structural complementarity with the ligand, represented here by chicken avidin monomeric subunit with bound biotin (PDB 2AVI). d Closer view of the area indicated in a. e Multiple sequence alignment of verified avidins. The black stars indicate highly conserved residues, which are also visualized in a and d. Red stars indicate residues in direct contact with the bound biotin ligand. Secondary structure elements (according to chicken avidin) are indicated by arrows above the alignment. f Groupwise sequence features of putative bacterial avidins. Sequence logos of the identified clades of the phylogeny tree of putative avidins were used to build sequence logos. Those logos were then aligned manually using the secondary structure elements as a guide. The residues are colored according to the chemical characteristics of the residues, as indicated in the legend Aspartic peptidase identified as a terminal fusion of Extended clade avidins Domain homology analysis with InterPro [34] detected a putative aspartic peptidase A1 family domain N-terminally of the putative avidin domain in two “Extended” clade pseudomonas sequences (P. fluorescens and P. veronii) and in Oleiagrimonas soli, Cytophagales bacterium 1 and Nitrincola nitratireducens of the β6 clade (Fig. 4, Additional file 1: Table S3). In Flexibacter roseolus (β6 clade) an aspartic peptidase A1 family domain was predicted C-terminally of the putative avidin domain (Fig. 4). Aspartic peptidase A1 family, or pepsin-like aspartyl peptidases, are bilobed endopeptidases that have been previously found in bacteria [35]; we are however not aware of avidins having been previously reported to be connected to bacterial aspartic endopeptidases. Shorter (~ 150 residues) C-terminal extensions were found in several species in the “extended” subgroup: Enterovibrio calviensis, Pseudomonas monteilii, Haematobacter missouriensis, chemolithotrophs Cupriavidus pinatuboensis and C. necator (formerly Ralstonia eutropha), Rhodanobacter sp. (outlier grouped together with extended and β6), Aliagarivorans marinus, as well as Marinomonas posidonica, M. mediterranea and Marinomonas sp. MWYL1. The shorter extension appeared to be partial in Burkholderia oxyphila and Maricaulis sp. The shorter extensions were somewhat conserved (not shown), but InterPro and NCBI Conserved Domains Database search failed to identify conserved domains in the region. Bacterial avidins may be expressed as fusion proteins together with a pepsin-like aspartyl protease. a Multiple sequence alignment of the putative aspartyl protease domain of bacterial avidin sequences with the aspartyl proteases pepsin (Sus scrofa, PDB ID: 4PEP, [75]), cathepsin D (Camelus dromedarius, PDB ID: 4AA9, [82]) and chymosin (Ixodes ricinus, PDB ID: 5N71, [83]). The aspartic acid (asparagine in cathepsin D) residues of the putative active site are highlighted with red arrowheads [84]. b Multiple sequence alignment of the putative avidin domain of bacterial avidin sequences with streptavidin (Streptomyces avidinii, PDB ID: 3RY2, [76]), chicken avidin (Gallus gallus, PDB ID: 1VYO, [85]) and rhizavidin (Rhizobium etli, PDB ID: 3EW1, [53]). Multiple sequence alignment of the putative avidin domain of bacterial avidin sequences with streptavidin, chicken avidin and Xenopus avidin (xenavidin). Both alignments were carried out with T-Coffee in the Expresso mode (; [70, 80, 81]). c Schematic picture showing the domain organization of the putative protease-avidin fusion proteins. d Homology model of Oleiagrimonas soli protease-avidin fusion protein, generated with Modeller 9.25 [74]. Swine pepsin (PDB ID: 4PEP; [75]) was used as a template for the protease domain, and streptavidin (PDB ID: 3RY2; [76]) for the avidin domain. The active site aspartic acid residues are shown in red Plant-associated bacterial avidins Based on our survey, several taxonomically distant Leguminous plant species host bacteria having genes encoding avidins. The species include significant agricultural plants species like common bean, soybean and peanut (Table 1). The other set consists of species with invasive characteristics outside their native areas. Sinkkonen et al. [22] have previously proposed that Leguminous plants benefit from the biotin-binding characteristics of their avidin-producing root symbionts. A probable reason is that these provide protection against root herbivory [22]. Our observation of the geographic distribution of crop and non-invasive wild plants with unintentionally sequenced bacterial avidins further supports this hypothesis. Bacterial avidins in aquatic environments With a single exception, bacteria carrying putative avidins found within Bacteroidetes belonged to species characterized in aquatic environments (Additional file 1: Table S1). Ancylomarina and Labilibaculum are genera present in anoxic coastal sediments and in anoxic waters of salt marshes and the Black Sea [36,37,38,39,40]. Aquimarina is a genus containing aquatic bacteria widely observed in salty waters [41]. Flagellimonas are freely moving bacteria found mainly in marine environments [42], and Flexibacter roseolus was isolated from a hot spring [43]. The sole known species of Ekhidna forms colonies on marine agar [44], and Kordia periserrulae was isolated in a digestive tract of a marine Eukaryote [45]. Today, genera Fabibacter and Marinifilum contain only marine organisms [46, 47]. Hypothetically, the ability to produce avidins might reduce browsing by predators of many of these easily harvestable organisms. Alternatively, in case of Aquimarina, Ekhidna and Fabibacter, avidin production might enhance pathogenesis; the genera are known to grow on aquatic Eukaryotes. Other taxa in Bacteroidetes were characterized at a taxonomically broad level. In addition to marine and aquatic species, hits within Bacteroidetes contained individual bacterial species from terrestrial ecosystems [48]. Discussion The first members of avidin protein family were isolated from very different life forms i. e. eukaryotic egg-laying bird, chicken, and soil living prokaryotic bacteria Streptomyces avidinii [1, 5]. Although the functional properties as well as quaternary and tertiary structures of these two proteins are well conserved [29], the low primary structure similarity (≈ 30%) raised a question if they have a common ancestor or if they have developed independently. While the catalogue of avidins has rapidly expanded, the observed sequence diversity has remained high. The same observation concerns the putative avidins characterized in this work. The overall sequence identity or similarity of the identified new avidins (Additional file 1: Table S4) reside in the twilight zone between major clades, which challenged the generation of high-quality alignment and phylogenetic tree. This suggests that if all identified avidins share a common ancestor, the avidin protein has a long evolutionary history. Phylogenetic characterization of verified and putative avidins (Fig. 2) indicate that the known experimentally verified avidins are distributed along several different clades of the phylogeny tree. The previously characterized avidins belong to the clades of Dimeric avidins, Bradavidins1, Burkavidins2, Fungal and streptavidins and animal avidins. Additionally, completely new clades with a number of putative avidins were identified. Do those novel clades represent functional avidins? This question can be addressed by inspecting the conservation of well-known functional amino acid residues, which has been visualized using sequence logos of the phylogenetic clades in Fig. 3f. In a general level, the new avidins in these clades seem to be biotin binders, although some Burkavidins2 clade members contain several conservative and some non-conservative substitutions in positions with high conservation among verified avidins. Fibropellins offer an interesting reference for the prediction of the biotin-binding activity of the putative avidins, as fibropellins do not bind biotin [49]. We have previously shown that by simultaneous mutation of only two biotin-binding residues of chicken avidin according to fibropellin template, i.e. substitution Trp110 with Lys and Trp70 with Arg, was enough to virtually demolish the avidin’s biotin-binding activity [31]. This indicates that one effective way to reduce biotin-binding capacity is a substitution of hydrophobic ligand-binding residues with bulky charged ones. Another way to lead to lower biotin binding is to replace residues forming hydrogen bonds with biotin by small hydrophobic residues or to introduce bulky residues to fill the biotin-binding pocket [29, 50]. Out of the new avidin groups, Burkavidins1 have considerably high number of non-conservative substitutions in their biotin-binding residues, but none of those hit the key aromatic residues and others also seem to be benign, supporting the possibility that they are true biotin binders. One of the β6 avidins members, i.e. Flex rose avidin (Flexibacter roseolus, Additional file 1: Table S1), lacks the whole β-sheet 1 and the following three hydrogen bond -forming biotin-binding residues residing in Loop 1 within the confirmed avidins. Other two β6 avidin members contain these residues and all three show considerably well conservation within the other biotin-binding residues. Therefore, it is possible that the polypeptide segment in the case of Flex rose avidin is missing due to sequencing error and all three members of this clade are true avidins with retained biotin-binding capacity. In contrast, Metavidins show the most numerous non-conservative changes in their respective biotin-binding residues, questioning their ability to bind biotin. Other new avidins in clades Legavidins, Bradavidins3 and extended avidins all look potent biotin binders. However, as learned from fibropellins, it is not easy to predict a degree of changes in biotin-binding residues to reliably judge, which of these new putative avidins really bind biotin without biochemical characterization. Also, interface residues, which define the strength and the presence of oligomeric assembly have effects on the ligand binding characteristics [31, 51, 52]. Overall, the sequence analysis of the putative and verified avidins reveals that there are only few highly conserved residues along the whole sequence, while some positions are semi-conserved. We used known structure of chicken avidin to inspect the location of the conserved residues, which are not directly linked to biotin binding (Fig. 3a, d). This analysis indicates that significant portion (> 10) of the conserved residues are located in the interface between subunits 1 and 4 while only one of them (Gly116 in the case of chicken avidin), is contributing to the interface between subunits 1 and 2. This suggests that the interactions supporting 1–4 dimer, analogous to those observed, for example, in rhizavidin [53], are more conserved within bacterial avidins than the interactions maintaining the tetrameric assembly observed in avidins from eukaryotic origin and in streptavidin. Without experimental work, it is impossible to judge the functional nature of the novel avidin clades. As opposed to the high structural similarity of founding members of the avidin family, chicken avidin and streptavidin, the previous experimental work has revealed, that the avidin family is rather divergent in terms of structural details. For example, rhizavidin and hoefavidin [53, 54] utilize unique structural solution to build the tight biotin binding and this enables high biotin-binding affinity without contribution from the neighboring subunit, which appears absolutely necessary for the high biotin-binding affinity in the case of chicken avidin and streptavidin [31, 32]. The more thorough examination and discussion is found in the master’s thesis work by Tanja Kuusela (). Avidins have not identified so far to contain other parts having functions on their own. Streptavidin has a C-terminal extension in its protein sequence, but it is cleaved in the mature form of the protein. Bradavidin has a C-terminal extension functioning as an intrinsic ligand [55] and biotin-binding protein B has a predicted C-terminal alpha-helix with no known function [6]. In this regard, the aspartic peptidase domain recognized in extended avidins is a novel finding that may be connected to avidin’s defence function. Previous studies with birds suggest that oviparous vertebrates utilize avidins to fight against pathogenic organisms. For example, avidin expression has been induced with bacterial and virus infection in chicken [16, 17]. It is possible, that bacteria also utilize avidins to compete with other organisms and this has significance in bacterial pathogenesis. This is supported with the fact that streptavidin was originally identified as secreted antibiotic factor [5]. Our present study reveals that several common human pathogens carry genes encoding putative avidins. This raises a question whether biotin binding leads to more efficient invasion of host tissues due to reduced anti-inflammatory activity by eukaryotic, multicellular host organisms. Indeed, the life strategy of several human, fungal and plant pathogens seems to include potential for biotin binding (Fig. 1 and Additional file 1: Table S1). Another evolutionary reason for avidin production in pathogenic bacteria may be that biotin binding helps to outcompete other micro-organisms utilizing the same host or anatomic site, such as wound or enteral surface. Significant portion of the identified putative avidins (~ 50%, Fig. 2a) contain signal peptide for secretion, which would enable to avoid toxicity for the host cell. Finally, as several pathogens utilize also decaying tissues, avidins may protect from predation by microscopic multicellular organisms, such as nematodes [22]. Evaluation of plant association of bacterial avidins revealed several invasive plant species. Exotic leguminous invaders that host Bradyrhizobium spp. or Burkholderia spp. are a world-wide problem: Alien Lupinus spp. are serious exotic weeds in Europe, Australia and South America [56],), Australian Acacias are serious invaders in other parts of the world [57, 58], European Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius L.) has formed large monocultures in Eastern Australia, New Zealand and North America [59], and South American Mimosa pigra L. has outcompeted natural vegetation in many ecosystems at other continents [60]. Main root symbionts of M. pigra are Burkholderia spp. [61], while Bradyrhizobium and other Rhizobiales prevail in the other invasive genera in novel geographic environments [56, 62]. In Australia, nitrogen fixing symbionts of M. pigra have a broader host range and a distant genetic relationship to strains isolated within the species’ indigenous region in South America [63]. Similarly, invasive Fabaceous aliens in New Zealand are nodulated by Bradyrhizobium species, while native legumes host a diverse nodulating bacterial fauna but not Bradyrhizobium sp. [64]. All these exotic leguminous species host bacteria that have been connected to the production of biotin-binding bacterial avidins. The findings lend support to the hypothesis by Sinkkonen et al. [22] that legumes may turn out to become invasive species outside their native region as they host bacteria producing biotin-binding compounds. This study identified putative bacterial avidins as taxonomically and ecologically diverse group mainly found in Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Because we had only limited number of experimentally verified avidins available, the obtained species coverage may evolve once more sequencing and proteomics data is available and when novel avidins have been functionally verified. We identified that avidin genes are often localized in mobile genetic elements. Proposing avidins to function as defensive tools within bacteria closes the circle: Streptavidin was originally detected as antimicrobial agent secreted by Streptomyces avidinii [5]. We therefore postulate that avidins are widely distributed within bacteria and are functionally important tools for bacteria to defend their environmental niche, invade into other organisms, cause pathogenicity and help plants to invade. It is 80 years since the identification of chicken avidin but the story of avidins seems just to begin. Conclusions Avidins are likely an old protein family and show high divergence across the bacteria. In general, avidins appear to be carried out by bacteria that inhabit niches in close intimacy of other bacteria, animals, fungi and/or plants. However, this could reflect bias from human interest, as these kinds of species are often research targets for their importance as beneficial, parasitic or pathogenic agents. Apparently, there are only few strictly conserved features defining avidin, instead the different avidins seem to share approximately the same number of features from the pool of important sequence characteristics. The genomic context of avidin suggests importance for the bacteria, as the avidin gene was present on the primary chromosome more often than in secondary replicons. However, no clear association with genes of distinctive biological processes and pathways were present. Methods Database searches to identify novel bacterial avidin sequences and sequence processing Nine verified avidin sequences: streptavidin (UniProtKB: P22629); bradavidin I (Q89IH6); bradavidin II (Q89U61); rhizavidin (Q8KKW2); shwanavidin (Q12QS6); avidin (P02701); zebavidin (E7F650); xenavidin (A7YYL1); and tamavidin 1 (B9A0T6), were used as the query sequences using the domain enhanced lookup time accelerated basic local alignment search tool (DELTA-BLAST) algorithm. Non-redundant protein databases were used as a search set including RefSeq, Protein Data Bank (PDB), GenBank, and UniProtKB [65]. The search was limited to bacteria and the maximum target sequence limit was set to 5000 with BLOSUM62 as the scoring matrix, and the parameters were set to adjust for short input sequence. The query was further refined with PSI-BLAST algorithm with E-value cut-off of 0.01 and required identity greater than 19% [66]. Nucleotide sequences were searched for with tBLASTn algorithm limited to bacteria against all non-redundant databases including Genbank, The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Nucleotide Sequence Database, and DNA Data Bank of Japan (DDBJ) [67,68,69] with the same search parameters as with protein queries. Duplicate sequences were removed with Python (3.4) language’s Biopython package and sequences corresponding to synthetic proteins or modified organisms were removed. All protein sequences were inspected to retrieve the original genomic features and their full nucleotide sequences. Similarly, the genomic position for each nucleotide sequence was obtained from genome tBLASTn and the partial DNA sequences were replaced with a previously annotated full cDNA feature, if such was present. The nucleotide sequences shorter than 300 bp were also extended from the genomic context if possible. Those nucleotide sequences that did not yet have a corresponding protein sequence were translated and added to the protein set. The list of 118 avidins used in the detailed analyses are provided in FASTA format in Additional file 2. Multiple sequence alignment Two multiple sequence alignments (MSA) were constructed from the two different sequence sets. Structural MSA used the set of verified avidins, while a more comprehensive MSA was built upon the larger set of the putative avidins identified in this study. The structural MSA was constructed from the set of 14 verified avidins with T-Coffee in Expresso-mode [70]. The structures in the structural MSA construction were 1vyo for AVD, 4dne for Streptavd, 2y32 for Bradavd I and Rhodavd, 4ggz for Bradavd II, 3ew2 for Rhizavd, 3szj for Shwanavd, 4z6j for Hoefavd, 2uz2 for Xenavd, 4bj8 for Zebavd, 2fhl for Strongavd, 2szc for Tamavd 1 and Tamavd 2. MSA was cleaned up manually with AliView [71] by removing gaps from the unaligned N- and C-terminal termini. The alignment of the putative avidin sequences was constructed using the structural MSA of verified avidins as seed alignment with MUltiple Sequence Comparison by Log-Expectation (MUSCLE; [72]) to align the putative avidins against the profile of verified avidins. The set of putative avidin sequences was refined iteratively after aligning the full set by removing the short or highly similar sequences as well as highly variable sequences. This MSA was inspected with AliView and the gaps close to sequence termini were removed and the positions of biotin-binding and conserved AA homologues were used to adjust the MSA. The alignments were visualized using Jalview 2. Phylogenetic analyses Phylogenetic analysis was performed in MEGA6.0 using the structural and full MSA, respectively [73]. The maximum likelihood (ML) algorithm was used with following parameters: Jones–Taylor–Thornton (JTT) model adjusted for site-specific AA sequences as the substitution model and the phylogeny quality was tested with bootstrapping (BTSP) with 300 replications, rates among sites were set gamma distributed with invariant sites, gaps or missing data was handled with partial deletion while site coverage cut-off was set to 95%, branch swap filter was strong, and ML heuristic method used the Nearest-Neighbour-Interchange (NNI) with initial tree calculated with the default neighbour-joining (NJ) method. Enrichment analysis The following bacterial genomes, representing different sub-branches of the phylogenetic cladogram trees, were chosen to be assessed in enrichment analysis: Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens (BA000040, GenBank), Ralstonia eutropha (CP000090–93), Rhizobium etli (CP001074–77), Methylobacterium extorquens (CP001298–1300), Catenulispora acidiphila (CP001700), M. mediterranea (CP002583), Ralstonia pickettii (CP00667–69), Legionella pneumophila (CR628336–38), and Xanthomonas fuscans (FO681494–97) [68]. The genomic features from these organisms and their assemblies were pooled together, and avidin (putative or verified) gene’s vicinity was defined as 500 bp upstream and downstream from the gene’s termini. Gene Ontology (GO-terms) were searched for each feature. If the feature was not annotated to any GO-term, the annotations for PFAM, IPR, or TGRFAM terms were mapped to corresponding GO-terms. Fischer’s exact test was performed to evaluate, if features annotated to a certain GO-term clustered significantly more often with avidin gene than expected by random distribution. Biopython was used for the processing and analysing the data. Visualization The 3D structures obtained from Protein Data Bank were visualized using VMD 1.9.3. Homology modelling The homology model of Oleiagrimonas soli protease-avidin fusion protein was generated with Modeller 9.25 [74]. Swine pepsin (PDB ID: 4PEP; [75]) was used as a template for the protease domain, and streptavidin (PDB ID: 3RY2; [76]) for the avidin domain. Pairwise similarity and identity Pairwise sequence identity and pairwise sequence similarity were calculated using MatGAT 2.0 program (Matrix Global Alignment Tool) [77]. Signal peptide prediction The presence of signal peptide was predicted using SignalP 5.0 [78]. Sequence logos The sequence logos shown in Fig. 3f were built using ggseqlogo package in R [79]. 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Acknowledgements We acknowledge the long-term infrastructure support from Biocenter Finland and computational resources provided by CSC—IT Center for Science Ltd. Funding The research has been supported financially by Grants from the Academy of Finland (Grant no. 290506 and 3319. Representative bacterial avidins. Table S2. Most significantly enriched pathways among the genes in direct vicinity of avidin gene. Table S3. Prediction of the structure–function of extended avidins. Table S4. Pairwise identities for the representative avidin sequences. Additional file 2 . Bacterial avidin sequences in FASTAaitinen, O.H., Kuusela, T.P., Kukkurainen, S. et al. Bacterial avidins are a widely distributed protein family in Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. BMC Ecol Evo 21, 53 (2021). Received: Accepted: Published: DOI: Keywords - Avidin - Phylogeny - Biotin-binding - Defense protein - Plant invasiveness
After decades of operating with impunity as one of the most powerful men in entertainment, Harvey Weinstein has been brought down by a flood of chilling sexual harassment and assault claims, more of which may yet come to light. Power seems to have been his noxious aphrodisiac. Power was why some women acceded and others clammed up, why his employees helped facilitate his assaults and why so many in Hollywood looked the other way for decades. Power was the means, the motive and the cover-up. And power is exactly what he has lost, in a downfall that spans two coasts, several industries and dozens of klieg-lit names. Weinstein spent decades building his fiefdom on the grounds of a pervasive “see something, say nothing” culture of capitulation. But at the same time, and apparently beyond his view, women were inching their way toward greater social, political and professional power. How fitting that it is their voices breaking the silence and shattering Hollywood’s glass houses. In the rubble of Weinstein’s empire, we find artifacts divulging so much about our values, our culture and ourselves. The story they tell is one of stunning hypocrisy and of the slow grind of earth shifting beneath us. Weinstein was right when he said, in a statement to the New York Times, that when he was growing up in the 1960s and ’70s “all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different.” It may not have been O.K. to ask your female subordinate to watch you shower, or offer her a naked massage, but tolerating inappropriate sexual behavior from men was a cost many women entering the workforce assumed they had to bear. That began to change with Anita Hill’s testimony in 1991 during the Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Under oath and the glare of reproachful white men, she detailed Thomas’ sexual advances and pornographic commentary. Thomas was confirmed anyway, but sexual harassment entered the mainstream lexicon. Twenty-five years later, the concept is a staple of employee manuals, mandatory trainings and HR departments. Still, power differentials matter. Overt harassment may be increasingly kept in check, but sexual coercion and abuse have not been eradicated. They are simply more likely to be hidden from plain view–in an office with the door closed, in the corner of a company party, at what was supposed to be a working dinner, in a room at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel. It’s no coincidence that harassment and even assault were pushed undercover at the same time more and more women entered previously male-dominated fields, rose to prominence and gained power in their own right. With more women in the room, and a few at the top, male workplace norms began to crack. But only slightly.. Sexual-assault accusations had been swirling around Bill Cosby for years. But none seemed to stick, until they did–and more and more upon those. Cosby has so far escaped legal consequences, but he’s a social pariah, with his reputation as a goofy sweater-wearing patriarch in tatters. Then in July 2016, Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against Roger Ailes, alleging years of sexual harassment from the Fox head honcho. Within days, more than half a dozen other women told stories of their own, and Ailes was fired before the month’s end (albeit with a $40 million severance package). In October of that year, the Washington Post published a video of Donald Trump bragging about grabbing women’s genitals. More than a dozen women came forward to say he had done some version of just that, from forcibly kissing them to sexually assaulting them. (He denied the accusations.) Between January and April, it came to light that Fox News host Bill O’Reilly had settled millions of dollars’ worth of sexual-harassment claims. Some of the stories had been previously reported, but after Cosby, Ailes and Trump, they took on new urgency and were treated with newfound seriousness. O’Reilly, too, was fired. Each of these high-profile cases echoes the last and accelerates the next. Toppling the first few titans was a heavy lift, and while it’s still not easy, each successive predator seems to fall that much faster. Feminists have succeeded in getting sexual harassment and assault taken seriously enough to be career-ending. News organizations increasingly recognize that breaking these stories benefits both their reputations and their bottom line–the first to get there sets the media narrative for days or weeks. With each of these stories, you can imagine the newsroom dictates: Find the next Weinstein. And, if you’re the kind of person to whom someone might talk about these things, you hear women whisper: Should I speak out about my own Weinstein? This growing cacophony of mostly female voices no doubt has the remaining Weinsteins of the world holding their breath. But since the story broke, there has been a collective exhale among the women finally speaking out about “casting-couch culture,” as Glenn Close put it in her statement condemning Weinstein. On the heels of the initial reports, Gwyneth Paltrow said that when she was a 22-year-old actress, Weinstein called her into a meeting in his hotel room, put his hands on her and, after her then boyfriend Brad Pitt confronted him about the harassment, threatened her to keep quiet. In the New Yorker, writer Ronan Farrow detailed additional accusations, including rape, and described the well-staffed machine that deceived young women into spending time alone with a man everyone knew was a predator. Weinstein was not a solo operator, and now his vast network of enablers is also falling under the scrutiny of the entertainers, journalists and activists who expect heads to roll. Weinstein’s connections, political and professional–his power–have not protected him. Amid the wave of allegations and outcry from other Hollywood luminaries, Weinstein was fired. The Weinstein Company’s all-male board was divided on his fate. Within 48 hours, four board members had resigned. Weinstein had hobnobbed with the Democratic elite, including the Obamas and the Clintons. (Malia Obama was an intern at his company.) He had donated to prominent Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken. After the allegations surfaced, the Beltway cohort renounced him: the Obamas released a statement saying they were “disgusted” by the reports, and many Democrats turned the money he had donated over to charity, claiming Weinstein’s reputation hadn’t traveled from L.A. to D.C. But the Weinstein saga nevertheless quickly became a political volleyball. Where was Hillary Clinton’s denouncement? asked Donald Trump Jr. Why did the liberal media cover this up? wondered right-wing pundits. Clinton said she was “shocked and appalled by the revelations”–only to be excoriated by Kellyanne Conway for taking five days to speak up. Never mind that it has been more than 365 days since video came out of Conway’s boss boasting that he can “grab [women] by the pussy” because “when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” with no denouncement or resignation from Conway or any other members of his staff as a result. Never mind that the “liberal media” broke the Weinstein story (as well as the stories about Ailes and O’Reilly, who both worked at a conservative media company that, the accusers say, systematically covered up their misbehavior). When it’s right-wing men in influential positions, harassment is too often downgraded to “locker-room talk,” and “pussy grabbing” is boys being boys. The supposedly liberal men of Hollywood weren’t much better. With only scant exceptions–Seth Rogen, Mark Ruffalo, George Clooney–many of the progressive men of the entertainment industry seemed to have gone curiously missing. Even among feminists, there was less of a collective smugness about Weinstein’s undoing than there was about the accusations leveled against Ailes or O’Reilly. It’s less satisfying when the powerful men in question have play-acted something resembling feminism–and perhaps even manipulated women’s causes to shield their abuses. One certainly understands why working actresses may continue to remain silent: when he got word that he could be fired, Weinstein solicited support from talent agents and industry executives so that he may eventually “resurrect” himself. His spokeswoman confirmed to the New Yorker that “Mr. Weinstein is hoping that, if he makes enough progress, he will be given a second chance.” For his part, Weinstein has alternately claimed and denied responsibility. In a bizarre statement to the New York Times, Weinstein first justified his actions, then quoted Jay-Z about wanting to be a better man. Weinstein also said he’s been trying to change his ways “for 10 years.” The statement concluded with lines about his coming battles against the NRA, the location of his bar mitzvah and the $5 million foundation at the University of Southern California that he was organizing to support female directors. “It will be named after my mom, and I won’t disappoint her,” Weinstein said. (The pledge was subsequently rejected.) But before he could finish saying “mea culpa,” his lawyer Lisa Bloom, who initially advised Weinstein on the unfolding scandal, was denying the allegations as “patently false.” Every woman knows these men. We’ve worked for them, loved them, married them, raised them. We’ve watched their movies and read their books and cast ballots checking their names. We’ve occasionally been the Lisa Bloom in the Harvey Weinstein drama, compromising our ideals to defend a friend or protect our own hard-won but tenuous position. Every woman also knows the pretty good men who aren’t predators, but who intentionally or tacitly create the conditions for the predation, degradation or even just marginalization of women: the men who make up all-male boards and executive leadership, who don’t want to create discomfort by challenging sexism from friends or co-workers, who hire and mentor and promote younger men who remind them of themselves, who go silent on “women’s issues.” We are often quick to absolve them, and how could we not? Severing our ties with all of these men would require self-banishment to a remote cave, or at least expatriation to a radical commune. The Roger Aileses of the world are easy to dismiss, and their downfalls are easy to celebrate. The men who are supposed to be on our side, though–these men are the ones who break our hearts. Filipovic is a writer and lawyer This appears in the October 23, 2017 issue of TIME.
Health & Wellness Benefits Frequently Asked Questions Benefits Frequently Asked Questions 1) When is the benefit year? 2) What are the rules for covering my children? 3) How are dependents added or dropped from my health and dental programs? 4) I’m not sure which of my dependents I want to enroll. If I change my mind later, can I add or drop dependents from my health plan? 5) I missed this year’s Open Enrollment periods. How can I change my health/dental carriers? Health Care/ Dental Care Questions: 1) How are medical emergencies covered? 2) I’m going to try a different plan this year. If I don’t like it after a few months, can I change to a different plan? 3) If my doctor leaves the plan I am in, can I switch to another plan? 4) How do the in network and out of network deductibles and out of pocket maximums work together if I sometimes go to network doctors and sometimes to out of network doctors? 5) How does the (insert plan here) plan work if I live in a network area and some of my dependents live in a non-network area? 6) My doctor is in a physician association. When I need to see a specialist, she would only refer me to one of her associates and not to the specialist I wanted to see. Shouldn’t I have been able to see any specialist in my health plan? 7) What are the types of available health plans? 8) Who do I call if I have a question about a claim (or bill)? 9) When should I contact the provider and when should I contact the Benefits Office with concerns? 10) I am moving out of the area. Can I change medical plans? 11) What is COBRA and how do I receive info on it? 12) Can you change plans under COBRA? 13) I enrolled for health and dental benefits last month. When will I receive my ID cards? 14) How do I locate PPOM facilities/providers? 15) If I choose one plan/option and I have a major change in my life, can I change plans? 16) What constitutes a major change? 17) If I waive my coverage because I’m under my spouse’s plan, and he loses coverage, can we both come into GVSU’s plans? 18) I waived coverage. When and how will my cash payments be processed? 19) What happens if I need coverage away from home? 20) What benefits are available if I’m traveling outside the state? 21) What are pre-existing condition requirements? What is HIPAA? 22) What if I don’t have my card? 23) What if I need an Rx filled and don’t have my card? 24) Explain how Rx mail works generic mandatory? 25) What of drugs are restricted excluded? Life Insurance Questions: 1) If I sign up for Dependent Life, are all of my eligible dependents automatically covered? 2) How do I change my beneficiaries? 3) May I have different beneficiaries for different life plans? 4) When does life insurance coverage end? 5) Are there restrictions on the level of coverage I may carry? 6) Is there an age limitation to coverage? 7) When does AD&D apply? 8) What if my salary changes during the year? 9) Is there a conversation privilege in the event that I terminate from the university? 1) If I become disabled, will my LTD benefit be taxed? 2) Are there pre-existing condition clauses? 3) How long is the waiting period? 1) Am I better off using the child care tax credit on my income tax or the FSA? 2) When can I enroll for FSA? 3) What is the plan year? 4) How much may I contribute to FSA? 5) How do I submit claims? 6) When are the requests for reimbursement due? 7) May I send claims in all at once, or do I have to submit them individually? 8) Why wasn’t the reimbursement in my paycheck? 9) How long do reimbursements generally take? 10) What is automatic reimbursement and how does it work? 11) Can I use an FSA to pay premiums and co-pays? 12) What happens to the money if I terminate my employment? 13) How can I obtain an account balance? 14) What if I don’t spend it all? 15) Can I change/stop deductions? Vision Benefit Questions: 1) Do we have vision care coverage? 2) How do I enroll in the vision benefit program? 3) Can my dependents take advantage of vision discounts? 4) What type of identification do I need? 5) Where do I get a list of network doctors for the annual eye exam that is now covered? 6) What if there aren’t any in my area? Retirement Investment Questions 1) How much money can I defer to save for retirement? 2) What is an MEA? 3) What Retirement vendors are approved by GVSU for supplemental retirement savings? 4) How do I change retirement vendors for future contributions? 5) How can I transfer money from one retirement vendor to another? 6) May I roll over my existing plan from a previous employer into the base retirement plan? 7) How can I change the allocation of funds for my contributions (within one retirement vendor)? 8) What are my payout options? 9) Is it possible to take out a loan on my retirement contributions? 10) I’m moving and want to change my address. How do I do this? 11) How do I go about changing the beneficiaries on my retirement accounts? 1) How does it work? (Salary Continuation) 2) How does it work? Enrollment Questions: January 1 – December 31 As long as they are considered legal dependents by the IRS (under 19 or full-time student, single up to the age of 27 in the Base and Enhanced plans, 25 in GVHP and Priority Health) they are covered. See eligibility section of the Base or Enhanced medical plan documents for lengthier definition. You need to advise us within 30 days of a birth, change in student status, wedding, etc so that dependents can be added or dropped. If we’re not notified within 30 days, you must wait until the next open enrollment period to make changes. After 30 days, dropped dependents are no longer eligible for COBRA (continuation of benefits). - I’m not sure which of my dependents I want to enroll. If I change my mind later, can I add or drop dependents from my health plan? Only if there is a major change in family status (birth, death, marriage, change in student status, divorce, etc). Otherwise, you must wait until open enrollment. You must wait until the next Open Enrollment. Health Care/Dental Care Questions: Depends on the plan and where the patient goes for treatment. See your medical comparison chart, or call the health carrier. - I’m going to try a different plan this year. If I don’t like it after a few months, can I change to a different plan? No. You must wait until Open Enrollment. Sure, at OE time. In the event of a major change in family status, you can change your level of coverage (single to family, etc) but not your medical plan. - How do the in network and out of network deductibles and out of pocket maximums work together if I sometimes go to network doctors and sometimes to out of network doctors? Deductibles do not apply if you go to doctors in your network. If you choose to go to doctors outside the network, you are responsible for a certain percentage of the expense after your deductible is met for the calendar year. (See medical comparison chart.) - How does the (insert plan here) plan work if I live in a network area and some of my dependents live in a non-network area? Covered as out of network, unless there is a participating provider in your dependent’s area. - My doctor is in a physician association. When I need to see a specialist, she would only refer me to one of her associates and not to the specialist I wanted to see. Shouldn’t I have been able to see any specialist in my health plan? If you are in a plan in which you need referrals (GVHP or Priority Health) you may ask to be referred to a specific doctor or specialist. (GVHP is not likely to refer out of network) In the GVSU Base and Enhanced Medical Plans, referrals are not required. If the specialist you wish to see is accepting new patients, it is your decision to make. 1 preferred provider network with 2 different plans, and 2 HMO’s (GVHP and Priority Health). Meritain Health (PPOM/Base or Enhanced plans) – 1-800-748-0003 Priority Health - 1-800-446-5674 Grand Valley Health Plan – 616-949-2410 The only time you would need to contact the Benefits Office with concerns would be if the care provider is unable to verify your coverage. Concerns about why a claim was paid in a certain manner, not paid at all or how it would be paid should be addressed to the provider. When in doubt, contact the provider. Yes. You must notify the benefits office within 30 days to make this change. When your employment with GVSU is terminated or dependents become ineligible, you are legally entitled to a continuation of benefits for a certain period of time. The Benefits Office can give info on COBRA and its costs. Yes, there is an annual open enrollment period for COBRA participants at which time you are able to change your plan. With the exception of cards for GVSU Base and Enhanced Medical Plans, cards often come within two weeks. We check the information on them and mail them to you ASAP. If you have not received them within the first month, please call the Benefits Office to check. (Medical) For the most updated list, please go to. You may also call PPOM at 1-800-878-7766 to see whether the provider of your choice participates. (Dental) This list can be obtained at. This list is also maintained on our homepage. You may change the level of coverage (single, dual or family), but not your choice in plans. You must wait until open enrollment. - Changes in legal marital status, including marriage, death of spouse, divorce, legal separation, or annulment - Change in number of dependents, including birth, adoption, placement for adoption, or death of dependent - Termination or commencement of employment by employee, spouse or dependent. - A reduction or increase in hours of employment by the employee, spouse, or dependent, including a switch between part-time and full-time, a strike or lockout, or commencement or return from an unpaid leave of absence. - An event that causes an employee’s dependent to satisfy or no longer satisfy the requirements for coverage, examples include attainment of the required age in which a dependent is no longer eligible, or no longer having the status of a student; or - A change in the place of residence or work of the employee, spouse or dependent. - If I waive my coverage because I’m under my spouse’s plan, and he loses coverage, can we both come into GVSU’s plans? Yes. That constitutes a major change. It will be broken down into per-pay-period amounts and credited to your paycheck as taxable income. Your claims may be covered as out of the network (refer to Medical Comparison chart for how that would break down) and in some cases may have to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed. Contact your provider for more specific information. Call your provider to get the number to call in case emergency treatment is needed. There are no pre-existing condition restrictions for any GVSU plans. Your physician can call the Benefits Office to verify eligibility. The pharmacist can call the B.O. or Advance PCS to verify eligibility. You can also pay for the Rx out of pocket and get reimbursed by the provider if need be. Contact the B.O. if you need reimbursement forms. Have your physician write a prescription for up to a one-year supply of your medication, fill out the form enclosed in the information brochure for your prescription plan and mail. You will receive up to a 90-day supply of your medication with refill request forms if applicable. Refer to SPD. Life Insurance Questions: Yes. Fill out a change of beneficiary form at the B.O. or to have one mailed to you. Yes. Termination of employment or retirement. For term life insurance, your coverage is equal to your salary up to a $125,000 max. For supplemental, you may carry up to $500,000 or up to 5 times your base salary (whichever is less) in increments of $10,000, subject to the approval of the life insurance carrier. Yes, refer to Life SPD. Reductions in benefit occur at age 70. AD&D provides twice the benefit for accidental death and indemnity for loss of limb or eyesight. Your term life insurance is automatically changed to reflect your new salary. Yes. Call the B.O. for current rates. LTD Questions: Yes, just like regular income. Yes. First of the month following date of hire. FSA Questions: That varies from individual to individual. Consult a tax advisor for the best answer. Unless you have a major change or qualifying event, only during OE. Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, although you have until March 30 of the following year to turn in receipts for expenses incurred on or before 12/31 the previous year. $10,000 to Health Care; $5,000 to a dependent care account. Submit the appropriate claim form to Meritain Health Co. Forms are available via: - the Benefits Office suite - request via Group Wise e-mail or phone - our home page The end of March (90 days form the beginning of the calendar year in the year following the current plan year). Whichever is most convenient for you. Reimbursements get mailed to your home address, not credited to your paycheck. 1 - 2 weeks. If you have gone to a PPOM - participating doctor and are assessed a co-pay, WeyCo will automatically be notified that you have paid it and will process a reimbursement check from your flex medical account without you having to submit the paper work. Co-pays yes, premiums no. Premiums are taken out pre-tax, just like FSA, making the premiums an ineligible expense. You may submit claims for services rendered up to the day of your termination, but not after. Call the FSA contact at Weyco. (Donna Lambert @ x1184) According to IRS guidelines, the money cannot be returned to you. Only if a "major change" occurs in your life. Vision Benefit Questions: Yes. When you fill out your OE paperwork, indicate that you would like Vision Insurance. (With insurance) if you have indicated that they should be covered. (With other discounts) Yes. You will receive a card directly from EyeMed, but when making an appointment, it is your responsibility to make sure that your doctor participates with EyeMed and knows that you are a EyeMed member. This list is available in the B.O. or on our homepage as a link to EyeMed. You may need to look at another section of the list. Retirement Investment Questions: For regular FAC and AP, the university automatically contributes 12% of your base salary, and you may opt to save up and additional $13,000 (2004) if you are under age 50 or $16,000 (2004) if you are over age 50 without having a maximum exclusion allowance (MEA) done (to ensure compliance with IRS regulations). A Maximum Exclusion Allowance (MEA) is a way of determining how much money you may shelter from tax in a retirement account each year. The retirement vendor (Investment Company) of your Supplemental Retirement Account (SRA) should be contacted to perform an MEA if you wish to invest more than $13,000 if you are under age 50 or $16,000 over age 50. To stay above that amount and to insure IRS compliance, a new MEA must be done each tax year to continue the deduction. TIAA/CREF, Fidelity, The New England Funds and Merrill Lynch. Contact the BO for the appropriate forms. You need to contact the retirement vendor holding the monies to be sure you may do this and to determine the necessary steps. Contact the retirement vendor to determine eligibility. Contact the retirement vendor directly. The benefits office does NOT need to be informed of these changes. Contact the retirement vendor to find out under what circumstances you will be eligible to receive payouts and what your options are at that time. Some of the requirement vendors allow loans from supplemental retirement accounts. Contact the retirement vendor to inquire. Loans are not allowed from accounts containing contributions from the university. Contact your retirement vendor for a change of address forms to complete and return to the retirement vendor, or fill out a form from the vendor, available directly from them or our website. (Investment accounts) contact either the B.O or your retirement vendor for the appropriate paperwork to complete and return to the retirement vendor. (Pension Plans for COT/MGS) Contact the B.O. to obtain the necessary paperwork to complete. STD Questions: FAC/EAP are eligible for 100% salary continuation for up to 6 months in the event of a medical or personal situation that prevents them from working, subject to approval by their appointing officer. COT/DPS/ are eligible for 1 day/month if they have been employed for less then 6 months, 10 days if they have been employed longer than 6 months, and 20 days if they have been employed for at least 1 year. This is reset after a person has returned to work for 5 full, consecutive days, subject to approval. MGS are eligible for .05 hours/1 hour worked not to exceed 160 accrual. They may not use this time until they have been employed at least 6 months, subject to approval. FAC/EAP see salary continuation. For periods longer than 6 months, see LTD. COT/DPS/MGS must be under the care of a physician and unable to perform all the duties of their job. Disability starts on the date of the first doctor's exam (Dr. may not be a relative) and provide 75% of basic compensation for up to 22 weeks (after a 20 working day waiting period) Staff members must be employed for at least 6 months to be eligible for this benefit. All the time off is subject to the appointing officer's approval.
Alfred Ernest Lyttelton Preece was born in Christchurch, the only son of Hannah and Thomas, who ran a auctioneering and produce business. Hannah and Thomas, a native of Worcester, had come to New Zealand in 1858, and had settled first in Lyttelton, before moving over the hill to Christchurch. Alfred had received his education at Christ’s College, from 1874 to 1877. After leaving school he trained and worked for some time as a clerk before establishing his business as a cycle trader, circa 1882-83. His business, which went under the name of Cyclists Exchange, appears to have taken up two shop frontages in the A1 Hotel building on the south-east corner of Cashel and Colombo Street. In 1884, when he was twenty one years old, he sailed for England on board the steamer, the Doric. He went to Maidenhead where he made an order for cycles with manufacturers, Hickling & Sons. One of his personal purchases was a fifty two inch Pilot Pennyfarthing and a King of the Road lamp from Lucas & Sons. He travelled to Birmingham to visit cycle manufacturing factories and whilst there became interested in photography. He purchased a half plate camera called an ‘Instantograph’, a tripod, plates and chemicals which came to the grand total of four guineas from Lancaster & Sons, and spent eight days learning the rudiments of photography before joining the Cyclist Touring Club to cycle south to Coventry, Worcester, down the Severn River and Oxford, visiting his father’s relatives on the way. After four months in England, he boarded the Aorangi in London, under the command of Capt. Turpin, and sailed back to Lyttelton. On his return, Preece appears to have sold the cycle business. He then entered into partnership with Mr. Frank Standish and set up a photographic studio on Montreal Street, just south of North Belt, a business which was to continue as ‘Standish and Preece’ into the 21st century. Cycling in Christchurch In March 1873, Henry Oakley mounted his solid-tyred penny-halfpenny and made the first reported cycle trip from Christchurch to Sumner. After the invention of the pneumatic tyre, cycling became a popular past time as well as an extremely efficient mode of transport on the flat terrain of Christchurch. Just about every photo taken of the streets of Christchurch in the late 1800s and early 1900s will show as many cyclists as there are horse drawn vehicles. At Preece’s Bicycle Exchange, located at ‘Triangle’ on the corner of High and Colombo Streets, pennyfarthings, tandem or ‘sociable’, bicycles and equipment were available for hire, exchange or purchase. Christchurch’s first velocipede race held in 1869, ran between Latimer Square and the Railway Station and back. In 1879, the Pioneer Bicycle and Amateur Athletic Club and the Touring Cycle Club was formed, and the following year a championship cycle race meet in Hagley Park. In 1884 you could join the Tourists Cycling Club with its eight other members. The “tourists” met for their second Saturday outing at 3pm on October 13th, at its Drill Hall. Under the leadership of Sub-Captain, Mr. A. Hawkins, the cyclists proceeded down Colombo Street towards the Port Hills. The top was soon reached where the eight members had to stop due to a small accident to one of the bikes. Soon they were running down the hill to Hoon Hay, around Sunnyside, through to Middleton and onto a dry and dusty road to Riccarton and Fendalton. They found the dry conditions and odd flock of sheep “not the best preservatives” of a good riding road, however the tourists found the last leg a great improvement making a fast run into town, back by 5.30pm. From 1885, cycling competitions were largely held in Lancaster Park where a cycle track had been formed. In December 1887, English professional cyclist Fred Wood brought with him the amateur cyclist W. Brown, to compete in New Zealand’s first international race meeting, held at Lancaster Park on Boxing Day. During Wood’s two month stay he set four professional records; Quarter mile grass, Half Mile Grass, Ten Mile Grass and One Mile Path, and competed in a ten mile match against two trotting horses, which the horses won. New Zealand’s first women’s cycling club, the Atalanta Cycling Club was formed in 1892. The club was named after a popular brand of cycle which was manufactured in England especially for New Zealand roads. Although the number of ladies cyclists in Christchurch was relatively large in the 1890’s, it appears not as many as hoped joined the club, so in 1896, the club met to discuss how to encourage more women to join. It was decided that if they had a club room in the city with a bicycle shed attached, ladies who lived at a distance might be more encouraged to use it to stay and rest in. They could also leave their parcels and bicycles there while doing their shopping so as not to run the risk of their cycles being damaged or lost. In 1895, the city had its own Bicycle Band whose members played instruments while riding their cycles in formation. Ironmongers and bicycle shops such as Preece’s did a ‘roaring’ trade during the last decades of the nineteenth century. By the twentieth century, they became more successful as Christchurch’s cycling public grew – cycling being the main mode of transport for the working class. By 1912, it was estimated to that there were between 20,000 – 30,000 privately owned bicycles. With such a large number of cyclists on the streets, it was inevitable they would attract their share of attention from the law; the Christchurch Star reported on July 4th, 1900 a series of offences by cyclists around Christchurch. CYCLING WITHOUT LIGHTS Reginald White was charged with, on June 18, in Victoria Street, riding a bicycle between the hours of sunset and sunrise without a light attached. He was fined 5s and costs 7s. – Matthew H. West was also charged with cycling without a light in Victoria Street on the night of June 18, and was fined 5s and costs 7s. – James William Burrows, charged with a like offence in Durham Street, on the same date, was similarly dealt with. – William Pike was charged with riding a bicycle on the footpath of Papanui Road, St. Albans, on June 7. Defendant, who did not appear, was fined 10s and costs 7s. Source: Christchurch Star, July 14th, 1900. Papers Past. In March 18th, 1905 an accident is reported in the Star which illustrates the velocity some cyclists were reaching when at full speed. Mr. A. Appleby, who is suffering from an accident to the right eye, owing to a bee or fly striking it while he was cycling, underwent another operation on Thursday. He is getting on fairly well. However one Mr. Hendy was not so fortunate after his cycling accident in town, INQUEST An inquest was held at the Christchurch Hospital at nine o’clock this morning, touching the death of Thomas Henry Hendy, who was knocked down by a bicycle on November 24. The inquiry was conducted by Mr. R. Beetham, district coroner, and Mr. F. W. Sandford was chosen foreman of the jury. Water Fox, resident surgeon at the Hospital, deposed that the deceased had been admitted to the Hospital on Nov. 24 suffering from a fracture of the right thigh and extensive bruising on his right hip. After being in bed for two or three days, he developed asthma, to which he was subject, his lungs became engorged, and he died on Nov. 29, in consequence of heat failure, caused by lying on his back. The accident made it necessary for him to life on his back. James Mason, furniture salesman, remembered Nov. 24. at a few minutes before 9 am. on that date, witness was riding a bicycle in Tuam Street near Montreal Street. He was going about six miles an hour. There was a cart immediately in front of witness, who saw Mr Hendy a little in front on the right. Witness called, “Look out,” but Mr Hendy was too close for an accident to be avoided. Witness thought the handle-bar must have touched Hendy. Witness’s bicycle was not too upset. Witness did all he could to help Hendy afterwards. To Sergeant-Major Ramsay: Witness did not think the vehicle mentioned had such to do with the accident. Could not say if he had both hands on the handle-bar at the time. To the Foreman: Witness was going at sufficient speed to have passed the cart if he had kept on. Could not say if it was his intention to have passed the cart at the time. John Patterson deposed that on Nov. 24 he was driving a dray up Montreal Street at a walking pace. Witness saw a cyclist coming down Tuam Street in the centre of the tram line. The cyclist seemed to notice witness when some six yards from the dray. and went to pass behind it. Witness heard the cyclist call, “Look out.” He also heard the fall and on looking around saw the cyclist picking Hendy up. Hendy stood on his feet after the collision. To Sergeant-Major Ramsay: The cyclist was going six or seven miles an hour, not more. He had one hand on the handle bar. and was twirling his moustache with the other. Saw Mr Hendy who did not seem to be looking cross the road at an angle. Mr Hendy appeard to be watching the dray, and probably did not hear the cyclist. To the Foreman: There was no other vehicle about at the time. Arthur George Wilson, employed by Mr. Barrett, chemist deposed that he was watering the footpath at the time of the collision. Mr Hendy crossed the road at an angle. Witness noticed the collision. The cyclist was going at a slow, easy pace. Joseph H. Hendy, son of the deceased deposed that he was at work a few yards away from where the accident occurred and arrived on the scene a few seconds afterwards. His father was taken to the Hospital accompanied by witness and Mr. Mason. Deceased was fifty one years of age, and had enjoyed good health for some time previous to his death. To the foreman: Deceased did not appear to attach blame to the cyclist. He mentioned what had happened and then his mind seemed to wander. The jury without retiring, returned a verdict of “Death by Accident.” Source: CYCLING FATALITY, Christchurch Star, December 1st, 1898. Papers Past. Cycling remained a fixture in christchurch up until the 1950s when it gradually disappeared with the increase in private vechicle usage.
------------------------------------------------------- From: Jack Dongarra <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 5 Jan 93 09:26:08 -0500 Subject: New Version of Xnetlib Available Announcing the release of Xnetlib ver. 3.3 What it is - Xnetlib is a new version of netlib recently developed at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.. Xnetlib provides access to files and a whois style database residing on the Netlib server at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Xnetlib also connects to two other xnetlib servers, one at Rice University, and the other at the Army Research Laboratory. Our intention is to release the xnetlib server code in a few months. Xnetlib requires the Athena widget set (Xaw). How to get it - By anonymous ftp from cs.utk.edu in pub/xnetlib/xnetlib3.3.tar.Z By email, send a message to [email protected] containing the line: send xnetlib.shar from xnetlib If you have any questions, please send mail to [email protected] Jack Dongarra, Tom Rowan, and Reed Wade ------------------------------ From: Pierre-Jean Laurent <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 08:13:09 +0100 Subject: Jean Kuntzmann Jean KUNTZMANN had been gifted with almost visionary foresight and extraordinary obstination and energy. He was among the first in France to recognize the revolutionary importance of applied mathematics and computer science, pushing and developping both fields at a very early time and all alone against the general tide... So, not too surprisingly, it is also thanks to him that the first computer entered a French university! In course of time, he founded the IMAG institute of Grenoble, created an Engineering School of Applied Mathematics (ENSIMAG), initiated the French Association for Computation (AFCAL) and was also the founder and first editor of the applied maths' journal "Chiffres" ("Numbers"). As if all this wasn't yet enough, he also guided the work of a great number of Ph. D. students in Numerical Analysis, Boolean Algebra, Didactics, as well as wrote and published ten books in these fields. We deeply mourn our loss, for Professor Jean Kuntzmann passed away on Dec. 18, 1992 in Grenoble (France), at the age of 80 years. Pierre-Jean Laurent ------------------------------ From: Danny Hershkowitz <MAR23AA%[email protected]> Date: Sun, 10 Jan 93 09:06:41 IST Subject: ILAS Hans Schneider Prize On the recommendation of the ILAS Linear Algebra Prize Committee, the ILAS Executive Board has awarded the first Hans Schneider Prize in Linear Algebra jointly to Miroslav Fiedler (Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague), Shmuel Friedland (U. Illinois, Chicago) and Israel Gohberg (U. Tel-Aviv). The prizes will be awarded at the Pensacola meeting in March 1993. The prize talks will be delivered at three consecutive meetings as follows: Fiedler - Pensacola (March 1993), Gohberg - Rotterdam (August 1994), and Friedland - Atlanta (August 1995). The prize committee consisted of Tom Laffey (chair), Gene Golub, Alan Hoffman, Hans Schneider (ex officio) and Robert Thompson. ILAS congratulates the prize winners on their outstanding and deeply influential research contributions. ------------------------------ From: Todd Torgersen <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 11:26:05 EST Subject: Correction to the Report on the Twelvth Parallel Circus My apologies for any errors in the report on the Twelvth Parallel Circus. Please note yet another correction. The paragraph describing ``PYRROS: Static Scheduling and Code Generation for Parallel Programs'' was incorrect. It should read: The last talk of the day was ``PYRROS: Static Scheduling and Code Generation for Parallel Programs'' by Tao Yang, joint work with Apostolos Gerasoulis from Rutgers University. This was an overview of the PYRROS project and included discussions of how PYRROS maps tasks to processors and schedules those tasks. ------------------------------ From: Bill Mitchell <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 5 Jan 93 19:54:42 EST Subject: Email Problems for Bill Mitchell Due to an error on the part of our purchasing department, ATL has been disconnected from the Internet. It will probably be several weeks before it is corrected. Please send email to my na.mitchell address, which is temporarily being redirected to my wife. Also, if you have sent me any mail since December 17, please resend it. Thank you, and sorry for the inconvenience. -- Bill William F. Mitchell \| [email protected] <-- disabled GE Advanced Technology Labs \| [email protected] <-- use this Bldg. 145-2 Moorestown Corp. Center \| Voice: (609) 866-6536 Moorestown, N J 08057 \| Fax: (609) 866-6397 ------------------------------ From: jacumina%[email protected] Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 12:39:31 EDT Subject: Help on Eigenvalues of an Elliptic Operator Help is sought on references on the numerial calculation of the eigenvalues and eigenfuntions of the 2nd order elliptic operator L, given in divergence form: Lu = (a(x,y)u_x)_x +(b(x,y)u_y)_y where a and b are C^1 functions defined on the closure of a piecewise smooth region of R^2. The case of a square region is also of interest. Please reply to: [email protected], [email protected] ------------------------------ From: Henry Wolkowicz <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 4 Jan 93 16:43:18 -0500 Subject: Workshop on Quadratic Assignment Problems PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT DIMACS QUADRATIC ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM WORKSHOP A workshop on Quadratic Assignment and Related Problems is to be held May 20-21, 1993, at the DIMACS (Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science) Center at Rutgers University. About twenty invited speakers will present recent results on many different aspects of quadratic assignment problems, including, algorithms, applications, software development, efficient algorithms for certain classes of problems, complexity, and collection of test problems. If you intend to participate, please inform one of the organizers listed below. If you decide to present a paper, please send us the title of your talk. We are also planning to publish Proceedings of the workshop. Additional information on travel and local accommodations will be provided at a later date. More information on the workshop can be obtained from: Panos Pardalos ([email protected]) or Henry Wolkowicz ([email protected]). Please send us your e-mail address (by e-mail or by surface mail) so that we can keep you informed on the workshop. Currently, the following people have expressed an interest in participating. Adams Warren, Egon Balas, E. Boros, Donald E. Brown, C.L. Huntley, A.R. Spillane, R.E. Burkard, Paolo Carraresi, Federico Malucelli, Bintong Chen, Charles Delorme, A. Frieze, Kenneth C. Gilbert, P. Hammer R. Bisgrove Hofstra, Fred Glover, Scott W. Hadley, P. Kouvelis, Vipin Kumar, Yong Li, Joseph B. Mazzola, H. Muhlenhein, Svatopluk Poljak, Aubrey Poore, Alex Pothen, K.G. Ramakrishnan, M.G.C. Resende, Franz Rendl, WanSoo T. Rhee, Catherine Roucairol, Hanif Sherali, J. Skorin-Kapov, J. MacGregor Smith, E. Tailard, E.-G. Talbi, P. Bessiere, Tony Vannelli, Mickey R. Wilhelm, and Thomas L. Ward. organizers: Panos Pardalos ([email protected]) Henry Wolkowicz ([email protected]) ------------------------------ From: Piyush Mehrotra <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 14:30:59 -0500 Subject: ICASE/LaRC Short Course on Parallel Computation ICASE/LaRC SHORT COURSE ON PARALLEL COMPUTATION July 26-30, 1993 Radisson Hotel, Hampton, Virginia We are pleased to announce that the Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering (ICASE) and NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) will conduct a Short Course on Parallel Computation at the Radisson Hotel in Hampton, Virginia from July 26 to July 30, 1993. The objective of this course is to provide scientists and engineers with a fairly broad overview of parallel computing and the issues that affect the performance of programs running on multiprocessor machines. The course is intended for scientists and engineers who would like to exploit the potential performance of the new parallel architectures for their application needs. The course is divided into three broad themes. There will be two three hour lectures a day, each covering a particular subtopic. The topics and lecturers are: I. PARALLEL ARCHITECTURES AND THEIR PERFORMANCE - Geoffrey Fox, Syracuse University - David Nicol, The College of William and Mary II. PARALLEL PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES AND TOOLS - David Walker, Oak Ridge National Laboratories - Piyush Mehrotra, ICASE - Daniel Reed, University of Illinois - Ken Kennedy, Rice University - Joel Saltz, University of Maryland III. PARALLEL NUMERICAL METHODS - Ahmed Sameh, Center for Supercomputing Research & Development, IL - John Van Rosendale, ICASE - David Keyes, Yale University Due to space considerations, attendance will be limited to about 100 people. There will be a registration fee which is still undecided. If you wish to attend or would like further information, please contact us for a registration form and return it by MARCH 1, 1993. Emily Todd ICASE, Mail Stop 132C NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA 23681-0001 Telephone: (804) 864-2175 ------------------------------ From: Donna McCammon <[email protected]> Date: Fri, 8 Jan 93 14:03:20 EST Subject: Postdoctoral Fellowship Position at Syracuse The Alex G. Nason Prize Two-year Computational Science Postdoctoral Fellowship at Syracuse University OBJECTIVE: This fellowship encourages talented postdoctoral researchers to participate in the research of the Syracuse Center for Computational Science (SCCS) at Syracuse University. SCCS offers an interdisciplinary program where researchers use high performance parallel computers on scientific and industrial applications and develop hardware, software, and algorithms. SCCS offers a full range of the most up-to-date parallel computers. The Nason Prize encourages researchers to apply these or other innovative computers to scientific and/or industrial applications. BACKGROUND: Computational Science is a relatively new academic field that combines Computer Science and more traditional disciplines, including Engineering, Economics, Physics, and Chemistry. Recognizing Computational Science as an important new field, Syracuse University began the Syracuse Center for Computational Science as a major initiative in 1990. The Nason Prize was established by the Nason Foundation in recognition of alumnus Alex G. Nason's commitment to the advancement of Syracuse University and the furtherance of knowledge and useful applications in Computational Science. AWARD: In 1993-1994, the Nason Prize will include a salary of $50,000 plus fringe benefits; a $5,000 annual research fund to be used at the discretion of the Fellow; and a $5,000 departmental fund to assist the Fellow with relocation, personal workstation support, conference travel, etc. Support for the Nason Fellow's second year is expected to be enhanced. A new two-year Fellow will be named each year through 1995. BASIS FOR AWARD: A Syracuse University committee, chaired by Geoffrey Fox, Director of the Syracuse Center for Computational Science, will review applications. Leading applicants will be invited for an interview, and only candidates of exceptional quality will be appointed. Candidates will be identified through an international search. Preference will be given to those who have completed their PhDs in the last three years. Applicants' research interests can be in any area in Computational Science, but preference will be given to those whose interests overlap with existing groups at Syracuse University, and who have demonstrated ability in inter- disciplinary research, combining Computer Science with application areas. Both academic and industrial research areas will be considered. The recipient will be encouraged to collaborate with the Center for Research on Parallel Computation (CRPC), the parallel computing consortium to which Syracuse University belongs. All of the CRPC parallel computing facilities will be available to the recipient, in addition to the facilities of Syracuse university, including the Connection Machine CM5, the DECmpp, nCUBE2, and Intel IPSC/860. APPLICATION GUIDELINES: Send a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and three letters of reference to: Donna McCammon, Personnel Administrator, NPAC/SCCS, 111 College Place, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-4100. DEADLINE: Materials must be postmarked on or before March 1, 1993. ANNOUNCEMENT: Awards will be announced by April 15, 1993. ------------------------------ From: SIAM <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 05 Jan 93 13:54:09 EST Subject: Contents: SIAM Matrix Analysis Contents SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications April 1993 Volume 14 Number 2 Optimization by Direct Search in Matrix Computations Nicholas J. Higham Elimination Structures for Unsymmetric Sparse LU Factors John R. Gilbert and Joseph W. H. Liu A Systolic Array for SVD Updating M. Moonen, P. Van Dooren, and J. Vandewalle An Algorithm for the Banded Symmetric Generalized Matrix Eigenvalue Problem Linda Kaufman Maximum Submatrix Traces for Positive Definite Matrices I Olkin and S. T. Rachev Sign Controllability of a Nonnegative Matrix and a Positive Vector Charles R. Johnson, Volker Mehrmann, and D. Dale Olesky A New Criterion to Guarantee the Feasibilty of the Interval Gaussian Algorithm A. Frommer and G. Mayer Efficient Computation of the Solutions to Modified Lyapunov Equations Stephen Richter, Larry D. Davis, and Emmanuel G. Collins, Jr. Incremental Unknowns in Finite Differences: Condition Number of the Matrices Min Chen and Roger Temam On Computations of the Perron Root L. Elsner, I. Koltracht, M. Neumann, and D. Xiao The Use of Pivoting to Improve the Numerical Performance of Algorithms for Toeplitz Matrices Douglas R. Sweet Updating A Rank-Revealing ULV Decomposition G. W. Stewart On A Matrix Algebra Related to the Discrete Hartley Transform Dario Bini and Paolo Favati Robust Stability and Diagonal Liapunov Functions Eugenius Kaszkurewicz and Amit Bhaya Spectral Properties of Preconditioned Rational Toeplitz Matrices: The Nonsymmetric Case Ta-Kang Ku and C. C. Jay Kuo On the Completion of Partially Given Triangular Toeplitz Matrices to Contractions Geir Naevdal Newton Methods for Large-Scale Linear Equality-Constrained Minimization Anders Forsgren and Walter Murray Bunch--Kaufman Factorization for Real Symmetric Indefinite Banded Matrices Mark T. Jones and Merrell L. Patrick Perturbation Bounds for the Polar Decomposition Roy Mathias Error Analysis of Update Methods for the Symmetric Eigenvalue Problem Jesse L. Barlow ------------------------------ End of NA Digest ************************** -------
A product packaging designing is not an easy task you have to put a lot of effort to get success. If you are a person who knows what is the importance of packaging design for your brands? Then you are already on the right track. Your packaging provides you an extra chance to promote and advertise your project. For the manufacturer or the brand owners who love to create some unique and creative packaging designs, there are some popular blogs that can give them updates and a lot of information related to packaging designs. These blogs are beneficial that can allow you to make your packaging attractive and up to date according to the latest trends and consumer’s demand. The packaging is not all about the outer case. It is about the different aspects that will tell you how your consumers will see your brand and how you can increase your sales. If you miss even a single significant part of the packaging, then you may have to face failure in the market and your customers may don’t love to see or purchase your product. But know you don’t need to get worried more about it because here we are going to discuss some most popular packaging deigns blogs that can help you to get more information to make your packaging attractive. Contents - 1 BP&O Blog - 2 The Dieline Blog - 3 ALPPM BLOG - 4 Packaging Design Archive Packaging Blog - 5 Packaging of the World Blog - 6 Ambalaj Blog - 7 Lovely Package Blog - 8 Design Packaging Inc Blog - 9 Packaging UQAM Blog - 10 Print Mag Blog - 11 8 Faces Blog - 12 Packaging Strategies Blog - 13 Print Blog - 14 Behance Blog - 15 BXP Magazine Blog - 16 Trending Packaging Blog - 17 Beach Packaging Design Blog - 18 Packaging Digest Blog - 19 Packaging Europe Blog - 20 Wrap Up -20% BP&O Blog BP&O is one of the best packaging design blog. The word BP&O stands for Branding, Packaging, and Opinion. This blog is not only posting the article or image; it is a great combination of inspiring packaging designs along with an in-depth analysis. The blog is created by Richard Blaird, who is a Dieline editor and also freelancer designers. He is specialized in brand’s identities and packaging. He is such a person with a creative mind whose opinion and designing will help a person to get a unique design for their packaging. At his blog, you can get a lot of information and data which is researched and collected by different resources. The Dieline Blog This is another simple, creative and popular blog about the packaging designs. It provides you information about the best designs of packaging around the world and also gives a lot of information that how creative and unique packaging design can allow your brand to make its name in the market and attract the potential consumers. However, if you are a person who has no inspiration and idea of how to start the packaging, then this is the right place for you. It is one of the most visited blogs that people prefer to know more about packaging designs. The publisher of this blog publishes more than one content in a day that allows you to learn more in a day. It is not only about just publishing the content in fact you can get high quality of images that can tell you the entire story of packaging designs.High-quality images are another source of increasing the value of your blog. Once you visit this blog, you will start to feel that you are in the right place. ALPPM BLOG ALPPM (Asian Leading Product Packaging Manufacturer) provides a one-stop solution for product packaging. We manufacture clear high-quality custom clear plastic packaging box, PVC box, plastic PET box, plastic PP box for the retail industry. Packaging Design Archive Packaging Blog This is another blog to know more about the innovation of packaging designing. It shares catalogs and some examples for the innovative as well as creative packaging design projects. It is beneficial for you to get more concepts, information, ideas that the publisher collected from around the globe. The blog also contains on some submissions of packaging design agency, the experimental projects as well as the entries of the competition.Different categories are using in this blog to organize the catalog. These categories contain different options such as contemporary packaging, an end-user packaging, single product packaging and ready to use packaging. You can choose one of them according to your need. Packaging of the World Blog It is an archive of self-branded packaging designs. This is the right place for the people who want to know about the more attractive designs of packaging around the world. Here you can get a lot of eye-catching and impressive packaging designs of some popular brands around the world. With high quality and friendly designs that based on the card, you will get an opportunity to easy to read the grid view both horizontally and vertically. When you want to see the different angles of particular packaging design, you need to click the titular card. This card will show you a vast collection of high-quality images. Here you can also get information about the company who has created a particular packaging design. For the brand owner who wants to hire any company for its packaging design, this blog can work even better. Ambalaj Blog This blog is created by Kristina De Verdier, who is a Swedish designer. His blog contains useful information about packaging designs. Here you can get the innovations of the latest design trends that will help you to create an appropriate packaging design for your product. Lovely Package Blog This packaging design blog is popular to showcase the best designs of the product’s packaging. As compared to some other blogs, this blog site is better in some aspects of explaining the packaging design. As it inspires you and explains the entire packaging projects in great ways that are based on the images. The submission is also strong on this blog that will provide you with an opportunity to know about the updated styles or innovations in the packaging world. Design Packaging Inc Blog The Design Packaging Inc blog is such an excellent adventure for the people who are searching for some creativity in packaging designs of the brands. Different brands come and visit this blog site to get different unique ideas around the product packaging. This blog is operated and owned by a company of packaging design. They are working in the market for three decades. 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Print Mag Blog A Print Mag is a straightforward and simple blog for the packaging design. This blog helps you to get a large amount of analysis along with several features on the packaging design of a brand. This is the best thing about this blog that makes it popular among the different blog sites. The opinion is an important aspect of all the new product packaging showcasing. All the packaging designs on this blog have an in-depth profile that will allow a designer to read and get more information about the industry of creative packaging designs.After visiting this blog and reading the content, you will feel excellent and more energetic for your packaging designing. 8 Faces Blog The 8 faces is another best blog for the people who want to know about the different styles or ways to design their product’s packaging. This blog is created by the Elliot Jay Stocks and Jamie Clarke. It contains different innovative contents, awesome lettering, beautiful typography, interviews, as well as reviews that are related to the designers. Packaging Strategies Blog At this blog site, you will not only get an opportunity to see some innovative and attractive design for packaging, in fact, you can also get a lot of discussion on the latest trends of packaging design that will help a designer to stay updated all the time. Here you can get a chance to read different types of topics related to packaging such as the popular trends in the market or you can even learn about some problems related to packaging theft. This blog also takes a look at different types of unusual packaging designs that can attract your potential customers. While standing out on the shelf of a supermarket, it will get such eye-catching reviews. Print Blog This blog is the best place to get education and inspiration for packaging designing. Here you can get an opportunity to know everything related to the initiatives of large scale brands and also about some creative ideas related to the food label design of some latest packaging design companies around the globe. This blog also includes some interviews of brand experts and packaging designers etc. Behance Blog Behance is one of the most popular blogs among the most designers because it will provide the opportunity to know more about the showcasing and the design sharing services of adobe. But this is not the only thing which is important about this blog because here you can get a lot of submissions and several unique styles that is best to provide full inspiration to a designer. The designers can get unique ideas to make their packaging even more enjoyable. BXP Magazine Blog BXP stands for the Brand Experience Packaging they publish contents that contain on the latest design and packaging trends. The designers can get news on this blog about the different brands, especially when a famous brand has made some changes or updated or redesign their label, color, logo or packaging according to the latest trends.The designers can also get information about the newly launched of packaging designs in the market. They publish each content and news along with the high-quality images that will give you a great feel of real packaging design. Trending Packaging Blog After reading the name of this blog, there will be no confusion to understand that what you can get on this site. This blog pays attention to the creative and innovative designs of packaging. The in-depth content on this site will not only help the designer to readjust some articles about the packaging design but also get more information and ideas through packaging events, interviews and tutorials as well. The publisher gets all the data from around the globe that different brands and designers apply as latest trends for packaging designing. -20%
By on Sri Lanka as requested by the Human Rights Council. As the person who held the portfolio of Foreign Affairs when resolution 30/1 of 01 October 2015 was adopted, I feel that it is my duty to respond to some of the malicious arguments being made and misrepresentation of facts. I saw some statements claim that the initial delegation to the Human Rights Council’s 40th session in March 2019 was changed. This, like most reports attempting to mislead the public, is false. There is also an abundance of gossip about the delegation and undignified attacks against devoted public servants. Contrary to what is being said, there were no plans to send anyone to Geneva originally for the 40th session as we have a competent, experienced, respected diplomat as our Ambassador to the UN in Geneva who is well-versed in procedure and substance and who has always managed things in a professional and dignified manner, based on instructions, with no attempts to blow his own trumpet like some do. And unlike some others who held this post earlier, the present Ambassador is completely apolitical with no hidden agenda to embarrass the Government of the day or our country. Initially I thought that the diplomatic event at the 40th session of the Human Rights Council would be a show of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic maturity, skill, finesse and grace in handling matters rationally on the international stage. After all, Sri Lanka’s position in the world, its global recognition as a trusted partner and sovereign nation is an issue of critical importance to us all. And what could be more important today, ten years after the end of a brutal fratricidal conflict? What could be a better opportunity to showcase our democracy especially after a tilt towards autocracy was defeated by the people, by Parliament and by the Judiciary? Indeed, the 40th session was an opportunity to tell the world of our difficult yet committed journey towards strengthening democracy, reconciliation, sustainable peace and achieving equitable economic development and prosperity for all. What I had hoped to see therefore was a serious, compassionate, and well-informed discussion on true reconciliation. However, I note with deep concern that such an enlightened and rational approach is confined to our hopes and wishes and not what we have in reality. In Geneva, rather than demonstrating diplomatic skill, finesse, grace and maturity, we made a spectacle of ourselves. Let’s call a spade a spade: much of what is presented today as debate on the recent Human Rights Council session amounts to little more than a display of egocentric one-upmanship, emotional manipulation and nationalistic propaganda calculated to stir frenzy, deceive the public and create fear to gather possible votes in the emerging electoral scenario. What we see from many in our political spectrum – from those holding the highest positions to those in obscure positions – is a plethora of contradictory, improvised and exaggerated accounts. So much so that it is difficult to discern which is the most notorious of these utterances, or the most embarrassing, as each appears to want to outdo the other. Some managed to reduce their participation in the most important human rights forum in the world to self-important, gossipy, exaggerated tales about their supposed heroic roles in correcting the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet who has been a Minister of Defence in her country, and the chief of UN Women, the foremost global institution on women’s rights. On behalf of all sane, rational, decent, sincere, compassionate, serious-minded and honest Sri Lankans who fervently wish to consolidate peace and reconciliation in our country, heal the wounds of our fellow citizens, and ensure non-recurrence of conflict, to lead us towards economic prosperity, I offer an apology to High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, a true friend of Sri Lanka’s people, a champion of the Global South, and herself a survivor of the horrors of torture. High Commissioner Bachelet, you did not deserve the misrepresentation of your statements. But let’s focus on the biggest misrepresentation of them all: the version that Sri Lanka has somehow managed to produce an accusation against itself. A tale disseminated by members of the delegation that went to Geneva to participate in the Human Rights Council session. This is a tale of self-incrimination or incompetence because if these gentlemen talk today of their heroic exploits stopping the impetus of the world, how did they manage then to ensure that the resolution passed without a vote, by consensus, and with our co-sponsorship? And why did they, at substantial cost to our coffers, celebrate by hosting a reception after the adoption of the resolution? But enough with the fake news. What exactly and truly transpired in the 40th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva? What is resolution 40/1 “Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka”? Quite simply, it is a resolution passed unanimously by the 47 members in the Council with co-sponsorship of 46 countries including Sri Lanka and our neighbour Maldives, ensuring the roll over or extension of two previous resolutions: resolution 30/1 of 2015 and resolution 34/1 of 2017 (itself a rollover/extension of resolution 30/1). A similar rollover was co-sponsored in 2017 and signed by the then Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, the present Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was himself a member of the delegation this time. When he signed to co-sponsor resolutions in 2015 and in 2017, he was not made to bear the indignity of accusations being levelled at the present Ambassador of betraying our nation and its defence forces. The decision to request for a technical/procedural rollover this year was taken after consulting both H.E. the President and the Hon. Prime Minister in February 2019 ahead of the organisational meeting of the 40th session of the Human Rights Council on 16 February 2019. Instructions pertaining to co-sponsorship were merely conveyed to Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez by Mr. Mano Tittawella, Secretary-General of the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM) which comes under the Prime Minister’s Office. The SCRM was formed by the Cabinet of Ministers in 2016 for the overall coordination of reconciliation activities including implementation of resolution 30/1. The Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon. Tilak Marapana was also fully aware of these instructions which were conveyed by him to Ambassador Azeez as well. Minister Marapana had also asked Ambassador Azeez to coordinate matters with respect to the resolution with Mr. Tittawella, and had kept the Secretary to his Ministry Ravinatha Aryasinha informed. So, what does a rollover/procedural extension mean exactly? It means that instead of the world castigating Sri Lanka, as so often happened before January 2015, for human rights violations and impunity, the world reiterated its confidence that Sri Lanka is a nation which is firmly on the road towards reconciliation. The world reaffirmed that Sri Lankans are a responsible, mature, dignified people determined to work on tackling difficult issues to provide truth, justice, and reparation to the nation aimed at healing, upholding the rights of all and establishing the rule of law to ensure the non-recurrence of conflict, ushering in stability required for economic growth, development and prosperity for all in the long-term. In the words contained in resolution 40/1, “…it is the responsibility of each State to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms of its entire population”. Yes! This is our responsibility and no one else in the world has appropriated that responsibility, as certain people have said recently! A rollover of a resolution is not a sanction in any way. I challenge any member of the delegation that went to Geneva and participated in the rollover of the resolution without a vote, to show what sanction is contained in resolution 40/1, or in resolution 30/1 which is the original one adopted on 01 October 2015. Resolution 30/1 which Sri Lanka co-sponsored in 2015, in pursuance of the mandate that President Sirisena received from the voters to implement the 100 Day Programme and take charge of Sri Lanka’s sovereign right to solve its own problems locally, is no more and no less than a historic agenda to ensure durable peace and reconciliation in our country. Contrary to what is often being said, the content of resolution 30/1 was based on Sri Lanka’s own proposals for truth-seeking, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-recurrence presented to the Human Rights Council by me on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka on 14 September 2015. The content of this Statement was both discussed and approved by His Excellency the President as well as the Hon. Prime Minister at meetings that were held following the swearing-in of several ministers including me by the President after the Parliamentary Election held on 17 August 2015. It is as a result of this resolution (30/1) that prospects for international action initiated through resolution 25/1 of March 2014 and the OISL (OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka) that was adopted during President Rajapaksa’s regime was effectively halted. It is important to remind everyone that it is if we as a responsible and sovereign nation fails to act that we place our citizens in grave peril because the message we then send out to the world is that we are unable or unwilling to do our job. If we fail to deal with our issues ourselves, then others will step in, and international action as well as universal jurisdiction will apply. I must recall here that following the adoption of resolution 30/1, the President convened at least two rounds of an All-Party Conference regarding implementation of the resolution for reconciliation while even at that time, expressing reservations regarding the involvement of foreign judges. In order to broaden the scope of implementation of the resolution, the President sought the views of all political parties that participated in the All-Party Conference. However, some of the political parties including the members of the so-called Joint Opposition that go around the country making unfounded accusations didn’t even bother to give written observations or suggestions at the time. If you look at the content of Resolution 30/1 carefully, you will understand the objective of the reconciliation agenda which contains a series of measures covering reconciliation, rule of law, security and confidence-building. All these are measures that were derived directly from our promises to the Sri Lankan people at the election of January 2015: that we would overcome hate, that we would overcome arbitrariness, that we would overcome fear – all conditions that are necessary for long-term development of our nation. Nothing more and nothing less. Many of these measures have been implemented, and in some others the progress has been partial but is ongoing. Every citizen that has not been living under a rock, or under the rock of prejudice, will recognize those measures that include: creating institutions to ensure the rights of victims as well as the future safety, security and wellbeing of all citizens; constitutional reform, so that we can all live, work, and prosper together in dignity; addressing shortcomings so that everyone can enjoy peace in their own lands and houses. The measures of resolution 30/1, that was rolled over without the need of a vote, recently, include: * The establishment of an Office on Missing Persons, to undertake the humanitarian and compassionate task of determining the fate and whereabouts of the missing along the history of all our past conflicts and crises. The OMP, quite simply, restores the right of every Sri Lankan family, of any background, language or religion, to know what happened to their missing loved ones and to take measures to impress upon our nation’s soul, the non-recurrence of disappearances in future. As it has been noted, the missing in our country includes hundreds if not thousands of families of our soldiers as well as police personnel, missing in action. Who in their right mind with a beating heart could deny such a basic right to their grieving fellow citizens – mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and children? Isn’t this the compassion that Gautama Buddha has spoken of? * The creation of an Office for Reparations, which has been approved in Parliament and which has passed constitutional muster,. What is threatening about helping those who suffer to rebuild their lives? Is it not a state’s sovereign responsibility to help all citizens in need rebuild and restore their lives and livelihoods? * The establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (for which a Concept Paper is before the Cabinet of Ministers) that will clarify the events of the conflict, including those most disputed and controversial, in order to lift the veil of secrecy and speculation, and to listen to all the victims and survivors, in a compassionate and dignified way. Everyone can tell their story. This includes the military. Who is afraid of letting our brothers and sisters from all walks of life, from all parts of our nation, speak, to enable truth-seeking, and thus facilitate measures for healing and non-recurrence of such grievous hurt in our land? Who is afraid of truth-seeking to such an extent as to oppose such a local exercise by calling it some conspiracy or international intervention? Is truth a foreign concept for Sri Lankans who are blessed by the teachings of Gautama Buddha, the Vedas, Prophet Mohammed and Jesus Christ? * The establishment, within our national legal system, of “a judicial mechanism with a special counsel to investigate allegations of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law”, a mechanism that the Resolution explicitly calls “a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism” not an international one, in which there would be the participation of foreign jurists. * This, of course, is the measure that has motivated the most terror and indignation among the spoilers of reconciliation and healing. Therefore, let me review it carefully for the benefit of all those with a sincere desire and willingness to try to understand it. – This proposal is not to establish a foreign mechanism in some foreign land outside Sri Lanka. Literally, it is a proposal to establish a Sri Lankan local mechanism. And the participation of foreign jurists is in no way a strange or unheard-of practice in Sri Lanka. After all, it was the government led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa which established the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) in 2005, led by no less than the 17th Chief Justice of India, the illustrious justice Bhagwati. This is not the only instance either. Moreover, several Sri Lankan jurists have participated as judges and investigators in international courts. Some of our former judges and officials of the Attorney General’s Department have been appointed to judicial bodies in Fiji as well. – No provision in our Constitution requires judges serving in our system to have Sri Lankan nationality. Of course, some could argue that the Constitution should clarify that point explicitly, but is this something we should get caught up arguing about and toss reconciliation out of the window just out of a newly discovered antipathy for the word “foreign”? – The resolution says that the Sri Lankan justice system must investigate and adjudicate on allegations of the most serious human rights violations. Now who could oppose that? Even the gentlemen who went to Geneva this time in March 2019 say precisely that. Let’s assume that it is because of this fundamental agreement that they did nothing to prevent the adoption by consensus of the resolution! Should we not acknowledge the need to investigate allegations? Are we not bound by our own Constitution to provide for the equal protection of the law? Shouldn’t we do justice to all our citizens including our security forces personnel by investigating allegations so that those who may not be guilty of a crime do not have to carry the weight of an allegation with them to the grave? Should we let allegations remain without investigations and make our security forces personnel vulnerable to be subjected to universal jurisdiction? Do we not owe our institutions of the army, the navy, the air-force and the police the right to justice just as much as we owe all our citizens who have been wronged? This is called abiding by our own Constitution. Nothing more, nothing less. The Human Rights Council is not a court of law. That is not the place to argue and debate over the number of dead or missing. All these including the information obtained by Lord Naseby are matters for Sri Lankan processes including the Sri Lankan justice system. – The participation of foreign experts, in the capacity that we decide, within our national system is nothing new or controversial. We have already done it in the past. Instead of making this a Manichean discussion of “yes” and “no”, let’s have a practical discussion of how, and in what way do we ensure that justice tackles the most serious allegations, in an independent manner, and with the support of the best jurists of the world. As I have asked recently in my response to the Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa, why would we, a country of the Global South deprive ourselves of the expertise of our brothers and sisters in other countries of the Global South? Why not reach out to the Argentine experts who have identified the fate of the missing in their native country and around the world? Why ignore the contribution of our Tunisian friends who have examined the corruption and human rights violations of their past dictatorship? Why slam the door on South African lawyers who are even now uncovering the horrors of Apartheid and contributing to the construction of a diverse, proud Rainbow Nation, as they call their beautiful country? Why ignore the know-how of Colombian experts striking the delicate balance between peace and justice after a long conflict? Why shy away from even asking the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet who has been a torture victim and later a Minister of Defence and President of her country to share her own experience in these matters with us? – We have the expertise of numerous Sri Lankan experts who have participated in courts around the world. We have the recommendations of thousands of Sri Lankan citizens who appeared before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission as well as the Consultation Task Force to give recommendations about justice. We have the willingness of the best legal minds around the world to share their opinion and expertise. * What else is in the resolution? Our commitment to pass new, modern laws to prevent the repetition of the past; a better legal framework to fight terrorism; legislation to prevent forced disappearances. This, as any legislation is not retroactive. Who could be against preventing future crime? Who could be against preventing disappearances in the future? Only those who may want a free hand to commit crime! Only those who would not hesitate in unleashing again the horror of the White Van phenomenon! * The resolution also encourages the return of land to its rightful civilian owners. This is quite a self-evident task: once the defence imperatives are addressed there is no necessity to use the land of civilian owners. We are a nation of laws, and every Sri Lankan, no matter their background and state in life has the right to own property and make a living, however modest. And, as the High Commissioner has noted, we are making significant progress in this regard. Who could be against ensuring that someone recovers a house, a plot of land, a fishing ground, so that everyone can enjoy the simple happiness of building a family, working hard, dreaming of a better future? * The resolution also encourages the Government of Sri Lanka to introduce effective security sector reforms as part of its transitional justice process, which will help to enhance the reputation and professionalism of the military. Who in his or her right mind would want to deny the military of the opportunity to enhance its reputation and professionalism? Can those who call themselves patriotic really deny the military the opportunity to serve the noble cause of Peacekeeping around the world? When I read the resolution to try to explain what every task in the resolution is, I cannot help but wonder, who in their right mind could oppose such a common sense, compassionate, and reasonable measure? It should be a rhetorical question. It should be evident that rational persons couldn’t oppose any of these measures. Regrettably, it is not self-evident. Ten years after the end of the conflict in the North and the East, thirty years after the end of the second insurrection in the South, we seem to continue those fratricidal conflicts in our hearts, with the anger of the fighter, instead of the compassion of the peacemaker and peacebuilder. Instead of using the capacities of the state to rebuild, reform and reconcile, we try to stop rebuilding, reform, reconciliation and healing. Instead of recognizing the inherent human dignity of all persons, we ask first for their language, their religion, their identity! And it is sad to note that those who do so, proclaim themselves good Buddhists. No philosophical system and no religious revelation, in particular the sublime teachings of Gautama Buddha, should be used to justify heartlessness and lies. The sad reality is, then, that there are those who oppose any measure to achieve accountability and reconciliation, because they don’t want justice. They want victor’s justice. They don’t want the peace of the living, they want the peace of the cemeteries. They calculate that by appealing to our worst instincts: by mobilizing the base emotions of fear and hate, they will grasp power. I trust that they are wrong. I trust that, at the end of the day, every Sri Lankan of goodwill is capable to feel in their heart the suffering of any living being and any other Sri Lankan. I am convinced that, even if we humans are imperfect and are capable of great evil, we are also capable of magnanimity, of goodness, of beauty, kindness, compassion, justice and dignity. I trust that our citizens are capable to see beyond the lies, and I invite all professors in our universities, all community leaders, all leaders of our security forces, all religious leaders to discuss, to inquire, to inform themselves better than we politicians have informed them or the media has informed them through sound bites and news clips. I invite every responsible citizen to read the resolution that I have plainly explained here, and whose validity we have extended. Also read and observe and understand how actual UN and Human Rights Council processes work instead of being misled by fear mongers and liars. In 2015, we ceased to be the pariah nation we were in the period immediately before that where we were fighting everyone and cornering ourselves. We took control of the accountability and reconciliation agenda, and we put the world as our witness. Nothing less, as I have said, and nothing more. We regained our place as a responsible sovereign nation alongside the rest of the world, because we had regained our heart, and our identity as a compassionate, proud, diverse nation, full of hope and inspiration to march forward, holding our heads up high, to be the best that we could be. That, and not the lies and exaggerations, is what will win in the end: our love for our Mother Lanka, our freedom, our wonderful diversity, our faith, our capacity to reconcile, and our capacity to live and work together with unity of purpose – to make our country the developed country it deserves to be with no space for recurrence of conflict. « Previous 1 2
(Note: This is an unedited section of a manuscript that discusses MMT and the upcoming recovery. Although most people focus on fiscal policy stories when discussing MMT, labour market analysis offers a much greater contrast to neoclassical thinking. The section following this one delves into that aspect more deeply,) This section is inspired by the book Full Employment Abandoned: Shifting Sands and Policy Failures, by Bill Mitchell and Joan Muysken. That text is an advanced academic text, and examines the history of employment policy from a MMT perspective. This section cannot hope to cover the historical analysis of labour markets in Parts I and II of that book. The third part of the book discusses topics that are more widely associated with MMT, and which I will cover elsewhere in this text. If a reader wants a formalised academic textbook that is an introduction to MMT, Full Employment Abandoned is one possibility. The Full Employment FrameworkFrom a long-term perspective, there are two structural changes to the labour market of interest. The first is the movement towards a full employment framework in the aftermath of World War II. (The war itself represented full employment, but one would assume that this was temporary.) Full Employment Abandoned points to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, where Article 23 included the text “Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, and to protection against unemployment.” The next structural change effectively represents an effort to undo the previous changes. Mitchell and Muysken argue that the OECD Jobs Study: Facts, Analysis, Strategies of 1994 captured the new consensus perfectly (and provided the role model for reforms). They offer this quotation as a key summary of the thinking: [I]t is an inability of OECD economies to adapt rapidly and innovatively to a world of rapid structural change that is the principal cause of high and persistent unemployment… Consequently, the main thrust of the study was directed towards identifying the institutions, rules and regulations, and practices which have weakened the capacity of OECD countries to adapt and innovate, and to search for appropriate policy responses…To many readers steeped in the current labour policy consensus, the statements by the OECD might seem unremarkable. However, they bury key differences from the earlier framework (which MMT wants to revert to). The core difference is that they view persistent unemployment as being a matching problem (i.e., match the worker and the employer), and not the result of inadequate demand. This difference in the diagnosis implies a different remedy: remove frictions that slow down matching. As was typical for the neoliberal era, regulations were viewed as a source of the problem. Meanwhile, one hidden implication is that unemployment is largely the fault of workers – they are not adaptable (e.g., skilled) enough (although the bureaucrats behind the document would not use such crass language). Changing Behaviour of the Labour MarketAs someone who was born in the late 1960s, I can attest to the qualitative changes in the labour market since the 1970s. The problem with qualitative changes is that they are not easily summarised, and the summaries can be the result of political disputes. To keep my text brief, the focus here is on quantitative measures that capture the effects of the qualitative changes. The text Full Employment Abandoned is focused on the changes in the labour market, and therefore has the space to cover the qualitative changes to the labour market. In this context, Section 5.2 – “The Full Employability Framework” – discusses the changes to labour market programmes that corresponded to the OECD Jobs Study world view. The authors state “The full employability framework allegedly prepares the unemployed worker for paid employment as opposed to providing the policy environment that ensures there are enough jobs.” Market-based outcomes are the key to the full employability framework. For example, regional unemployment is to be dealt with via migratory responses by workers (the “get on your bike” philosophy associated with British Conservative politician Norman Tebbit). As Mitchell and Muysken note, relying on migration benefits growing regions, and does little for the development of regions with weak economies. The first example of a quantitative metric is the number of strikes. The figure above shows the hours lost in labour disputes in Canada in a month, smoothed by taking the average over 12 months. Note that I have made no attempt to adjust for the size of the labour force – that grew over the period. We can see the high levels of strikes at the tail end of the 1970s and early 1980s, which were memorable. (One of the annual rituals was trying to mail Christmas cards before a potential postal carrier strike.) I added two somewhat arbitrary lines to illustrate the change in trends. Before 1990, the (smoothed) strike series rarely dipped below 500,000 hours per month. Once we are past the early 1990s, the 500,000-hour line was the effective peak of the smoothed series. (I put the vertical line at 1990 for ease of comparison across figures.) As the chart text observes, the floor for strike activity levels before 1990 became the ceiling thereafter. The drop in strike activity was not confined to Canada. As the figure above demonstrates, work stoppages remained relatively low after 1990 (with a single spike in the year 2000). The American data has a longer run of history than the Canadian data, and we can see that rise in strike activity in the late 1960s and 1970s – the era of high inflation. A closely related trend is the decline in unionisation. Before the 1990s, industries were dominated by large firms with large, unionised work forces. However, starting in the 1980s, firms started shrinking their workforces, outsourcing functions to specialised firms. That outsourcing increasingly moved to countries with lower wages in response to free trade agreements. Currently, the largest unions tend to be associated with government employment, while many large employers (e.g., retailers, fast food) have managed to avoid have their workforces unionised. Long-Term Unemployment The nature of unemployment has also changed over time, which can be readily seen in the data. The chart above shows the how unemployment has become more persistent in the United States. It shows the percentage of the unemployed population that has been unemployed for more than 27 weeks. We see that this percentage rises as the economy comes out of recession, and the most sought-after employees find jobs in the immediate bounce in hiring. The percentage then grinds lower during the expansion, as either long-term unemployed either find a job due to improving conditions, or they drop out of the labour force. If we look at the 10-year average of the series (which smooths out the effect of recessions), we see an upward slope starting in the 1970s, but without a noticeable deterioration starting in 1990. That said, the measure rose rapidly after the Financial Crisis, and only ground down to 20% during the expansion – which was the peak level in earlier eras. (The rapidity of the collapse of employment in 2020 meant that most unemployed workers were newly unemployed, and so this ratio returned to levels last seen in the 1970s. My assumption is that this ratio will head higher in response to the initial return to work in the United States.) Pavlina R. Tcherneva highlighted this ratio in “Reorienting Fiscal Policy: A Critical Assessment of Fiscal Fine-Tuning,” which was published in 2013. It offers another analysis of the changing nature of fiscal and job creation policies from a MMT perspective. Under-Employment One final concern with labour market structure is persistent under-employment. These are workers that are considered employed (and are therefore not part of the headline unemployment rate), but they are not working as many hours as they would wish (e.g., working part time, but wish to have full time employment). In the United States, there are a number of unemployment definitions, with U-3 being the headline rate (the number that is quoted in headlines), and U-6 being a wide measure of under-employment. These are shown in the figure above. Unfortunately, the U-6 under-employment measure only starts in the mid-1990s, and so we cannot infer anything about structural changes. The rise of the so-called “gig economy” has taken the concept of “adaptability” to the limit. Workers are re-branded “contractors,” and would be considered employed (self-employed), even if they work very few hours. Admittedly, there are many cases where people will want to be self-employed on a part-time basis – I am in that category – we cannot confuse people in that category with workers with full-time contracts and income stability. ConsequencesThe reduction in the bargaining power of workers had the effect of lowering inflation rates, consistent with post-Keynesian economic theory. Also, post-Keynesian theory suggests that there would be a reduction in aggregate demand, lowering growth rates. This is consistent with the observed slowness of recovery. Note that this is different than standard neoclassical models that suggest that growth rates ought to bounce around some equilibrium level, and that by reducing frictions in the labour market, growth should have been faster. Another line of argument is that slow wage growth has been associated with greater inequality, and more unequal societies grow more slowly. The mechanism appears straightforward: the ultra-rich spend less of their income, and so hoarding of income increases. The lower propensity to consume lowers aggregate demand. Although this line of argument appears plausible, I am not highlighting it here, as it is politically contentious, and would be a major area of dispute that would be a distraction from my main arguments. The next section will return to the relationship between the labour market and inflation. In particular, how the relationship between NAIRU and inflation broke down. This difficulties faced by mainstream economists in this respect represents a large part of the contents of Full Employment Abandoned, and we will return to discussing that text. References and Further Reading - Full Employment Abandoned: Shifting Sands and Policy Failures, William Mitchell and Joan Muysken, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008. ISBN: 978-1-85898-507-7 - The OECD Jobs Study: Facts, Analysis, Strategies, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1994. - “Reorienting Fiscal Policy: A Critical Assessment of Fiscal Fine-Tuning,” by Pavlina R. Tcherneva, Levy Economics Institute Working Paper Number 772, 2013. URL: .)
The; to him goes the credit for all of Western civilization. If he had remained a Jew, we would live in a despotic world bereft of science and reason. Lots of women would die giving birth, and a significant percentage of children would not live past age five. Firmly ensconced in the dark ages, our societies would be horrendous places to inhabit, lacking "universities, banks, factories, eyeglasses, chimneys, and pianos." Thought experiments have their place, but Stark's, it must immediately be said, is vile: even the most notorious anti-Semites give Jews credit for the banks. What respectable academic discipline would even consider Stark's ugly little scenario? It would not be called history. While there has been a flurry of interest in "counterfactuals" among historians—would the world have been better off, Niall Ferguson has asked, if Britain had not entered World War I?— most such efforts are little more than "parlor games," as E.H. Carr once characterized them. If they serve any serious purpose, it is to suggest the importance of caprice in human affairs. But Stark's counterfactual is triumphalist rather than tentative. We are not meant to reflect that any religion might have emerged out of the Roman Empire to become number one in the world rankings and that Christianity just happened to become the Duke among faiths. Stark proposes his hypothetical only to gloat over Christianity's inevitability. How foolish to think that the Jews—like the unfortunate Arians, Nestorians, Donatists, or Manichees—could have launched the modern world into being. Of all kinds of historians, students of intellectual history would especially refrain from Stark's speculative fancy. Even after Jesus transferred away from the Jewish team, those obscure sectarians managed to produce Maimonides roughly a century before the Christians begat Aquinas. In this, they had something over the Arians after all. But because Stark wants to prove that "Christianity alone embraced reason and logic as the primary guide to religious truth," Maimonides, to whom Aquinas was more than willing to acknowledge his debt, makes no appearance in The Victory of Reason. Nor does the Jew Spinoza, born in the same year as John Locke, although Locke, a Christian, can be found three times in Stark's pages. Intellectual history would not leave out so many intellectuals. Nor would social scientists allow their minds to wander where Stark's does. Max Weber did not write The Protestant Ethic and the Absence of Capitalism. The quintessential German mandarin, Weber laced nearly every conclusion he reached with qualifications. Even when searching for causality, he was sufficiently repelled by Marxism to avoid reducing all of history to one guiding mechanism. Filled with a Lutheran sense of responsibility, which Stark mistakenly describes as "academic anti-Catholicism," Weber cautioned social scientists to "recognize `inconvenient' facts." Weber may not have had a sense of humor, but he did have an ironic disposition; he knew that human beings act rationally as well as irrationally, and he fully understood that those who try to do good in the world can end up doing bad. RODNEY STARK PRESENTS himself as the anti-Weber; The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, in his view, is not only wrong, it is so obviously wrong that no one could be expected to take it seriously. About that, Stark is mistaken; books such as Weber's make their contribution to ideas not by being correct in every particular, but by establishing whole new lines of inquiry that survive for decades. But Stark is right to contrast himself to Weber more generally, for missing in Stark's book is Weber's care and caution, while present in abundance is the simplification, the mono-causality, that Weber abhorred. Consider one sample of Stark's writing: During the past century, Western intellectuals have been more than willing to trace European imperialism to Christian origins, but they have been entirely unwilling to recognize that Christianity made any contributions (other than intolerance) to the Western capacity to dominate. Rather, the West is said to have surged ahead precisely as it overcame religious barriers to progress, especially those impeding science. Nonsense. The success of the West, including the rise of science, rested entirely on religious foundations, and the people who brought it about were devout Christians. It would be difficult to imagine four sentences more antithetical to the spirit of Weber than those. When Stark chooses an adjective, he chooses the strongest one he can find: "entirely" appears twice in this passage. When he makes a generalization, he ignores evidence to the contrary; scholars such as Perez Zagorin recognize the contribution Christianity has made to tolerance. When he rejects the conclusions of others, he does so root and branch by calling them "nonsense." When he describes the party he favors—the Christians— he cannot help but call them "devout," which he always means as a compliment. Finally, Stark owes more to Lenin than to Weber; agitprop, disdain, perfect certainty—all the Marxist arsenal is here, deployed not on behalf of class struggle but in the name of religious sectarianism. Stark's proper academic discipline is what used to be called apologetics. (It still is taught at an occasional seminary or faith-based college.) He would return scholarship to an era in which the techniques of inquiry were marshaled to defend one faith against another—against all others. University Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University, Stark attributes the triumph of science to Christianity, but he does not tell us whether Jesus is also responsible for modern sociology. He should have pondered that question, for if an approach to the human sciences premised on disinterested inquiry and respect for the empirical realities of the real world represents one step in reason's victory, Stark himself has never been touched by the spirit of reason that he celebrates. II. LET US BEGIN at the beginning. Homer, Aristotle, Plato, Sophocles, Archimedes, Euclid, Galen, Cicero, Plautus: none of them was Christian. Yet the classical world produced two philosophers that would rank on any list of the world's greatest, a superb literature both comic and tragic, art that remains on display in every great museum, principles of geometry still taught today, the theory of the atomic composition of matter, the basic principles of medicine, the art of rhetoric, an empire or two, and engineering projects capable of inspiring awe. So the first challenge facing Stark's thesis is the need to explain away the accomplishments of classical civilization. Greek science may seem impressive, Stark responds, but it was not really scientific; instead, the Greeks pioneered "lore, skills, wisdom, techniques, crafts, technologies, engineering, learning, or simply knowledge." Science, we are told, has two components: theory and empirical research. Any Greek thinker who engaged in one never engaged in the other: "either their work is entirely empirical or it does not qualify as science for lack of empiricism, being sets of abstract assertions that disregard or do not imply observable consequences." Stark concedes that Democritus was on track when he proposed the atomic theory of matter, but he never was able to "anticipate scientific atomic theory." As a result, his findings constituted sheer luck, or, as Stark calls it, "a linguistic coincidence." The atomic theory of matter is no more scientific then the speculations of Empedocles, who believed that all matter was composed of earth, air, fire, and water. There are many ways to evaluate the accomplishments of the ancient Greeks and Romans. One—the most obvious—is to compare them with other civilizations of their time. By that standard, their discoveries really do amount to a golden age of creativity. Stark forbids himself to take such an obvious path, unprepared as he is to accept that any non-Christian, under any conditions, could ever rank number one (Stark's way of thinking really is this vulgar) in anything. And so he proposes another method: modern science as we know it depended on the scientific revolution launched in the sixteenth century; classical Greece existed before the sixteenth century; therefore classical Greece's accomplishments were not scientific. This is like saying that the Greek god Mercury, however swift, was a failure because he holds no running records in the National Football League. Not only is Stark's reasoning anachronistic, it knows nothing of how scientific discovery really works. Yes, there was a great scientific revolution in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. There may, for all we know, be another one in the twenty-second or twenty-third century. If that were to occur, many of the conclusions that contemporary scientists have reached will be overturned. But this does not make the theory of relativity or natural selection unscientific now. What we know now about the natural world is the best available knowledge to us. What the Greeks knew then about their world was the best available knowledge to them. Scientific revolutions do not obliterate what scientists used to believe so much as they build upon—and then radically surpass—earlier contributions. When Newton said that he stood on the shoulders of giants, Stark tells us, he could not really have believed such a thing, because it was not reflected in his work. I think we can reliably trust Newton's reflections on the debts he incurred more than Stark's efforts to put words into Newton's mouth. UNLIKE STARK, THE earliest Christians were impressed by the achievements of the Greeks. That is why they tried to suppress them. Paul did not know much about Plato and Aristotle, but he knew enough to worry that logoi would be less compatible with the Christian theology he was expounding than muthos. Paul, writes Charles Freeman in The Closing of the Western Mind, "may have been unsettled by his confrontation with the pagan philosophers in Athens. His response was to hit back with highly emotional rhetoric, the only weapon at hand. So for Paul, it is not only the Law that has been superseded by the coming of Christ, it is the concept of rational argument, the core of the Greek intellectual achievement itself." (Freeman's book, which highlights the many ways early Christians stood in the path of reason, puts Stark's conclusions and evidence to shame. Stark does not seem to know of its existence, though it appeared only a few years ago.) Paul gave Christians what they desperately needed to survive as an embattled community: faith. His greatness is not to be doubted; there is, Freeman continues, a depth and a power in his letters that is missing in the more placid writings of the Stoics and Epicureans. But one should never confuse Paul's passion with logic and empiricism. It was only later, most strikingly in the writings of Augustine and Aquinas, that Christian theologians began to make their peace with reason. Stark can hardly restrain his enthusiasm for both these thinkers. A naive believer, he remarks, may conclude from the story of the Wise Men that astrology is a valid science, but Augustine was too rigorous a thinker to accept such a conclusion. Using the power of reason, he deduced that astrology must be false: a God who gave human beings free will could not also have accepted that a human being's fate can be determined by the stars. Augustine's greatness, according to Stark, lies in his optimism; God's "unspeakable boon" was to endow human beings with a "rational nature." With Aquinas, Stark continues, "the Christian commitment to progress through rationality reached its heights." Christian doctrines were not to be accepted merely because they had a scriptural basis; they had to be proved through logic. Like Augustine, Aquinas found a "profound humanism" in God's creatures; God did not reveal each and every truth through his word but left behind hints that allowed, indeed required, human beings, using the powers of reason, to interpret and understand his intentions. Stark is certainly correct to emphasize the accomplishments of these remarkable figures. But to do so, he violates the methods he used to evaluate the contributions of the Greeks. Recall that Stark never judges Greek thinkers by comparing them with their contemporaries. This, however, is exactly what he does with Augustine and Aquinas; their accomplishments are lorded over the inability of theologians from other traditions to achieve the same level of brilliance. There were no theologians in Eastern religions at all, according to Stark, because all such religions, including Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, lack the idea of an all-powerful God whose essence is nonetheless understandable. Jews and Muslims do share with Christians such an idea of God, he goes on, but these faiths are handicapped by their legalism—another hoary and unpleasant stereotype. They lack an idea of progress. (No idea of progress, in Judaism?) They do not pose questions of ultimate meaning. (Yes, he really says that.) They debate precedents rather than engage in doctrinal controversy. They are the religions that encourage scriptural literalism because their great prophets, Moses and Muhammad, unlike Jesus, left written texts behind. (Yes, he says that as well. Clearly he knows nothing whatsoever about the ancient and medieval opposition to literalism in Judaism.) Only Christians could advance the cause of reason, because only Christians believed in progress and possessed a theology encouraging human curiosity. In a similar way, Stark, who claims that the Greeks could not advance the cause of modern science because they lived before the scientific revolution of the sixteenth century, claims that the work of Augustine and Aquinas, one of whom lived in the fourth century and the other in the thirteenth, "was the key to many intellectual undertakings, among them the rise of science." Newton, it would seem, stood on the shoulders of giants after all. IN STARK'S BOOK, players can never be identified without a scorecard; it is as if all great thinkers carry around a placard announcing their religion, and then they are all sorted into those who helped thought move forward and those who held it back. Nowhere in such a treatment is there room for the possibility that any particular thinker could find himself in two camps at once. But Augustine certainly did. In his Confessions, we see a thinker who understood that if men were created by God, the greater the men, the greater the God; but the tone of Augustine's later writings is much darker. This more orthodox thinker was not afraid to attribute increasing importance to the doctrine of original sin, thereby taking back much of the free will he had once attributed to human beings. Once a critic of Manichaeism, Augustine became more sharply dualistic. Formerly appreciative of the contributions of non-Christians, he became more insistent on the need to correct their false doctrines. An early optimist, he became increasingly pessimistic. Augustine remained fascinating to such twentieth-century thinkers as Arendt and Niebuhr because he wrestled with both the liberating and the oppressive aspects of his faith. Such a complicated figure cannot be placed into Stark's own Manichaean intellectual history. Compared with Augustine, Aquinas is a model of consistency. Yet it makes as little sense to fence off Aquinas as merely a "Christian" thinker as it does to maintain that Augustine was as committed to reason late in his life as he was earlier. In the world in which Aquinas wrote, Greek, Jewish, Islamic, and Christian thought all borrowed from one another. "Accept the truth, whatever the source," Maimonides insisted, quoting the Talmud, and as David Novak has pointed out in First Things, this was a dictum to which Aquinas, who "treated with respect all great theologians and philosophers irrespective of religious differences with them," adhered. Searching for a way to bring to Christians a greater respect for the intellect than they had inherited from Paul, medieval scholars such as Aquinas turned back to the Greeks, and in so doing they paid their debts to the Muslim scholars who had preserved Europe's classical heritage. All theologies at the time took what they liked and abandoned what they did not.. Although the Catholic Church would revere Mary and insist on her virginity, Mary's story in fact owed a great deal to non-Christians. For one thing, Mary's virgin birth has what Freeman. AS BENEFITS OF a work of apologetics, Stark continuously relies on double standards and creates absurd classifications. Cicero, a non-Christian, believed in free will, while strict Calvinists committed to predestination were fatalists. Rather than admit any discrepancies in his airtight conclusions, Stark simply throws out the former's commitments as "an obscure philosophical matter" and takes the Christian commitment to free will as a given, even though it took Jacobus Arminius to bring the idea of free will to parts of Christian Europe under the spell of Calvinistic determinism. Augustine was an optimist about human nature at least some of the time, while John Chrysostom was a pessimist nearly all of the time, but for Stark they both played a role in advancing the Christian commitment to reason. (Needless to say, Stark makes no mention of the latter's virulent anti-Semitism—"the synagogue is not only a whorehouse and a theater; it is also a den of thieves and a haunt of wild animals"—because no mention is made of the entire history of Christian hatred toward the Jews, which was not exactly one of reason's achievements.) Perhaps the most striking example of Stark's distortion of the historical record is his treatment of the Spanish Inquisition. This is, after all, the most famous example in history of a church that set itself up against reason, condemning along the way such luminaries of scientific method as Galileo. Stark loves to provoke: at one point he denies that Latin America ever became a Catholic continent, and at another he describes the whole notion of the Dark Ages—the ones we would be living in had Jesus remained among the Jews—as a "hoax" imposed on the world by eighteenth-century philosophers. But evidently the existence of the Spanish Inquisition is not a fact that he is willing to take on; he never refers to it by name, and in the one sentence that he devotes to the anti-intellectualism of the Counter-Reformation, he laments its legacy for "fostering misconceptions about religious opposition to science," as if it were all Galileo's fault that the Catholic Church got its awful reputation for putting him on trial. And so it goes. Only Christians viewed slavery as sinful, Stark writes, although he acknowledges that a few Jewish thinkers did as well; the fact that Brazil and the American South were Christian and slave-owning is not important. (But posit that Brazil was not Catholic, and you solve half your problem.) Only Christians believed in human rights; all other faiths "minimize individualism and stress collective obligations," as if both the Catholic Church and Martin Luther were models of tolerance. Jews and Christians both shared the idea that history moves in a particular direction, yet "the Jewish idea of history stressed not progress but only procession, while the idea of progress is profoundly manifest in Christianity." This is to scholarship as Red Sox Nation is to fandom; I can fully understand why my fellow Bostonians would claim that David Ortiz is the greatest hitter in the world, but it staggers the imagination that a presumably serious scholar would make such a claim about one religion, and one religion only, in a world that has gotten at least a smidgeon of its ugly history of sectarian violence and faith-based hatred under control. Reading Stark's book, it is important to remember that no major voice in American religion speaks in such triumphalist terms these days—not the Vatican under Benedict XVI, not the theologians at evangelical institutions such as Fuller Seminary, not the Muslims who have issued fatwas against Wahhabism, not even members of the Christian right who have persuaded themselves that they are Israel's greatest friends. Rodney Stark writes in an age of reason to advance the cause of prejudice. I am all for challenging conventional wisdom, but sometimes wisdom, even of the conventional sort, has its virtues. Christianity has brought some great things into the world, but not everything it brought has been great. Other faiths made their contributions to reason as well. Wise people know this; blowhards and bigots do not. III. MOST OF RODNEY Stark's book deals not with theology, but with economic history. He sets out to prove that Christians, having invented reason, applied their intellectual powers to the world around them and created technology, capitalism, democracy, and modernity. Here is where Weber enters the discussion. He famously insisted that certain theological notions associated with the Protestant Reformation, such as the Calvinist idea of election, helped to fuel capitalist growth. The trouble this poses for Stark is not hard to see: Protestantism came along roughly fifteen hundred years after Christianity began. So if Weber is right, Stark is wrong. Christianity cannot explain capitalism if Christianity had existed for nearly three-quarters of its life on this earth without it. All of which means that the inklings of capitalism growth must be sought in the early church—if not the one that existed before Constantine, which even Stark admits was radically otherworldly, then the one that grew up around and after him. This is why Stark denounces the idea of the Dark Ages as a hoax, as "an incredible lie that long disfigured our knowledge of history." The notorious non-believer Gibbon imposed this absurd idea on us, and it is time to rid ourselves of it. Never one to practice the Christian virtue of humility, Stark writes that "no one has ever provided an adequate summary of what really took place" between the fall of Rome and the invention of capitalism. And so, in forty or so pages, he will do the job. The so-called Dark Ages, it turns out, were years of remarkable innovation and progress. For the first time in human history, machines allowed production to take place powered by something other than human effort. New methods of warfare developed, encouraged by "the Christian conviction that progress was a God-given obligation, entailed in the gift of reason." (Stark never explains how the unreasonable Muslims were able to defeat those reasonable Christians throughout the entire period he is describing, although Lepanto, which the Europeans won, does get a mention. Nor does he take seriously the link between Confucianism and the development of military technology in China.) Polyphonic music was invented. Gothic architecture and painting far surpassed (whatever that means) Greek art. Vernacular languages were used by such intellectual giants as Dante and Chaucer, putting to rest any ideas of "Dark Age illiteracy and ignorance." (Only much later does Stark get around to mentioning that the Catholic Church opposed translating the Bible into vernacular languages.) Never mind that the idea of the illiterate medieval centuries is just another of Stark's many straw men. Christians could do all these wondrous things during the so-called Dark Ages because they made three great contributions to the modern world. First, there was the idea of equality. Stark reaches back to a third-century theologian to illustrate this commitment. An important component of justice, wrote L. Caecilius Firmanius Lactantius, "is equality.... But someone will say, `Don't you have poor and rich, slave and masters in your community?' `Aren't there distinctions between one member and another?' Not at all. This is precisely the reason that we address one another as `Brother,' since we believe we are one another's equals." Second, there was the reality of property rights. True, there were oddball Franciscans with their absurd vows of poverty and their troublesome saints; but as the church became as preoccupied with securing economic and political order as it did with the salvation of souls, and as it began to realize that property rights in general could justify its considerable holdings in particular, less was heard about God wanting all human beings to hold property in common. (This also means that less was heard about equality, at least in the radical form expressed by L. Caecilius Firmanius Lactantius, but Stark is never troubled by such inconsistencies.) And third, Christians, in rendering different things to God and Caesar, separated church and state. "Silly textbooks," Stark writes, tell their naive readers that Christians endorsed the divine rights of kings, but in reality they were closet regicides, willing to consider defiance of stately authority if it conflicted with God's commands. (Into the dustbin of history go Richelieu and Mazarin and ... well, most of the history of Christianity's relationship with power.) ARMED WITH THESE Christian weapons of progress, Stark continues, capitalism flourished in full form in the great Italian city-states. Venice, Genoa, Milan— each gets its page or two. The discussion of Florence is most typically Starkian. "An enormous amount of snobbish nonsense has been written about Florence," he bristles. This time the nonsense was the work not of Max Weber but of Jakob Burckhardt. (Stark does not stand on the shoulders of giants, but he does love to throw stones at them.) The nonsense maintained that Florentine creativity opened a path out of the Dark Ages, a view that Stark cannot accept since there was nothing dark about the medieval centuries for the modern era to leave behind. And what about Savonarola? Where does his darkness fit into Stark's centuries of Christian light? Lavishing praise on the Medicis for their protection of property rights, Stark ignores the monk who believed that Jesus Christ was the true king of Florence—and who was condemned to death by church and state working in tandem. Savonarola joins Francis of Assisi, indeed nearly all of those who practiced Christianity in its ascetic versions, in Stark's purgatory. Otherworldliness, a distinct feature of all religions, including Christianity, is shunted aside by Stark whenever it threatens his relentless insistence on his own religion's accomplishments of worldliness. Impressed by the achievements of the Italian city-states, travelers from northern Europe then brought capitalism to Flanders and, from there, to the British Isles. But do not think that any of this had much to do with the Protestant Reformation! Antwerp, a capitalist enclave that Stark especially admires, "was a profoundly Catholic community" in its golden age. (How many of those Catholics were actually Jews who had fled from the Spanish Inquisition is not discussed, because, of course, the Inquisition itself is not discussed.) Ultimately, though, Stark is not interested in assigning significant status to any specific branch of Christianity; Amsterdam and London, he concedes, took over the lead from Antwerp when they were primarily Protestant. Catholics and Protestants fought furiously with each other in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries over such matters as indulgences, biblical authority, the role of liturgy, baptism, and the requirements for salvation, but none of these differences matters much to Stark, whose case for Christianity is oddly irreligious. For him, Christianity is as unified within itself as it is distinct from every other religion. All Christians, whatever their sect, made the modern world; all non-Christians, whatever theirs, did not. AS CAPITALISM BEGAN to flourish in Protestant northern Europe, it seemed to take a regressive step in Catholic Spain. And so Stark jumps in to deny that the backwardness of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain had anything to do with its Catholicism; empire and absolutism were the causes. Still, Spain did have the foresight to colonize the New World, thereby giving the capitalist revolution a whole new place to take root. Here Stark radically compresses his story, hopping from the Old World to the New even more quickly than he hopped from the medieval world to the early modern one. Spaniards themselves, he writes, realizing how dangerous the voyage across the ocean could be, did not come in any great numbers, but the British did, and from this point on Stark hurries toward his obvious conclusion: the most religious country in the modern world, our own, turns out to be the most successful capitalist society in human history. Religious freedom and economic freedom go together, Stark harrumphs, and only Christianity is responsible for both. It is only after Rodney Stark brings us into the New World that we realize what he has omitted from his history of the West: modernity itself. Love it or leave it, nearly everyone agrees that the industrial revolution, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, the whole course of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century history, constituted a radical break with the past, introducing a world in which individualism reigned, and rights were demanded, and economies were expanded, and reason was unleashed. In Stark's book, however, there was no transition to modernity, because all the work of modernity had been done in the period between Augustine and Aquinas. The implications of this point of view are as staggering as they are absurd. Diderot wasted his time on the Encyclopedia, because the Enlightenment had been anticipated by Christian theologians centuries earlier. Adam Smith need not have made a case for laissez-faire capitalism, because the Catholic Church had already done that for him. Kant and Mill were simply redundant. It is as if the most significant change in human history since the founding of Christianity had never taken place, because the founding of Christianity had rendered it unnecessary. Stark claims that Christianity gave us the idea of free will (has he read any Judaism?), but he himself believes in a kind of predestination that would make John Calvin blush. Once the Christian theologians began to ponder theological mysteries, human history was set on a continuous course from which it never varied. Alone among religions, Stark argues, Christianity is oriented to the future. Not so; but what is so is that, alone among social scientists, Rodney Stark is trapped in the past. His history is so shoddy because, when you come right down to it, history does not matter to it. All that matters is Jesus. IV. THE VICTORY OF Reason is the worst book by a social scientist that I have ever read. Stark's methodology has nothing to do with history, or the logic of comparative analysis, or the rigorous testing of hypotheses. Instead he simply makes claims, the more outrageous the better, and dismisses all evidence that runs contrary to his claims as unimportant, and treats anyone with a point of view different from his own as stupid and contemptible, and reduces causation in human affairs to one thing and one thing only. How in the world, I kept asking myself as I read this book, could someone spend so much of his life trying to understand something as important as religion and come away so childish? In a most inadvertent way, however, Stark does perform a public service with the publication of this dreadful book. For much of the postwar period, academic disciplines, including the social sciences, ignored religion, despite the fact that giants of social-scientific discovery such as Weber and Durkheim made the subject central to their understanding of the world. Turning back to those roots, scholars have begun to produce important work that helps us to understand why, if the United States is any indication, increasing prosperity did not bring increasing secularization in its wake. It is difficult not to notice that there is a religious revival taking place in the United States; indeed, a religious revival seems to be taking place everywhere in the world, with the exception of western Europe. So it is no wonder that there is a revival taking place also in the academic study of religion. But the religious revival in the academy faces a difficult dilemma. Since many of the scholars intent on paying more attention to religion are themselves religious, or at least religious enough to care about the subject, there is often advocacy in their work. Their role, as they understand it, is to argue against those who claim that people who believe in God are somehow ignorant, biased, and soon to be extinct. Such advocacy is not contrary to contemporary academic convention. To say that religion is an important but neglected field is no different from economists claiming that their methods can help understand non-economic activities such as love and leisure; in both cases, advocacy is on behalf of a field of study as opposed to the thing one is actually studying. No, the real problem is that most believers do not believe in religion. They believe in Christianity or Judaism or Islam or Hinduism or Buddhism—in a specific faith. For them, being a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew is what matters, and while they may feel that they have more in common with devout members of other faiths than with lapsed members of their own, they retain highly particular texts, creeds, rituals, liturgies, hymns, and homilies. They, too, are advocates, even if some of them, such as evangelicals, advocate their faith more persistently than others. But they do not explore their convictions in the way academics test hypotheses. There are no statistical tests that would lead a believer to conclude that everything he has believed must be thrown out because his beliefs no longer correspond with evidence. Scholars who are religious and who want to call attention to the role of religion in the modern world may be motivated by their faith to do so, but as scholars they must act differently within the academy than they do in the pews. And as the revival of religion in academia has begun to take hold, this is what the great bulk of them are doing. Mark Noll, an evangelical Christian, wrote a book called The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind that spared little in its criticisms of the faith with which Noll so strongly identifies. Others, such as Grant Wacker writing on Pentecostalism or George Marsden on Jonathan Edwards, produced brilliant books filled with nuance and balance. In the work of all these scholars, general religious convictions are always present, but specific ones are difficult to find. Not so with Rodney Stark. His book is not about religion, it is about Christianity. Had he written that faith in God would lead people to work hard, to be concerned about their credit rating, to grow uneasy with slavery, or to raise qualms about social injustice, he would have produced a perfectly respectable retort to the prominent idea that economic take-offs have mainly to do with economics. There certainly was a cultural dimension to the rise of capitalism, and religion plays an important role in shaping culture. Perhaps because the modern academy is so secular, the role of religion in promoting Western capitalism has been underestimated. The difficulty is that there are many religions in the West, not just one. Christianity comes in two major forms. Muslims reached far into Europe during their golden age and left an important legacy. Jews have been central to capitalist expansion from the fifteenth century to the twenty-first. Advocating religion over secularism runs the risk of dismissing secularists; advocating one religion over all the others degrades every believer who does not believe what you do. Rodney Stark is himself not a believer, or so he claimed last year in an interview on a Catholic website called the National Institute for the Renewal of the Priesthood. But he has thoroughly absorbed the spirit of religion into his work—not contemporary religion, with its taste for pluralism and tolerance, but old-time religion, with its appetite for exclusiveness. If the religious revival in the academy begins to take the form of Stark's Christian triumphalism, it will lose its credibility and perhaps even be sent back to the sectarian seminaries out of which it emerged. That will in the long run be Rodney Stark's contribution to his field; and while I would miss a strong academic interest in religion, I would gladly say good-bye to scholars who would rather evangelize than investigate.
Updated at 6:12 p.m.: to include conservative responses on reproductive rights and LGBTQ issues. Expect aftershocks in Texas in the wake of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. The reverberations from Ginsburg’s death, President Donald Trump’s yet unnamed nominee and the upcoming confirmation fight will be felt immediately on a host of issues important to Texas, including the census, health care and the 2020 election itself. And in the not-too-distant future, women’s reproductive health, LGBTQ equality and immigration all face new tests. For decades, the nation’s highest court, designed to be an arbiter of equality and justice, has been increasingly weaponized by politicians and, in the eyes of some critics, has become a second legislative body. Ginsburg’s death only adds to the super-charged frenzy of 2020. “This scatters all the ants at the picnic,” said former Dallas County Republican Chairman Jonathan Neerman, who is also a partner at the Jackson Walker law firm. If Trump and Senate Republicans are successful at pushing through a nomination — before or after Nov. 3 — the dynamics of the court will likely be remade in the image of Senate Majority Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and his GOP allies, who have made establishing a conservative majority on the court their paramount priority. Dallas County criminal court Judge Shequitta Kelly said the loss of her role model was devastating, and she worries about America’s future in a year that has already upended the lives of millions due to the coronavirus, economic collapse and renewed civil rights protests. “I’ve been trying to stay positive,” she said. “I don’t know where the country is going to go. I don’t like where it is right now. Perhaps this will be a wake-up call and more people will say we better get to those polls and use their voice. I am nervous.” Here are six Texas-size implications from Ginsburg’s death. Census challenges are making their way toward the Supreme Court that may have major consequences for Dallas and Texas. Among the most pressing issues the high court is expected to tackle by the end of the year center on the decennial count of people living in the U.S. There are several cases expected to come to the court. These cases focus on two broad issues: when the census can end and whether the Trump administration can extract undocumented residents from the official count for reapportionment. Texas now has 36 seats in the U.S. House, and because of its population growth, it could gain three more. But that hinges on including an estimated 1.6 million residents who are in the country without authorization. Excluding those people could cost Texas a seat, experts say — likely a new Dallas-area district that could elect the first Hispanic member of Congress from North Texas. “This has to be resolved this year,” said Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which was founded in San Antonio. His organization is arguing in a case based out of Maryland that the census should continue through the end of October, that the government should have more time to process data beyond the typical deadline of Dec. 31, and it’s illegal to subtract anyone from the counting for political boundaries. “The deadline doesn’t make sense given the pandemic. And we want it clear the Trump administration can’t subtract undocumented people,” he said. “That’s unconstitutional.” Texas conservatives hope a shift in the court would deliver a final blow to the Affordable Care Act. The future of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is slated to be argued in November, just a week after the presidential election. The case involves a decision by Fort Worth U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, who ruled a key pillar of the ACA unconstitutional after a coalition of 20 states, led by Texas, sued the federal government over the health case statute. The case at the Supreme Court could strike down the individual mandate, the command that all people must purchase health insurance. The financial penalty tied to the mandate was set to zero dollars by the Trump administration, effectively removing the basis upon which the court had previously upheld the law. Challengers to the statute say once the individual mandate is declared unconstitutional, the rest of the law will fall. “Given the last 10 years, I think the Affordable Care Act has been one of the most contentious issues in our country and it has destroyed our health care system,” said Rob Henneke, chief legal counsel for Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Austin, and who is a lawyer for two of the plaintiffs in the case. The last time the individual mandate came to the Supreme Court in 2012, Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the four liberal justices, including Ginsburg, in the decision upholding the law. “With Justice Ginsburg’s vacancy there is an increased likelihood that the new justice would not be of the same outcome as [Elena] Kagan, [Stephen] Breyer and [Sonia] Sotomayor,” he said referring to the justices appointed by Democratic presidents and have previously supported the health care law. Women’s health activists were already worried the court could roll back abortion access. Now they’re terrified. Since Trump won in 2016, women’s health advocates have been on high alert that one of the key decisions in protecting reproductive rights, Roe v. Wade, could be in jeopardy. The nominations of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, despite their promises to respect precedent, has done nothing to put them at ease. While there is no immediate case in front of the court that could roll back abortion access, the outlook is grim for advocates. “It’s really scary in terms of the future of the court and the future of the nation,” said Stephanie Toti, who argued before the court one of the most recent cases — known as Whole Woman’s Health — on abortion access that originated in Texas. “It’s scary that the next justice is going to be chosen based on politics, and the choice is going to be made very quickly, and that it’s not going to be a process that promotes the integrity of the court,” she said. “That’s a real danger that is going to imperil people’s rights.” Conversely, conservatives are counting on a nominee who will give them the votes they need to to impose more restrictions on abortion. “Two months ago, I pledged to vote only for #SCOTUS nominees who understand and acknowledge that Roe was wrongly decided,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., tweeted Saturday. LGBTQ activists remain hopeful Ginsburg’s legacy will live on even with a shift in the court. In recent years, some of the court’s most high profile rulings has been centered on rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. That includes the most recent 6-3 decision prohibiting employers to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said that decision gives him hope that Ginsburg’s pioneering work on gender equality will endure. While retired Justice Andrew Kennedy, long considered the court’s swing vote, authored the most notable decisions expanding rights for LGBTQ people, Minter said, Ginsburg’s “expansive vision of gender equality ended up being broad enough to include LGBT people.” “There is an enduring scaffold of equality jurisprudence that is not going away,” he said. As optimistic as Minter wants to be, he acknowledged tough cases that pit civil rights against religious freedom are expected to reach the court soon. “She would have been a voice for moderation and fairness,” he said of Ginsburg. Conservative groups, especially evangelical organizations, are hoping Trump will nominate someone who will be a reliable vote against expansion of LGBTQ rights. “This means everything,” said Bryan Lanza, a 2016 Trump campaign official, of the importance of a nominee conservatives can be confident will stand with them on the issue. Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful M.J. Hegar has a new opportunity to energize voters. But her double-digit gap with John Cornyn may be too large to close. One reason to believe the Senate will not vote on a new justice before the election is because several members up for reelection are in tough contests, and casting a vote could make them tougher. Texas' John Cornyn, who sits on the Judiciary Committee that would be responsible for vetting a nominee, is up for reelection this fall. But the political calculus is not the same for him as it is for Sens. Susan Collins in Maine, Martha McSally in Arizona or Cory Gardner in Colorado, who are all in close races in states likely to vote for Trump’s opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. Cornyn’s race appears more competitive than once thought. But he has consistently led Air Force veteran MJ Hegar in polls. In a recent Dallas Morning News/UT-Tyler poll, Cornyn led by 11 points. Democrats are optimistic that despite the court typically energizing conservatives Trump’s potential appointment will put wind in their sails. “It will inspire women and the men who love them to dig deeper and work a little harder every day to defeat the Trump GOP,” said Buddy Luce, a local leader for Indivisible, a grassroots organization that helps elect progressive candidates. Neerman, the former GOP chairman, didn’t disagree that Democrats could see a boost nationally but doubted it could move the needle much for Hegar. “I may eat my words Nov. 3, but I don’t think this is that close of a race that it’s going matter,” he said. “I think the people who are going to be animated about a Supreme Court justice seat are already going to be animated.” For Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a hypothetical nomination to the court could become a reality. Replicating a successful 2016 strategy to energize Republican voters, Trump earlier this month released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees. On the list was Texas' junior senator. Cruz said he wants to “stay in the political fight” and stay in the Senate But that was before a vacancy on the court materialized. A review of Cruz’s social media Saturday morning suggests he’s ready to vote on a nominee, not be one. Without commenting himself, he shared several tweets, including one from Trump, that suggest Republicans move with haste to fill the open seat. Also, Cruz was not on most lists of likely nominees from experts on Saturday. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Henneke said he would be thrilled if Cruz changed his mind, but supports Cruz’s decision to not be considered. “Sen. Cruz is a brilliant constitutional scholar, an amazing man, a Christian,” he said. “He’d be an outstanding Supreme Court justice. He’s also my senator, he’s a great senator for Texas. If we could have more than one Ted Cruz and have him in both, I would.” Henneke agreed the president and Senate must fulfill their duty, but stressed its a collaboration not a rubber-stamping process. “In many cases, the Senate has chosen not to confirm,” he said, specifically pointing to the last Texan nominated for a Supreme Court seat, Harriet Miers. Miers, who once led the Texas Bar Association, was nominated in 2005 by fellow Texan President George W. Bush to replace the first woman on the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor. Miers withdrew her nomination after it was clear she lacked support from both political parties. Staff writer Elizabeth Thompson in Washington contributed to this report.
07 December 2012 Employee Shares: a Poisoned Chalice? Company Commercial partner Max Hudson and Sophia Killingbeck examine the Government's proposals on employee shares. Employee Shares: a Poisoned Chalice? "And there is nothing that wastes so rapidly as liberality, for even as you exercise it, you lose the power to do so, and so become either poor or despised, or else, in avoiding poverty, rapacious and hated." Machiavelli As part of the Government's push towards more responsible capitalism, it has passed the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, Royal Assent was given on April 25. The Act creates a new employment status, the 'employee shareholder'. The idea is to align the interests of employees and the businesses they work for by giving workers a greater (financial and personal) stake in their employer. The theory as promulgated is that this will encourage lower absenteeism, a happier workforce and therefore less staff turnover. The Government are seeking to put this into practice by implementing measures whereby workers can give up certain employment rights for shares in their employer. Employees will be given £2,000 and upwards of shares, and any growth in value of these shares will be exempt from capital gains tax. In turn they will waive their statutory rights to (non-automatic) unfair dismissal, redundancy, the right to request flexible working and time off for training; women will also be required to provide sixteen weeks' notice of a firm date of return from maternity leave, instead of the usual eight. Employees will be giving up rights for what will be minority shares. As is well known, minority shares are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them. Accordingly, regardless of the financial strength of the company, these shares will be of no practicable capital value if there is no one willing to take them on. Employer companies will in turn have a multitude of minority shareholders on their books, which could have a negative impact on corporate governance, especially if these minority shareholder employees become disgruntled. The Government seems to have attempted to confront this issue to a certain extent by putting forward amendments to the Companies Act 2006 (the 'Act'), with the intended effect of facilitating buy-back of such shareholdings by employers. For example, the provisions of s. 724 of the Act are to be extended to allow unlisted shares that are purchased by a private limited company to be held in treasury, and an exception to s. 691(2) is to be introduced to allow a private company to pay for its shares by instalments. However, amendments incorporated into the legislation will be of no avail where disgruntled employee shareholders neither want to leave their employment nor sell their shares back to their employer, but without some form of call option held by the employer this cannot be imposed, and usually has a time limit. The current state of the law tends towards more regulation and obligations on directors; a great deal of de-regulation will be required in order to make the new statute workable in practice. It does not seem that the Government has really grasped quite the extent of de-regulation required. The Deputy Prime Minister extolled the virtues of creating a 'John Lewis Economy', advancing the benefits of increased resilience and employee and owner accountability. However, what Mr Clegg failed to acknowledge in many ways unique is the way in which the John Lewis Partnership was established - how John Spedan Lewis handed over the control and ownership of John Lewis to its employees in two trust settlements (in 1929 and 1950). This is a significant detail to overlook; the partnership had the ultimate benefit of the plentiful capital supplied at its foundation by a radical, philanthropic millionaire - and the current successful running of its ownership structure is down to 80 years' hard work and fine-tuning. Consequently, John Lewis is not a realistic case study to work from. It is an unrealistic benchmark when we consider the grim reality of everyday businesses which rarely have the fortune of not requiring external funding. The dilution of workers' rights was not recommended by the Nuttall Review. The giving up of rights for shares is designed supposedly to increase flexibility and reduce the financial burden on employers of potential employment litigation costs. However, claims for discrimination and whistleblowing are where the greatest financial burden lies in relation to such litigation, as employers are open to liability for unlimited - rather than capped - compensation. As a result, this part of the proposal seems particularly ill-suited to meeting its aims. On this point, it is instructive that even the Employee Ownership Association has strongly criticised this aspect of the legislation, arguing that the point of employee ownership is to enhance workers' rights, not weaken them. The viewpoint of the private sector was clearly articulated in the Consultation put out by the Government which confirmed the overwhelmingly negative feedback by respondents, with only 3 of 184 respondents saying that they would actually take up the scheme, and fewer than 5 of 209 respondents thinking that the scheme was a good idea. Issues: employers The Government has stated that both established companies and new start-ups can choose to offer only this new type of 'employee-owner' contract for new hires. This contract will prove to be an extensive document, covering the employment relationship as well as offer of shares, rights attaching to those shares, call and put options, drag and tag along clauses and other shareholder arrangements. Offer of shares The offer of shares to employee-shareholders, although unlikely to trigger a prospectus requirement, must be carefully drafted so as to avoid additional potentially huge costs of putting together a prospectus. As such, it must be clear in the contract that the offers to employees are not offers to the public (per Part VI FSMA 2000). Furthermore, despite not needing to comply with the strict prospectus rules in relation to an offer to the public, the employer will still liable for any misrepresentations, so must ensure that the offer of shares is precisely and meticulously drafted. For established companies, it will also be necessary to consider any current restrictions on share issue; is there a shareholders agreement in place? Similarly, with new start-ups, how will the relationship between employees-owners be governed? Buy-back It has been acknowledged that there will need to be in place mechanisms by which to buy back shares owned by employees who are leaving or have left the company, in order to re-distribute them to new starters. In addition to the proposed statutory changes facilitating buy-back by employers (see above), the new employee-owner contracts will have to include call and put options, by which employers can secure and dictate buy-back of shares. Otherwise, the employer company risks becoming at least part-owned by ex-employees (possibly hostile ones). As is well known, call options can be used to incentivise so-called 'good leavers'. However, shares prescribed in accordance therewith will have to have a value assigned to them. If this were the market value, valuation costs could potentially be onerous, especially where there is a large workforce and high staff turnover. It must also be noted that FSMA as it stands effectively prohibits employers themselves from giving employees any advice or recommendation in relation to shares. The general prohibition and financial promotion prohibition both contain exclusions/exemptions in relation to employee share schemes; these do not apply, however, where shares are also offered to non-employees. As such, employers must be very careful not to contravene the FSMA regulations unintentionally. Funding Dependent on the capital requirements of the company, employee shares could serve as a hindrance to funding, disparaging external equity investors from investing in the company. This is particularly the case given the preferential status of employees on insolvency (see below). Employment Issues New employees will not have the right to claim ‘ordinary' unfair dismissal or a statutory redundancy payment until they have been employed for more than two years. As a result, it is disputable whether employers would actually gain anything in this regard by giving share ownership at the beginning of employment. Furthermore, whilst employees may be willing to sign away their rights to request flexible working, this will not necessarily prevent them from running an alternative case based on discrimination in the event that a request to work flexibly is refused. Whistleblowing and discrimination claims will not be waived by the new arrangements; as such, it is questionable whether dismissing employees will in fact be made any easier by the proposed measures. Issues: employees The employee-owner contract will have to provide employees with assurances regarding their rights to dividends, pre-emption rights and capital protection. Dividends At John Lewis, partners are provided with a dividend once a year as a 'bonus'. This is promoted as a great incentive during the busy Christmas period. However, John Lewis had an annual turnover of £8.73 billion last financial year. Yearly dividends will unlikely be so forthcoming with new start-ups, at least not immediately, given that very few new businesses will want to commit so early to paying dividends out of income. Any distributable profits at the beginning of a company's life would more likely be better reinvested into the new business. As a result, in such cases where the benefit of dividends is deferred for some time, it is likely that this additional income will fail to serve as an incentive to employee-owners. Pre-emption rights Will pre-emption rights need to be considered every time a new employee owner is taken on? If others sell, can you too? Capital Protection It is an extreme example, but employees obviously did not benefit from the Enron employee share option scheme. Employee-owner contracts will have to provide for capital protection. Voting rights: too many cooks? John Lewis management have recognised that running a business under the employee-ownership model is not the easy option. The written constitution of the John Lewis Partnership puts the happiness of its members as its avowed purpose, giving every partner a 'voice' and voting rights. However, what is good for individuals is not always good for business; corporate democracy may mean more accountability, but it can also lead to unrelenting and irremediable discord between executives and partners. Employee-owners are not passive and distant shareholders; they are present and active for the day-to-day running of the business they co-own. This implies lengthy decision-making processes on both director and shareholder level, adding a layer of complexity and frustration potentially to even the most trivial matters. Tax The Government has exalted the benefit of employee shares being capital gains tax-exempt. However, given that the initial value of employee shares will be between £2,000 and £50,000, any gain on the shares will have to be exceptional not to be covered anyway by the Annual Exemption. This is especially pertinent when consideration is given to the fact that these employee-owners would be forgoing their rights to claim unfair dismissal; this in practice means that they may be giving up a potential, tax-free £30,000 - the first £30,000 of any compensation award for unfair dismissal being exempt of tax. Consequently, when balancing out the potential benefits lost and burdens gained with the alleged capital gains tax advantages, it would be unusual for an employee-owner to come out on top. The Chancellor's packaging of this scheme as beneficial for tax may be questionable; it will in fact be more onerous in tax terms for all but those with shares the capital value of which has grown substantially. The Office for Budget Responsibility raised concerns, stating that the tax break on these categories of shares could cost the taxpayer £1 billion by the end of the forecast horizon, with £250 million potentially down to tax avoidance. Accordingly, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies has remarked that the Government, "just as it is berating those who have picked up the tax sweeties currently lying around... is preparing to put another billion-pound lollipop on the table." Insolvency If the employer company gets into financial difficulty, employees will be better placed than ordinary shareholders; some employee rights will be classified as preferential debts, others unsecured, while still further rights will be covered to some extent by the National Insurance Fund. This could well act as a deterrent for external investors (debt and equity), whose rights would not be as well protected. The legislative process The House of Lords rejected the scheme twice, latterly by a margin of 69 votes. Despite clear disapproval from the Lords and a very low level of support during consultation, the Government has pressed ahead, albeit with a few concessions. These included; - A requirement that employee share-ownership schemes involve any employees receiving independent legal advice and employers will be required to pay for this advice. - No employee can be forced to accept such arrangements. - Companies will also need to provide written information to help clarify the value of the shares being offered. As a result, Conservative and crossbench peers dropped their resistance to the controversial plan allowing it to pass by 275 votes to 168 in the House of Lords on 24 April. Conclusion Despite 92 per cent of the respondents to the Government consultation viewing the plans in a negative or mixed way; the bill was passed after a second reading in the House of Lords. For employers, there is the issue of minority shareholders possibly frustrating the business, as well the risk of more esoteric claims in the discrimination field. For employees, there is the risk of giving up a certain right in exchange for an unquantifiable and uncertain 'benefit', with little - if any - tax advantage. The reception and likely take-up of the opportunities created by new legislation remain very unclear. Payne Hicks Beach will be monitoring developments in this area. 28 May 2013 Max Hudson is a partner and Sophia Killingbeck is a trainee solicitor, in the Company Commercial Department
I!]]> Just wanted to give a shout out to Pirate Eric for his jQuery slider solution. I have used several solutions both open source and paid. I like this one the best so far. Created flexible slider that does not need someone to baby sit. Thanks for the effort Eric! It was a huge assist.]]> If you are looking for a review of the sessions at SharePoint Saturday Austin then I'm afraid I can't help you. I was scheduled to speak at 3 PM CST and spent my time preparing for my presentation. I can tell you I had a great time and met a handful of really great people and saw some old friends.If you ever get a chance to catch one of these events in Austin, make sure and do it. Jim Bob Howard is a gentleman and a professional that can arrange a second to none event. Thanks again Jim Bob for all the hard work and allowing me to be a part of that amazing line up of speakers.]]> Very excited to be added to the speakers list at SharePoint Saturday Austin this weekend! I'm a last minute addition to cover for another speaker who could not attend. One man gathers what another man spills! My presentations is titled "SharePoint & UX... Why Bother?" discussing User Experience and its Importance to SharePoint. I hope to see you there at the session or at least If you manage to notice that I am there, please stop by and say "Hi". Stay Weird!]]> When I design a SharePoint site these days I tend to forget, on purpose, that I am working in that framework. I like to focus on the problems I am trying to solve and not the tool we use to solve them. Clients seem to appreciate that. It is when I am developing the design in Visual Studio or SharePoint Designer that I am reminded that I am indeed using SharePoint. In this case it's about the markup. I know, I know that it's better in 2010, but the web parts are nothing nice. There are so many things that drive me crazy about styling SharePoint I can't possibly comment on them all. I will pick on that I keep facing. It's that the web parts all have a background-color set. Why why why. I am going to make an attempt at creating a background-color reset. The web parts themselves are the determining factor as to what styles are used. Each time I use a web part and I clear out the background-color, I'm going to add it to a list here on my site. Please feel free to add via email or comments to the list. / make webparts transparent / .ms-WPHeader, .ms-vh-icon, .ms-wpContentDivSpace, .ms-vh-div, .s4-ctx, .ms-vb, .ms-bottompaging, .ms-bottompagingline1, .ms-bottompagingline2, .ms-bottompagingline3 {background-color:transparent !important;} div..ms-vb.itx {background-color:transparent !important; background-image:none !important;} Why do this? From a design standpoint it's crucial to control the view of the data. From a development standpoint I'm trying to speed things up. Playing whack-a-mole with SharePoint markup and css is the biggest time killer I can think of. There is a great reset of typography at Kyle Schaeffer's site along these lines. Give it a try. Join the effort. Defeat the mole.]]> What a year 2011 was for me and my family. Not that anyone would know. I took the year off from blogging. Nothing bad mind you. New job, wife's surgery... It was one of those transformational years that something had to give to maintain balance. Things have settled and I've got tons of things to share. I've designed no less than ten SharePoint 2010 experiences in 2011 and I'm not slowing down. I hope everyone enjoys their holidays and is ready to soak up some SharePoint UX love.]]> Ah, the fine art of wireframes. Probably the most recognized tool of the User Centered Design process. It's used in a many of today's application and web design projects. There are applications to help you wireframe. Websites about wireframing. Even groups to show off your wireframes. Some wireframes are pencil some are digital. Some are sketchy some are clean. What "wireframe" means goes beyond style these days and it seems to change depending on who you talk to and when you ask them. The clarity or lack therof is not in the drawing but in its purpose. Let's look at wireframing and see what it means to us now. Wireframes are rough sketches or drawings representing the page layout. The drawing can contain such things as page elements, content inventory, and annotations. Wireframes are not graphic design and don't have anything to do with visual design. Keep saying that; it might help later.Back in the Day The idea of wireframing started out simple enough. It was born from a need to create quick drawings for content placement, hierarchy, and interaction. We used paper and pencil or a white board and the world marveled at how fast our teams could design and develop solid solutions.Current State The way wireframes are being used today is changing. Time to market is becoming shorter. The kinds of interactions being represented are richer. And honestly there is more buy in from stake holders towards the process of “user centered design”. Visual communication is now at a premium and wireframes seem to be the commodity of choice. Wireframing, in this sense, is done with zero documentation to work from. This is the documentation ideally created during a work session or two. Wireframing can speed up gathering requirements and improve communication. The main idea is to make drawings that everyone can see and come to an agreement on "what the application needs to be". Great tool for national or global teams. The deliverable from this is not to be used as a UI wireframe document. During the requirements gathering no one really cares to discuss content relationships and appropriate hierarchy at that level. There should not be time for that. It might, however, be a great start to the next conversation.Information and Interaction design This is the traditional process and deliverable that has been attached to the word "wireframe" for so many years. Based on documented requirements, client input and whatever else the UX practitioner is handed and expected to make UI magic from. This is a road map for the user interface and interaction design to be reviewed by the clients stake holders, SMEs, as well as, Technical Leads and even Graphic Designers. Still a very rough set of drawings built for rapid iteration and constant feedback it’s a good idea to make expectations clear that this is not visual design, but the information design.Development schematic This purpose to me is the most laborious. The level of detail here is not what was intended when wireframes first became a thing. However it does cut to the chase for the guys in the trenches. This drawing is a blueprint pure and simple. The level of detail here is down to the user control and the line length of the text. It makes my head hurt writing this paragraph. Traditionally this process allows for more time between deliverables so the drawings can be more detailed, but the danger here is… well the drawings can be more detailed. It's important to set expectations on effort and purpose of the drawings. As the project moves from stage to stage if the intent of wireframing becomes blurry things can get messy.Agile The quick iterations between reviews I think plays into the strengths of wireframes. The one huge caveat being the really detailed blue print for the developers. It can be problematic making the deadlines with that much detail. The UX practitioner needs to know his/her technical stuff and perhaps even rapid prototyping is more useful than wireframes once some of the more high level questions are answered. Unlike most custom applications, with SharePoint the casual user will likely have some ability to edit the site in some way. Wireframes can be used to help define areas of interaction and who can do what. Also, each web part is its own little peice of business logic and wireframes can help decide which ones can be used and what explain what it is they do.Administration Side When creating a site or application with SharePoint administration and content management functions are part and parcel with the framework. Wireframes can help make clear what that experience will look like.At the end of the day It’s all visual communication and wireframes still look like ugly drawings of web pages, but the difference is the intent of the drawing and the audience that will digest it.]]>.]]> Please familiarize yourself with the out of the box web parts and controls. Learn not only how they work, but also the limitations of each one. Wouldn’t hurt to brush up on some popular third party web parts as well. This will keep your designs/wire frames/work flows more in the realm of executable and less in the realm of pure fantasy. As an added bonus, the developers will be less likely to plot your death if you do this.]]> My Employer, Slalom Consulting is Gold Sponsor of Sharepoint Fest 2011 in Dallas. The event is being held March, 16 2011 at the new Irving Convention Center. Should be a great time. hope to see you there!]]> This year’s SharePoint Saturday Dallas took place at the Hilton right off the Tollway in North Dallas. Thanks to Eric Shupps for all his hard work and planning. I felt it was a well run affair with a nice variety of speakers and sponsors and a nice opportunity to catch up with some of my nerdy friends and make some new ones. These things are great for networking and learning and you can’t beat the price. I appreciate the speakers taking a Saturday away from their normal routine and sharing their knowledge. Big ups to Derek Martin and Tracey Nolte from Slalom Consulting for great presentations!]]> Got tired of design quotes. Now I will offer a profanity laced tirade on user experience design each Friday. It should be cathartic.]]>
Seeds of Faith: aka No, a religious cult has not usurped this blog. On Saturday, I was blessed with the opportunity to meet with a holy yet human man; a visionary, a role model, an example for us all, and yet an average joe who makes no special assumptions about himself. He was just minding his own business when he was called to serve. His life was changed in ways he could not imagine, and if he had stopped to think about it, he might have reconsidered the offer. He and five others had an experience so unimaginable it is amazing they had the courage to speak of it and are still helping the world to this day. I am speaking of Ivan Dragicevic, one of the 6 visionaries of Medjugorje who first had an apparition of Our Lady nearly 25 years ago. I first heard of Medjugorje from my mother back when I was in grade school. Another of the visionaries, Marija, had come to the United States and was staying with a family in northern Alabama. My brother who lives near there and works for EWTN told us about her and how many people were flocking to the field near the home she was staying in to be present during Our Lady’s daily visit with her. After school one day we drove up to the field outside the house. It was cold. It had rained quite a bit in the days prior to our trip. This night it was 22 degrees outside. Of course we did not see Our Lady, but we did see the beautiful light from Marija’s window. We knelt silently in the field. It was as if everything surrendered to the moment. There was a hush I had never experienced before. I heard nothing, absolutely nothing. No planes overhead, no sneezes, no whispers, no breathing, no creatures of the night, nothing. Yet it was not eerie, more surreal as if we were ever so briefly transformed. I did not feel pain or cold for those moments although I was kneeling on ice. Perhaps I was so focused elsewhere that I simply did not notice anything around me. Marija came out and addressed us and I remember a lot of prayers were said, but not much else from the evening remains in my memory. The next day I went back to school. I was, at least for the day, the center of attention. Everyone wanted to know what I had seen and if I believed. Honestly I didn’t see a thing, but I didn’t need to. As moving and faith filled as this moment was for me, somehow I compartmentalized it. I sent it to the part of my brain I don’t think about much anymore, until I heard Ivan was coming. Most of you know I am Catholic, but you also know I am not very good at it. I want to be better. And I believe that is the basis of faith. I hope. I trust. I believe. I could not wait to hear him speak. I was shocked to realize it has been nearly 25 years, and I had done little to heed Mary’s call. I had been given a special gift and I had misplaced it, cast it aside, and forgotten about it. I knew this was a second chance for me to act on the grace I had once discarded. I did not know what Ivan would say or even if Our Lady still appeared to him. I just knew I wanted to see him. I prayed my husband would join me. He is not a believer, but I wanted him to experience this with me because it is so important to me. I am sure 10 decades of the rosary and Mass were not on the top of his list, but he came. I was overcome when I realized not only did Our Lady still visit Ivan daily, but she would in fact come today right in front of us. I was not looking for a miracle or a sign, but I was given a great gift. Again, of course I did not see her, but I could feel her just as I feel Jesus in my heart when the Eucharist is raised in front of me. I could never describe the feeling, it kind of tingles and there is peace, happiness and calm. She was only there a few minutes I think; honestly, I did not notice time. Ivan recommended us and our intentions to Her and She prayed for us all. She also said a prayer over any religious items we placed in front of us for a blessing, but insisted we have them blessed by a priest as well. I had not thought to bring any water, candles, medals or anything of the like because I didn’t really know the nature of the event. I did however have two rosaries with me that I placed in front of me while She was there. The event’s organizer also had many blessed holy cards placed in front of her so we could take them back to our family, friends and parishes (I have a few left, so e-mail me if you are interested and I will get one to you). After Mass, Ivan began his talk. He gave a brief history of what has been going on in Medjugorje over the years and also told of his personal experience with Our Lady. He divulged different requests and statements Our Lady has made to him over the years one of which struck me at first. He said Our Lady requested that we pray 3 hours a day. Internally I gasped; wow, that is a lot of praying! He told an anecdotal story about a pilgrim with a similar objection. She spent a year working up to those 3 hours and when she returned again to Medjugorje she asked Ivan if Our Lady still wanted her to give 3 hours in daily prayer. He quickly replied, “No, now She wants 24”. Needlesstosay, this lady stuck with the original 3 and kept her mouth shut. I have been thinking about this request. It seems enormous to me, but Ivan said Our Lady told him you think nothing of spending time with those you love so why not in prayer. It is true; I wouldn’t bat an eyelash if you asked me to watch 3 hours of TV or spend 3 hours on the internet. I make no promises, but I am going to try. Thankfully, like Nicoderm patches Our Lady lets us ease into it. We get to work up to full on fasts and 3 hours of prayer. If I include the prayers I say now, with daily Mass and read a little of the Bible each day, it really doesn’t seem like that much after all. Like I said, I am trying. We are all works in progress. You don’t want to give too much all at once and then burn out altogether, it is best to work your way up. Remember it must be something you want to do not something you have to do; otherwise, you are destined for failure. Try losing weight if you don’t really want to. I learned something during this weekend’s experience not just about Mary or about what is expected of me. I learned I am blessed to have faith. I am strengthened by my beliefs. And I am also apparently a bit of a weirdo. I realized a lot of people don’t talk to Jesus. I never really thought about this. Ever since I was a child, I talked to him everyday about everything-how stupid I am, what my plans are, what I really screwed up, what I really wish I hadn’t done, what I think need, what I need I help with, everything. Apparently large portions of the population think this is bothering Him. I never thought so. He says right in Bible you will find comfort and rest in Him. He will take on all your burdens all you have to do is trust in Him. I guess I took Him literally and I am glad of it. At any rate, I was at Mass Sunday morning and the choir was practicing one of my favorite hymns. At my old Church the children’s choir used to sing it and it brought tears to my eyes. One of the ladies who was in the Sacristy with me remarked at how nice they sounded. I told her how much I loved the song and how I wanted it to be sung at my funeral. You would think I sprouted an extra head. She looked at me as if that was the most completely inappropriate thing anyone had ever said to her. I didn’t think it was a secret we are going to die at some point. I smiled at her and said, “I am not afraid to die. I don’t want to do it tomorrow, but I am not afraid. (I put my hand on her shoulder) We’re going to heaven, right?” Conversation over; new Church weirdo instituted. At Mass today Father spoke briefly about St. Joseph (this being his feast day) and how he must have completed the earthly work required of him because he appears to have been called home prior to Jesus’ public ministry. This made me smile because I often wonder what is on my laundry list of earthy tasks to accomplish, and for some strange reason it made me feel a little less weird about yesterday. Death is inevitable. I don’t know why some of us have shorter lists than others, why some us die painfully or why little children die. All I know is Jesus wasn’t spared the grief of losing his father. Mary was not spared the grief of losing her son. Why should I or any of us be spared what those God loves the most had to endure? Death teaches us something. It calls us to cherish each other, our lives and those we are fortunate enough to love. If you never had anything, you wouldn’t miss it. If you never loved anything, you would not mourn it. If people were not taken from us, there would be no hope in heaven. I have always found comfort in the scripture when Jesus says “Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe”. I believe Jesus hears and answers us. I believe He died and rose for our sins. And I believe our lives are directly impacted by prayer and by our actions. I would rather believe and be wrong than not believe and be a fool. I had read C.S. Lewis shared this philosophy, but I was pleased to read Pope Urban VIII also had a similar quote attributed to him as well. At least I am not alone. And if I am proven a fool, I pray a bigger fool you will not find. I hope only to grow in faith. Never forget Jesus said if we had but faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains. So until next time…Cheers! March 21st, 2006 at 3:56 pm WOW…I have so much to say. We’ll have to discuss over the phone. I hope the holy card offer you extended to everyone else does not count me b/c it should go without saying… 🙂 May 4th, 2014 at 11:54 am Hi there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be ok. I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts. September 9th, 2014 at 8:10 pm Uwielbiɑmkompozycję! November 20th, 2014 at 5:10 am While you can find currently many commercial real-estate options in the Philippines, many major corporations often thought we would locate their businesses within the biggest business districts in the country. Disposition ‘ The sale of products, including commercial, residential, and industrial. This means you need sales comparable reports sticking with the same situations in those categories for the building you’re looking to get. December 7th, 2014 at 3:36 am After all, this will be the internet, plus it’s to be taken very seriously. 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Genre: Sports Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Electronic Arts Release Date: May 4, 2004 Buy 'UEFA Euro 2004': Xbox \| PC \| PlayStation 2 What does EA mean to you? Most of you will say Electronic Arts, but to me, EA is one of the largest 3rd party game producers (if not the largest), producing very popular games for the PC such as The Sims, Command and Conquer, and many more hot titles. Personally, I feel that EA excels in the console market, offering a wide variety of games such as NFSU, Madden, NBA Live, Tiger Woods, Fight Night, and more. Not only are they good at producing games, they are also considered a large distributor who distributes games for Square-Enix, Koei, and other companies. With this much power, there are very few who would try to dethrone EA for its number one third party spot, but several have tried. One series where EA has lost its edge is in their soccer series Fifa. I remember back in the day when Fifa was my life, where nothing even came close to its game system. Since then, Konami has proven me wrong and has won my support wholeheartedly, but with my original love for Fifa, I can’t help but always give EA another chance. They never give up, constantly trying to improve themselves, so I decided to give UEFA Euro 2004 a chance. UEFA 2004 is the product of a similar strategy that EA employs with their Fifa World Cup series. They bring out a regular FIFA and a game specifically dedicated to the World Cup. Well, this isn’t the year for the World Cup, so they decided to try something new – bringing out UEFA 2004, a game that is more focused on the Euro leagues. Even though it is focused on those leagues, they seem to have kept the World Cup teams such as England, France, and many more. The first thing I will say about this game is that it feels and plays similarly to Fifa 2004. I believe that EA truly has pulled another stunt like they did with World Cup, using the original Fifa system and adding in a few things such as players and teams. They also added new modes of play, and the full list includes: Friendly, Home and Away, Fantasy, Situation, Tournament, PK Shootout, and Practice. You can instantly see that this game lacks the online mode that truly made Fifa 2004 shine. Let the games begin. The first thing that appears on the screen when you first pop this sucker in is that you can play the game in two different languages, Spanish or English. I would prefer Spanish because the commentary is usually more enthusiastic and more enjoyable than the mellow-toned English announcer. If you do choose Spanish, those who can’t read it (like me) will have some difficulty, since the menus are in the language you choose. I ended up reverting back to English. But one thing that I did notice when I played with the Spanish announcer was that he didn’t say the famous “GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!” This is probably the trademark comment that everyone refers to when they think of soccer; even Ryan from “Whose Line” did his impression of it, and I enjoyed it. I would have really appreciated it if it was included in this game. Aside from the commentary, the music in the game isn’t to my liking. Usually EA chooses a rock solid track that not many can hate, but the music for this game is just a whole different story. It just doesn’t give that Fifa feel. To me, it seems that they selected random songs that they thought would fit in the menu screens, but in the end, I found myself thoroughly annoyed and ended up muting the menu music altogether. Thankfully, this was only a minor side of the game; the other sounds are the commentators voices, the soccer-type BGM, and the crowd cheering for their team. Combining these three created a sense that you are really in the game, at the stadium, and playing for your fans. In a regular game, the crowd usually affects how the players would play, but for this PS2 game, I do not know if it does. One thing I did notice, though, is that they tried to include players’ mentalities. The only time I’ve been able to see this information about mentality was before the game, during the scouting report that shows both teams’ mentalities. Along with this mentality, you will also see which players are progressing, the other team’s star player, the formation they prefer to use, and finally the attacking and defensive scheme. This gives you a better understanding of how you should play against their team, and it also helps you choose the correct formation to break down their defense/offense. While you can counter the other team’s defense, you can’t counter the other team’s star player because there is no option to mark a certain player the way you can in Winning Eleven. Marking is where a player goes one-on-one with someone else, and he will gain assistance from other teammates whenever he goes into certain sections. This is a crucial part of soccer, and it would have been a good addition to this game, considering the fact that scouting gives you information about your opponents’ key players. Even without having the ability to mark the other key players, the game is rather simple to pick up: R1 for turbo, X to pass or change players, Square to lob a pass or slide tackle, Circle to shoot or check, Triangle for through pass, and the right analog stick to juke. It seems that the AI is also not the brightest, since I have been able to dribble my way right up to the goal. You can also notice this flaw because stealing the ball from the AI is way too easy. It just seems like the players don’t protect it well enough, allowing for a quick change in possession. Although the AI is kind of lacking, there was one thing that I did like about the system: the simplicity of the corner kicks and free kicks. For corner kicks, all you do is choose the type of kick you want to execute. The computer takes over, kicking the corner in while you take control of the player who is supposed to head it in. It’s the same for the computer player, but because of this system, you can instantly tell where the opponent is aiming, removing all sense of realism. Still, it’s simple and easy to understand. The simplicity applies for the free kick shooting as well, and if you are good, I’m certain you can score a goal every time you get this golden opportunity. The reason it is so easy is due to the fact that you actually have an arrow guiding the way, pointing to the exact part of the goal you wish to score at. After you have found that perfect spot, you then hit the kick button. Time it correctly (which isn’t very hard), and you’ll score. However, because of this simplicity, it also loses some aspects of how advanced these maneuvers really are, especially in corner kicks. The game could have added a lot more variety by allowing full control of how high the ball could be passed, and giving you the ability to pass to different areas on the field instead of requiring you to pass to predetermined locations. This may be because of how easy it is to shoot the ball. Unlike Winning Eleven, where timing is extremely crucial, Euro and Fifa have it so that you will rarely kick the ball above the goal, regardless of how powerfully you hit the kick button. This prevents the re-enactment of the Beckham goal, where he lobbed the ball high into the air to just drop behind the goalie. If you haven’t grasped the basics for the game, you can always practice and try out all of these commands until you fully understand them. Once you are comfortable, you can then head on over to the modes of play I mentioned above. Euro 2004 is probably where the heart of the game resides; this is where you play brackets against other teams in the Euro league, although I believe they may still be missing a few Euro leagues (I’m not completely certain). It just feels that there are not nearly as many here as are seen in other games (maybe due to licensing issues). The other modes of play are what you expect in other soccer games, such as PK Shootout and Tournament. The other modes of interest that you may or may not find in the other games are Situation, Fantasy, and Friendly. Situation isn’t like Madden where you try and replay a famous event; rather, in UEFA, you create your own situation and try to beat it. Personally, I feel it would have been great if it was replaying famous events in past games. Most players will probably not touch this because it is no different than a regular game. Fantasy is much like the NFL and NBA fantasy draft where every team is completely empty, and you have to draft together an entire poll of players from a single draft. This is great since you can then recruit your favorite players from each team, but I prefer the realistic teams. Lastly, the Friendly matches are where the ref is not biased toward the home or away team. Actually, it can be nice to have a biased referee, especially when he is in your favor. It’s just one level up in enjoyment ability when you see him write out yellow or red cards for the opposing players. Before the ref rushes over to the scene of the crime, you get to watch a short little scene of the two players confronting each other, looking a little angry and ready to start a fight. Then, the ref intervenes, breaking them up and writing up a card for the player. At this time, you can clearly see the faces of the players and the ref, making it feel like you really are watching a soccer game on EA live. That just shows how nice the graphics in the game can be, but the game-play graphics are just not realistic enough. I personally love seeing the volley (bicycle kick), but I haven’t been able to successfully pull it off, and volleying (to me) is such a spectacle that you must see it at least once in the game. Not even the computer has pulled it off against me. After hours and hours of play, I finally achieved one, but I was called offsides and was only able to observe from a distance. This distance set by the camera angle you choose was a tad far out, but you can zoom in and adjust the height to your liking. You can see a bit farther because of this zoom, but you can’t really see the detail of the players. It was also limited to a single screen, so you could never really see the whole picture. This is where I wished the game had radar to see where your players are at. The view you are given is not enough to find that open man or open space. Overall, I say this game is mediocre at best. The game just has way too much lag and load time to be truly enjoyable. Having to wait about 10 seconds to half a minute just to load the pause menu is just unheard of. If I you were to choose a soccer game, I would strongly suggest the Winning Eleven series; the character designs may not be as good as those seen in UEFA, but the game-play and physics are at such a different level that it’s like comparing a hamburger to a steak. It’s not possible. Although, if you are looking for a specific UEFA Euro game, this may be calling to you since no other games really go into depth about the specific league. As for me, I’ll wait for the new Fifa 2005 or Winning Eleven. As a side note, the goalies in this game seem to be godly. They are able to stop practically every complicated shot even though it was obvious that he should not have deflected it (even the shots the computer took against me should have gone in – a body cannot move like that). Score : 7.5/10 More articles about UEFA Euro 2004
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Well, thanks to some generous coverage by our friends over at the Seattle Times (nicely done, Mike Carter!), we’ve seen an exponential jump in new visitors to this humble little collection of essays and ephemera in the last few days. Actually, a bit more than an exponential jump if we’re going to be mathematically precise – but in any case, it’s big Since that’s happened, I thought it might be useful for new visitors to have a short overview of what this site is about. Honestly, when I look over all the articles that are published here, it’s a bit disorganized – there’s lots of interesting information, but it’s somewhat stacked on top of itself and the organizational structure is not really keeping up with the publication schedule. We’ll do our best to rectify that, but in the meantime an intro is in order. Let’s get started! “Segui il tuo corso et lascia dir le genti!” {“Follow your own path, and let people talk!”} ~ Dante First off, if you’re here because Mike Carter promised you this is a “bestiality website,” you’ll likely be quite disappointed. Sorry, but you’ll have to use google (or ask Mike for his own bookmarks list on the subject ) if that’s what you’re looking for. Rather, what you’ll find here is (mostly) a collection of essays on the topics of minority rights, abuse of governmental power, diversity activism, and zoophobic hate-laws as they relate to genuine efforts to improve the wellbeing of nonhuman people on this planet. I’ve written some, perhaps most, of these essays… but not all of them, as you’ll note if you dig into the archives. A small panel of editors decides on what gets published here, and a small group of contributors provide most of the materials. Also, some of the articles here are also crossposted over at the cultureghost ‘free speech’ forums along with alot of other materials, ranging from “direct action capitalism” to computational complexity and theories of quantum cryptography. If there’s a common theme to the articles posted here at wrinko.net (which is a stretch to claim), I’d say they relate to taking a broader, more deeply-informed view on questions of cross-species intimacy and on the ways in which western culture in recent decades has developed a brittle, schizophrenic panic about inter-species miscegenation. We also talk a bit about what that pathological fear of cross-species intimacy indicates about deeper problems in our culture’s ability to think about the rest of the nonhuman people who share our planet… and about how that bigotry towards heterospecies relationships manifests in violent, hateful attacks on minority populations. Too, there’s quite a bit of whistleblowing work here relating to malfeasance on the part of various branches of the United States federal government. Most of that writing reflects my own firsthand experience as the target of such Fed abuses, over a period of more than five years; if you’re curious to learn more, those articles will provide ample detail. There’s certainly additional writing soon to be published here on that subject, as a wave of Freedom of Information Act demand letters – as well as some leaked “secret” internal materials from the U.S. Probation Office – make their way into future articles. Some folks find these articles a bit tedious and boring; others are gladdened to see someone “naming names” and holding gun-toting bureaucrats accountable for wrongdoing & criminal activities. For me, since the Feds have tried every trick in the book for years and years in failed efforts to censor these articles, I know that publishing them is indeed very important: if they weren’t having a strong impact (and readership stats here show that they’re always popular), they wouldn’t be so panicked in their efforts to censor this content. Finally, there’s some announcements for activist programmes & organizations that stand in support of a respect for diversity and against bigoted hate-campaigns against minority populations. This topic is near & dear to my heart, and I’ve been in and out of prison for years as a result of my own defiant stance against bigots & thugs who seek to target vulnerable minority groups. I’m quite proud of that stance, despite extensive (and often flagrantly illegal) persecution I’ve faced. In fact, I received a tacit apology from the judge (Ricardo Martinez) who enabled much of that persecution, several years ago… so I suppose that’s as direct a vindication as one could ask for. Lots of new folks visiting here, our stats show, are coming after reading Mike Carter’s latest “journalistic” piece in the Seattle Times. So far, the questions & comments we’re receiving via email show a pretty strong trend: folks are wondering “what’s up with that strange, angry, erratic ‘article’ they wrote about you?” Funny you should ask! You see, the last time Mike wrote a black disinfo piece about me (in May of 2013), I called him to demand corrections for the multiple inaccuracies he published. He refused, although he acknowledged he’d lied in print repeatedly… and then he threatened that he’s publish additional hit-job smears in the future if I kept putting pressure on him. Poor Mike So, yes, his latest piece is strangely erratic and contains the usual RDA of Fed disinfo & bigoted smears… that’s to be expected. What’s really fascinating about it is that it seems to have catalyzed a broad recognition that these sorts of hate-driven hit-jobs represent the dying gasp of zoophobic bigotry as a default position in “conventional” society. I’ve had dozens and dozens of interactions & discussions in the last few days, with folks asking me exactly how it is that these bigots try to justify their hatreds. Sadly, I can answer those questions in formal, academic terms (and I answer them in much more detail in the upcoming book-length monograph – currently in post-production editing – The Deep Symbiosis Manifesto)… but I really can’t provide a personal answer to them that is satisfying. Hatred and bigotry and violent, aggressive attitudes just don’t make sense to me, no matter how hard I try. Sorry. But this pattern of angry attacks from the press hardly begins – or ends – with me, and with my academic work. For example: “They [Wilde’s trials under Englands anti-gay hate laws] captivated the London press, much of which was only too happy to see Wilde, of whom it had long been jealously suspicious, debased and finally punished for his alleged crimes and for daring to live outside Victorial social convention.” ~ Introduction to Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Camille Cauti (2003 edition, p. xxxi) “Jealously suspicious,” indeed. As to my own work in this subject area, I summarise it as such: the recent (2-3 decades) turn within western culture towards a bigotry against heterospecies relationships & sexual orientations (what used to be called “zoophilia” or, even earlier, “bestiality”) reflects a breakdown in reciprocal understanding between humans & nonhumans. Concomitant with the rise of “torture-farming” techniques of producing meat for commercial human consumption (“factory farming”), and the ecocidal destruction of vast swaths of this planet’s biosphere, this zoophobic bigotry is a harbinger of failed models of understanding how humans and nonhumans relate to each other. In fact, heterospecies relationships between humans & nonhumans have taken place throughout human history, in every recorded human culture, and are a healthy expression of our species’ deep interconnection with the nonhuman world. Research suggests that approximately 1% of the human population has a heterospecies sexual orientation – this tail-end of human genetic diversity has been a crucial component in catalysing the development of “domestication” & the reciprocal bonds between humans and our nonhuman companion species (primarily canines & equines). Phew. That’s not so much of a good summary, is it? As you can see, it doesn’t quite equate to being an “animal sex advocate” (as Mike Carter wrote, bizarrely, last year: do “animals” really need someone to advocate for them to have sex with each other… really?) – nor even a “bestiality advocate.” Apologies if that’s what you’re looking for. What I might be described as, rather, is an advocate of healthy human diversity & an advocate for genuinely reciprocal, respectful, loyal relationships between all types of people: human & nonhuman alike. I think panicked obsession with inter-species miscegenation is about as logically or morally justifiable as was the old race-based miscegenation bigotry of 100 years ago… or anti-gay homophobia from 30 years ago. Hating folks because they’re different is always wrong, period. Diversity is healthy, not just for humans but for all biological systems. Finally, pointing out that bigotry – against women, against Jews, against gays, or against “zoos” (i.e. heterospecies / zoophiles) – is wrong is hardly a controversial position, is it? I mean, we now have laws banning discrimination against folks based on their sexual orientation – given that heterospecies bonding is now recognised (via a “growing consensus,” as observed by Dr. Jesse Bering) as a “legitimate” sexual orientation, it’s hard to see how bigotry targeting this minority sexual orientation can be justified in any meaningful sense. That’s because, simply put, it cannot be justified. Bigotry is wrong. To conclude – finally! – it is really nice to see Mike Carter & his “friends” who reprinted his weirdly-rambling fantasies directing so many new folks to dig deeper & find out the truth when it comes to the work I do. Indeed, I can’t imagine how we’d have been able to spread this sort of awareness without his help – perhaps an ironic turn of events, but so life goes. This campaign against bigotry & hatred has clearly evolved into something with its own momentum and trajectory – far beyond my own small efforts to call attention to the damage caused by this modern-form bigotry, in all its forms. For decades, I’ve worked to understand the deeper cultural, social, biological, evolutionary, and systems-theoretic components of intimate cross-species relationships. As that work progressed, I became more and more skeptical of hatred targeted at heterospecies pairings – and began to speak out more and more against this new form of bigotry. I’ve been attacked, threatened, imprisoned, and persecuted as a result of my research and writing on this subject – but, now, I’ve seen things turn sharply in a new direction. Now, it’s the bigots who are on the defensive. Now, it’s the hateful, violent, unhealthy people who target others based on bigotry that are finding it increasingly difficult to defend their ugly attitudes. Now, at long last, we’re seeing the light coming forth… and we’re seeing the work we’ve all done for so many years is coming to slow but steady fruition. So, thank you to everyone – new visitors, occasional readers, and longtime supporters alike. Thank you for taking the time to read, to explore, to think, and to question the angry attitudes of sadly-conflicted people like Mike Carter. Thank you for being part of an historical transformation: a recognition that bigotry and contempt for the nonhuman world has no legitimate role in our healthy society today or in the future. Thank you, in sum, for being part of the “compassionate majority” who care enough about our planet & all the people who call it home that you’ve chosen to embrace a vision of the human species that keeps us connected to all the nonhumans who share our daily lives. Thank you for seeing that bigotry is always a sign of something that’s gone wrong, and that the only healthy reaction to bigotry is… love. Namaste, ~ D.B. ‘unwavering defiance’ LeConte-Spink ps: Mike, here’s one for you, my friend…. “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” ~ Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Grey
12 Finale - Recap <-- Previous Episode Next Episode --> With Brendan Fevola & Jessica Raffa out of the winning chance, it is down to Johnny Ruffo & Luda Kroitor, Danielle Spencer & Damian Whitewood and Zoe Cramond & Aric Yegudkin to battle it out for the mirror-ball. Daniel MacPherson and Mel B come out and say that the stars are going to have to dance 3 times that includes the Sudden Death Cha-Cha that will take out one couple. Olivia Newton-John and “Burn The Floor” will be performing tonight as well. They bring out the stars. Round One is Judges Pick, Round Two is Sudden Death and Round Three is the Freestyle. First up for the night are Danielle Spencer & Damian Whitewood. They get into rehearsals and Damian says that it is going to be Danielle’s moment to shine. They are going to have to revisit a dance that wasn’t the best. Josh comes in and says that she is going to be able to be the Hot Potato in this dance. Dancing the Jive, they come out and dance. They go to the judges and Josh says that she is a Super Mom to be there. He says that there were a little bit of nerves, but she redeemed herself. Helen says that she loved the Jive the first time and it was still brilliant. Todd says that he is thrilled that she relaxed and says that she is a great technical dancer. They get their scores: Todd with a 9, Helen with a 10 and Josh with a 9. Total score of 28/30. Johnny Ruffo & Luda Kroitor are next. They get into rehearsals and get their redemption dance. Luda works with Johnny to get his charm. Todd comes in and helps him out a little bit. He works on Johnny’s body contact and says that he wants him to be better. Johnny wants to impress. Dancing the Foxtrot, they come out and dance. They go to the judges and Todd says that he loved it and says he is the first character to really get into the dance. He says that it was great right from the beginning. Helen says that he took more command and says that Todd helped a lot. He did step it up. Josh says that it was really great and says that it was entertaining. They get their scores: Todd with a 10, Helen with a 9 and Josh with a 10. Total score of 29/30. Zoe Cramond & Aric Yegudkin are up last for the first round. They get into rehearsals and get the routine down. Helen comes in and talks to them about what they are going to have to do. She shows that she has it still and helps them out. Zoe says that she wants to hit the ground running. Dancing the Jive, they come out and dance. They go to the judges and Helen says that the hard work that they do is incredible. Helen says that it was great at the beginning, but then lost it in the end of it because she got into it too much. Todd says that he knows how disappointed they are, but they need to relax and says that they have to do what they do best and chill out. Josh says that she looks like a professional dancer and says that she kept going no matter what. The dancing was a little better. They get their scores: Todd with a 7, Helen with an 8 and Josh with an 8. Total score of 23/30. Erin McNaught & Gleb Savchenko take to the stage and dance a Foxtrot. They have fun on the stage and dance greatfully. Caine Eckstein & Jessica Prince come out and they show that they can have fun on the stage and show their stuff. Vogue Williams & Christopher Page come out and they talk about the wedding with Brian. They take to the stage and dance and have fun. Brian Mannix & Melanie Hooper come out and talk about what they have done. They dance the Cha-Cha and have a lot of fun on stage. Jessica Raffa and Jessica Prince join in. Shannon Noll comes out and sings “This Is A Man’s World”. He shows that he has what it takes to be a multi-platinum recording artist. Daniel comes out and says that there is an upcoming tour and show the new Album. Kerri-Anne Kennerley & Carmelo Pizzino come out and dance on the stage. They have a lot of fun out there. At the end, Carmello jumps on her back. She talks about how she has had a hard two weeks, but says that she had fun. Carmello is emotional to be able to dance with her despite her diagnosis of Breast Cancer. Jessica Watson & Damien Samuel come out and she says that she had a lot of fun and it is great seeing everyone. Dancing the Tango, they come out and dance. They have a lot of fun on stage. Brendan & Aleks Fevola come out to the dance floor and dance. They show that they are a perfect couple. Afterward, Aleks says that she is proud of Brendan and says that Jessica did a great job. Brendan says that women are always right. Olivia Newton-John comes out on stage and sings. She shows that she’s still got it as a singer who can hold her own. Afterward, she says that she is having fun and says that she is there for Kerri-Anne and she says that she is humbled about the opening of the Cancer Center too. The next round of dancing kicks off and it is time for the Sudden Death Cha-Cha. Helen says that they are going to have to come out and show their best. Johnny Ruffo, Danielle Spencer and Zoe Cramond come out for the dance and Luda Kroitor, Damian Whitewood and Aric Yegudkin join them for an individual part of the dance. Johnny shows some skin. They show their talents. They go to the judges and Josh tells Zoe & Aric were profession. However her arms were amateur. Helen says that they all gave it their best. Todd says that he is glad that Zoe relaxed. Josh says that Johnny did too many lifts. Helen says that the top was good. Todd asks if he is going to take off his pants in the next, but it was great. Josh says that Danielle was stunning, but she needed to move her hips more. Helen says that she loved Danielle. Todd says that this is the closest Final. They get their scores. For Zoe: Josh with a 9, Helen with a 9 and Josh with a 9. Total score of 27/30. For Johnny: Todd with a 8, Helen with a 9 and Josh with a 9. Total score of 26/30. For Danielle, Todd with a 9, Helen with a 9 and Josh with a 9. Total score of 27/30. The judges scores and the viewers votes have been calculated. The couples still in the competition for the mirror-ball are: Danielle Spencer & Damian Whitewood and Johnny Ruffo & Luda Kroitor. This means that Zoe Cramond & Aric Yegudkin are going home from the competition. Zoe says that she is happy to have made it this far. “Burn The Floor” come out and shows that they have the talent to warrant the success that they have had and continue to have. Zoe Cramond & Aric Yegudkin still get to perform their freestyle and they come out and have fun. They show that they could have been a contender. After showing a montage of all the moments of the season for Danielle Spencer & Damian Whitewood, they come out and freestyle. They go to the judges and Todd says that she was entertained and says that he is surprised that she is there and says that it is the right Final. Josh says that they were great and says that she finally showed the joy and love of dance came out. Helen says that it was great and says that there has been a change in her. They get their scores: Todd with a 9, Helen with a 10 and Josh with a 10. Total score of 29/30 for a Grand Total of 84/90. After showing a montage of all the moments of the season for Johnny Ruffo & Luda Kroitor, they come out and dance their freestyle. Afterward, Johnny puts crème in Luda’s face. They go to the judges and Helen says that played right into his hands and says that she loved it. Todd says that Luda was amazing and that she had to learn hip hop. Josh says that it was so great and says that is what the freestyle is all about. They get their scores: Todd with a 10, Helen with a 10 and Josh with a 10. Total score of 30/30 with a Grand Total of 85/90. The results are in and Johnny Ruffo & Luda Kroitor and Spencer & Damian Whitewood come to the stage for the final results. The winning couple for Dancing with the Stars Season 12 is… Johnny Ruffo & Luda Kroitor!! They are ecstatic and Johnny thanks everyone he can and says that he had no clue that he would win it. Share this article with your friends Warning: Dancing With the Stars season 12 episode 10 guide may contain spoilers Show Menu General Info Forum Episode List Episode Guide Printable Guide Cast Recurring Guests Empty Sections Season Guide (0) Merchandise (0) Character Guide (0) Show Tidbits (0) Gallery .. Conan goes Primetime with Conan To Go Special on TBS Conan O'Brien's late-night talk show will go primetime, for one night only.. BBC One commissions 'One Of Us' The BBC have commissioned a new four part drama series called 'One Of Us'.. TOS \| Privacy \| \| \| News Staff
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Boards I received the most insane demo CD today For years I've been putting on gigs (mostly garage-rock type stuff) and putting out records. Therefore, I'm often sent demos. These days it's more usual for me to be sent emails with links to Soundcloud or whatever. Although the occasional CD still pops through the letterbox. This CD came in the post this morning, loose in an envelope, no protective cardboard or anything, from somewhere in the middle of nowhere anyone's ever heard of, in British Columbia, Canada.." This CD simply has to be heard. So I made it all into just one track and uploaded it to Soundcloud, for your listening pleasure. I'm not sure what to say. Stunning. I posted it on my Facebook My friends seem to generally agree with you. Fantastic! Reminds me of Wild Man Fischer for some reason. Exactly what a friend of mine on FB said! reminds me a bit of the dust blows forward and the dust blows back is this trolling or is it amazing i can't decide Same here, me neither... new neutral milk hotel: not as good as first anticipated What the actual... jesustittyfuckingchrist For reasons I can't fathom I'm listening through all of it. The one at 5 minutes in defies description. This may well be someone's idea of a joke, although it's a moderately amusing one if so. Oh man, I've just reached that one :''''D Offspring's best album. :D ^Prefers Ryan's earlier stuff. My favourites are... 6m40s 8m40* 10m30s 12m25s 13m35s Thought he was singing Drowned In Sound at 8m50s & 9m15s on this track, but it's 'Drowned in self pity'. Oh well. If I was dedicated to INTERNET, I'd start a tumblr doing a really in depth review of each song, with flowery language and all kinds of cross-cultural references. Currently half way through listening for a second time. And it's even better. Are all the songs covers? If so, are people clocking who and what they are? The one at 5 minutes is 'Bad Habit' by The Offspring He also does Goldfinger - 'Superman' towards the end. I think those were the only ones I noticed. Self Esteem by The Offspring is near the end as well. Although he's given it an exciting new melody. I feel like I'm being suckered into some kind of carefully-designed viral PR campaign or something but this is... um... I don't know what this is. If this gets picked up it's gonna get remixed more times than Rebecca Black I think the ones where he's channelling Beavis are the best Halfway through It'd be a copout to stop now, wouldn't it? I've reached 8:40 and I'm giving up Partly because I don't think it's gonna be able to top that last one, partly because I've now got a really strong desire to listen to Dead Milkmen. And partly because of my sanity. Could you make it downloadable please. I don't think I can do that without permission And I'm not going to phone him in Canada. There's no email address on the letter. phone him! you won't spend much, guaranteed to be a quick call I'm going to send him a postcard I'll scan the postcard and upload it. And post all the correspondence between us. Fair enough, it would be great to get everyone do their own remix. Viral campaign? I really did receive this demo in the post. I've googled the guy's name and the only site he's on is one called Bandmix, on which he names his influences as "Bad Religion, Offspring, Lag Wagon, Pennywise, NOFX, Beastie Boys, Good Riddance, Social Distortion, Vandals, Satanic Surfers, Ten Foot Pole, SNFU, Metallica, The White Stripes". hi Tamlin Tamlin's a mate of mine I think he shared this on Facebook when I posted it there earlier this evening. This Is amazing PJ. I think I'm going to remix this.... Oh, hey, Anthony. I shall look forward to hearing it. Post to my Facebook when you've done it! I really want to start a band with this guy. I one beginning around 7:15 reminds me of Sterling Morrison's vocals in 'The Murder Mystery' by Velvet Underground. Pure genius. Song Number 5 Sounds exactly like Jeffry Lewis i'd buy this on vinyl Whose songs are they? I googled the lyrics. The first two are Ten Foot Pole. Number three is by Goldfinger. Four is the band Good Riddance... Oh, god. I can't go on... 2:29 sounds a bit like Tom DeLonge if he was an auctioneer. I like it. Might Try to put some drums & guitar behind some of these tomorrow as well if get time.... :/ like a satire of 'outsider music'. even if real it's nothing new or interesting. sorry. i think you might be overthinking this one He calls himself "punk" I'm the one that put it up as "outsider" music. yeah, i guessed as much perhaps i'm just too cynical. A lot of the time this sounds oddly like Jeff Lewis. Oops, didn't see that Anthonyc had already posted this. or a bit Daniel Johnston? Suspect this will go viral Comedy gold... Not sure if this link will work [IMG][/IMG] this will work this is immense 2nd and 4th are incredible The 4th in particular. It's essentially horse racing commentary Holy shit, they get better 8.08 These are fucking incredible. I actually spat my tea all over my computer when the track at 5 mins came on. The fact I don't hate this Probably is a worrying sign he needs to form a band with this girl who also comes from rural canada, hotbed of utter insanity There was an article about her in The New Yorker Not that funny, mildly interesting I wouldn't be surprised if the guy is mentally ill, either...his letter certainly makes me think so... Which would make laughing and enjoying this a bit mean. I dunno I think part of the enjoyment is appreciating his enthusiasm for doing something he loves. Exactly Working in music in London it's pretty much impossible not be massively cynical but this guy he just loves Punk and doing what he loves! Holy shit :D This is incredible This sounds like Captain Beefheart .... The 3rd one is Goldfinger also. hmmmmmmm this is either a joke or a nutter. Either way I managed to the offspring and then couldn't take it any more. Amazing Over 1500 people listened to this in just 17 hours. If only I could get that many people to check out an actual release on my label... I think you know what you need to do then... Oh, yeah.... Someone needs to put him in touch with Jud Jud No. Words. Cos he said 'em all. Epic Hang on, singer resides in Buttfuck, British Columbia Tried google maps, that place doesn't exist. Is it made up? Ha ha! The place he lives is so small that it would make it too easy for someone to track him down. If someone in BC seriously wanted him in their band then I would privately message them with his details. I was joking I assumed you'd redacted it I knew you were joking That's why I started the reply with "Ha ha!" Remix Alright as promised here's the remix from Me & Olly! :D applauds* Fantastic! :'D Actual tears. That is actually brilliant. This genuinely made me spit out my tea Utterly brilliant. Oh god its gone Meta 'Hitler reacts to Ryan from British Columbia' anyone? You people are easily pleased yup Boring Emperor's New Clothes ironic enthusiasm. People telling other people they're enjoying music the wrong way is definitely my favourite thing about DiS I genuinely enjoy this guy's demo down with this kind of cynicism. It's his innocence and self-belief that makes it. ^this amazing! Ryan, I think you've got what it takes to go really far in this competition... ...in fact, you remind me of a little Sam Cooke. genuinely love this this guy is seriously the epitome of punk. seriously, genuinely impressed it kind of makes me sad that people are making fun of him At least, h'es getting more comments than my soundcloud page lol... Or...at least, his soundcloud page is getting more comments than mine He doesn't even know about the Soundcloud page... yet. As he didn't supply an email address I've sent him a postcard telling him about it. Can't say you did any good :) I tried to help him I hope he appreciates my efforts! :-) This thread must never, ever be allowed to die Radiohead I prefer Ryan cantaffordtobreathinthistownnowheretositwithoutaguninmyhandlookbackuptothecathoderayimbetteroffdead Let's start a sweestake on exactly what time today the Soundcloud will reach 3,000 listens 6pm and it's up to 2834! Nearly 9pm and still not quite up to 3,000 yet... :-( over 4000 now though the kid goes hard. respek. this has to be the most punk thing I think I've ever heard. Big ups to the british columbia krew Am I the only person to think that he sounds like Kermit The Frog? Admittedly Kermit on a huge bender I don't get it... Ryan should make a spokenword solo album! Punk (cover) bands are everywhere. But noone sings like this. It might come out on vinyl A music journalist has offered to write sleeve notes for it. This is turning into a joke gone too far. If it all becomes INTERNET it's in danger of degenerating into a joke/shit meme. But if someone fronts up the cash to press physical copies up, and the guy gets a fair wedge, and it's done in a straight-up way, rather than a daft and crass way, then the guy has pretty much found his way into the scenario he was looking to get to, so good luck to him. how about a kickstarter? surprised not to hear the words "christ's chin" and "two headed sex beast" pop up in the fourth song to be honest Is some of this a bit autotuned? I've only made it to the second track but some of the first track had a bit of that wireyness of autotune, am i mad? Just had another listen. Was gonna just re-check out my faves, but got drawn into just listening to it straight, without skipping. Whatever the reason or circumstance, there's an undeniably single-minded thing going on that makes it compelling. Definitely not just a wailing loon. It's the aural manifestation of someone in love with music. I keep coming back to the "I only had a one minute recorder on my computer so I sang fast." thing. It's the kind of thing that you'd expect from Aphex (or the Beatles, or whoever) in 1989 (or 1968, or whenever). RESTRICTIONS (THAT CAUSE ENFORCED CONCEPTS) 4 THE WIN. I have just wasted five minutes of my life listening to this And that's five minutes I will never get back. I should charge you for my time. Roflol. Does that mean you don't want to buy the CD? Incredible Can't say I've ever heard anything quite like it. this kid is a fucking hero Tn I have no idea what happened there What I was trying to write was: "this thread must not be allowed to die". Here's the rest of the band: Genius! If only they could all be brought together in real life... I'm disappointed It's been listened to around 4,500 times now but so far only one re-mix. Surely someone can put some proper instruments behind him? annoyed that anyone would suspect us of liking this ironically also gets me down that anyone would like it ironically. this guy is amazing. I could seriously listen to this demo over and over again. punk as fuck. ^knows I sent him a letter That was a week and a half ago. He's not replied... Yet. I'm really enjoying this... it sounds like the sort of thing I would make. If you were to release this, does that just mean you'd be asking people to pay for a download of it? or actually putting it in... record shops. It's been suggested that I put it on vinyl The plot thickens... ..he sent the exact note/CD to a record store in the U.S. and it found its way to Brian Turner on WFMU... - 1 hour in. BUT i will never stop suspecting everyone of liking it ironically! :D Ryan has emailed me! "Hello PJ. My name is Ryan. I sent cds of me singing in the mail. I got a postcard from you. Thank you for sending me a postcard. Please email me." Now I guess I'd better figure out what I'm going to do with him! He also says.... Cool. Wow. Thank you. I checked out the Soundcloud. Thanks! It has over 5k plays! What's occurring? Good news ^_^ Now what? 27. The most rock and roll number of them all. Apt. Hope it isn't a bad omen. I wonder what Ryan thinks of the new Offspring record.
Figures Abstract SIRT1 is a mammalian NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase implicated in metabolism, development, aging and tumorigenesis. Prior studies that examined the effect of enterocyte-specific overexpression and global deletion of SIRT1 on polyp formation in the intestines of APC+/min mice, a commonly used model for intestinal tumorigenesis, yielded conflicting results, supporting either tumor-suppressive or tumor-promoting roles for SIRT1, respectively. In order to resolve the controversy emerging from these prior in vivo studies, in the present report we examined the effect of SIRT1 deficiency confined to the intestines, avoiding the systemic perturbations such as growth retardation seen with global SIRT1 deletion. We crossed APC+/min mice with mice bearing enterocyte-specific inactivation of SIRT1 and examined polyp development in the progeny. We found that SIRT1-inactivation reduced total polyp surface (9.3 mm2 vs. 23.3 mm2, p = 0.01), average polyp size (0.24 mm2 vs. 0.51 mm2, p = 0.005) and the number of polyps >0.5 mm in diameter (14 vs. 23, p = 0.04), indicating that SIRT1 affects both the number and size of tumors. Additionally, tumors in SIRT1-deficient mice exhibited markedly increased numbers of cells undergoing apoptosis, suggesting that SIRT1 contributes to tumor growth by enabling survival of tumor cells. Our results indicate that SIRT1 acts as a tumor promoter in the APC+/min mouse model of intestinal tumorigenesis. Citation: Leko V, Park GJ, Lao U, Simon JA, Bedalov A (2013) Enterocyte-Specific Inactivation of SIRT1 Reduces Tumor Load in the APC+/min Mouse Model. PLoS ONE 8(6): e66283. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0066283 Editor: Robert W. Sobol, University of Pittsburgh, United States of America Received: October 19, 2012; Accepted: May 8, 2013; Published: June 14, 2013 Copyright: © 2013 Leko), CA 129132, to AB. (). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Introduction SIRT1 is a mammalian NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase that plays important roles in ageing, metabolism, development, neurodegeneration and tumorigenesis (reviewed in [1]–[6]). Considering the multitude of cellular pathways it affects, SIRT1 appears to play a rather complex role in the biology of cancer, and evidence supports both tumor promoting and tumor suppressing functions [7], [8]. SIRT1 was first implicated in tumorigenesis by the finding that it deacetylates and down-regulates the tumor suppressor p53 under conditions of genotoxic stress, decreasing its pro-apoptotic activity and promoting survival of cells that have accumulated DNA damage [9], [10]. Acetylation of p53 turned out to be a critical posttranslational modification, one that controls many functions of the p53 protein [11], [12]. SIRT1 was later found to deacetylate and regulate several other proteins that share similar roles in cellular stress responses (e.g. Ku70, p73, FoxO3a, FoxO4 and E2F1[13]–[17]), while small-molecule inhibitors of SIRT1 were shown to exhibit antitumor activity, suggesting that pharmacological inhibition of SIRT1 could be therapeutically beneficial in a subset of human cancers [18]–[23]. SIRT1 has also been proposed to participate in tumorigenesis through epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes [24]. Coupled with the observation that SIRT1 expression levels are increased in many human tumors (e.g. colon cancer) and usually associated with poor prognosis in these patients [25]–[31], these findings suggest that SIRT1 acts as a tumor promoter. Paradoxically, a growing body of evidence suggests that SIRT1 may suppress tumor development. SIRT1 was found to be important for maintaining genome stability, loss of which is a hallmark of cancer [32], and to mediate DNA damage repair [33], [34]. Furthermore, global overexpression of SIRT1 led to reduced incidence of some age-related tumors and protection from metabolic-syndrome driven liver cancer [35]. SIRT1+/− p53+/− mice developed spontaneous tumors at higher rates than their p53+/− controls [33], while p53+/− mice overexpressing SIRT1 demonstrated decreased incidence of thymic lymphoma and increased survival following γ-radiation [32]. Despite the results of these animal studies, mutations in SIRT1 gene have never been documented in human tumors, indicating that SIRT1 may not behave as a typical tumor suppressor. However, consistent with its potential anti-oncogenic role, SIRT1 expression was found to be decreased in a subset of human cancers [33], [36]. The APC+/min mouse model mimics the early events of colon cancer in humans [37] and is widely used to test the effects of potential oncogenes and tumor suppressors on formation of intestinal tumors. Heterozygous APC+/min mice inherit a nonsense mutation in one copy of the tumor suppressor gene APC (designated as APCmin) and lose the remaining wild-type allele after birth, resulting in nuclear translocation and constitutive activation of the crucial Wnt-signaling effector β-catenin and subsequent formation of numerous tumors (polyps) in the intestines [38], [39]. When a SIRT1 transgene was overexpressed in the intestinal epithelium, APC+/min mice developed fewer intestinal polyps, which was attributed to the increased deacetylation and nuclear exclusion of β-catenin [40] and subsequently decreased proliferation rates of the tumor cells. However, since the expression of exogenous SIRT1 in the enterocytes surpassed physiological levels by several fold and because gene overexpression can sometimes phenocopy gene loss-of-function through a dominant interfering effect, it was important to examine the effect of SIRT1 deficiency on polyp formation in the same model. Intriguingly, APC+/min mice exhibiting whole-body SIRT1 deficiency developed a similar number of intestinal polyps as the APC+/min controls, but demonstrated significantly decreased average polyp size, indicating that SIRT1 could actually promote tumor growth [41]. However, as it was known that SIRT1-null mice that survived weaning exhibit severe growth retardation and decreased circulatory levels of free Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), a known promoter of tumor growth [33], [42]–[44], concerns were raised that systemic adaptations to global SIRT1 deficiency may have masked the true effect of intestinal SIRT1-deficiency and protected these animals from tumor development. In order to eliminate potentially confounding influences of global SIRT1 deletion and resolve the controversy regarding the exact role of SIRT1 in intestinal tumorigenesis, we crossed APC+/min mice with mice harboring SIRT1-inactivation restricted to the intestinal epithelium. Unlike their whole-body deficient counterparts, mice with intestine-specific SIRT1 deletion demonstrated wild-type expression of SIRT1 in extra-intestinal tissues and exhibited normal survival rates without detectable developmental defects. We found that these mice exhibited significant reduction in polyp sizes and developed significantly fewer polyps >0.5 mm in diameter than their controls. Additionally, tumors from SIRT1-deficient mice exhibited significantly increased apoptotic rates, without affecting their proliferation, indicating that SIRT1 promotes survival of tumor cells. Taken together, our findings indicate that SIRT1 plays a tumor-promoting role in the mouse intestinal tumor model. Results We generated mice in which endogenous SIRT1 has been specifically inactivated in the intestinal epithelium using the Villin-Cre system [45] and crossed them with APC+/min mice to generate APC+/min SIRT1−/− (APC+/min Sirtco/co Vil-Cre+/−, or SIRT1−/−) and APC+/min Sirt1+/+ (APC+/min Sirtco/co Vil-Cre−/−, or SIRT1+/+) mice. APC and Cre genotypes were confirmed by PCR prior to weaning, while the deletion of SIRT1 was confirmed at the time of sacrifice by a western blot analysis of intestinal mucosa scrapings. A truncated version of the SIRT1 protein confirmed that exon 4 of SIRT1 gene, which encodes the catalytic domain of the protein, was successfully deleted in the enterocytes. Other tissues from APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice exhibited a band of the wild-type size, confirming that the deletion was intestine-specific (Figure 1A). Importantly, we noted that APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice were born at expected Mendelian frequencies and did not exhibit increased postnatal mortality or developmental defects and phenotypic features of mice with systemic deletion of SIRT1. (A) A representative western blot showing expression of the wild-type SIRT1 protein in the intestinal epithelium of APC+/min SIRT1+/+ mice (first lane) and a truncated version in the epithelium of APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice (second lane). Liver cells of the APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice (third lane), as well as other tissues (not shown) express the wild-type protein. Pan-actin immunostaining served as a loading control. (B) Representative photographs of unfixed small intestines (distal segments) showing similar polyp number for APC+/min SIRT1+/+ (right) and APC+/min SIRT1−/− (left) mice. Scale bar indicates 5 mm length. (C) Representative photomicrographs of typical polyps from the two groups of mice, stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Scale bar indicates 100 µm length. (D) Representative photomicrographs and a bar graph showing Ki-67 immunohistochemical staining of polyp sections from APC+/min SIRT1+/+ (left) and APC+/min SIRT1−/− (middle) mice. Scale bar indicates 100 µm length. Proliferation index for polyps from APC+/min SIRT1+/+ and APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice (right), expressed as a fraction of Ki-67 positive cells within each polyp. Bars represent means ± SEM, n = 20 polyps per group. No statistically significant difference was observed. (E) Representative photomicrographs and a bar graph showing activated (cleaved) caspase-3 immunohistochemical staining of polyp sections from APC+/min SIRT1+/+ (left) and APC+/min SIRT1−/− (middle) mice. Scale bar indicates 100 µm length. Absolute numbers of apoptotic (caspase-3 positive) cells per high power field (400 x) for polyps from SIRT1+/+ and SIRT1−/− mice (right). Bars represent means ± SEM, n = 25 polyps per group. ***p<0.001. At the age of 120 days, SIRT1−/− and SIRT1+/+ mice were sacrificed and their entire intestines examined for polyps (Fig. 1B,C). We found that the average size of the largest polyp in SIRT1−/− cohort was significantly smaller than in the control group (1.3±0.6 mm vs. 2.2±0.9 mm, p<0.05) and that polyps from SIRT1−/− mice exhibited a marked decrease in average (0.235 vs. 0.510 mm2, Figure 2A) and total surface areas (9.3 vs. 23.3 mm2, Figure 2B) throughout the small intestine (Figure 2C, D). The majority of tumors were found to reside in the distal segment of the small intestine, while only a few were detected in the colon (Figure 2E). Of note, tumors in the colon were excluded from the analysis because their peduncular appearance made the assessment of the exact tumor size difficult (although SIRT1−/− mice had qualitatively smaller polyps in the colon as well). When we compared tumor size distribution between SIRT1−/− and SIRT1+/+ mice we found that only 2% of adenomas in SIRT1−/− mice were larger than 1.0 mm in diameter, whereas 12% of tumors in the control group reached this size (p = 0.0076). We found that the number of polyps in the small intestine that surpassed 0.5 mm was also significantly lower in SIRT1−/− animals (Figure 2F), while the total polyp number and the number of very small tumors, measuring 0.4 mm or less in diameter, was not significantly different between two genotype groups (Figure 2G, H). These results indicate that SIRT1 deficiency reduces overall polyp burden in the intestine of APC+/min mice primarily by curtailing their size. (A) Average surface area of polyps in the small intestine. Total polyps surface area for each mouse was divided by total number of polyps to obtain average polyp surface area. Each dot represents an individual animal; n = 11 per group, p = 0.00019. (B) Total surface area of polyps in the small intestine; samples are as in panel A. Polyp surface was calculated as a square of tumor radius multiplied by π; surface areas of all the polyps in each mouse were then added up to obtain total polyp surface. Each dot represents an individual animal; n = 11 per group, p = 0.01. (C) Average surface area of polyps according to the location in the small intestine. Bars represent means ± SEMs, n = 11 per group. (D) Total surface area of polyps according to the location in the small intestine. Bars represent means ± SEMs. (E) Distribution of tumors according to specific intestinal location. No statistically significant differences were observed. (F) Number of polyps >0.5 mm in diameter for the entire small intestine; the groups are the same as in panel A. Each dot represents an individual animal; n = 11 per group, p = 0.044. (G) Total number of the polyps in the intestines of APC+/min SIRT1−/− (gray) and APC+/min SIRT1+/+ mice (white). Each dot represents an individual animal; n = 11 per group. No statistically significant difference was observed. (H) Number of tumors in the whole small intestine according to diameter. Bars represent means ± SEMs; n = 11 per group. Significant difference in tumor number in APC+/min SIRT1−/− (gray) and APC+/min SIRT1+/+ was observed only for 1.0–1.9 mm polyp size. We next examined expression of proliferative and apoptotic markers within size-matched tumors from SIRT1−/− and SIRT1+/+ animals. According to staining for the proliferation marker Ki-67, we observed no differences in the proliferation rates between the two genotype groups (Figure 1D). However, polyps from SIRT1−/− animals exhibited an increased number of cells expressing the apoptotic marker cleaved caspase-3 (Figure 1E), indicating that the observed reduction in tumor size is attributable to increased apoptosis of SIRT1−/− cells, which is consistent with previously published findings in colon cancer cell lines [15]. In order to gain an insight into a mechanism by which SIRT1 promotes intestinal tumorigenesis, we analyzed the effect of SIRT1 inhibition on Wnt and p53 signaling pathways. We first analyzed β-catenin expression in adenomas of APC+/min mice and observed increased expression levels and nuclear accumulation of β-catenin regardless of the intestinal SIRT1 deletion (Figure 3A). Next we wanted to determine whether loss of SIRT1 affected Wnt signaling in normal appearing intestinal crypts, where the remaining wild-type copy of the APC gene keeps overall nuclear β-catenin levels low and confined to the cell membrane in all the non-basal cells. We compared the number of nuclear β-catenin -positive cells per crypt in mice with and without intestinal SIRT1 deletion, and found that mice with the deletion had significantly fewer cells per crypt then their wild-type counterparts (Figure 3B,C), suggesting the SIRT1serves as an activator of Wnt signaling. Furthermore, to measure the effect of SIRT1 inhibition on β-catenin mediated transactivation, we analyzed the transcriptional output of T-cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF)-driven luciferase reporter gene using a TOP-GLOW assay [46] in SW480 colon cancer cell line, which is known to exhibit a loss-of-function mutation in the APC gene and constitutive activation of Wnt pathway [47]. SIRT1 inhibition with both EX527, a selective small-molecule SIRT1 inhibitor [48], and cambinol, a non-selective SIRT1 and SIRT2 inhibitor [18], led to reduction in TCF-mediated transcription (Figure 3D). We also observed decreased TCF/LEF transcriptional activity in SW480 cells upon shRNA-mediated downregulation of SIRT1 protein level (Figure 3E), further indicating that SIRT1 activates Wnt signaling and consecutively promotes intestinal tumorigenesis in the APC+/min mouse model. A) Representative photomicrographs showing β-catenin immunohistochemical staining of intestinal sections from APC+/min SIRT1+/+ and APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice. Scale bar indicates 50 µm length. Polyps from both groups demonstrate intense cytoplasmic and nuclear staining for β-catenin. B) Bar graph with frequencies of crypts with indicated number of cells with nuclear β-catenin staining in normal appearing mucosa of APC+/min SIRT1+/+ and APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice. The average number of β-catenin positive cells per crypt is reduced in APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice compared to APC+/min SIRT1+/+ animals 2.1±1.2 vs 3.2±1.3 (p = 1.5×10−5, at least 100 crypts per genotype were scored). C) Representative photomicrographs of normal appearing mucosa from APC+/min SIRT1+/+ and APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice demonstrating a reduced number of basal cells with nuclear β-catenin in APC+/min SIRT1−/− animals. Arrows are directed toward representative basal cells with nuclear β-catenin. Scale bar indicates 25 µm length. D) Inhibition of SIRT1 with EX527 (2 µM) and cambinol (50 µM) reduces activity of the TCF/LEF driven firefly luciferase reporter (TOP FLASH) transiently transfected into SW480 cells. TOP FLASH luciferase reporter contains minimal promoter along with three TCF binding sites, which have been mutated in FOP FLASH.01. E) SW480 cells with shRNA-mediated downregulation of SIRT1 (top: western blot for SIRT1 and actin) exhibit reduced activity of the transiently transfected TCF/LEF driven firefly luciferase reporter (TOP.05. F) Immunoblot for acetyl-p53, p53 and actin from cells treated with etoposide, SIRT1 inhibitor EX527 or the combination of the two drugs. Inhibition of SIRT1 leads to p53 hyperacetylation in Hct116 colon cancer cell line. Hyperacetylation of p53 is observed in cells treated with EX527 and a combination of EX527 and etoposide. Etoposide alone modestly induces p53 acetylation. Next we assessed the role of p53 acetylation in SIRT1-driven intestinal tumorigenesis by employing Hct116 colon cancer cell line with constitutive activation of β-catenin but without mutations in p53 gene [49]. As previously shown in other cell culture models [18], we saw that inhibition of SIRT1 in these colon cancer cells lead to p53 hyperacetylation (Figure 3F), suggesting that downregulation of p53 could be an additional cellular mechanism by which SIRT1 promotes tumor growth. Taken together, our results show that enterocyte-specific inactivation of SIRT1 reduces tumor load in the intestines of APC+/min mice by decreasing both overall tumor size and the number of larger tumors, and they suggest that SIRT1 acts as a tumor promoter by suppressing apoptosis of tumor cells in this mouse model, through mechanisms that include both activation of Wnt signaling pathway and inhibition of p53 activity. Discussion In order to bypass systemic effects related to global deletion of SIRT1, especially those associated with reduced circulatory levels of IGF-1, and focus instead on its intestine-specific role only, we generated APC+/min mice harboring enterocyte-specific inactivation of SIRT1 and examined their susceptibility to forming intestinal polyps. These APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice, which were born at expected Mendelian frequencies and demonstrated unperturbed development and growth, exhibited a significant decrease in the number of tumors >0.5 mm in diameter, a dramatic reduction in average and total polyp surface areas, and an increased fraction of apoptotic cells within polyps. We also found that SIRT1−/− mice had similar frequencies of very small tumors as SIRT1+/+ controls and similar total numbers of polyps, indicating that SIRT1 could play a role in tumor progression and growth, rather than influencing the formation of early neoplastic lesions. This phenotype is congruent with one previously reported for systemic SIRT1 knockout animals [41], which showed that tumor size is significantly decreased upon SIRT1 inactivation, whereas the total number of intestinal polyps remained the same. This surprisingly robust finding shows that SIRT1 inactivation, regardless of differences in genetic background (C57BL/6 with some contribution of 129X1/SvJ vs. mixed C57BL/6/129X1/SvJ/CD1) and age of sacrifice (4 months vs. 12 months) in these two studies, leads to marked changes in tumor growth rate. Our results suggest that the tumor attenuation previously observed in APC+/min mice carrying a systemic deletion of SIRT1 [41] was a tissue-specific effect of SIRT1-deficiency. However, these findings are seemingly at odds with the findings of Firestein et al. [40], which showed that intestine-specific overexpression of SIRT1 reduced the number of polyps in the intestines of APC+/min mice (tumor size was not analyzed). Thus, SIRT1 overexpression and SIRT1 loss-of-function resulted in similar phenotypes, a phenomenon frequently observed in gene overexpression studies (reviewed in [50]) that may be explained by changes in the stoichiometry of protein-protein interactions and disassembly of multi-protein complexes leading, seemingly paradoxically, to inhibition of the overexpressed protein. The facts that SIRT1 functions in several multi-protein complexes and that its expression in the study by Firestein et al. [40] surpassed physiological levels by several fold make this explanation highly plausible. However, we noted that intestine-specific SIRT1 overexpression in the study by Firestein et al. did not create an exact phenocopy of the enterocyte-specific deletion, as the total number of polyps was reduced 3–4 fold in the former study, while our model demonstrated only 2 fold reduction among tumors >0.5 mm in size, without affecting the total number of tumors. Furthermore, unlike in the SIRT1-overexpression study, which did not analyze cell survival and apoptosis, we found no differences in proliferation rates between SIRT1−/− and SIRT1+/+ mice, but rather an increased rate of apoptosis in the SIRT1−/− group. This is consistent with the current paradigm in which SIRT1 plays a role as a pro-survival and anti-apoptotic mediator, as discussed in the next section. It is possible that supra-physiological levels of SIRT1 in the overexpression study engaged cellular mechanisms outside the classical SIRT1-mediated signaling pathways that are normally not active when SIRT1 is expressed at physiological levels. Based on cell culture studies, Firestein et al. attributed the polyp number reduction to reduction in transcriptional activity of β-catenin, which is a target of Wnt signaling. In contrast, our results suggest that SIRT1 actually promotes Wnt signaling, both in vivo and in vitro. Apart from the use of different cell lines, we cannot account for the discrepancy between the two in vitro results. However, as indicated by a growing body of evidence, the role of SIRT1 in Wnt signaling appears to be complex, as different studies had also associated SIRT1 with activation of the Wnt pathway, as discussed in greater detail below. As for the discrepancy in the in vivo results, we do not believe that the observed differences in proliferation rates between the two studies are attributable to the age of the animals or differences in the intestinal sections scored, as in both studies polyp analysis was carried out throughout the small intestine of the animals sacrificed at the same age. However, there is a possibility that the disparity in proliferation rates could be at least partially due to subtle differences in genetic backgrounds, as the Firestein study was carried out in C57BL/6 mice, while our study utilized C57BL/6 animals with a contribution from the 129X1/SvJ background. Several previously described activities of SIRT1, particularly those related to modulation of p53 activity [9], [10], c-myc [51], [52], [53], [54], canonical Wnt signaling [55] and epigenetic control [24], may account for the reduction in tumor size we observed in the intestines of APC+/min SIRT1−/− mice. SIRT1 has been shown to promote cell survival during genotoxic stress through deacetylation and down-regulation of p53 and several other stress-response proteins (reviewed in [4]). Moreover, SIRT1 was also implicated in promoting intestinal tumorigenesis through its interactions with the tumor suppressor HIC1 (Hypermethylated in Cancer 1), a transcriptional repressor frequently inactivated in human colon cancer though epigenetic means, namely CpG island hypermethylation of its promoter [56], [57]. Heterozygosity for HIC1 in mice with a mutation in APC was shown to induce transcriptional de-repression of SIRT1 in enterocytes and to promote polyp formation, possibly through down-regulation of p53. Intriguingly, both HIC1 and SIRT1 have been shown to be direct transcriptional targets of p53, suggesting the presence of a HIC1-SIRT1-p53 autoregulatory loop. Our observation that intestinal SIRT1-deficiency decreases polyp load and increases apoptosis in the APC+/min model, and that pharmacological inhibition of SIRT1 in APC-mutated colon cancer cell lines leads to p53 hyeperacetylation, provide additional support for importance of such an autoregulatory loop in the intestinal tumorigenesis. SIRT1 was previously proposed to directly deacetylate β-catenin, which, depending on cell context, may promote or inhibit β-catenin activity [40], [58]. Besides participating in β-catenin deacetylation, there are several indirect mechanisms by which SIRT1 may promote Wnt signaling. SIRT1 downregulates the activity of p53, which has been shown to downregulate Wnt signaling by promoting β-catenin phosphorylation and degradation [59]. HIC1, whose expression could be influenced by the above described autoregulatory loop, has been shown to antagonize canonical Wnt signaling by associating with TCF4 and β-catenin and sequestering them in an inactive complex within the nucleus [60]. Additionally, SIRT1 has been shown to up-regulate all three mammalian Disheveled proteins and thereby promote Wnt signaling [55]. Finally, down-regulation of SIRT1 in breast and colon cancer cell lines leads to re-expression of the Wnt pathway inhibitors, SFRP1 and SFRP2 (Secreted Frizzled-like Proteins 1 and 2), which are frequently inactivated in human cancers through epigenetic means [24], as discussed in greater detail below. Our findings that the lack of SIRT1 decreases the number of basal crypt cells expressing the active form of β-catenin and that SIRT1-inhibition reduces β-catenin mediated transcriptional activity in vitro, suggest that SIRT1 may indeed promote adenoma formation through increased Wnt signaling. However, further work is required to determine which of the proposed pathways is critical for promoting Wnt signaling in the course of adenoma formation. Clonal evolution, which dictates the progression from normal epithelium to polyp and ultimately invasive cancer, requires progressive accumulation of both new genetic lesions and epigenetic alterations that cause transcriptional silencing of tumor suppressor genes (reviewed in [61]). Besides serving as an established model for intestinal tumorigenesis, APC+/min mice were the first animal model used to demonstrate that genetic or pharmacological interference with DNA methylation inhibits tumor formation, thus establishing a role of epigenetics in tumor formation and the feasibility of targeting epigenetic mechanisms for cancer therapy [62], [63]. Besides DNA methyl transferases and class I and II histone deacetlyases (HDAC), SIRT1 (a class III HDAC) has been shown to participate in gene silencing in colon cancer cell lines [24], both synergistically with DNA methyl transferases and independently, without appreciable alterations in DNA methylation level. Among genes repressed in a SIRT1-dependent manner was a set of genes frequently inactivated by DNA methylation in human cancers, providing direct evidence that SIRT1 controls expression of tumor suppressor genes. Besides the Wnt inhibitors SFRP1 and SFRP2, genes up-regulated upon inhibition of SIRT1 included E-cadherin, a cell adhesion mediating gene, and MLH1, a mismatch repair gene whose inactivation leads to a mutator phenotype. Together, these findings suggest that abrogation of epigenetic repression that accompanies polyp progression could be one of the mechanisms for the reduced tumor burden that we observed in APC+/min SIRT1−/− animals, raising the exciting possibility that SIRT1 inhibitors, similarly to inhibitors of DNA methyltransferase and class I/II HDACs, could be used for epigenetic therapy of cancer. Materials and Methods APC+/min SIRT1−/− (APC+/min Sirt1co/co Vil-cre+/−) Mice Homozygous B6;129-Sirt1tm1Ygu/J mice carrying conditional deletion of Sirt1 exon 4 (Sirt1co/co, available from Jackson Laboratories, stock No. 008041), which encodes the catalytically active domain of the protein, were crossed with homozygous B6.SJL-Tg(Vil-cre)997Gum/J mice (a gift from Dr. William Grady (FHCRC), but also available from Jackson Laboratories, stock No. 004586) to generate heterozygous Sirt1+/co Vil-cre +/− mice. Resulting heterozygotes were interbred to generate Sirt1co/co Vil-cre +/− mice, which were subsequently crossed with SIRT 1co/co mice to generate Sirt1co/co Vil-cre+/− mice and their littermate controls (Sirt1co/co Vil-cre−/−). Both groups were then crossed with APC+/min mice (available from Jackson Laboratories, stock No. 002020) to generate APC+/min Sirtco/co Vil-cre+/− (APC+/min SIRT1−/−) and APC+/min Sirt1co/co Vil-cre−/− (APC+/min SIRT1+/+) mice. APC and Vil-cre genotypes were confirmed by PCR carried out on DNA isolated from clippings prior to weaning (PCR primer sequences are available upon request). Ethics Statement All animal work was carried out in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. The protocol for this study was approved by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (file 1505). Animal Pathology and Histopathology The gastrointestinal tract of the sacrificed 16-week old animals was promptly excised and cut, with mucosal side up, into 3 segments (colon, distal and proximal small intestine), flushed with ice cold phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, Invitrogen), pinned open and fixed in 10% formalin, neutral buffered (Sigma) for 45 minutes in a dissection tray. Fixed intestine was then examined under the dissection microscope by two researchers who, blinded from the genotyping data, counted the polyps, determined their diameter with a caliper and calculated their surface. For histopathology, fixed intestine segments were placed onto a dry board and gently rolled into Swiss rolls and placed in 10% NBF for 24 hours. The rolls were then switched over into 70% ethanol and submitted for paraffin-embedding and hematoxylin/eosin, Ki-67 (rat anti-mouse Ki67, Dako, M7249, 1∶50 dilution) and cleaved caspase-3 staining (rabbit anti-mouse, Biocare Medical, CP 229B, 1∶50 dilution). Microscopic images were obtained using Nikon E800 microscope and analyzed by two researchers independently. Fractions of Ki-67 and caspase-3 positive cells were determined using Image J program (Wayne Rasband, National Institutes of Health). Tissue Culture Studies Hct116 and SW480 cell lines were obtained from ATCC and grown in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (Life Technologies) supplemented with 10% Fetal Calf Serum. TOP GLOW reporter plasmid that contains the firefly luciferase gene under control of minimal c-Fos promoter, along with three TCF binding sites, mutated in a control FOP GLOW reporter [46], were obtained from Dr. Hans Clevers. Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase promoter driven renilla luciferase reporter, pRL-TK (Promega) was used for transfection normalization. Transient transfections were carried out using Lipofectamine (Invitrogen) and firefly and renilla luciferase activities measured using Dual Luciferase Reporter Assay System (Promega). EX527 was obtained from Sigma and cambinol was synthesized in our laboratory. shRNA specific for SIRT1 (shRNA SIRT1-3-2, target sequence GCGGGAATCCAAAGGATAATT) was introduced into SW480 cells as a lentiviral particle using pLKO.1 vector and puromycin selectable marker. Western Blotting After flushing and opening the large intestine, the mucosal surface was gently scraped off using a glass slide, snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and placed at −80°C. Upon thawing, each sample was resuspended in half its volume of RIPA buffer (1% NP-40, 0.1% SDS, 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.4, 150 mM NaCl 0.5% Sodium Deoxycholate,1 mM EDTA), sonicated, incubated on ice for 30 minutes and spun down to remove debris. A BCA Protein assay (Pierce) was performed to determine the protein concentration; 25 µg of each sample was then mixed with the equal amount of SDS gel loading buffer (2×) containing 100 mM Tris-Cl (pH 6.8), 4% (w/v) sodium dodecyl sulfate, 0.2% (w/v) bromophenol bluem 20% (v/v) glycerol, 200 mM DTT (dithiothreitol) and loaded onto 7.5% polyacrylamide gel. The protein was then transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane and subsequently probed with the rabbit anti-mouse SIRT1 antibody (Anti-SIRT1, Millipore 07-131). In tissue culture studies the following antibodies were used: rabbit polyclonal anti-SIRT1 (Millipore, 07-131), mouse monoclonal anti-p53 (DO-1 Santa Cruz Biotechology), rabbit polyclonal anti-acetyl p53 (Cell Signaling, Acetyl-p53 (Lys379), catalogue number 2570). Anti-actin staining was performed to ensure equal loading between the samples (Pan Actin, ACTN05, NeoMarkers). Statistical Methods Standard two-tailed Student’s t-test was used for comparisons between two experimental groups, with a p value of <0.05 considered as significant. Acknowledgments We are grateful to Dr. William Grady, FHCRC, and the members of his laboratory for providing us with Vil-cre mice and assistance with polyp scoring, Drs. Eric Foss, William Grady and Elizabeth Kwan, for carefully reading the manuscript and providing us with helpful suggestions. Author Contributions Conceived and designed the experiments: AB VL. Performed the experiments: VL UL GJP. Analyzed the data: VL GJP AB JS. 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East 18th Road to Highway 71:. Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Trip Report Date: June 18, 2016 Skill Level: Intermediate Class Difficulty: Class I(II) Gradient: 19′ per mile. Gauge Recorded on this Trip: Leonore (Vermillion River): ht/ft: 6.02 \| cfs: 1090 Gauge Note: There is no gauge for Covel Creek. The best proxy is the Vermillion River in Leonore. Bear in mind that the Vermillion is bigger and drains a much larger area. Referring to the gauge will give you a reasonable idea at least of current levels, high or low. The best thing to do is visually gauge the river at the put-in, especially the two little ledges immediately upstream. If the water is low there, meaning you can see lots of rocks, it will be even lower downstream – in which case don’t even bother (incidentally, American Whitewater recommends doing Covel Creek when the Vermillion is at or above 8000 cfs. That may be true for dedicated whitewater paddlers, but for “lightwater” paddlers who want some rapids without fear of incident and who still want to revel in the awesome scenery, we’d say shoot for 1500-4000 cfs). Current Levels: Leonore (Vermillion River): ht/ft: 3.12 \| cfs: 23.4 Recommended Levels: This is the recommended minimum level. Put-In: East 18th Road, Stoneyville, Illinois GPS: 41.2923, -88.81705 Take-Out: Highway 71, Hitt, Illinois GPS: 41.3169, -88.88212 Time: Put in at 11:40a. Out at 4:15p. Total Time: 4h 35m Miles Paddled: 6.5 Wildlife: Great blue herons, bald eagles, deer, fish, turtles, owls and songbirds. Shuttle Information: 5.1 miles. Hilly, with light traffic and partial gravel roads. Background: It must have been videographer Tom Lindblade, or author Bob Tyler, who put this stream on our radar in the first place. But wherever it came from, Covel has been on our to-do list for years now. And good lord, are we glad we finally got there! Covel Creek is a classic example of an incredible diamond hidden in the rough. Whether at the put-in or take-out, you’d never know that continuous Class I-II rapids dance between rock walls and canyons for mile after mile. Minus a couple road bridges and a golf course, the environment is totally wild and shockingly exotic for north-central Illinois. And yet it is one of the most gorgeous and thrillingly engaging environments we’ve ever had the good fortune to paddle in. Overview: Starting a hundred yards or so downstream from the put-in, the creek begins to shake a leg and then does not quit until about half a mile upstream from the take-out. Meaning, this stretch of Covel Creek is pretty much continuous riffles and rapids for six glorious miles. And it’s one rock wall after another, exposed sandstone, cool fissured slate and Gaudi-esque dolomite – all ranging from 50′ to 150′ high. Weeping seeps and elusive springs feed the creek as much as the paddler’s imagination. There’s a stretch or two on the left where alluring woods with deep rolling hills go on and on, beguiling the paddler to get out of the boat and go wander around. Add an impressive smattering of cool wildlife – eagles, owls, deer running along ridges – and you get just about everything you’d want from creek paddling. Following a bizarre repository of industrial plumbing fixtures on the right bank below the put-in, riffles begin after an eroded sandbank about 30’ on the left. Soon after that, the first of a gazillion rock formations appears on the left, here fissured slits of slate that resemble petrified wood. Tiny islands and small boulders constrict the streambed, which in turn kicks up the rapids. Another tall sandbank will line the left side of the creek again, this one about 50′ high with slate rock accentuations. The boulders will increase in size as does the creek’s gradient, resulting in some really fun rapids (and in our case, a notable mishap). A giant rock resembling a diamond or inverted pyramid is followed by a small intermittent stream, both on the right. Because the banks are at least 10′ high – taller yet with grass or trees – you’ll see only one or two houses on this trip, at least in summertime. You’re never far from fields and backyards, but you almost never see them either. A more rambunctious rapid tumbles next to an attractive rock wall on the right. We scouted this just to be on the safe side. More rock rubble is strewn near an abandoned bridge foundation. Light rapids and awesome rock walls continue. Approaching the railroad bridge a glorious and stupendously tall rock wall lines the left bank, beige and gray, craggy and fissured. More riffles whisk you past a low-lying meadow and then beneath the Highway 23 bridge. Just after the bridge lies an easy 1′ ledge on the right. Just before the bridge at N. 2501st Road, another gloriously tall rock wall lines the left bank, one of umpteen palisades in this 6-mile trip. Just downstream you’ll see the pedestrian/golf cart bridge. You’ll want to pay attention here, as there’s rock rubble everywhere. There used to be a dam, too. In higher water this might be a raucous spot of rapids; when we did it, it was fun but nothing to even bother scouting. At the risk of sounding repetitive, more awesome rock walls continue, now on the right. As do light rapids. Covel Creek really is this glorious and engaging! We had to portage around one tree just around a left bend from the golf course rapids. You can actually see this tree on the satellite map, so it’s probably been there awhile. It’s an easy portage via the left bank. And as soon as you’re back on the water, the light rapids and rock walls are there to greet you. OK, OK. We’ll wrap this up so as not to sound redundant or vain. But seriously, the landscape continues to be wild and the current rambunctious as all get-out. This is true all the way until half a mile (at best) upstream of the take-out (although some of the coolest rock formations do continue until the very end, but not the high cliffs). What distinguishes the second half of this trip, after the golf course, is a deep and totally undeveloped woods on both sides of the river. The left side in particular is wildly beguiling. Timothy got out at the mouth of a creek and hiked up it for about ten minutes, in hopes of finding some waterfalls (which we’d seen from the road during the shuttle), but he never did (and we already were taking a ridiculously long time for such short mileage). The ad hoc hike was a cool little leg-stretch, however. All right, the last mile: dolomite rock formations resembling ancient retaining walls line the creek where rapids rush past. At no point do you ever really relax or take anything for granted. Even towards the end you have to have your paddle-game on and pay attention. But what is more thrilling than negotiating fun rapids surrounded by august geology? But, yes, sigh, the current will finally slow down. Yet suddenly sandstone rock outcrops make a welcome cameo appearance. The most prominent of these is on the far-right, where a modest natural bridge/rock tunnel is found. It’s exceptionally pretty and as perfect a cherry on top of the Covel Creek sundae as can be imagined. More modest rock outcrops on both banks line the now very wide creek all the way to the take-out at the Highway 71 bridge (which are virtually hidden from the highway – it’s as if Covel is purposely hiding its cards). While doing some research, we came to learn that there once was a magnificent stone arch bridge that spanned this stretch but it was (unfortunately) removed decades ago after years of decay.We got out directly underneath the bridge itself, on river-right. From there it’s typical highway access, with a short schlep up a well-trod path through brush back to the road and shoulder above. What we liked: Covel Creek is exactly the kind of creek that keeps us searching for that next great gem. It has a bit of everything but even more than we anticipated with scenery that outdid itself. Plus, the riffles and rapids were just pure fun. What we didn’t like: The put-in is a bit of a shit show. To be fair, when we were scouting it, a truck driving down the road slowed down and stopped to chat with us. Real nice guy, a paddler himself who knew the creek well, who it turned out was also the landowner whose property abuts the creek on the downstream side of the bridge, river-left. He gave us permission to put-in there. Very cool – especially in finicky Illinois, where paddling is sometimes considered trespassing (yes, even if you’re on the water!). The only problem with that approach is the plethora of poison parsnip. Seriously, it was everywhere. Instead, we opted for the upstream side of the bridge on river-left, which probably was another landowner’s property. Here, there’s a feint path leading to the water. There’s parsnip there, too, and who knows what else as well. Just be careful and tread lightly. The access at the water is muddy and a little ugly, but totally worth the inconvenience. (We also considered putting-in at the first bridge upstream of 18th just to add a little more to our trip and also to take advantage of two very alluring ledges 30 yards upstream of our put-in bridge, but there were No Trespassing signs everywhere, so we decided not to chance it. Ill annoyance, indeed!) The main thing we didn’t like? Well, we suffered yet another electronic device casualty on this trip. No, not another camera, not in the conventional sense at least, but a smart phone because of a dumb misread of the current. So here’s what happened (as witnessed by Timothy, who was behind Barry). A sudden ledge funneled a considerable force of water straight into a very large, very immobile boulder. Imagine a driveway apron, where the right side is flat while the left side is steep. That’s what the ledge looked like. In higher water, the right side would’ve been a perfectly viable option to avoid the boulder and there’d have been no incident or anything to think about. But in the low water that we experienced, the right side was too shallow to paddle. That left a choice between running the funnel without running into the rock, or portaging the shallows. Bear in mind, this was a split-second decision – Barry ran the funnel… and ran right into the rock. Bear in mind too that our crossover kayaks are 10’ long. While shorter and nimbler than conventional recreation kayaks, 10’ and 200 lbs (boat + body) is a lot to turn on a dime in a pushy current. The upshot was Barry went sideways, took on water in mere seconds and took a bath. As did some of his belongings – the most notable of which was his phone. So we spent a good 20 minutes bent over with our hands scouring the streambed for a phone under rocks, in shallows, behind plants – anywhere a thin piece of shiny silver plastic could’ve been lodged – all to no avail. A huge loss, financially, circumstantially, pragmatically; contact numbers, photos, music, etc. So we began bailing out his boat, which at this point weighed several hundred pounds with all the water inside the cockpit. To make a short story long, while tipping the boat this way and that to shake out the excess water from every nook and cranny, low and behold the hidden phone slid out from underneath the foot brace/bulkhead. To be sure, it was a ruined device (amazingly, it still held power after being submerged for quite some time, but it was hot as hell until it finally gave up the ghost). Luckily for him, the AppleCare he bought to cover his penchant for cracked screens, covered the replacement. Lesson learned: electronics and water do not a good combination make (but we knew that already – Timothy has destroyed two flip phones as well as two cameras while accidentally combining gadgets with H2O). The better lesson, realistically, was in reading the river (well, that and putting your damn stuff inside a dry bag or buying a frickin’ phone case – you do kayak, right?!). We should’ve portaged/walked the boats over the shallows and avoided the rock outright. But that’s what’s counterintuitive sometimes when paddling rapids in low-water conditions: on one hand, it’s essentially safer than when the water is high because it’s easier to control your boat; but on the other, it’s hard to avoid getting caught in shallows when water from behind you continues to rush forward and knock you over or trap you sideways. The point is never to underestimate the awesome power of moving water, whether a stream is high or low. Each condition has its own hazards. It’s worth noting that it took us 4.5 hours to paddle 6.5 miles. And that’s 6.5 miles of rapids, no less! True, we ate a good 30-45 mins with the capsize debacle. And we lost time when Timothy searched for elusive waterfalls in the woods. Additionally, we did scout a few of the drops to avoid another accident. And there was at least one portage around a fallen tree. But still. Not that we were in a rush (clearly!), but 4.5 hours in 6.5 miles is almost intentionally slow. Yet, if ever there was a stream to take your time on for the sheer magnificence of its natural beauty, it’s Covel Creek. What gave us a humbling chuckle was that it actually took us an hour longer to paddle this 6.5-mile trip than the 13 miles on Big Bureau Creek the day before! That’s an hour longer for a trip that is half the mileage! It’s relative, though. ( We’ve commented on this before, on a previous trip in Illinois, so kindly forgive the redundant rant. But “2501st Road”? Really? That’s the best name someone could come up with? Not to be confused with 2500th or 2502nd? In the Illinois heartland, of all places. We understand the function of numerical streets in a city – the Bronx in New York goes as high as the 240s. But A) that’s New York frickin City, and B) the 200s is nothing as ludicrous as the 2000s, let alone when that two-thousand five hundred and first road is in the middle of corn and soybean fields! We’re not expecting romantic monikers the likes of “Tchoupitoulas” in New Orleans or La Cienega in Los Angeles. But a numerical road name in the middle of nowhere is not just a preposterous disconnection from wherever ground zero is a million miles away, but it’s a squandered opportunity too. You could name a road “Broolopadoo” or “Skwayforth” or anything. Or name it after whatever German or Norwegian first settled the land, Schmidt or Olsen. But 2501st Road? Come on! Pretty much anything would be better than that!) If we did this trip again: We’d do this trip again in a heartbeat – a fluttering, puppy love heartbeat at that – only difference is next time we’ll wait until the creek is higher. While certainly runnable, we did scrape here and there, and even had to walk a couple short but too-shallow sections. And then of course, there was the phone vs. rock debacle that we’ll prepare for next time… *************** Related Information: General: American Whitewater Guide: Canoeing Adventures in Northern Illinois by Bob Tyler Video: Tom Lindblade Miles Paddled Video: Photo Gallery:
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure here. Find the Sunday insert preview 02/12 below. You will get (3) inserts in your paper. Be on the lookout for: (1) Smart Source (2) Red Plum Remember there are differences between every city and the coupons you get will vary somewhat. Check back next Wednesday to get the exact list of what came out in your area. Look at the insert schedule for 2017 if you are curious about future dates. Please note that the coupons for the two Red Plum inserts have been combined into one list below. 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(exp 4/9) .75/1 Pillsbury Pizza Crusts, 11-13.8 oz (Publix Coupon) (exp 3/1) $1/2 Pillsbury Ready to Bake Cookies, 11-16.5 oz (Publix coupon) (exp 3/1) $1 off Playtex sport or gentle glide tampons, 16-ct.+ (exp 3/26) $2 off Playtex sport pads, liners or combo packs, excl 20-ct. liners (exp 3/26) $2/4 Powerbar bars (exp 5/12) $2/2 Powerbar clean whey bars (exp 5/12) $1.50 off Publix Shredded Cheese 16 oz, WYB (4) Progresso Broth 32 oz, Progresso Bread Crumbs 15 oz, or Hunt’s Tomatoes 14.5-29 oz (Publix coupon) (exp 3/1) $1/2 Revlon hair color products (exp 2/26) $3 off Revlon lip cosmetic product, excl Kiss Balm (exp 2/26) Free Rhinocort allergy spray 60 or 120 spray up to $25.99, WYB (1) Zyrtec product 70-ct. (exp 2/26) $4 off Rhinocort regular or children’s allergy spray, 60-120 sprays (exp 3/12) $4 off Schick disposable razor pack , excl 1-2 ct. 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The Bluff View Guide to Climbing on Cayman Brac January 2015 edition This guide is offered to you free of charge and I hope it serves you well. I would like feedback whenever you discover an error, omission or get horribly lost trying to find a climb. Feedback on grades and quality ratings are greatly appreciated. I have tried to make the grades consistent but you know how that goes. What I desire most is that you are able to find the climb you’re looking for and then have the right gear with you. You can contact me at [email protected]. Route Overview There are now a total of 80 routes on the island from 5.6 to 5.13, with the bulk being tens, elevens and twelves. There are several open projects in the 13-minus range. The rock is mostly clean pocketed limestone but Spot Bay is also rich in stalactites and flowstone. I’ve used a four-star rating system to give visiting climbers a rough idea of a route’s quality. As always, take difficulty ratings with a grain of sea-salt. One day conditions will be crisp and a route will feel easy at its given grade; another day, if it’s receiving sea-spray, the route may feel “smarmy” and hard. In general it’s best to climb directly over the bolts, or very near them, even when it looks easier to the side (it’s usually not). Don’t dive head-first into caves along the route: cave floors are often fine silt, a sticky dry lubricant. Climb on the outside edges. Climbing Gear There is no climbing shop on the island, so bring everything you’ll want, especially extra chalk. All routes are fully bolted so you don’t need to bring traditional climbing gear. You might want to bring some more comfortable shoes for climbing at the Point. You’ll need a rap rope and a lead rope to climb at the Point. Rap ropes are usually available in the shed at Bluff View but check with me first. Leaving your old rope for others to use is appreciated and leaves room in your baggage for souvenirs. The longest route requires 19 quickdraws. Six to eight shoulder-length slings with biners will be useful. Ascending devices (prussik, Tibloc, Ropeman) must be taken on all routes at the Point. Due to hard starts and bad landings, a stick-clip is recommended for many of the routes! If you’re staying at Bluff View, a painter’s pole with a standard thread is available so you can just bring the “head”. If you are staying elsewhere bring tape, since there’s almost always a tree branch at the base of the routes and you can tape a quickdraw to the branch. When you get back home, wash all your gear (rope, harness, quickdraws, Gri-gri, etc.) in fresh water to get the salt off. Other Important Gear I strongly recommend sturdy hiking boots and a pair of leather gloves to protect your feet and hands for the approaches and while belaying. There are all manners of cactus, yucca, thorns and sharp rock, and lots of vines waiting to trip you and end your climbing trip with a lacerated hand or foot. Gloves and boots that cover your ankles will be welcome when crossing the sharp ironstone. Donaldson Don’t be dismayed by the sharp quality of the rock you are walking on, the rock you’ll climb on is much friendlier. Bring a foam pad to sit on to change shoes, have a bite to eat, admire the sunset, etc. Wear a sun-hat that has a brim all the way around (not a ball cap), sunscreen, and always climb in the shade. Bolts As you probably know, the original stainless steel bolts are seriously corroded and no longer safe. It is pretty much certain you will be seriously injured or killed if you trust any of the old bolts. I’M NOT KIDDING! If you break off an old bolt or hanger with your fingers (not that unusual) you can take it home for a souvenir. The Titanium bolts we are now using were developed specifically for the harsh environment on Cayman Brac and are now being used in many other places around the world. After 14 years the titanium bolts show absolutely NO signs of corrosion, have been fallen on many times and will provide safe climbing for centuries to come. A Ti in the route description means the route has titanium bolts and is safe to climb. For clarity, the old steel routes are not included in this guide except for historical or location reasons. Retreat If you lower off the middle of a climb do not leave anything on the bolts! Steel “quick-links” rust shut in days and carabiners last a few weeks before the gates can’t be opened. These can only be removed with a hacksaw! All titanium bolts can be directly threaded with the rope so you can lower off without leaving anything, just like you do when threading the anchor. You can easily thread two sequential bolts in the middle of a route for redundancy without going off belay. Climbing Areas The guide is organized starting at Love Shack and progresses counter-clockwise around the island. Routes over land are listed in the order you approach them looking at the rock. Routes requiring rappel access are referenced right-to-left, while looking towards the ocean. LOVE SHACK WALL Located on the South Side Road, 2.7miles (4.3km) east of the Ashton Reid Road (a.k.a. the Bluff Road), it is easily identifiable from the road by its left angling crack. It’s a three-minute walk from Bluff View. Shade about 4pm in March, noon by mid-May . Steep, white, clean, pocketed rock. Routes are listed left to right. A stick-clip is recommended. Parrot Trooper Ti, 12c/d 4 bolts + anchor, stick clip. A hard boulder problem start (finger size dependent) leads to a rest and tough technical finish.. Use pockets at the start and cross the crack near the finish. LG & JE Cayman Daze Ti, 13b 6? bolts + anchor. Unblemished, marble-like stone. Climb small, technical holds to 11+ exit moves. Open project. VW Cayman Nights Ti, 12c 6 bolts + anchor. Powerful dynamic moves on perfect rock. MS STARGAZER WALL About 35m east of Love Shack, or a two minute walk west of Bluff View, is a stellar panel of marble-like white stone. It has a conspicuous round cave at the top with a tree growing out of it (photo). Shade about 3:30pm in March, 2pm in April. A cairn marks the start of the trail which snakes through the vegetation and between two boulders to avoid the evil velcro bushes. A stick clip is highly recommended. These routes would all have four stars if they were longer! Betelgeuse Ti, 9+ 7 bolts + anchor. (a.k.a Not so Sirius) Stem, bridge and mantel up the obvious dihedral until some airy moves allow you to join Sirius for the last two clips. Venturing into the black rock on the left will get you a taste of Orion’s sword. Best route of its grade. JB 2011 Sirius Ti, 11d/12a 6 bolts + anchor. Start from either side and power up big pockets for two bolts then crank continuous thin moves to a Thank-God pocket. JB 2011 Canopus Ti, 11a 6 bolts + anchor. This jewel of a route starts at the blocky dihedral on the right side of the wall. The big flake is solid. JB 2011 THE ORANGE CAVE This large area is broken into 4 sectors: 1) the Orange Cave itself, 2) Theology, 3) Orange Streak and 4) Seahorse. Park at the East end of the South Side Road where there’s a sign for The Great Cave. Hike about 4 minutes further east along the iron shore until you’re opposite the Orange Cave (cairn), then hike up to the base; maybe 10 minutes total. Shade about 2pm in March. When the wind is strong, sea spray can make the holds slippery like wet soap. If the wind dies, the next day it can be dry and crisp. Routes listed left to right. A stick clip is useful. Sector Orange Cave Chum Buckets Ti, 10b 5 bolts + anchor. The left-most route starts outside the left side of the cave. Big moves on big holds leads to thoughtful climbing on the headwall. The very first route on the Brac. SH CAUTION: When lowering and cleaning, or top roping Goin’ to Cayman or Orange Fantasea, be very aware that rope-stretch may cause a swinging climber to crash into the boulders. One look should convince you to. Climbs out right of the cave. After a difficult crux to get past the first bolt, style your way to the anchors. SH Boy Georange Ti, 8 5 bolts + anchor. Was that a Karma Chameleon? Stick clip #1. Better than it looks with the crux at the last move. JB & VW 2011 Lord Slime Ti, 7+ 4 bolts + anchor. Lots of options until the steep finish. Don’t be fooled, even though it looks blank, climb directly over the last bolt. JB & VW 2011 Sector Theology The following routes are 200′ (60m) East of the Orange Cave at a low roof. Ick! Theology! (I’d Rather Study Cod) Ti, 10b 9 bolts + anchor. After piling cheater stones as high as your conscience allows, boulder past a bolt, pass a small cave, then haul steep jugs to the top. EH/SB/AP 2000 Nameology Ti, 10c. 8 bolts + anchor. Aharder boulder problem than Ick! makes stick clipping #2 a smart move. The climbing above is really Fake Left, Move Right Ti, 10d. 7 bolts + anchor. Start just left of the cave for a little March Madness. Juke, bob and weave your way up white rock with hidden pockets. Spicy, so have an alert belayer! JB 2012 Sector Sea Horse This new sector (2014) is located just past the “Sea Horse,” a 40-foot freestanding tower that sits near the ocean. Park as for Orange Cave, at the end of the South Side Road. Hike past First Cay (see photo below) to the bottom of the Seahorse. Scramble up left of the Sea Horse and pass above it (best if the low-passage is being slammed by waves) or pass below it and then scramble up. The first climbs are directly above the point where the approach options converge; about 20 minutes from the parking. The first two routes start on a small terrace left of an orange undercut section of wall that contains a multi-tiered cave system. Climbers on Bananaquit (left) and Flying the Colors with the Seahorse Pinnacle behind them. (Donaldson) Bananaquit Ti, 7. 11 bolts + anchor. Excellent, moderate climbing but perhaps a bit long and adventurous to be a good beginner’s lead. Climb carefully up sharp rock for a few bolts—do not fall on this terrain!b. 12? bolts + anchor. Start a few feet right of Bananaquit and climb sharp, low-angle rock for a couple of bolts, then surmount a bulge and mantel onto a ledge. Overcome the undercut above (easiest on the right), then maneuver through steep and colorful panels (5.10) to a final headwall. Make some crux reaches up and right to more plentiful holds on the wildly exposed prow. JA 2014 Anemone Ti, 13? (open project). 15? bolts + anchor. This starts from the highpoint of the boulder pile to the right of the undercut orange cave, starting in spiny gray rock, up nice-looking pockets, then out a colorful overhanging wall. A pretty line that still needs some cleaning, but it is a bit too easy at the bottom and too hard (and sharp) at the top to be classic. JA 2014 THE WAVE WALL The Wave Wall is 15 minutes of walking past the Orange Cave (25 minutes total) and offers a wide variety of long, high quality routes. Unfortunately, it is only approachable during calm seas. Boots and gloves recommended for this approach. Goes into the shade about 2pm in March. Since carrying a stick on this approach is difficult, the first bolt will be reachable from a good stance. Park as for Orange Cave (East end of the South Road) and hike east to First Cay which has a sharp, pointy top. Pass above it, then below a pinnacle that looks like a seahorse. Here is the first test: if you can’t pass below the seahorse, even by timing your crossing between waves, then you won’t be able to cross the sloping shingle beyond either. Once past the seahorse pinnacle scramble through a boulder field at mid-height and come to a section of sloping rock with the overhanging wall on the left and the water on the right (photo). Even moderate waves can make this section extremely dangerous! Do a 3rd class (sometimes 5th class!) traverse to the last large shelf (~100m). Routes listed left to right. The approach to Wave Wall during moderate seas. When the waves are breaking high enough to wet the dark rock, it is close to suicide to try this approach. (Kirk Donaldson) The Huckster Ti, 12c/d 6 bolts + anchor + belay bolt. The first route you come to starts about 50′ past the stalactite pillar (photo). Very steep climbing with big holds (and even bigger reaches) leads to a tricky crux layback sequence past the last bolt. A sporty runout on good pockets takes you up and left to the anchor. On you the whole way! JE Pirates of Pissants Ti, 12d. 6 bolts + anchor. Powerful, continuous pockets on a steep, white shield of rock. perfect thread and a flat spot for your belayer’s feet. Anchor your belayer here with some long runners. Traverse left to the first bolt then climb a panel of perfect white stone. After a rest, climb the white pillar on either side (left is harder). JB 2014 Blackened Durgon Ti, 9+. 11 bolts plus anchor. What’s for dinner? Start at a 5′ long caymanite band and climb to a big roof/bulge. Stay left of the bolts until you get a letterbox hold at the top of the caymanite cave, where you can clip and sneak right around the roof. (Going right earlier is a little easier but is sharp.) This route is loaded with fossils and caymanite. A new-style titanium anchor is at the top. Lemme know what you think of it. JB 2014 Recognize the next two climbs by the vertical, white rock which leads into a shallow alcove, then up to a scooped dark roof, and then over this to a vertical. A short extension to Reef on This and Parrot Preserves which will get you to the top of the bluff and within 15 minutes of the Spiral Staircase area. A 60m rope will just barely get you down (tie a knot in the end) or rap twice using the Ray’s Gar and Krill anchor. EH Ray’s Gar and Krill Ti, 8. 3-4 bolts + anchor. Climb either Reef on This or Parrot Preserves to the two-bolt anchor below the big overhang. EH , 11a. 12 bolts + anchor. Start long sling or double draw for the bolt in the cave. SH Hang Ten Ti, 10d. 9 bolts + anchor. A difficult start leads to a good rest. Use it; it’s pumpy the rest of the way to a difficult blind finish! following three routes start require a via ferrata-like traverse. There’s a fixed rope but you should belay each other too as the integrity of the fixed rope cannot be guaranteed. Stay low at the start following a line of footholds (5.4). When lowering and. Belay your partner to the third bolt of the via ferrata, about 40 feet right of Old School, to a stance just big enough for him and a flaked rope. Start with some tricky moves out right, some good pockets, then another tricky move to reach the first overhang. Yard out on some great holds to a rest, then yard some more on sharper holds to finish. The rappels present unusual challenges for many climbers, especially since most of them overhang and you’ll be rappelling on a single rope. I suggest you use the following time-tested procedures. First of all,) Slide a piece (or two) of garden hose (in the shed at Bluff View) over one end of your rappel rope and then anchor it to a tree or thread on the top of the bluff. Then tie a figure-8 on a bight with enough slack for the knot to hang about 2′ below the bolt anchor that’s over the edge of the cliff. Use a locking biner on your belay loop to clip into this knot and you’ll be protected while you down-climb to the anchor. Slide the hose into position to protect the rope from any sharp edges and/or stuff some other padding under it. Don’t throw the rope yet. Down-climb to the anchor and clip two quickdraws to the bolts. Now clip directly into the bolts using two runners girth-hitched to your harness (not on your belay loop). Leaving about 10′ of slack between knots, tie another 8-on-a-bight. Clip this knot to the quickdraws in the anchor. Move your runners down, one at a time, to the bottom biners on the quickdraws; this gives you enough slack to get on rappel. Now you’ll be hanging from the quickdraws and you can unclip from the safety knot. Ann has down-climbed to the anchor, clipped to the bottom biners (red & blue runners) and is about to unclip from the safety knot. Note the piece of garden hose protecting the rope. (Donaldson) Clip the free end of the rappel rope to the back of your harness to keep it out of the sea. Now you can toss the rope and get on rappel in the normal way. The slack you left between knots allows your partner to pull up the safety knot, clip it, and down-climb to the anchors while you’re rappelling. Depending on your rap device, you may want to add friction to the system. Add a second biner. (Time to get out the ascenders!) When the first person gets to the belay anchors, they clip-in using the slings girth-hitched to their harness. Then unclip the rap-line from the back of your harness and clip it into the anchor too. The second person unclips the rap rope from the draws as they descend and may end up hanging over the sea. The first person then pulls them into the belay. NEVER use a long (e.g. 70m) rope, do a double-rope rappel and pull it down to use for leading. Having a fixed rope is essential for self-rescue (prussik, Tibloc, Ropeman) if for any reason you should not be able to climb the route. Usually there are rappel ropes you can use in the shed at Bluff View, so you only need bring a lead rope.. - Am I leaving everything I don’t want? Such as sunglasses and hat (you’re rapping into the shade). I stuff my hat and glasses into a convenient hole so I can put it on while belaying my second and not get sunburned. After the leader reaches the top of the climb, they should belay from the anchors below the rim to avoid running the lead rope over any sharp edges. Since it’s often difficult to hear each other, the leader can pull up the rap rope to signal ”Off Belay”. Afterwards, I use 3-tugs for ”On Belay” and a 2-tug response for ”Climbing.” 2014) an extra draw or two. Brown Boobie Birds The Brown Boobie is a rare,, then move slowly to the anchors, they’ll usually squawk at you but not flush. You don’t want to flush the parent leaving the egg/young unprotected for a long time. If the parent flushes, they will usually return immediately if you move away (i.e. get on rappel over the edge). Obviously, you don’t want to walk through a nest. Use good judgement. EDD’S PLACE (aka The East Bluff) Historically this area hasn’t seen much traffic due to the difficult long approach. However this year, 2014, a new road has been cut on top of the bluff that puts you within a 15 minute walk to the top of the wall. Boots and gloves are recommended. Shade about 1:30 in March. Take the Lighthouse Road to Peters Road which previously only went left. Note your odometer reading and turn right onto the new road (which may be renamed someday). Drive 2.0km (1.24 miles) to a pull-out on the right and park. Walk further down the road about 200m and find a cairn that’s about 50 feet off the road on the right. Walk straight out to the cairn, then angle right at about a 45-degree angle towards the bluff edge. Spiral Staircase is between some large bushes that grow right on the edge of the bluff. There’s a cairn and a new yellow tag (2014). (You can actually see the top of Spiral Staircase from the parking spot, but heading straight at it is practically impossible on foot.) . Pre-clip the first bolt while still on rappel to obviate a factor-two fall onto the belay. Smooth pocketed rock leads to a cave. Climb back out and ascend the spiral staircase, or crank straight over obviate a factor-two fall.. Boots and gloves highly recommended for these approaches! Routes listed right to left as you look towards the water. Look for tortugas and dolphins while you belay! Shade almost all day in winter, starts to get sun at the top in late-March. By May there’s shade on most routes by 3pm. What’s the Point? Ti, T, 5.9 2/13/2. From the first cairn angle hard right (easiest walking) to the very NE Point of the island. A little run out if 9 is your limit, and sharp at the top, but an impressive position. Anchors are over the edge on a slab. Beware the waves! One day a wave broke OVER my belayer, like a surfer in the tube, and left her scared but dry! GB **Freedom Ti, T, 12c 2/17/2. About 25’ crux.; don’t give up…hidden buckets just when you need em’! and pull over the first bul The Wall of Early Morning Flight a whirlpool effect and rouge Spine-less Ti, T, 11d 2/15/2 Top anchor bolts are just right of the large bush, on the right side of a triangular ledge, just below a 4-inch overlap. Shares both the Holy Huecos bottom anchor and the Chicken anchor at the top. Travel up incredibly smooth, steep hueco-ed rock. Enter a rest cavern with optional thread. Straight up and out to an incredible tricky thin crispy finish. JE & LG *Chicken of the Sea Ti, T, 12a 2/10/2 Shares Spine-less top anchors. Exposed and sustained! Follow the big holds past the last bolt for a true “photo finish” or head straight for the anchor. Terrific drama on the high seas! Don’t forget to look around at the stunning view, most airy! JE & LG Hot Tuna Ti, 12a 2/8/2 Top anchors easily seen 6 feet left (they’re in a shallow groove off to the left as you face the wall), when it was so slippery it was almost unclimbable. YMMV! Calypso Ti, 11c 7 bolts + anchor. Several cruxes and a throw will sweep you off your feet. LG Booby Eggs for Breakfast Ti, 11a 10 bolts + anchor. Follow the crack to the cave, and then switch gears (shift down for more power!). Bolted a dozen years ago, this route has never seen a free ascent to my knowledge. Shares Poseidon top anchors. Two hard, powerful cruxes getting past big bulges. Open project, don’t leave biners on the bolts! Rebolted 2012. LG Conch-U-Brine; 12?. 8 bolts, 2 ring bolt anchor. LG SPOT BAY Take the North Road to the little town of Spot Bay. The Creek and Spot Bay Junior School is a few hundred yards past the “25″ speed limit sign. Park in the school lot. This area has three Sectors: Dixon’s Wall, Iguana Wall and Pinky’s Buttress. Free hanging stalactites break! Over the years many of the amazing stalactites have been broken off by climbers unfamiliar with this type of hold. This significantly changes the character and grade, as well as diminishing the enjoyment of the climb. If you undercling/pinch a stalactite at its base (top) or pull straight down, it’ll stay there. However, if you grab it at the bottom end, stem at the bottom,. Follow Neptune’s Way, staying on the right near the chicken coops, to reach the wall. Alternatively, walk east from Iguana, 2 minutes. (Note: the last house on the left is owned by Mr. Ernie, who asks that you knock and let him know (if he’s there) that you will be climbing behind his house. Please respect his request.) Morning shade until about 3pm in March. Go right behind the boulder to find: hard boulder problem (V5) leads to excellent climbing on the beautiful orange wall above. Don’t feel bad about just pulling up to bolt #1 and continuing from there for a four-star 11c. The belay bolt holds the rope out of the way for the boulder problem. Unclip it when the climber gets to #2 and you can walk out and see him for the rest of the route. Caution: Due to rope-stretch, falling off the boulder problem while following will cause you to crash into a jagged boulder. Stretch the rope before following! JA 2013 Iguana Wall From Dixon’s Wall (see below) stay relatively close to the wall on a rough trail. Cross a trashy area, climb “up & over” twice past some easy scrambling and a crux cactus (push it away with a stick) to reach the Iguana wall. About 5 minutes. An easier 2 minute walk from Pinky’s Buttress. Only one route at this time but it’s excellent. ***Iguana without a G Ti, 12a 9 bolts + anchor. Starts just right of an obvious rock shelf. Mandatory stick clip. Right knee pad. Powerful dynamic moves between great holds. JB 2013 Dixon’s Wall This wall is world-class. You’ll notice lots of quality stars and it’s no exaggeration. North facing with large trees at the base, it’s shady almost all day. Access to the cliff is through the Dixon’s back yards. Please ask permission (always granted) and chat a bit; the Dixons are all incredibly friendly. Try not to swear loudly if it’s not your day, your voice will carry to the school across the road. The green and white house with white picket fence opposite the school belongs to Mr. Hindenberg “Berg” Dixon. The house just left belongs to his son, Mr. Peter. Walk up to either front door and knock to get permission. Don’t be shy, they really like climbers! Berg’s dog, sarcastically named Hitler, looks scary but is the biggest cream puff you’ll ever encounter. Given a chance he might lick you to death. It’s traditional to call out “Hi, Hitler!” when you see him. Pass between the two houses, duck under the clothes lines and head straight back along a faint trail behind Berg’s house. Step over whatever vines/vegetables they have growing (Pumpkins this year). Don’t wander too far right; there’s an old barbed-wire fence hiding in the weeds. The trail ends at Lizzard the Gizzard. Routes described from left to right when facing the cliff. Wait! Wait! Stop The Bus! Ti, 12a/b 8 bolts + anchor. (Overheard as the school bus pulled away.) The left-most route starts off a flat boulder. A difficult boulder problem (V4) on small pockets right off the deck means stick clipping #2 is a good idea. Pulling up to #2 and then climbing is a nice 10+. SK 2013 **Lizzard the Gizzard Ti, 11d/12a 10 bolts + anchor. Stick-clip the first bolt and climb straight up, or climb in from the left. Fun pocket pulling leads to several powerful sequences through the overhang. This route has spit off many a good climber. JE & LG ( The first route on the wall, Jeff Elison bolted this on lead!) Dixon’s Delight Ti, 11b 10 bolts + anchor. Starts at a small arching roof with an orange flat hold below it. Several rest positions on the lower half makes this a good warmup route. Climb straight over the 4th bolt on hidden pockets. At the top of the vertical section, decipher the moves into overhanging territory. Beware sucker holds at the crux; stay right of the long tufa rail, where the bolt is. JE & LG Flowstone and stalactites are characteristic of Dixons Wall. John tops out Dixon’s Delight. (Donaldson) Hindenberg’s Harmonica Ti, 12b 12 bolts + anchor. The great pockets suddenly give out making bolt #5 hard to clip. From the big lonely pocket decipher the thin, insecure crux and finish on steep tufas and flowstone. MS 2011 Out of Africa Ti, 11d 10 bolts + anchor. One of my favorites, this route has everything. Climb up the grey elephant trunks, decipher the blank-looking mid-section (use the mono) then finish on steep flowstone features. JE Buffalo Soldier Ti, 12a 11 bolts + anchor. Starts just right of Africa on a buffalo nose. Crimp, pinch and pocket your way to a good rest then launch into the powerful, pinchy, pumpy crux moves. Be gentle with the large stalactite on this route! You can undercling at its base, but don’t crank on the end of it. JE Captain Kirk’s First Voyage Ti, 10c 8 bolts + anchor. About 15′ right of Buffalo. Mandatory Stick Clip. Reach the first hold off of stacked blocks then link discontinuous tufas to the anchor. JA & JB 2013 ***Boom Ti, 12a 9 bolts + anchor. About 15′ right of Kirk’s. Mandatory stick clip. Start off the boulder or as many stacked blocks as you need to reach the starting holds. Jump onto the wall and follow a spectacular about 20′ right of Boom below an obvious large stalactite. Left knee pad. Stick clip #1. Use the large pocket and solid white tufa (directly above) to get to bolt #4. Bear-hug the stalactite, step out onto it and climb it on the outside! Excellent movement and amazing holds lead to a sequential crux right at the end. JB 2014. Routes Established by: - George Bracksiek GB 1995 - Jeff “Mort” Elison JE 1995,1996,1997 - Lizz Grenard LG 1995,1996,1997 - Skip Harper SH 1994,1995,1996,1997 - Craig Luebben CL 1995 - Dave Newton DN 1996 - Jonny Woodward JW 1996 - John Young JY 1997 - Susan Bolton SB 1998 - Al Pacifico AP 1998 - Eric Hirst EH 1998, 2000, 2001 - Vance White VW 2000, 2011 - Simone Brisson SRB 2001 - Mike Snyder MS 2011 - John Byrnes JB 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 - Sam Kabota SK 2013 - Jeff Achey JA 2013, 2014
Virgin America gets ready for August opening at SFOJune 25th, 2007 AFTER WAITING nearly three years for approval to launch a new airline, Virgin America chief Fred Reid isn’t fretting about getting a late start on this year’s summer travel season. He’s too busy getting the airline ready to fly, from meeting government requirements to making sure pilots have well-groomed eyebrows. Hiring and training employees is on the front burner for the Burlingame-based low-fare carrier. The airline expects to get a waiver to begin selling tickets later this month for a likely August launch and is busy shoring up the details for takeoff. “Hey, we missed some opportunities, but now we just want to make the most of it,” said Reid, chief executive of Virgin America and a former president of Delta Air Lines. “The delay means more people know about us, and we’re launching with a lot of brand recognition.” Some 75 new pilots, flight attendants and customer service reps were hired one day in early June, not longafter the government approval to fly May 18. With that approval, Virgin America becomes the only major California-based airline in about 20 years. It aims to launch as a key player in the market for flights between the West Coast and East Coast. It will face significant competition at its San Francisco International Airport base from low-fare carriers and legacy carriers such as United Airlines and American Airlines. An atypical orientation New employees rolled through an orientation earlier this month that included a catered barbecue, tours of the new Virgin airplanes and presentations on brand values and airline industry economics. In a large waiting room for new employees, there was a showing of the comedy “View From the Top,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow as an airline flight attendant trying to get a job at a new airline. There were plenty of laughs over the movie, and the mood of the newly hired appeared upbeat and relaxed. The second day of orientation was called “Spa Day” and included manicures, pedicures and free haircuts. “We’re hiring people for attitude and encouraging them to bring their personality with them,” said Todd Pawlowski, senior vice president of airports and guest services for Virgin America. The initial orientation focused on the spirit of the airline and the importance of customer service, Pawlowski stressed. Complicated, technical training was left for later. The airline’s brand recognition is part of the reason Virgin America didn’t take off earlier. The U.S. Department of Transportation and many U.S. legacy carriers were concerned about the foreign ownership interests of British billionaire Richard Branson. He owns a 25 percent stake in Virgin America and also owns Virgin Atlantic Airline, a successful carrier in the European market. Branson also has started record stores and music labels under the Virgin name. With the green light to fly, there’s no panic in the air at Virgin America’s headquarters in Burlingame along Highway 101. People are focused, and the airline is busy complying with the Transportation Department requirements to assure that the airline is only 25 percent foreign-owned, a U.S. law. Already, the Virgin America flair is coming to the surface. For example, there were makeup people at the orientation. Some pilots were “getting their eyebrows done,” said Frances Fiorillo, senior vice president of people and in-flight services. Perks for passengers There will be plenty of pizazz on board, too. A chat room for passengers who want to talk back and forth will be available on the airline’s state-of-the-art entertainment systems. Soft, elegant seats that perform massage, mood lighting, a cornucopia of music and movies, Internet access, and easy laptop plug-ins also will be available. Virgin America will launch its first flight from SFO to New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport. Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C., service is planned in the months ahead. The airline aims to serve as many as 10 cities within a year of operation and up to 30 cities within five years of its launch. Some of those cities could include San Jose, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, Portland and Seattle. “We’re working feverishly, and there’s a lot of anticipation among the new workers,” said the energetic Reid, who will have to step down as Virgin America’s CEO within six months of the May 18 launch approval date. The carrier already had agreed to replace Reid after the Transportation Department expressed concerns that Reid’s ties with Branson were too strong. After leaving, Reid can be a consultant with the airline for another three months. He said the search for his replacement has not yet begun. But the weekly “Critical Path” meetings have begun in earnest. They bring together top executives to discuss progress and stumbling blocks on everything from airline modification to new hires, background checks, government requirements and the start of ticket sales. When the government waiver to sell tickets comes through, Virgin America will put 1 million seats on sale for flights over the next four or five months. Takeoff will come within 35 to 50 days of the waiver, Reid said. “A big question is how different the product will be compared to the competition,” said Doug Abbey, an airline consultant with the Velocity Group. Plenty of competition There will be “major incumbents” to go up against, including legacy carriers such as United Airlines and American Airlines, Abbey said. Those carriers are likely to match Virgin America’s projected low fares â€” at least at first, he said. There also will be plenty of competition from discount carriers. Indeed, things have changed dramatically at SFO since Virgin America first targeted the airport as its base. SFO was one of the more expensive airports around at the time, dominated by legacy carriers such as United, which operates half of SFO’s flights. Low-fare carriers were not nearly as plentiful back then as they are today at SFO. When it became clear that Virgin America would get government approval to fly, discount king Southwest Airlines immediately announced it would return to SFO. That was after leaving SFO in 2001 over airport costs and delay issues to beef up its operations at Oakland International Airport, where airline costs are lower. Initially, Southwest said it would begin service in the fall. The airline pushed up the service date to August just before Virgin America’s final approval to launch. The other major discounter, JetBlue Airways, kicked off its SFO service in May. Low-fare airline growth That didn’t surprise Reid. He knew they were coming. The growth of low-fare carriers is inevitable, Reid said. In the early ’90s, legacy carriers like United, Delta and American carried 95 percent of airline travelers in the United States. By 2000, low-fare carriers like Southwest had 15 percent of the market, according to Reid. Now they carry nearly one-third of U.S. passengers, he added, and that’s likely to go to 50 percent in the not-too-distant future. “Southwest and JetBlue don’t trouble me,” said Reid, who exudes confidence. “We’re going to create new traffic and win loyal passengers.” Abbey thinks Virgin America will “raise the bar in customer experience.” “They have to hit with a big splash,” he said. “The market they’re coming into is vastly different than 21/2years ago,” said Ronald Kuhlmann, airline analyst with Unisys, an airline consulting firm in Pleasanton. “What would have been a niche spot is not there. They clearly must differentiate themselves.” Virgin America expects to lure customers with low fares, comfortable seats, mood lighting, and over-the-top entertainment and Internet choices. There also will be unique food offerings for purchase on the plane. Basics not ignored, either There also is serious attention to basics, like having clean airplanes, taking off and landing on time, and having a fast turnaround, Reid said. “I’m aware of the pitfalls of coming in with sexy looks,” Reid said. “If you have great TV channels, great food, a cool Web site, mood lighting â€” all that is not good enough unless the basics are right, and we’re sober about that.” Travelers looking for low fares appear to embrace Virgin America and are likely to give it a try. “When I travel I want the best deal, with the most service and quality for the money,” said Eric Doyle, a Menlo Park engineer who just made a weekend trip to Seattle. “I like having more low-fare choices, and I like it that they’re going to have a business class available.” To make sure its home base is in order, the airline is meeting frequently with SFO officials, negotiating the airport lease, developing emergency plans, establishing where to fuel airplanes, where maintenance will be done and other procedural items. “There’s a thick book of questions,” SFO spokesman Mike McCarron said. “We’re going through it page by page.” The recent hires have pushed Virgin America’s employee roster up to 325 people. The company will go to 450 by the launch later this summer, Fiorillo said. From there the airline plans to continue its hiring spree, boosting its Bay Area employee base to 1,000 by the end of the calendar year and adding another 1,000 employees in its second year of operation. “It’s a challenge hiring the right people,” Fiorillo said. “It’ll be a challenge, period,” said Adam Pilarski, senior vice president of airline consulting firm Avitas and author of the new book “Why Can’t We Make Money in Aviation.” “It’s a sexy industry with a lot of glamour, but it’s not easy to make money,” Pilarski said. “Others will want to kill the competition, and Virgin America will have their hardships ahead of them.” An established name Pilarski called Southwest and JetBlue “dangerous competition.” But he thinks all the competition, including the legacy airlines, are afraid of the Virgin brand. “This isn’t California Air,” he joked, pulling a random name out of the air. “Virgin is an established name.” He pointed out that Virgin America’s investors have shown a lot of patience, “because they’re aware of the potential success.” The investors, Cyrus Capital Partners and Black Canyon Capital, initially raised $177 million for the company, and endured the delays as the airline launch dragged on. But Pilarski warned that “people have to show up, the planes have to work and fly on time, service has to be friendly, and you don’t lose the baggage.” “You can’t only be exciting. You have to do the boring stuff, too,” he added. In its favor, Virgin America likely won’t have to face a crippling attack from the legacy carriers, Kuhlmann said. Those carriers are not going to push more seats on the market at discount prices or triple frequent-flyer mileage to lure passengers, he noted. “Legacy carriers are cutting back domestic capacity. They’re focused on making money and not just going after the lowest-fare customer,” he said. “If Virgin America hits a nerve and resonates with customers, they’ll be OK. But if they deliver the same old thing, it will be hard.” Find More Other News : Airline, Airlines Business, Company, Trading & Market
Information Society remixes Strange Names, reunites to record new album It’s been quite a while since we’ve heard anything from the Information Society camp. The genre-breaking, experimental new wave and synthpop band broke out of the Twin Cities back in 1983 and had a successful run on Warner Bros. offshoot Tommy Boy Records throughout the ’80s. But by the mid-’90s the band’s three founding members had parted ways and only Kurt Larson was still recording under the Information Society name. The band slowly regrouped in the mid-2000s, first for an episode of MTV’s Reunited and then for a new album with substitute singer Christopher Anton. And by 2007 all three founding members—Larson, Paul Robb, and James Cassidy—were back on stage again supporting their new album, Synthesizer. But progress on new Information Society material got pushed to the back burner again after Synthesizer, with Robb, Larson, and Cassidy returning to their lives and families in separate West Coast cities. Which makes it all the more exciting to hear that today, with a few recent West Coast shows under their belt, all three founders of Information Society have rejoined forces and begun work on a new album that they expect to be released this spring. I called up Paul Robb at his studio in L.A. this week to catch up. We originally started talking about a new remix of Strange Names’ track “Potential Wife,” which you can hear for the first time right here: But as you’ll see our conversation quickly shifted to talk about the resurgence of ’80s sounds in modern music, his thoughts on the Minneapolis scene, and what we can expect from Information Society in the near future. Local Current: So how did you discover Strange Names? Paul Robb: [Strange Names’ producer] Chris Heideman and I work together in our secret day jobs, Clark Kent style, where we do music for TV, and Chris has become my pipeline to all the groovy things that are going on, especially in Minneapolis. I’m always interested in hearing what projects he’s working on. So when he played me some of the early Strange Names stuff I was very positively disposed towards it, and it kind of seemed like a natural fit to get involved in the project. And remixes seemed like a natural way to do that, especially since we’re not in the same city. It’s easy to do remixes remotely. I love the whole sound of the band. Unlike a lot of indie music that I hear today, they have a healthy respect for pop conventions, which always get me going. Local Current: What was it about “Potential Wife” that drew you to it and made you want to do the remix? I’m a sucker for a well-written pop song, and I think that’s a well-written pop song. It’s interesting, because I do remixes every so often, and sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what I would even do on a given song, what can I bring to it. But on that particular song, it’s almost like I heard what I wanted it to end up sounding like immediately. The very first time I listened through it I said, oh, I know exactly what I want to do on this song. Which is kind of rare, to have that experience. So it was a strong, clear idea from the get-go. And it ended up sounding exactly like what I was hearing in my head. What do you enjoy about doing a remix, as opposed to writing an original song? Remixes are kind of a luxury. We used to complain about remixes, and how people would take our songs and they’d say they were doing a remix and then they’d send it back to us and it’d sound nothing like our music, or anything we would ever do. But as remix culture has matured and grown, remixing is almost like a re-envisioning of a piece of music at times. You have the advantage of being able to take a crystal and grow it in a way that the original artist didn’t envision. So it’s kind of the best of both worlds: you get to do your own thing, and you get to build off a foundation that someone else has started. In that respect, I really enjoy it, because it doesn’t involve the same level of existential terror that you get when you’re staring at a blank sheet of paper or a blank computer screen and saying ‘What the hell am I going to write about now?’ Are you paying much attention to the Minneapolis scene these days? Do you have any thoughts on what’s happening now? My interest is electronic music. I know Minneapolis is not known primarily for that, but just because of my history and my tastes and my style, I’m always interested in what people are doing with electronics. And I do see, in Minneapolis—and I think Minneapolis is the perfect place for this to incubate—a move back towards alternative electronic pop music, if you will. Back in my day, when we were first charting, we were considered alternative. floor sensibility. I’ve seen a number of groups lately in Minneapolis that fit that bill. And it’s kind of exciting. And I know your next question is going to be, well who are those people? And I can’t think of any at the moment. But I have seen some. Both more poppy and less poppy. And with that unique Minneapolis brew of—on the one hand it’s very cosmopolitan, and on the other hand it’s kind of provincial. You get that cultural starvation, it produces some pretty interesting flowerings. That’s interesting that you say that; you’ve given me a lot to think about. Well the thing is, we used to flag on the Minneapolis scene a lot when we first got out of Minneapolis. That was our go-to response: ‘Oh, Minneapolis was so mean to us, nobody liked us. All they cared about was the Replacements and Prince.’ But now, when I look back in retrospect, you can probably only name one or two really interesting bands that came out of New York City or Los Angeles that were not very generic examples of their genre, where a city like Minneapolis, you kind of have to fight a little bit to be heard and to come up with something. I think it breeds more originality. I don’t complain about the Minneapolis scene anymore. I think it’s awesome. I’m curious, with the rise in this nostalgic ’80s new wave and synth sound in today’s pop and indie music, do you have any thoughts on returning to that sound that Information Society was a big part of returning to the forefront? Well, pop music is cyclical, of course. And on the one hand I like it, because I think if you take away all the horrible dreck that was released in the ‘80s, it was actually a very creative time. We benefitted from our forefathers in the new wave and punk scenes, kind of busting open what was acceptable, stylistically. That’s what Ioved about new wave in general; anything was new wave as long as it was strange and new. We didn’t have these rigid genre ideas. We’d listen to the B-52s right next to Soulsonic Force right next to Gary Numan right next to the Residents and DNA or Talking Heads or whatever. And it was all new wave to us. It was only later on when radio started jumping on it that they had to start giving things genre names. But in terms of the ‘80s revival, I mean they’ve been predicting an ‘80s revival for 15 or 20 years now. And it’s funny because every generation sees the previous generation’s music in a different way. We laugh because some of these bands, even going back to a band like the Postal Service, and I love that record—but it Information tried to release a record that sounded like that, no one would take it seriously, and we’d be laughed out of the record company. But because they were already kind of hip twentysomethings, they were allowed to do that, even though to us it would seem like a warmed-over version of what we had already done. But to them it was brand new. So I think that it’s great to hear these sounds coming back. But I will say I’ve never been a fan of retro in the first place. One of the things that made us develop the way we did is that we wanted to sound brand new; we wanted to sound like bands that sound like bands had sounded before. And the bands that we loved sounded like no bands had ever sounded before. Kraftwerk and Gary Numan and DEVO. And the bands that bored us were bands that tried to sound like their heroes from the ‘60s and ‘70s. So I don’t like retro just for the sake of retro. I’m not going to name any names of any particular groups from France, but I don’t need anyone to make any new Nile Rogers records. Because I already heard Nile Rogers’ records. You know what I mean? There’s a fine line between being influenced by a style and just making a tribute record. Your career has had so many interesting twists and turns, from Information Society to South Park and other work writing music for TV. What do you tell people when they ask you what you’re working on? I try not to mention it actually. I try not to mention anything. What I do, my job description, 9-5 on a Monday through Friday basis, is ‘composer.’ But—and this is the Minnesotan in me coming out—I was so embarrassed to ever use that word. Schubert was a composer; I’m not a composer. I just put things together. And I have that same sort of shyness when it comes to talking about my work with anybody on a casual basis. It’s hard to talk about it without sounding pompous, or sounding self-important. So I kind of downplay what I’m working on. But I can say this: For the first time in a long time, I don’t even want to tell you how many years, we’re working on some new Information Society material with all the original members of the band. And it’s super fun. And now we’re long past the time when it was critical to our self image and preservation to have these strong opinions about things, I think that we’re having a lot more fun working together. It’s interesting, because we’re starting to sound like how we always imagined we might sound, but never quite made it. Do all of the Information Society members live in the same place? No. I live here in L.A., in Santa Monica, and Kurt Larson lives in San Francisco, and James Cassidy lives in Corvallis, Oregon, where he is a professor. But we get together quite often. We do all live on the West Coast, so it’s not that big of a deal to get together on a weekend or a couple days here and there and crank some new stuff out. So you’re recording right now? Yep. Matter of fact, Kurt just went back to San Francisco last night. Do you think that you’ll play live shows together? Well, we just played two big shows on the West Coast with Andy Bell and Howard Jones, and that was super fun, because those were acts we grew up listening to. But in general, we play out as often as we can, but it’s not easy. We all have families and lives and stuff like that, and we can’t do what we used to do when we were kids, which was ‘Let’s take three months now and hit the road in a bus.’ But we do as much as we can. Obviously, if we put out a new record in the spring—which is the plan—we’ll have to do some live dates for it, for sure. I know a lot of people in Minneapolis that would be pretty excited if you came back to play here. We played a show in Minneapolis, I think our last show was in 2007, and that was the first time we had played locally in many moons. It was great, it was a big party. I have this fantasy about playing our last show ever—if we were to retire—it would be in the 7th St. Entry, which was the very first place we ever played. So there would be some artistic closure there. But let’s not be morbid. What year was your first show? 1982. I think we opened up for a band called Chuck Wow. It’s amazing that I remember that, but these things were important to us back then. - funoka - joetron2030
You won't see many movie recommendations here, but this is must watch. Recently I discovered perhaps the most powerful documentary on the fashion industry I’ve ever seen. It’s an in-depth look into the production of clothing in the “Fast Fashion” industry, and the profound impacts that the relatively new concept of “disposable clothing” is having on our environment and our communities. It’s called The True Cost. I suggest watching it before buying another piece of clothing. The film starts with some. On Articles of Style we talk a lot about the benefits of buying quality over quantity. Our goal is to help you invest in well-made items that fit you properly and will last you the test of time. We commonly advise our readers to avoid the trap of buying products that are cheaply made or trendy in style – for good menswear rarely needs to be replaced. Today we take a closer look at this concept, by exploring the effects that cheap clothing has on our world. The fashion industry is the second largest polluting industry, behind only the oil industry, and every link in the supply chain contains shocking levels of social injustice. As recently as the 1950s, 95% of the clothing that Americans wore was made right here in America. Today that number is about 3%. The other 97% is outsourced to developing countries around the world. “Fast Fashion” retailers are no longer concerned with waiting for new seasons like “Spring/Summer” or “Fall /Winter” to release new product. Instead, they unveil new products in their stores weekly, if not daily. This means they have dramatically cranked up their production in the past 15 years or so, all in a ruthless attempt to move more cheap product to low-end consumers and increase annual profits for the shareholders. Fashion brands can manufacturer wherever they want, too. And switch factories at any time, for any reason. This means that desperate factories in impoverished countries are forced to compete with each other by continually lowering costs and increasing the burdens placed on the garment workers who have no say or rights in this equation. In order to better understand how the clothes we buy impacts our world, I’m going to attempt to walk you through the lifespan of a typical “Fast Fashion” item, like a shirt from a store like H&M, as we try to calculate the true cost of disposable clothing. THE BURDEN ON FARMERS The story begins with a poor farmer in the plains of Cambodia who produces the world’s cheapest cotton. Yesterday he was delivered his new cotton seeds, loaned to him by the bank that represents the seed company. The farmer can’t plant just any cotton seeds, since only those genetically modified to produce super-dense crops can provide the yields he needs to reach his quotas. In order to reach these yields, however, it’s going to involve a lot of chemical spraying. Using a backpack-mounted sprayer, the farmer coats each of his fields weekly with a mixture of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, all sold to him by the same company that sold him the seeds. These are the same chemicals that, as proven in court, have caused diseases such as jaundice and cancer to the farmer as well as two of his children. He doesn’t make enough money to afford the growing list of chemicals he needs to kill the resilient pests in his fields, let alone health care for him and his family. Eventually he loses every last dollar buying his children’s medications, which, astonishingly, are sold to him by the same company that sold him both the seeds and the chemicals. With his debt and the health of his family becoming more and more overwhelming, the farmer begins to understand why 250,000 farmers in Cambodia have reportedly committed suicided – most of which by way of drinking the very chemicals that caused their health problems and debt cycle in the first place. Nevertheless, despite all of the hardships and a never-ending cycle of poverty, the farmer manages to produce his cotton quota. It wasn’t without plenty of literal blood, sweat and tears. It never is. This cheap cotton is eventually purchased at record-low prices by large textile distributors who weave it into cheap fabrics that are then sold in extreme bulk quantities to low-end super-retailers like H&M and Zara. THE BURDEN ON GARMENT WORKERS This super cheap cotton is then shipped to Dhaka, Bangladesh where it is received by a factory owner who employs 5,000 sewers, 85% of whom are women. These women make roughly $2 a day, for 12 hours of sewing work. There are growing cracks in the walls and every day the workers fear that the building might come crumbling down, as it did last week in a neighboring town. A thousand garment workers were killed that day, even after voicing concerns about the structural stability of the building. Every day this factory produces 180,000 shirts, and dumps 20 million litters of chemicals into the local water supply, which has been causing record levels of disease and birth defects in the local community. The factory owner must stay on top of his workers to make sure they are sewing fast enough to meet the deadline. The most recent order is for half a million shirts at 20 cents each, but they all need to be delivered by the end of the month otherwise the brand can cancel the contract and not pay the factory anything. His investors won’t let him lose another major contract to a competing factory, but he knows that at these rates he won’t be able to pay his workers their full wage. He’s forced to give his sewers a pay cut. This month the sewers will only make $1.80/day, rather than a full $2 – which is already not enough to feed their kids and buy the medication needed to treat their diseases caused by the pollution. When the female workers attempt to unionize and demand a higher minimum wage, the owner and his male staff lock the women in the factory and beat them with their own rusty sewing equipment, including chairs, rulers, and scissors. At the cost of more blood, sweat and tears, the dirt cheap cotton farmed in Cambodia is made into dirt cheap shirts sewn in Bangladesh that are ready to be shipped and sold in America. THE BURDEN OF ADVERTISING The next person in this cycle of garbage and pollution is the one who’s in charge of marketing the shirt to the almighty American consumer. The Cambodian/Bangladeshi cotton shirt arrives on the slow-boat from Asia and eventually reaches the office of GQ magazine. There’s a new unpaid intern in the office working on pulling product for a story called “The Best Button-Downs Under $10”. He’s been chit chatting on the phone all morning with his contact-persons at each Fast Fashion brand who is sponsoring the October issue. Out of the three shirts that are going to be recommended in this story, one has to be H&M, another placement is sold to the GAP Brands, and the intern gets the honor and excitement of choosing the 3rd shirt (but it can’t be from any brand who purchased advertising last month and didn’t re-up for the current issue). He takes photos of the sample shirts on his smartphone and texts them to his boss with some anxiously excited emojis. They debate catchy marketing titles such as “Shirts That Cost Less Than Lunch” in order to satisfy their advertisers and shareholders by convincing their readers that buying this cheap cotton shirt is as fundamental and happiness-inducing as eating a proper meal. The photoshoot for the advertorial story is scheduled for next week, and the expert photoshop re-touchers are already on contract. The H&M shirt will get center position in the story, because they paid the most. As it turns out, the largest expense for a fast fashion brand like H&M is not producing the low-quality garments they sell, but spending on aggressive marketing campaigns to convince consumers that buying more cheap clothing will solve their problems and have them looking like happy European super models. THE BURDEN ON THE CONSUMER Kurt is a DJ and part-time promoter at a couple nightclubs in NYC. He makes $300 when he spins, which is a couple nights a week if he’s lucky. He has student loans and credit card debt, he doesn’t have health insurance, and he’s falling behind on the rent for his Chinatown apartment. But, despite his poverty level, he’s got access to a consolation prize that usually cheers him up. When he buys a brand new shirt at an unbeatable price, he feels like he got a great deal and considers himself happier in the short term. Although, the truth is, he doesn’t necessarily love the shirt he just bought and when he looks at his wardrobe he’s not really sure what his “style” is. It kind of changes with every season, which sometimes gives him anxiety and leaves him wondering what to wear or who he is, even though he’s got an expansive collection of trendy clothing. Nevertheless, Kurt buys the Cambodian/Bangladeshi shirt and ends up sweating through it at his next DJ performance. After a wash it’s just not the same shirt – the fit is off and the collar looks all floppy – so Kurt ends up donating the shirt to charity. He feels like he’s doing a good thing; somebody in need will get to enjoy that used, shrunken shirt. Oblivious to the truth about where that shirt originally came from and all the pain and damage that was caused to produce it, Kurt feels good about his recent donation so he decides to forgo lunch and buy himself another new shirt instead. He still can’t make rent or afford health insurance, but this one has color blocking and studs on it, and it was only $8 added to his credit card debt. This one makes him feel like a whole new man, he thinks. And if he doesn’t end up wearing it, well, he can always just donate it to a “good cause”. THE COST OF RECYCLING Once Kurt tosses the shirt into the local donation bin, it embarks on another epic journey known as the world’s recycled clothing system. This is another insanely labor intensive and wasteful process that uses more energy than it produces. Long story short, only about 10% of the clothes donated to charity are actually sold to vintage, thrift, or second-hand shops for after market re-sale. Kurt’s shirt, like most, was not picked-up for re-sale by a store owner, which means after yet another entire process of shipping and handling, it gets marked as “donation” and gets dumped somewhere in a country like Haiti. Haiti receives a ridiculous amount of recycled clothing. So much, in fact, that it has virtually destroyed the local garment-making industry that was indigenous to the community. Turns out with so much free clothing being dropped into the country all the time, it’s hard to keep people employed sewing new garments. Chances are, with all the abundance of recycled clothing, not even an impoverished person in Haiti is interested in Kurt’s shirt that was worn once and shipped around the world twice. Eventually the shirt is deemed unwearable and is thrown in the garbage. THE BURDEN ON THE ENVIRONMENT It’s important to realize that every step in this process has profound effects on the environment. Farming, manufacturing, transportation, marketing, sales, recycling, waste management – these all require tremendous amounts of energy and release tremendous amounts of harmful bi-products on the environment. Finally, Kurt’s $9 cotton shirt that was worn one time arrives to it’s final resting place. It sits on one of many, many giant landfills which are consuming our earth, polluting our air and water, and killing our wildlife. It is estimated that 40% of these landfills are made up of old textiles used for clothing. As it turns out, when people can wear something one time then throw it out, they do. Like napkins. At alarming rates. The average American throws away roughly 82 lbs of clothing per year…that’s 11 million tons coming annually from the US alone. And it all just sits there, somewhere, on the land, releasing gasses that ruin our planet. IS THERE A SOLUTION? I believe there's a solution. In my opinion, it’s three fold: 1) Educate the consumers. As bloggers with the power of the internet and the ears of consumers looking for advice on buying clothing, it’s our duty to teach people about more than putting together a cool outfit. At Articles of Style we want our readers to invest wisely and develop lasting style, all while preserving the environment and understanding who they’re giving their hard-earned dollars to. Large corporations are not going to stop making cheap crap unless we stop wasting our money on it. 2) Produce quality goods. It’s on fashion brands to produce quality goods that last the test of time. Good design is meant to last, not be replaced after one season, or even worse, one wear. Clothing should never be considered disposable. This is a wasteful way of doing business and it harms every person in the cycle, from the farmer to the sewer to the end consumer. There do exist several forward-thinking fashion companies, as highlighted in the documentary, who use sustainable practices to create their garments – from organic farmers who are paid fair wages, to garment workers who are treated with care and respect, to products that are designed to enhance the life of customers rather than add the burden of storing more worthless junk. 3) Provide transparency. In the digital age, there is no excuse for a brand who produces a product to not be upfront about where and how it was made, and the conditions of those who were contracted to make it. This should be a point of pride for the brand, not a dirty secret. As a consumer, it’s our duty to ask questions and not be fooled by price tags that seam unreasonably low. There are people all around the world who are paying a steep cost in order to sell you that shirt for $9. In conclusion, I believe it is possible for us to slow down the shockingly detrimental effects caused by this new “Fast Fashion” industry, but it’s going to take a lot more education and effort among consumers. To get started, I suggest watching The True Cost. If you’re a fashion enthusiast I have a feeling it will change your life, or at least the way you spend money on clothing. Thanks, as always, for reading. Yours in style, Dan Trepanier
Expecting a baby is one of the most precious and intense moments in life. Every sense and feeling is multiplied and it’s the perfect opportunity to take the time to tune into your body and listen to every little change. This extra-ordinary experience, in every meaning of the term, can lead you to (re)discover yourself, in the most intimate aspects. Tips for pregnant woman - Put yourself in the best position to manage the challenges of pregnancy and enjoy these 9 months The physical, emotional and hormonal changes are extreme during these 9 months, and the question “Is this normal?” often comes along with Motherhood, especially during a first pregnancy. Any little fears or anxiety can darken this dreamy moment. I hear you, not having any point of reference or comparison can be frightening! Wondering “how to have a healthy pregnancy“ and “how to have a healthy baby” are legitimate questions, so let’s try to clear the air. It's now more important than ever to take care of yourself, both physically and emotionally. Learning about your changing body, respecting it and pampering yourself can bring your pregnancy to the next level. Here are some of the keys for your pregnant health! (Click on each title bellow to reveal the drop-down content) + 1. Filter pregnancy advice There are a lot of “do’s and don’ts” out there within the best pregnancy tips people throw at you. Once pregnant, women are often inundated with pregnancy tips and advice. Everyone has an opinion to share, and there are a ton of books and websites out there, many with information that might be useful, but sadly also contradictory information. So how can pregnant women know what and who to believe? My very first tip for pregnancy is to remind yourself to “filter advice”. We often forget that our body is designed to grow and deliver babies. Unless there’s a medical issue, I would recommend you trust your body and the process. Your medical team or midwife are there to guide you with pregnancy advice and support you along the way. Hopefully your partner is there too, and even if he’ll live the pregnancy through you, this is also an intense experience for him. In other words, you aren’t alone so try to find information through the persons you trust and surround you, before trying to dig on the overwhelming world of the Internet. + 2. Fitness and early pregnancy tips The first trimester is the most fragile stage of pregnancy. All the baby’s major organs and systems are formed. This is what I called my “crappy trimester”. Despite the excitement of the pregnancy discovery and first sonogram, the first few months can be filled with fatigue, nausea and vomiting… These feelings can really put a damper on your best intentions to exercise. If you are totally exhausted, it’s important to honor your body and rest. Now isn’t the time to push yourself – learn how to go with the flow and listen to your needs. As your body adjusts to the hormones of pregnancy, there is a good chance that your appetite and energy will come back in the second trimester. So hang in there! I remember days when I only did a few minutes of abdominal breathing exercises and a short walk to get some fresh air and get out of the house. + 3. The truth about exercising during pregnancy Pregnancy tips have changed a lot in the last few decades. For a long time, women were told to not exercise during pregnancy – my grandmother was supposed to stay in bed most of the time and not leave the house. When I was expecting my first baby she told me that lifting my arms could be harmful to the baby… Ha! Not that long ago, pregnant Mamas were not allowed to “lift a finger”. Fortunately the guidelines have changed and unless there’s a known medical issue, exercising is now proven to have huge benefits for both you and your growing baby. Currently, pregnant women are encouraged to accumulate 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity exercise on most - if not all - days of the week in the absence of medical or obstetric complications. However, remember that now isn’t the time to push your limits, and go for a new personal best. I’m always shocked when I see pregnant women running a marathon, doing Crossfit, or heavy lifting during pregnancy. I understand that some Mamas want to prove to themselves that pregnancy or motherhood isn’t going to affect their active lifestyle, but they should remember they are growing a baby… Their body doesn’t need intense hardcore workouts, it needs love and attention. Doing the right exercises can bring your pregnancy experience to a stellar level! Let’s dig into that… + 4. Re-connect with your deep core Focusing on intentionally connecting your deep core to every movement and exercise is so beneficial, especially during these 9 special months. The Pelvic floor, transverse abdominis (the deeper layer of your abs) and diaphragm work together to prevent pelvic floor dysfunction, back pain, severe diastasis recti and other aches and pains. Since most of us aren’t connected to (or even aware of) our deep core in everyday life, reconnecting can take some time and practice to become familiar. Practicing abdominal breathing exercises daily is the best way to (re)discover your pelvic floor, and get in touch with your diaphragm. Anti diastasis recti exercises are incredibly beneficial to everyone, but especially to expecting women and new moms. + 5. Stretching – What about the abs? Daily stretching plays a big part in your wellbeing during pregnancy as well as in your recovery after pregnancy. It’s a perfect way to stay in touch with your body and helps it adapt to its growing shape. The weight on your spine, hips, and belly affects your movements and breathing freedom. Gentle stretches can prevent a big ab separation, allow you to breathe more easily, move better and feel better. So, should you stretch your abs or not? A quick answer is YES, but stay conservative. Your growing baby is pushing behind your ab mid-line. If you continue strengthening and tightening your abs, or if you forget about your posture, then your abs will need to separate width-wise to create some space for baby. However, IF you mind your posture and put your usual ab exercises on hold and gently stretch your abs, then you are actually helping your ab muscles to stretch lengthen-wise and limit the ab separation. Remember that the hormone Relaxin relaxes your ligaments naturally, so don’t go too deep into the stretch. It should always feel good and never initiate contractions! + 6. The too often missing piece: Posture! Posture works hand in hand with your deep core. If your posture is correct then your breathing, pelvic floor and abs can function properly too. Learn from my mistakes… I skipped all the pages of my pregnancy guides talking about posture during my first pregnancy. You know… I wanted real exercises! Working on the posture sounded boring to me… What a mistake! Because I had neglected my posture on daily basis I had developed pretty bad back pain, pelvic floor issues, and a diastasis recti! All of this could have be minimized or avoided if I had done the correct things. I was thinking of my body as a machine that could be repaired by a good chiropractor… I was completely off track. The way we get up from bed, stand, walk, sit at a desk, sit on the couch, lie down on a yoga mat… and all the things we do without consciously thinking can have harmful effects or beneficial effects. Minding your posture and building new habits can take some time and effort but it’s so worth it! Simple changes can alleviate aches and pains, limit your ab separation (and even stretch marks!), allow you to breathe properly and tremendously increase your wellbeing! + 7. Let’s talk about breathing… As we mentioned earlier, abdominal breathing exercises are fantastic, but proper breathing patterns during your daily life can make your pregnancy experience so much enjoyable. As you go further into your pregnancy, your baby and uterus will take up more and more space in your rib cage, pushing on your diaphragm. Many women become shallow breathers at this time – in other words, they breathe high into their chest instead of breathing fully and using their diaphragm optimally. Doing so can have a negative impact on your physical, mental and emotional state. If your posture is correct, then you’ll be able to breathe lower, into your belly as well. Your belly should move on the exhale and inhale. Even if your lung capacity has diminished you can still use your diaphragm effectively and greatly decrease your levels of stress and anxiety. Your posture and breathing patterns are key to feeling your best and living a healthy pregnancy. + 8. Listen to yourself You may experience good days and bad days. It’s important that you become able to recognize the difference between “I’m too lazy to exercise” and “My body is telling me to rest”. There are some days when you’ll feel fatigued and you’ll need to accept it. Your body simply tells you to rest. Gentle exercise can help to revitalize you, but keep in mind to workout at a level that reflects your energy and motivation that day. + 9. Make the time to relax Easier said than done right!? Being able to relax may require an effort to disconnect from your busy life and simply focus on yourself, on your breathing and on the baby. Note that despite all your efforts, if your posture isn’t correct you won’t be able to breathe properly. Find your favorite positions to let go of the tensions, the stress and relax both your body and your mind as you breathe freely. If you’re into mediation, go for it! It’s such a great way to connect with your breathing and baby. Also note that the more tense you are, the more painful contractions will be during labor. Being able to relax will have tremendous benefits once baby’s ready to meet you. + 10. Sooth Pain and discomfort If pregnancy is a wonderful and magical time, it’s also a long haul of wild and wonderful aches, pains, and discomforts for many of us. Morning sickness, sleep issues, heartburn, leg cramps, back pain, groin pain, swollen feet, varicose veins, hemorrhoids,… Ha! Yes, the joys of the pregnancy! The list goes on and on. Nine months can sometimes feel like an eternity, but we need time to create life. Remember, when you finally get to meet that sweet little part of you, these discomforts will melt away. The good thing is that exercising, stretching and good posture can help improve most of your discomforts tremendously! + 11. Optimal weight gain Gaining weight is not avoidable of course, it’s a healthy part of the whole deal! If you gain too little weight during pregnancy, you may have a higher risk for a premature delivery and a low birth weight infant. However, if you gain too much weight during pregnancy, it can put you and your baby at risk, and it will be more difficult to lose the weight after your baby is born. Most women who gain the suggested amount of weight lose it with the birth of the baby and in the months that follow. Start by determining your Body Mass Index (BMI). It will give you some baseline information in order to figure out how much weight you should ideally gain during pregnancy. Click here to learn) + 12. Drink water and mind what you eat Choosing healthy, nutritious foods will help ensure the health of you, and your baby. As you must already know, water is essential to keep everything functioning well in your body and your baby’s body. It helps the body absorb essential nutrients into the cells and transports vitamins, minerals and hormones to the blood cells and ultimately to your baby. Fluid needs increase during your pregnancy and I recommend you aim for 2-3 liters a day (8 glasses of 8-10 ounces). Fluids such as milk, juice and other non-caffeinated drinks also count toward your daily fluid requirements. Prioritize water and try to space out your sips to keep them coming steadily throughout the day. I love fresh fruit infused water, it continues to help me drink enough during the day even now. It’s important to note that if you feel thirsty, it’s a sign that your body is already on its way to being dehydrated. Now, what about food? With all the information out there about diet and nutrition it’s easy to become confused by it all. In a nutshell, a healthy lifestyle can be defined by three words: Balance, Variety, and Moderation. If you’re searching for detailed information about pregnancy and nutrition, I highly suggest you visit The “Daily Food Plan for Moms”, created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It’s a free online resource that provides tools for building an eating plan for pregnant and lactating women. It’s a gold mine of information and healthy tips. Pregnancy Tips to bring these few months to the next level and be able to get back in shape quickly and easily I hope these few healthy pregnancy tips help you to understand what’s best for yourself and your baby during this special time. Changing habits can be tough, but pregnancy is the perfect time to reset and focus on yourself. Your mental health and wellbeing are as important as your physical health for the development of your growing baby. These tips for a healthy pregnancy can put you in the best position to manage the challenges of pregnancy. So, allow yourself to feel good in your pregnant body, and simply learn the way to fully inhabit this temporary shape. Making the most of these 9 months with these tips and then starting safe postnatal exercises will help you recover quicker and better after baby arrives. Enjoy this time and revel in the fact that a woman’s body is truly amazing!
I have tried – really tried – to publish every day. I just have too much going on (poor me). I often have nothing to write about but it just seems like I should. I do write almost every day but publishing is another thing entirely. You should see the backlog of unpublished drafts. Sometimes I don’t publish because forced writing comes across as bitter or venomous and I just keep those to myself. Today I want to write about writing. I was speaking with someone recently and I said, “You know how you sit and write about 5,000 words then look back over it a couple of times and still miss mistakes? Drives me bananas.” She looked at me like I was bananas. I guess writing 5,000 words is a big deal from her perspective. I try to break up lengthy essays into multiple posts on my blog because I think it’s impolite to ask you to spend all day reading my nonsense as you flip through the pretty pictures. I have a couple of thoughts on this and since it’s my blog I’m going to write them down…even if you don’t read this. Our pastor often uses points that start with the same letter to make it seem catchy. I failed miserably at this but tried anyway. Especially since my points are Pot, Passion, Pants, Paint and Publish. Yikes. I don’t think I’ll be preaching any time soon. A Watched Pot Never Boils 5,000 words is not a goal. It is not a destination. It’s just a part of the going there. No big whoop. I don’t know why professors and teachers in my past demanded X pages or X,000 word essays. I always found myself looking at the word count to see when I could finish typing. You know that thing you can talk about for hours but you don’t because it’s rude? You know that thing you read every chance you get? That thing you love so much you feel like you’ll bust if you don’t let a little of it out from time to time? That thing you absolutely geek out about? If you were writing about that thing…well 5,000 would just get you started. Don’t look at the total number of words. That’s nothing. Get the ideas out of your head. Passion is Required You ask me a simple question about any of several topics and I’ll give you both barrels. Don’t get me started. I could corner you for hours to talk about cow poop or any of a number of topics. BTW, I expect you to be just as passionate as I am if we disagree because if I’m wrong I don’t want to remain wrong. Don’t give up on me. Convince me. Sway me with your words. You can’t succeed if you don’t care. It’s just not worth it. But if you do care…if you love what you are writing about…there is no limit. There is no end. You’ll be upset that you have to cut out whole paragraphs to get you back to that ridiculous and arbitrary 5,000 word limit. Put on your grown-up Pants You know you want to do it. But something is stopping you. Why are you making excuses? You want to write? Write. Get yourself a blog and throw it out there for the world to see. Will you be rejected by some? Yes. Will some people say you’re an idiot? Yup. Will your opinions be challenged and will your best arguments be exposed as somewhat shakey? Yes. And that’s good. You will also help some of your readers to evolve their own opinions. I don’t want to continue living in ignorance. Please, enlighten and persuade me. Almost every blog post results in a conversation with dad. Sometimes it’s clarification, sometimes it’s correction, sometimes it’s just an exploration. How cool is that? Paint (maybe Picture) Show me the world. Use words. Use pictures if you want. Publishing costs are effectively zero so…go to town. I keep my phone with me at all times. If I see something interesting that creates a spark I snap a picture of it. Julie does the same. In fact, lots of times the pictures are the story. I just put words between pictures to chain them along. But you don’t need a phone. You have words. Write it up. Call me Ishmael. Make it happen on the page. Show me the world you see…or the world you want to see. I can’t see it if you don’t show it to me. And if a picture is worth 1,000 words…well, it’s easy. Publish It What aren’t you writing about? I know there is a lot of garbage out there that’s not worth reading. That should be encouragement enough to convince you that you need to start. The worst you can do is add to the pile like I do. But there is a chance, however small, that you will say something that will impact the world or even just one reader in a positive way…that you will infect someone with your passion. But if you sit and wring your hands and live in constant fear of rejection, refusing to publish what few scribbles you have made we will never hear your voice. And we may all continue to live on in ignorance because you are afraid…afraid of rejection. Afraid of the work. Afraid of 5,000 words. My goodness! it has never been easier to get your words out there. Just start up a free blog (like this one), take some cat pictures (to build traffic from Facebook), write a few words and hit publish. That’s it. No big whoop. Just hit publish. Just do it. If it stinks (and I think most of my stuff does) try to do better tomorrow. And the next day. If you manage to publish every day or even every other day, before long you’ll have enough practice that you can sit down with a simple idea and build 5,000 words of passion and persuasion before you finish that first cup of coffee (or in this case, about 1000 words). It’s no big deal. You are writing about your favorite topic…even if it’s not cow poop. What are you passionate about? I’ll never know if you don’t tell me. Julie wrote a response already. Which of us is the teacher? I’m thinking about how I can change my routine to make daily writing happen. Now do one on daily exercise and then another on healthy eating. One of your best blogs. Hope your Aunt sees this. Daily exercise? Buy cows. Healthy eating? Eat cows. lol Thanks mom. Passion, YES! Great getoutthereanddo it post, which I really appreciate seeing put out there! We all need to stop being so afraid, what’s the worst thing that can happen? At least with a blog you can always go back and edit if you need, eh? I only looked at this because of the cute cat pictures 🙂 It was you that got me started on blogging – don’t know whether to thank you or not for that. But you’re right on every point. It has challenged me, help me clarify my thinking, taught me so much, and has linked me up with some great people globally who are like minded-ish, who sometimes question, and often uplift. I draft a lot more than I publish, and most of the unpublished drafts eventually get trashed. I find the process of writing cathartic in itself, and so quite often, once I’ve got the words flowing and can go back and see them, I am able to just let it go. The ability to put them in the trash is a bit like thinking before speaking, which is something I’m terrible at, so even though lots of things slip past and I wish I hadn’t said/posted them, I’m grateful that most of it is filtered. My husband often challenges our kids at the dinner table, asking hard questions on the various opinions and thoughts they express. He does it to make them defend themselves and to teach them to have reasons for what they say. They’re both pretty good at it now, at least compared to me, who tends to make sweeping statements like “everyone knows…”,but it has ruined more than a few good dinners. To be able to stand up to criticism and to be sure of one’s ground is an important skill for sure, but I think you’ve pointed out the flip side of that quite well – it’s important to know when you need to change ground, when your opinion needs to change, when the whole conversation has just become a learning experience for you. That’s kind of my role in the dinner conversation scenario, since I feel like I’m always learning. “Often have nothing to write about”? Nothing to write about? Well let me help you mmwwaaa ha ha! Do you ever think about a quazi schedule? Not, I repeat not to force you to post or write on a certain topic or day but some day by day ideas to act as inspiration perhaps: Starting with Mondays – there is Moo Mondays – updates on the cows and calves as weaning progresses, castrating, preg checking, culling, calving, take us along as you source and buy new cows. Manure Mondays for more breath taking pics, data and pop quizzes on cow manure, report cards and postcards from the chickens as they “drop” by making their way around your farm. We never hear about your dad’s horses – as a horse person I sometimes speculate what type and # he has, if he rides or drives, ditto with your kids. Your dad could sneak in a story here as I imagine you at least benefit from the horse manure? Mineral Mondays – what’s happening in your mineral box as you move from dif forage types and dif seasons? Milk Monday’s – do you really need 3 jerseys for your family alone or are you going somewhere with this? Money Mondays – budget time costs of the dif operations. Tuesday Talks – talk about the books – non fiction and fiction, you and your family have read good or bad, ditto DVD’s and podcasts. You have mentioned putting out a list before but I like them one at a time with a review. Tree Tuesdays – how many trees have you planted, method and tips, what type, if transplanted did they all survive, etc. Wing Wednesday’s updates from the Chicken tractor. Maybe we can have a special monthly guest post from a HFS JUNIOR(s) who helps with the eggs and can once a month give us an egg report for ie every first wk of the mth like 100 layers, X# days old, X # of eggs collected this wk with X # of predator losses. Really the Jr posts could start with deliver of chicks would be fun to see the whole process through their eyes. Along with a pic or two – I can’t get enough oooing and ahhing over pics of baby chicks and blue eggs. Webbed Wednesdays – I recently flipped by an old post where you talk about ducks and recall them from the 1948 stmts too. What happened to them? Do you still have some or will again and what is your market for them? Weigh in Wednesdays –amaze us with the scale free science of HFS estimating weights of your growing calves, steers and cows. Maybe one day you will add a bit more science and run them through the chute, break out the tape measure and take their heart girth and length measurements and calc out their approx weights. Would be good to know where the calves are at after winter. Work Load Wednesdays – behind the scenes through the seasons of the family farm work for you, Julie and the kids. Why Wednesdays – scare us with the outside world! For me I find that occasional news of what is happening in the conventional ag world fuels my fires for Why we need to do this differently with no antibiotics, no chemicals etc. Same thing with news of the growing numbers of people with endless health issues another Why farming needs to be done in a natural way. How-We-Wednesdays love the how-we posts you did on chickens all the way to processing with your Featherman reviews. Perhaps you can do more of those with Wiener Wednesdays – a wk by wk on raising pigs to market. Have you ever read Jenna Woginrich’s Chick Days? This is almost like a What to Expect When you are Expecting book she gives you an absolute beginners day by day play of what you need to do, housing, temp, feed, water, etc with lots of pictures of what things looks like. I love books like these that tell me like I am in kindergarten and I finish the book thinking Yes –I Can Soooo Do This! Not just thinking, well this was another piece of the puzzle that I have highlighted and made notes on, I need to get 5 more books at least and someday will have gathered enough pieces I think I can maybe do it. As you would be starting with weaned pigs, not day old pigs you could blog wkly with a sort of wk by wk/step by step program that works for YOU not a text bk this works everywhere. Starting with procurement – how do you find piglets, picking them up –materials ie crates needed, catching, lifting, housing prep etc, etc. I am always put off a bit on some of the pig data as I do not have groves of nut trees and forests for the pigs to root in but they seem to do well in pasture too as long as you keep moving them before they make major wallows. Farmer’s Wife Wednesdays – updates from Julie on her life on the farm and as School Marm as it changes from season to season. Turkey Thursday’s – You had turkeys before did you have any in 2014 or if you quit why? Did you try Joel’s buddy system with a chick showing them the ropes? Thrifty Thursdays. Savings finds, composting. Thankful Thursdays – anything you are thankful for like Julie, the kids, rain on a hot dry day, pigs doing work for you etc I don’t have much for Thursdays maybe it is your day off haha! Freebie Fridays – like the fruit, berries and nuts you got for free from mother nature and the chickens the coyotes and mink got for free from you! Fertilizer Fridays – maybe some before and after shots of your pastures when you first took over the farm and now with a few yrs of natural fertilizing. Feely Fridays for the touchy feely stories maybe another HFS Junior can post once in a while with the cute kitten pictures that – yup we all like! Forage Fridays – updates on what’s happening with the winter-feeding, how much hay/pasture is left as winter wears on, what’s up with your Tall Fescue? Fish Fridays – Do you have catfish still? I think they were your son’s? and maybe he could guest post about them or what is happening down at your pond that has fish in them? Freshwater Fridays – stories of your new pond dvlpmt, existing hose method – where does that water come from a hydrant in the yard? Are you using actual garden hose of the rolls of black PVC pipe? Buried or surface? Do you use a trough float valve so they auto fill when appropriate seasonally? etc Saturday Sales – you have mentioned before you will tell us about how you market I still don’t know if you have a drop in farm gate store open 7 days a wk for eggs and broilers … and veggies? or just open on wknds or certain/processing wknds only? Do you take a sales cooler to work with you? Posts on developing your beef market – will it be sides and ¼’s only or cuts? Besides adding a new product for your existing customer base will you list with online places like Eat Wild, Local Harvest, Farmer Maps, a co-op, an add on for a successful veggie CSA in your area or are you going after the restaurant trade, etc? How do you choose your path? Take us along as you source a butcher for your upcoming grass fed beef sales and determine your packaging, labeling and freezer storage requirements. Seasonal Saturdays – keep us posted on what’s happening with your seasonal changes and weather – heat wave, rain, flood snow etc. Sunday Stroll thru the Pastures -love those they keep us up to date on your part of the world. Shelter Sundays – infrastructure posts of repairs and maintenance to your buildings and healing your land (like the zipper) updates to your chicken tractor, will you design a more portable (for Julie and the kids) hybrid of this for the broilers? Portable shade structure plans, ideas, and dvlpmt and use if it happens this yr. Thoughts from you and your dad would be good– could be a Dad guest post here! Yes that is way cool you and your dad talk everyday about the blog! How many people nowadays talk to their dad everyday and work together on projects? We let him off too easy on not guest posting on the C-Tractor 😉 Sweet Sundays – Do you have bees for your alfalfa? Grabbing the coveted nap on the porch hammock? I am passionate about the return of the small family farm and natural health for people, animals and the land so I really enjoy your writing, voice and content and can someday see this all pieced together to form a book! Aim for a release date at the latest by the farms 200th anniversary in 20 yrs from now and hopefully it happens much sooner, as you become a rich and famous small farmer! 🙂 I do kinda shoot from the hip. Not totally. I try to stroll through the pasture on the 15th each month. Book reviews on Sunday. Otherwise, I write what I can when I can. As long as I write something…
Volume 80, Issue 24, 17 June Laser diode structure for the generation of high-power picosecond optical pulses80(2002); View Description Hide Description A laser diode structure is designed and tested that permits the generation of high-power picosecond-range optical pulses. Direct currentpumping is used with a current pulse duration of a few nanoseconds and a current amplitude of The main distinguishing feature of the structure is separation of the electron injector junction) from the active region by a potential barrier. The optical gain in the active region is controlled by the transverse electric field, which is determined by the magnitude of the current at each instant. The design allows emission wavelength control by means of band gap engineering. Dye-doped polymers for blue organic diode lasers80(2002); View Description Hide Description Amplified spontaneous emission(ASE) in optically pumped polymeric films containing the luminescent and hole-transporting organic molecule N,N′-Bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N′diphenylbenzidine (TPD) is demonstrated. ASE is observed in polymer films of polystyrene and poly(N-vinylcarbazole) doped up to 20% with TPD. From these results, we conclude that TPD-based films are candidates for blue-emitting organic diode lasers. On-chain defect emission in electroluminescent polyfluorenes80(2002); View Description Hide Description We present time-resolvedphotoluminescencemeasurementsitondiffusion. Parametric fluorescence in periodically poled buried waveguides80(2002); View Description Hide Description We report on the periodic poling of buried waveguides fabricated by reverse proton exchange. We evaluate their linear and nonlinear quadratic properties with the aid of parametric fluorescence. Photonic band schemes of opals composed of periodic arrays of cored spheres depending on thickness of outer shells80(2002); View Description Hide Description Photonic band schemes of opals as pseudophotonic crystals composed of three-dimensional arrays of cored spheres are calculated theoretically. Pseudophotonic band gaps are confirmed to be dependent on the thickness of outer shells and also refractive indices of the inner core and outer shells. Tunabilities of photonic band schemes of these types of opals are also discussed. Tunable photonic strength in porous GaP80(2002); View Description Hide Description The light-scattering properties of porous gallium phosphide, prepared by electrochemicaletching, are investigated. We show that the photonic strength of the porous semiconductor can be tuned from weak to extremely strong. This tunability is related to the density and size of the pores, which are controlled by the dopant density of the GaP crystals, and the etching potential. Moreover, electrochemicaletching does not introduce any significant optical absorption, which makes porous GaP suitable for many photonic applications. - STRUCTURAL, MECHANICAL, THERMODYNAMIC, AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF CONDENSED MATTER Probing confined interfacial excitations in buried layers by Brillouin light scattering80(2002); View Description Hide Description Brillouin light scattering from silicon oxynitride films grown on GaAs reveals an excitation at frequencies lying below that of the Rayleigh surface wave. The mode, identified as a localized interfacial excitation, arises from the presence of a soft, thin transition layer between the film and substrate. The results are discussed in the framework of a Green’s function formalism that reproduces the experimental features and illustrates the nature of the mode and its difference from Stoneley excitations that exist in special cases for an abrupt interface separating two semi-infinite solid media. Observations of this low-frequency excitation offer a previously unexplored approach to characterize, nondestructively, the elastic properties of buried interfaces. Preliminary investigations of infrared Er-related photoluminescence in ion-implanted80(2002); View Description Hide Description We report the observation of the 1.54 μm emission from optically excited in an ion-implanted layer epitaxially strained grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The Er was implanted at 150 keV with a dose of at room temperature. After annealing the sample at 400 °C during 30 min in a vacuum, the intraionic transition was observed. Photoluminescence studies were carried out in the temperature range from 70–250 K under below band gap excitation. The dominant line emission at 1.5353 μm revealed complex temperature dependence. Two activation energies of and were calculated. Ratio of deuterium to hydrogen termination on silicon surface in aqueous electrolyte solutions80(2002); View Description Hide Description The ratio of deuterium (D)- to hydrogen (H)-adatom concentrations on Si crystal surfaces in hydrogenated and deuterated electrolyte solutions was evaluated by the theory of the elementary act of proton transferreactions. The result shows that the ratio is determined by the difference between configurational chemical potentials of the isotope reactants. In the temperature range of 273–373 K, the ratio is about 1 at steady-state conditions and somewhat lower at electrochemical equilibrium conditions, and decreases slowly as the temperature increases. Green luminescence of in stoichiometric single crystals80(2002); View Description Hide Description We grew good-optical-quality single crystalsdoped with erbium ions by the top seeded solution growth slow cooling method.Optical absorption of erbium was performed at room temperature (RT) and at 6 K. Green photoluminescence of erbium was achieved at RT and 6 K after selective excitation of ytterbium ions at 940 nm The splitting of all found excited energy levels and the ground energy level of erbium in is presented derived from the accurate absorption and emission measurements, respectively. The lifetime of the Stokes and the anti-Stokes green emissions of erbium were measured after excitation at 488 nm and respectively. We propose applying the up-conversion model to the observed green emission. Three-dimensional phase field microelasticity theory of a complex elastically inhomogeneous solid80(2002); View Description Hide Description. Reaction steps of silicidation in layered structure80(2002); View Description Hide Description Reaction steps of silicidation in layered structure have been investigated in terms of ultrahigh vacuum annealing. Comparison of 2- and 20-nm films at 920 °C revealed that the trigger of silicidation is the contact of SiO, and Si accompanying disappearance of interfacial layer due to SiO desorption. In the contact position, a small amount of SiO gas can easily change to Moreover, this reaction model is also applicable to the silicidation of gate polycrystalline-Si interface. Optical metastability in undoped GaN grown on Ga-rich GaN buffer layers80(2002); View Description Hide Description Investigations on defect-related optical metastability in undoped GaN epilayers grown on GaNbuffer layers are presented. The III/V ratio in the buffer layer was varied over a range such that the resistivity of the GaN epilayers traversed a semiconducting to semi-insulating transition. The high-resistive and semi-insulating GaN epilayers show photo induced metastability, which is revealed through a number of features: (i) the intensity of the blue luminescence band decreases as the intensity of the yellow luminescence band increases; (ii) quenching of photocurrent; and (iii) persistent photoconductivity, under the illumination of a low-power ultraviolet laser. It has been shown that these unwanted transient effects can be eliminated in the GaN epilayers by reducing the III/V ratio in the buffer layer. A qualitative discussion of these results suggests that the metastable defects, which are associated with both yellow and blue luminescence bands, may have important consequences for our understanding of defect-related luminescence in GaN. Shock wave response of a zirconium-based bulk metallic glass and its composite80(2002); View Description Hide Description A zirconium-based bulk metallic glass, (Vit 1), and its composite, (β-Vit), were subjected to planar impact loading. A surprisingly low amplitude elastic precursor and bulk wave, corresponding to the elastic response of the “frozen structure” of the intact metallic glasses, were observed to precede the rate-dependent large deformationshock wave. A concave downward curvature after the initial increase of the shock Hugoniots suggests that a phase-change-like transition occurred during shock compression. Further, compression damage occurred due to the shear localization. The spalling in Vit 1 was induced by shear localization, while in β-Vit, it was due to debonding of the β-phase boundary from the matrix. The spall strengths at strain rate of were determined to be 2.35 and 2.11 GPa for Vit 1 and β-Vit, respectively. Structural behavior of bulk metallic glass at high temperatures80(2002); View Description Hide Description The structural behavior of the bulk glass-forming alloy has been investigated in situ by means of high-temperature x-ray synchrotron diffraction. The dependence of the structure factor of the glass can be well described with a Debye–Waller factor and a Debye temperature At the glass transition, the structure factor significantly decreases due to additional thermal excitations. The extrapolation of the structure factor of the supercooled liquid to temperatures above the liquidus curve is in agreement with experimentally determined values of the melt. The short-range order of the glass, of the supercooled liquid state, and of the equilibrium melt at is found to be quite similar. The formation of complex chemically ordered clusters in the melt is proposed to be essential for the high-glass-forming ability of this alloy. Temperature dependence of the growth front roughening of oligomer films80(2002); View Description Hide Description Growth front roughening characteristics of vacuum deposited pentamer 2,5-di-n-octyloxy-1,4-bis[4-(styryl)styryl]-benzene oligomer thin films, onto silicon substrates, strongly depend on the substrate temperature in the range ∼20 °C–100 °C. The measured roughness exponents H increase from at low substrate temperatures where growth is dominated by vacancy formation, to at elevated temperatures where diffusive growth takes place. Moreover, the root-mean-square roughness amplitude and the correlation length evolve with temperature closely as an Arrhenius process with activation barrier comparable to molecule transnational and rotational barriers on oligomer surfaces. Reversible changes in the lattice site structure for In implanted into GaN80(2002); View Description Hide Description The perturbed angular correlation method was employed to study the lattice environment of In implanted into GaN. It was found, after annealing the implantation induced damage, that 65% of the implanted atoms were situated in regular undisturbed Ga lattice sites. The remaining fraction showed an unusual behavior insofar as its lattice surroundings changed reversibly from undisturbed at temperatures above 600 K to strongly disturbed at low temperatures. Specific volume of glass-forming liquid and related thermodynamic aspects of the glass transition80(2002); View Description Hide Description The volume change of the easy glass-forming alloy was investigated continuously from the liquid to the vitreous state upon cooling at 10 K/min by means of the sessile drop technique. From the data obtained on density and thermal expansion, the specific volume as a function of temperature was deduced in the complete temperature range of the stable and the undercooled liquid as well as in the vitreous state for this alloy. Thus, the temperature dependence of the specific volume could be compared over the entire liquid range of a metallic glass former to that of the enthalpy obtained from preceding calorimetric measurements. A strong correlation between both thermodynamic functions becomes evident from this comparison and is interpreted on the basis of free-volume theory. The increase of the heat capacity at the glass transition can be explicitly explained by the creation and annihilation of free volume. Contact-induced defect propagation in ZnO80(2002); View Description Hide Description Contact-induced damage has been studied in single-crystal (wurtzite) ZnO by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) and scanning cathodoluminescence(CL) monochromatic imaging. XTEM reveals that the prime deformation mechanism in ZnO is the nucleation of slip on both the basal and pyramidal planes. Some indication of dislocation pinning was observed on the basal slip planes. No evidence of either a phase transformation or cracking was observed by XTEM in samples loaded up to 50 mN with an ∼4.2 μm radius spherical indenter. CL imaging reveals a quenching of near-gap emission by deformation-produced defects. Both XTEM and CL show that this comparatively soft material exhibits extensive deformation damage and that defects can propagate well beyond the deformed volume under contact. Results of this study have significant implications for the extent of contact-induced damage during fabrication of ZnO-based (opto)electronic devices. - ELECTRONIC TRANSPORT AND SEMICONDUCTORS Effect of Ga content on defect states in CuIn1−xGaxSe2 photovoltaic devices80(2002); View Description Hide Description Defects in the band gap of have been characterized using transient photocapacitance spectroscopy. The measured spectra clearly show response from a band of defects centered around 0.8 eV from the valence band edge as well as an exponential distribution of band tail states. Despite Ga contents ranging from to 0.8, the defect bandwidth and its position relative to the valence band remain constant. This defect band may act as an important recombination center, contributing to the decrease in device efficiency with increasing Ga content. Most Cited This Month
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2008 5 November Barack Obama makes history by becoming the first African American to win the US presidency. With the promise of “hope and change”, he enters the White House as America is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At home, the US faces the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. 2009 22 January The new president promises to close Guantánamo Bay, the contentious US facility in Cuba used to detain terror suspects, many of whom are held without charge. To this day, it remains open. 17 February Obama signs a huge $787bn (£548bn) stimulus bill designed to save and create thousands of jobs to boost the beleaguered US economy. 18 February A surge in violence in Afghanistan sees Obama pledge an extra 17,000 military personnel, doubling the US presence there. Days later he promises to end to the war in Iraq: “Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.” 31 March Obama flies into London for the G20 summit where talks about the global financial crisis dominate. He meets the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, and other world leaders. The president and his wife also meet the Queen. Leaving the UK, Obama visits Turkey, where he says: “The United States is not, and will never be, at war with Islam.” 30 July The president tries to act as peacemaker by holding a “beer summit” at the White House with a black Harvard professor arrested for alleged disorderly conduct outside his home in Massachusetts and the white police officer who took him in. 9 October Obama wins the 2009 Nobel peace prize and says he is “surprised and deeply humbled”. The Nobel committee says the award was made in honour of “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. 28 October Obama signs the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act, expanding hate-crime law to address attacks over gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. 2010 23 March Obama’s flagship healthcare reform bill, also known as Obamacare, is passed by Congress. Bitterly opposed by Republicans, the landmark policy, estimated to cost $940bn (£627bn), aims to bring near-universal health coverage to Americans. 8 April Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev sign the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New Start). The new treaty is intended to cut US and Russian strategic nuclear warheads from 2,200 to 1,550 over seven years. 20 April As the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes off Louisiana, leaving 11 crew members dead and threatening to cause a huge environmental catastrophe, Obama deals with what some call his “Katrina moment”. 28 November The Guardian publishes details of 250,000 American diplomatic cables, some marked “secret” or “confidential”, from the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website. In response, the White House says: “President Obama supports responsible, accountable and open government at home and around the world, but this reckless and dangerous action runs counter to that goal.” The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, says the US authorities were afraid of being held to account. 18 December The Arab Spring begins. Obama later pays tribute to the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa as “a moment of opportunity” for change in the region. 22 December Obama signs a landmark law, the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act, that allows gay people to serve openly for the first time in the US armed forces. 2011 19 March The UK, US and France attack Muammar Gaddafi’s forces in Libya to enforce a UN-mandated no-fly zone. The “worst mistake” of his presidency is how Obama described his lack of support to Libya after Gaddafi was deposed. 27 April In the same month as Obama announces his bid for re-election, he also yields to “birthers” and Donald Trump, who insisted he publish his birth certificate, to quash rumours that he was born outside the US. 2 May Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, is killed by US special forces in a night-time raid of his secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Obama and his top advisers watch a live feed of the mission from the White House Situation Room. 15 December Obama formally declares that the Iraq war is over and that the US is to pull out. In a speech at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the president is careful not to say the US won the nine-year conflict. 2012 26 February The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in Florida by an armed neighborhood-watch volunteer prompts Obama to say: “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” The man who shot Martin is found not guilty of second-degree murder and acquitted of manslaughter, a lesser charge. But some protesters claim Martin was only stopped because of racial profiling. 9 May Obama becomes the first sitting US president to back the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry. 29 August Obama takes part in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” Q&A session on the popular news site. One of the questions he is asked is whom he would rather fight: “100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?” 6 September The Democratic party convention in Charlotte backs Obama as nominee for the 2012 presidential race but some delegates express disappointment about his first term. 6 November Obama’s popularity may have slipped but he wins re-election, beating Republican challenger Mitt Romney. In his victory speech, he says: “I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope.” 14 December Obama wipes away his tears when addressing the nation about the 20 children and six adults who died in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. Promising “meaningful action”, he also says: “As a country, we have been through this too many times.” 2013 2 January A compromise bill pushed through by Obama prevents the US falling off the “fiscal cliff” – a set of scheduled tax rises and sharp spending cuts likely to trigger a new recession. 21 March Warning about the use of chemical weapons, Obama tells Syria’s Assad regime that there is a “red line” that must not be crossed. 15 April Three people are killed after two brothers plant homemade pressure cooker bombs near the finishing line of the Boston Marathon. One of the bombers is killed when cornered by police, the other captured and put on trial – he is found guilty and sentenced to death in 2015. 5 June The Guardian publishes leaked documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden about the clandestine activities of the US National Security Agency, for whom he had previously worked. In what is regarded as one of the most significant leaks in American political history, Snowden has evidence that the NSA maintained a number of mass surveillance programmes over its own citizens, including accessing information stored by some of the country’s biggest technology companies. Responding, Obama says: “You can’t have 100% security, and also then have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience.” 25 June Obama unveils the country’s first-ever climate change strategy, which includes cutting power plant emissions and protecting coastlines. 1 October The first federal government shutdown in two decades begins after Congress fails to pass legislation lifting the “debt ceiling”. 10 December At the Nelson Mandela memorial service in South Africa, Obama shakes hands with the Cuban leader, Raúl Castro, proving relations between the two countries have improved. Obama’s decision to pose for a selfie with David Cameron and the Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt later on was not particularly well received. 2014 28 February The White House accuses Moscow of orchestrating a “military invasion and occupation” of the Crimea peninsula in southern Ukraine, potentially putting the Kremlin and the west on a collision course. 16 June A rampant Isis-led insurgency prompts Obama to send approximately 275 armed personnel to Iraq to help put down possibly the worst threat to the country since US troops left in 2011. Within months, he also authorizes airstrikes against Isis positions in Syria. 9 August Protesters chanting “black lives matter” clash with police in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson after Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, is shot and killed by the police officer Darren Wilson. 15 October Speaking about the death toll of Ebola victims climbing to 4,500 since an outbreak in west Africa, Obama says the US must respond much more aggressively to prepare at home and confront the outbreak abroad. 5 November The Republicans take control of Congress following midterm elections, leaving Obama with a bigger headache if he is to pass new laws. 20 November Obama says he will use executive powers to bypass Congress’s opposition to his controversial plan to allow four million undocumented US immigrants to apply for work permits. 28 December Obama declares the “end of the combat mission in Afghanistan”. 2015 13 January Obama is criticised for not attending a peace rally in Paris to remember 17 people who died in a wave of attacks that included the Charlie Hebdo offices. 2 March The New York Times reveals that Hillary Clinton, when serving as Obama’s secretary of state, broke official rules by using a personal email instead of a government one for official correspondence. Clinton would continue to be dogged by the revelation. 14-24 July The Obama administration succeeds in getting Iran to make drastic cuts to its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions. In the same month, Cuba and the United States restore diplomatic relations, ending over 50 years of hostility. Obama also travels to his paternal homeland of Kenya for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi. 28 October Prince Harry meets Obama in the White House to promote next year’s Invictus Games for wounded service personnel. 30 November Barack Obama hails the Paris climate change agreement as “a turning point for the world”. Months earlier he had announced his clean power action plan to get the US to curb carbon pollution. 2016 22 April At a joint press conference with the prime minister, David Cameron, in London, Obama warns the British public that a vote to leave the EU could put the UK at the “back of the queue” when negotiating trade deals with the US. 27 May Obama calls for a “world without nuclear weapons” during a visit to Hiroshima. 28 July Obama gives a rousing speech at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, willing Hillary Clinton to triumph over the “home-grown demagogue” Donald Trump. 28 September Obama suffers the humiliation of having Congress override his veto for the first time. The president tried to block a law that allowed 9/11 families to sue Saudi Arabia for its alleged role in the September 11 attacks. 8 November Donald Trump defeats Hillary Clinton in one of the biggest upsets in US political history. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States next month. Both the House and Senate will remain under Republican control. 10 November Obama, having congratulated Trump by telephone, then meets the president-elect at the Oval Office to discuss the transition of power between them. Obama had previously called Trump “unfit” for high office. 15 November Obama sets off on a final international trip as president, landing first in Athens. 23 December The US abstains from voting in a UN Security Council resolution that declares Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory illegal. Previously, the US could always be counted on to veto such a bill. 28 December Obama designates two new national monuments, protecting over 150m acres of land, including sacred Native American sites, in Nevada and Utah. During Obama’s presidency, he has federally protected over 550m acres with his executive powers. 30 December Obama places sanctions on Russia and expels 35 Russian diplomats from the US in retaliation for a cyber-attack against the Democratic National Conmittee during the 2016 election that according to US intelligence agencies was intended to help Trump win the election. Additional reporting by Amber Jamieson
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 The Arizona Immigration Bill Debate President Obama and the Democrats are insisting that this bill is nothing more than legalized racial profiling and that it is an example of undisguised racism. There are calls for a nation-wide boycott against Arizona's racism. This is untrue and unfair to the people of Arizona. While the rest of the country is still debating illegal immigration, the reality has changed dramatically in Arizona and in Mexico. Drug lords have taken over many border towns. For years the state department has been issuing warnings against going near these towns. Now there are signs that the violence is crossing the border. I'm not convinced that the law will accomplish anything but the legislature felt that they had to address their constituents' fears. Controlling the boarder is the job of the federal government but it has abdicated its responsibility. Worse, in an effort to court Hispanic voters, the Democrats have painted anyone who advocates a closed border as a racist. The Mexican government is unable to control the drug wars on its border and at the same time, it is against tighter border controls. The Mexican government itself depends on money being sent home by Mexicans living in the US and has suggested having a special voting district for these people. It should be noted that, as the head of the boarder patrol, President Obama could have prevented this bill by promising tighter border controls. The fact that he didn't indicates that he wanted the bill to pass. Why? Possibly because tightening the boarder would cost him Hispanic votes. The other possibility is that he wanted an unpopular state law on the books so that he and the Congressional Democrats could exploit it. There is no downside to this for the Democrats. Arizona is a strong red state that they would be likely to lose regardless. In the meantime, they have a wedge issue to drive Republicans apart and another charge of racism to add to the ones they have been making about the Tea Party protesters. Friday, April 23, 2010 Obama and the Space Program Aspects of Obama's speech bothered me but it took a few days to put my finger on why. Obama's reason for dropping a return to the moon from the program is that "We've already been there." Obama is too young to remember the space race that culminated in a moon landing. I am older and had watched documentaries on it and read books written by people involved. Most of the race to the moon took place in earth orbit. Technologies had to be tested, one at a time. Going to Mars is much more difficult. It is hard to imagine solving the logistics of this undertaking without trying them out on the moon. Obama is also rejecting the Constellation booster in favor of a new booster to be designed later. He gives a similar reason for this - that the Constellation is built on "old technology" and we need new designs. Reading between the lines here, Obama seems to be captivated by SpaceX. He has visited their site several times and their founder is an enthusiastic supporter of Obama's plans. My suspicion is that Obama wants to cut the existing contracts and start from scratch with SpaceX as the new prime contractor. That is what he was driving at when he talked about new technologies. The big question is how committed is Obama to the space program? The big clue here is his suggestion that future missions to the International Space Station be contracted out, first to the Russians and later to private industry. Several Libertarians have applauded this since they see commercialization of space to be a good thing. This may be true but I doubt that President Obama would agree. He has a history of being hostile to profit-making enterprises, especially one in competition with the government. He felt so strongly about bank-issued student loans that legislation to discontinue that program was inserted in the amendments to the health care bill. If the manned space program was really important to Obama then we would see more government involvement. The fact that he is outsourcing it means that he has little or no interest in it. This has nothing to do with the merits of outsourcing. It is how Obama thinks. The space program has been good to America. During the Cold War, it became a peaceful proxy for armed conflict - a way of showing which philosophy could produce the greatest scientific advances. As the Cold War cooled, space became a source of new advances. Our advances in communications and weather prediction are direct benefits of the space race. The technology that powers our computers and allows me to write this blog is an indirect benefit. Being a space-capable country with a manned flight capability is a status symbol. It is a far more exclusive club than having nuclear weapons. By giving up our manned flight capability for decades to come, we are voluntarily giving ourselves second-class status. This will hurt us in international relations in the long-run. The space program has always been about more than circling the earth. Obama needs to realize this. Do We Really want These Guys in Charge? The justification for this is that the government is somehow better at running things than private industry. Let's look at the people we are putting in charge of an increasing portion of the economy. There is the late John Murtha, known as the king of pork. Among other things, he personally arranged for a major expansion of his district's airport, spending millions on an airport that only has a few commercial flights per week. There is William Jefferson who tried to hide thousands of dollars in his freezer and was sentenced to 13 years for political corruption. There is Rod Blagojevich who tried to sell the Senate seat that Barack Obama vacated and Roland Burris who he appointed during impeachment proceedings. There is Eric Massa, who began harassing his male interns almost as soon as he was elected and who was often so drunk by the end of the day that he could not tell his staff where to pick him up. Then there are all of the Obama appointees who were underpaying their taxes. I could go on like this for some time. Everyone I named is a Democrat but the Republicans had major ethics problems when they were in charge. Now, ask yourself, how much control over your life do want to give to these people? Thursday, April 22, 2010 Bush and the Tea Parties In the meantime, a question asked of the Tea Partiers is "where were you during the Bush administration?" This is a valid question since we had a budget surplus at the beginning of the Bush administration which quickly turned into a deficit. So, where were the protesters? Some of them were there the whole time. Bush rejected financial conservatism from the start and the financial conservatives hated him for it. Prominent conservatives like George Will frequently complained about Bush. Reason Magazine, the leading Libertarian voice, hated Bush. Granted, people were not marching in the street against Bush's spending but who would have noticed if they had been? The anti-war left was so vocal in denouncing Bush that they drowned out any other criticism. Allowances must also be made for the type of spending that Bush did. His biggest-ticket item was the War on Terror. While this was expensive, wars are not the same as new entitlements. Wars end and their spending winds down. Entitlements grow, requiring more and more money. Fiscal conservatives may have rolled their eyes at the amounts Bush was spending but they could see an eventual end to it. Besides, when the rubble of the World Trade Center was still smoking, it did not seem proper for conservatives to start questioning costs. The left took care of that. Bush's biggest spending did not take place until his last six months. That is when his administration bailed out major financial institutions and passed the TARP (with the help of the Democrats including Barack Obama). There was a lot of anger then. A case can be made that the Tea Parties would have started under Bush if he had been in office any longer. The first Tea Party protests did not distinguish between the TARP funds and bailouts under Bush and the ones under Obama. No one held up sign saying "Bush TARP=good, Obama TARP=bad." When the left asks why the Tea Partiers were not protesting during the Bush years, a good rejoinder is, "Why aren't you protesting alongside the Tea Parties?" MoveOn ran an ad during the 2004 Superbowl showing children with huge sums floating over their heads symbolizing the debt that the Bush administration was leaving them. Not they run ads telling us how great the health care bill was. Democrats promised a balanced budget in 2006 and 2008. For four years the left campaigned against the Bush deficit. Now that Obama is in office, the deficit is forgotten as an issue and anyone who is against it must be a secret racist. It is obvious that the left never really cared about the deficit. Clinton did and counted the surplus as one of his major accomplishments but he went against his party in this. According to Bob Woodward's The Agenda, actual tears were shed in the White House when Clinton made deficit reduction an early goal of his administration. The Democrats never really cared about deficit reduction. They talked about it during the Bush administration because they knew that it would help them with swing voters but their real goal was expansion of the government first. If deficit reduction is eventually needed then they are willing to raise taxes but not make any cuts. I think that this is one reason that many on the left think that the Tea Parties must have an ulterior motive. The Democrats used it hypocritically so they expect that the Republicans are doing the same. The Democrats real motive for bringing up the deficit was to pressure Bush to abandon Iraq. They assume that the Republicans are doing the same thing and are looking for hidden motives. After exploiting the deficit for so many years, they cannot believe that anyone actually cares about it. When the Tea Parties first began, the most common thread among them was that they had never done anything like that before. Unlike many on the left who plan their vacations around protests, the people in the Tea Parties wee the sort who normally complain quietly to each other but never act. Getting them to take to the streets took more than a few weeks of Obama. They were already upset with government under Bush and the Republicans and many of them are still angry at Bush and distrustful of the Republicans. Wednesday, April 21, 2010 Is Obama a Socialist? I'll cut to the chase - no, he is not a socialist. If he was then he would have nationalized the large banks and other financial corporations a year ago. His base was urging him to do it. Instead, he left them as separate but dependent organizations. He informed both the banks that, since they took the TARP, he owned them. He used the TARP in similar ways to force restructurings in GM and Chrysler. So, if Obama is not a socialist, then what is he? Ron Paul recently called Obama a Corporatist. This may be a good description of him, but 99.9% of the country never heard of corporatism. I think that the best label for President Obama is the one he gave himself - a transformative progressive in the mold of FDR. Of course, this means that we need to start a national converstion about what progressives actually are, especially under FDR. FDR is given a lot of credit for his first 100 days. His best-remembered accomplishment was to stabilize the banks. Other accomplishments were later declared unconstitutional. Chief among these was the NRA (National Recovery Administration). It's goal was to produce a planned economy where the government and businesses worked together to set prices and wages. Roosevelt wanted to prevent future depressions and hoped that government planning could prevent future crashes. Compare this with Obama's desire to move beyond "boom and bust cycles." One point that really needs to be understood is that many of today's problems can be traced directly to FDR's administration. California is insolvent and several other states are following its lead. One strong factor is state unions and union pensions. Unions and union pensions were also the downfall of GM. FDR was a great believer in unions and strengthened them early in his administration. Union pensions is a problem right now but Social Security will be a much bigger problem within a decade. This is one of FDR's biggest legacies. The system worked as long as there were multiple workers paying into the system for every person drawing from it. Demographics and longevity have undercut this. Already the system is paying out more than it takes in. The amounts are still trivial but that will soon change. What about the Great Depression? Some historians claim that everything was fine by 1937 and would have continued to improve if FDR had just continued to spend. Others say that FDR's policies prolonged the Depressions. By keeping companies from dropping wages to match deflation, he kept the unemployment rate high. Obama seems determined to follow in FDR's footprints. He wants to increase government control and scope. He as already expended government in ways not seen since LBJ. People need to look back at the Roosevelt administration and understand what worked, what did not, and what seemed to work for a while but was not sustainable in the long-run. Obama needs to explain how he will keep Social Security from bankrupting the country before he expands the government further. Democrats have gotten a free ride for the last few years by calling themselves progressives instead of liberals. The thing here is that calling Obama a socialist confuses the issue. Being a progressive should be bad enough but it will take a concerted effort. We need to educate people on what progressives actually are. UPDATE: Jonah Goldburg thinks that Obama does qualify as a socialist under a broad definition of socialism. He also puts Progressives into context:. Friday, April 16, 2010 What About Those Obama Tax Cuts? Obama, speaking Thursday night at a Democratic fundraiser in Miami, told supporters he is amused by the protesters' complaints about taxes because, contrary to their claims, he's cut taxes. "You would think they'd be saying thank you," the president said. President Obama's record on taxes is mixed. On the stump he promised that "no family making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase.". The Obameter, run by the non-partisan PolitiFact, rates this as a broken promise. Taxes have already been raised on cigarettes and new taxes on medical devices, high-quality insurance coverage, and tanning beds are part of the recently passed health care reform package. Still, he did cut payroll taxes through the "Making Work Pay Act" which was part of the general stimulus. So why doesn't Obama get credit as a tax cutter? First, there is the obvious - you can't raise taxes enough to cover a trillion dollar new program and claim that you are a tax cutter. Then there is the tax cut itself and the way it was implemented. The Obama administration is a big fan of Nudge which holds that government can make major changes in behavior through small changes. Part of this says that spreading tax cuts across every paycheck is more effective in getting people to spend more than giving them a lump sum. Obama's tax cut was a credit of $250. This amounts to $5 in a weekly paycheck and $10 in a bi-weekly check. These amounts are small enough to be missed, especially if your hours or benefits have been cut. In addition to wanting to "nudge" people, Obama also has an aversion to wealth so the tax credit starts cutting off for individuals making more than $75,000. A lot of the Tea Party protesters are older and more affluent so they may have never seen the Obama tax cut. To them, Obama was engaging in income redistribution rather than cutting taxes, especially when he has raised taxes elsewhere. That's what happens when you selectively cut taxes. The people who didn't qualify feel slighted. It is only fair that Obama has gotten so little credit for his tax cuts. President (W) Bush's tax cuts benefited everyone and raised the number of people who did not owe any income tax but Obama consistently refers to this as "Bush's tax cuts for the rich". Wednesday, April 14, 2010 The "What is Obama" Debate I would like to comment on a few points. First, there is Obama's mother. His defenders call her a Kansas girl, conjuring conforting, conservative values. That does not match with her biography. Remember, this is a woman who married two foreign Muslim men of color while in college. It is difficult for someone today to understand how radical that was in the early 1960s and on three different levels. First, mixed-race couples were frowned on, even by people who championed civil rights. A friend who was in a mixed-race marriage in the 1960s was shot at when visiting her husband's family in the South. Please note, I am not condemning her, I am just pointing out how unusual it was. If mixed-race couples were frowned on, mixed religion couples were outright discouraged. Even Catholics and Protestants or Christians and Jews marrying was a big deal. The country as a whole was far more religious in the 1960s than now and people were expected to marry within their own faith. Islam was so exotic that most Americans never even met one but she married two of them. Finally, she married foreign nationals who had no intention of immigrating. Think about that. Both of her husbands were foreign exchange students who intended to, and did, move home after college. So, Obama's mother was seeking and marrying intellectual men who were as far from American mainstream as possible. That she did it twice is important as is the fact that she spent most of her adult life living outside the US. This was a woman who did not like her native country. Some of this has to have rubbed off on the future president. Obama spent his teens being raised by his grandparents. Again, their Kansas roots are often stressed but, remember, these people raised his mother. They would not be my first choice for imparting love of country to a future president. What does that tell us about Obama himself? Not a lot, but what it does say argues that he did come from a radical past. Add in his own accounts of seeking out Marxists in college and it is hard to argue that Obama comes from moderate roots. Tuesday, April 13, 2010 Conservative Justices Conservatives believe that they have a coherent judicial philosophy and liberals either don't have one or ignore the one they have in favor of simply using judges to impose their political philosophy on an unwilling nation. They are giving themselves too much credit. They don't have one either. Words like "restraint" and "originalism" don't add up to a coherent judicial philosophy, let alone one that conservatives are willing to live by themselves. This is neither fair not true and there are problems in his analysis. It can mean a strong belief in the principle of stare decisis, or respect for precedent. Problem: Does that mean that a conservative judge must rule in favor of upholding all of the liberal rulings of the 1960s and 1970s? Even though many of them overturned earlier precedents? Conservative can mean a narrow view of the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights: Justices appointed for life should be modest in their ambitions. They should stick to the "original meaning" of the document, avoid "activism," and be slow to overturn the workings of the democratic branches. Problem: Many specific items on the conservative agenda violate this principle. Conservatives have been saying that judges or justices ought to overturn health care reform. They cheered when the court decimated the campaign spending laws. They want courts to outlaw affirmative action. They want to use the Fifth Amendment's ban on government taking "property" without due process of law, in order to forbid a wide variety of government activities. Conservative can mean simply judges who use their power to impose a conservative political agenda. Problem: This would be a gross violation of the other two alleged principles First, I will agree with Knisley on his last point (except for his use of the word "alleged"). Justices should not base their decisions on their own political leanings - something that liberal justices often do. So, there is the first point of what makes a conservative justice - one who rules according to the law, not his own personal beliefs. Knisley throws out his first two points in reverse order and completely ignores the concept of prioritization. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights should take priority in any decision. The system was designed to work this way. The Constitution is difficult to amend. This makes sure that a super-majority agrees with any changes. It also limits Congress's role in amendments. This prevents sweeping changes from being forced on an unwilling population. When a justice stretches the Constitution or discovers a new meaning that the framers must have intended but neglected to actually write down then the whole amendment process is broken. Liberals loved doing this, especially during the 1960s, but it has caused long-term damages. Abortion was on its way to being accepted nation-wide. If the political process had been allowed to continue, it would probably be legal and accepted in most if not all states. The Supreme Court inserted itself into this process, "discovering" a new right. Not only did this energize the opposition, but it also meant that every nominee since has been judged more for his stance on abortion than anything else. So, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights must take priority over any other considerations. If a justice doesn't like the way that the Constitution reads then he should urge an amendment. Precedent is important, but only if it was constitutional in the first place. If a ruling was wrong then it should not be upheld. The Second Amendment is quite clear about guns. If there is any question, the Founders left other writings that clarify their position. Original intent is also important in considering new, novel applications of existing law. Clearly, Congress did not intend for the EPA to mandate fuel economy. If they had then they would not have passed the CAFE standards separately. If they do want the EPA to control fuel standards then, being Congress, they can amend the law to say so. The same is true for the EPA and CO2 in general. A conservative justice would tell the EPA to go to Congress if they want to expand their authority. A liberal justice ignores this, sees the good that a broader interpretation can cause, and allows the EPA to expand its authority. The complexities that confound Knisley just are not there, but he wants us to think that they are. Why? Because a liberal activist and a liberal court can effect societal change much faster than the legislature. In the 1970s, I heard a high-ranking member of the NOW (National Organization of Women) explain why the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) was so important to their cause. She explained that it was much easier to use the courts than the legislatures to advance their agenda. The courts should not exist as an alternative to the legislature. That is the real difference between liberal and conservative justices. Monday, April 12, 2010 Markets vs Congress According to an AP story, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday he's trying to get the federal government to prohibit airlines from charging a fee for carry-on baggage, calling it a "slap in the face to travelers." This ignores why airlines are implementing add-on prices and the proper solution. Airlines have a problem - cost are going up and fewer people are flying so profits are going down. If they raise prices then people will flock to their competitors. This is especially true now that people book their own flights through on-line services. The airlines figured out that they get more business if they hide some of the total cost of flying. They lower their base prices so that they will come up as low-cost on the travel sites. Then they hit you with extra charges. A traveler trying to find the actual lowest-cost carrier will have to look up all of the extra charges then order them by hand. People are understandably upset and Congress, especially Democrats, feel the need to insert themselves into every situation. History shows that Congress seldom solves problems. They just rearrange them. Remember when Congress got involved in cable TV pricing? Prices rose faster after Congress got involved than before. So what should happen? The on-line services need to include the add-ons in their ranking. They could either have you fill in a few check-boxes about how many bags you will have, etc. or they could rank the tickets based on average final-ticket price. They should be able to come up with a basic measure of the final ticket price just from data they already have on file. If the airlines lose their financial incentive to hide prices through add-ons then they will fold them back into their base price. Thursday, April 08, 2010 Job Creation Problems The economy added 162,000 jobs in March, a welcome gain after more than two years of nearly uninterrupted losses. In fact, the economy added less than 110,000 jobs. The rest are temporary census jobs created by the government. The editorial included the standard caution against fiscal sanity: Make no mistake, the deficit is a serious problem that must be addressed in the medium term. The economy needs to be bolstered now. The problem is how to use the government to bolster the economy without having long-term consequences. Predictably, the Times suggested several fixes that involve large sums of government money. The long-term problem is that this money has to come from somewhere. There are only three possibilities and none of these are desirable: 1) Raise taxes. The economy needs more people spending and investing money. The more money the government taxes, the less is available for the rest of the economy. The Times acknowledges this on the state level if not the federal level: As states try to close their deficits with tax increases, consumers cut back on their spending, which harms businesses and hiring. 2) Borrow more money. This is the most likely answer, at least in the short term. This means raising the deficit and adding to the national debt. The higher the debt the more money is needed every year just to pay off interest. Since the principle is not being reduced, the amount of money needed to make interest payments keeps rising forever. The Times tries to minimize the effects of the deficit by accusing the Republicans of "grandstanding" on it but this is a real problem with long-term consequences. Under current projections, the national debt will grow so large that the deficit will have to be eliminated. This will be horribly painful. 3) Print new money. At some point in the near future this will begin to look attractive. If the government puts enough extra money into circulation it can pay off the debt. This will lead to runaway inflation. This may not sound so bad to anyone under 45. For those of us who remember the 1970s, this is a disaster. It has the same overall effect as raising taxes but it affects savings the most. The bottom line is that any money the government spends on stimulating the economy, eventually has to come from somewhere. The hope is that a short-term stimulus will lead to long-term growth which will cushion the eventual drag of paying for the stimulus. While this might work sometimes, it will not work now. We have spent too freely, already. So what can the government do to stimulate job creation? There are several options available that do not require new spending. These involve reducing the cost of hiring. The government could roll back the minimum wage increases or some parts of the ADA. It could repeal the recently-passed health care mandates. It could postpone new environmental standards. All of these cost jobs. There is also the issue of illegal immigration. For years this has been excused since the illegal immigrants were "taking jobs that Americans would not do." I suspect that many Americans have reordered their priorities and would be glad to clean hotel rooms or do gardening rather than being unemployed. Sadly, none of these actions will even occur to the Democrats or the New York Times. They are inordinately proud of these measures and the idea of rolling back any of their "progress" in order to create new jobs would not occur to them. Wednesday, April 07, 2010 Tax Fairness But, for nearly half the country, January 1 is Tax Freedom Day. 47% of the country does not pay any income tax. That includes a family of four making $50,000 per year. 10% of the taxpayers pay nearly 75% of the taxes. While the Democrats painted President Bush's tax cuts as benefiting the rich, they also benefited the poor. President Obama added to that as part of his stimulus package. The result is that while government spending keeps going up, fewer and fewer people are paying for it. This is one reason that it is easy for Democrats to sell new programs - someone else will pay for them. The Democrats claim to be for fairness but it is hardly fair for the government to be spreading the wealth so lavishly. That is a hallmark of the Progressives, though, and it will increase in the near future under health care. Taxes should be a shared burden so that everyone feels the cost of government spending. Between borrowing and unequal taxation, this relationship has been broken for a long time and is leading to the financial crash that I wrote about last time. Tuesday, April 06, 2010 The Obama Crash Since he is taking sole credit for it, he must be crediting the stimulus package passed during the first few weeks of his administration for this feat. Someone taking a longer view might give more credit to the Bush administration for passing the TARP. Bush also bailed out some of the "too big to fail" institutions. Obama can take credit for turning around GM and Chrysler although he used some of the money from Bush's TARP for that. Regardless of who did what, this is only a temporary respite. There are problems on the horizon that will be much more difficult to fix than the 2008 crash. Our country's national debt is exploding and Obama seems oblivious to the implications. Keep in mind that the debt is different from the deficit. The debt is the total amount that our government owes to its creditors. The deficit the the amount that the government spends minus its income (if the income is greater then it is a surplus). Since our government almost always runs a deficit, we never pay off any of the debt. We simply pay the interest. This is already one of the biggest items in the budget. For decades this was a minor problem. It became a hot topic during the 1992 campaign when independent Ross Perot bought TV time and used a pointer and some simple charts to attract attention to the deficit. Under long-term pressure to control the deficit, President Clinton and a Republican Congress made tax increases and budget cuts and actually balanced the budget for a time. With the attacks on 9/11/2001, a recession, and the start of long-term foreign wars, the deficit came back. At the same time, President Bush and Congress increased the rate of government growth. This caused record, but manageable deficits. Several things have changed in the last couple of years. The recession cut income. The TARP, the bailouts, and the stimulus all increased spending. The Obama administration and a Democratic Congress made several other moves to increase spending. The 2010 budget grew by several times the rate of inflation. The Health Care bill was presented as deficit reduction but that relies on future Medicare cuts that are unlikely to happen. Even with the cuts, it only reduces the deficit for a short period. Long-term, it will add to the deficit. Social Security hit a milestone this year. Since the 1980s, it has produced a surplus which went into the general fund and offset the deficit. This year it ran a deficit which means that money has to come out of the general fund to pay off Social Security benefits (technically Social Security is being paid by redeeming special bonds but the money for this comes from the general fund). This adds to the deficit and the new debt being incurred. Within the next few years Medicare and Medicaid will also start to run deficits and drain the general fund. There is also pressure for the federal government to bail out states that are in trouble. The federal government does not have any more money than the states but it has powers to borrow or print cash that the states do not have. All of this will result in exploding debt. Our deficit is already high enough (63% of GDP) to cause a crisis in some countries. A deficit of 90% nearly always causes a crisis. So what is the Obama White House doing to head off this crisis? Virtually nothing. Yes, Obama appointed a commission to look into the deficit but it has no authority. What will this mean in the long run? It will be painful. It will mean cuts in services and increased taxes. Greece is already facing this. So is California. It will be more painful for the federal government than either of these examples. Greece is getting help from Germany and the European Union. California is getting help from the federal government. There is no one large enough to bail out the US (with the possible exception of China). We need to start acting now but President Obama is a prisoner of his preconceptions. He sees the government as a creator of jobs so the growth of government (and the deficit) is a good thing during a recession. He also listens to economists like Paul Krugman who insist that deficits do not matter. They point out that the deficit during World War II reached 100% GDP but was paid off a few years later. What they do not admit is that the economic conditions of post-WWII are completely different from the present. Among other things, the government was financially stretched to the breaking point by the end of the war. The government immediately started decommissioning troops and cut spending as soon as the war ended. A significant portion of the workforce (women) voluntarily stopped working so that there would be more jobs for veterans. Finally, the war left Europe and Asia's manufacturing capacity shattered which the US was fully intact. Nothing that I have written here is new or unknown. This is what motivates the Tea Party protesters. We have two choices. We can start implementing austerity budgets on both the state and federal level and trying to control the deficit or we can ignore the problem and continue to spent until we have a crisis. The second approach appeals to a president who is bent on being "transformative". Eventually the crisis will come. If Obama manages to be elected to a second term then there is a good chance that he will be in office to deal with the fruits of his labors. Friday, April 02, 2010 Everybody Wins? The new automobile fuel economy standards formally adopted by the Obama administration on Thursday will yield a trifecta of benefits: reduced dependence on foreign oil, fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and consumer savings at the pump. Wow, no downsides at all! Except... The new cars will cost more - around $1000 by 2016. That's because nothing is free. If more efficient cars could be built for the same price they would already be on the market. The extra up-front cost is expected to be more than recovered over the life of the car but there are other trade-offs. Hybrid cars are likely to be more expensive to maintain in the long-run. There are persistent rumors that the Prius's batteries die after 80,000 miles. Toyota will not comment either way but with worn-out batteries, you lose all of the advantages of a hybrid and replacing a set of batteries will cost far more than the car saves in gas. Since cars these days regularly last upwards of 100,000 miles, anything that reduces car life will eventually offset the mileage gains. There are two ways of increasing mileage with current technology. Hybrid drive trains is the first and most expensive but the easy way is to reduce the car's size, weight, and horsepower. This is elementary physics - less weight means less energy expended to accelerate. Small economical cars have been available for decades. The problem is that people don't want them. Profit margins are small and the cars are not suitable for families with older children. That's why SUVs were so popular in the last couple of decades and mini-vans before that. People need more room than small, economical cars provide but that adds weight. The car companies are the big losers here. SUVs and pickups are what kept the big three going. At best they broke even selling small cars and they only carried those in order to meet the previous fleet mileage. In order to meet these requirements, the car makers are going to have to convince buyers that they want to pay more for cars that they didn't want in the first place. This may be enough to push one or more manufacturer past the brink. There may be benefits to the new mileage standards but don't fool yourself into thinking that there are no downsides. Thursday, April 01, 2010 Fearing the Right Robinson has selective memory. The Unabomber was still mailing bombs for environmental causes until he was caught in 1995. More recently there was the university professor and Obama supporter who shot up a faculty meeting.Robinson has selective memory. The Unabomber was still mailing bombs for environmental causes until he was caught in 1995. More recently there was the university professor and Obama supporter who shot up a faculty. Robinson mentions the anarchists who vowed to trash any city that dared to host a World Bank or G8 meeting. He minimizes then as being just a few people breaking windows but they actually caused millions in damages. True, they faded away after September 11 but they made a comeback in the last year. Violence from the left is so common and the press so complacent, it is under-reported. Much has been made over a Congressman's brother's gas grill line being cut but it was hardly reported that anti-Republican protesters were dropping things on the delegates' shuttle buses or throwing bricks at the buses' windows. Deep Ecology groups like Earth First were bigger and more fashionable 20 years ago but they never went away and the continue to commit acts such as arson. For that matter, petty eco-terrorism is widespread. Hummers and other large SUVs are often vandalized. Who on the right does anything like this? Maybe we should only look at plots by religious extremists to kill multiple people. I will admit that this standard lets the left off the hook (at least during the last 25 years or so). There is still a problem with Robinson's assertion that we should fear the right. In the last decade, several similar plots have been broken up. Prior to this one, they all involved Muslims planning on killing Americans in general or American soldiers specifically. There have been multiple arrests for similar plots just since President Obama was inaugurated. How many columns has Robinson written telling us to fear Muslims? Or from any other left-leaning columnist? None. Their silence was deafening. More likely they wrote a column excusing the terrorists as big-talkers who would never have acted on their plans. Sometimes they blamed the Bush administration for planting an informer who was the first one to suggest violence. Which is more likely - a pizza delivery man who often delivers to a military base smuggling some co-conspirators in with guns and shooting unarmed soldiers or somehow planting bombs to kill a spread-out column of mourners? The answer appears to be "Whichever group is Christian." I just checked Robinson's columns for the last three years. This is the only column he wrote about domestic terrorism. Ironically, he wrote more than one column on prejudice.
DORTMUND holds a special place in my heart, as I’m sure it does for many others around my age. My first European final in 2001, the club’s first since 1985, and a crazy day and night where it lashed down and there were an improbable number of goals scored by a confident Liverpool and an opposition in Alaves who didn’t know when they were beat. Since that night at the Westfalenstadion 15 years ago, we have seen Borussia Dortmund and their supporters grow in reputation across Europe. An impressive stadium in 2001 has grown even further and the style of the football team, combined with the visual wonder of the Yellow Wall, has made it an away trip in-demand. So when the draw was made, everyone I knew wanted to go. At The Anfield Wrap we quickly realised we wanted to go, too. That there were many interesting things about Borussia Dortmund we felt we could learn by being over there. How had their supporter base — nothing to write home about on our last trip in 2002 — become the envy of the world? How had the team managed to recover from the loss of their passionate leader and actually looked to improve, to become what some Dortmund fans thought might be their best side ever? And could we get Mad Erik Meijer back to the square? As young, inquisitive broadcasters who love German lager it was too good to miss. So flights were scoured, trains were sought and eventually a trip via Amsterdam with a hotel right by the ground was secured for a price we could afford. It involved early starts there and back, but you can sleep when you get home, can’t you? We were lucky enough to arrange lots of stuff before we went. We got access to the press conference just by ringing up the club and asking them and ensuring them we had a press pass (Robbo still has one from his old work). This is a marked difference to what we have experienced in England, showing Germany are way ahead in terms of respecting, and indeed valuing, the place of fan-run sites in modern media. It must be said that a small minority of English journalists aren’t too happy when we rock up to these things either. Soz abar us, lads. We also arranged many interviews to try to get under the fingernails of what makes the club tick. On the first night, Neil went out for dinner with Markus Langer, Head of Corporate Marketing and Public Relations at main sponsor and part-owner of Borussia Dortmund, Evonik. The way he talked about how they, as a company, try to put supporters and fan culture at the heart of their messages, rather than using the players themselves, was fascinating in a world of celebrity endorsements. We will be putting that conversation out this week. Later that night we also managed to grab Tony Barrett of The Times and Dave Rawcliffe from Propaganda Photo to talk about our own memories as fans of that final in 2001. Over a few beers, and around plenty more, we all shared our own stories of what that trip meant to us, and what we managed to get up to on the way, in a period when podcasts weren’t invented and you were scared to use your mobile phone abroad. The next day morning, with a few sore heads, we linked up with an old friend Stefan Buczko from the English-speaking Borussia Dortmund podcast Yellow Wall. Stefan recorded a pre-match show with us and, like most of the fans we spoke to before the game, was full of confidence about his side’s chances of progression. In another example of Borussia Dortmund’s help and generosity, they put us in touch with Björn Hegemann, Supporters Liaison Officer at the club. Björn met Gareth and Neil at the Westfalenstadion to talk about how the club try to interact with fans. Bjorn also arranged for us to meet Jan-Henrik Gruszecki, one of the most famous Dortmund ultras, to talk about how The Yellow Wall had grown into one of the most famous stands in world football. Björn himself gave the lads a tour of the ground just hours before kick off and again shortly before the match while he told the story of the club and the relationship with supporters — again, something you couldn’t imagine in England. Both interviews will also be out this week to TAW Player subscribers, and are well worthy of your time. And then there was Erik. I would love to say getting a meeting and an interview with Erik Meijer was difficult, but all it took was a tweet and the promise of a ticket and he was racing down the Autobahn faster than you could sing “He’s big, he’s red, he’s off his fucking head.” Erik came to our hotel and we chatted for ages about football while we finished our work, distracting us with his impressions of players he played with and his impressive Scouse accent. As you will hear in the interview his love of LFC and football in general is still as strong as ever. Erik was keen to get back to the square he had made his own 15 years ago by singing on stage, and we never need much encouragement to get on the beer either. So by mid-afternoon we packed up our gear and headed down to where all the Liverpool fans had congregated, just like in 2001. Going on the beer with Erik is everything you would imagine and more. Everyone he meets his quickly his new best friend. The only time he disappears is to return with as many pints of lager he can fit on a tray. He poses for each photograph with a wider smile than the last. He complains we’re not singing enough and starts songs on his own. His joy is infectious. All my mates are still talking about him. I didn’t realise how famous he was in Germany, he is a tactical analyst on Sky over there. Kind of like their Gary Neville. The Dortmund fans were as pleased to see him as the Liverpool fans were keen to talk about 2001. Every Liverpool fan wanted to tell him their story of 2001, how they had a beer with him. Where they were stood when he got up on stage. Erik could have got bored, but lapped it up. The walk up to the ground is great. Any stadium that you can walk to from the city centre is a winner. Around the ground is full of outdoor bars and sausage stalls. They make you want to head there early and take it all in. Liverpool obviously have issues with space and outdoor drinking laws, but it was a clear demonstration about how much better it could be done. I bought a programme for just €1. Which is a good job as I inevitably lost it. You’ve seen the game. You’ve seen the ground. You’ll Never Walk Alone was brilliant. Three Little Birds by Bob Marley at half time was wonderful, spontaneous and especially poignant for those who lost their friend and brother in 2012 the night before the League Cup final, for whom the song has become their anthem. It should become ours, too. Three years on. Always with us.#AlexAlwaysWithUs pic.twitter.com/Xb6GORoSc4 — Joe Connolly (@JoeMConnolly) February 26, 2015 After the game it was back to the hotel to do The Pink, a few too many beers after and then three hours’ sleep before getting up for an early train back to Amsterdam. On our return we drove to Liverpool, where Neil had me doing two other shows. Because he’s nice like that, and the shows never stop. They never bloody stop. So what of the experience? Dortmund as a city isn’t much to look at, it was badly damaged during the war, but people make cities anyway and every local we met, bar the mad fella we met late at night who wanted to tell us he loved Maggie Thatcher, was friendly and proud of their club and city. It was interesting to learn about the atmosphere, how they too struggle to get up for certain games, especially early on a Sunday, but how cheaper tickets and continuous dialogue between supporters and club mean a spirit of togetherness that has drifted away in the Premier League. It’s wrong to point at everything being perfect in German football. Spurs had lots of issues getting into the ground in the last round and it took us ages to get out. Their fans also went pretty quiet when they went 1-0 down. As all fans do, because they are human. But so much of how they ‘consume’ football seems enviable. Not just the cost, but also the experience, how you are treated, and how you feel people look at you, from police, to sponsors, to club officials. As a vital part of what makes football great, rather than a group of people who should be lucky to have paid, heavily, for the experience. It would be great to go back there next year, hopefully in the Champions League. Although there are many other cities on our list, too. Reckon we could get Paddy Berger in Prague? Brilliant Great article. Can’t help feeling FSG might benefit from reading this, and listening to the podcasts when they’re out. . 1 Euro for a pint outside the ground, that kinda blew my mind. I’m sure I’ll be alright by Thursday but I’m currently flapping this home tie tbh. Don’t think Klopp would set us up like an away side at Anfield like Houllier might have done. If it goes end to end and a bit mad like the Tottenham game a lot of the Moreno or Sakho daftness just ends up in the back of the net as away goals against this Dortmund side. Be arsed having your season ended in mid April – it’s rubbish. Not entirely sure I agree with Seans comment tbh. I’m sure they could contribute to helping making football a better experience but overall I feel what John is referring to whether he’s aware of it or not is the mentality between the two countries. They’re miles apart. I spent years roaming around Europe and it’s completely different to Britain. I often ask myself why I returned. I like the people of Britain if I’m honest. I think it’s about the only thing that makes it great. I like our sense of humour. Ok, this is about Germany and football I suppose, but I don’t think they’re particularly much different to other people in Europe. One story I often tell which epitomises how I feel about Europe is from when I lived in Paris. It was a huge eye opener that women used to ask me if I wanted to go to bed with them. They’re just so open, relaxed and self assured in a way we could never be. I sometimes think I’m a people pleaser so I always felt I had to oblige. When I mention German people I often tell the story of when I bought a car for £100 (a gold A reg Volkswagon Jetta) and drove to the Super Cup in Monaco when we beat Bayern, combining it with a road trip. It’s the only time I’ve ever been pulled into those customs hangers on the way out of the country. A fuckin right shed of a car that was so shit I think it rang alarm bells as to why it was even being attempted to drive through Europe in. Anyway, it inevitably over heated on the cote D’Azur. As luck would have it we met some Germans who fixed it for us by bypassing some part of the fan with a paperclip. German ingenuity at it’s absolute best. They ended up inviting us to have dinner with them and told us to meet them in the morning so they could show us around the best beaches in Mandelieu. Again, we were invited to eat with them that night cos they were making a huge Paella. There was 30 odd in their group so they didn’t particularly need to make extra friends. When we left they said they owned a break down recovery service and if ever we broke down anywhere in Germany, at any time of day or night to phone them and they’d come and get us for free. It was most bizarre because Germany is huge. I later realised they must have some some of chain of recovery vehicles. I’ve found other German people equally lovely. I’ll be honest, being from England where people rarely go out of their way for strangers I initially thought they were swingers and it was part of a seedy plot to befriend us but it wasn’t. It was just how they were. I still remember their kindness to this day. So, this article is undoubtedly an article about German football but I think the main difference is the mentality of the people there and across Europe in general. I ski in Austria a lot because my mates got a small apartment in Bad Ischl which is an Austrian only type town and the people there are the same. It’s a noticeably different attitude to the UK. It’s just less up it’s own arse than here. Just to finish on a note that I feel sums up perfectly what I’m trying to get across. I kept in contact with the German people. They used to send us letters asking how we were. Me being British put a stop to it all because for some ridiculous reason I sent a reply winding them up about England beating them 5-1. I obviously went too far with the banter because we never heard from them again. The typical behaviour of a bellend. I want to explore a bit more of Germany. I’d like to drive around it stopping at Paris on route to pimp myself, up to Amsterdam, via Bruges because it’s my favourite film and across to Germany. I was only really on about how Dortmund (and i suppose) German football see their fans as in integral and important aspect of the club. I see that as a business decision, not something in the psyche of Germans per se, or anyone else for that matter. Though you may well be onto something regarding the way British people act towards others. But I think we’ve gone way off topic. Good stories though :) Yeah, agree about going way off topic. Often, the next morning after a late night I wish there was a delete button on the comments section. But, I stand by the psyche of a country leading to a better living experience and probably think football is a consequence of that. I’m gonna leave for work now and realise I can’t articulate my point on this but I see it as one being a socialist country and one being very capitalist. Pricing, policing, facilities and the psyche of fellow fans are a result of that imo. I get a lot of stick for this view but I just think Britain is a shit hole and I expect football to be as it is here. Great read – Dortmund sound like they do the football experience very well As much as German football is trendy now ( and I understand why it is) I still think this patch of magic green manicured carpet in Anfield is a better day out or bucket list thing for anybody than your Dortmunds or your PSGs or your Barcas or Madrids. I actually think that as a fanbase we are becoming too modest and too wiling to do ourselves done – and to eager to praise other Clubs — we should really believe in the glory of Liverpool and I can sense that good things are brewing again for us – we have history but also a present and a future For me and my mates – us love-lorn loyal Liverpool lads – nothing can ever come anything like as good as a trip to Anfield to watch the Mighty Reds We should understand that lots of tourists probably feel more excited watching us than Real, Bayern, Milan etc – we are the first proper global club with a fanbase that is bottom-up rather than manufactured. So, respect to Dortmund – but we ARE better
The Coal Scavenger Bharath Moro journeys by train through the grim coal terrain of Jharkhand and meets an unlikely band of women. It's 6 am and there is a fierce wind blowing across Dhanbad Station. I am tired, my feet hurt and my nose is simultaneously being assaulted by the damp, fetid smell of a city that's taking a collective morning dump and the pungency of chillies and eggs being broken into a pan smoking with mustard oil. I also get the feeling that I am lost. This despite the fact that my fellow traveller is VSP. Both of us are in Dhanbad after a whirlwind tour of Varanasi that was overwhelming. Too many sights and smells crammed into a six-hour window followed by what I tell myself later was a foolishly indulgent piece of theatre. All to prove to myself that I could travel general class, in the harshest of winter, on one of the most crowded trains in the country -- the Howrah-bound Kalka Mail. VSP is back after purchasing tickets, which we will use to board the Dhanbad-Ranchi Passenger. Confident as ever, he points in the direction of Platform 5 and says "Let's go, that's where our train will arrive." While we wait for it, I pick up a copy of the Dainik Jagran -- the only newspaper available. My Hindi is rustic at best and I struggle to read a story about a mine fire that's eating up roads near Hazaribagh. VSP, meanwhile, seems more interested in eating scrumptious-looking omelettes, which are promptly ordered and devoured. There's a bit of a scramble when the empty rake eventually arrives, but we eventually find side window seats in an odd coach -- there are no toilets at either end! Only later on do I realise that it is a retrofit of a MEMU (mainline electrical multiple unit) coach. There's a gentle bump as the locomotive is attached. I venture out to note that it is a venerable WAM-4 from Mughalsarai. The paint is peeling off in chunks, taking bits of the shell with it! It clearly has seen better days and I head back wondering how long it will remain in active service. Back in the coach, VSP is busy pouring over his timetables and making notes for our journey later on in the day. The plan is to head back to Tatanagar from Ranchi using the MEMU via Muri and Chandil. There is a certain comfort in having a person like VSP around, knowing that at your disposal is probably the best brain holding vast amounts of train data. For an intrepid traveller like me, who dislikes too much planning and too much structure to his journeys, it can get overwhelming -- but not today! Ten minutes later, with a gentle toot from the WAM-4, we get moving. Six metres into the journey and I immediately realise the folly of choosing a window seat in the direction of travel on a cold, cold December morning. There's an irritating one-inch gap that the glass shutter will not cover and the thin blast of frigidity is relentless. But I look past this minor irritant as we negotiate our way through a maze of lines and catenaries. Rolling through the crowded suburbs of the city, I notice how everything seems to be covered by a thin sheet of coal dust -- the rails, the catenary poles, the sleepers, the houses, the drains. Even people seem a shade darker than usual. Our first stop is Kusunda, a station with raised earth platform, a ramshackle room that dispenses tickets and a few dogs scratching themselves awake. I don't notice it immediately, but on the other side of the station and towards the south is an enormous yard, six to seven lines all occupied by rakes overflowing with coal. Through the dirty glass of the shutter, I strain to make out the details. Suddenly, I let out a low yelp. No, not a weird locomotive sighting, but a man is on top of one of the wagons and busily throwing down huge lumps of coal, which his helper down below is stuffing into a sack. He is six inches away from certain death and yet there is a calmness and assuredness behind this pilferage that is amazing. I point this out to VSP and in his characteristic Deccan-y twang, he says something that can't be repeated here. We trundle along through the fog and cold at a leisurely 45 kmph. The tracks are in pitiable condition and the bounce and gait becomes disconcerting after a while. A line appears suddenly from a corner and disappears just as suddenly. This happens quite often and after 5 minutes, I give up trying to find out the origins of these spurs. The halt at Baseria comes and goes without much fuss as we pass by enormous dumper trucks carrying coal, waiting patiently at a couple of level crossings. Somehow, the black seems all-pervasive. I have no clue just how much darker this is going to get. Illustrations: Dominic Xavier Rail enthusiast Bharath writes a blog titled. 'Every single person who loaded the sacks is a woman' A proper station at last comes into view. Sijua has a high-level platform and a footbridge. And lots of people milling around on the platform, waiting to board. Unusually, none seem the office-going type. Everyone has a sack or two of coal in front of them and wait patiently, almost cat-like, to pounce on the train and get in. Thud, thud, thud! The entire coach shudders as a dozen coal sacks land heavily near the doors. There's shouting, screaming and rabid gesticulating as more people, mysteriously appearing out of nowhere, get in on the act. More floor-pounding, more coal sacks landing. The loco hoots once, which results in the noise level reaching ear-splitting levels. Quick, sharp words are exchanged between people who've loaded the sacks and their 'controllers' on the ground. One more hoot. This time the chain's pulled and there's the loud hiss of air escaping the valves. I am trying to make sense of what is happening, but it seems surreal, as if Andre Masson himself decided to paint the scene unfolding before me. Big blur of people, voices and coal dust. But in this chaos, I notice something that makes me go, "No, it can't be. Are you really sure?" Every single person who loaded the sacks and remains with them in the coach is a woman. We get going eventually, after more hollering. The women clearly seem dissatisfied with their progress in getting the sacks on board and in what seems to be a fight between two rival groups, fingers are pointed and words are exchanged. Doors, ahead and behind me are jammed with these sacks. The women climb over a couple of them and fan out through the coach identifying places to store them properly. Loud arguments break out between people occupying seats and the coal women trying to shove them underneath. In the adjacent bay, one man almost chokes a well-built and hefty woman, but calm prevails after a few others intervene. The burly woman very nonchalantly shows him her middle finger and gets on with the work at hand! Angarpathra comes and goes with very much the same action at Sijua. There are now coal sacks stacked right up to the roof of the coach. Every inch of available storage seems to be taken -- except the space beneath my feet. I have resolutely put my foot down and not allowed any coal underneath me. I feel rather smug and proud. And with a guffaw, VSP seems to agree. That's when I notice her. Her eyes seem to be seeking something as she peeks from behind the partition of the first bay. A shimmer. And just like that the space beneath my feet is taken. I seem arrested by her presence and offer no resistance when she asks me to move. The sack comes thudding down from the strap on her head and after a few struggling seconds to contain a small tear, everything quietens. "Thank you," she says in a very weak voice. "It's okay," I mutter back. And for the second time, I am astonished. There is a small baby tied to her bosom using a rudimentary sling. However did she manage to lift the sack and her baby and get into the crowded train? What is her name? Why does she do this coal-pilfering? Isn't she afraid of getting caught? Why am I seeing only women carrying these sacks? Questions like these flash through my head. I want to ask them and receive answers. Somehow, her appearance has completely managed to turn this leg of the journey into something different. Something that I am unable to point at and pick out. Meanwhile, VSP momentarily distracts me to announce that we have arrived at Katrasgarh Junction. It is a smallish one, flanked on both sides by the now very ubiquitous coal-loading yards. And no surprise, most of the lines are occupied with overloaded rakes. We start after a two-minute halt and continue to trundle through the vast, almost featureless, black terrain. A small rivulet called Tentulia flows swiftly by as we cross the eponymous station. As VSP buries himself in his timetables, I take up the courage ask the child-slinging woman a few questions. My curiosity cannot be contained any longer. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" "No saab, but I don't know why you want to talk to a person like me." 'Wait, what? You eat mud for dinner?' Her eyes are sharp and clear as she begins to answer. Her frail and thin frame hides a very confident voice that has a very sexy rasp. Rupa. "So, Rupa, why do you carry these coal sacks? Where do you get them? Where do you take them? And why is that I only see women doing this work?" "Saab, what to do? We are poor and we have no other work. The big mines around this place are either closed or don't employ people like us, so we all pool together and dig these small holes that are not officially allowed. We then take the coal out from them and sell them at the market near Bokaro and Kotshila." I am about to ask her another set of questions, but she's talking rapidly and completely into the flow. "Sometimes the babus come and close the holes, so we have to steal from the trains and sell the coal, like today. Yesterday, three men came up to my village and thrashed a few of us and asked us not dig these holes. See this big bruise on my left hand," she is pointing towards a red welt, "This was caused by one fellow trying to drag me away, but luckily my neighbour saw it and chased them away with a stick." The baby shifts in her sling and seems to be waking up, but she caresses it back to sleep. "His name is Arjun." There is an extra twinkle in her eye as she goes on for a few minutes about how she's the only person among these women to take care of her baby and work at the same time. "But isn't this kind of work dangerous?" "Yes it is, saab. But I have to do what I have to do to give my baby a good life, no?" "But don't you have a husband who can help you with it?" There is a twinge of regret as soon as the words are out of my mouth and I can't help notice that she doesn't want to answer. She doesn't. Several minutes of uncomfortable silence pass, in which I try to distract myself with more of the black bleakness outside. Phulwaritanr comes and goes with the line from Mohuda to Gomoh flying overhead, a little outside the station. We halt for a couple of minutes on either side of a bridge spanning the wide and very dirty Jamunia river. At both halts there are lines that come together and then split and as VSP goes gamely on with the details, I try to take in as many of them as possible. Dugda is a biggish halt with a sizeable crowd disembarking and boarding. There is a flurry of activity in the coach as a few of the women unload and take on sacks. Rupa, meanwhile, is stone-faced and has buried her head in her hands, refusing to look up. The line meanders through a series of deep cuttings and emerges into a clearing that is bordered by a very thick jungle. This is probably the most dramatic turn of scenery I have witnessed in a long, long time. A few metres down, a pair of lines join us, which VSP happily informs me are the main tracks from Gomoh to Chandrapura. The sight of these stirs the coach into a frenzy. The hollering begins; sacks are bought down from the luggage racks, shifted from below and crammed into a giant pile near the doors. I get the impression that the train will soon come under really heavy artillery fire and the bags are meant as some sort of protection! We slowly pull into the station, at what looks like Platform 1. There are about half a dozen lines separating us from a platform on the other side. And as usual, all these lines are occupied by faceless, nameless WAG-7 hauled coal rakes. VSP takes this opportunity to stretch his legs a bit, but I stay put, wanting to talk to Rupa some more. She senses it. "What to say about my husband, saab? I married him because my mother needed the money and he paid Rs 1,500 on the spot. I don't like him. Tell me, which 20-year-old girl will want to marry an already twice-married man who has a big drinking and gambling problem? Will you give your sister to such a person? Will your mother agree, even if you say yes?" The vehemence and hurt in her voice are clear. "He doesn't work at all and he beats me if I don't give him money at the end of the day. I earn 35 rupees a day, by carrying these two sacks for more than 100 kms. What money do I have left for me and my baby, huh?" I am shocked at this obscenely low amount, but before I say anything, she rattles on. "For each sack we make 70 rupees, but we have to pay all these people. The railway police," she hawks and spits as she mentions them, "the people who help us dig our holes, the station master and coolies and the others". I don't have to guess who these 'others' are. "On some days, all my money is taken from me. I start the day with nothing and end up with nothing. I dig up some fresh mud outside my house and eat that for dinner because I can't afford anything else." "Wait, what? You eat mud for dinner? Please tell me you are only joking." "Do I look like I am joking, saab?" Wow. Space and time compress. Everything seems a blur. The loud wail of a passing WAG-9 only adds to the whirlpool of surrealism in my head. Sharp and piercing. Blocky and bulky. Colours that I can't even imagine start appearing and form a film before my eyes. Thirty-five rupees a day? Eating mud for dinner? 'Rupa's words continue to haunt me...' I am shaken from my trance by VSP, who's returned from his walk. He curses the unusually long halt we've had. I nod, pretending to agree, but in reality my concept of time seems to have been shot. Rupa's gone too, helping another woman load a sack of what look like vegetables. It's covered in black dust, so I can't tell at the moment. The cause of our interminable delay soon turns up -- a grossly underpowered single WAG-5 hauling a fully-loaded rake. Within a few seconds, we are given the go-ahead and with considerable effort, we are finally off. The thick vegetation continues as we loop around the giant thermal power plant and cross the Damodar River using a classic truss bridge. Next stop Bokaro. Home of the giant steel plant, many, many more industries and for us rail fans, the most zany liveried WDM-2 locomotives. The station is clean and modern, befitting a town that seems very confident of its place in the world. As we pick up speed after a five-minute halt, I notice that the streets are clean, well-maintained and sterile. Seems like the perfect township, but with the character of an operating room. The landscape changes dramatically again. After the black of Dhanbad and lushness around Chandrapura, this seems very desert-y. Small rolling hills of decaying shrub, littered with broken and decaying houses. Only the colours seem to have changed. The bleakness remains. The villages of Radhagaon and Pundag come and go quickly and the crowd in the coach starts to thin. Rupa is suddenly nervous as we approach Damurughutgu Halt. Her weight shifts constantly and she keeps knotting her fingers. "What happened? Why are you so nervous?" She looks around to make sure no one else is paying much attention. "The hafta fellow usually comes on here and takes the money. But today I have nothing, so I don't know what to do. I hope he doesn't come." She sounds hopeful. Her wish doesn't come true though, as a very thuggish-looking and muscular chap boards and starts eyeing the remaining women with coal sacks. I can see small notes being passed around quietly and nervously. It is Rupa's turn. I want to intervene and do something, but I don't and with an almost invisible bat of her eyelid, Rupa indicates that she's glad of my decision. There's a loud argument between her and the goon, which results in her baby waking up and bawling. Threatening gestures fly from both sides as I desperately try to keep calm. One of the other women intervenes and in about half a minute everything seems to have been worked out. Rupa is in tears, though. I ask her what's been promised to the goon, but she refuses to divulge. Everyone just goes quiet. I am distraught and want to help, but I am afraid to do so. Despite her struggle, Rupa is a proud woman and won't take kindly to any pity. But I overcome this feeling and withdraw a Rs 500 note from my wallet and extend it to her. She balks. "Saab, I don't need this. Why are you giving me this much money?" "Please take it. It would mean a lot to me if you took it and used it for something you and your baby need." "Saab" She hesitates. For a long time. But eventually she takes it and puts it into her baby's sling. "Thank you, saab. I don't know what to say." Before I can reply, there are loud noises from across the coach and about six women converge towards the door. I notice that we are slowing down. Rupa gets up and joins the rest of them as we pull up to halt at Kotshila. There's near-panic as about 25-30 sacks are rolled off on either side of the train. Rupa gets down too. "This is where I sell the coal in the market. It's across the station there," she says, pointing towards the far end. "Thank you again, saab. You are a complete stranger to me and I really don't know why I talked to you. I am sorry if I told you something I shouldn't have." "No, no, don't be sorry." And with that she's off. Lifting her sack and her baby and walking towards a Rs 35 reward for her labour. We halt for quite awhile to allow the Hatia-bound Shatabdi to overtake us. VSP is all excited and awaits the run through with a great, beaming smile. But my mind is elsewhere. The overtake done, we swiftly progress to Muri Junction, where a giant aluminium plant that belongs to the Birla Group looms over the town and station. I venture out to buy something to eat, but return empty-handed. The scenery out towards the climb from Muri to Ranchi is spectacular, but I can't get my head around to enjoy it. Rupa's words -- "Saab, what to do? We scavenge coal and eat mud. This is how our life is" -- continue to haunt me. this Users Comment article
. Letters to Alice on First Reading Jane Austen Comparing Pride and Prejudice with Letters to Alice The comparative study of texts and contexts demonstrates that composers write to reflect prevalent values and issues within their own society. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Fay Weldon’s Letters to Alice exhibit connections in terms of the contrasting attitudes towards marriage and the divergent role of the composers. Austen’s 19th century context provides a framework dictating the strict social norms and values of her time. Weldon, in a postmodernist 20th century context, comments on Austen’s text and communicates a different view on issues of her time. By exploring values and connections between texts, enhanced perspectives are presented which could not be understood in isolation. Marriage was crucial for the social and financial security of women in the patriarchal society of Regency England. Within Austen’s Georgian context of P&P, the tension between rationalism of the Enlightenment period and Romantic literature influenced conflicting attitudes towards marriage. Charlotte’s practical view of marriage is highlighted by Austen’s authorial intrusion that “happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance”. Her passion is tempered by her pragmatism towards financial security, conveying the unsentimental reality of courtship and marriage. Within Austen’s social context, a woman with limited income or beauty depended on marriage for financial security. Austen challenges the subservience expected of women through Elizabeth’s defiant tone, “I act in that manner which will… constitute my happiness”. The use of the narrative voice distinctively projects Elizabeth’s claim that Darcy is “exactly the man who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her”. Austen’s view of an ideal marriage, based on mutual affection, was quite new in a society in which the pressing need for women to find a marriage partner tended to dominate their lives. The “truth universally acknowledged” ironically undermines the institution of matrimony with Elizabeth’s rejection of society’s traditional values. Despite marriage providing social status for women in a conservative society, Austen supports greater independence of women within a world determined by social decorum. The postmodernist context presents a more liberal perception of marriage and the autonomy of women, in comparison with the financial connotations of marriage in the 19th century. Feminism and postmodernism seek to displace the dominant ideologies of patriarchy and Enlightenment philosophy respectively, subverting social expectations and pitting the individual against society. In LTA, Weldon affirms a shift in attitude from the absolute need of matrimony for women. In contrast with Austen, Weldon denigrates the importance of marriage by juxtaposing “the stuff of our women’s magazines … the stuff of their life”. The change towards a contemporary attitude reflects a society where marriage is relegated to a trivial obligation, denoted by the connotations of “stuff”. Weldon’s sarcastic view of marriage as an “outmoded institution” asserts her feminist outlook and suggests that it is socially acceptable for women in her society not to marry. Weldon’s context differs from Austen’s orthodox society as there are more idealistic undertones of marriage for “esteem and affection” and “expression of love”, conveying society’s emotionalist views. Her feminist perspective is further evoked by her criticism of marriage solely for convenience, through her rhetorical question, “Are we to disapprove? I suppose so”. This highlights her belief in equality and independence, and that marriage is not the only way to power. Hence, Weldon’s view of marriage breaks away from the social mores of Austen’s context, representing a shift in values and attitudes. In the Regency context, Austen’s comedy of manners satirizes the social proprieties of her society and promotes the importance of moral consciousness. In P&P, Austen explores human nature and exposes social vices within the microcosm of her English landed gentry. Her portrayal of indecorous social conduct encourages the responder to value virtue and good behavior in characters. Austen parodies society’s refined manners by gently mocking Collins’ “violence of … affection” in proposing to Elizabeth. The contrast between “violence” and “affection” conveys his shallowness and hypocrisy, reflected in his proposal to Charlotte shortly after being rejected by Elizabeth. The oxymoron of Mrs Bennet’s “querulous serenity” provides sarcastic amusement by ridiculing her comic, superficial personality. Austen critiques Lady Catherine’s impropriety and lack of gentility through her insulting tone in addressing Elizabeth as an “unfeeling, selfish girl”. In this way, Austen enhances our understanding of human society by exposing social flaws in her characters. Austen’s moral instruction, that first impressions are often misleading, subtly emerges from Elizabeth’s prejudice against Darcy, based on his remark that “she is not handsome enough to tempt me”. Elizabeth’s epiphany induces a process of self-revelation when she discovers that “vanity, not love, has been my folly”. Austen implies that genuine self-awareness through introspection is crucial for improving ourselves. Through the exploration of her social milieu, Austen sustains moral judgement on her characters whilst conforming to conventions of her era. Weldon’s postmodernist views reshape our understanding of Austen by providing moral guidance and upholding the value of literature. The feminist stance of LTA promotes a culture based on knowledge and merit, in contrast with Austen’s conservative society. Under the guise of “Aunt Fay”, Weldon imposes her didactic belief that “readers need and seek for moral guidance”. She advocates that people need past literature to make sense of the present world through reflection and conjecture. Weldon uses the imperative, “you must read, Alice”, to convey a sense of urgency in her advice. Her informal, instructive attitude is juxtaposed with Austen’s gentle satire, denoting a shift towards a more individualistic, postmodern society. The extended metaphor of the “City of Invention” forms the basis of Weldon’s arguments for the significance of literature. Weldon’s hyperbole of literature as the “essence of civilisation” reinforces the power of classic texts to communicate values that remain timeless and universal. She sees such texts as the epitome of education, and implies that Austen’s P&P is a paradigm of the “master builders”, remaining influential even in a modern context. Literature is personified as a dynamic influence that “stretches our sensibilities and our understanding”, shaping our intelligence and emotions. Thus, Weldon edifies and promotes the importance of literature for the benefit of contemporary society. Exploring connections between comparative texts demonstrates that texts are a product of their time and a commentary on the issues and values of their society. Despite differences in contexts and perspectives, certain values and attitudes prevail in Austen’s P&P and Weldon’s LTA. Ultimately, the meanings of both texts are shaped and reshaped by considering the nature of the connections between them. Similarities between ‘Letters to Alice’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Profuse similarities between texts are often exposed by examining the way that authors react to their surrounding society. This notion is regularly expressed between Jane Austen’s novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’, (1813) and Fay Weldon’s text, ‘Letters To Alice’, (1984) where the authors convey how the entrenched gender roles of the Georgian era have adapted over time to allow women’s marital rights and also the revolution of education opportunities and expectations of etiquette among females. Although the context of each text varies heavily both authors draw on the universal concern of the fight for equality in society. Through their literature, Fay Weldon and Jane Austen critique the fluctuating concept of marriage and its ability to provide financial security. Jane Austen’s novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ reflects the firmly entrenched social classes of the Georgian era and the financial and societal necessity of marriage. During the Regency era, women could not inherit property due to the legal doctrine of entailment, therefore, the only way to secure a pleasing future was to find a husband. The satirical characterization of Mrs Bennet allows Austin to express the implied pressure on women in the 1800’s to marry in order to obtain a constant income. It is Mrs Bennet’s consistent monetary references like, ‘A single man of large fortune … What a fine thing for our girls.’ that depict the constant burden experienced by women during the time. However the caustic tone of Mrs Bennet encourages the reader, who is introduced to Austen’s didacticism, to despise this systematic view on marrying only for financial benefits. This urgency to marry is similarly depicted in Austen’s ironic quote, ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ By incorporating bathos, the reader is once again presented with Austen’s critical views of the unambiguous social stratification of the Georgian Era. In heavy contrast to these certified social expectations, Austen’s presents Elizabeth as being very likeable and relatable as she subtly suggests an alternative by depicting the romanticism of Elizabeth and Darcy. The novel structure allows for the inclusion of coda, which is specifically displayed as Georgiana observes Lizzie and Darcy together and comprehends ‘that a woman may take liberties with her husband’. On final pages of the novel, Georgiana’s response to Lizzie and Darcy’s union is symbolic of Austen’s detailing of a better kind of marriage as well as her readership also being enlightened. Fay Weldon also affirms Austen’s original concerns and initiatives in her text ‘Letters to Alice’ as she expresses that some women, although no longer bound by traditional expectations of marriage, continue to find themselves in unequal partnerships. Weldon is highly critical of women who still allow themselves to be unhappy or unequal, such as her sister Enid, who metaphorically ‘waits upon her husband as a servant upon its master.’ Her derogatory tone encourages the reader to take dismay in the unfortunate situation Enid is in and look for a more positive alternative. Weldon offers this new insight into the gender restrictions of Austen’s time by revising her readers’ view of Mrs Bennet. Through her statistical analysis, she teaches us that Mrs Bennet’s ‘anxiety’ was due to the fact that ‘Only 30% of women married’, with the alternate being difficult and dishonorable jobs such as prostitution, ‘so to marry was a good prize.’ Weldon’s second-wave feminist context allows her to broaden her views by sympathizing with Mrs Bennet’s concerns rather than criticizing them. Furthermore, Weldon proves that women no longer experience a financial need to marry as women are able to choose their own paths and have more opportunities. The epistolary form allows her to list the varied locations that Aunt Fay writes from, such as ‘Cairns’ and ‘London’, reinforcing that she is independently wealthy. Weldon produced this text following the women’s liberation movement, where many legal rights were creating equality for women and it was no longer a contextual necessity to marry. Weldon’s deliberate silencing of male voices in the text illustrates the reduced dependence on men among women in Weldon’s time. During the 1800’s, marriages were not usually based on love; however, Austen’s portrayal of Lizzie and Darcy’s marriage presents her readers with an enlightened view of marriage and paves the way for the social change experienced by the characters in Fay Weldon’s text. In ‘Letters to Alice’, Weldon depicts that marriage is no longer linked to success, however she depicts that the struggle for women to achieve martial freedom experienced by the people of Austen’s time is still evident. Thus, both composers reject the social paradigms of their respective eras and encourage their readers to embrace independence and individuality. Jane Austen regularly expresses her concerns surrounding the lack of educational opportunities in the Georgian era, a welcome alternative to this is illustrated as Fay Weldon describes how women’s education and rights have evolved to suit the postmodern era. Genteel women were expected to be well rounded and ‘accomplished’ throughout society, however these attributes were pressured whilst women lacked the formal education opportunities offered to men. According to Miss Bingley, who is deliberately characterized to be absurd and abhorrent, an ’accomplished’ woman should have “a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing and the modern languages”. This lexical chain incorporated by Austen solidifies this extensive expectation established for women and further expresses the requirement of improved educational opportunities and gender equality. However, following Caroline Bingley’s petty observation, Mr Darcy adds his personal opinion of the situation “and to all this she must yet add something more, the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.” Although Miss Bingley describes the uniform expectation of women in the genteel era, by echoing Mr Darcy’s considerations of the matter, Austen expresses the desire for women to achieve more unconventional characteristics, although methods of self development and moral enlightenment such as reading were generally discouraged for women of the time. These restrictions placed on women of the 1800s created a devastating unfair advantage and heavily limited the ability for women to achieve their full potential. It is evident throughout the text that Austen felt this full potential of knowledge could only be achieved through self-enlightenment, this is illustrated by Lizzie’s reflective exclamation; ‘Till this moment, I never knew myself,’. Austen expresses that it is only when Lizzie and Darcy are able to self-reflect, see themselves truly, and learn from their interactions with each other, that they are able to find true happiness. Fay Weldon depicts the immense improvement in educational privileges since Austen’s time and also how women were are no longer limited by entrenched gender roles throughout society. During this period, women were now allowed and were readily attending universities and ultimately had the same educational opportunities of men, and women writers were being valued at universities for the first time. Fay Weldon illustrates that the importance and value of literature is intrinsically tied to the importance of education, reflected in ‘Letters to Alice’, through the characterization of Aunt Fay who strongly encourages Alice to read, ‘You must read, Alice, before it’s too late…. it will help you put the twos and twos of life together.’ Weldon believes that literature is the basis of true knowledge and enlightenment and therefore, through the use of second person imperatives, her didacticism is directed at both Alice and the reader as she suggests that Alice’s university education is not enough to sufficiently provide her with the skills to succeed in life. This assertion is kept consistent in letter two where Aunt Fay states with high modality; “you must know how to read a novel before setting out to write one”. Once again Weldon critiques the formal, ‘intellectual’ university education that was so highly regarded at the time, depicting the timeless significance of quality literature. Weldon also creates the extended metaphor of ‘The City of Invention’, ‘that celestial city’. Here she is exploring a similar notion to the one depicted in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ as she suggests that people are exposed to new ideas in books, and thus learn possibilities for moral improvement and self enlightenment. Jane Austen actively educates her readers on this lack of educational opportunities and subtly challenges the dominant discourses surrounding social expectations and educational rights, hence inspiring new ways of considering what was socially acceptable for women. Fay Weldon depicts the extent to which women’s educational opportunities have progressed and furthermore, recognizes that it was because of Austen’s inspirations that women are no longer bounded by societal expectations. Thus, both composers show that the true value of literature lies in its ability to enlighten its readers, as both texts strongly advocate for the evolution of equality surrounding education opportunities. It is a timeless idea that women have been unfairly bound by regiment marriage expectations and unequal educational opportunities among societies. It is evident in her text that Jane Austen recognized the ability for literature to transform her readers’ perceptions and beliefs, hence, she utilized this advantage to pave the way for progressive social change. Furthermore, Fay Weldon recognized and affiliated with Austen’s concerns of the importance of extensive education and through her didacticism, instructs her readers to seek their own education in order to intellectually and morally grow. Ultimately, by closely examining the concepts explored throughout both texts it can be established that both Jane Austen and Fay Weldon occupied complementary views on society.
Thinking Forward: Conrad Wolfram on the Computational Knowledge Economy Conrad Wolfram is the founder and managing director of Wolfram Research Europe, which he founded in 1991. He also serves as the strategic director of US-based Wolfram Research, which is run by his older brother Stephen Wolfram. As such, Conrad is intimately involved in developing the company’s flagship product, Mathematica, as well as other Wolfram technologies, like CDF Player and webMathematica, the web framework that underlies Wolfram\|Alpha. In an interview for HPCwire, conducted by Daniel Araya of the Institute for Computing in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (I-CHASS), Conrad describes his thoughts on the evolving knowledge economy, math and science education, and the application of computational science to the arts and humanities. Daniel Araya: As the founder and managing director of Wolfram Research Europe, and strategic and international director of Wolfram Research, how would you describe your overall research interests? Conrad Wolfram: Short answer: applying computation everywhere. That’s why we’ve taken to describing Wolfram as the company where “computation meets knowledge,” which I think encapsulates these objectives of pushing the envelope of doing, deploying and democratizing computation, including applying it to knowledge. Inventing new levels of automation and usability is as critical part of achieving those aims as is continuing to step up raw computational power. Computation is such a powerful concept and unleashing it with modern high-performance computing multiplies that power. It’s particularly exciting to see at the moment how broadly applicable our technology has become. Araya: You’ve been a particularly strong proponent of math education reform through greater use of technology. What kinds of new affordances do you think technology makes possible for learning and education? Wolfram: Clearly technology introduces new modalities of learning for all subjects — be they video, interactivity or geographical independence. Though it’s only just begun, individualized learning that enables students to discover at their own pace and at least to some extent set their own learning paths is clearly crucial too. But here’s why math is different. Unlike say, the subject of history, math outside education has fundamentally changed over the last decades because computers have liberated it from what’s typically the limiting step of hand-calculating. We live in a far more mathematical world than we did precisely because math is based on computers doing the calculating. But in education that transformation hasn’t happened yet. Around the world almost all students learn traditional hand-calculating not computer-based math. Sometimes it’s “computer-assisted,” that is, applying some of the new modalities to the traditional subject. That’s holding them and their countries back from more creative, conceptual math. Indeed a larger and larger chasm is opening up between math for the real world and math in education. Technology isn’t an optional extra for math, it’s fundamental to the mainstream subject of today. Araya: You suggest that computers could potentially support a shift from a knowledge-based economy to a “computational knowledge economy.” Could you explain what you mean by this? Wolfram: There are various definitions for “a knowledge economy,” but I think of it as one in which the majority of economic activity is based on knowledge rather than manual labor. But now the value-chain of knowledge is shifting. The question is not whether you have knowledge but know how to compute new knowledge from it, almost always applying computing power to help. The most developed economies of the future will have a majority of economic activity innovating by computing or generating new knowledge and applying it, not just deploying existing knowledge. It’s in this sense I believe we’re heading for a “computational knowledge economy”. Araya: How do you envision expanding the capacities of computational technologies like Wolfram\|Alpha and Mathematica in the decades to come? Wolfram: I can’t claim to foresee that far ahead. But I can say what’s guiding us, both our key principles and the picture we see outside. Computation has come of age, and is now used by everyone, either explicitly or implicitly. Our job is to drive adoption of computation by engineering ever greater abilities. Abilities may be raw computational power or power of automation to refine or dramatically re-engineer workflows in every field and at every level of computational endeavor. In a sense Wolfram\|Alpha was just such a re-engineering by injecting computation into knowledge. Our technology — both released and in the pipeline — is really strong right now and is proving what we’ve said for years. But it’s taken until now to build up to what it is today: a single coherent, integrated platform that delivers dramatically more power, usability and reliability. And our rate of development is so much greater than before because we’re using Mathematica technology as our prime development environment. In fact Wolfram\|Alpha’s development and HPC deployment is only practically possible because of the technology tower we’ve built up over more than 20 years. Not everyone checks out Wolfram technologies for what they’re building or analyzing but I think from the Wolfram language to our Workbench IDE to CDF or web deployment we have a very compelling offering. Araya: Mathematica has been on the forefront of high performance computing with gridMathematica and now GPU computing, can you comment on the current state of HPC? Wolfram: I think it’s where personal computing was with the Apple I back in the late seventies. that base components are there but not the workflows, automation and therefore the eventual ubiquity of use. For that reason I like to re-characterize the “P” in HPC as productivity not only raw performance. I’m excited to see a more rational online-offline hybridization emerging where we’re marrying the best characteristics of the cloud and of local computation. Araya: What in your view are the implications of using large-scale computing as a research platform? Does this make interdisciplinary models of research and learning more likely? Wolfram: Really, interdisciplinary is not new for innovators, it’s just currently more talked about. I think it does have an interesting intersection with HPC because some of the most dramatic technique improvements span many subjects and require HPC. Large-scale data science and image processing are examples — areas we’re very engaged in at Wolfram. In the past these only got applied where major funding was available with experts in those techniques eg. for weather forecasting. Now they’re being applied across many fields, including delivering results directly to consumers through the cloud. Automation is key to interdisciplinary success. Users know their fields but rarely the methods or techniques they want to apply. This is a key area where the computing environment needs to provide the delivery intelligence not just raw computational power. Our technology map really fits ideally with this approach. Araya: Some suggest that technology is replacing workers so quickly that we are have essentially entered into an age of automated labor. How do you envision changes to society and the economy over the coming decades? Wolfram: Technology enables us to stand on progressively higher levels of automation. For example, technology automated farm labor, to allow people to work in factories, automated factories to allow them to do knowledge processing work, and now we’re starting to replace knowledge processing work so that we can do the higher task of creating knowledge. History shows that rather than replace workers — in the aggregate long term though not always in the short run or a particular locale — it increases our appetite for improvements. Creativity is clearly at the center of more and more future jobs, particularly the most lucrative. But so is logical thinking and experience. What’s falling out is rote knowledge of the base facts. Yes, we need some of that, but more important is knowledge of how to work things out, how to get machines to do stuff for us rather than necessarily commanding other humans to do it or doing it ourselves. For example, programming is a crucial yet hardly educated-for skill of today. Araya: We know that digital technologies are having a huge impact on the hard sciences. Do you see computers having an equal impact on the arts and humanities? Wolfram: As I mentioned before, computers have fundamentally changed the subject of math and therefore dramatically extended the practical scope of those “hard” sciences that for centuries have been very math-based. But even this effect of computers has extended far further, introducing computation to a wide range of new, previously non-computational fields. Since we first launched Mathematica nearly 25 years ago, it’s amazing to see how much more analytical and computational virtually every field has become including many in the arts and humanities. I always find it instructive to look at our demonstrations.wolfram.com project to remind myself how many fields people have submitted examples from. Sure, there are more in traditionally maths subjects, but the scope is broad. I think a key driver for turning fields computational is the huge of range of practically deployable computational approaches not available to previous generations, for example large scale data analysis or image processing. Often, the problems in humanities are harder to apply these to, needing modern HPC to get real results. So while computers may not have fundamentally changed ancient arts and humanities subjects the way they have math, the application of math and computing is starting to change almost every field, though there’s a lot further to travel to ubiquitous computationalization. Araya: Technology has become fundamental to an age in which digital networks serve as platforms for creativity and the imagination. How do you understand this changing milieu? Wolfram: Every age has its own platforms for expression whether papyrus, paper or the web. Each has offered a richer, more democratized canvas than the last. I’d argue that what’s different now is not just the platform of digital networks but the rate of change of that platform. Whereas a milieu might last a generation or much more in the past, I enhance my canvas and reconceptualize my workflows every few years. Speaking of the web, I think Web 2.0 has been about the user generating the content, for example, in social networking. I’d argue Web 3.0 is about the computers generating new, derivative content, either from Web 2.0-style user-generated content or from base information. Wolfram\|Alpha is one manifestation of this direction, using a computational process to compute a custom answer specific to a question. Araya: It has become commonplace to suggest that Web-based technologies are leveraging a unique democratic shift in a wide array of technological, political, and social spaces. What do you think of this? Wolfram: There’s no question we’re living through a fundamental shift that close-to ubiquitous information has provided. And we’re not done yet. In fact, I think we’re in a curious transition where for the first time the underlying information is out there, but complete information overload is obscuring much of its real worth. For example, there’s a big gap between publishing government data and democratizing its practical use for the average citizen. As I’ve argued, I think the computational approach can increasingly bridge this divide with customized, pre-processed results. As with all technical advances, new problems occur, for example, around security and privacy — who and how to trust information holders that these changes have newly placed in positions of power. But history tells us that over time society will gain experience with today’s dangers and find ways to mitigate them. —–).
Factors in childhood as predictors of asthma in adult lifeBMJ 1994; 309 doi: (Published 09 July 1994) Cite this as: BMJ 1994;309:90 - Mark A Jenkins, - John L Hopper, - Glenn Bowes, - John B Carlin, - Louisa B Flander, - Graham G Giles - Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Melbourne, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia Centre for Adolescent Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia Cancer Epidemiology Centre, Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia. - Correspondence to: Dr John L Hopper, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Melbourne, 200 Berkeley Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia. - Accepted 11 April 1994 Abstract Objective: To determine which factors measured in childhood predict asthma in adult life. Design: Prospective study over 25 years of a birth cohort initially studied at the age of 7. Setting: Tasmania, Australia. Subjects—1494 men and women surveyed in 1991-3 when aged 29 to 32 (75% of a random stratified sample from the 1968 Tasmanian asthma survey of children born in 1961 and at school in Tasmania). Main outcome measures: Self reported asthma or wheezy breathing in the previous 12 months (current asthma). Results: Of the subjects with asthma or wheezy breathing by the age of 7, as reported by their parents 25.6% (190/741) reported current asthma as an adult compared with 10.8% (81/753) of subjects without parent reported childhood asthma (P<0.001). Factors measured at the age of 7 that independently predicted current asthma as an adult were being female (odds ratio 1.57; 95% confidence interval 1.19 to 2.08); having a history of eczema (1.45; 1.04 to 2.03); having a low mild forced expiratory flow rate (interquartile odds ratio 1.40; 1.15 to 1.71); having a mother or father with a history of asthma (1.74 (1.23 to 2.47) and 1.68 (1.18 to 2.38) respectively); and having childhood asthma (1.59; 1.10 to 2.29) and, if so, having the first attack after the age of 2 (1.66; 1.17 to 2.36) or having had more than 10 attacks (1.70; 1.17 to 2.48). Conclusion—Children with asthma reported by their parents in 1968 were more likely than not to be free of symptoms as adults. The subjects who had more severe asthma (especially if it developed after the age of 2 and was associated with reduced expiratory flow), were female, or had parents who had asthma were at an increased risk of having asthma as an adult. These findings have implications for the treatment and prognosis of childhood asthma, targeting preventive and educational strategies, and understanding the onset of asthma in adult life. Clinical implications Clinical implications Asthmatic symptoms in childhood may abate during teenage years, although asthma may occur for the first time after childhood Asthma in children and young adults is often preceded by an allergy, and impaired lung function as a child predicts asthmatic symptoms as a teenager This study shows that three quarters of all subjects aged 29-32 who had had asthma in childhood had had no asthmatic symptoms as adults Childhood risk factors for having asthmatic symptoms at age 29-30 were being female and having eczema, a parent with asthma, poor lung function, and asthma, especially if it was frequent High risk groups can be used as targets for preventive strategies Introduction Few population based and truly prospective cohort studies have been published of the natural course of asthma from childhood to adult life.1 The onset of asthma is often preceded by allergic disease (eczema or hay fever) and a positive result of skin tests with allergens (atopy).2 3 Impaired lung function in childhood predicts asthmatic symptoms as a teenager, although this association might be confounded by undiagnosed asthma.4 Most studies of the long term prognosis of childhood asthma have been based on selected groups of patients with severe or moderate asthma and provide limited information about the full range of the disease.1 Asthma is episodic, and, although remission may occur during teenage years, it is uncommon after the age of 30.5 Predictors of asthma in adulthood include various markers of initial severity,RF 6-8 other atopic conditions,4 7 8 and a family history of asthma.7 We present findings from a follow up over 25 years of random samples from a population survey of 7 year old Tasmanian schoolchildren, designed to assess the natural course of asthma.9 Measures of respiratory function, history and family history of asthma and allergy, and parental smoking were recorded for all but 1% of the population in 1968. We resurveyed the subjects in 1991-3 to study onset and prognosis and the extent to which childhood factors predict asthma in adult life. Methods 1968 TASMANIAN ASTHMA SURVEY In 1968 the parents of all 8683 children born in 1961 and attending school in Tasmania were asked to complete questionnaires on their and their children's history of respiratory symptoms and asthma. The survey aimed to study the natural course of asthma, asking about easily described and recognisable symptoms so as not to rely on diagnoses.9 Returns for 99% of the children were received.10 Questions relevant to the current analysis are given in the appendix. Children for whom the answer to question 1 (“Has he or she at any time in his or her life suffered from attacks of asthma or wheezy breathing?”) was “yes” were considered to have had childhood asthma, and parents were asked about the recency, frequency, age at onset, and number of attacks (questions 2 to 5). A history of hay fever was determined by question 6. Subjects were considered to have had a history of eczema if they answered “yes” to question 7 or 8, about infantile and flexural eczema. In parents asthma, hay fever, and smoking status were determined by questions 9 to 11. Forced expiratory volume in one second, vital capacity, and mid forced expiratory flow were measured with spirometry. 1991-3 TASMANIAN LONG TERM HEALTH SURVEY During 1991-3, 2000 subjects in the birth cohort of the Tasmanian asthma survey were selected at random with a pseudorandom number generator (SAS)—1000 from the 1349 subjects who had had childhood asthma and 1000 from the 6993 who did not have childhood asthma; in 341 subjects asthma status in childhood has not been recorded. A questionnaire was sent between July 1991 and February 1993 to the 1723 subjects for whom addresses were available. As well as addressing general health issues the questionnaire included items based on those in the 1968 Tasmanian asthma survey. “Current asthma” was defined as the occurrence of an attack of asthma within the previous 12 months; “current atopic asthma” as current asthma with current hay fever or eczema; and “frequent asthma” as the occurrence of more than 10 attacks in the previous 12 months. Subjects were not informed of the responses their parents had given in 1968. STATISTICAL METHODS Multiple logistic regression with GLIM11 was used to study asthma as an adult as a function of factors measured at the age of 7. Estimates of odds ratios, standard errors, and confidence intervals were based on asymptotic likelihood theory, and parsimonious models were derived with procedures outlined by Hosmer and Lemeshow.12 Analyses were performed separately on subjects with and without childhood asthma as reported by their parents (parent reported childhood asthma) and on the pooled data, with a factor for childhood asthma to account for the stratified sampling. Each measurement of lung function was standardised for height separately for both sexes, expressed as a percentage of the predicted value, and modelled as a continuous measurement. From a fitted logistic regression line the predicted risk for a subject on the 75th centile of lung function (ru) and for a subject on the 25th centile (r1) was calculated. The interquartile odds ratio was defined as r1(1 - ru)/ (ru(1 - r1). Other factors were treated as binary variables. Missing values for conditions were coded as being unaffected. The prevalence in 1991-3 of a condition in the entire birth cohort studied in 1968 was estimated by weighting the prevalence in the two samples by 0.162 and 0.838 for subjects with and without parent reported childhood asthma respectively, with approximate standard errors derived by the delta method.13 Results Questionnaires were returned by 1494 subjects (86.7% response rate) representing 74.7% of the total sample (74.1% of those with childhood asthma and 75.3% of those without; 73.7% of men and 76.0% of women). The respondents’ ages ranged from 29 to 32 (mean 31.0); their current place of residence was Tasmania (1121 (75%)), Victoria (134 (9%)), New South Wales (90 (6%)), elsewhere in Australia (134 (9%)), and outside Australia (15 (1%)). Table I shows that, of the 741 subjects with parent reported childhood asthma, 254 (34.3%) reported onset of asthma by age 7 and 155 (20.9%) reported onset after age 7. Almost half of the subjects, therefore, gave responses that contradicted those of their parents in 1968. Of the 753 subjects without parent reported childhood asthma, 24 (3.2%) gave responses that contradicted those of their parents and 127 (16.9%) reported that they had had asthma at some point in their life. The estimated 1991-3 prevalences in adults of current, frequent, and atopic asthma were significantly higher in women than in men (P < 0.05). Adults reporting asthma in 1991-3 by presence or absence of parent reported asthma up to age of 7 and adjusted for sampling. Values are numbers (percentages) unless stated otherwise Current asthma was reported by 25.6% (190/741) of the subjects with parent reported childhood asthma compared with 10% (81/753) of the subjects without (odds ratio = 2.86; 95% confidence interval 2.15 to 3.79). The proportions for current atopic asthma were 21.1% (156/741) and 8.2% (62/753) respectively (2.95; 2.15 to 4.04) and for current frequent asthma 5.4% (40/741) and 2.1% (16/753) respectively (2.63; 1.46 to 4.74). The proportion of subjects with parent reported childhood asthma who reported current asthma increased with (a) age at first attack (23% (104/456) for < 2, 30% (67/227) for 2 to 5, 33% (19/58) for > 5; P < 0.05); (b) frequency of attacks (21% (73/346) for </= 1 a year, 30% (117/395) for > 1 a year, 32% (43/134) for >/= 1 a month, 41% (14/34) for >/= 1 a fortnight; P < 0.001); and (c) total number of attacks (22% (119/535) for </= 10, 29% (32/112) for 11 to 20, 41% (39/94) for > 20; P < 0.01) and decreased with time since last attack (36% (36/100) for within the past month, 30% (143/481) within the past year, 18% (47/260) > 1 year ago; P < 0.001). Table II shows that childhood lung function was in general lower, although not always significantly so, in the subjects with current asthma, irrespective of whether they had had parent reported childhood asthma. Table III shows the proportion of subjects with current asthma according to the presence or absence of each risk factor. Odds ratio estimates of risks for current asthma (except those of parental smoking) were >/= 1 and did not differ between the subjects who had had parent reported childhood asthma and those who had not, and the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval was close to or greater than 1 in at least one of these two groups of subjects. Mean (SE) percentage predicted childhood lung function in 1968 for subjects with or without current asthma by presence or absence of parent reported childhood asthma in 1968 Number (percentage) of subjects with current asthma according to presence or absence of each childhood risk factor, and odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of univariate associations between current asthma and childhood risk factors In the subjects with parent reported childhood asthma the independent risk factors were being female (odds ratio 1.43; 1.01 to 2.02), first attack after the age of 2 (1.71; 1.20 to 2.43), more than 10 attacks (1.77; 1.22 to 2.57), mid forced expiratory flow (interquartile odds ratio 1.60; 1.25 to 2.06), maternal asthma (1.90; 1.28 to 2.82), and paternal asthma (1.61; 1.08 to 2.40). After these factors were allowed for, the time since the last attack (1.48; 0.99 to 2.24), hay fever (1.41; 0.98 to 2.03), vital capacity (interquartile odds ratio 1.20; 0.97 to 1.47), and paternal hay fever (1.45; 0.97 to 2.17) were of marginal significance. In the subjects without parent reported childhood asthma the independent risk factors were being female (1.75; 1.08 to 2.84), maternal hay fever (1.80; 1.07 to 3.03); and forced expiratory volume in one second (interquartile odds ratio 1.42; 1.00 to 2.03), while paternal asthma (2.02; 0.97 to 4.21) was of marginal significance. Table IV shows a parsimonious model fitted to the combined data. The strengths of association were independent of whether the subjects had had parent reported childhood asthma. After the risk factors shown in table IV were allowed for, the time since the last attack (1.48; 0.99 to 2.24) was of marginal significance, but the other lung function measures (forced expiratory volume in one second and vital capacity) had negligible effect (1.01 (0.81 to 1.28) and 1.03 (0.86 to 1.22) respectively). Odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for associations between risk factor reported during childhood and current asthma for parsimonious multivariate models. All risk factors are binary, and lung function measures are for subjects on 25th centile versus those on 75th centile We predicted from the parsimonious model that a child with none of the risk factors shown in table IV had a 7% chance of having current asthma as an adult. Each risk factor was associated with about a 50% increase in risk. For a child with one risk factor the chance was 11%, with two 16%, with three 24%, with four 34%, and so on. This predicted chance was greater than 50% in only 0.5% of all the children and in 5% of the children with parent reported asthma. Current atopic asthma had the same independent risk factors as those for current asthma (table IV), plus hay fever (1.66; 1.17 to 2.35). Frequent current asthma was predicted by onset of asthma after the age of 2, more than 10 attacks of asthma up to the age of 7, and hay fever or eczema as a child. Discussion This study shows that for children who were 7 years old in 1968 the independent predictors for having symptoms of asthma as an adult were being female and having atopy, reduced lung function, parents with a history of asthma, and a history of asthmatic symptoms in childhood themselves, especially if their symptoms were severe and began after the age of 2. The most common risk factor was being female. Although boys were more likely than girls to have had asthma by the age of 7 (19.0% (upsilon) 13.2%; P<0.001),10 women were more likely than men to have current, frequent, and atopic asthma. Similar reversals in sex ratios between childhood and adulthood were observed in a study of hospital admissions14 and in health census data.15 That differences between the sexes might be due to pubertal hormonal changes has been discussed14 with reference to animal studies and a report of high hormone concentrations in women with asthma.16 We found that childhood atopy predicts frequent and atopic asthma as an adult, which confirms the findings of a 16 year follow up of 7 year olds living in Britain.2 The Tasmanian asthma surveys have shown that childhood lung function can predict asthma as an adult. Earlier follow ups showed that 7 year old children without asthma were more likely to develop asthmatic symptoms over the next six years if their mid forced expiratory flow was low rather than normal.4 We extended this to show that low mid forced expiratory flow at the age of 7 also predicted asthma in adult life up to 25 years later. Reduced flow indicates narrowing of the small airways and is considered to be a measure of the severity of airflow limitation in people with asthma.17 We studied familial aggregation of self reported asthma as an adult in parent-offspring pairs measured at about the same age. The increased risk associated with a parental history (odds ratio about 1.7) is aetiologically important; theoretical considerations suggest that underlying susceptibility factors must exist which have associated risks at least an order of magnitude greater.18 19 If familial aggregation is due to many genetic loci (a polygenic factor) then the risk is about 20 times greater for people in the upper quarter of genetic susceptibility than for those in the lower quarter.20 Some of this association could be due to continuing familial associations in environmental factors. Although few children still lived with their parents, over 90% still lived in Tasmania or the other southern states of Australia. Severe childhood asthma predicted asthma as an adult, which suggests that minimising the severity and especially the number of attacks (by drug treatment and avoidance of factors that trigger attacks) might prevent symptoms in later life. A study of the long term effects of the use of corticosteroids showed that symptoms in people with severe asthma were reduced if attacks of asthma were prevented.21 Onset of parent reported asthma or wheezing before the age of 2 did not predict asthma as an adult. Infants with wheeze do not exhibit bronchial hyperresponsiveness to histamine22 and therefore may not have asthma. Their wheeze may be due to small airways disease or obstructive lesions of the trachea or major bronchi.23 Two thirds of the subjects with parent reported childhood asthma reported that they had not had asthma by the age of 7 (see table I), which indicated that they did not know, had forgotten, or refused to disclose whether they had had it. This finding confirms the unreliability of prevalence surveys for ascertaining the proportion of subjects with a history of wheeze2 and supports our choice of asthma in the past 12 months as the most relevant outcome measure. Of the subjects without parent reported childhood asthma, 16% (95% confidence interval 14% to 20%) reported that they had had asthma at some point in their life. If these symptoms had developed over the intervening 25 years the average annual incidence would have been 0.6% (0.5% to 0.7%) a year, which would be with incidences found in other cohort studies.1 Three in every four subjects with parent reported asthma were free of asthmatic symptoms in adult life; one in every nine subjects without parent reported asthma, however, had developed symptoms during the intervening 25 years. Given that in the 1968 Tasmanian asthma survey there were five times fewer children with parent reported asthma than children without,10 only one third of 30 year old subjects with asthma had had asthma before the age of 7. If childhood asthma was underreported by parents in 1968, however, this estimate would be too low. CONCLUSION In conclusion, we have identified substantial risk factors from a 25 year prospective study designed to assess the natural course of asthma and based on a population based birth cohort with a good, unbiased response rate. The probability of children with asthma suffering asthma as adults might be reduced by maintaining lung function and limiting the severity and number of attacks during childhood. High risk groups, such as girls with asthma with poor lung function and a family history of asthma, can be identified from table IV and used as targets for preventive strategies. In most cases, childhood asthma did not seem to persist, which may be comforting for children with asthma and their parents, and most asthma in these adults in the early 1990s seems to have developed after the age of 7. These findings have implications for the treatment and prognosis of childhood asthma, for understanding the onset of asthma in adults, and for focusing health education about asthma. This study was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, and the Asthma Foundations of Victoria and Tasmania. We thank those responsible for the 1968 Tasmanian asthma survey; and Marita Dalton, Kevin Choi, Peggy Johnson, Mary Tuohey, and others for helping to trace subjects and enter data. Appendix Questionnaire for child Has he or she at any time in his or her life suffered from attacks of asthma or of wheezy breathing? (Note: Please regard “asthma” and “wheezy breathing” as being much the same thing for this survey; we do not ask you to try to tell the difference.) How long is it since the last attack? On average (as near as you can say), how often do these attacks tend to occur (over the last 2 years or so)? At what age did these attacks begin? Since the attacks began, approximately how many has he or she had altogether? Does he or she get attacks of “hay fever” (that is, sneezing, running or blocked nose, sometimes with itchy eyes or nose)? Did he or she have infantile (baby) eczema? Has he or she ever had eczema in the creases (bends) of elbows, wrists, or knees? Questionnaire for parents Have you ever had asthma or attacks of wheezing like asthma? Have you ever suffered from “hay fever”? Do you smoke every day (or six days out of seven)?
March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month and you don’t have to tell me twice. Oh, I’m well aware of Multiple Sclerosis. MS screams in my face all day long and then wakes me up at night. And thank God it’s almost April, because I’m so sick of seeing orange ribbons everywhere and hearing about MS from every news outlet. And thank God it’s almost April, because I’m so sick of seeing orange ribbons everywhere and hearing about MS from every news outlet. Oh wait. I mean the opposite of that. Unless we’re talking about a package from Hermès, my favourite colour is decidedly not orange, but as the official colour of MS Awareness Month it’s lack of visibility is actually a little troubling, because we need considerably more awareness. MS is poorly understood, grossly underfunded, and affects a staggering amount of people. ‘normal’ lives, the better. At the other end of the controversy are those that are angry at the ‘normal. 42 thoughts on “The Frustrating Truth About MS Awareness Month” Bravo!!! You nailed it. MS is all of those things mentioned and more. One billion dollars was just spent by political parties spewing forth mud and ignorance. Imagine what that money could have done for finding the CAUSE of MS. Cannot compliment you enough for the depth and truth of your rant. Keep it up. (From a Mom whose son was a PPMS victim) Today I am too tired to comment. hehehehehe…don't see that in the commercials! Thank you for reading and for your comments. In many ways PPMS gets bears the worst of this as I'm sure you know. Haha. I hear you. I've been seeing a commercial for an MS drug lately that shows a woman walking through various activities–including swimming. I'm happy for her but the commercial still makes me want to yell at my TV. Until now I just didn't know what to yell. Well, now I know: "we must give voice to all possible outcomes". Thank you for your voice. "pour yourselves a cocktail" It's funny, when I was first diagnosed 13 years ago, there was no way I was comfortable reading MS blogs or going to MS chatboards. Now, after having this shitty disease that long, and seeing no progress on treatment, I have embraced the "have a drink" and read other peoples story's, and you know what, that doesn't bother me any more. Thanks for your blog, I enjoy it! Chris Thanks again Tripping! I went through exactly the same responses as you did (I started 22 years ago…) when first diagnosed. I was uncomfortable (panicked / in denial…) with it as well, not to mention confused. MS seems to be an ongoing minefield – not just at the beginning! A plethora of decisions. Glad you decided to write about it – and about us! – Barbara My experience on that drug was not the carnival pictured in the ad. I spent the better part of a month on the bathroom floor trying not to barf before relapsing about four months later. Thanks for reading Chris! I suspect that's a common reaction for new diagnoses and my heart wants to protect those people while somehow at the same time sounding the alarm to the rest of the world. We desperately need better research. Thanks Barbara. Even when I was diagnosed 15 years ago it seemed a teeny bit easier to avoid the scariness of the internet. I think really slow dial up might have helped. But information is power and I am ultimately a better patient for it. I have never seen such an insightful understanding of this problem. Even the 4 doctors we’ve seen have no clue. God bless you and all ms warriors. me again – you're so right. I've gathered a ton of information over the years with the computer and am more comfortable with it now for sure. As for the the statistics – they are staggering. I brought that info to my chiropractor last week who said that since our genetics can't possibly be changing with that rapidity – it must be environmental. I don't know what that means precisely, except that it's outside of us… I too wish they would hurry up and find a cause and a cure! Barbara I attended a mindfulness meditation class today because I believe that stress exacerbated an underlying predisposition for my immune system to attack my nervous system. Since being diagnosed I have read as much as I can about MS. I understand that it is a difficult disease. But why do the medical establishment accept as gospel truth that there is no cause? MS is the goose that lays golden eggs for pharma companies. They conduct phase 3 trials and as long as they can show that taking their snake oil results in fewer relapses than taking a placebo, the FDA and Health Canada approve the snake oil. And since it's under patent for a considerable period of time, they make lots and lots of money. Why have none of them asked the most basic question – why did the snake oil work for some patients and not for others? The pharma companies were in too much of a hurry to commercialise their snake oil, that they rushed to market. Had they done follow-up studies following phase 3 trials, we might be closer to finding out what the cause of MS is. Had they done follow-up studies following phase 3 trials the drug probably wouldn't have made it to market. Just saying… Thanks, this is so true. I was diagnosed 2 years ago – I got a quick diagnosis & was started on Tysabri the next month. I was very positive as the professional advice I got was that it would probably take me a year to mentally adjust to my new situation but that after that, MS would be very much at the back of my mind. Well, it very much is at the forefront of my mind every single day. My symptoms / disability which was barely noticeable 2 years ago, is now having a severe impact on my work & quality of life. I'm seeing my neurologist next week & I feel like asking for my money back (even though it's the NHS!) as I feel that this isn't what they told me would happen. I know there's a balance to be struck between worst & best case scenarios for the newly diagnosed but, as you say, every case/person is different & it's brutal when you've been told to expect a good outcome, but the reality is the exact opposite. Great progress has been made with treatments but much, much more is needed to alleviate the daily suffering that so many MSers experience. Ps – I love your Instagram posts – particularly the #babeswithmobilityaids Your recent post of over 9k steps has made me seriously think about using something to support my walking. My daily max is 3000k of the most awkward & ungraceful steps you could never hope to witness! Ashley I’d love to have a commercial about how i start my day by having to clean up from crapping myself bc i have no control of my bowels. i guess my day could only go up from there. That is some real, realness. Thanks Ashley, It's not surprising that the media has this narrative but I'm always a bit stunned at the doctors who shill this. I had a neuro tell me a couple of years ago that I wasn't as bad as I think I am when I slinked into his office barely able to hold myself up with just a cane. So glad you love #babeswithmobilityaids. It's a work in progress for me. I used to kick my cane out every pic, and now I'm trying to embrace the walker, knowing that every step I can take is a gift. Keep moving! I have been trying to scream this to anyone who will listen…for years! My daughter has an aggressive MS. Dx at 22…a nursing home at 27. We have her FB page. I used to post daily…the good and the bad. The repeated UTI's that went septic. The double ostomy surgery. The newest issue…the recommendations of a feeding tube. In which Heather has refused for now. She is only pureed food and honey thick liquids. It is a mother's nightmare. PS…will be sharing this! Thanks for sharing and for commenting Rychelle. Please feel free to post the Facebook page here if you want to share her story. Been MS'r for 28+ years, seen,tried & did all & every treatment I thought save-ish, seen countless drs/specialists ECT… to no true change/slowing down in progression. Started reading about lyme/MS and a complete game changer! You are completely right about Big Pharma! It's time to take our health & money back! MSr's need to question drs motives/kickbacks with pushing potentionaly deadly modifying drugs that may or maynot slow progression. Take our dignity back! MS Strong!! Just read this wonderful article. Thanks for putting so precisely what I think. I just got diagnosed with PPMS and feel like no one is really trying to find a cure. Keep on blogging!! Thanks for reading. I'm glad you found me! Yup. Was told 33 years ago that it was, "A Great Time" to be diagnosed with MS because a cure was.." Just around the corner." Now my idea of a great time is a day when I successfully make it 5 steps to the bathroom. What a thing to be told. That is stunning. Great article BUT I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the "but you look so well" scenario. Except for us MSers, people do not see all the "invisible" symptoms we suffer through and even though we "may look so well" how much this disease steals from our lives and those of our families. Coming up on 39 years with MS and on some days still find myself in denial.I suppose I'm waiting for some insect to bite me and find myself cured ! I hear you. Before my MS was at visible as it is now, I wrote this about exactly what you're saying: Big Pharma does not profit from a cure. They also don’t profit by telling the whole story. It’s a sad state of affairs which can easily launch me into a tyrade. I was diagnosed a year ago and told the same thing….. I've been seeing a commercial for an MS drug lately that shows a woman walking through various activities–including swimming. I'm happy for her but the commercial still makes me want to yell at my TV. Until now I just didn't know what to yell. In one of my last moments of walking (2 years ago) I face planted in the living room. As I laid there, furious but resigned, a commercial for Tecfedera (sp) aired. Surely you all remember the "sufferer" diving into the pool, happy w/ medical science that rendered her MS simply an annoyance. RIGHT. Way to go Ardra. We need a lot more awarenes. At least with Cancer, which gets a lot more money and research, there are strategies to fight it and sometimes win. But with MS the future is unknown so we can only fight what is happening today and tomorrow… who knows. It is a brutal way to live and with no cure coming in a lifetime it destroys any ability for future better life. Or for any children that might be diagnosed in the future with no real hope to give them. Mine was a little different. I lost vision in my left eye to begin. While they tried to diagnose me for a year and I recovered some of my sight, I read everything I could. I had a 3 year old and a husband who had recently been through a bad time with his depression. I was trying to plan my life out and figured if I knew more I could be useful longer. All I got was that I was a lucky one with few symptoms and that I had to find a way to accept a life of uncertainty. I read stories and listened to people who already had it, I investigated possible medications and where they came from. What I struggled with was how so many called it battling with a MonSter. I couldn't reconcile the description, because you can kill a monster or run away, or something. MS can't be killed. You can't run from it. So I think of it as that obnoxious family member you have to be nice to when they come to town. And I don't answer that interview question anymore;where do I see myself in 5yrs? I say, life is uncertain, so I only think ahead 5-8 weeks. You want more planning from me, you'll have to cure MS. Well, I'm going to dare to suggest another completely different option than what you all are suggesting and open the playing field and what has helped many people with MS including me. I have experienced many of the symptoms you are talking about so I get it. But when the doctors told me that it was incurable, there was only their very invasive and expensive drugs to take to treat it and that I would live with it for the rest of my live I said – NO, NO, and NO and dismissed all the doctors and went it on my own. As a prior professional ballet dancer I "knew" that the body is designed to heal itself of anything. I completely surrendered the MS to God (whatever that is to you) and began listening to what my body was telling me. It is always talking to us.Long story short, I worked very hard for 4 years listening to what my body/being was telling me to heal, loving my body and the MS instead of hating, fearing and fighting the whole thing, (which makes it worse), and it began to heal. I felt better the symptoms reduced to eventually nothing and now I have been symptom free for the past 25 years. After 4 years I was completely healed. I then established the MS Alternative Healing Center and I work with people worldwide helping them to heal themselves. I know of people including me who have completely healed themselves of MS and any illness or injury. The medical system does not have a "cure" but our bodies naturally, innately DO!! Great advice, ty for sharing I really enjoyed your ranting article. Thank you for sharing another perspective 😀 Ugh. I hated that commercial. And what a time to have to see it. Thanks for commenting Bill. I think what's encouraging about the progress that's been made re: cancer is that we can see how attention/awareness = research funding. We need that to happen more with MS. Look how far HIV/Aids research has come in such a relatively short period of time. So much is possible. Thanks for reading my rant! Thanks for reading! I hear you. I have trouble with this way of thinking too, because the disease is inside me and the idea of fighting myself feels counter-productive. Not to mention the fact that I don't want to think of myself as a loser when I inevitably can't control this thing. Amen sister! I have been living with MS for 35 years. I have been living the entire spectrum during these 3 decades. Although I have changed, the DMD’s have changed but the reality hasn’t. You perfectly pointed out how big pharma is getting rich coming up with new ways to modify MS but not cure it or research the cause. That is not in their best interest. Every new miracle drug they come up with has much more intense side effects. The one thing that I am sure of is that movement is the best medicine. Sure I need a wheelie walker or cane when walking outdoors, but I’m still walking! Honestly if I could afford a walker like yours, I wouldn’t feel like a little old lady! 🤣🤣 anyway keep moving and keep writing your amazing blog which always inspires me! 😍
Christophe Petit, from Interview of july 13, 2020, conducted by rOmain Thouy 36th article in a series of interviews conducted on the management of innovation in the field of creative industries (video games, animated films) of the Occitanie region. Christophe Petit is rig supervisor and founder of The Beast Makers. This studio is specialized in high-end creature rig solutions for feature films and television. It provides creative and responsive solutions in creating rigs and plugins which fit perfectly productions needs. Education: animation and programming - His 1st film: Pinocchio (Steeve Baron. 1996) - His 1st big success: Canal + Ours (the most awarded advertisement in the world in 2012) for Mikros Images - His last big success: Astérix et le domaine des Dieux pour Mikros Images (2012) "Why did I want to work in this industry? Because I have had a flash on 3D when I was little. I remember it was in Switzerland. There was an Amiga 2000 that was spinning on its screen a juggler animation with small spheres in Ray Tracing on a checkered floor, with the sky reflected in them. I remember spending many hours watching this animation and saying to myself, “This is what I want to do!” Here, look, I found back the video:" !" "Initially, I am an animator. I took a double courses: animation (CFT Gobelins) and programming. The two have aggregated to allow me to rig [rigging is a synthesis of 3D images that endows an object to be animated with a moving skeleton that will deform its surface mesh]. The fact that I am familiar with animation allows me to offer to animators something that is always very close to what they expect. I can be responsive and even guess what they want, and more than that. The tools we create are there to facilitate animation." "I worked for a long time in studios located in Paris, as a rig and animation supervisor. With Céline Chotard, we have had the chance to work directly with Doug Chiang (who was an artistic director of Star Wars). I have had the opportunity to often push the limits of what I had done the previous times, which allowed me to always go further.” : - Céline Chotard (Avengers Infinity War, Venom, Artemis Fowl, Moi Moche et Méchant) is in charge of animation supervision, - Rémi Gamiette (Ant Man, Assassin’s Creed, Hercules), is in charge of sculpting, texturing and animation, - Tristan Cordeboeuf (Green Lantern, Ziva Dynamics Specialist) is in charge of rigging with me and takes care of modeling, rigging and muscle simulation." !" "At The Beast Makers, we have an ambitious R&D project that includes animated textures. Initially, it was the Millimages studio that had contacted us for season 2 of Pirata and Capitano. They were very interested in this idea of animated textures. In 3 weeks, to meet their needs, we released a prototype of TBM2D, version 0.2 which went straight into production. In 2015-2016, the starting prototype of TBM2D was plated 3D geometry. The rendering was a bit of a pain to use because in close-ups you had to match the geometry with the one below. Heavy exports were required for not much, when it just needed a texture. This is where the idea for the animated texture came from. We did it in April 2019 and we figured it might be of interest to a lot of other studios. We added functionalities to it and then presented it to RADI RAF. We have just finalized the version presented to RADI which is now version 1.1.0. As I said earlier, this project is part of a larger project at The Beast Makers." "The American studio Psyop, based in Los Angeles, uses our TBM2D Plugin! They just produced a movie for Supercell: Brawl Stars Animation: Piper's Sugar & Spice! - YouTube. It's really great what they managed to do with it!” "The American studio Psyop, based in Los Angeles, uses our TBM2D Plugin! They just produced a movie for Supercell: Brawl Stars Animation: Piper's Sugar & Spice! - YouTube. It's really great what they managed to do with it!” Hello Christophe, first of all, how do you define innovation in your field? Hello rOmain. What comes to my mind, is the definition that comes up most often in the funding requests that we have had the opportunity to submit: to create something that does not exist or to modify something that exists to add something to it that it doesn't have. It can be something new too, but it is not fundamental research. From an idea, by assembling several pieces of knowledge, if we manage to create something that did not exist, then, it's an innovaton. How do you carry this innovation? We're always questionning and redesigning what we do, whether it's to improve it, make it more productive, or add new features or components to it. It’s the experience and the passion that drive this: when we do something, we are never really 100% satisfied. This is what happens, I think, in any creative process: an artist always has a hard time stopping. So even if it's technical, it's the same process as for creation! I drive the studio's innovation strategy. I do a lot of product design. We have some very ambitious R&D projects going on that will hopefully see the light of day not too long. Overall, in the studio, R&D represents 50% of our activity, but we can go up to more than 80%. Last year we were at 80%, for example. We went to committee at the CNC to get financial help, and we are trying to balance R&D and production more. But the two feed off each other. We cannot live only from R&D activity. We complete innovation funding applications to regularly employ developers to work on specific topics. How do you go about innovating? We do not have a particular approach. It all starts with a vision that is shared with the whole team, anytime. There are no dedicated, regular and established meetings. It can happen every day. Usually we talk about the idea quickly first. Since we use Discord in the company, we put all our ideas and references on it because it is immediately shared, even if everyone is not physically present in the same office. The same goes for the testing periods which are announced via Discord and which we try to do often, depending on the activity of the studio. We have a lot of research subjects that have arrived recently (often these needs come from production) but we also need to ensure our services. These subjects can come from our needs in administrative productivity as well as from our productivity in our services of animated characters. In order to drive R&D, I have to juggle between the activities of each and the availability of the teams in relation to current services. It's complicated and it's often me who stick to it, so I'm a little less involved in the production. I interact a lot with my colleagues during these phases, on the results of the tests and trials and where I want to go. Come on, Christophe, can you tell me a little more? We make a lot of prototypes. We make sure to comment on them and we keep them on our Github, with all the corresponding development branches. On the big R&D project, for example, we will probably use a prototype for our own production needs: it is not yet ready for industrialisation because it does not yet have a user interface. This was also the case for the Maya plugin that we presented at RADI RAF conference. The developer had done a wonderful job in just 3 weeks. For our future R&D projects, we are in contact with the Toulouse Computer Science Research Institute (IRIT). We will work on specific Implicit Skinning tools that they have developed and are starting to deploy. These tools are used for skinning [a process of meshing which associates each bone of the skeleton with a portion of the skin of the object to be animated] and for deformation of characters. On our side, we are also developing deformation systems, so it is really very interesting to discuss these identical issues with them: we are working on concepts that go in the same direction. The research lab appreciates having user feedback and it helps us in return with resources. This partnership follows the publication of a thesis in 2012 or 2013 on "implicit skinning" which made me want to get in touch with the laboratory where the research had been carried out. I remember asking them at the time if they were considering porting this technique into Autodesk Maya animation software. How do you stimulate innovation at The Beast Makers? There is no need to take any special actions for this. We rather set deadlines to move these topics forward, and we have boards (Kanban Board, cf: Trello) to follow them. It's quite natural, when someone finds something interesting, to post it on the Discord and then plan on the R&D board. This generates exchanges from that moment on and maintains the innovation dynamic. Anyone can make proposals: I take care of sorting and managing the proposals (deduplication, vision, history (already tested or not), etc.). This was the case recently where I forgot that I had tested something in the past. But it was good to come back to it. I also give 3D teaching courses in schools: ArtFx and previously Mopa and ENI in Avignon, EMCI in Angoulême, as well as at Cft Gobelins in Paris. I like to chat with my students because they generally have a fairly fresh outlook and less disturbed or polluted than ours, by too much knowledge. Their way of seeing things helps to unlock problems. I have seen students offering me solutions to exercises, containing ways of doing things that I had never seen before! I found it very interesting to encourage them to take the concept a step further to see if their methods really worked or not. I am interested in all the conferences related to R&D in image. I follow twitter accounts (Chad Vernon, Daniel Martinez Lara, Hans Godard Iker from Los Mossos…), we have the same way of working in Facial rig, and I like to see what they do. I participated in the RADI RAF conference, and I would like to do it again. I also had to make presentations on the Occitanie stand at MIFA during the International Animation Festival in Annecy and at SIGGRAPH where I have not been yet. Otherwise, I read a lot of scientific publications: all my research is based on scientific papers. When I have an idea, I immediately try to find related people or articles. I like to mix topics (math, physics, etc.). When I read papers, I see what it can be like, how we could use it. Even if the language used between a graphic designer and a researcher is different, it is possible to meet interesting people. There are researchers who do graphic research, with an artistic sense. Do you have a scoop, on your near future? We have big projects in development and we will need to inflate our teams very soon! And the version 2.0 of TBM2D, which is emerging for 2021, will offer very interesting features! Thank you Christophe, we wish you lots of good things for the future! #LetsTalkAboutInnovationWith
Part one: Rationalization of architecture In exchange for a year of instructions he received here in Goa, a Portuguese student of mine recently sent me a catalogue of works of Santiago Calatrava,1 the prolific architect from Valencia, Spain. I believe I have the better of the exchange. Apart from the enormous size of the oeuvre (approx. 200 projects, 60 of these have been built, within the last decade) and the furious productivity, what strikes one about this body of work is the fact that the young architect has successfully bridged the chasm between architecture and engineering and in the process has made one think about the very nature and identity of architecture that we have come to accept Luca Molinari, “Santiaqgo Calatraqva” Skira Architecture Library, 1998, unquestioningly since the eighteenth century. “The polemical controversy surrounding Calatrava’s work, comparable to that provoked by only a handful of other contemporary architects (e.g. The bitter debate over the Eisenman-Serra monument in Berlin, the international uproar that accompanies every work by Gehry or Libeskind), immediately draws our attention to the impasse at which much of the architectural community presently finds itself, and at the same time emphasizes the difficulty of transcending the traditionally rigid separation of architecture and engineering by way of an approach that might be defined, among other thing, as artistic.”2 The Modernist Project which began in the late seventeenth century can be characterized by a number of defining traits. These were secularization of culture, establishment of the autonomous individual (individuation is the term coined by Eric Fromm)3 Universalization, aculturation of ideas and ahistoricism. The significance of the separation of architecture and engineering which this project led to must now be reflected upon at a theoretical level in light of these traits to understand the modernist thought and discourse in the last two centuries. The aesthetic language produced by this discourse has in turn produced a perceptible alienation between society and its build environment. It is obvious by now that the Modernist discourse, founded on an intense desire to rebuild society by replacing the existing visual and material culture by a universal built language4 was never able to earn the social recognition for the Modernist esthetics. Barring a few exceptional examples, such as Ronchamp, the Sydney Opera House or the Pompidou Center in Paris to name a few, modern architecture has failed to produce exemplary constructions which can function as recognizable signs in the territorial landscape of their cultures. And more often than not these structures are exceptions precisely because they have departed from the mainstream modernism. Calatrava’s work compels us to investigate the present state of architecture at three different but related levels: 1) the necessity to redefine the relationship between architecture and engineering, 2) the crisis of identity and its social credibility that the profession is facing at present and 3) the difficulty one faces in devising a language that would allow us to interpret architecture which seeks to address the need for iconic representations. The need for establishing linguistic and interpretive parameters capable of dealing with an alternative architecture becomes ever more compelling to ward off being labeled as formalist. Such accusations invariably derive from the internal contradictions and theoretical limitations of the rationalist/functionalist approach incapable of unburdening itself of the heavy yoke of its own founding principles. In this essay I intend to show that the rationalist architecture was never able to reconcile its own fundamental assumptions with the timeless objectives of architecture as a knowledge system. Thus it becomes imperative to review the theoretical and ideological shifts that have taken place since the eighteenth century to arrive at a clear understanding of the roots of the present fissures between architecture and its making. In the last two centuries architecture gradually came to be represented, in the popular perception, as a quasi-technical discipline, with measurable criteria and valid only to the extent of its capacities to contribute positively to the activities it contains. The Modernist illusion which equates the beauty of an object with its minimalist morality has resulted not only in the shrinking of the public space but also has lead to society’s definitive rejection of the power of technical knowledge to change the world. A significant number of architects themselves seem to share the popular belief that architecture is a technical discipline with a bit of aesthetic content; this being the only difference between architecture and civil engineering. This is not limited only to the lay society at large. This has serious repercussions not only in terms of the students aspiring to become future architects and the curricular program of the schools but also on the quality of the built environment we end up building. Vitruvious gave architecture three legs to stand on; firmitas (structural integrity), utilitas (usefulness) and Venustas (appearance). It is interesting to note that he did not ascribe any priority to any one of these qualities nor was there any order in which they can be mentioned. But it is safe to state that in the Vitruvian scheme of things, “Good” architecture was “useful”, “stable” and “beautiful” all at the same time. Each one of these qualities is independent and can not be fused into one. Architecture’s identity as a profession depended on the acceptance of Vitruvius’s trichotomy. In his identification of the four elements of architecture, namely earthwork, hearth, roofwork, and screen wall, Vitruvious formulated what amounted to an aformal and socio-cultural theory of architecture. With very few exceptions, most theoreticians as well as practitioners of architecture until mid-eighteenth century tried, albeit with various degrees of success, to reconcile the three objectives. However, as we shall see later, in the last two centuries a significant displacement of the objective of architecture has taken place from that of erecting significant markers in the man-made landscape to that of building objects of use at first, and then later merely for the visual pleasure of a few by indiscriminately combining elements of our visual dictionary from the past.).5 In 1747 a Frenchman by the name of Perronet established, Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees, a School of Civil Engineering (literally translated, it would mean School of Bridges and Roads).6 It marked the end of traditional guilds in Paris.. What is more pertinent to our inquiry is the fact that not only architecture came to be measured and evaluated in comparison with Civil Engineering but also its validity came to be questioned only on the basis of criteria of efficiency and universality, which are central for engineering but ended up alienating architecture from its cultural context. Thus, for example in the eighteenth century, architecture was for the first time declared to be in a state of decadence, dishonesty, confusion and disintegration. In the nineteenth century it was blamed for “labor wasted misapplied and vulgarized”.7 Reaction to this took the line of least resistance and developed two distinct and parallel strands both centered around the idea of efficiency. Architecture, initially relegated to address only taste and custom, had to present itself in measurable terms. Architectural theory had not only to incorporate this new objective and the new techniques in its practice, but also a new justification, a new scientific method, the “rational design”. However, this did not happen as a normal historical development, a natural progression from lack of information to knowledge or from innocence to wisdom; supposedly the normal progression of history. On the contrary, these developments constitute an alternative identity of architecture characterized by a radically new definition of design and environment. The eighteenth century formulated new objectives and methodologies for architecture in a conscious desire to replace the old one. This could not have happened in a cultural void; the eighteenth century European society was already fast emerging as a society based on exigencies of the marketplace, the capital. A new and radical view of man was emerging; the rationalistic economic man whose objective would henceforth be maximization of “profit” by increasing efficiency. Efficiency, the natural child of rationalism, manifested itself in architecture both as ‘structural efficiency’ as well as ‘functional efficiency’. Pure technology with its emphasis on efficiency came to be seen as the potential savior of the world and was invested with a certain ethics and morality. St. Augustine’s dictum “Beauty is the splendor of the Truth” effectively appropriated the space of Venustas in the Vitruvian triad and reduced it to an unstable dichotomy of firmitas and utilitas. The Calvinistic horror of anything that can not be rationally justified resulted in the difficulty of acknowledging the possibility of an architecture that can also be a free artistic expression of form, be it natural or abstract, with its visual and communicative potential. It was in this context that the objective of structural efficiency was constituted by theoreticians of eighteenth century. Lodoli, the Franciscan thinker from Venice, rejected any form that is not a direct derivation of “its own essence” and “the nature of the materials”. Reversing the historicism of Renaissance, Lodoli writes “The famous Greek architects are the first ignorants since they operated contrary to the Vitruvian principle which considers it necessary to distinguish one material from another”8 What Lodoli in fact was doing is changing the Vitruvian triad by giving primacy to structural efficiency as the essential objective of building. From now on beauty (venustas) was to be a function of “the expression of the precise proportions of the materials which are put in use in a fabric.”9 In other words engineering efficiency, according to this polemics, is not just one of the variable facts in the system but also an objective which could actually replace “beauty” and “utility”. Laugier, a contemporary of Lodoli, devised a more powerful visual metaphor of a primitive “rustic hut” as justification for the new rational architecture. “The little rustic hut is the model on which one had projected all the magnificence of architecture. It is in coming close to the simplicity of execution of this first model that one avoids the essential faults and seizes upon true perfections.”10 The immensity of the role of science and technology in the Modernist Project of secularizing the European culture cannot be underestimated. The liberating universalism of the techno-scientific world view must have been seductive enough to cause a definitive rupture with the classical thought. “The concept of fabrication, in which the process of building became a determinant of the cultural values of the final product,”11 was an important result of this project. If rationalism in the form of structural efficiency effectively merged Venustas with Firmitas in the Vitruvian triad, it was functional efficiency that effected a similar merger between Utilitas and Venustas. Functional efficiency is the manifestation of the urge for utility, or the potential for utility. A design product was considered acceptable when it was “comfortable to the principle of utility”12 An architect was expected to evaluate and select elements of his buildings which are “conformable to utility” and not be guided merely by his senses. The message was clear; “Self-restraint …..is indeed one of the first lessons that the architect has to learn” since “design is not some curious contortion of form, or some super-added atrocity, but it should rather be conceived as the fitting of means to ends in the production of works which are good each in their own order”13 (italics added). If Laugier’s rustic hut provided a model for the proponents of structural efficiency, machine provided the quintessential metaphor for the functionalists. As in the machine, the form of the edifice was expected to be the imprint of the forces that generated it. Conversely, the form of the building has to ‘fit’ the forces that generated it or were contained within it. Both consisted of interrelated components subject to verification. It called for an organizational structure valid for design, dictating design decisions and accordingly structuring the architectural product. In a mid-19th century illustration by architect Cesar Daly, a steam engine called progress, symbol of the new machine age, is seen leading the way towards the rising sun leaving behind architectural debris of the bygone ages. Elevating utilitarianism as the focal point of architectural theory is problematic in that it reduces architecture as an artifact of use. The gradual loss of public domain and the consequent absence of meaning can be directly attributed to the fact that the user of the artifact came to be the autonomous individual. The autonomy of individual was a function of the secularization of culture, one of the motivating forces behind the Modernist Project. It was this self referential individual abstracted from society, and not the society as a whole, that has preoccupied the modernist discourse throughout the last two centuries. However, as Hannah Arendt puts it “the perplexity of utilitarianism is that it gets caught in the unending chain of means and ends without ever arriving at some principles which could justify the category of means and ends, that is, of utility itself…..in other words, utility established as meaning generates meaninglessness.”14 The greatest paradox of Modernism is that while it claims to have descended from the Cartesian desire to create a man-made world based on the universal rules of the mind, its investigations ended up removing the individual possessor of this mind from social references and thereby privatizing the very public domain it wanted to rebuild. The point I want to make is that the way in which the late eighteenth century intellectuals represented the objective of architecture was closely linked with the notion of architecture’s identity that they wished to establish. This was a radical break from the past and not a historical inevitability. It was a deliberate project of identity formation for architecture to suit the prevailing popular demands on the profession and also to be able to stand up to the challenge from civil engineering. It is entirely a different story though that some of the most communicative and visual icons of the modern times were created by engineers such as Paxton, Eiffel, Maillart, Freyssenet and Nervi. identity changes, which was nothing short of an amnesia of destination. This was accompanied and legitimized by clever slogans such as “A house is a machine to live in” and “Form follows function”.”. The brief historical perspective presented above tells us that there has been a definite and deliberate break in the historic continuity in the nature of the activity we call Architecture. Our present understanding of what architecture constitutes and its relationship with technology is founded on these conscious attempts at its identity formation undertaken by the theoreticians of the last two centuries. Architecture has not always been a quasi-technical activity with scientific, logical, problem-solving methods. At the same time, it is also not fair to represent the alternative to rational and technical as undefinable and fuzzy. Rationality is not the exclusive domain of technology alone. A rational action is often understood as an action which takes place according to the basic rules of the mind, the basic operation of logic. However, as Karl Polanyi has remarked, “the logic of rational action applies…to all conceivable means and ends covering an almost infinite variety of human interests. In chess or technology, in religious life or philosophy ends may range from commonplace issues to the most recondite and complex ones.”15 It is also in the inherent nature of rationalism to categorize the world and all human endeavors into neat and unambiguous entities. If Perronet’s School of Civil Engineering sheared the traditional unified role of architect as builder/artist into two independent professions, it also, in similar vein, split the audience of architecture into either a user or a viewer with primacy accorded in favor of the former. The last two centuries of utilitarianism has so conditioned us that our first reaction at seeing a building is to subject it to functionalist verification; how well it works. The language and categories of criticism have been so perfected as to disallow any formal analysis or if offered, consider it as frivolous and immaterial. With the devaluation of the visual and communicative qualities of architecture the concurrent devaluation of its public role was inevitable for utilitarianism celebrates the “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness” of the individual at the expense of the collective. I contend that architecture failed to grasp its own soul, and lost its public persona, when confronted with a crisis of identity. The separation from engineering and subsequent search for identity missed the point that architecture is a knowledge system. A closer study of pre-eighteenth century Western as well as several non-Western design methods reveals that it is distinguished from technology, both in its objectives and methodologies, by a different system of logic rather by an inferior or inadequate one. Both Science/Technology and Architecture produce tangible images at the end of the day and are informed by ideas and concepts. However, while the former is concerned with erecting the man-made world around us, the later is concerned with ordering it. The ultimate aim of this ordering process is first and foremost to maintain the equilibrium of society. And social equilibrium is not a function of technological means or stronger and sharper logic. This is because social disequilibrium does not ever stem from the materials of which buildings are made, or the colors of their rooms, or their structural stability. “The oppressive environment is an environment within which, first and foremost, man oppresses man. The development of the man-made environment is interconnected with man’s development as a freedom-seeking being rather than as a being in search of rationality”.16 Part Two: The rational and the sensuous The concepts and vocabulary with which the present architectural discourse is carried out is self perpetuating and do not allow a critical reevaluation of the last three centuries’ developments and its primary assumptions. Implicit in the separation between architecture and engineering, and all that followed, is the confusion about the relationship between Thinking, Doing and Contemplation on one hand and the very nature of Design as sensuous representation, as an act of Ordering, which is the very objective of architecture on the other hand. Perhaps the most momentous of the consequences of the separation of engineering and architecture has been the devaluation of construction and design. In order to understand how compelling the motives for this devaluation were, we must first of all rid ourselves of the current assumed prejudices and assumptions about the meaning and the role of technology in architecture. “It is a matter of historical record that modern technology has its origin not in the evolution of those tools man has always devised for the twofold purpose of easing his labors and erecting the human artifice, but exclusively in an altogether non-practical search for useless knowledge….If we had to rely only on man’s so-called practical instincts, there would never have been any technology to speak of, and although today the already existing technical inventions carry a certain momentum which will probably generate improvements up to a certain point, it is not likely that our technically conditioned world could survive, let alone develop further, if we ever succeeded in convincing ourselves that man is primarily a practical being”.17 Technology had its origin in architecture as construction; as a process of putting a building together, as fabrication. In its original sense, its connotations are similar to those of craft. Although modern man has stopped associating construction with craft, such an association is important for our present discourse if we want to free construction from the realm of the practical. Craft conjures up images of things made by human hand (as in handicrafts) and thus brings in the sensuality of the bodily involvement in the act of making. It also is closely related to art (as in arts and crafts) suggesting its transcendental role. Interestingly, in the Greek language both art and craft are referred to by the same word. Martin Heidegger has pointed out that “ the Greeks, who knew quite a bit about works of art, use the same word techne for craft and art and call the craftsman and the artist by the same name: technites.”18 Thus the word techne symbolized a relationship of inseperability between construction and design well understood by the ancients. As Gevork Hartoonian has noted, “…the Vitruvian trinity is not a theoretical abstraction on the aesthetic function of architecture. Rather venustas, utilitas and firmitas are the formative themes of an architectural knowledge in which style is integrated with the rules of gravity and the property of materials. In fact they provide the conceptual means of transmuting the contingent reality of construction, elevating building into architecture.”19 Thus techne, the root word for technology, did not refer to the instrumentality of construction: construction as means. It in fact referred to the unity of means and end symbolized by the word Design. Design thus presupposes, and incorporates, construction: it was the process that brought about the product. The technites knew that the production process necessarily precedes the actual existence of every object but will always be absorbed by and disappears in the object. Design thus is a far more inclusive word and Making is an integral part of it. Devoid of tectonic design looses its meaning for thus it will not have the mandatory concrete, sensuous presence which only can offer bodily experience. But such sense experience is not enough by itself. It must inevitably lead to contemplation of an idea in the subjects’ mind. This implies that the sensuous environment is not only organized, that is to say deliberately and willfully designed, but also that the objective of this design is aimed at communication and contemplation. But here we run into a curious paradox; while the rationalist renunciation of the senses for the purpose of knowing severed the connection between thought and sense experience, all the discussions regarding the meaning in architecture of the neo-rationalist avant-garde ended up revolving around the relationship between form and function, whereas all considerations of design, as a way of communicating and contemplating an order of the built environment, was altogether eliminated. Function has been held to give meaning to form, while form has been held to express function. Such a proposition is founded on an assumption that modern architecture is the culmination of an historical process in which the natural relationship between form and function has been constant. But as we have seen above, one of the most persistent claims of modern architecture has been its deliberate and radical break from the past and its almost authoritarian prohibition of all historical, stylistic and rhetorical reference in its task of discovering a new universal language “which would reconcile the demands of “nature” and “reason’ with the fact that culture was subject to historical evolution”.20 The protagonists of the Modern architecture contemptuously divided the history of architecture into a wholly irrational past and a wholly rational future. Questions of representation, figuration and ornaments were relegated to the category of irrational and prohibited. Abstraction, a non-figurative ‘mapping of essences’ became the order of the day. Thus, to quote Hannah Arendt again, the paradox of “utility established as meaning generates meaninglessness”, has come to take its revenge in the Post-Modernist reaction against the functionalist doctrine by returning to the use of stylistic elements borrowed from the past. But rhetoric and figuration, as aesthetic tools, are not to be underestimated. It is only when their use is syntactic, as in the case of “quotations” from our academic dictionary of elements together with functionalist plan forms, that it becomes problematic. To the extent that it is motivated by a need to reintroduce cultural meaning into architectural configuration, one can have no argument with the tendency. But these “quotations” tend to be independent of the culture, i.e. the specificity of the place and time of their use. The classical theory of rhetoric mandates a distinction between what can be imagined and what can be thought. It also presupposes complementarities between the two modes of knowledge; neither can be substituted for the other. Both must co-exist as a necessary pre-condition for the advancement of knowledge. This duality of the modes of knowledge was one of the crucial casualties of rationalist renunciation of the senses inherent in the Cartesian revolution. This distinction between imagination and thought is the basis for considering architecture as a knowledge system whose language is the sensuous forms of our built environment. Here I must hasten to correct a possible (mis) impression that Modern architecture was so abstract as to be completely devoid of any sensuous immediacy. That is certainly not the case and It will be wrong to assume this. A single example will borne this out. The reflectivity of the highly polished marble and the equally reflective chrome platted cladding of the steel columns at the German pavilion at Barcelona deny these materials their inherent materiality of being impenetrably solid. This, together with the part opaqueness of the tinted glass suggests an ambiguity, which has nothing to do with functionalism. As Demetri Porphyrios has remarked, “…in the aesthetics of Modern architecture reinforced concrete and the curtain-wall remain what they are: facts of industrial production. The conception of Modern architecture as dealing with facts and nothing but facts may seem rational enough but has nothing to do with abstraction. If anything, the ‘facts’ of technology carry an unmistakable realism that is dated and, therefore, not general enough to warrant the use of the term ‘abstraction’. ……architecture always works with the ‘facts’ of technology. But the sympathy architecture always has with technology is not instanced by the literal adaptation of technological ‘facts’. Instead, architecture receives from technology ‘facts’ and returns to the world forms.”21 The polemics of the Modern architecture, however, suggest a more positivistic view of technology. Writing in the bauhaus journal, its newly appointed head, Hannes Meyer writes, “architecture as an ‘emotional act of the artist’ has no justification. Architecture as ‘a continuation of the traditions of building’ means being carried along by the history of architecture. This functional, biological interpretation of architecture as giving shape to the functions of life, logically leads to pure construction: this world of constructive forms knows no native country. It is the expression of an international attitude in architecture. Internationality is the privilege of the period. Pure construction is the basis and the characteristic of the new world of forms.”22 Clearly, seeing technology through the filters of functionalism and the abstraction inherent in internationalism, seems to have prevented Modern architecture from realizing the true relationship between technology and architecture and between construction and design. While rational representations, by their very nature, rely on definitions, bounding and completeness the sensuous on the other hand, demand ambiguity and are necessarily incomplete. The incompleteness is the function of the different mediums of execution of all arts. Painting, for example, represents reality through the medium of line and color, sculpture through relief, music by means of sound and poetry by means of language. Architecture, thus, represents reality through the medium of tectonics.23 The limitations as well as the potentiality of each of these art forms, the limited range of means, materials and techniques used by each, determine their uniqueness in being a unique yet limited representation of reality. The use of rhetoric and figuration is best made within the bounds of this uniqueness. Modern architecture, by discarding representation, blurred the distinction between the facts and forms while Post-modern architecture sought to saturate the imagery by expanding the boundaries and encroaching on other forms of arts. The ‘saturation’ of imagery was supposed to ‘mirror’ the life in the late 20th century bombarded with supposedly disjointed images. But such literal interpretation of ‘realism’ misses the point. Cubism ‘represented’ the same reality of disjointedness by creating a visual order which tells us about the impossibility of seeing life steadily and seeing it as a whole. Literature too represented it as a ‘stream of consciousness’, without beginning, middle or end, by creating a literary order. Giacometti’s lean bronze human figures conveyed the essential loneliness of modern man. Each one of these is a partial representation within the limits set by the medium of execution specific to the art form. Thus representation necessarily involves taking the given reality to a higher level of generality, of abstraction, and re-presenting it through the means specific to the art. The medium of representation specific to architecture is tectonic construction. It is far from creating a mirror image of life as it is. At this point I would like to propose a tripartite ‘definition’ of architecture. Architecture is initiated by a people’s need for shelter, is sustained by the logic of construction and is made meaningful by being rooted in the time and the place of its making. From this several consequences follow the most important of which is that not all buildings we see around us can be called architecture. A building must transcend the initial conditions of its utilitarian cause of providing shelter. Seen in this light, may be the causality inherent in Louis Sullivan’s famous jingle, “form follows function” does make sense though not in the same way as the functionalists wanted it to be understood. The second consequence concerns tectonics. The logic of construction implies that the particularities of individual solutions to any shelter needs are superceded by an empirical judgement about the ‘right' way of putting a building together. That is to say that of all the various building solutions tried out by a society in response to the specific needs of shelter and occupation of space, a few emerge over time that carry currency and agreement about their being more appropriate than the others. The particular experience of a people is sublimated and it emerges as ‘type’ which in turn forms part of the collective memory of a people. This is the first tentative transformation of a building into architecture. The Ionic or Corinthian capital of the Greeks, the Papyrus column of the Egyptians and the ribbed vault of the rock-cut Chaitya hall of Ajanta in India are the evidences of such transformations. They are celebrations of the collective memories of similar construction using different materials. In that sense, they constitute the rhetoric in architecture. The facts of collective experiences sublimated into rhetorical forms. and sensuous form what he has been searching for. Thus making of the image precedes the articulation of the idea. The making itself is the search and it follows no logical path. It is full of exploration, struggle and frustration requiring patience. The memories contained in the tectonics of earlier construction practices, collectively agreed upon as appropriate, provide the model which is transformed as figuration. It is the re-presentation of an idea, which itself was realized through the making of tectonic images. But the important point is that this representation is done without violating the boundaries of tectonic discipline. The third consequence of my tripartite definition has to do with meaning. Here I want to use an example to make a point; Mies van der Rohe’s corner detail at the Crown Hall in Chicago. It has all the qualities of tectonic rhetoric. The fact that, soon after its execution, it was appropriated by the American construction industry as a standard, “readymade” detail, implies that its immediate utilitarian origin was soon transcended and it had received the node of ‘agreement’ from the society about it being an appropriate way of doing things. In a span of a few decades, it has gone beyond being merely a well detailed corner and has acquired an iconic status. Though, unlike the Greek, Egyptian or Indian examples mentioned above, there is an absence of a direct stylistic reference from a time-tested precedent. However, it must be remembered that, the very denial of the need for such historical sanction, inherent in all forms of eclecticism, was one of the corner stones of the modernist ideology. Denying cultural relativism, the avant garde of the early 20th century had “sought a new definition of style which would reconcile the demands of “nature” and “reason” with the fact that culture was subject to historical evolution”.24 Still Mies’s corner detail is not without precedent. Its model can be found in countless examples of well crafted buildings such as the Shaker celebration of making . The logic of construction sustains all such architecture. Their meaning is derived from being rooted in the time and the place of their making. The role of reason in design has to be defined on its own terms rather than that of science or technology. sensuous forms.25 In other words “thinking” and “doing” have different relationship in science and in arts. Almost all our high schools, and the family too, have taught us to think before doing anything. Thinking through anything prior to doing, a model or a precedent. Thus architecture must regain it destination and direction lost in the mid-eighteenth century and reclaim its legitimate position as a Design discipline. This is not to devalue the role of technology in architecture but only to place technology in the context of design. Nor does it advocate against the application of reason in design. Rational architecture is “characterized so not only because of its capacity to employ the rules of rationality, the rules of logic. It is more related to the application of induction, analysis, comparison, observation and experimentation (aspects which are derived from the nature of the mind) to design activity.”26 Design must take the centre stage. Just as a textile designer has to be proficient in textile technology and a product designer must internalize all the materials and technologies he has to work with, an architectural designer will have to continue to be good at all the technical requirements of his profession. But that will have to be the minimum requirement and not an end in itself. It will have to be seen in the context of design, i.e. design, through the medium of tectonics, bringing order to our built environment. A chance encounter with the works of Santiago Calarava triggered these arguments. Let us see how they fare against the application of my tripartite definition. One of the earliest works, the doors of Fabbrica Ernstings in Coesfeld, Germany, contains the beginnings of a development, which culminates in a series of mobile roof elements transcending the relatively modest size and programs of these building. Similarly, the imaginative and yet rigorous application of contemporary construction practices make the larger projects such as the Cathedral in New York, the Reichstag in Berlin or the series of bridges all over Europe regain their role as unmistakable public markers in our urban landscape regaining the public space for architecture. Their existential rootedness in the ‘here and now’, the uncompromising contemporariness of their construction suggesting a self-confident coming together of architecture and technology in these works, are significant steps in removing the infirmities set in the body of architecture since the eighteenth century. - 1. Luca Molinari. “Santiaqgo Calatraqva” Skira Architecture Library, 1998. - 2. Ibid. P. 9. - 3. Fear of Freedom Eric Fromm. - 4. Ulrich Conrads. “Programs and manifestoes on 20th Century architecture”, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 1970 - 5. Romaldo Giurgola, “Praxis” Journel of Columbia School of Architecture. 1976. - 6. Kenneth Frampton, “Modern Architecture, A Crital History”. Oxford University Press. 1980. p. 12. - 7. Tzonis, Alexander. “towards a non oppressive environment”. ipress. Boston, (1972) . p. 12. - 8. Andrea Memmo “Elements of Lodoli’s Architecture…” Quoted by A. Tzonis. Op.cit. p. 68 - 9. Ibid - 10. M.A. Laugier. Quoted by A. Tzonis. Op Cit. p. 69 - 11. Gevork Hartoonian. Ontology of Construction. Cambridge, p. 5 - 12. Jeremy Bantham, An Introduction to the Principles on Morals and Legislation. Quoted by A. Tzonis. Op. Cit. p. 78 - 13. W.R. Letharby, Design and Industry. - 14. Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition. Chicago, 1958. p.154. - 15. G. Dalton ” (ed.) “The Economy as Instituted Process” in “Essays of Karl Polanyi (1968) - 16. Tzonis, Alexander. Op cit. p.13 - 17. Hannah Arendt, “The Human Condition”. Chicago Press. 1971. p. 289. - 18. Martin Heidegger, “Poetry, Language, Thought” .Harper, 1975. p. 59. - 19. Gevork Hartoonian, “Ontology of Construction”. p. 7. - 20. Alan Colquhoun, “Form and Figure” Opposition 12, 1978. - 21. Demetri Porphyrios, Building and Architecture, AD. - 22. Hannes Meyer, “Building”, Bauhaus, year 2, No. 4. As quoted in Ulrich Conrads, Programs and manifestoes on 20th. cent. Architecture. - 23. I owe this line of argument to Gevork Hartoonian and Demetri Porphyrios, Op. Cit. - 24. Alan Colquhoun. Op. cit. - 25. Claude Levi-Stauss, “The Savage Mind”. - 26. Tzonis, Alexander. Op cit. p.59
HYPNOTHERAPY What is hypnosis? Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness. Being in hypnosis is like having a direct link to the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is responsible for controlling the autonomic nervous system i.e. our breathing, heartbeat, hormones, digestion etc. It is also the area of the brain responsible for imagination and creativity. Being in a state of hypnosis happens to each and every one of us, naturally and on a daily basis, whether we realise it or not. You are in a state of hypnosis when, for example, you are reading a book, watching television, driving a car or daydreaming. We are in and out of hypnosis all the time. Conscious v’s Subconscious Mind The conscious mind is the logical part of the mind. It is responsible for rational thinking, reasoning and analysing incoming data and information. It is only capable of processing up to 7 (+/– 2) things at any one time. The conscious mind is responsible for the initial learning process, for example; when we first learn to drive a car. At first the experience is somewhat alien to us and there are a lot of things to think about, remember and be aware of. Once this process has been practiced over and over again, it quickly becomes a subconscious behaviour and you may not even remember how you got from A to B. The process becomes autonomic. The subconscious mind is responsible for all autonomic behaviours within the body. Much like a department store which has different departments for homeware, ladies clothing, children’s clothing, shoes etc, the subconscious mind has different parts that are responsible for different actions and reactions within the body. For example, there is the part that regulates your heart rate, the part that regulates your breathing, your hormones, your immune system etc. Then there are parts that respond to certain situations, experiences and stimulai, for example if someone is aggressive the subconscious mind will have a way of managing how to respond to that through past experience the individual may or may not have had. The subconscious mind has many roles and is much like a tape recorder, in that is sores every experience you have from conception. It is not concerned with logic, only with keeping you safe and alive at all costs. This is often why our behaviour may at times seem compleatly incomprehendable. The majority of our reactions are based upon experiences we have had as small children. When we then come to have a similar experience, our subconscuous mind will apply the relevant strategy that it has developed for managing that specific type of situation, these rules or coping stratigies are then applied throughout our lives and can often be inappropriate; applying a coping strategy created by a 3yr old in your 30's may not have the desired outcomes. The subconscious mind isn't concerned with appropriate, it's only concern is to protect you. Through hypnosis it is possible to update these coping stratiges and create new more appropriate reactions and responses to challenging or difficult sutuations. It is also possible to create new, more appropriate, ways of seeing ourselves and the world around us. The capacity of the subconscious mind is immeasurable. What does hypnosis feel like? Hypnosis is like a very deep state of relaxation. It’s like a deep meditative state, a similar to the feeling before you fall asleep at night or just before you are fully awake. You are completely in control during this state and should you wish to come out of hypnosis at any point you can open your eyes and be fully conscious. Another way to think about it is like when you are driving in the car and can not remember some of the route as your conscious mind was elsewhere. You are at that point in a state of hypnosis, your subconscious mind has taken over control of driving the car and keeping you safe. What if I can’t be hypnotised? The only people who can’t be hypnotised are those who are unwilling to allow themselves to be. Some people will experience deeper levels of relaxation than others, this will differ from person to person and may also differ from session to session for each individual. Will I loose control of my mind? Absolutely not. You will be in complete control at all times. Your subconscious mind is protected by your values and beliefs, if a suggestion were made that did not fit into your perceived identity of yourself, the suggestion would not work and no changes will take place. The therapists job is to create the right conditions at the request of the client to inspire the subconscious mind to create the desired change according to the values and beliefs of the client. What’s the difference between ‘Stage Hypnosis’ and ‘Hypnotherapy’? Stage hypnosis is purely for entertainment purposes. The participant will have been specifically selected through an elimination process in the search for the most suitable candidate. A suitable candidate is someone who is open to the suggestion, has a vivid imagination and a willingness to participate and work with the hypnotist. If the participant is not comfortable with what is being asked of them they will not fully participate and therefore they are not as suitable as someone who is in agreement with the whatever the hypnotist is asking them to do. Hypnotherapy, however, is using hypnosis in a therapeutic way to create desired changes and outcomes determined by the client. The hypnotherapist, like the hypnotist, needs to build rapport with their client and the client needs to be willing to participate and trust the therapist to assist them in a professional and empathic way. The client must also be willing to create the desired change for the process to be successful. It is not possible to make someone do something they are not prepared to do just because they are in hypnosis; they are always in control and choose to participate. The only thing a hypnotist and hypnotherapist have in common is the use of hypnosis as a tool; the purpose of their work is completely different. Much like any other tool it is used in very different ways for entirely different purposes, for example, in the same way, a hairdresser or a dressmaker may use a pair of scissors or a graphic designer or a writer might use a computer. The tool is the same but the use of the tool is for an entirely different purpose. What can Hypnotherapy be used for? Hypnotherapy can be used to treat a wide range of issues from smoking cessation, weight management and stress through to psychosomatic disorders whereby the emotional and psychological distress has actually manifested as a physical symptom in the body. Basically any area that is becoming a struggle and difficult to handle alone can likely be helped with hypnotherapy. Some of the most common issues that are dealt with through hypnotherapy are: Alcoholism MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Fibromyalgia Anger Management Stress Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Asthma/Allergies Pain Control Breast Enlargement Panic Attacks Childbirth ('Hypnobirthing') Confidence/Motivation/Self-Esteem Phobias (fear of flying, spiders, etc) Depression Psoriasis Drug Addiction Sexual Abuse Eating Disorders Sexual Problems Eczema Sports/Work Performance Irritable Bowel Syndrome Stammering Insomnia Smoking Cessation ME (Myalgic Encephalopathy) Anxiety Migraine Weight Management Sleep Dissorders Fertility Childhood Issues Regression Therapy Stress is one of the biggest contributing factors to many of the above issues and triggers the Fight, Flight or Freeze response in the body. What is Fight, Flight or Freeze? FFF is a physical reaction to a stimulus that is perceived to be life threatening. The purpose of the subconscious mind is to keep you alive. If something is perceived by the subconscious mind to be life threatening the subconscious mind will go into FFF, which can leave the individual feeling completely out of conscious control. The reason for this is that the body is preparing to Fight, Run or Freeze in its tracks, depending on the perceived threat. This would have come in handy when there was a chance of being chased by a woolly mammoth or saber–toothed tiger but in modern society it can be triggered by so many things unnecessarily, such as how we think people will react to us, concerns over what other people think or high levels of stress. It is often an irrational reaction in the eyes of someone else but to the person experiencing the reaction it is a very real threat and therefore an appropriate response, even if at the time it doesn't seem logical, the subconsious mind goes into action to keep you safe at all costs. This is a subconscious reaction in the body. It happens automatically and once the associated chemicals and hormones have been released into the system it is only once they have worn off that the individual can calm down, which is why it is hard to calm someone down if they are experiencing an anxiety attack, they need to be made to feel safe as quickly as possible so the body can stop releasing the chemicals into the system. Symptoms of FFF may include shallow breathing, clouded thinking, rise in body temperature, nausea or vomiting, the feeling of needing to go to the bathroom amongst others. The body shuts down and the blood rushed to the muscles in case the individual needs to run away, they may feel sick or like they need the toilet, this is to empty the stomach as the digestive system shuts down and may also be to make the individual smell unpleasant so the perceived attacker will be less likely to want to eat them (not so useful in this day and age, in fact it can be somewhat debilitating). The blood is also rushing to the muscles to enable the individual to run away from the situation and they may even freeze in the hope that the predator is unable to see them. In todays society a certain amount of stress can be extremely healthy, encouraging someone to meet a deadline or strive to achieve a goal but when it gets to the point that the person is distressed, the overall implication on someone’s health both physical and/or mental can be debilitating and frightening, often with no obvious way out of it. Hypnotherapy can be used to enable the individual to see things from a new perspective, managed any difficult situations with more confidence and self belief, recognise triggers and manage them more effectively and generally limit the amount of stress in their lives by taking responsibility for the things they can change and accepting the things they can’t; opening up a whole new way of viewing the world around them and the way they choose to live in it. How does hypnotherapy work? Hypnotherapy is a solution focused strategic therapy. Its aim is to find out what the underlying issue is, where it has come from - if appropriate, (this is not always necessary nor do you need to dig into someone’s past to create the necessary change) and the desired change to be created. A session may last between 45-90 minutes, during which time the therapist will discuss the situation with the client and create a personalised session for that individual to create positive changes with regards to the issue(s) they are presenting. The language, tonality and guidance of the hypnotherapist is then used to created the desired change through analogy, visualisation and various techniques, specifically designed to communicate directly with the subconscious mind; the part of the mind that is responsible for autonomic behaviours and reactions within the body. It can help release trapped emotion or trauma which may be holding you back or help you to see something from a new perspective giving you more power over your emotions, actions and behaviours. What to expect from a hypnotherapy session The session should last between 45-90 minutes. The hypnotherapist will ask you about your reasons for coming and discuss the relevant/desired changes to be created in the session. The hypnotherapist will then invite you to relax in a comfortable chair or couch and get you into a state of deep relaxation/hypnosis. The hypnotherapist will then guide you throughout the session communicating with the subconscious part of your mind to create the desired changes and form new outcomes/ways of being/behaving moving forwards. Are results guaranteed? As with most things in life nothing is guaranteed but to maximise results it’s important to choose a well trained profession hypnotherapist who is registered with an industry professional body to ensure they have undergone the relevant training and are therefore well equipped to help you address the problem at hand. How do I know if the therapist is right for me? The most important thing is to have rapport with your therapist. You need to trust in their ability to assist you and also feel comfortable discussing sensitive, personal information with them. A good therapist will always make you feel safe and secure and abide by their industry professional body’s Code of Conduct.
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July 1, 1952 V B, z N 2,601,853 ' v METHOD OF REINFORCING PERFORATED SHEETS Filed NOV. 2, 1948 IN V EN TOR .BEN/AM/N fiflfiszsmv Patented July 1, 1952 METHOD OF REINFORCING PERFORATED SHEETS Beniamin Hirszson, New York, N. Y., assignor. of. one-half to Joseph Anthony Paparelli, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Application November 2, 1948, Serial No. 57,993 4 Claims. Theinventionrelates toramethodof and means for reinforcing perforated sheets and. is more particularly concerned with a novellyi formed reinforcing patch adapted to be arranged on a sheet for reinforcing a perforation therein. Sheets of paper-frequently-have' holes punched alcng one edge, adapting the sheets to be mounted andhou'nd in loose l'eaf ringibinders. Owing to the close proximity ofthe holes. to one edge of the sheet, it frequently happens that the sheet is inadvertently torn out of the binder Unintentional tearing has been minimizedby'providmg each hole with a' reinforcement in" the form of a patch or ringof a; kind shown anddescribed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 51,786, filed September 29, 1948, now abandoned. The reinforcing element disclosed therein is fabricated from two thicknesses of' adhesive-coated tape, securely joined together adhesively. Reinforcement of sheets having perforations adjacent an edge thereof by the application of a reinforcing patch or' ring of doulol'e material thickness requires the use-of an excessiveamount of material. It has been found that strain, resulting in tearing out the holes, is applied to but a small segment'of the inside perimeter of the reinforcing patch; consequently, no useful purpose is served by providing a patch of double material thickness throughout its entire area. Sheets of paper having their perforations reinupofthe thickness of the stack edgeiszobjectionable only because the free: portions of the-sheets extending outwardly from the ring; binder lie at an incline,- which, in som'eicases, is so pronounced as to materially interfere: with the practical use of the sheet area adjacent. the binder. rings. It istherefore an object! of the present invention to provide a reinforcing: patch or ring. of a kind that will minimizethei objectionable tendency of the sheets to build up excessive thickness in the area ofthezbinderrings. Another" object of the invention is to provide a reinforcing patch of a kind having added reinfo'rcement only in the area of greatest stress. Another object of the: invention is to provide a double strength reinforcing patch from a minimum amount of stock. Another object of the invention is to provide areinforcing patch of the character referred to with an eccentric. hole therein. Another: object is to provide a transparent flexible patch having reinforcement inacritical area thereof. Another object is to providea ring likeradhesive-coated patch having. added reinforcement in an area contiguous witha segment of the perimeter of its inside diameter. Other and further: objects of. the present invention will be apparent from the. following description and claims, and are illustratedin the accompanying drawing: which; byway of. illustration, shows an exemplary emloodimentfandithe principles thereon Other embodiments of. the invention emhodyingthe' same principles maybe used, and structural changes may be made as desired by those: skilled in the art, without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims. In the drawing: Fig; 1 is a view showing a fragment of a sheet having reinforcing rings embodying the present invention attached to. one face thereof adjacent to one of its edges. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a fragment of a sheet having a reinforcing patch thereon, showing a binder ring associated therewith. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional detail view taken substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view showing the steps taken in the method of forming and attaching a reinforcing patch. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary endelevational view of a ring binder showing a stack of'reinforced sheets mounted therein. Fig. 6 is a view of a modified form of reinforcing patch, as viewed from its adhesivecoated surface. Referring to the drawing, in detail, Figs; 1, 2 and 3 illustrate the location of reinforcing pieces or patches, embodyingthe present invention, with relation to the edge H' of a sheet of paper or the like l2. The sheet is provided in the present disclosure with two perforations l3 closely adjacent to the edge H, each adapted to receive. a ring, of a loose-leaf hinder when the sheet is bound. Owing tothe close proximity of'th'e: holes l3 to the edge H, a non-reinforcedlsheet'is" likely to be easily torn out of the binder; consequently, novel reinforcing patches of thekind' generally indicated at I4 are applied" to at" least one face of said sheet' in" the area of and surrounding each hole I3. In the present:disclosure,.the' reinforcing pieces or patches l4 are severed from pressure-sensitive adhesive-coated cellophane sheets or strips, or like transparent tapes of a. kind. commonly known as Scotch tape. Although other types of adhesive-coated tape may be used, cellophane material is highly suited for the present purpose owing to its transparency and flexibility. It has been found, however, that reinforcing pieces or patches consisting of a single thickness of such tape do not afford the desired reinforcement for the holes l3. As noted hereinabove, reinforcing pieces or patches consisting of two material thicknesses are objectionable from the standpoint of material required and subsequent excessive building up of the bound edges of a stack of such reinforced sheets. The reinforcing pieces or patches [4 preferably are formed circular in outline, although it should be understood that they may be rectangular, square, or of any other configuration. Each reinforcing piece I4 is provided with a hole l5, formed in a manner to be described hereinafter, which hole preferably is eccentric to the perimeter of the patch so as to provide a relatively wide area IE to be arranged in the area of the sheet between the perforation l3 and the edge II. This disposition of the wide patch area It affords maximum reinforcement to the perforation obtainable from a single material thickness. Mere reinforcement, even by a wide area of the patch obtained by the use of but a single material thickness, is not entirely satisfactory. Accordingly, means is provided to further reinforce the area l6. Such additional reinforcement is provided in the form of a crescentshaped piece of adhesive-coated material H, which has its inner edge l8 coincident with the perimeter of the hole l5. Upon referring to Fig. 2, it should be readily apparent that the sheet II is adequately reinforced in the area of greatest tearing stress by two thicknesses of material, and that remaining portion of the patch surrounding the hole is of single material thickness. Accordingly, any stress applied to the double reinforced segment of the hole perimeter I by the binder ring I9 is resisted. Double reinforcement in the critical area only of the sheet also afiords means whereby the sheets lie substantially fiat when bound in a stack. Reference is accordingly directed to the Fig. 5 disclosure, where it is apparent that the build-up of a stack of sheets resulting from the presence of two material thicknesses of reinforcing material in a predetermined and limited area thereof'occurs only in the sheet area located inside of the binder ring I9. Each sheet of the stack slopes downwardly at an accelerated angle because there is but a single thickness of reinforcing material in the areas adjacent the outside of the ring binder I9. Accordingly, the sheets in the stack lie substantially fiat. The reinforcing patches I4 preferably are fabricated from a strip of adhesive-coated material in such manner that the additional reinforcing piece is aflixed thereto during the fabrication thereof and from portions of said strip which otherwise would constitute waste material. A preferred method of fabrication is best illustrated in Fig. 4. As there shown, the strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive-coated material 2\| is initially die-cut to provide a semicircular slit 22. The tab 23 defined by the semi-circular slit 22 then is folded downwardly, out of the plane of the strip, and over against the adhesive-coated bottom face of said strip, as at 23a. The next step in fabrication of the patch con sists of die-cutting or otherwise severing the circular patch [4 from the strip, as generally indicated at 24 in Fig. 4. The severed patch then is aifixed, with its adhesive-coated surface disposed downwardly, to the sheet H. A punch is then operated to perforate the hole [3 in the patch I4 and sheet II. It should be observed that the hole I3 is eccentric of the perimeter of the patch in a direction away from the tab 23 and that it is of such diameter as to remove a greater portion of said folded-over tab. The removed portion of the tab 23 includes the area at the fold thereof, so as to leave affixed, between the patch l4 and the sheet I l, the crescentshaped reinforcement ll. Although a specific method of fabrication and the selected steps taken in such fabrication have been recited in detail, it should be understood that the final operations of severing the patch from the strip and the punching of the hole l3 may be accomplished in a sequence other than that recited. It has, however, been found that the sequence of steps herein recited is best suited to the purposes of the present invention and may be accomplished readily by the employment of a severing, attaching and perforating tool of the kind shown in my aforesaid co-pending application, Serial No. 51,786. The patch 25 illustrated in Fig. 6 is somewhat like the patch previously described. In this disclosure, the patch is provided with an eccentric hole l3, suitably reinforced over a part of its perimeter by a strip 26 adhesively secured to the pressure-sensitive adhesive-coated surface of the patch material. The strip 26 may be fabricated from waste material remaining after the patches 2 5 have been removed from the supply tape; or the strips may be severed from a separate supply tape, either adhesive coated or uncoated, having a width corresponding substantially to the width of the strip 26. The strip 26 is, of course, afiixed to the patch 25 prior to punching the hole I3 so as to provide an edge coincident with a segment of the hole perimeter. Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in the accompanying drawing and described in detail in the accompanying specification, it should be understood that the invention is capable of embodying a variety of modifications without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. I claim:., including the fold connection with the patch. 3., pressing 5 the adhesive-coated face of the patch against a sheet to secure it thereto, and finally punching a hole in the sheet and patch so as to remove a substantial portion of the tab. 4. The method of fabricating a reinforcing patch which consists of cutting a tab in a strip having a pressure-sensitive adhesive on one face, folding the tab over against the adhesive-coated face of said strip, severing a patch from the section of the strip having the folded tab therein and 10 finally punching a hole in said patch so as to remove a substantial portion of the tab. BENIAMIN HIRSZSON. REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: UNITED STATES PATENTS
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Cartography (from Greek χάρτης chartis, "map"; and γρ,[who?]. Earliest known maps The earliest known maps are of the heavens, not the earth. Dots dating to 16,500 BCE found on the walls of the Lascaux caves map out part of the night sky, including the three bright stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair (the Summer Triangle asterism), as well as the Pleiades star cluster. The Cuevas de El Castillo in Spain contain a dot map of the Corona Borealis constellation dating from 12,000 BCE.[1][2][3] Cave painting and rock carvings used simple visual elements that may have aided in recognizing landscape features, such as hills or dwellings.[2] The oldest extant picture that resembles a map was created in the late 7th millennium BCE in Çatalhöyük, Anatolia, modern Turkey. This wall painting may represent a plan of this Neolithic village; [3] however, recent scholarship has questioned the identification of this painting as a map.[4] Whoever visualized the Çatalhöyük "mental map" may have been encouraged by the fact that houses in Çatalhöyük were clustered together and were entered via flat roofs. Therefore, it was normal for the inhabitants to view their city from a bird's eye view. Later civilizations followed the same convention; today, almost all maps are drawn as if we are looking down from the sky instead of from a horizontal or oblique perspective. The logical advantage of such a perspective is that it provides a view of a greater area, conceptually. There are exceptions: one of the "quasi-maps" of the Minoan civilization on Crete, the “House of the Admiral” wall painting, dating from 1600 BCEc. 1600 BCE, shows a seaside community in an oblique perspective. Ancient Near East Maps in Ancient Babylonia were made by using accurate surveying techniques.[5] (12 hectares) that was owned by a person called Azala. Most scholars date the tablet to the twenty-fifth to twenty-fourth century BCE; Leo Bagrow dissents with a date of 3800 BCE.[page needed].[6] In contrast, the Babylonian World Map, the earliest surviving map of the world (600 BCEc. 600 BCE), is a symbolic, not a literal representation.. 1300 BCEc. 1300 BCE, colour. real journeys. Thus, each one develops a philosophical view of the world, which makes it possible to show this information in the form of a map. The depiction of the earth conceived by Homer, which was accepted by the early Greeks, interpret not only had predated Greek colonial expansions, but also was used in the earliest Greek world maps, produced by Greek mapmakers such as Anaximander and Hecataeus of Miletus. (611–546 BCEc. 611–546 BCE), pupil of Thales. He believed that the earth was a cylindrical form, like a stone pillar and suspended in space.[7] The inhabited part of his world was circular, disk-shaped, and presumably located on the upper surface of the cylinder (Brown, 24). Apparently, Anaximander was the first ancient Greek to draw a map of the known world. It is for this reason that he is considered by many to be the first mapmaker (Dilke, of the far north. Hecatæus depicted the origin of the Nile River at the southern circumference ocean. His view of the Nile seems to have been that it came from the southern circumference ocean. This assumption helped Hecatæus solve the mystery of the annual flooding of the Nile. He believed that the waves of the ocean were a primary cause of this occurrence (Tozer, 63). It is worth mentioning that a similar map based upon one designed by Hecataeus was intended to aid political decision-making. According to Herodotus, it was engraved upon a bronze tablet and was carried to Sparta by Aristagoras during the revolt of the Ionian cities against Persian rule from 499 to 494 B). Pythagoras of Samos (560–480 BCEc. 560–480 BCE) speculated about the notion of a spherical earth with a central fire at its core. He is also credited with the introduction of a model that divides a spherical earth into five zones. One hot, two temperate, and two cold—northern and southern. It seems likely that he illustrated his division in the form of a map, however, no evidence of this has survived to the present. Scylax, a sailor, made a record of his Mediterranean voyages in 515 BCEc. 515 BCE. This is the earliest known set of Greek periploi, or sailing instructions, which became the basis for many future mapmakers, especially in the medieval period.[8]. He regarded the Nile as the boundary. He speculated that the Nile River. A vital contribution to mapping the reality of the world came with a scientific estimate of the circumference of the earth. This event has been described as the first scientific attempt to give geographical studies a mathematical basis. The man credited for this achievement was Eratosthenes (275–195 B a new technique of charting with meridians, his imaginary north–south lines, and parallels, his imaginary west–east lines.[9].[2][10] Ptolemy's eight-volume. Yet with all his important innovations, however,. Roman Empire.[11] China Earliest extant maps from the Qin State The earliest known maps to have survived in China date to the 4th century BCE.[12] In 1986, seven ancient Chinese maps were found in an archeological excavation of a Qin State tomb in what is now Fangmatian, Dangchuan Xian, in the vicinity of Tianshui City, Gansu province.[12] Before this find, the earliest extant maps that were known came from the Mawangdui excavation in 1973, which found three maps on silk dated to the 2nd century BCE in the early Han Dynasty.[12][13] The 4th century BCE maps from the State of Qin were drawn with black ink on wooden blocks.[14] These blocks fortunately survived in soaking conditions due to underground water that had seeped into the tomb; the quality of the wood had much to do with their survival.[14] After two years of slow-drying techniques, the maps were fully restored.[14] The territory shown in the seven Qin maps overlap each other.[15] The maps display tributary river systems of the Jialing River in Sichuan province, in a total measured area of 107 by 68 km.[15] The maps featured rectangular symbols encasing character names for the locations of administrative counties.[15] Rivers and roads are displayed with similar line symbols; this makes interpreting the map somewhat difficult, although the labels of rivers placed in order of stream flow are helpful to modern day cartographers.[16] These maps also feature locations where different types of timber can be gathered, while two of the maps state the distances in mileage to the timber sites.[13] In light of this, these maps are perhaps the oldest economic maps in the world since they predate Strabo's economic maps.[13] Earliest geographical writing In China, the earliest known geographical Chinese writing dates back to the 5th century BCE, during the beginning of the Warring States (481–221 BCE).[17].[17]).[17] Earliest known reference to a map, or 'tu' The oldest reference to a map in China comes from the 3rd century BCE.[18].[18] Handing to him the map of the designated territory was the first diplomatic act of submitting that district to Qin rule.[18] Instead he attempted to kill Qin, an assassination plot that failed. From then on maps are frequently mentioned in Chinese sources.[19].).[20].[21] An early text that mentioned maps was the Rites of Zhou.[18] Although attributed to the era of the Zhou Dynasty, its first recorded appearance was in the libraries of Prince Liu De (130 BCEc. 130 BCE), and was compiled and commented on by Liu Xin in the 1st century CE. It outlined the use of maps that were made for governmental provinces and districts, principalities, frontier boundaries, and even pinpointed locations of ores and minerals for mining facilities.[18] Upon the investiture of three of his sons as feudal princes in 117 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han had maps of the entire empire submitted to him.[22] From the 1st century CE onwards, official Chinese historical texts contained a geographical section (Diliji), which was often an enormous compilation of changes in place-names and local administrative divisions controlled by the ruling dynasty, descriptions of mountain ranges, river systems, taxable products, etc.[23].[24].[25] Local mapmaking such as the one of Szechuan mentioned above, became a widespread tradition of Chinese geographical works by the 6th century, as noted in the bibliography of the Sui Shu.[26] It is during this time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties that the Liang Dynasty (502–557 CE) cartographers also began carving maps into stone steles (alongside the maps already drawn and painted on paper and silk).[27] Pei Xiu, the 'Ptole,[28] he was the first to mention a plotted geometrical grid and graduated scale displayed on the surface of maps to gain greater accuracy in the estimated distance between different locations.[29] Pei outlined six principles that should be observed when creating maps, two of which included the rectangular grid and the graduated scale for measuring distance.[30] Historians compare him to the Greek Ptolemy for his contributions in cartography.[31] However,.[32] Robert Temple also asserts that Zhang created a mathematical reference grid for maps before Pei Xiu.[33] Later Chinese ideas about the quality of maps made during the Han Dynasty and before stem from the assessment given by Pei Xiu, which was not a positive one.[34] Pei Xiu noted that the extant Han maps at his disposal were of little use since they featured too many inaccuracies and exaggerations in measured distance between locations.[34] However, the Qin State maps and Mawangdui maps of the Han era were far superior in quality than those examined by Pei Xiu.[34].[35] Sui and Tang dynasties In the year 605, during the Sui Dynasty (581–618), the Commercial Commissioner Pei Ju (547–627) created a famous geometrically gridded map.[27] In 610 CE.[26][36] The Tang Dynasty (618–907) also had its fair share of cartographers, including the works of Xu Jingzong in 658 CE, Wang Mingyuan in 661 CE, and Wang Zhongsi in 747 CE. CE, called the Hai Nei Hua Yi Tu (Map of both Chinese and Barbarian Peoples within the (Four) Seas).[27] The map was 30 ft long and 33 ft (10 m) high in dimension, mapped out on a grid scale of 1-inch (25 mm) equaling 100 li (unit) (the Chinese equivalent of the mile/kilometer).[27].[26] With the aid of Song Zhun, the massive work was completed in 1010 CE, with some 1566 chapters.[26].[37].[38] The famous 11th century scientist and polymath statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095) was also a geographer and cartographer.[39] His largest atlas included twenty three maps of China and foreign regions that were drawn at a uniform scale of 1:900,000.[40] Shen also created a three dimensional raised-relief map using sawdust, wood, beeswax, and wheat paste, while representing the topography and specific locations of a frontier region to the imperial court.[40] Shen Kuo's contemporary, Su Song (1020–1101), was a cartographer who created detailed maps in order to resolve a territorial border dispute between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Dynasty.[41] Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties The Da Ming hunyi tu map, dating from about 1390, is in multicolour. The horizontal scale is 1:820,000 and the vertical scale is 1:1,060,000.[38].[38].[38] Also in the 17th century, an edition of a possible Tang Dynasty map shows clear topographical contour lines.[42] Although topographic features were part of maps in China for centuries, a Fujian county official Ye Chunji (1532–1595) was the first to base county maps using on-site topographical surveying and observations.[43] The Korean made Kangnido based on two Chinese maps, which describes the Old World. India Early forms of cartography in India included legendary paintings; maps of locations described in Indian epic poetry, for example the Ramayana.[44] These works contained descriptions of legendary places, and often even described the nature of the mythological inhabitants of a particular location.[44] The Indians made maps related to both their holy scriptures, the Puranas, and for astronomy.[44] Indian cartographic traditions also covered the locations of the Pole star, and other constellations of use.[45] These charts may have been in use by the beginning of the Common Era for purposes of navigation.[45] Detailed maps of considerable length describing the locations of settlements, sea shores, rivers, and mountains were also made.[44] The 8th century scholar Bhavabhuti conceived paintings which indicated geographical regions.[46] European scholar Francesco I reproduced a number of ancient Indian maps in his magnum opus La Cartografia Antica dell India.[46] Out these maps, two have been reproduced using a manuscript of Lokaprakasa, originally compiled by the polymath Ksemendra (Kashmir, 11th century CE), as a source.[46] The other manuscript, used as a source by Francesco I, is titled Samgrahani.[46] The early volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica also described cartographic charts made by the Dravidian people of India.[45] Maps from the Ain-e-Akbari, a Mughal document detailing India's history and traditions, contain references to locations indicated in earlier Indian cartographic traditions.[46] Another map describing the kingdom of Nepal, four feet in length and about two and a half feet in breadth, was presented to Warren Hastings.[44] In this map the mountains were elevated above the surface, and several geographical elements were indicated in different colors.[44] Islamic cartography.[8],[47] though it is known that its map projection type was based on Marinus of Tyre rather than Ptolemy.[48] The first terrestrial globe of the Old World was also constructed in the Muslim world during the Middle Ages,[49] by Muslim astronomers and geographers working under Caliph al-Ma'mun in the 9th century.[50] His most famous geographer was Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwāriz CE, he was the first to describe a polar equi-azimuthal equidistant projection of the celestial sphere.[53].[47] The "Balkhī school", which included geographers such as Estakhri, al-Muqaddasi and Ibn Hawqal, produced world atlases, each one featuring a world map and twenty regional maps.[54] Suhrāb, a late tenth century Muslim geographer, accompanied a book of geographical coordinates with instructions for making a rectangular world map, with equirectangular projection or cylindrical cylindrical equidistant projection.[47]).[55].[56].[56].[56].[57] Al-Khwārizmī, Al-Ma'mun's most famous geographer, corrected Ptolemy's gross overestimate for the length of the Mediterranean Sea[58] ."[50].[58] Other prime meridians used were set by Abū Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdānī and Habash al-Hasib al-Marwazi at Ujjain, a centre of Indian astronomy, and by another anynomous writer at Basra.[59].[60]) but maps it in 70 rectangular sections. Notable features include the correct dual sources of the Nile, the coast of Ghana and mentions of Norway. Climate zones were a chief organizational principle. A second and shortened copy from 1192 called Garden of Joys is known by scholars as the Little Idrisi.[8] On the work of al-Idrisi, S. P. Scott commented: ."[60] Piri Reis map The Ottoman cartographer Piri Reis published.[61] The Piri Reis map drawn by the Ottoman cartographer Piri Reis in 1513, is the oldest surviving map to show the Americas.[62][63][64] His map of the world was considered the most accurate in the 16th century..[65] Other maps were created as needed using temporary arrangements of stones or shells.[66] Early European maps.[2]). Notable cartographers of the Age of Exploration - 15th century: The monk Nicholas Germanus added the first new maps to Ptolemy's Geographica.[2] - 1485c. 1485: Portuguese cartographer Pedro Reinel made the oldest known signed Portuguese nautical chart. - 1492: German merchant Martin Behaim (1459–1507) made the oldest surviving terrestrial globe, but it lacked the Americas.[2] - 1492: Cartographer Jorge de Aguiar made the oldest known signed and dated Portuguese nautical chart. - implicitly represent latitudes. - 1504:).[2] - the Space Oblique Mercator Projection, based on the Mercator's projection, which allows mapping from satellites with very little distortion. - 1570: Antwerp cartographer Abraham Ortelius published the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas.[2] - 1608: Captain John Smith published a map of Virginia's coastline.[67] - 1670s: The astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini began work on the first modern topographic map in France. It was completed in 1789 or 1793 by his grandson Cassini de Thury.[68][69] -.[70]., particularly with their ability to produce maps that show slightly different features, without engraving a new printing plate. See also digital raster graphic and History of web mapping. See also - Ancient world maps - Cartography - Geographic information system - Here be dragons - List of cartographers - Map projections - Mappa mundi - pictorial maps - Terra Incognita - Web mapping - World map Notes - ^ a b Slide #100 Monograph - ^ a b c d e f g Tutorials in the History of Cartography - Overview - ^ - ^ - ^ The History of Cartography Book Series - ^ Oriental Institute Www Homepage - ^ - ^ a b c Slide #219 Monograph - ^ - ^ - ^ BBC News article "Ancient Roman road map unveiled - ^ a b c Hsu, 90. - ^ a b c d e Hsu, 93. - ^ a b c Hsu, 91. - ^ a b c Hsu, 92. - ^ Hsu, 92–93. - ^ a b c Needham, Volume 3, 500. - ^ a b c d e Needham, Volume 3, 534. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 535. - ^ Hsu, 93–94. - ^ Hansen, 125. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 536. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 508. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 507–508. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 517. - ^ a b c d e Needham, Volume 3, 518. - ^ a b c d e Needham, Volume 3, 543. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 106–107. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 538–540. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 539–540. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 540. - ^ Nelson, 359. - ^ Temple, 30. - ^ a b c Hsu, 96. - ^ Hsu, 97. - ^ Hargett (1996), 409–410. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, Plate LXXXI - ^ a b c d Cartography Paper - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 541. - ^ a b Sivin, III, 22. - ^ Wright, 213. - ^ Needham, Volume 3, 546. - ^ Brook, 15. - ^ a b c d e f Sircar 327 - ^ a b c Sircar 330 - ^ a b c d e Sircar 328 - ^ a b c Edson and Savage-Smith (2004), p. 61–3 - ^ Edward S. Kennedy, Mathematical Geography, p. 193, in (Rashed & Morelon 1996, pp. 185–201) - ^ Mark Silverberg. Origins of Islamic Intolerence. - ^ a b Covington, Richard (2007), "Nation, identity and the fascination with forensic science in Sherlock Holmes and CSI", Saudi Aramco World, May–June 2007 10: 17–21, doi:10.1177/1367877907080149,, retrieved on 2008-07-06 - ^ - ^ Edward S. Kennedy, Mathematical Geography, p. 194, in (Rashed & Morelon 1996, pp. 185–201) - ^ Edward S. Kennedy, Mathematical Geography, p. 200–1, in (Rashed & Morelon 1996, pp. 185–201) - ^ a b c Edson and Savage-Smith (2004), p. 85–7 - ^ MacTutor: Cartography - ^ a b Edward S. Kennedy, Mathematical Geography, p. 188, in (Rashed & Morelon 1996, pp. 185–201) - ^ Edward S. Kennedy, Mathematical Geography, p. 189, in (Rashed & Morelon 1996, pp. 185–201) - ^ a b S. P. Scott (1904), History of the Moorish Empire, pp. 461–2. - ^. - ^. - ^ she-philosopher.com: Gallery exhibit (Marshall Islands sea-chart) - ^ Spirit of Aloha - Aloha Airlines' in-flight magazine with information on Hawaii vacations, Hawaiian island maps and the best places to travel in Hawaii - ^ The Jamestown Experience: Maps - ^ Cesar-Francois Cassini de Thury - Britannica Online Encyclopedia - ^ How topographic map is made - Background, History, Map scales, symbols, and colors, The manufacturing process of topographic map, Quality control - ^ history. [4] -. - Olson, Judy M. 1975. Experience and the improvement of cartographic communication. Cartographic Journal 12, no. 2:94–108 -. - This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
‘If you haven’t got a good story it doesn’t matter at all how much technology you throw at it.’ Electrosonic, the internationally renowned multi-million dollar AV business with headquarters in Burbank, CA., celebrated its 50th Anniversary this year. Blooloop spoke to Electrosonic’s co-founder and director, Robert Simpson (below) about the company’s evolution from its origins as a start-up with two rooms in London’s Greenwich vegetable market; a journey characterised by adaptability, clear-sightedness and a certain amount of luck. Origins: Oxford and Recorded Sound Simpson studied physics at Trinity College, Oxford where he worked backstage for both OUDS (the Oxford University Dramatic Society) and for the Experimental Theatre Club and created a mini-business out of providing lighting for college dances. When he left Oxford in 1961he planned to travel to South Africa for a few weeks but was side-tracked by a temporary job at Recorded Sound Ltd, one of the first independent recording studios in London set up by BBC veteran Lynton Fletcher. The temporary job quickly turned permanent. Fletcher offered Simpson a job as ‘Technical Manager’ for the non-studio activities, promising the company would pay his fare to South Africa sometime in the future. Simpson says, “The company, although primarily a recording studio, also did work in exhibitions and trade shows doing sound and light sequences. There were very few people doing that sort of thing at the time. Some of the jobs we were doing – particularly for the Post Office and ITA as it then was (the Independent Television Authority) became quite complex and we didn’t really have the resources to do them, and it was a stroke of luck that in advertising for extra staff we attracted a couple of guys [Mike Ray and Denis Naisbitt] who worked for the Post Office on the telephone side, and they had enough time to moonlight a bit.” Over the next eighteen months to two years, it became increasingly evident that the sound recording studio wasn’t the ideal base for the work they were doing, and Naisbitt, Ray and Simpson conceived the idea of setting up on their own. Lynton Fletcher, the studio’s owner, was amenable to the notion, and Robin Prater, a sound engineer, joined the three. Launching the Business With the support of their former employer, the transition into having their own business was therefore seamless. After a number of other names had been rejected by Companies House, Electrosonic was registered as a company in March 1964. The agreement was that the new company would complete any work already committed and would not approach Recorded Sound’s existing customers and “within two or three years we were really doing negligible business for the old company: it was all new business, which we’d developed ourselves.” Simpson says, “I think we were lucky in some ways – we had a few connections which enabled us to get business – but the field was really quite open and we were doing things which were only just becoming practical because of technology developments.” He spotted very quickly that if the company limited itself solely to working on individual events, it would be hard to succeed: the events were quite widely spaced and it was a matter of luck whether the organisers wanted the kind of services Electrosonic could offer. “I said, ‘We need to have a product – or products, preferably.’ And the key to that was the electronic dimmer. I’d always been interested in lighting control and lighting as a subject, and by chance, only very few years before, a new power electronic component called the silicon controlled rectifier had been invented and clearly was potentially a very good controller of light. “And that was the key, not only to us having a product to sell, but also to eventually producing an audio-visual product which was the dissolve unit. Now, that only worked if you had a good slide projector, and the timing of the start of our business was the same time that Kodak introduced the carousel projector. It was a combination of the Kodak carousel projector and our ability to make an electronic dissolve unit which started us in the audio-visual business in a significant way.” Meeting the demand From then on, Electrosonic’s progress was fairly logical. A demand for both lighting and audio-visual control grew – for many years both were equally important to the business. It was only later, as Simpson puts it, “that we split out the lighting side.” Similar things were happening in other parts of the world, and Electrosonic quickly realised that the type of work they were doing made it essential that they work internationally in order to stay abreast of new developments. Again, according to Simpson, luck intervened in the form of opportunities to work abroad which led to them being able to set up small companies in other countries. At its peak, when the company was making numerous products, about 50% of its business was exports. Inevitably, however, a conflict eventually arose between specialising in doing major projects – for expos and so on – and concentrating on perfecting products. For a while, Electrosonic became very product-oriented and, at one point, had a factory that employed 200 people assembling electronic products. Simpson says, “that could have been followed through. Equally, if you’re doing projects there’s a little bit of a conflict, because the channels through which you want to sell your products are your competitors in the project field. But from our point of view it was a very long time before that issue arose. In the meanwhile, technology moved ahead at a phenomenal speed. If you were going to concentrate on products, you had to become an absolutely total specialist.” In the event, some of those companies that did become specialists were very successful for a few years but then their technology went out of date, and their businesses evaporated. At the height of Electrosonic’s products business they had a number of competitors, not one of which exists now. “We, on the other hand, because we always enjoyed what we were doing, and liked the end product – we wanted to see the show. We still survive, although the way we survive is different from how we were twenty years ago. On the other hand, it’s remarkably similar to how we started in the sense that, I’m not saying we’ll do anything at all, but we’re up for a challenge, and we’d like to keep it that way.” Highlights and specific projects: Speaking about milestone projects, Simpson says, “One of the most important ones right at the beginning was when we did the sound and light control for the Battle of Trafalgar attraction at Madame Tussauds (above) … for Theatre Projects.” The main feature of the attraction was a reconstruction of HMS Victory’s gun deck, complete with figures, guns, smoke, the scents of gunpowder and tar, and loud sound effects. A moving backdrop was visible through the portholes to strengthen the impression of a ship at sea. Visitors moved next to a section which used animated lighting displays. The attraction used a system of fully automatic lighting synchronised to the multichannel sound track, made possible by Electrosonic’s recently developed ES1006 automatic electric dimmers, its work on synchronised light and sound for exhibitions, and its message repeater products. Simpson explains the project led on to other “high quality permanent installations and we were genuinely one of the only companies who could do it at the time; one of the only companies that understood what the issues were and could build something which would last for many, many years.” The Kodak Carousel Vision show (below), in which 40 slide projectors were synchronised to a specially composed music track, followed in 1968. Simpson says that it “was seminal because it was a combination of programmed slide projectors and the automatic slide projector itself that started what became the AV business which, we mustn’t forget, right up to the end of the 20th century, was largely based on slides. And that went on to let us into things like big tourist attractions that we call the ‘experience shows’.” Electrosonic’s work on the Carousel Vision Show was also key to their getting export business: “ …the fact that so many international people saw the Carousel Vision show [meant] that we didn’t have to go looking for customers: they came looking for us.” Prior to the arrival of the laser disk, moving pictures couldn’t be shown in a museum – it was far too expensive, and using film was complicated and tedious. So the invention of the laser disk, which in practical terms became available to use in 1985, though the idea had been around for a bit longer, was very important. Right from the beginning Electrosonic did a lot of work in EXPOs, or international expositions. EXPOs are thought to have been started by the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, and became popular in the second half of the 19th Century. These days they can be multi- billion dollar events run by a country or region that lasts for six months. Between 1967 and 2010 Electrosonic carried out installations in 15 different EXPOs. Simpson says, “The job I enjoyed most of the EXPO jobs, I think, as it was great fun to do, was the video wall for the Telecommunications Pavilion in Expo ’92. That used 850 old-style TV sets in one big video wall, which was both great fun and also quite a serious piece of engineering: how did you do a thing like that and, particularly, how did you do a thing like that for the budget? We were proud that we were able to deliver on that and also it was fun that the whole thing then moved to Futuroscope; that it didn’t just die at the end of Expo: it ended up in the theme park for many years.” A few years later Electrosonic were involved with the Newseum 1 in Arlington just across the Potemac from Washington (reborn as Newseum 2 in Washington in 2008). Simpson says, “That was groundbreaking – it really was. We developed a video multi-image system that was way ahead of the capability of any stuff you could buy off the shelf at the time. Although it had an origin in product development, in fact it was pretty well specially done for the project. It actually set going the idea that you could do 120 foot wide video pictures – up to then people didn’t think video could be done big-screen let alone with over thirty separate moving images on the screen at once. Installations like that – there were others – indicated the arrival of electronics replacing film and replacing chemical images.” The last of the project highlights Simpson mentions is one with which he was personally involved right at the beginning: the original Spiderman attraction at Universal Studios: “This was done with film – I must emphasise that this was in the days of 70mm film – and we started on the project in the mid-1990s before even ground had been broken, because the development of the projection system for that attraction had to be done before they could start [constructing] the building. We were involved in that because we showed we could do it. The requirement for the use of 70mm film in that attraction was quite onerous.” The story is told in detail in Bob Simpson’s book, ELECTROSONIC: 50 YEARS ON THE AUDIO-VISUAL FRONT LINE. In essence, Universal Studios theme parks emerged as a force in the industry and, in 1996 when Universal Studios planned a major investment to create what would become The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, the chances of Electrosonic winning the project seemed slim. And then Jim Bowie (who became Electrosonic CEO in 2008) pointed out in the proposal that the lenses and screen brightness requirements on the proposal document were wrong. Simpson takes up the story: “Jim Bowie and myself worked on the actual proposal in order to get the job, but primarily to demonstrate we knew what the problems would be.” Simpson assured Universal that Electrosonic would stick with them for the three years it would take to complete the project. “It was a seminal attraction, and we can’t claim any credit for the whole idea – all the credit we can claim is solely on the basis that we got things to work, and that’s what we like to do.” As a postscript to the project, in 2012, thirteen years after the original installation, Universal announced the completion of a major upgrade: Electrosonic had engineered their new projection system which involved replacing the 70mm film with the latest high-resolution electronic projection, and changing the 3-D viewing system from the polarized light method to the Infitec color bandpass method. Anticipating the Future When talking about the particular advances in technology that have shaped the industry, Simpson maintains that the principles of what can be done with programmed light and sound, (which have been around since before Electrosonic began), are exactly the same as they were fifty years ago. Although now much greater flexibility has been achieved through the development of memory lighting units and so on, the concepts themselves have remained the same. What has changed is the introduction of projection as a reliable method of scene presenting without the need for operators. Even cinema, which prior to this advance needed full-time operators, can be done unmanned. “And the things that have most recently made a difference in the advances in projection in our terms are firstly, moving from slides to 70mm to all-electronic projection systems – and most recently we’re looking at new, very high-power projection systems . “Alongside that, what’s made the whole system practical is the arrival of high-capacity video servers to actually deliver high resolution images at a reasonable price, and allowing the production process to be fairly simple. Those, I think, are the particular advances.” And the future? “Where does the future lie for the audio-visual and the attractions business? One could come out with all sorts of glib answers to that. I would say in the attractions business, it’s not to do with technology. All the great attractions have always been about story, we all know that. If you haven’t got a good story it doesn’t matter at all how much technology you throw at it, it’s not going to work. “So the question of whether any kind of technology will enable a story to be told that can’t be told at the moment is a difficult one to answer, because you could come up with all sorts of theoretical ideas which in practise might happen one day but – believe you me – they won’t happen in the way that people thought.” Technology has never moved in a smooth way. It was obvious to the industry in the latter half of the twentieth century that the changeover from laser disk to video server would happen, but it didn’t happen when people predicted. It happened much later, and when it did happen it happened much more quickly: in a period of months rather than years. “And the same sort of thing has happened with high-resolution presentation. We lived for years with standard definition video, and then almost overnight we went not only to high-definition but now to what is called 4-K. It all happened very quickly. And it happened because of the exponential rise in server capacity and server speed. And you could have predicted that – there’s a thing called Moore’s Law that could have predicted that this would happen – but it wouldn’t have told you precisely when everything came together. Therefore trying to predict what might happen next is, I think, a mug’s game. I always advise people never to contemplate future-proofing installations, because you will always future-proof it the wrong way.” Simpson illustrates this with a salutary anecdote: “There’s one classic example from when we did a major international museum where the owners insisted on putting fibre optics throughout the museum, then had very little budget for the actual system they needed for the opening. “We put a bid in to do the job using their fibre optics which was precisely double what we could do the job for conventionally, so we put the conventional system in. The fibre optic system never got used because by the time the technology caught up with what they thought was future-proofing, their fibre-optic system itself was completely out of date. So never future proof: it’s a complete waste of money.” He reiterates, “I say the future lies in stories. It does not lie in technology. I could rabbit on about light fields and holograms and things like that, but none of these things will themselves be the making of a completely new attraction. Some of the ideas will be incorporated into attractions, but some of the concepts are much more complex than people realise. To do light field projection, for example, you need about a hundred projectors to produce a single image, which is a little impractical. You can do it on a small scale, but nobody wants to look at peepshows; they want something that envelops them.” The point to remember, Simpson contends, is that as long as the stories keep coming, the current technology can be better applied. And pragmatism plays a part. “Our work is entirely devoted to matching a client’s concept to reality. And the reality may be what can technically be done, and what can they afford. In many cases the two don’t match.” Two Key Lessons Simpson points out that while most people have an idea that businesses automatically develop, “they can’t. There’s a huge element of luck involved, whether people admit it or not; there are a lot of external circumstances which determine how you go. We had a very easy start because we were one of the only companies doing a particular thing; in the field of electronic lighting control we were one of two or three companies when we started. Now, I should think there are at least a hundred in the UK alone. So competition definitely comes in. “But two related things strike me. First of all, businesses depend entirely on people. A business’s fortune depends very much on people; the direction that a business takes will depend on people and on people being interested and willing to do what you want. It was no good, for example, me some years ago saying that I was interested in something particular if in fact the people doing the business day to day simply couldn’t get up any enthusiasm for it. No matter how hard you try, you can’t push people into doing something about which they’re not enthusiastic. You either have to find different people, or you have to move the business. “One of the interesting things; one of the reasons we’ve survived is because we’ve been willing to change direction in the light of new technology; in the light of the people; in the light of the available team. “Secondly, a corollary of that which is also interesting is that inevitably, if you have a business of any size, there will always be people who don’t quite fit; or want to go and do something different; or leave; or want to set up their own businesses. We must have spawned dozens of businesses, in fact, because we were doing something new – it wasn’t unnatural that people wanted to go and do it for themselves. “The golden rule there is never, never let there be sour grapes, even if in some cases they might be justified – because sometimes people who might have left you can reappear as best friends in another guise, particularly when technology changes. I think a very important lesson is: Always leave the door open. “I’m pretty certain actually that in our industry that’s pretty universal. On the whole, it’s a nice industry and people get on with each other, but I think this is very important because… you simply never know… There’s one example where we had to make one or two changes, and had someone leave one of our offices. Within a year they had brought in a multi-million dollar job for us. So we were not grumbling. It could have been the case that it wasn’t such a good relationship, but in fact it developed into an excellent one. And I think that’s an important lesson for everybody.” Images from the top 1. Spider-Man as featured in BKSTS Cinema Technology magazine September 1999. Image courtesy of and © Universal Studios. 2. Robert Simpson 3. The ES2002, a two-speed dissolve unit for slide projection from the late Sixties. 4 . The founders: Robert Simpson, Michael Ray and Denis Naisbitt in 1974. 5 Gun Deck Trafalgar at Tussauds 6. Carouselvision rotunda 1968 7. Sketch from “L’Exposition Universelle de 1867 Illustreé” showing the hydraulic lift attraction. The Great Exhibitions, 1st, 1977, John Allwood, Studio Vista. Reproduced in Allwood. 8. Bob Simpson’s book, ELECTROSONIC: 50 YEARS ON THE AUDIO-VISUAL FRONT LINE. 9. A recent Electrosonic project: The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ New Nature Resource Center (NRC) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Credit: Batwin+Robin 10. Caltrans District 7, Los Angeles: An example of a control room project. 11. Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago 12. World headquarters in Burbank, California
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September 29, 2013 Cattles, I tell you. "Where are you going?" he says. "Mainz," I say. (Main-z) He quirks an eyebrow. "What are you doing in MAI-NZ?" Oops. "Conference." "How long?" "Flying back on the 6th." He flicks my passport back toward me. Not even a smile. Sheesh. Anyway, the first thing I do upon officiallty reaching Germany is take a long, satisfying leak. Been drinking too much in-flight -- and yes, I did use the toilet somewhere over Ukraine. Then, after retrieving our bags, Mr Azmi leads the way. He spent almost a year in Germany 8 years ago. I'm already in 3 layers of clothes: a thin T-shirt, a form-fitting sweater, and a jacket. Because of this, I don't really feel the cold when we exit the airport to wait for a shuttle to Terminal 1. But. BREATH-SMOKES! It's just after sunrise, and 10C, and the air is crisp and fresh and absolutely awesome. For EU4.90 each, we take the regional train to Mainz. The coaches are almost empty, and as the train speeds along its track, Mr Azmi regales us with stories of his time here. We pass empty fields dotted with cylindrical bales, houses with uniformly tall slate roofs, and the collection of Opel complexes (Opel has its own train station--that's how big it is). We reach Mainz southwest of the river Rhine after slightly over 30 minutes. The buildings look architecturally old (I eventually learn that Mainz is over 2000 years old) and here and there are ruins of the Roman Empire. At first glance, it looks like a quaint township. Also, crisp winds blow from everywhere and I finally feel the cold. I come from a land where the sun is still deep within the bones of buildings even though it is already half a world away, so 10C is COLD. Heh.One of the first things I notice, other than the warm scents of fresh pastries, is the amount of broken bottles that littered the pavements, and a certain sense of...emptiness. Granted, it's only 9 on a Sunday morning. I can't help but compare the Mainz I see with Fremantle, Australia, though in truth, it's so much bigger. Buses and trams stop in front of the train station, but since everything is in German, and we don't really know where our hotels are, Mr Azmi asks if we should just walk. Hells, yeah.Turns out, I'm well-prepared for travel. Seeing that every 20MB of internet bandwidth costs RM48, my data roaming is off. However, I have installed an offline GPS-based city map app, CityMaps2Go several months ago, and Word Lens, an app that translates texts in other languages into English (I know, right?) when I hover the phone-camera over them. Word Lens was installed over a year ago, but I recently purchased German & French translations. Anyway, we part ways as my hotel is way farther down the road. Breakfast spread consists of cereal, museli, huge bowls of fresh yoghurt, cuts of unidentifiable meat, breads and croissants, fruits, and several choices of hot brew and juices. I go for the safest bet, which is yoghurt dumped with mixed fruits, bread, croissants with Nutella, and juice. No tastebud explosion, but breakfast is still good. Then, having so many hours to kill, I decide to explore Frankfurt. The receptionist lets me keep my luggage in their conference room, so I just carry the Crumpler backpack I borrowed from Kasha. It's still heavy, mind, with all the camera gear and other junks I've shoved inside. It's almost eleven and Frankfurt reminds me of Perth in winter. The temperature is still cool (15C) but not that bad, but hey, I'm in 3 layers of clothes. The sky is a crisp blue, with minimal clouds. However, Frankfurt also feels entirely different from Perth, because the vibe of a huge city still there. People walk fast, and cars and taxis are everywhere. I check my map, not knowing where to go, but it's not that helpful. Fine, I still don't quite know how to use it. Sheesh. So what do I do? I walk a straight path from the station. And I just walk. And I snap photos. Surprisingly, the shops are all closed, leaving only restaurants and cafes open. Yeah, I kinda didn't know that in Germany, shops and malls are closed on Sundays (still not sure about public holidays). Like, what gives, right? Anyway, no chance to shop means more chance to not spend, which is always good. One of the malls has an observation deck on the 7th floor, so I make my way up, fist-bumping with a short German guy (my height) who has a bottle of whiskey in one hand. "Garble garble garble Mr Jack Daniels garble garble," he says. I nod. I assume he's praising the alcohol brand. We fist-bump again. A city is a city is a city, right? Not quite. I've had the pleasure of getting a bird's-eye view of Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Penang, Bangkok, Jakarta, Perth and...oh, what the hey, Kota Bharu and Kota Kinabalu as well. Each city has its own character. Frankfurt has modern skyscrapers interspersed with huge cathedrals, and lined with railway tracks. The river Rhine runs along the city, and bridges of various sizes and shapes connect both banks. Still. 7th floor is not high enough. I need to go higher. I activate data roaming long enough to check the the location of Main Tower (see the half-cylindrical building with the red-and-white rod sticking out? That's the tower). I wince as WhatsApp and email notifications come flooding in. THAT'S PRECIOUS BANDWIDTH, DAMNIT! I take off my jacket as it's getting slightly warmer. Or, maybe my body has warmed up from all the walking. Before heading for the tower, I check out the mall next to the one I'm at, and I'm glad for the decision. Part of the glass roof is a funnel that arches up and widens toward one end. The light that bathes the mall because of this is simply amazing. More inspired photos. Would have been better if the shops were open, but no matter. I walk toward the general direction of the tower, craning my neck to make sure it's still within sight, and pass by a row of upscale brand stores. THANK GOD THEY'RE CLOSED! Further down the road, beyond a bend, is the entrance to the tower. EU8 to the observation deck. Notice how I'm listing the price here? I almost never think about the cost of things, but with a 4.41 exchange rate where my RM5k is equivalent to EU1.3k, my expenditure counts! I even end up making a list on Evernote. Moving on. The view from the 55th floor is even more breathtaking, which causes my lungs to burn slightly because of the cold, crisp air. Remember the train tracks and Rhine with its bridges I mentioned? There you go. You're welcome. I think it's over half-an-hour before I decide to come back down. Between snapping pictures, I just stand there, breathing in the fresh air, listening to people chatter in a language that's alien to me, and like I always do whenever I get to witness something this beautiful, I just...exist. Masya-Allah. By the grace of Allah, I simply exist. You see, for someone who's having an existential crisis, I get choked up by this reminder. It gladdens my heart that such beautiful things exist, and it saddens me knowing that there is so much more I haven't experienced, that there is so much more I will never get to experience. So, for now, a little closer to the heavens, surrounded by strangers, I exist. Then, after finally coming down back to the ground, I walk. My ultimate goal is the train station, but I'm not in a hurry. I cannot consider myself lost when I don't have a destination, so there is no fear, no agitation. I walk along a path that cuts through a park dotted with sculptures. People are lying on the tall grass, in the sun. I mean, I'm so used to avoiding the sun that seeing this still fills me with wonder. I end up walking to the Alter Oper (opera house), where this lone guy is playing violin for an appreciative crowd. I snap a picture of him, but he turns away, so I just shrug and drop a EU1 coin into his collection box. He calls me back to snap a proper picture of him playing. "Now you can take photo," he says, still playing the violin. Heh. Somehow I make it back to the train station. Well, the GPS-activated map helps. I hop on a train back to Mainz, not knowing that it's Mainz-Kessel, which is on the wrong side of the riverbank from my destination, Mainz Hbf. Good thing I have a day-ticket, huh? I consider it a small blessing, because not only do I manage to learn the train schedules and platforms, but I also get to find wonderful gifts for Arwen. One down, seven more family members to go. Once I reach Mainz (the correct station this time), I walk back to the hotel, get in my room to shower and pray, and transfer-and-edit the photos I've taken. Then I make my way back to Frankfurt. Yes, I do.
Support for Business Program (SFB) is a comprehensive and responsive construction mitigation plan to help businesses thrive while we make improvements to the City's infrastructure. Our goal is to help minimize the impact on adjacent businesses and surrounding neighborhoods through SFB's main components: community collaboration, continuous communication and targeted business education. Incorporating best practices from around the country, this program provides business owners with quick access to the tools and resources needed to prepare for the construction project, address the impending challenges and create an action plan.. The City of Milwaukee Department of Public Works developed the Support for Business Program in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) program that funded numerous paving and bridge projects along major arterials and commercials districts in 2010. The Support for Business Program Participant Guidebook explains the components of the program, including community collaboration, continuous communication and information sharing, and business assistance organizations. Investment in the City’s infrastructure provides a long-term benefit to your business and the economy in general. Many business owners have found that construction projects can be challenging. The following are tactics that have been found to help support businesses when incorporated into strategic plans of action. Be proactive Set short term goals, prepare a budget and devise a plan of action. Prepare your customers Plan to communicate with customers before and during construction to let them know you are open for business. Advise alternate routes to reach you (if applicable) and where to park. Identify your most valuable customers Track the sales revenue from each type of customer. Then segment the customers and focus the majority of your marketing strategies on the most lucrative segment. Develop tighter controls over billing and collections To speed up cash flow, reduce the time between shipping your product and sending an invoice. Consider semi-monthly instead of monthly billing and send second notices more quickly. Build up cash reserves The reality of construction is that walk-in sales will most likely decrease. You will need more advertising and promotions to encourage new customers and maintain existing ones. Start setting funds aside for any increased marketing needs. Implement new technologies Consider where you can advance technologically. Think about expanding your web presence by developing social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook. If you already utilize these mediums, make sure you are communicating the construction plans with your customers. Communicate with your employees and use down-time for cross-training opportunities Immediately inform your staff about the pending construction and how you perceive it will affect the business and their jobs. Make sure your high-performing employees know that value them and you want them to stay with the company. This assures them that you have a plan and their contribution is essential to the business’ success. Reassign employees to tasks that may have been overlooked in busier times. For example, create a new inventory system, update your website or revamp your menu. This will broaden employees’ skill levels, increase staffing flexibility and help you retain good employees. Review your accounts payables Consider possible renegotiation of rates on your business lease, loans, credit cards and supplier terms. Review your personal and business credit scores Address all issues on the credit reports. Good credit provides benefits like access to capital and lower interest rates. Encourage customers to regularly visit your business Offer coupons, Groupons, Living Social deals and gift certificates to be redeemed during the construction period. Find new revenue sources Introduce a new product to existing customers, find a new market for existing offerings or find new uses for existing products. Expand your knowledge Be open to new solutions. Increase your business’ capabilities by soliciting aid from mentors, front line employees and business experts. Collect past-due receivables Reach out to customers with outstanding accounts. If you cant collect the full amount immediately, try to negotiate a payment schedule. Create a new way to deliver your product Deliver your product through a different outlet such as e-commerce, using an alternative retail outlet or implementing a delivery service. Start a generous loyalty program If you already offer one, increase the benefits or lessen the requirements necessary for your customers to receive benefits during construction. Evaluate product mix Calculate the profit margins of each of your products. Give particular attention to low margin products to determine if it is still worthwhile to carry them. Update customer contact information Use proactive communication. It is even more important during construction than usual. You must continue with your newsletters, event invitations and coupons in order to remain relevant to customers. Get active in local organizations Keep abreast of your industry, community and customers through participation in your chamber of commerce, industry association and local business district. Implement a cooperative marketing strategy Team up with neighbors to participate in co-op ad. This will save money and make a stronger impact through larger ad space than if you placed an advertisement by yourself. Identify your key performance indicators Use key performance indicators. They are a set of quantifiable measures that a business uses to gauge or compare performance in terms of meeting goals. Having these in place allows you to quickly monitor your business performance and identify potential problems. While most business owners are passively waiting for construction to end, the savvy owners are looking past the short-term and are proactively laying the groundwork for future growth. Monitor inventory carefully Review inventory levels monthly and make sure stock levels are appropriate for the season. Network Use this time to broaden your connections. Speak to groups, sponsor charity functions or supply goods and services to a well-publicized organization. Implement creative, low-budget marketing strategies Construction will impact your bottom line. With your staff, brainstorm ways to communicate to passersby that you are open for business and implement them. Stay informed Attend DPW information sessions, track construction progress on the DPW website and enlist the aid of your Support for Business Liaison. Subscribe to niche small business publications to get tips and essential tools for small business survival. Explain to customers how construction will benefit them Discuss benefits such as how the new street lighting will make the area safer for them or how the new intersection will make it easier for them to turn into your parking lot. Use your advisors wisely Keep your accountant, banker, insurance agent and lawyer informed. These professionals can help you avoid pitfalls when making business decisions. Plan an “excuse the dust” sale right after construction begins Act fast. A sale quickly gets customers in the habit of coming to your business during construction, before they have a chance to seek competition. Avoid making across-the-board cuts Analyze and identify which areas can be cut with the least amount of harm to the bottom line. Rarely do all areas of the business contribute equally to its success or failure. Track you ad spending to revenue Know how much you are earning for every dollar you are spending. You’ll have a better understanding of where to cut or what your focus should be. Use promo codes and web analytics to help with tracking. Research new technology Implementation of new technology can greatly help your business. The proper upgrades can increase your efficiency, lower your expenses and reduce down time. Stay positive Construction may be the worst thing in your life, but do not complain to customers. Your feelings about construction will pass, but your customers will associate your negativity with your business long after the bulldozer leaves. Refresh your website content Keep your website current. It is generally the first place potential customers go to learn about your business. It’s important for the site’s appearance and themes to be current, for your information to be accurate and for your site to be easy to find and to navigate. Accentuate the positive Never go to the media with your fears of bankruptcy; that rarely draws customers to your door. Always lead with your strengths. Go to the media with solutions. Show how you are using creativity and business savvy to overcome this challenge. Research vendors Conduct a competitive comparison of vendors. Look for vendors with new products, lower prices or better terms. Acknowledge the construction Thank each customer for visiting upon arrival. Ask if there is anything you can do to help them through the inconvenience of the construction. Create a strategic alliance Find a business that serves your target market but is not your competition. Find ways to collaborate, such as creating a referral agreement or purchasing co-op advertising. Protect your turf Honor competitor coupons, deploy a retention marketing campaign, maintain communications with your existing customers and don’t be afraid to target new customers. Create news Use every opportunity to speak o your customers. Updating customers on the construction is a great reason to send out a newsletter. Create construction themed sales, such as get 1% off your purchase for every orange barrel on our block. Focus on customer care Know that customer loyalty will be tested during construction. As your customers consider your competition, ask yourself, “Do I offer the best value, quality, service and prices? What can I do to make my business more competitive?” Resist the temptation to offer deep discounts Discounting can hurt profit and encourage competitive matching. Consider a Free-with-Purchase deal as an alternative. It doesn’t affect margins in the way discounts do and customers see it as a valuable deal. Keep your customers informed Maintain constant status updates. Inform every customer of the latest construction developments and how to negotiate detours when visiting your business. In addition to your store hours, share alternate routes on your outgoing voicemail. As a new route opens up, include a map on your website. Tweet or update your Facebook page with the information. Share parking lots Make an agreement with a business down the street to allow their customers to use your parking lot while construction blocks their business, and that business will do the same when construction moves in front of your business. This guarantees that your customers will always have access to parking and introduces you to potential customers from the other business. Celebrate Have a customer appreciation party to thank your customers for their patronage. Take pictures Show off your new streetscape by including photos on your website and in your newsletter. Test and measure your advertising strategy Use web analytics to measure the traffic to your site. Test every piece of your marketing strategy. Evaluate your performance Carefully analyze actual operating results against the goals and objectives established in your construction strategy. Acknowledge your employees Recognize employee efforts that go beyond the call of duty. There are many free and low cost ways to reward your employees for their loyalty, creativity and dedication to your business. Have an end-of-construction sale Don’t assume customers will automatically return after the construction leaves. A big promotion will remind customers that it’s time to return to normal. Operationally, it’s a good way to move overstocked inventory. Plan for growth If you properly planned for construction and maintained close controls on your business during construction, you now have all the information needed to create a very strong growth plan. New challenges will always be headed your way. The prepared business will always fare better than those without a plan. Wisconsin Department of Transportation recognizes businesses located in work zones have special needs. It's critical that customers have access to businesses and that they continue to visit them, regardless of any road work inconvenience. WisDOT's Business Coordination Guide includes tips, tools and resources to help businesses plan for highway construction impacts. The In This Together program includes: -Workbook and case studies that demonstrate techniques that have been successfully used in communities throughout Wisconsin. -Promotional samples showing a variety of examples of how businesses have promoted their businesses during construction. The Support for Business program offers project-specific "Open for Business" signs to inform customers that neighborhood businesses are open to serve them during construction. Businesses may be listed on a sign by name or logo. The project liaison may contact businesses for a copy of their logo in a high resolution jpg or png format. The project liaison will review traffic control and access staging to determine sign location(s) along the corridor. The Department of Public Works has created many partnerships with a variety of local organizations that can help your business with plan development, consulting, financial and technical assistance, and expanding your professional networks. DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT (DCD) The mission of DCD is to improve the quality of life in Milwaukee by guiding and promoting development that creates jobs, builds wealth and strengthens the urban enviroment, and at the same time respects equity, economy and ecology. We can work together to make your business and our City a success. A list of resources designed to jump-start a new business, expand an existing company, and support business relocation: OTHER BUSINESS PLANNING, FINANCING AND EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS & RESOURCES Please note the following agencies are hyperlinked to their websites and we are not responsible for the content or the availability of these sites. Assists individuals who are interested in starting, strengthening or expanding businesses by providing direct lending, quality business and financial capability education and one-on-one technical business assistance. Services are open to anyone but their focus is women, people of color and people of lower wealth. (414) 263-5450 LOCAL CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE Each member of the construction team oversees various portions of the work. Businesses and property owners will receive their contact information prior to construction. Project Liaison: Provide information about the construction project, share timelines and procedures with the businesses and other key organizations within the area prior to and during the project via meetings, email messages, mailings and website updates Project Inspector: Construction Supervisor:
I recently had a chance to sit down with Dale Price from Electric Canyon and Vince Nelson from Gearmark Pictures to help shed some light on their respective industry experience and how they got there. Price is the owner of Pro Sound Audio and operates Electric Canyon studios in Chico, California. He’s a seasoned veteran with over 20 years of experience in the audio industry. Nelson is a developer and producer at Gearmark Pictures in Los Angeles. He’s part of the new generation of video and content producers and has walked the path from freelancer to full time over the last six years. I am fortunate to count both as friends and fellow collaborators. Experience The benefit of experience is getting a chance to make and learn from past mistakes and to reflect upon and analyze trends both past, present and future. It made sense to offer a combination of both new and seasoned perspectives. Nelson has been in the video and production field running on six years with Price providing over 25 years of experience in audio engineering and production. From the time that we get our start in the audio-video industries, we all ask ourselves the same question: How do I make it? With time you come to realize there is no single answer to that question, yet for a lot of us it will continue to buzz at the back of our minds. I know that I’m my own worst critic. From the time that we get our start in the audio-video industries, we all ask ourselves the same question: How do I make it? What does this have to do with budgeting a project? Everything! Having to budget and balance a project’s resources is a good indicator that you’re doing something right by playing a part in larger productions. There is a relationship between a lack of experience and a distinct lack of budget. To that end, you should focus on developing and gathering experience. Nelson started out, as he describes it, “making terrible little videos” that he could show to his parents. As a child, Price developed an early interest in music and recording. This lead to being in bands, more recordings and being one of the first to graduate from the Chico State Recording Arts program. You never stop to think as a child that you might be answering your future calling. In some cases, your starting point will be just that: a starting point. Nelson had his beginnings as a comedian and has played the role of camera operator and editor. Ultimately, he made his way to the role of developer and producer and being part of the content creation phase. Having a long term goal will allow you to maintain a sense of perspective, especially when life decides to take a less direct route. Price cut his teeth into the audio industry much in the same way during the late 1980s, starting first as a musician then embracing the recording and live sounds demands that bands face. This eventually led to the founding and first iteration of Pro Sound Audio. By 1996 he had the chance to work on the audio production team of a CBS production of “The Siege at Ruby Ridge.” It was an invaluable experience that allowed him the work and experience that only a major studio production could offer. The Joys of Work It’s important to remember that in the middle of all the deadlines, the stress= and demands that we should take the time to have fun and enjoy our work. These are occasionally on or off screen moments or the experience as a whole. Nelson looks back fondly on his experience with Adam Carolla and being part of his movie “Roadhard.” The budget eventually saw that a particular featurette he worked on dropped, but that did nothing to diminish the humbling experience of getting to work with someone that he admires. For Price, “The Siege at Ruby Ridge” would be the first of many memorable film and television experiences. He later went on to work on productions with PBS, in particular Sierra Center State and Music Gone Public. As a musician and an engineer, the chance to work with artists like Bella Fleck, the Brubeck Brothers and Tommy Emmanuel was definitely an experience to remember. Getting the Job The innate potential for unpredictability in this field will have you picking up a wide range of jobs during your early days — mainly because we all need to eat and pay bills. Assuming you’re diligent in your work and continue to gain experience, you’ll find yourself at the point where you discover that ideal full time job or you realize that you love being self-employed and decide to run with the idea. In Nelson’s case he went through the motions that provided the experience and portfolio that warranted a full time position. One of the biggest changes was in the number of contacts and connections that you end up making working in that environment versus working for yourself. It just made him realize even more the importance of those connections and putting yourself out there to meet more people. Nelson stresses the value of film competitions and putting your work in front of people. You never know who you are going to meet or when you will be in the right place at the right time. Self-employment Price summed up self-employment with the following. “Working for yourself is working for everyone who pays you. Make sure you meet their expectations or they won’t hire you again.” Being hired again is important, but so is a client referring other work to you based on their experience. The best problem in these situations is to have more work than you can handle. That does not necessarily mean that you’ll spend all your time working alone. It’s important to have a network of people you can reach out to and collaborate with. You’ll find yourself working with and for larger organizations. When you do, Price reminds us, it is important to know your place and role within those projects and to do those jobs well, regardless of whether you have experience in other aspects of the production. Planning The walk-before-you-run approach is a good one to adopt during the planning phase. Establishing the size and scope of your project will help you come to grips with any potential pitfalls. Nelson tells us, “Once you start moving, getting you pre-production right at the start can take care of 90 percent of the work.” Good documentation is crucial in making a project successful for yourself and those involved. Go through the motions and cover the project from beginning to end. The last thing you want is a scheduling conflict or to come up short on personnel, forcing you to bring someone in at the last moment. Getting your pre-production right will take care of most of the work with everything else falling in around it. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment in order to get your idea in front of an audience. You should aim to write out the general pretense, concept, and to provide some light research before getting other parties involved in the planning phase. If you know that other parties will be involved, try to anticipate their needs. Consider details like file formats, naming conventions, sample rates and any special requests they have. Price recommends including a readme file when handing over work. You don’t want to end up wasting their time or tying their hands. Involving others is also a normal part occurence — if you find yourself double booked have someone that you can outsource to. Collaboration During my time with Nelson he shared that by not working with others you’re hurting yourself, summing it up with “The better the help, the better the outcome.” He’s right; With the right people, you find yourself pushing others and being pushed in a direction that lets you do your best work. It’s a powerful and rewarding feeling. Early on in your career, it may seem like a good idea to try to do all the work on your own, getting to keep more control over the project in order to take home a larger share. Not every situation will require an all hands on deck approach, but knowing when to bring others in and more importantly, how to work with others will be one of your greatest assets. Going back to my earlier statement, you want the problem of having too much work. Your success will depend on how well you can work with others and choosing the appropriate times to do that. I will always remember the early days of scrambling to find new clients. The turning point for me came when clients started coming back for more work while also referring friends and business associates. Several years down the line, I find myself gravitating towards more collaborative work because it raises the stakes and offers a higher rate of returns because we can consider bigger projects. So when should you ask for help or seek out a fellow collaborator? Nelson ended up answering that question during a reality television project in 2013, “I reached out to Robert Koenig, who just received some recognition for ‘100 Years Behind a Telescope.’ I realized I knew nothing about production and wanted his directorial help.” Since seeing the advantage in reaching out when in need of help, he’s been a firm believer in the power of collaboration. Price will bring on outside help when certain tasks exceed his skillset, such as higher-end video editing, working on larger projects or needing to meet tight deadlines. When it comes to input from the client, Price tends to bring them in at around the 50-75% mark, “Collaboration is best when you can focus on the meat of a project, for example during the mixing stage and even then after you have a good foundation to work with.” The take home here is that collaboration is a healthy and natural part of the process. It’ll more often than not increase your chances of profiting from a project, both financially and on an experience level. Alone Time I remember first hearing this in reference to band practice, you don’t show up to rehearsal to learn the song. That is something you do on your own time. The same approach applies to the concept development stages, whether it is writing a pitch, editing a project or setting up for a recording session. There are moments where you need some clear headspace to work through and distill an idea. Nelson said, “There is nothing worse than having your idea shot down because you jumped the gun.” During a project, Price likes to set up the session and signal flow on his own time. This is something I can completely relate with. I would try to arrive around two hours before any of my studio sessions just so that I could take my sweet time setting it up. Why? Because it was my studio and I found that part of the process relaxing. What isn’t relaxing is realizing you missed something because you were in a rush. Equipment By nature, both video producers and audio engineers love their toys because both work in very hardware driven professions. The current rate of technological advancement, particularly in video, just makes it harder to sit on an inventory. Audio is a little different since the fundamental design of microphone has not changed in over 50 years, and vintage equipment still is still highly sought after. The saving grace to any production budget is knowing how to control your costs. The ability to use every bit of gear in your inventory to its maximum potential is key and a testament to your skillset. Ultimately, there are only two options available: rent or buy. “Renting is useful when you need to have the latest and greatest, but also don’t need it on a day to day basis,” Nelson advises. “That way you can focus on owning the essentials.” If you find yourself renting a piece of equipment enough times you might as well purchase it; don’t spend the cost of the item by renting it 10 times. Renting equipment is great for when you need the special touch of a high-end cinema camera or a particular lens, for example. Other rentals, like wireless microphones, can be wholly appropriate on account of how quickly the model ranges and standards change. What use is a wireless rig that’s illegal to operate because the frequency regulations changed? The equipment you do own should reflect your daily needs. Nelson swears by always having a couple of Panasonic GH4s on hand. When it comes to buying, you should always research your selection and make the decision on whether it is worth the purchase. Check on forums to see whether reliability is an issue, sometimes newer generations of products don’t perform as well as the outgoing model. Price talked about knowing when not to buy, “Learn to use what you have well and know when not to buy. A lot of people did not start asking this question until 2008.” What you absolutely want to avoid is hoarding a bunch of unused equipment. Price explains that it’s important to know when you sell or give stuff away. “Hoarding equipment will cost you because you’re paying the tax on its depreciation. Not to mention that the equipment is wasting away.” Price also rents his own gear out to augment its cost. He says that if you’re renting out equipment to others, the gear should pay for itself within 20 to 30 rentals. If you can find ways to save money or make money back on your gear, there’s really no reason not to. High Definition and Fidelity The move to high definition was a big change for everyone and required major changes in both the production and post production line, but we already knew that. Fast forward to today and every high-end phone has at least a 1080p screen with a camera that can capture 4K. Price uses portable cameras to good effect during tours to achieve multi camera setups that deliver a good result. Touring budgets can be tight and it often falls to people to do multiple jobs. Price usually ends up managing the tour in addition to providing sound and video. Having a simple and effective video setup that does the job is invaluable. The other big changes were on the post production end. Price had to make the move up to the next version of Sony Vegas in order to work with newer file formats. Audio engineers are creatures of habit. If you have a setup that works you don’t try and break it by upgrading your software unless you absolutely need to. With the increase in video quality, it's natural to expect a reciprocal bump in audio fidelity, but audio quality is still plagued by the same problems introduced by point and shoot and cell phone cameras in that they yield tinny, wide angle audio. While their microphones have improved, they are nowhere near the level of clarity provided by dedicated mics. It is still true that a video, regardless of quality, will be ruined by poor audio. Good audio has always been important and and always will be. Nelson describes sound as being everything and that it requires significantly more knowledge than the knowledge required to operate a point and shoot camera. Price recalls projects where film producers that particularly recognized the importance of audio that they would make time for the sound crew to test shots in order to get the best capture of a scene. The more usable audio you can capture on set the less work that needs to be done later in post with ADR. Price even recommends that if you are going to work in the film industry as an audio engineer, you should learn the lenses. This will help you work out when to use certain microphones and being able to capture the spatial aesthetics of a scene. Price recalled a scene centered around a dining table. They ended up using a blend of lapel microphones as well hiding an omni-directional microphone in the décor at the center of the table in order to capture a real room sound. The raw cut immediately drew compliments from the director. In today’s world we have grown accustomed to the wide angle audio from smartphones and handhelds, but Price also sees the progression where podcasters, for example, will transition to better equipment and the increase in audio fidelity. The Future “What now?” you may be asking, “How does this affect me and how do I use this going forward?” Audio and video are art forms, and like other arts, they involve just as much formal training and understanding of theory and technology while also requiring a strong sense of artistic direction, intuition and talent. Practice your craft and never treat yourself as being above certain tasks. You can learn something new in the most unexpected of settings. SIDEBAR: What advice would you give for up and coming engineers, producers, and screenwriters? Vince Nelson: “Produce every day. Write every day. Work every day. Practice, practice, practice. The best resource for screenwriters are competitions. Read the scripts that have won in the past and see what the judges are looking for; many of these Oscar scripts are available online. Read them and see what goes into a script. Many scenes get cut from the movie, so don’t look at the script and think there is nothing to gain by reading the original story. Then try your hand at writing a script and submit it to some competitions. This is the best way to get your stuff out there, and see how your work holds up to the competition.” “Also never be discouraged. Just because your script doesn’t make it into a competition doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not a good script, and it definitely doesn’t mean it won’t make a good movie. Sometimes it means you didn’t get your point across and your script needs a rewrite. Sometimes the person reading your script makes a mistake and doesn’t give your work the proper time it’s due. I always encourage people to be open to criticism, but if you know that you have written a masterpiece then try and film it yourself. Never give up on your dream.” Dale Price: “Try to do a little audio every day and give yourself little audio chores. Be on the lookout for information and resources, lurk in forums. Network and build connections, tradeshows can be a good place for this. Don’t sell yourself short. Be collaborative, and be prepared to learn.” “Don’t put yourself above or below work. Always be prepared to work and learn!” Blag spends his time between web development, IT and writing music. His backgrounds is, oddly enough, in those fields. Blag is a contributing editor at Videomaker where he mainly focuses on audio columns.
Just One More Row, Please!?! January 27, 2011 More Snow=More Knitting More of this leads to... More knitting! These are Susie's Reading Mitts done in Mirasol Qina which I got at Webs on sale. I'm in love with this yarn and want to get more to make something...I don't know what but something. Posted by Estella at 8:47 AM 5 comments: January 22, 2011 "In Like" with this FO, Not "In Love" I purchased some Berroco Pure Merino a while back hoping to knit up Collins by Thea Coleman. When the yarn was in my hand it had too much drape to it and wasn't "crunchy" or "crisp" enough for the pattern. So I opened up New England Knits and selected the cover pattern called Middlefield Pullover. It is an easy knit and kept my hands busy. I tried it on a lot and made quite a few adjustments to the pattern which are on my Ravelry project page. I should have realized the ribbing might not be the greatest with "the girls"...I think I'll be futzing with this whenever I wear it. I like the FO I don't love it. Posted by Estella at 9:36 AM 6 comments: January 20, 2011 Snow Day Stitching Tuesday morning we awoke to a little snow and enough ice to make it a snow day. The kids were thrilled and I took it as a chance to get some knitting related work done. I had made a Coraline way back in the spring but never got to putting on the buttons. It required a bit of clever work creating a loop from embroidery floss. I had all the materials but no desire to make them. So, I stitched up my button loops this past Tuesday and now my sweater is wearable again. I really see this as a March/April sweater as it is a spring color to me. I have another FO which I haven't photographed yet - later this week hopefully I can get Miss America to be my photographer. Anyway, it had some buttons. So I dug through my button jar and recycled these buttons for the shoulder of the sweater. It felt good to get all this stitching out of the way so I can perhaps cast on another project. Posted by Estella at 8:25 AM 2 comments: January 18, 2011 Halftime Hat This past Sunday there were two playoff games which we sat down and watched. I was working on finishing a sweater hem and put it aside and decided I needed to cast on another project RIGHT NOW. I had 3 skeins of Classic Elite Duchess in my stash ( on sale at Webs right now ) and I had found this pattern on Ravelry. I. Posted by Estella at 8:38 AM 4 comments: January 16, 2011 First FO of 2011 I cast on for Stephen West's Pogona on January 4th and finished it on January 12th - what can I say it was an addictive pattern to knit. I used Auraucania Itata which I got on sale at Webs and found this slightly variegated yarn to be perfect for this pattern. The pattern itself is brilliantly written with 20 stitch markers placed through it to let you know when to go to the next section...it became an almost rythmic knit. I've included a photo below of the shawl in blocking - it gives you an idea of the construction. I might just have to make another one! Posted by Estella at 8:33 AM 5 comments: January 15, 2011 It's a Small, Small World! The other day I received my Classic Elite Newsletter email - the usually have a wonderful pattern and I always make sure to look through it. This time I saw this wonderful scarf called Daniel's Kumara Scarf . Then I read through the article and they talked about the designer, Heather McVickar. Now until I was 12 I lived in a small town about 45 minutes away from NY City. All the kids went to the same private school and everyone knew everyone. I knew a Heather McVickar and the coincidence was enough to make me go on Facebook and see if she was there as Ravelry didn't have any more info on her. So, I sent Heather a message and asked if she was the same person as I remembered from years ago - she's a few years older than me so I mentioned I was a year younger than her brother. Sure enough she's the same person (we are now friends on FB and Ravelry ) AND get this...she works for Classic Elite Yarns. Oh, wouldn't you love to have that job? Anyway, here's how beautiful her scarf is - it's one I'm going to make one day. I think it would be wonderful to make for a college bound kid and use the school colors (if they are good colors). Had to share my small, small world story. Posted by Estella at 6:46 AM 4 comments: January 11, 2011 What Else Is In My Ears Okay, now that I've admitted my addiction to The Knit Wits podcast (and I hope those of you who checked it out enjoyed it as much as I do), I thought I'd fill you in on what other podcasts I listen to while running my errands or walking the dog. I heard on one podcast that you should give a podcast at least 3 episodes before you decide if you like it or not. These are the ones that have made it past the 3 episode criteria - in no particular order they are: The Savvy Girls Podcast features two sisters - Melanie and Deborah. Melanie is living in NYC right now and has an amazing singing voice...she's a bit of a knitter but not as much as her sister. Deborah is living in Bogata and knits quite a bit. They have some wacky adventures when they are together and their banter back and forth with their Canadian accents is wonderful. Never Not Knitting is hosted by knitwear designer Alana Dakos. She has a very calm voice and she tells of her designing efforts. She often has great contests (not that I've won yet) and sometimes has special promotions where you can buy patterns at a discount (that I've done). She has interviews with other designers and sometimes has "essays" where other designers tell their back story. The Knitmore Girls is a mother/daughter podcast featuring Gigi (mother) and Jasmin(daughter). These ladies knit a lot and they have great input and advice about patterns, yarns, etc. It was the Knitmore Girls that put me onto The Knit Wits (very funny bit about Gigi describing Rick's voice and comparing it to dark chocolate and Rick's response in one of their podcasts). I've also listened to Knit Knit Cafe which is a mother/son podcast and is relatively new. It has potential and I'm sticking with it for now. I do check out the Webs podcast - Ready Set Knit . They discuss yarn sales at Webs and I've found some good ones this way - they have good interviews too. That's it for now...next post I promise I'll show knitting. I almost have 2 FOs to show. Posted by Estella at 5:39 AM 5 comments: January 7, 2011 My Latest Addiction About a year ago I started listening to knitting podcasts...and about 3 months ago I became addicted to a few of them and one in particular. But first let me backtrack...I was at our weekly knitting group organized by Jennifer when Lisa (warning a lot of these links are going to be Ravelry links) mentioned a few more to me and sent them to me in an email with a few notes about each one. Now sometimes these podcasts have sponsors/advertisers and sometimes they share promos from each others podcasts...and that is how I discovered my latest addiction. The Knit Wits Podcast ! I missed the first few ones - I started with Episode 6 - The Dread Stocking Robert - and I was hooked. The podcast is done by Carin and Rick Reilly (sp?). She's the Knit and he's the Wit...he worked in radio for years and does voiceovers now and it really adds to the quality of the podcasts. Their rapport, banter, conversations...everything is wonderful. Sometimes I've laughed so hard I almost have to pull over the car. The conversation ranges from knitting to their lives to what is in their wineglass...it is funny, it is HYSTERICAL, it is touching and moving at times too. I can't do this podcast justice here - go listen to it (it is on iTunes and they have a Ravelry group too). I suggest you start with Episode 1 - lucky you as you have 17 episodes to listen to. As I mentioned I started with Episode 6 and listened through 10 or so then went back to the beginning when I had a long drive ahead of me (imagine a 7 hour drive and it flew by as I listened to these podcasts). Posted by Estella at 5:41 AM 2 comments: January 2, 2011 New Year's Eve Dreaming and Scheming Every year my DH and I spend our New Year's Eve with a fire in the fireplace, some lovely appetizers and a bottle of champagne. We dream and we plan things for the future. It is the perfect way for us to spend the evening. When the kids came along, they became part of the evening here and there - this year while #1 son chose to play on the Xbox for a while Miss America joined us and started looking through a book I had picked up at the library - Nicky Epstein's Block By Block. The book as a series of blocks which you can knit up and then make blankets or sweaters - while it wasn't my cup of tea, Miss America saw a block with three ruffles and got inspired. Here. Posted by Estella at 8:59 AM 5 comments: Posts (Atom)
Grass Cutting Girvan Scotland (KA26): If you have a business premises or domestic property in Girvan that has a lawn or an area of grass, you'll have to make certain it's cut on a regular basis, particularly through the spring and summertime. Even though quite a few householders choose to cut their own lawns, this wearisome task is a chore that most of us moan about. You need not despair however, if you simply can't cope with such work, given that there are tradespeople who'll happily take this job off your hands - namely grass cutting services in Girvan. Grass cutting solutions to fit pretty much any scenario or budget are offered by several gardeners and lawn mowing companies in Girvan. These sorts of grass cutting packages can range from monthly or weekly cuts to once only lawn care services in Girvan. No longer having any more worries about your grass cutting needs is a considerable advantage of booking these lawn care services in Girvan. If you live outside Girvan such lawn mowing and grass cutting services are also available in Glendoune, Maidens, Dailly, Ballantrae, Pinwherry, Grangeston, Barr, Ardwell, Glendrissaig, Maybole, Dipple, Colmonell, Turnberry, Chapeldonan, Pinmore. It is vital that your grass is cared for and maintained by someone who knows what they're up to, which is of course the main attraction of using a professional lawn mowing service in Girvan, as opposed to some geezer down the road. Using some random person who suddenly appears on your doorstep offering to cut the grass isn't a particularly wise decision if you take pleasure in your lawn. There are a number of benefits that can be gained through regular lawn mowing by a professional grass cutting contractor in Girvan, so what exactly are the ones? - 1. It minimizes all of the hassle, burden and stress of having to mow your own lawn. 2. Your grass will invariably look tidy and neat, acting as a deterrent to burglars who specifically target unkempt homes. 3. It saves you shelling out hard-earned cash on costly fuel, lawn cutting tools and mowers. 4. All of the waste and grass cuttings will be disposed of, saving you regular trips to the tip. 5. Grass treatments will be applied when necessary, for instance scarifying, fertilizers and weed killers. 6. Lawn care professionals provide all the equipment that is necessary to do an excellent job. 7. It saves you time and enables you to relax and concentrate on more important stuff. The above list of benefits somewhat offsets the costs associated with bringing in a local Girvan lawn mowing company. If cost is a big issue for you, a bit of research may be required so as to uncover a good but reasonably affordable lawn mowing service in Girvan. Based upon the state of your lawn the professionals can offer you a range of added lawn care services besides simply grass cutting Girvan, including edging, aerating, strimming, feeding, seeding, patch repairs, re-turfing, watering, top dressing and moss removal. And, it's also vital to remember that in conjunction with grass cutting in Girvan, the majority of lawn care companies provide an even broader range of gardening services including pruning, hedge cutting, digging, planting, waste removal, landscaping, leaf clearing and general garden maintenance in Girvan. Your Girvan lawn mowing specialist should also be capable of producing stunning designs in your lawn by carefully mowing in alternating directions or in a particular way, with wavy, chequerboard or stripey patterns being the outcome. This is especially effective if you've got a wide, open area of lawn that is visible from your home or from the road. When you need frequent grass cutting in Girvan, it is wise to ask prospective companies for references, as you will be wanting your lawn to get the best care, and favourable feedback from past clients should go some way to guaranteeing this The most reliable recommendation for lawn mowing services in Girvan will come from friends or associates who've used a particular company or person previously. It is acknowledged by approximately eighty per cent of homeowners in Girvan, that a word of mouth endorsement is preferable to any other type of recommendation. Even when a particular grass cutting service has been recommended by someone, you should still get at least 2 or 3 estimates from various companies in the area, to provide you with a wide range of prices. If you need to access some specialist advice and guidance because you are planning on caring for your own lawn, the best spot to go to is the dedicated lawn care page of the RHS's website. Topics like mowing, lawn care treatments, killing moss, feeding, over-seeding, lawn issues, caring for new lawns and watering are skillfully addressed to help you with this task. Lawn mowing is available in Girvan and also in: Glendoune, Maidens, Dailly, Ballantrae, Pinwherry, Grangeston, Barr, Ardwell, Glendrissaig, Maybole, Dipple, Colmonell, Turnberry, Chapeldonan, Pinmore, and in these postcodes KA26 0BU, KA26 0DA, KA26 9HN, KA26 9BU, KA26 0AD, KA26 9DX, KA26 0HW, KA26 9HW, KA26 9DU, KA26 9EH. Local Girvan lawn mowing services will most likely have the phone code Dialling code 01465 and the postcode KA26. Checking this should make sure that you are accessing locally based grass cutting. Girvan garden owners are able to benefit from these and various other gardening related services. Lawn Feeding Girvan All grass lawns need a bit of fertilisation at different times of the year, with irregular growth or patches requiring special attention. But which lawn fertiliser is most appropriate for the grass and earth in your garden? A professional lawn care specialist in Girvan will have the equipment to test the chemical structure of your soil and figure out an ideal procedure to return your lawn to peak condition. Lawn treatments and products are not expensive when compared to re-turfing a lawn which has been left to rack and ruin. A skilled Girvan lawn care specialist will also be able to provide moss and weed control solutions while maintaining and feeding your lawn, to nurture healthy roots and soil necessary to keeping it strong and good looking. Lawn Rolling Girvan In the hope of getting a nice flat lawn to impress their neighbours, lots of householders in Girvan enquire about lawn rolling. However, if you're trying to get your lawn looking like the local putting green or cricket pitch, you may have a mountain to climb. Indeed, you can be successful in flattening out some bumps and smaller imperfections in your grass by means of rolling, but other issues like compacting the soil, inhibiting root growth and reducing water penetration can be created where they didn't exist before. If you're thinking of taking that route, your local Girvan lawn care company will offer you advice about whether lawn rolling is recommended for your lawn, and they'll probably suggest spiking afterwards to enable air, water and nutrients to get into the soil. If you are getting an area ready for seeding, lawn rolling can also be effective, as a gentle rolling with a lightweight roller will ensure that the seeds are pressed right down into the soil to help even germination. Whilst it's useful to understand that it is almost never necessary to roll a lawn, you should only use a light roller, only do it in spring, and only on a damp lawn (never on a soaking one), if you choose to go ahead anyway. (Tags: Lawn Rolling Services Girvan, Rolling Lawns Girvan, Lawn Rolling Girvan). Mulch Mowing Girvan If your next door neighbours in Girvan seem to always have a lawn that looks green and rich, although they apparently never seem to collect or blow away the clippings, it is likely that they are mulch mowing their lawn. Mulch mowing is a system of lawn care that entails finely chopping the the pieces of trimmed grass and returning them to the soil, as opposed to collecting them up and having to dispose of them. The benefits gained from mulch mowing include: - Minimising the amount of waste being sent to landfill and disposal sites. - Lowering the loss of moisture during periods of dry weather. - Reducing the time that it takes you to mow the lawn. - Feeding the lawn by returning valuable nutrients to the soil. - Avoiding the need to continually stop the mower and empty the trimmings. Custom-made mulching lawn mowers are readily available to purchase for completing this procedure, and these undoubtedly provide the best results, although you can acquire "mulching" attachments for standard lawn mowers if you can't afford the proper equipment. The mower has to cut the grass clippings into tincy wincy pieces, and this is what a decent mulch mower will achieve without ever getting clogged or blocked while doing it. The ideal mulching lawn mowers offer the ability to switch between mulching and bagging, because you'll not require the mulching option at all times of the year and on every cut. Mulching mowers can be bought in all the popular power options, therefore whether you are looking for a petrol mower, a mains electric mower or a battery-powered mower, you should have no problems finding one to suit. For smaller residential lawns in Girvan, a battery-powered mulching mower will likely be satisfactory. For bigger grassed areas a corded electric or petrol mower would maybe be more effective. If you wish to try mulch mowing on your lawn in Girvan, you should ask your local gardener or lawn mowing specialist whether they have the necessary equipment to accomplish this. (Tags: Mulch Mowers Girvan, Mulch Mowing Girvan, Lawn Mulching Girvan, Mulch Mowing Benefits). Some Suggestions on How To Get A Beautiful Lawn in Girvan You can get a fabulous lawn in Girvan and you need not use harsh chemicals for it to happen. You can actually get a healthier garden if you do not use any harmful chemicals. The chemical substances not only poison the ground, but can also contaminate the water supply. You can avoid utilizing chemicals on your garden by engaging in the following advice. The top weed control technique is to personally pull out the weeds. The vast majority of weeds tend to be annuals, thus if you get rid of them before they go to seed, they shouldn't grow back. An entire root structure may need to be taken out for certain kinds of perennial weeds. Weeds such as clovers tend to be helpful and so you should not remove them. The health and attractiveness of your turf is going to be elevated by leaving clovers, because they are nitrogen rich plants. You need to get a soil test kit to ascertain exactly what is in your soil. Also you can determine the pH balance, and what nutrients are needed for retaining a perfect soil balance. For the unfilled patches on a lawn, use a mixture of grass varieties when you re-seed. Disease is really a prevalent occurrence but it won't affect all types of grass so a combination will guarantee some surviving growth. You need to regularly aerate the soil and break up the grass so it won't develop a heavy thatch. This will likely allow the roots to gain beneficial nutrients from the soil. Earthworms will certainly aerate your lawn better than other things. Whenever the covering of thatch is more than 12mm thick, you should get it de-thatched. All kinds of problems happen when the thatch keeps the air, moisture and nutrients from getting to the soil. Thatching is usually cleared if you rake your lawn shortly after it has been aerated. A bit of thatch and grass clippings can help with decomposition, so that can improve your lawn's health. Your grass ought to be about 2-3 inches in height and you should not cut any more than about a third to avoid "shock". If you don't want your grass to get damaged, make certain your lawn mower blades are sharp at all times. It is best to use natural fertilizer since nutrients will last much longer in the soil than manufactured fertilisers. Grass trimmings in addition to thatch will decompose more proficiently in organic fertilizer and the one that's usually recommended is sheep manure. It is best to primarily apply water when your lawn requires it, and try to get the water down to a good depth. If you don't do this, the roots definitely will wind up being shallow and more susceptible to pests and diseases. If you will follow these few recommendations, your grass could be the best in your street. (Tags: Grass Cutting Girvan, Lawn Care Tips Girvan, Grass Care Girvan). Searching On the Internet It's much simpler to search for tradesmen right now than it was previously, because we have the benefit of modern technology and can just search online. Yahoo, Bing or Google will provide instant results that will up to a point be applicable to your search. What you will discover is that these major league search engines crank out results which are rather varied. When looking for a lawn care company in Girvan most property owners will key in "lawn mowing in Girvan", "grass cutting Girvan", "Girvan grass cutting" or "grass cutting near me", and review the results. For your information, you will typically find that the first and last 4 listings are all too often some sort of PPC advertisements, while many of the rest will usually be internet directories such as Yelp, Cyclex, Yell or Gumtree, or entries from major lead generating websites like TrustaTrader, My Hammer, Rated People, My Builder, Local Heroes or Checkatrade, which might or might not be of any use. You will much more likely find the websites of bona fide lawn care companies out of sight on the 2nd or 3rd pages of the results, forced down by the wealthier players who can well afford SEO. Rated People, My Hammer and additional trader vetting sites are still worth using at times, since you never can have an excess of information, their reviews, client feedback and free price quotes can give you an advantage. Lawn Care Tasks Girvan You will discover there are countless security services that your chosen Girvan lawn care company should be able to help with, and this includes things like grass cutting services Girvan, lawn weed control, grass cutting, lawn scarifying in Girvan, lawn care during drought in Girvan, lawn top dressing Girvan, lawn seeding, lawn scalping Girvan, weekly lawn care in Girvan, lawn care services, lawn mowing quotes, lawn spiking, grass strimming, lawn edging, lawn sprinkler services in Girvan, landscaping Girvan, lawn turfing, lawn restoration, lawn feeding services Girvan, lawn spraying services, turf laying Girvan, lawn irrigation, moss removal from lawns Girvan, weed removal in Girvan, grass cutting packages Girvan, mulch mowing, weed and feed, lawn mow services in Girvan and more. These are just a selection of the activities that are handled by local experts in grass cutting. Girvan specialists will keep you informed about their full range of services. Skip Hire Girvan: The quantity of waste that is produced when carrying out garden revamps or home improvements in Girvan is one of the major downsides of this kind of project. The waste created by merely mowing your lawn won't usually be substantial enough to justify hiring a skip in Girvan, although if you're undertaking lots of extra work on your garden such as laying a new patio or replacing a fence, then a skip may have to be arranged. It may be the case that the removal of waste is listed in the quote, because some tradespeople are perfectly happy to remove waste as an integral part of the project. Make sure you check this, because you might be landed with handling your own waste removal. Whether you're left with doing this yourself, or the tradesperson is sorting it out, a skip will usually be required. No matter what volume of rubbish you have, there will be a perfect skip size available. Mini-skips accommodate around 2 yds of rubbish, midi-skips accommodate around 4 yds of rubbish, builders skips accommodate around 6 yds of rubbish and roll-on-roll-off skips accommodate around 20 yds of rubbish. Skip bags typically accommodate 1-1.5 yds of rubbish. To book your skip hire in Girvan CLICK HERE. Grass Cutting Near Girvan: Also find: Dailly grass cutting, Turnberry grass cutting, Maidens grass cutting, Grangeston grass cutting, Colmonell grass cutting, Chapeldonan grass cutting, Maybole grass cutting, Glendrissaig grass cutting, Barr grass cutting, Pinmore grass cutting, Pinwherry grass cutting, Glendoune grass cutting, Dipple grass cutting, Ardwell grass cutting, Ballantrae garden services and more. Most of these towns and villages are serviced by specialists in grass cutting. Girvan home and business owners can get price quotes by clicking here. Grass Cutting Around Girvan: People living in these Girvan places recently needed a lawn mowing specialist: Nether Trochrague, Assel Place, Houdston Caravan, Craigbrae, Bargany Estate, Hawthorn Drive, Ardmillan Lodge, Harbour Lane, North Park Avenue, Hervey Road, Dalrymple Street, Knocksculloch, Saugh Hill Road, Whiteford, Linden Avenue, Craig View, Edmiston Drive, Dipple, Ainslie Road, The Chalet Shalloch Mill, Cauldshore Street, Bothie, Penkill Castle, Eastburn Drive, Golf Course, Little Letterpin Bungalow, Wheatfield Road, Park Road, Stevenson Hall, along with these nearby postcodes KA26 0BU, KA26 0DA, KA26 9HN, KA26 9BU, KA26 0AD, KA26 9DX, KA26 0HW, KA26 9HW, KA26 9DU, KA26 9EH. Work was completed in these locations by experts in grass cutting. Girvan residents enjoyed trusted and reliable grass cutting services on each occasion. More Girvan Services: As you are seeking lawn mowing in Girvan, Scotland, you might possibly additionally need a garden pond installer in Girvan, an electrician in Girvan, a tree surgeon in Girvan, a carpenter in Girvan, a metalworker in Girvan, block paving in Girvan, a bricklayer in Girvan, a gate installer in Girvan, garden clearance in Girvan, garden maintenance in Girvan, gardeners in Girvan, fencing in Girvan, garden shed assembly in Girvan, garden decking in Girvan, garden design in Girvan, SKIP HIRE in Girvan, a handyman in Girvan, a landscape gardener in Girvan, patio installation in Girvan. More Scotland Grass Cutting: More Scotland lawn care specialists: Fort William, Stenhousemuir, Motherwell, Penicuik, Stonehaven, Perth, Inverness, Aberdeen, Barrhead, Cumnock, Hamilton, Jedburgh, Bishopton, Galashiels, Erskine, Livingston, Stirling, Tayport, Elgin, Cowdenbeath, Dumfries, Dumbarton, Fraserburgh, Newport-on-Tay, Edinburgh, Peterhead, Methil, Burntisland, Ellon, Dalry, Dunbar, Carluke, Ballingry, St Andrews, Grangemouth, East Kilbride, Irvine, Kinross, Armadale, Ardrossan, Troon, Bishopbriggs, Dunblane, Dalgety Bay, Nairn, Blantyre, Bearsden, Stepps, Linwood, Airdrie, Linlithgow, Stornoway, Brechin, Inverurie, Alva, Ardeer, Rosyth, Lochgelly, Bellshill, Montrose, Viewpark, Forfar, Uddingston, Carnoustie, Prestonpans, Rutherglen, Kilsyth, Largs, Coatbridge, Tullibody, Ayr, Dunfermline, Westhill, Stewarton, Arbroath, Greenock, Whitburn, Galston, Kilmarnock, Renfrew, Tranent, Lerwick, Broxburn, Forres, Strathaven, Dingwall, Inverkeithing, Kilwinning, Glenrothes, Cupar, Cambuslang, Leven, Stranraer, Denny, Kirriemuir, Kirkintilloch, Cumbernauld, Milngavie, Girvan, Larbert, Lanark, Hawick, Dundee, Alloa, Bonnybridge, Newton Mearns, Kirkcaldy, Paisley, Wishaw, Johnstone, Clydebank, Musselburgh, Peebles, Buckhaven, Dalkeith, Glasgow, Bonnyrigg, Lenzie, Falkirk, Kelso, Bathgate, Stevenston, Prestwick and Larkhall. Gardener Jobs Girvan: View lawn mowing jobs near Girvan by clicking here: General Gardener Jobs Girvan Specialist lawn care in KA26 area, telephone code Dialling code 01465. TOP - Grass Cutting Girvan
no matter whether you need a lightweight sanitation unit. This can be important, especially if bath rooms are being renovated and the household being labored on is outside of a city. This is not the common or maybe garden selection of portable Bob, but the variety used as special events and also venues, by celebrities as well as the public. Mention streamlining -- everybody will be comfortable, working in the direction of being "green" as they are able, and saving you time and money. Before you head online and to some sort of Cost of a Roll Off Dumpster in Niwot, CO site, make an attempt to do a hard calculation how much is taken from the building, to enable you to get the right-sized dumpster. In the event you rent one that's too small you will have to have it taken away, purged, then brought back. This will expense something further. Get one that may be too big and that's a waste of place and money. 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. I think Brosnan worked well as something of a “consolidated” James Bond, offering a take on the character that seemed to draw on all four of his official predecessors in one way or another. He had Sean Connery’s elegance and sophistication, Lazenby’s emotional vulnerability, Moore’s warmth and humour and Dalton’s ruthlessness. Naturally, not all of these aspects of the character compliment one another, and Brosnan was often asked to play three or four contradictory aspects against each other. In The World Is Not Enough, for example, we’re asked to believe in a Bond who can fall completely in love with a woman he just met – like Lazenby. We’re also expected to believe that he’s a brutal killer – like Dalton. Yet he punctuates the violence with witty and charming one-liners – like Moore. And he does all this while playing a weirdly disconnected cool – like Connery. These aspects seem at war with each other, much like The World Is Not Enough finds its script struggling to balance serious introspection, dark character beats and surreal camp within the same film. It’s to Brosnan’s credit that he held The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day together as long as he did. Roger Moore has gone on record describing Die Another Day as too ridiculous for his tastes. However, it’s Brosnan’s damaged Bond who centres the movie for as a long as possible, before the awful production and terrible script conspire to drown him in a melting ice hotel constructed of watered-down Bond tropes. That metaphor was a little awkwardly-constructed, but I stand by it. Appropriately enough, given his performance, Brosnan’s four scripts seemed to take the character through a somewhat rushed version of his historical evolution. GoldenEye returned the character to his more emotionally grounded early adventures, anchored very much in the aftermath of the Cold War that informed the earliest efforts in the series. Tomorrow Never Dies recalled the heightened set pieces and action of the late Sean Connery era, like You Only Live Twice. In contrast, The World Is Not Enough seemed like a very weird, surreal and ill-advised amalgamation of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and some of the earlier Roger Moore films. Die Another Day saw the series reaching the same campy excess that defined Moonraker, the nadir of the Moore era, and the franchise’s biggest shame. As such, given Brosnan’s take on the icon had a very clear narrative arc mirroring the early section of the character’s history on film, it seemed appropriate that his portrayal felt like a conscious effort to draw on his four predecessors. More than that, though, the Brosnan era seemed fixated on the idea of legacy, and of history. Not necessarily the history of the franchise itself, but defining the characters by events from their own past. For the first time, Bond really felt like a fully-drawn character, more than one who existed rather loosely from one film to the next. Even Sean Connery’s Bond might as well have come into being the instant we spotted him at the casino, and George Lazenby doesn’t feel like the man who toppled Dr. No or Goldfinger – trinkets in his desk notwithstanding. Brosnan’s Bond has a very tangible sense of personal history. GoldenEye opens with him on a mission during the Cold War, detailing the loss of a character who seemed to be an old friend. (Roger Moore would bump into an old acquaintance or two from time to time, but it never felt quite so real.) Indeed, that first film also confirms that Bond is an orphan, his parents dead in a “climbing accident.” Tomorrow Never Dies sees Bond encountering an old flame, one who remembers that he sleeps with a gun under his pillow, as in Thunderball. Even M seems to have a more developed history than her predecessor, as The World is Not Enough is anchored in a decision she made years ago, coming back to haunt her. Thanks to touches like this, the world of Brosnan’s Bond feels more developed, and more realistic, than that inhabited by any of his predecessors. Bond had a recurring cast outside his MI6 office. While earlier films struggled to keep the same Felix Leiter between movies, Bond interacted with Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky twice. He also had his own CIA contact in the form of Jack Wade, who also appeared twice. (I always though it was a shame they dumped Wade when the CIA played a role in Die Another Day.) Brosnan was really tasked with shepherding the Bond archetypes out of the Cold War, and helping Bond navigate a decidedly more politically correct world order. GoldenEye finds Bond as something of a relic, stalking the casinos of Monte Carlo in his finest tuxedo, but losing money at the tables and reduced to seducing the evaluators sent to appraise him, little more than a gigalo. When he has a suspicion about one of the people he encounters, Moneypenny stresses that Bond is confined by standard operating procedures. “M authorizes you to observe Miss Onatopp but stipulates no… contact without prior approval.” He’s effectively neutered. Even Moneypenny has moved on. Called in after a late night, Bond is disappointed to discover that she’s been “on a date with a gentleman”, suggesting that Moneypenny is more than an office secretary whiling away the hours between flirtations with the nation’s top secret agent. When Bond jokingly wonders what he would do without her, Moneypenny puts the boot in, “As far as I can remember, James, you’ve never had me.” This is rather interesting reversal of the traditional dynamic, where Bond was clearly the one in control of their relationship. It would be easy to present Bond as an outdated archetype, and GoldenEye explores that idea quite thoroughly. When Bond meets the CIA’s man in Moscow, it’s hardly the efficiency and glamour we’ve come to expect. Wade expresses the idea that Bond is simply behind the times. “I mean, for crying out loud… another stiff-ass Brit, with your secret codes and your passwords. One of these days you guys are gonna learn just to drop it.” I think one of the strongest aspects of Brosnan’s time in the role was the way that it acknowledged the shifting times, but also rebuilt Bond in a way that made the character and the franchise both modern and recognisable. I’d argue they did it in a more subtle and nuanced way than the recent Daniel Craig reboots did, maintaining perhaps a bit more of the decades of history that came beforehand.(That’s not to dismiss what the Daniel Craig films have done, but rather to contrast the approach.) In a way, GoldenEye was the story of Bond surviving all this rather pointed and nuanced criticism of him as a character and the series as a franchise. Tomorrow Never Dies, I’d argue, demonstrated that the classical Bond tropes and devices could still be used in service of a good story, regardless of how the times had changed. It featured the same familiar devices and character archetypes, but updated for a new generation. However, one of the touches that I quite liked about Brosnan’s take on the character was the idea that Bond is an inherently brutal and angry character, beneath the calm exterior and the sharp suits. Going back to Connery, that’s something I’ve always liked about the character – the notion that beneath his Cambridge education and his tuxedo and his wine knowledge, Bond is a very aggressive and almost animalistic character. Brosnan’s Bond was capable of being as brutal as Craig’s take on the character, but he contrasted Bond’s violence with his sense of class much better. Despite Brosnan’s sophistication, it’s telling that the first three Brosnan films end with Bond killing an unarmed villain in cold blood. In GoldenEye, after disarming Alec Trevelyan and dangling over the edge of the satellite dish, Bond drops him to his death. In Tomorrow Never Dies, he throws Elliot Carver into torpedo that acts like a grinder. In The World is Not Enough, he shoots an unarmed Elektra King at close range. While Carver and Trevelyan arguably deserved it, The World is Not Enough was careful to present King as much as a victim as a villain. Brosnan portrayed Bond in keeping with Dalton’s take on the character, creating the sense that Bond was a very unhappy man who masked his own inner demons with a nice suit and sharp witticism. (Arguably, though, that portrayal dates back to Sean Connery and even into Fleming’s source material.) It was a decidedly nuanced and challenging portrayal of the character one that contrasts with Daniel Craig’s slightly less sophisticated version. Craig’s iteration of Bond makes little effort to conceal his rather mean streak, while Brosnan instead suggested that it lurked just below the surface – ready to emerge if the situation called for it. It’s truly impressive that Brosnan is able to play that sort of cold-blooded brutality without losing the audience, often mingling it with a faint sense of tragedy. It’s a shame that the movies didn’t necessarily develop this portrayal – or any consistent portrayal at all. Brosnan also had a gift for the sense of humour expected from Bond, and many of my favourite Brosnan moments are “little” touches that could easily have been left on the editting room floor. I love the moment in the opening of The World is Not Enough where Brosnan is dangling from a henchman but gets stuck half-way – giving the rope a playful-and-calm tug to pull the henchman loose from the desk he’s holding. The short scene after he kills Elektra is also strangely affecting, even if the rest of the script pretends that it never happened. Similarly, his interactions with the torturer in Tomorrow Never Dies or Xenia in GoldenEye demonstrate Brosnan’s easy charm in the role – just as smooth as Moore, but with an edge like Connery. Brosnan is probably my second-favourite actor to play Bond, behind Connery himself. It’s a remarkable performance, and it’s a shame that the final couple of scripts were never quite up to the talent of the leading man. The six faces of 007: - Sean Connery - George Lazenby - Roger Moore - Timothy Dalton - Pierce Brosnan - Daniel Craig We’ve got full reviews of all of Pierce Brosnan’s Bond films, if you want to check ‘em out: \| Brosnan was definitely the best James Bond! He is just so strikingly handsome and sexy! And he’s pretty talented, too! You nailed Brosnan’s performance as Bond perfectly. Of course, Connery is the original and the standard for all other actors to live up to, but Brosnan captured all of the various aspects of the character perfectly, moreso than any others, including Craig. His shooting Elektra point blank was one thing that saved the often dreadful “TWINE.” It was also his performance and interaction with Halle Berry that elevated “Die Another Day” from pure camp to oddly entertaining. Yep. His performance in The World is Not Enough often reminded me of Roger Moore in his lesser efforts, trying to find a consistent character in a jumble of one-liners, paint-by-numbers plotting and action set pieces. He did it all very well, but the script didn’t allow him to tie it all together. Reblogged this on Drndark. Yes, Yes to all of this. Thanks Dane. Reblogged this on Debbiehowell24's Blog. Thanks Debbie. For some reason I never truly liked Brosnan as Bond. He acts and looks like Bond but something did not feel right to me.Apart from Goldeneye I never re-watched the other movies(too over the top for this era) , maybe it was the movies. I am currently re-watching the series on blu-ray so I am anxious to see if my opinion about Brosnan and his movies have changed. I’ll be interesting. I’m in the minority in adoring Tomorrow Never Dies, if only because it’s a very Bond-y Bond film. The World is Not Enough is interesting, with some great character work, but no sense of tone, terrible jokes and pretty cheesy set pieces. Elektra’s claustrophobic attack should be a huge character moment… but it’s in a freakin’ golf ball. I can’t defend Die Another Day, except to suggest that Brosnan is far better than the material deserves. His Bond seemed angry without ever losing it, which was his speciality when it came to Bond. The ice motel was the perfect metaphor for Brosnan’s Bond – the cold and elegant exterior melting from the inside. GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies are my Bond double feature of choice, though. I think they play to each other’s strengths. GoldenEye accepts the world has changed, and Bond needs to, but Tomorrow Never Dies suggests all the familiar tropes can still work. It’s like how Quantum of Solace is a lot stronger watched back-to-back with Casino Royale, but with the bonus that Tomorrow has none of the internal problems that plague Quantum. (It just lacks the strengths of GoldenEye – nuance, sophistication and characterisation.) I have a hard time judging Brosnan – mostly on whether his portrayal of Bond was great or just good. He was the most well-rounded Bond, but at the same time, this meant he was the least unique and the least innovative. He definitely looked the part and he was the most transparent actor of the bunch. The other actors have injected their personalities into the character. Craig is Craig. Moore was Moore. Lazenby was Lazenby. But with Brosnan, I just saw him as Bond, for better or worse. I won’t hold the mistakes of his 3 movies after Goldeneye against him. Poor writing – not his fault. But it’s unfortunate, that because of them, I haven’t seen as many good moments with Brosnan as I should have. I think that’s a fair point. I think Brosnan is probably the least well-defined of the Bonds. Including Lazenby, that’s saying something. However, there was always a rawness and a pettiness to Brosnan’s Bond that I liked. Even when he was making quips, it seemed like Brosnan’s Bond was angry at the world. I think that Brosnan is what you’d get if Daniel Craig’s version developed finesse. Brosnan’s Bond always knew what to say and do, but he could be astonishingly mean-spirited at times. He straight-up executes unarmed Bond villains in his middle two films, moments that are shocking in context because they are among the rare moments where Brosnan’s Bond seems to actually feel something. (I still think Tomorrow Never Dies is criminally underrated as a “back to formula” Bond film.)
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Being a teen mom/having a pregnant teen daughter makes you less of a person () Really now, is this what that thread was even about? Talk about reaching and overreacting. Advertisements Being a teen mom/having a pregnant teen daughter makes you less of a person () Really now, is this what that thread was even about? Talk about reaching and overreacting. I totally new this was going make the drama blog, lol. ummm knew rather. 😛 No real drama here, but when I saw the title of this thread, I wanted to say “Ya think?!? NO SHIT!” MRBLaylaw is acting like a complete idiot. NO ONE said those things! She seriously pulled this out of her ass… and to say that Obama would force his child to have an abortion ONLY because hes prochoice is assinine and ignorant. I can’t even express how sick these people make me feel tonight, seriously. Wow, I feel famous. As I wrote in the part of the thread that was not posted, was that the thing I took offense to was the women who posted originally to the link, that Sarah Palin was now really taking a nose-dive, because her daughter was pregnant. They said it made her less of a qualified candidate for VP. THAT is what was so wrong. If they had posted the link and left it without their snide comments, that’s one thing. Bashing a woman “even more so” because her teen daughter is pregnant is entirely another. I’m not a teen or unwed mom, nor was I ever. I am 24 and my oldest is not even two. I have no personal vendetta against these women, or even Obama. I just thought it was ridiculous that these women were saying because Bristol is pregnant, Palin has no chance, and is now even less worthy of the VP position. Being a VP has nothing to do with whether or not your daughter uses a condom. We all know teens will do what they wish, and one must simply hope they’ve said the right things, lived the right way and shown the right examples to really compell a child to listen. Yes, I said Obama’s child would likely have an abortion before anyone knew she was pregnant, so this wouldn’t be an issue. Did I say she would be forced? NO! Please get that straight. I said if it’s SO terrible for one’s run for the White House, considering Obama’s views on abortion, she would have an abortion. He even stated himself, in a pro-choice context, that if his daughters made a mistake, he wouldn’t want them “punished” with babies. Yes, that leads me to believe that his child, if she became pregnant as a teen, would have an abortion. It is what she was raised to believe is right. Thank you, #4, but that is neither assinine nor ignorant. It is a logical assumption made by listening to hours of Obama’s speeches, about what he believes in and how he has raised his family. I originally simply posted, telling these women to be careful with their rude comments like that, because there were many teen moms and moms of teen moms who would likely be very offended. That’s when all the crap came down about teen moms. It started as a political discussion, some nasty comments, and ballooned into the drama DS is so well-known for. No secret there. So let’s all bash each other because we’re not voting for the same person. I don’t really care. It’s not what I’m into. I just hate to see some one being talked badly about because their child made a poor decision. I think we’d all get a little defensive if that happened to us. I was simply trying to show these women how ridiculous their statements were. If I was dramatic, then so be it, but I wasn’t being rude at all, as they were, which started this whole situation. There. I’ve stuck up for myself and what the situation was REALLY about, so that’s my piece. I promise, I’m done. Seriously, I won’t keep coming back and saying, “but-but-but,” because that just feeds it all. You all get it hashed out, hate on me, and get it out of your systems. That’s what we do on this blog (yours truly included… not bashing, being real here). :- ) “As I wrote in the part of the thread that was not posted, was that the thing I took offense to was the women who posted originally to the link, that Sarah Palin was now really taking a nose-dive, because her daughter was pregnant. ” Seriously? Wow! I saw the original thread you are referring to right after it went up. The OP said absolutely nothing in her OP about Sarah Palin taking a nose dive or anything else. She simply posted a link to the story announcing the pregnancy. You came in with guns blazing in post three accusing the OP of being deragatory and spreading rumors and lies. Just wondering if anyone else can’t stop singing Bristol Hotel in their head every time they see that sucktastic name. Lyrics for your enjoyment. I’m guessing Palin isn’t an LL Cool J fan. Verse 4 is especially sweet. where is this thread on ds? You’re not very smart are you? #8, it is linked in the blog post. Please note my comment is directed at #5, not at #8. #11 I was like huh? lol. hey not related to this thread at all, but I just recieved a stike/warning (they’ve yet to determine which) for calling Elabela a stuck up moron, seriously just to say that was so worth it though. I can’t stand her. I’m stuck on the fact that sex had to be written an s3x. as not an I agree #14. It’s crazy that you can’t write sex on DS. Ridiculous! And at first I read your name as saying that you’re down with Lee. LOL 14 & 16, i thought people did that so as to keep DS from popping up when someone googles “sex”. They do it with a lot of words. #18- good point! thats a good reason for it. #9, we all know that, lol, unfortunately, she does not And, they write it that way as to not attract unwanted traffic to the site, search engines won’t pick it up I’m still giggling at #3!!! If you type sex on DS, it comes up ** even if you use it in a PM!! #22-they are attempting to keep google bots and yahoo spiders from gathering on their board. Words like sex attract them like rodents. I know…but you shouldn’t be censored in PM’s…that’s a bit overboard. And, the OP of that post was pretty out of line with the whole thing (especially because the first post she did a spin off of wasn’t offensive, and I am 20 with a 14 month old so I should have been if SHE was) Well they read PM’s so you shouldn’t be surprised at being censored in them. What can you expect from DS though. Can’t handle questioning. Ack. Havent we done this before? Rerun? Next. So true poster #26. the pm crap is funny. i live on dickerson st, and i doesnt come up when i try to pm mamas my addy to ship to #5 one word: PARAGRAPHS I’m tired of all these whitebread posters who need to take off their rose-colored glasses and realize not everything is how it is in suburbia. /random rant Ummmmm she did do paragraphs. Plus shes not attacking teen moms and in essence is defending them. I think its horrible that Sara Palin is forcing her daughter to keep this baby she doesnt want. And what kind of mother makes her daughter marry a man she doesnt love just because shes pregnant???! See what i did there, Megan? SAME gross generalization you made about Obama. Just because someone has those views, doesnt mean we know what s/he did or would do if/when the situation happens. How do we know what Obama would do? We dont, just like we dont know if Sara Palin’s daughter WANTS to keep this baby, and WANTS to marry this dude, right? So yes, I stand by my “assinine and ignorant” comment I said before. I think it’s great that Sarah Palin has finally seen the light. Her own.” They’re proud of Bristol’s decision and that is as pro-choice as it gets. The only pregnant teen’s I judge are the snotty ones walking around like they know it all- and are trying to get pregnant thinking its super cool, when they dont have a clue about anything.. The ones that end up pregnant unplanned, ok- prob not smart- but who’s to judge that one.. Most people are sexually active as teens & for the most part are lucky & or very careful not to let it happen. Ya live & learn, Teens should not be pressured by others to join the vibe & get pregnant just because its the “in” thing to do. & With proper counseling, its ultimately up to the teen to choose what to do about it. Isnt this what we just learned about The Anthony Case in Fl.. The mom forced her to keep the baby when she wanted to adopt her out.. Now that little girl is dead.. The mom should have listened. side note to connorsmama: WTF is a WHAM? WorkHomeAtMom? Seriously. It’s WAHM. I can’t tell you how much this peeves me off when people type WHAM instead of WAHM. DUH. Dear lord, thank you #34. I read that and was singing “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” all damn day. I was kind of scratching my head that a WAHM wouldn’t know how to spell WAHM. Unless they’re making some sort of George Michael inspired stuff. #35 – I was about to say the same thing! I love me some WHAM! lol …george michael. ahhh funny funny peoples #30 no shit, I’m talking about all the dumbasses who interpret a link to a news article=bashing if teen moms. *of #34, love the web site 🙂 thanks dsdm2. It’s a work in progress. Quick this one will be gone FAST!
Codapillar Crime Scan EaTcard Go! Go! Feed Independent Artist Charitable Foundation My People App Neta RamPak Codapillar Executive Summary Codapillar is an application that teaches web programming in a creative, social, and intuitive way. It is a web application and curriculum that break down the learning curve associated with coding and provide a social incentive to keep learners engaged in coding. Creativity and problem solving are the two most critical parts of coding, and are often overlooked in technology education. People should feel free to build what they like without being intimidated by the unfamiliar language of code. The first time I used HTML was on a MySpace layout. The perfect layout had a picture of the Jonas Brothers embedded into it, and I wanted to change it. I perused the code, not knowing a bit of it, found all of the files that could be images, clicked through each one, found the Jonas Brothers picture and replaced it with a picture of Pink Floyd. Looking back, this tells me is that the desire to stand out drives Internet users, especially young people. I had no idea that this huge block of black text on a white background is what stands behind every webpage, or that I was developing a critical skill. What if it had been easier to figure out from the code how to make the changes I desired? What if it had been more intuitive, and less intimidating? What if I had examples, created by my friends, strangers from across the world, and talented developers, at my fingertips while I was sifting through that block of characters? Codapillar breaks apart the blocks dense text into easily understandable, color-coded, clearly defined and delineated code. A subtly instructive, organized interface is crucial to all users, from those learning about how a picture is denoted to those building JavaScript games. Users are able to see in color the relationship between their CSS and JavaScript with their HTML, giving a more holistic understanding of web programming, and making the code easier to read. With users creating shareable posts and demonstrating the code behind them, people are able to learn new skills from their friends, and share what they think is cool. This also will show an evolution in what people are creating with technology. Profiles turn into portfolios as users build more things, and customize their page. These portfolios can be used to help tell stories and to demonstrate the users knowledge to potential employers. It also serves as a secondary incentive for people to feel positive about the skills they have gained and what they have accomplished. Successful code should be a point of pride, since it does require a lot of problem solving and dedication. Within the next three months, Codapillar will be launching a web application to test with students who are new to HTML. Codapillar will be working towards developing an effective tool that is easy to integrate into classrooms, and proving that it is successful in keeping students engaged after their in-class lessons. We want students to feel confident sharing their talent with others and learning from them on the Codapillar platform. Biographies Olga Bogomolova earned a Bachelor in Business Administration, with concentration in Finance and minor in Economics, from Pace University in 2013; she is currently attending the same university to earn a Master’s degree in Computer Science. In the past Ms. Bogomolova has worked as an analyst in major investment banks and as an associate business developer for a technology startup. Over the past few years Ms. Bogomolova managed teams of various sizes and diverse backgrounds; in the process she has improved her ability to work under pressure and make well-calculated decisions. Currently Ms. Bogomolova holds a position of program coordinator and project manager at Pace University’s Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. Her work experience includes organizing and managing programs such Pace STEM Camp and Seidenberg Summer Scholars Experience that focus on teaching Web Development, design thinking and innovation to high school students across United States. In this role she helped to design the teaching curriculum, identify learning outcomes as well as managed budgeting and promotional efforts. In her current position Ms. Bogomolova also assisted in redesigning the curriculum for CIS 101, a freshman class focused on familiarizing the student body with the current technologies. In addition to the responsibilities mentioned above Ms. Bogomolova is also a project manager for a number of Seidenberg Creative Labs projects. In this role she is responsible for client relations, budgeting and business development, among other tasks. Julie Gauthier is a senior computer science major at the Seidenberg School of Computer Science. Julie is now at a final internship before the end of her undergraduate years at Dom & Tom.. Crime Scan Executive Summary Crime Scan is a lifestyle app designed to provide accurate information about criminal reports in your area. Using information from the crime map statistics from nyc.gov, Safe Scan provides up to date crime statistics for your entire area as well as for your individual location. The app is designed with the busy city resident in mind. The app’s main feature is its responsive nature. Instead of just functioning as a mobile database as many crime scanning apps act as, Crime Scan is able to utilize the data is a responsive manner. If you find yourself in a location that makes you feel unsafe, you can utilize the main tabs scan function and the app will read the data and provide color-coded feedback. Green if it deems your area safe, yellow if it deems it questionable and red if deems your area unsafe. The app was designed with a quick, easy user experience in mind. Instead of having to sift through loads of information, the return is just a simple, striking color that your brain can easily decode. The app has two main tabs. The first tab is the Crime Map tab, the second being the scan tab. The Crime Map tab has the main map separated with the data provided by nyc.gov, where you can examine the last few months of data. The scan tab is where you can both scan your surrounding area and input a destination, where the app can test how safe the route is. This app was designed with people who live in densely packed areas in mind. Biography Wei Xia is a full time graduate student at Pace University Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems pursuing his Master Science degree in Computer Science. His undergraduate major is journalism and has nothing to do with the Internet. However, after one year's working in the Internet company in his country, he made a decision to change his career path to computer. That's why he came to states to get his master degree in Computer Science. In his opinion, Internet has already changed people's daily lives, especially smart phones. He wants to develop an iOS application before graduating. His career goal is to establish an Internet company and help more people to use the Internet and get benefits from the Internet. Shane Duda is a sophomore at Pace University currently completing an undergrad degree in Computer Science, Bachelor of Arts. Originally a Criminal Justice major, Shane changed his major to Computer Science after researching the surge in tech related jobs across all fields, especially law enforcement. Although he is interested in pursuing cyber security as a career path, Shane nevertheless finds the development process fascinating, and was drawn to the Entrepreneurship Lab’s Hackathon to experience an expedited development cycle firsthand. EaTcard Executive Summary The EaTcard application is the first ever loyalty card of its kind. It is specifically designed for university students to use on campus at their cafeteria. The EaTcard app allows students to “Earn and Track” rewards in their college or university’s cafeteria. There is no longer a need to carry physical meal plan cards and several punch cards, which are inconvenient, easily lost, and slow down the payment process. The EaTcard app’s purpose is to streamline the payment and rewards process at university dining halls. The EaTcard application is completely card free, secure, and easy to use. The application is downloaded onto a smartphone or tablet and the student creates an account and password. Then, the online app generates a unique QR code which can be scanned as students pay for their meals. After a transaction is recorded, a digital receipt is generated and displayed in the app. The app then also deducts the transaction from the student’s account and clearly displays a remaining balance. As students use the application, it tracks what they have purchased to ensure they are getting the rewards offered. The EaTcard takes a $0.15 fee from each transaction using the application. The application also notifies students of their account balance after each transaction. EaTcard app simplifies the payment process which will make lines to pay at dining halls shorter and faster. The target market would be foodservice providers that facilitate the dining experience on campuses. Two of the largest university foodservice providers in America are Sodexo Inc. and Compass Group North America. In 2013, Sodexo Inc. generated $23 billion in total revenues, with their North American division providing 39% of that revenue. Chartwells, a division of Compass Group North America, alone has 120 plus universities which rely on services for their dining halls. There is a demand for the EaTcard, because it will simplify the checkout process at university cafeterias and allow students to track their dining rewards and meal plan easily. The app will also provide foodservice companies with valuable information on what students are purchasing at each university. This will allow the foodservice companies to better facilitate their resources depending on the needs of the students. Loyalty card programs are starting to be implemented more and more in universities across the country. Unlike its competition, EaTcard provides digital receipts and also allows you to check your balance while tracking and earning rewards on campus dining. Similar loyalty programs like the bellycard, are not made specifically for the needs of university students, and also do not provide digital receipts. University specific programs, like the Lobocard (of the University of New Mexico), are not available to be used universally by the large foodservice providers. They also don’t offer a way to track the student’s account balance and require a physical card. EaTcard app will be the solution to inefficient meal plan and loyalty card programs and will revolutionize the dining hall experience for university students. Biography Alexa McKenna is a full time Pace University Student expected to graduate in May of 2017. She is in the Lubin School of Business studying to receive her BBA in Management- Entrepreneurship. After graduation, Alexa hopes to run her own business and “not work for anyone else”. She enjoys sharing ideas and talking business with other entrepreneurial-minded individuals. This is her first time participating in the Pace Pitch Contest. Go! Go! Feed! Executive Summary ‘Go! Go! Feed!’ is a free app designed for cooking and social networking, also has adequate business market. How to cook delicious dishes when you do not have enough kinds of food? How to develop friendships with others linked with food? How to let your life more colorful with changes in dishes? Let ‘Go! Go! Feed!’ tell you the secrets! Features: Feed! This App provides various recipes based on different cooking levels and ingredients in your fridge. Target Users: Students Offers simple recipes related to what students have in their fridge. Most students have no idea about cooking and just buy ingredients randomly, but these ingredients may be hard to mix together to cook a dish. Therefore, this app is committed to providing simple food with what they have in the fridge. Additionally, when they get accustomed to use this app, they are into cooking, which saves money and keeps healthy. Office workers Provides simple dishes to save time in weekdays because this white collar group does not have enough time to cook, therefore this App lists simple but healthy dishes to meet their demands.Enjoy food in weekends. During the weekend, there is a huge market for office workers to get together and enjoy food. Housewives Improve cooking skills. This App offers specific picture in accordance with each step in certain recipes so that housewives can know which step she needs to enhance. Try new dishes to stimulate appetites. Family members may feel tired on their daily food without changes, therefore it is a good chance for housewives to try fresh dishes to attract their family members. It provides housewives more convenience during cooking. They don’t have to buy thick and expensive cooking book. The app is free, vivid and portable. Go! Go! This App is a platform for different groups to organize events to network with each other and spread cooking knowledge. Events held by different Groups: Users’ Group Non-merchant users post events and develop friendships. Merchant users provide activities to attract their target customers.For example, cooking center posts details about training classes. App Marketing Group Post to spread cooking knowledge. For instance, App administration provides posts related to Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Cultivation. These posts may only simple spread easy professional knowledge, or may apply some options for users to actually experience it. Business Market: This App cooperates with different companies to make sure it offers options for users to experience.For example, when a non-merchant user hosts a event without enough ingredients, then the host can get information about where and what to buy or order online from its cooperation, such as Blue Apron. You can even find a chef from partners, such as Kitchensurfing. For another example, app marketing group host theme parties, such as organic food party. After communicating with organic companies, this app marketing department can get organic food for free because this activity can advertise this company. Meanwhile, app marketing department will charge all candidates. Biographies Bo Liu is currently a first year master student at Pace University majoring in Public Accounting. She will graduate in December 2016. She attends many professional events to network with professionals and enrich her understanding of Accounting. She is a candidate of ACCA, and is preparing for AICPA. In addition, she spends a lot of time enhancing public presentation skills. She likes to communicate with others with fluent English and Mandarin. In her free time, she contributes to community service to help others. She is a member of Tax 1on1 to assists others to report tax. She possesses professional skills in Traditional Chinese Painting. Ni Mei is currently a first year master student at Pace University majoring in Public Accounting. After accomplishing her Bachelor’s Degree in China, She came to America to pursue further study. She hopes to gain her Master’s degree in 2016. She is fluent in both Chinese (Mandarin) and English. Throughout her campus experience, she has participated in a variety of activities to build up networking skills such as community service and professional events held by Beta Alpha Psi and Ascend. Additionally, she is now in the E-board assistant program, which involves her in holding several professional and non-professional events including Goldman Sachs workshop. As a national member of the Toastmaster Club, she has taken different roles such as table topic master, timer and speaker in the Toastmaster meeting to improve her impromptu speech, public speaking, and communication skills. Not only is she active in business-related activities, but she also attended Pace Mobile App Design Contest and won the third place. With continuous effort in mind, she believes that nothing is impossible and what students can benefit more is from experiences rather than textbooks. Sukun Li is a full-time graduate student in Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems at Pace University majoring in Computer Science, and put her degree towards mobile application computing. She will graduate in Summer 2016. Since her childhood, Ms. Li has been interested with interactive digital media technology and get a Excellent Graduate Design Award when she obtained her Bachelor of Engineering in Digital Media Technology. She worked for the Beijing Digital Museum before she enrolled in the Pace's masters program. Currently, she is a team member of Seidenberg Creative Lab, and a web-engineer of Jeturtle group at New York City. Independent Artist Charitable Foundation Executive Summary Problem A decline in funding for the arts means that many independent artist can no longer pursue their careers. Their development is now being paid out of their own pockets, forcing an unsustainable situation. Government funding has diminished and other donations/support has declined or moved to larger scale operations. Artists, in order to survive in their chosen field are forced to become a larger entity than needed in order to be able to create. Often having to register as charities with boards of directors, impeding and slowing the ability to create on a small sustainable scale, which in turn raises costs and limits access for the majority of society to consume arts or remain connected to them. There is also a problem when an independent artist does manage to solicit a large donation but can only accept it when offering a tax credit. They often will not receive the full amount if any money at all. Solution IACF will establish itself as an umbrella charity to represent independent artist (operating as notforprofit) to seek large donations on their behalf with the ability to offer tax credits. This is the only way that small scale artist could benefit from large corporate donations, and the corporations would benefit from a larger, more diverse audience to be connected with in this manner for the first time (power in numbers). At the same time this would provide the opportunity for sustainable earnings for artists and affordable access to the consumer. This structure allows artists to keep their business structures smaller and much more efficient, reducing many overhead costs while creating greater ability for more product development. IACF would also be developed to offer tax credits for independent donations to be passed directly to independent artist and would also be able to accept general donations from the public to be redistributed to many artists. This structure allows individuals in support of arts to be able to allocate portions of their tax money as they see fit while reducing their taxable income. IACF would also develop programs to aid artists in their business management. Target Market There are two current markets that need to be approached to create the right momentum for this charity. First there would be the development of a portfolio of artist seeking to create, and in need of funding. The artist considered would be a diverse group but they would all be required to operate as a not-for-profit and be able to clearly describe their project as well as the budget associated with it. The second is those making donations. Primarily donations would be sought from large corporations seeking to donate in order to satisfy their business plan. There would also be on a smaller scale an awareness campaign to the public on social media, possibly developing some financial support. Initially there would be an aim to aid local New York artists with companies interested in reaching a broad middle class audience but this would only be in the initial development of the foundation. Competition Currently there is little direct competition for the foundation as it would exist, but there is competition in the sense of how people and corporations would want to donate. There will be need to develop a clear marketing plan to demonstrate all benefits offered by the foundation to the donors. Competition in many ways would be other charitable artist that operate on a large scale and IACF would have to clearly show that supporting many artist on a small scale as oppose to one a large scale is to everyone's benefit. There is also slight competition with Fractured Atlas , a charitable organization that allows artist to accept donations through their organization but does not raise funds for them. IACF would have the competitive advantage. Why Pitch At this point the IACF is in need of financial aid in order to get itself into a position to launch. Hiring lawyers to ensure that everything will be structured in a manner to work within the constructs of a charity, registering the business, as well aid in the marketing development will require funding. Time has been donated and will continue to be donated to create the foundation, but the current ambition is to avoid out of pocket cost for necessary fees while continuing to create the structure for a sustainable charity, and a new way to fund artists that will empower them to work with less financial strain. Biography JohnRiley O'Handley is currently studying at Pace University with the Actors Studio Dram a School, developing his career as an actor, producer, and artistic director/business director. A graduate of Dalhousie University with a BA in theatre and a minor in business JohnRiley has found himself striking a balance of acting and artist development. JohnRiley has cofounded WORKhouse Theatre as the artistic director and business director. With WORKhouse he has developed and overseen many productions. JohnRiley spends a large amount of time with WORKhouse's artist development unit, curating and organizing WORKplay events that present artists works in progress and provide critical development and feedback. Outside of producing, JohnRiley has been continuing his acting on stage and in independent film and television. JohnRiley was pleased to of recently been a part ofthe Summerworks Leadership Intensive Program and is using everything he has learnt to start work on developing a charitable organization dedicated to increasing the development and funding of independent artist. He hopes that with a new structure to support artist that there will be a new life to art, and hopefully a new way of supporting art that is sustainable and works in today’s economy. My People App Executive Summary The App: MyPeople app was created to make your daily life easier. Tired of spending hours organizing your schedule? MyPeople App will do it for you. Connect your calendar application to our app, create a new task, add a description to it (deadline, effort and priority), and we will take care of the rest. The user will not have to think of how to organize its time; the app will do it for him according to several criteria. Criteria analyzed: - Existing tasks: Everything already scheduled is considered to avoid conflicts between tasks and, if possible, give some rest to the user, in order to make their lives more confortable. - User profile: the user can say their preferences about how their lives must be. For example, he or she might want to define that they don’t want to have any tasks scheduled for weekends, or special dates such as birthdays. - New task: When adding a task, in the description of it, the user will be able to add a deadline, the level of priority (high, medium, or low), and the effort needed to complete this particular task (number of hours). - Others: when creating a task, the user can put additional information in order to improve the scheduling decisions. For example, he or she can add the location where the task is going to be made, and our app is going to avoid scheduling it too closely to other tasks scheduled in different places. Target Market and Goal: Our main targets are University students and people with an active life style. They need to be time efficient and do not have time to plan it. We believe that MyPeople App will organize their calendar efficiently and avoid waist of time. Next Steps: In this first version, the app already schedules the task, without asking the user to confirm. The next think to add to the app is the possibility of the user to choose between possibilities that the app gives before the task is scheduled. Further additions are integrating MyPeople App with Google Now, to make the scheduling more personalized and accurate; likewise, add voice services and task suggestions. Biographies Cyrielle Eutrope transferred from French University CEFAM to complete her senior year at Pace University. She is a full-time student with a Management major and Entrepreneurship concentration as well as a minor in Marketing. She is expected to graduate from Pace University in May 2015. While at University, Cyrielle was in charge of several associations. During her sophomore year she became the head of the student council as well as the head of event coordination. She completed several internships and started to shape her resume. Her most significant work experience was for Dentsu Aegis Media, at the International department where she handled clients such as Narciso Rodriguez, Issey Myiake, Jean Paul Gaultier or even Elie Saab. Cyrielle grew up surrounded by entrepreneurs and leadership as always been part of my life. She was encouraged to try new things and not be afraid of failure. I am Mariana Gomes da Motta Macedo. I am a Exchange Student from Brazil. My major is Computer Engineering. I will graduate in Computer Engineering in 2016. My goal in Pace University is to learn extra courses and participate in extra activities. In Pace University, I have the opportunity to share experiences with several professionals. In addition, my time at Pace is improving my Web and Mobile Development knowledge. Moreover, I have studied several topics of the Computacional World. My passion is research because I like learning new things and solving new challenges. Further, my goal is to add new experiences like The Pace Pitch Contest to help me mature professionally. Luiz Henrique is a Brazilian student currently enrolled as a Junior in Computer Science at Pace University. He is participating in a special program sponsored by the Brazilian government that sends students to a foreign country to complete a part of their studies. Since his childhood, Luiz has always been very curious and interested in learning new things. This curiosity instigated a passion for engineering, computers, and entrepreneurship. He aims to create business solutions in these areas to make people’s life easier through automation and technology. His biggest inspirations are Steve Jobs, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Elon Musk, a mix of personalities that inspire his passion in engineering and entrepreneurship. My name is Everton Abreu Correa. I'm a 27 years old Brazilian studying Bachelors in Computer Science . I started my studies in Brazil at Unisinos University (Unisinos stands for University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos) in August of 2009. In Brazil I worked for 3 years at SAP Labs Latin America as a Software Engineer. I came to New York in June of 2014 to study at Pace as an exchange student. I'm a recipient of a fully funded scholarship sponsored by the Brazilian Government through the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program. I'm returning to Brazil in August 2016 and I expect to graduate by the end of 2016. Neta Executive Summary Belongingness is a fundamental human emotional need, and people readily form relationships or connections with others without forcing to do so. This creates a huge demand for social networking. Today, people, especially college students and professionals generally seek ways to expand their social connection either through online social network platforms or through traditional offline communication. Online social network platforms such as Facebook, twitter, Tumblr, or Meetups etc., which help people accumulate friend’s connections up to hundreds or thousands in a short period of time, are suspicious in friendship quality. For instance, among the average of 130 Facebook friends, people will only interact with 3 or 4 of them. On the other hand, traditional social networking such as by referral, or face-to-face communication in any occasion does provide a higher quality relationship, but the quantity is limited. Our mobile application, Neta, helps offsetting the shorts sides of friendships or connections that are formed through solely online or offline social network channel.. Biographies Sijia Pang, is from Chengdu, China and attended Pace University, New York, where she received her BBA in Finance with a Magna cum laude honor in May 2014. She is now a full time first year graduate student and is pursuing a MS degree in Financial Management at Lubin School of Business in Pace University. She is 22 years old. During her years at Pace University, she demonstrated her leadership skill through joining business clubs such as Ascend and being an executive board member of Graduate Finance Club. Besides school, she also gained a lot of internship experiences in the financial areas in companies such as AXA and Northwestern Mutual, and is currently working on her brand new project Neta as a co-founder of NetAround LLC. Yiqiu Gao, is a current part-time MS Financial Management Student at Lubin School of Business, and expected to graduate in May 2017. She completed her BBA Finance degree at Pace University, and graduated as Magna cum laude honor in May 2014. While attending Pace undergraduate school, she was the Treasurer of the National Society of Leadership and Success, and was an intern at Cape Securities, Inc. She also owned and operated a tea shop which was located in Chendu, China, during her first two years of college. Yiqiu Gao is also the founder of NetAround LLC and currently focuses on her start-up project Neta. RamPak Executive Summary RamPak creates clean, disposable liners to existing hydration sources allowing safe drinking for soldiers or athletes on the go. Our customers are primarily military members who must endure harsh environments with limited resources for long periods at a time. In these environments, hydration sources become difficult to keep clean and can ultimately hinder performance as a result of dehydration or illness. RamPak provides a simple solution to maintaining a clean source of water during such times: a thin, plastic liner that acts as a barrier between the already unclean hydration source and the H2O. How It Works Nearly every member of the U.S. Armed Forces is issued a personal hydration back pack, multiple canteens, and often a stainless steel canteen cup. Our market research has shown 9 out of 10 service members report difficulty keeping these personal hydration sources clean during combat, training, and even daily operations. RamPak effectively solves this problem through its unique, patent-pending cap and corresponding disposable liner system. This design requires no difficult installation, alteration, or change to the physical appearance of an existing hydration source. Instead, its simple process allows users to “pop-in” a “RamPak” liner to their existing hydration source, fill it with water, and seal it when complete. When the liner itself becomes unclean, it can be easily extracted and thrown-out or recycled, and replaced with a new “RamPak” liner. The liners arrive compressed for ultra-portability, are BPA free, made in the USA, and come in a variety of sizes to fit any sized hydration back pack, canteen or water container. Target Market As of February 2015, there are approximately 2.5 million members serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. RamPak seeks to capture this large customer base, and will therefore tailor its business and marketing for this demographic. In turn, this will establish a healthy, consistent revenue base to ensure stability of the business. In addition, the athletic industry in the civilian market will be successively pursued after large progress in the military market has been achieved. Competitive Advantage While there are many major competitors offering hydration sources to members of the military as well as the civilian market, there is currently no business offering a disposable liner system that works with these existing products. RamPak will be the first to offer this solution to the problem of a maintaining a clean water source without requiring its user to conduct any actual cleaning. This will initially provide RamPak a competitive edge, and its unique design will maintain its originality and position in the market place as the premier choice for a disposable liner system to existing hydration sources.
Overmolding is the process of molding a part with two or more different materials. It’s one of the trending manufacturing methods in the plastic molding industry. So it makes sense to get a clear idea about this process. Right? In this article let’s learn What is Overmolding and what is the Manufacturing process of Overmolding. - What is Overmolding? - Why Overmolding? - Enhanced Aesthetic Appeal - Increase Product Performance - Simplified Process flow - Lower Manufacturing Cost - Design Flexibility - Eliminates Fasteners & Adhesive - Enhanced User Experience & Ergonomics - What is Substrate? - What is Subsequent? - Types Of Overmolding - Insert Molding - Plastic Over Plastic (Plastic Overmolding) - Plastic Over Metals (Metal Overmolding) - Rubber Over Plastic - Rubber Over Metals - Insert Molding Manufacturing Process - Two Shot Molding ( Multi Shot Molding) - Co Injection Molding - Application Of Overmolding - Benifits Of Overmolding - Drawbacks Of Overmolding - Conclusion What is Overmolding? Overmolding is a plastic manufacturing process where two materials ( Plastic or Metal) are bonded together. The bonding is usually chemical bonding but sometimes mechanical bonding is integrated with the chemical bonding. The primary material is called Substrate and a secondary material is called Subsequent. Overmolding is getting increased popularity due to reduced production cost and quick cycle time. On top of that, you will be able to get aesthetically appealing products in the Overmolding process. Recommended Read: Why plastics are replacing metals Why Overmolding? When we talk about Overmolding, the only thing that came to our mind is that it offers more aesthetic advantages. But that’s not the only advantage that Overmolding offers. For example, A toothbrush that needs a soft material to grip on top of the hard brush material can be molded using the Overmolding process. The different color soft material not only enhances the look but also enhances the way people handle the brush. Sometimes Overmolding is a good option to add a different material on top of any brittle parts so that it can absorb impact. This increase the product durability and performance. Having said that here is a summary of what Overmolding can do. Enhanced Aesthetic Appeal Overmolding helps to achieve a good aesthetic feel. You can add different colors, different materials, soft rubbers on top of the main material to achieve aesthetic requirements. Sometimes to achieve a good aesthetic, manufacturers use multiple methods but in the case of Overmolding, it’s a single process where you can get the same look and feel. Increase Product Performance One of the key reasons for products to degrade performance over time is due to shock, vibration, noise, Fatigue, creep, etc. Often products fail due to the failure of absorbing static loading or impact loading. Overmolding a part with soft material can absorb impacts and thus improve performance. Simplified Process flow Parts manufactured using overmolding can also be done using other multiple methods. But generally, you need more than two operations to make the part. Overmolding can help you manufacture the part in just two operations and that’s why it simplified the process flow. Lower Manufacturing Cost Overmolding can help to reduce manufacturing costs by reducing the number of operations needed to make the part. For example in the automotive field, you can mold an injection molded dashboard with a rubber lining using overmolding process instead of assembling the injection molded part and rubber. Thus it reduces production cost. Design Flexibility Sometimes complex assembly design can be incorporated in an over-molding process and instead of assembling multiple parts, overmolding can create a single part having features of all those parts. For example, a car dashboard, car headlight, etc Eliminates Fasteners & Adhesive For example in the case of a toothbrush, the soft colorful grip is over molded. If you think of it is a second part then we might have required adhesive to glue that. Right? So overmolding eliminates the adhesive in this example. Enhanced User Experience & Ergonomics Most of the overmolding process outputs part with multiple colors which looks good from a customer point of view. Overmolding offers to add soft-touch materials, better gripping, and many other useful feature which ultimately enhances user experience and better ergonomics. Recommended Read: Two Plate mold vs three plate mold What is Substrate? A substrate is a primary material on top of which the second material will be molded. This can be a machined metal part, a molded plastic part, a screw, an electrical connector, or can even be a product. What is Subsequent? Subsequent is the secondary material that will be used to overmold substrate. This can be a polyethylene cover, a soft rubber, or can be any plastic. Please make a note that, not all plastic is compatible with over-molding. Usually, when you do overmolding for metal with plastic, you won’t see any issue. But when you overmold plastic with another plastic, the compatibility issue arises. For example, when you over-mold plastic with plastic, the melting point for substrate material should be higher than subsequent material. Types Of Overmolding Overmolding is not limited to only two materials. Manufacturers are exploring different options to do overmolding as per market demand. Below are a few general types of overmolding process which is also industry standard practice. - Insert Molding - Two Shot Molding - Co Injection Molding Insert Molding Insert molding is a single shot overmolding process where first the substrate is placed in the mold and overmolding material or subsequent material gets injected into the mold. Once cooled, we get the over-molded part bonded together. Below are the types of insert molding practices used by industries. Plastic Over Plastic (Plastic Overmolding) Generally, the substrate, in this case, is a hard plastic and the subsequent materials are soft plastic. This is the widely used overmolding type. Plastic Over Metals (Metal Overmolding) This type of overmolding is also getting used on a larger scale. The substrate material, in this case, is metal and subsequent material is plastic. Rubber Over Plastic In this case, plastic is the substrate and rubber is the subsequent material. This type of molding is gaining popularity as it helps to get good Aesthetic plastic parts. Rubber Over Metals In this case metal is the substrate whereas rubber is the subsequent material. Insert Molding Manufacturing Process Insert molding is a single-shot injection molding process. The mold is simple in design and mold cost is also relatively low. Below are a few steps of the Insert Molding manufacturing process. - Step 1: The base part or substrate is placed into the mold. For example, the screw referring to the above picture - Step 2: Subsequent materials ( Usually thermoplastic or rubber) is injected into the mold which already has the substrate placed - Step 3: Substrate and subsequent bonds with each other and we get a single over-molded part after cooling. Two Shot Molding ( Multi Shot Molding) Two Shot molding, often called Multi-Material or 2K molding is a widely used overmolding process. It requires a special injection molding machine that supports multi-barrel for multi-material injection. Also, it should have a rotating arrangement for the tools so that multiple materials can be injected into the same mold. Part manufactured in two-shot molding can also be done using insert molding but in the case of two-shot molding, you will get better quality. Two shot molding manufacturing process - Step 1: Material is injected from the 1st barrel to the mold. This is the substrate material - Step 2: First material takes the shape of the mold and solidifies and cavities are separated - Step 3: The mold rotates and comes in a position aligned with the second barrel - Step 4: Material gets injected from the second barrel - Step 5: Second material takes shape on top of the first molded part. Part solidifies and taken out from the mold Co Injection Molding Co Injection molding is a special type of injection molding process where two different materials are molded in a single operation. Unlike insert molding or two-shot molding where the substrate is a pre-molded part, in the case of co-injection molding both materials are in a molten state. What that means is that the substrate material will remain in a molten state when the subsequent materials get injected. The process is very complicated and a higher amount of consideration is required in terms of material selection. The reason being both materials needs to be chemically bonded. The cost of a co-injection molding machine is very high and tooling is also very expensive. Co Injection Molding Manufacturing Process - Step 1: A small amount of skin material is injected into the mold which partially occupies it - Step 2: Core material is injected into the mold until it pushes the skin material to the mold surface. The mold should not fill completely - Step 3: The skin material is injected again into the mold to enclose the core material - Step 4: Once solidifies, parts get ejected from the mold. Application Of Overmolding - Medical - Automotive - Aerospace - Consumer Electronics - Controls Benifits Of Overmolding - Quick cycle time - Less number of operations - Better aesthetic part - Enhanced part durability and performance. - Low cost per part for mass production Drawbacks Of Overmolding - Initial tooling investment is high - Materials compatibility - Complex machine setup Conclusion I hope this article could able to provide you enough information to give you a fair idea about Overmolding. Though this guide is not exclusive and you are open to contributing to anything that I missed. Please pen down your query of doubts in the comment section and I will be happy to answer you. Spread the Knowledge

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