You are here: Main " Why ACA repeal bill is the worst yet - especially for women
"The American Academy of Family Physicians is pleased that the U.S. Senate has determined that they will not proceed with efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act".
"A year ago there weren't as many people standing up and saying health care is a human right".
States should be allowed to include additional "targeted" recipients, such as childless adults, and also allowed to cover generic drug equivalents and take measures to control medication costs.
Antos said after years of working to oppose President Barack Obama, the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress was taken by surprise when Donald Trump was elected President last November.
The problem with socialized health care is the very reason I just explained. Senator John McCain of Arizona is one of the Republicans who does not support the Graham-Cassidy bill. Certainly not a God who tells us to protect the least among us.
Roades: I can't predict whether Republicans will eventually pass Graham-Cassidy or another ACA repeal bill, but it does seem like they'll keep trying. Sen. Sadly, politics so often trumps sound policy, moral decency and a sense of responsibility for the next generation and the nation's future.
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, head of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said, "For centuries, Jewish law has commanded communities to provide healthcare to their inhabitants...we call upon the Senate and House to work together to enhance our healthcare system so that all people can access the care they need and deserve".
Concepts like block granting Medicaid expansion funds and premium subsidies and capping Medicaid spending at unrealistic levels will nearly certainly be back in the future. The initial version of Graham-Cassidy reveals that it created a system in which, using a new temporary block grant, all states would receive the amount of federal resources necessary to provide coverage to certain individuals who would be ineligible for Medicaid. Moving forward, Congress needs to craft responsible reforms to bring long-term stability and predictability to the individual market.
The decision not to put the bill to a vote in the Senate came a day after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), would have violated the federal government's trust and treaty responsibility by gutting the ACA and taking away health care from hundreds of thousands of Native Americans, Udall said.
According to Avalere's study, children will see funding slashed by an astonishing 31 percent by 2036.
Park Square was lined with people opposing the new federal health care proposal. In 2004, the HMS Department of Health Care Policy established the Marshall J. Seidman Program for Medical Economics, which supports cost and quality research through the Seidman Fellowship Program.
When Obamacare was introduced in 2010, it was meant to be a solution for Americans who could not afford health insurance. Most everyone in West Virginia knows someone with a pre-existing condition that could end up with astronomical health care charges or loss of coverage. And she described the parents as formidable: "You do not want to stand in between one of these moms and the good health care of her child".
It's no surprise. In addition to the unsafe policies we've seen in previous versions of Obamacare repeal, the Graham-Cassidy-Heller bill goes much further than any other piece of legislation.
COPYRIGHT VIOLATION WARNING: This news story was originally posted by Week Herald and is the sole property of of Week Herald. Wall Street is only getting more bullish on the stock, with 11 of analysts who cover LBTYA having a buy-equivalent rating.
You may have seen this outlined in Star Wars Shattered Empire and Star Wars Aftermath, punishing the Empire and Rebellion both. There's also a glimpse at summoning reinforcements and hero customisation.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued regulatory guidance on initial coin offerings (ICOs). The move helped convulse Bitcoin prices that had been behaving in a parabolic fashion, ultimately peaking at all-time highs.
With fans eager to see what would happen between Neymar and Cavani, it was the Brazilian who stepped up and rolled it in for his eighth goal in PSG colours.
Airport, hotel, circuit - Raikkonen sees no reason to miss Malaysian GP
Having been second quickest to team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in FP3, Vettel had to stop running early due to a power unit issue. It is Hamilton's fifth career Malaysian Grand Prix pole position equaling Michael Schumacher's Sepang record.
These two charts show what's wrong with Trump's tax proposal
If you own your own business, you'd only benefit from the cap if you would otherwise be subject to a tax rate higher than 25%. But the claim that broad cuts in corporate and individual tax rates will not reduce revenue is not borne out by history.
Trump has repeatedly boasted about the positive reviews he said his administration is getting from Puerto Rico and the U.S. A spokesperson for Rosselló told CNN only 20 percent of drivers have gone back to work since the hurricane.
Asked whether there could be any happiness about his promotion, he said, "There's happiness from the standpoint of we know now". It's not something easy on us or him. "He's loud in practice and it is fun to have him around".
Speaking ahead of Crystal Palace's visit to Old Trafford on Saturday, Mourinho revealed that the France global will not be available for the foreseeable future.
Television pictures showed dozens of fans falling onto the pitch, and the match was suspended following a security meeting. Lille tweeted a message to the injured fans from their official Twitter account saying: "We give them all our support".
Tim Aiken, NC Guard's Director of Joint Operations. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by Hurricane Maria", said Brig.
Bluehole Spins Off Separate Entity Focused Entirely On PUBG
Playerunknown's Battleground firm Bluehole has confirmed that Chinese tech giant Tencent has contacted it to purchase a stake. Earlier today, Bluehole announced that the smash hit PUBG is now being maintained by PUBG Corp .
Congress will have sixty days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions that were in place before the nuclear deal was signed. Responding to the missile test, Trump said it illustrated the weakness of the existing nuclear deal.


Entries in Department of Agriculture (3)
Food Prices Could Rise 5 Percent in Next 9 Months
Jupiterimages/Pixland/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The cost of filling grocery carts in America is going up. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that it is projecting as much as a five percent price hike for some food items over the next nine months.
"Of course I'm concerned," said shopper Barbara Webb. "I'm concerned for the people who can't afford it."
Behind the expensive jump is the drought, now covering 60 percent of the United States, pushing up prices for feed that translate into higher prices for beef, pork and chicken products.
Beef prices will see the biggest hike, up four to five percent, according to the USDA. That means the ground beef purchased last year for $2.77 per pound will cost consumers $3.04 per pound next year.
Dairy product prices will increase by 3.5 to 4.5 percent, bumping a gallon of milk from $3.57 in 2011 to $3.84 in 2013.
The price of eggs will also go up by three to four percent, making a dozen eggs $1.95 per dozen in 2013, compared with $1.77 in 2011.
If USDA's economists are correct, a family who spends $150 per week on groceries will now be spending $160 by next year, bumping their annual food budget up more than $500.
Lisa Lee Freeman, editor-in-chief of ShopSmart magazine, has a few tips for families trying to keep their grocery bills down, despite the anticipated hike.
"The best thing you can do is if all you're doing is clipping coupons in newspapers -- go online!" Freeman said. "There are literally hundreds of coupons online and if you're not tapping that, you're missing out on a huge resource for savings."
Freeman also recommends buying store brands in supermarkets, joining warehouse clubs and even shopping at dollar stores to save the most money.
"Things are changing and the dollar stores are now carrying brand name items," Freeman said. "Prices can be up to one-third cheaper at the dollar store than at the supermarket."
The 2013 food price forecast projects an overall food price hike of three to four percent, higher than the normal annual grocery inflation of 2.8 percent.
The recent announcement is also the USDA's first projection to factor in the drought.
David Lobell, writes studies for Climate Central, monitoring global warming. He says farmers should prepare for tougher growing conditions and higher prices in the future.
"This year is very emblematic of the type of thing we worry about with climate change," Lobell said. "The new normal for agriculture is going to be frequent episodes of very high temperatures. Temperatures at which pretty much any crop does not do very well."
Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 9:51PM by Carmen Cox Permalink
tagged Crops, Department of Agriculture, Food Prices, drought in Business General, Economy
Less Beef Being Consumed in the US, USDA Finds
Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Where's the beef? These days, less of it is being found in the kitchens of the average American family, much to the consternation of cattle ranchers and meat packers.
There's no question that the nation's beef consumption habits have changed over the past decade for health reasons. Another problem for the beef industry: the down economy and a fall-off in business of restaurants with main courses of steaks and other meat dishes.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, per capita beef consumption in 2011 was 57.4 pounds per person, a drop of 13 percent from 2001. It's believed that the decline will continue next year by at least another five to six percent from 2011.
The beef industry has responded by developing cuts of meat that will satisfy steak lovers at lower prices. Sales of cheaper ground beef have also risen substantially.
Meanwhile, the industry is also looking outside the U.S. to bolster business. Sales have improved in Asian countries including Russia, where fears of mad cow disease have subsided over the past few years.
Friday, December 23, 2011 at 6:00AM by Jeanette Torres Permalink
tagged Beef, Department of Agriculture, USDA in Business General
USDA Is Pleased after Government Approves Funding in Pigford Settlement
Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. Photo Courtesy - USDA dot gov(WASHINGTON) -- The Senate Friday decided to provide funding as relief to the country's black farmers who have experienced discrimination in the farming industry.
The government approved funding for the settlement agreement on a class action suit originally filed in 1997 by farmer Timothy Pigford, who was later joined in the suit by 400 other African American farmers, against the Department of Agriculture citing instances of descrimination.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture commended the government's "leadership in working to right these wrongs."
"This announcement marks a major milestone in USDA's efforts to turn the page on a sad chapter in our history," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a written statement.
Vilsack added that Civil rights is a "top priority," which has prompted him to implement a program that will ensure customers are treated fairly and equally.
Copyright 2010 ABC News Radio
Friday, November 19, 2010 at 8:30PM by Carmen Cox Permalink
tagged Department of Agriculture, Pigford Settlement in Business General


Labels: israel, jordan, middle east
Last update - 05:00 10/11/2005
Israelis evacuated from Amman hotel hours before bombings
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
A number of Israelis staying on Wednesday at the Radisson hotel were evacuated before the bombing by Jordanian security forces, apparently due to a specific security alert. They were escorted back to Israel by security personnel.
The Foreign Ministry stated Wednesday that no Israeli tourists are known to have been injured in the blasts. Representatives of Israel's embassy in Amman were in contact with local authorities to examine any report of injured Israelis, but none were received. There are often a number of Israeli businessman and tourists in Amman, including in the hotels hit Wednesday.
Israel's counter-terror headquarters on Wednesday recommended Israeli citizens not travel in Jordan. Travel warnings regarding Jordan were tightened a few months ago, but many Israelis still visit the country. Many also visit other regions such as the Jordanian Arava and the ancient city of Petra.
full
Scores Dead In Three
Amman Hotel Bombings
Israelis Evacuated Before Attack
By Yoav Stern and Zohar Blumenkrantz
Ha'aretz Daily - Israel
Bombs rocked three hotels in Amman late last night, killing at least 57 people and wounding more than 115 in apparent suicide attacks. One of the hotels is known to be popular with Israeli tourists.
"There were three terrorist attacks on the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels, and it is believed that the blasts were suicide bombings," police spokesman Major Bashir al-Da'aja told The Associated Press. He declined to elaborate.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.
A police official said the attacks were simultaneous and hit minutes before 9 P.M. in two districts in the Jordanian capital, including the commercial area of Jebel Amman and Al-Rabiyeh, which houses the Israeli Embassy.
A number of Israelis staying yesterday at the Radisson SAS were evacuated before the bombing by Jordanian security forces, apparently due to a specific security alert. They were escorted back to Israel by security personnel.
The Foreign Ministry stated yesterday that no Israeli tourists are known to have been injured in the blasts. Representatives of Israel's embassy in Amman were in contact with local authorities to examine any report of injured Israelis, but none were received. There are often a number of Israeli businessman and tourists in Amman, including in the hotels hit yesterday.
Israel's counter-terror headquarters yesterday recommended Israeli citizens not travel in Jordan. Travel recommendations regarding Jordan were tightened a few months ago, but many Israelis still visit the country. Many also visit other regions such as the Jordanian Arava and the ancient city of Petra.
The first bomber, at 8:50 P.M. local time, struck the Grand Hyatt, completely shattering the stone entrance. An AP reporter saw at least seven bodies removed from the hotel and many more wounded carried out on stretchers.
CNN reported an eyewitness saying the Jordanian prime minister's car was at the Grand Hyatt at the time of the blast.
Police said a second explosion hit the nearby Radisson SAS hotel, where about 250 people were attending a wedding reception. At least five were killed and at least 20 wounded in that blast, believed to have been caused by a bomb placed in a false ceiling, police sources at the scene told Reuters.
The Radisson, in particular, is popular with Israeli tourists and was a target of several foiled Al-Qaida plots in the past.
Police also reported a third explosion at the Days Inn Hotel in Amman. There were also casualties at that hotel.
"The attacks carry the trademark of Al-Qaida," one police official said on condition of anonymity in line with police regulations. "However, it is not certain. We are investigating."
Ayman al-Safadi, editor of Jordan's Al-Ghad newspaper, told the Al-Arabiya satellite network that it was a "terrorist operation."
"Finally, the terrorists succeeded in breaking the security in Jordan," he said, referring to past success in foiling many terror plots.
Jordan's King Abdullah II condemned the attack, saying, "Justice will pursue the criminals" behind the Amman suicide attacks, CNN reported. Abdullah, who was on an official visit to Kazakhstan, cut short his trip and was returning home last night.
The Grand Hyatt and Radisson SAS hotels, in the commercial Jebel Amman district, are located about one kilometer apart and are frequented by American and European businessmen and diplomats. The Days Inn is located three kilometers away.
An American businessman who was at the Grand Hyatt when the explosion occurred said a "bomb that went off in the lobby." He declined to identify himself.
"It was a miracle that we made it out with a scratch," said a British guest at the Grand Hyatt.
"We thought it was fireworks for the wedding but I saw people falling to the ground," said Ahmed, a wedding guest at the
Radisson who did not give his surname. "I saw blood. There were people killed. It was ugly."
Jordan, a key ally of both the United States and Israel, had largely escaped the terror attacks that have hit other parts of the Middle East, and its sleepy capital, Amman, is viewed as a haven of stability in the region.
But Jordan has not been entirely immune: On Aug. 19, militants fired three Katyusha rockets at a U.S. Navy ship docked at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, narrowly missing it and killing a Jordanian soldier.
Jordanian officials blamed that attack on Al-Qaida in Iraq, and there have been growing worries that the violence in Iraq could spill over into Jordan, where many Iraqi exiles have taken refuge from the violence.

Who died, and who didn't, in Jordan
There is an excellent summary of some peculiarities in the Jordan bombings in Xiaodong People, tying it to warnings given to Israelis in other recent 'terrorist' attacks (we might add the Odigo 9-11 warnings). The original story that the Israelis received warnings has been whitewashed, and the link replaced by a denial. There is, however, reported confirmation of advance warning from Amos N. Guiora, a former senior Israeli counter-terrorism official. You have to wonder why the Israelis chose not to share their wonderful intelligence with the Jordanians (in much the same way that you might wonder why they didn't go into more detail in their warnings to the United States on 9-11, particularly as their intelligence was apparently good enough and specific enough to be able to send Israeli agents to film the attack on the WTC, not to mention cheer it on). The attack did manage to kill the head of the Palestinian intelligence services (not to mention a Palestinian banker and a Palestinian commercial attache), and members of a delegation from China's University of National Defense, with whom the Palestinians might be assumed to be meeting (or at least the Israelis might have so assumed; see Kurt Nimmo on the Chinese connection). Since at least one of the bombs was pre-planted in a ceiling of the hotel, it would be very interesting to know who owned the hotel and could give access to bomb planters. The Jordanian reaction, to blame it all on the same dead man the Americans use as the scapegoat in Iraq, is probably a reflection of the extremely close ties between the CIA and Jordan's General Intelligence Directorate. I think we can probably chalk this one up to the continuing battle between the Israelis and the Palestinians over who gets to be protected by China after the American Empire collapses under the weight of trying to build the Israeli Empire.


MONZA to DONATE 10 PERCENT of PIZZA and HOUSE WINE SALES; SUPPORTS AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY, Jan. 27 | Business
MONZA to DONATE 10 PERCENT of PIZZA and HOUSE WINE SALES; SUPPORTS AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY, Jan. 27
Wednesday, January 14th, 2015, 1:49pm
Topics: Business, Community Spirit, Restaurants
Monza of Old Town Manassas, Va. is hosting an American Cancer Society fundraiser on Tues., Jan. 27 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monza will donate 10 percent of all pizza and house wines sales from that night to the American Cancer Society. For information, go to .
"We invite everyone to come out and help support the American Cancer Society, enjoy some brick-oven pizza and make a difference," said Alice Pires, owner of Carmello's and Monza of Old Town Manassas, Va.
Carmello's of Old Town Manassas, Va. was established in 1987 and is owned by Portuguese immigrant, Alice Pires of Manassas, Va. The family-owned restaurant offers fine dining, serving a contemporary American cuisine with Portuguese and Mediterranean influence. In 2011, its sister restaurant, Monza, was created, providing bistro fare. Carmello's earned the Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator magazine for five consecutive years, and has been voted best fining dining restaurant by Prince William Today for 2013. Their seasonal menus are complemented by their fresh produce from the restaurant's garden. Carmello's and Monza are active volunteers in its community, uniting with local charities to help those in need and to build community spirit. For more information, go to , , visit us on Facebook, Twitter or call 703-368-5522.


Matt Phelan
Interview: September 13, 2016
SNOW WHITE: A GRAPHIC NOVEL --- written and illustrated by award-winning author Matt Phelan --- is a retelling of the classic fairytale like you've never seen before. Set in New York in the 1930s, Phelan's gorgeous artwork will sweep you away into a familiar story, but with a lot of interesting changes on the characters and story you love. In this interview with Teenreads.com's Dana Cuadrado, Matt Phelan shares his inspiration for his "Snow White" reimagining as well as his artistic process in illustrating the story.
Dana Cuadrado: Fairy tale retellings are hugely popular these days, especially for young adults. What inspired you to take on your own retelling and why did you choose Snow White?
Matt Phelan: The story of "Snow White" has wonderful layers to it. I particularly like that she is not alone. She inspires others and they help her. That aspect always set it apart for me.
There are many, many versions of "Snow White" in the world. Why do another one? For me, the driving force was the idea that --- no matter how dark or oppressive the world is --- there are still good people and furthermore, I believe, more good people than evil. It's the goodness of Snow and her optimism that conquers the evil. It's an important thing to remember in today's world.
DC: Your artistic style and the historical settings were highlights for me when reading your book. What inspired you to set Snow White in the 1930s? How did you do your research on the time period?
MP: One day I made the connection between the apple peddlers of the Great Depression and the evil stepmother in "Snow White". I made a sketch, just for my own amusement, of a crowded city street and one young woman stopped by a very haggard looking peddler holding up a deep red apple. From that, I started to think of more ways "Snow White" could translate to that period. Who is the Queen? The Queen of the Ziegfeld Follies. Who are the Seven Dwarfs? Seven street kids, like the Dead End Gang of the movies. It was almost a game, but eventually I became fascinated about how that approach could change the story and how I might be able to add something to the tale. The Seven and the fact that they keep their names a secret (a sharp contrast to the Disney version) was really the key.
The 1920s, '30s, and even the '40s have always fascinated me, due mostly to my lifetime love of movies from that time. (I'm also a huge fan of the music, art, and fashions of that era). As a result, I think I can "put" myself into that time period fairly easily. For the look of this book, I was influenced less by the glossy Art Deco style and more by the darker 1930s films like Fritz Lang's M, John Ford's The Informer, and King Kong.
DC: Many of the story choices in SNOW WHITE were really fresh and modern. What specifically did you want to bring to a story that has been retold so many times to revitalize it and make it your own?
MP: I guess the most drastic change I made was getting rid of the "fairest in the land" motivation. Since the Queen is an ex-Broadway star, I felt that she would have always been surrounded by upcoming young ingénues. That's part of the game. Greed and social position are more powerful motivations for an aging star in the Great Depression. That led to changing the magic mirror to the ticker tape machine (although I do give her a room that is filled with nothing but mirrors). The other thing that bothered me about the fairest in the land angle was that it seems pretty shallow. Does the huntsman spare Snow because she's pretty? No. There had to be something more to her. Snow is an innately good person in a dark and hopeless world. That is what inspires the huntsman and the Seven to help her.
DC: All of your characters were really well-thought out and developed, but I especially loved the Evil Queen character --- her eyes were incredibly expressive! Which character are you most fond of?
MP: Thank you. I resisted any urge to give the Queen a backstory to make her sympathetic. She is not a good person.
I've always had a fondness for the huntsman character. In my version, Mr. Hunt is a goon, a thug who fell in love with the Queen while working backstage at the Follies. I think he's been doing her dirty work for years, but he draws the line at murdering Snow. He's the tragic hero of the story. Plus, it's just fun to draw a mug like that.
DC: Your artwork is beautiful and must be very time consuming; which panel took you the longest to complete? How many drafts does it take from start to finish for a graphic novel?
MP: I always write a manuscript first before drawing anything. SNOW WHITE has been in the back of my mind for maybe ten years, so when I finally sat down to write it (a month or so after finishing the art for BLUFFTON) it came out fairly quickly and intact. The entire book took about three years to create.
Although drawing a graphic novel is incredibly time consuming, I wanted to work quickly on each panel. I wanted a certain energy to the line and the watercolor. I wanted it to be alive. To make the dummy, I sketched the whole thing in very small, loose drawings using black and white pencils on grey paper. The sketches really had life (part of me wanted to just print those). So, in order to give the finals the same energy, I drew each page without using a light-box or a guide sketch except for just looking at those small drawings for inspiration. If I messed up, I redrew it. But working that way --- that uncertainty of pulling it off --- made each panel exciting to draw and paint.
DC: From looking at your past work, it is clear that you have a personality and style that carries throughout all of your work. Can you describe your artistic style and influences?
MP: I've always loved sketches and art that has a "just enough" quality to it. E.H. Shepard (the illustrator of WINNIE-THE-POOH and THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS) is a great example. Shepard also managed to convey a tremendous amount of warmth and emotion in his drawings and that emotional connection is also something I aspire too in my work. Recently, I've been studying the drawings of China and Japan. It astounds me how simple and perfect those drawings are especially when compared to what was happening in the west in, say, the 12th century. In his STORY OF ART, E.H. Gombrich writes that the Chinese artists were not interested in detail or realism of any kind. They were more interested in "the visual traces of the artist's enthusiasm". I love that.
I'm also influenced (in style and storytelling) by the movies of the Golden Age: Orson Welles, Buster Keaton, Billy Wilder, John Ford, and some of Hitchcock (particularly Notorious and Shadow of a Doubt).
DC: Do you come from a naturally artistic and creative family? How did you get your start as a writer/illustrator?
MP: My home was very creative but not in a pushy way. My mom drew and painted for fun. My dad made Super 8 movies in his spare time. My brother is a musician. I drew and had a workshop in the basement where I built puppets and experimented with stop-motion animation and special effects. I was always making something or gathering friends to shoot a short video in the backyard.
In my mid- to late-twenties I realized that my dream job was to be a picture book illustrator. I spent years putting a portfolio together before getting my break at a Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) event. I was 33 at the time and well into a "real" career. I never let go of the idea that I wanted to earn my living doing creative work and that tenacity paid off eventually.
DC: Since you have illustrated other author's stories as well writing and illustrating your own, which would you say is harder to do? Which do you prefer?
MP: I really do enjoy both since they exercise different muscles. When you illustrate someone else's story there is a great responsibility to identify the tone and intention of the author. It's almost like a puzzle. But then you need to bring something to that, to enhance the story. When it's successful, the picture book really is a collaboration between the writer and the artist. That can be very exciting and satisfying. When it's also your story, you still need to discover the right tone but you are 100% sure of the intention from the beginning.
DC: What advice would you give for aspiring artists and writers?
MP: Draw and write. Look at books but don't copy styles or follow trends. Find what you love about this work and focus on that. Be enthusiastic. Make sure you leave visual traces of your enthusiasm.
DC: What are you currently working on? What is your next project?
MP: I'm working on some new stories for older audiences but it's too soon to talk details. For SNOW WHITE, I brought some techniques from picture books into the graphic novel medium (I don't really separate the two in my mind aside from the age of the intended audience). I'm interested in experimenting with more hybrid forms of storytelling as well as traditional illustrated chapter books.
This year has been devoted to work on four picture books which is pure bliss. In addition to three wonderful stories written by others, I'm finishing my own picture book which is called PIGNIC. It's about... well, pigs on a picnic. It's for very young children which is a wonderful challenge. The theme of the book is that despite setbacks, everything will be okay. That's not far from the theme of SNOW WHITE, now that I think about it.


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Konstantinos Papachristou
The Darkness of a Fairy Tale
"We are living in a world where we are constantly bombarded by advertisements..."
"We have lost the true meaning of life..."
The Darkness of a Fairy Tale is the debut album of saxophone player and composer Konstantinos Papachristou, and describes the journey of a man that receives his wake-up call and begins an esoteric quest in an effort to find the true meaning of life. Konstantinos composed a contemporary jazz concept-album, with an often dark, programmatic intention, that allures the listener to dive deep into his senses. The arrangement retains an unrefined classic jazz sound, and the instrumentation includes a double bass, piano and drums that blend perfectly with the composer's fat sounding, tenor saxophone and strong influence of the ECM Jazz label.
Been a very creative person, Konstantinos loves music as well as High-End Audio, and he has been involved in various music projects, and has also designed High-End Audio Equipment for consumer and professional use. He supervised the whole production process of the album, and imprinted his personal standpoint in the sound of the album. Darkness of a Fairy Tale retains a live feel with the calmness and focus of a studio album, making it the best of both worlds. Darkness of a Fairy Tale is released in an aesthetic digipak audio-CD featuring cover art from the stunning original painting "Jours et Nuits No4" (acryl on canvas, 1996, Vangelis Papachristos) and also on every popular digital music store world wide.
You can like Konstantinos' facebook page here:
Τελευταίες κυκλοφορίες
Kaisarias str 101, 18450 Nikaia, Greece


GB To Play 2020 Tournament in Lausanne
May 28, 2019 IIHF Press Release 0
Following organizational meetings in Bratislava, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has announced the groups for the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship that will take place from 8 to 24 May in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland.
IIHF World Rankings - GB Men up to 20th.
May 27, 2019 IHUK Press Release 0
Great Britain have moved up two places to 20th in the IIHF world rankings following the conclusion of the World Championship in Slovakia
GB teams learn venues for 2020 World Championships
Great Britain's ice hockey teams now know the venue and dates for next year's World Championship tournaments.
Motorpoint Arena Nottingham to host Olympic qualifying tournament
Ice Hockey UK and the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham are honoured to announce that the venue will host a stage of the qualifiers for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
From IIHF.com: The History Makers
Two years ago, Great Britain was lining up against the likes of Croatia and the Netherlands in Division IB. Yesterday, the Brits secured their place at the 2020 World Championship in Switzerland after a thrilling fightback to defeat France in overtime after trailing 0-3 midway through the second period.
Davies: The best moment in my career
Forward Ben Davies says scoring the winning goal to keep Great Britain in the top flight of the World Championship was the "best moment in my career".
Great Britain 4-3 France (OVERTIME)
Great Britain secured their top-flight World Championship status with a stunning 4-3 overtime victory over France in their final game at the World Championship.
Presentation for Phillips' 50th game as captain
Forward Jonathan Phillips was presented with a special memento to mark his 50th game as Great Britain captain ahead of this afternoon's game with France in the World Championship.
From NY Times: Britannia Rules the ... Rink?
May 20, 2019 International Press Release 0
British sports enthusiasts may be anxiously awaiting the all-English Champions League and Europa League finals, but another team from Britain is trying to score goals in an even more surprising setting.
Great Britain 1-7 Slovakia
Great Britain were beaten 7-1 by hosts Slovakia in their sixth game at the World Championship in Kosice.
Mike Hammond was on target for GB late in the first period as he scored his third goal of the tournament.


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President Donald Trump's executive order banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.?was developed to safeguard Americans from terrorism. Instead, it is likely to...


September 25, 2017 April 12, 2019 by Bobby Rettew
Henry Joseph Rettew and his name sake! #twinslife
His name is Joe Bridwell. He is my mom's dad, who past away in March 2011. I called him Pop. I am the oldest grandchild on my mom's side with my mom being the oldest living child of my grandfather's. As I was thinking about Pop and Henry, I remembered what I said during his memorial service. I had to take the funeral home's audio CD and have it transcribed so I could pull the exact words from that day. What I found is what I said straight from the heart and matches all the reason Henry Joseph Rettew was named partly for my Pop. I took those words and edited some to bring context to path down memory lane.
Pop was an amazing businessperson and he also was a good businessperson with his family. I think back to the years we were growing up as kids over in Regency Park. All the different pine straw forts that we used to build.
He knew that if he and Nana put together a great Thanksgiving dinner, the whole family would come over, have Thanksgiving lunch and then he put everyone to work in the afternoon to rake up all the pine straws.
Pop, to me, was many things. Pop was a jokester. He liked a funny card. He liked it off color. And he liked to tell jokes. He also was a sportsman. He never told me if he liked Clemson or South Carolina, but he always rooted for both of them because the house was divided with many Gamecocks and many Clemson fans.
Pop was a family man. And because of that, as a grandchild I always felt like a son. I never felt like that I was a, quote unquote, "grandchild", and I think, and I can't speak for all the grandchildren and my cousins, but I think that each of us kind of felt like a child to him. Because, in his own special way he always wanted to mentor us. Whether if he was letting us know that we were making a mistake, or if he was listening to us and trying to build us back up; we were still sons and daughters to him regardless if we were grandchildren.
When I think of Pop I think of a few things. There's three topics: entrepreneurship, family, and legacy.
I've been in the middle of this big entrepreneurship debate with a lot of my friends and colleagues, I have been trying to figure out if whether entrepreneurship is a learned skill, or is it genetic. When I think about entrepreneurship, I think about Pop. I wonder when he was a young son to Granny (his mother my great-grandmother), did he wake up one day and say, "You know what? I'm going to be an entrepreneur". I don't know. Really, I don't know what led him to be an entrepreneur. When you think of him leading a long career in real estate here in Anderson, SC, it was preceded by his big career as a pharmaceuticals rep. And when he retired from pharmaceutical sales and wanted to tackle the real estate world, he knew what it would take! That is the measure of an entrepreneur; that's an innovator who is willing to see that there's an opportunity and a market need, and then willing to go tackle it.
So Pop had a tremendous drive an as entrepreneur. And I wrote this about Pop about a few yeas ago, when I was sitting down reflecting, "Entrepreneur's success is dependent upon the people around us and their support. Now we will have plenty of people around us that find it in their best interests for us to fail. But the ones who really love us and support us; they listen to our successes, they listen to our failures, they encourage us to just go out and swing that bat again, because we all like to go out and swing that bat. Pop knew how to swing that bat. He did. He got up to bat every time, every day...he was swinging. He was an early man. Early riser. And he got up and swung that bat every morning."
Pop loved gadgets. I don't know if you knew, but Pop probably had the first cell phone in Anderson, South Carolina. I remember him pulling in to the drive way in his first Mercedes. It was a tan 240D Mercedes, it only went five miles an hour, at least that is what it felt like, but it was spotless all the time. He had a phone in the center console, it was big and it had a rotary dial. We thought it was the coolest thing, I was only 10 years old riding down the road and he was dialing on a rotary dial telephone from his car. It had a big antenna on the back, and it looked like a big truck antenna. But he knew, it was a market differentiator because he would get on the his rotary dial phone, driving down the road, and organize his real estate deals.
Over the years, he always had the latest mobile phone. When a new one would come out, he had to have it. He would even have three; sometimes...he would play with it and he'd get mad at it and go get another one. And that's how he was. He always had to have the latest gadgets. And I can identify with him because I fill my briefcase and pockets with the latest iPhones and iPads. We were always wondering what was Pop's latest gadget, so we could play with it and figure out if we wanted to get it.
Pop's gadgets got him in trouble. I think of three examples. One is a trip to Vegas. Few people know about the Vegas trip, but Pop and Nana, along with a a few friends took off to Vegas. When they arrived he got a phone call. There was a deal. So he answered the phone, his cell phone, got on a plane, left his wife, and his friends, to fly back to manage the deal. Yes, Pop's gadgets got him in trouble. I don't know what happened when Nana got a hold of him, but I'm sure If that was me I'd probably would have been sleeping in the office for a few weeks.
Pop had triple bypass surgery when I was a young boy. When Pop woke up the first thing he grabbed was his cell phone. Now I don't know how he got his cell phone into the middle of the ICU, but he coaxed someone to give him the cell phone. And as soon as he woke up he turned that joker on, and he sent the nurses into a frenzy because all the monitors were going crazy. At that time, the cell signals were a little bit different. And they were on the same wavelength as most of the technology inside the room. So, it got him in trouble...Nana had to take it away.
Pop ... also it got him in trouble with his driving. He would be driving down the road with his knee holding the steering wheel, he'd have the newspaper in one hand, and the cell phone in the other. And that, you know, led to many rear endings. So, it got him in trouble on the road.
Pop and I share that love for gadgets. I remember when I purchased my first iPad. I was one of the first people to pre-order the first iPad released, and I couldn't wait. I was checking FedEx all the time online to see when it was going to show up. And when I got it, I opened it up, and the first thing I wanted to do was go take it to Pop and let him play with it. Pop had this affinity for technology, I think innovators and entrepreneurs have that affinity for technology. We always want to be on the cutting edge, allowing us to do what we do best.
Pop also believed in the customer. The customer was always number one, he always took care of his customers. He listened to them, he made sure that everything was taken care of for his customers. I wrote this about him a few years ago, after I'd sat down and chatted with him, "My grandfather believed in the customer. He was not a serial entrepreneur. He was a real estate man. He did not spend all of his time focusing on the properties, he spent his time getting to know his customers. He listened and responded, he put the customer first. In his time away from the customer, he spent walking through tons of properties, memorizing each one".
Pop had a photographic memory. It was amazing. It was amazing, when I would ride with him, he could ride through a neighborhood and he could look at a property, and he could tell you exactly the makeup of each house. And he would tell you the details about that house. He would look at a house and say, "You know, that was a three bedroom, four bath, it was renovated two years ago, but before it was renovated" ... And he would just list the intricacies of the house as if, in his mind, he was walking through it with a customer. And it was amazing, his ability to visualize his passion.
When I was in graduate school, I took one summer off. And the main reason I took it off is because my Pop decided that he wanted to, once again, help a customer and climb up on the side of a Ford Explorer while riding through a piece of property, on the side of it! He fell off of while they're driving through the field. And of course he hurt his hip and broke his arm. But he had to work. He had to do it. So, it was Bobby driving Mr. Daisy. Now I don't know if you all know but Pop always had to have the biggest BMW Mercedes out there, because he liked to pile all the people in, but for some reason he decided to try out the new BMW 7 Series and it was like having a living room in the back seat. So I drove him around for about eight weeks. Just me and my Pop, and I learned more that summer about being an entrepreneur than you can imagine.
But there are a few funny things that came out of that summer. The first is, I call it The Godfather Story. We pulled into a house out on the lake. Pop's sitting in the back, and he looked at me and said, "Bobby, when we pull in I want you to go check out the backyard". I said, "Well, yes sir". So we pulled in, and as I'm walking through the backyard scanning around, trying to memorize everything to relay it back to him, I look up; and the person that was going to sell the house and sign the listing walked up, sat in the backseat with Pop. He was smoking a cigarette and Pop was sitting there just working on his contract. And I kind of looked back up, and I felt like I was kind of the watch person for the Godfather. Watching out, wondering if anybody else in going to show up; and in this long, big old BMW, there is a deal going down in the backseat.
Pop loved chicken salad, you could see his mouth watering when I even mentioned it. So Pop looked at me one day and said, "Bobby, let's go get some chicken salad". So I drove him up to his favorite place, Jake's on Highway 81. So we drive up Jake's, pull around, and we order two chicken salad sandwiches, two Cokes, and I ordered a thing of fries, he wanted to have a few. He never ordered fries.
So, we pull up, and I said, "Pop, you got some money?"
He said, "No, did you pick it up?"
"No". "Well, I thought Nana gave you your allowance?"
"No". "Well, how are we going to pay for this?"
So I pull up and I say, "Ma'am can you hold on just one second. We got to pull the money together". And she stuck her head out the window and looked at this long BMW, she looked at me driving Pop, him sitting in the back. I bet she was thinking why are these two men digging around in the floors for money in this big ole, spotless 7 Series BMW for money. I paid with it through pennies and quarters that were laying in the ground. It had been a few weeks since the inside had not been vacuumed. We must have found $10 in quarters laying around in the floorboard.
My Pop loved his work. He loved his family. He was always working a deal, showing a house, meeting someone new. As kids, it was hard to understand his commitment to his work, but now I do. I'm an entrepreneur, business owner, a gatherer. My aunt Mary Jo said it best one night while Pop was in the hospital. I was worried I was going to have to go on the road when Pop was declining fast. She said that Pop would understand because each dollar I made is not like everyone else's dollar. It pays the mortgage. And if we had enough it goes into savings when times are slow.
He raised four hardworking children. You will not find a lazy Bridwell. My last name may be Rettew, but I am also a Bridwell. We are leaders. We do not lead to get noticed. We are problem solvers. My final time sitting and listening to him, his body was old and tired, but his mind was keen and sharp. He believed in people. He believed in good business. He believed in his family. He always wanted to know what deals I've signed, what new person I'd met, what new places I'd seen with my eyes. He was always thinking business. It was hard for me to look at him in his casket. See, Pop was not a quitter. He did not give up on anything.
We can say that Pop is in a better place. We can say that Pop is selling real estate again in the neighborhoods of heaven. or whatever metaphor you choose to use. It is my thought that I would rather carry the legacy of Pop, from the teachings, and the life journeys of times we had together. My Pop still is not a quitter. Even though he is no longer here, his legacy lives on. You see, entrepreneurs are always thinking three steps ahead. That's what we call innovation.
Legacy. What legacy do you want to leave? I could write on and on about my Pop, his legacy, the way he viewed his life was so unique. I wanted so many times to extract as much information out of his brain before he left us. I wish it was a hard drive and I could plug a thumb drive in and save as much information as it could hold.
My Pop left us a legacy. He was the only son to my Granny. When he passed away, he had four great children, eght grandchildren, four of which are married, one great grandchild and two more on the way. That was his lasting legacy. After the visitation we all huddled up at Pop and Nana's house, eating food, watching basketball. It's almost like we were kids again. It really was. We were not dwelling on the sadness, but enjoying the fellowship. We were sharing living that legacy. We have a tremendous burden. I am not a Bridwell by name, but I'm a Bridwell by blood.
What he did not realize is one day I would name a son in his honor. Henry Joesph Rettew, and you can already tell he is a people person, and extrovert, and person that wants to be in the middle of it all. As an infant, he likes to be held and wants to be in the room with everyone else. As a twin, he likes to sleep next to his brother so he can snuggle up and feel the human touch. Pop was a people person. He was an extrovert and I think we appropriately Henry Joseph Rettew, in honor of my Pop, Joe Bridwell.
I will leave you with this, as John Maxwell, author on numerous book on leadership said, "There are two types of people in life, those who make things happen and those who wonder what happened". Legacies aren't just wishful thinking. They're the result of determined doing. The legacy you leave is the life you lead. You must never know whose life you might touch. You can make a difference. Legacies aren't just wishful thinking, they're just determined doing. A legacy comes from the idea that everyone, regardless of rank or position, can make a difference. Legacies encompass the past, present, and future. Legacies force us to consider where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going.
A quest to leave a lasting legacy is a journey from success to significance. How do you want to be remembered? By living each day as if it matters, we offer up our own unique legacy. We make the world we inhabit a better place than we found it. We can choose to lead every day. We choose aspirations of long term significance over short term measures of success. It takes courage to lead. It takes courage to make life. Courage, like leadership, is a choice. My Pop was a leader. He led a lasting legacy of Bridwells. And these Bridwells will lead beyond living the life that Pop led every day. We are forever indebted to his legacy. It is my hope that we live on with that burden. To share that legacy with our children.
Post tags#TwinsLIfeHenry Joseph Rettewtwinstwinslife
Remembering Hunting Island - Palmetto Paradise
Too close to home...just slowly getting too close. #nomore
Completeness


Home Biz Longtime Delray Beach Architecture Firm Gets New Look, New Location
Longtime Delray Beach Architecture Firm Gets New Look, New Location
bocanews
By Paula Detwiller Special to the Pineapple
Here's a quiz: which local architectural firm designed the historic restoration of Old School Square, the Sundy House, and the Delray Beach Train Depot (next to Bru's Room)? Would you believe it's the same firm that designed Boca's Mizner Park Amphitheatre, the Boynton Beach Intracoastal bridge, Delray Beach's Fire Rescue Headquarters and, more recently, the new Boston's on the Beach, 50 Ocean and the Sandbar? These iconic local projects  -  and hundreds more  -  are the work of Currie Sowards Aguila Architects, now celebrating its 44th year in downtown Delray Beach. To mark the occasion, the firm has unveiled a new logo and moved into a modern storefront location at 185 NE 4th Avenue (next to Pineapple Grove Cleaners). For the last 17 years, the office was in a restored historic cottage on NE 1st Avenue. "We really needed more space," said founding principal Bob Currie. "This new location gives us better visibility and room for growth as we dive into the large projects on our drawing boards." Currie and his partners, Jess Sowards and José Aguila, also decided to rebrand the firm after using the same logo for about four decades. "We're an established practice that has been at the forefront of industry trends and customer service over the years, so it was time to freshen up our look," said Sowards. With the economy on the rebound, Currie Sowards Aguila Architects is positioned to take on multiple large projects for public and private sector clients. In recent years they have held their own as other South Florida architecture firms have been forced to downsize or close completely. The firm's current clients include the cities of Delray Beach and Pompano Beach; the Delray Beach and West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agencies; Palm Beach State College; Frenchman's Creek Beach and Country Club in Jupiter; and many private developers and investors.
"The tide is beginning to turn," said Aguila. "We're seeing governments and private investors spending money again on good architectural design and responsible project management." "We played a major role in downtown Delray's renaissance in the late '80s and early '90s," Currie said. "We are now being asked to renovate or update some of the same buildings we designed back then. We're also getting calls to resume work on projects that were shelved when the recession hit."
Currie founded the practice in 1969 after receiving a Masters in Architecture from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Minnesota. Sowards joined the firm in 1987 after graduating from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor's of Architecture. He became a partner in 1998. Aguila, meanwhile, was one of Currie's first employees, starting as a draftsman and working his way through architecture school. He left the firm in 1993 to become Construction Manager for the City of Delray Beach, overseeing the implementation of more than 50 million dollars' worth of capital improvement projects for the City. He rejoined the firm in 1999 and became a partner in 2001. For more information on Currie Sowards Aguila Architects, visit  or find them on Facebook: .
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Taiwan remains primary focus of updated and improved navy
March 24, 2014 by Nick Fielding
Reports that China has begun to build a second aircraft carrier, together with the deployment of Chinese naval ships to the Southern Indian Ocean in search of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, have brought into focus the decision to construct a substantial and credible 'blue water' navy. But once it has been built, where is it going to sail?
At the beginning of this century, the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA(N)) remained largely a littoral force. Most of its naval platforms were low quality and of limited capability and endurance. However, over the past 15 years the PLA(N) has commissioned an ambitious modernization, resulting in a much more technologically advanced and flexible force.
The transformation and breadth of ambition of the PLA(N) is evident in the increasingly adventurous activities of its ships, which for the past six years, for example, have been an active presence in the Gulf of Aden, where they are involved in counter-piracy operations and in home waters where, besides the ever-present threat of conflict with Taiwan, there is an increased emphasis on the enforcement of maritime claims, protection of economic interests and humanitarian missions.
Whereas once almost all of its ships and submarines were single-mission platforms, poorly equipped to operate beyond the support of land-based defences, the PLA(N) has subsequently acquired larger, multi-mission platforms, capable of (limited) long-distance deployments and offshore operations.
China's first carrier, a former Soviet-era ship that was bought from the Ukraine for $20m in 1998 and refitted as the 60,000-tone Liaoning at government shipyards in Dalian, successfully completed its sea trials at the end of 2013.
The exercises off the coast of Hainan Island -the carrier's new base is actually at Dazhu Shan, 50km southwest of Qingdao - marked not only the first time China had sent a carrier into the South China Sea, but also the first time it had manoeuvred with the kind of strike group of escort ships deployed by US carriers, consisting of two Type 054A frigates and two Type 051C anti-aircraft warfare destroyers.
Despite the fact that China will not have an operational air wing of J-15 aircaft until next year, the news that a new carrier is being constructed fits with China's declared intention to build a total of four carriers over the next decade.
Nor are carriers the only new elements in the PLA Navy; to add to its 79 principal surface combat ships, at least 55 submarines (including three that are nuclear armed), 55 medium and large amphibious ships and around 85 missile-equipped smaller ships, China is continuing to expand, particularly its guided missile frigates equipped with both anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles and its guided missile destroyers.
According to China's 2013 Defence White Paper, it plans to accelerate the modernization of its forces for comprehensive offshore operations... [and] develop blue water capabilities." Currently, approximately 65% of China's destroyers and frigates are modern. By 2020 that figure will rise to an estimated 85%.
As noted in a recent Congressional Research Service report, overall numbers of vessels within the PLA Navy have not actually increased substantially in recent years. Instead, the emphasis has been on upgrading quality: "Changes in platform capability have been more dramatic than changes in platform numbers. In some cases (such as submarines and coastal patrol craft), total numbers of platforms have actually decreased over the past 20 years or so, but aggregate capability has nevertheless increased because a larger number of older and obsolescent platforms have been replaced by a smaller number of much more modern and capable new platforms."
The same report notes that despite better quality equipment, there are still limitations to China's naval power, including "capabilities for sustained operations by larger formations in distant waters, joint operations with other parts of China's military, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), MCM, a dependence on foreign suppliers for some ship components, and a lack of operational experience in combat situations".
So that leads us to the question of why China's navy exists. First and foremost is the need to address the situation with Taiwan, if need be, and second, is the desire to assert or defend territorial claims in the much-disputed South China Sea and the East China Sea.
China's leaders are also keen to make the point that they have the legal right to regulate foreign military activity within its 200-mile maritime exclusive economic zone.
In military parlance, this means China wants its military to be capable of acting as an anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) force, that can deter the US from sending its naval forces close to Taiwan or of reducing their effectiveness. It is unlikely that it is seeking a serious overseas force projection capability, at least in the short term.
The theory behind this is similar to that developed during the Cold War by the Soviet Union in order to deny the US use of the sea or to counter US forces seeking to reinforce NATO forces in any conflict with the Warsaw Pact.
According to testimony given to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission by Jesse L Karotkin, the Office of Naval Intelligence's senior intelligence officer for China, "The PLA(N) is strengthening its ability to execute a range of regional missions in a "complex electromagnetic environment" as it simultaneously lays a foundation for sustained, blue water operations."
Karotkin adds that China views reunification with Taiwan "as an immutable, long-term goal and hopes to prevent any other actor from intervening in a Taiwan scenario. While Taiwan remains a top-tier priority, the PLA(N) is simultaneously focusing resources on a growing array of potential challenges. China's interests in the East and South China Seas include protecting its vast maritime claims and preserving access to regional resources."
Tags: A2/AD, Liaoning, People's Liberation Army, PLA(N), South China Sea,
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Huawei rep. rebukes U.S. ambassador's accusation
Xinhua Published: 2019-02-08 11:45:06
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In one of the strongest public remarks ever, a senior representative of China's tech company Huawei on Thursday night rebutted fear-mongering against the company.
A Huawei logo at one of its stores in Madrid, Spain, February 7, 2019. [Photo: VCG]
In a ballroom in Brussels packed with well over 100 guests, mostly Europeans, Huawei's envoy to the European Union institutions launched into a robust defense of the Chinese technology giant.
"Recently, Huawei has been under constant attack by some countries and politicians. We are shocked, or sometimes feel amused, by those ungrounded and senseless allegations," said Abraham Liu, Huawei's vice president for the European region and chief representative to the EU institutions.
"For example, yesterday, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Mr. (Gordon) Sondland, said (that) someone in Beijing (could) remotely run a certain car off the road on 5G network and kill the person that's in it. This is an insult to people's intelligence, let alone the technological experts across the world," Liu said.
"Excluding Huawei from the market doesn't mean the network is safe. For example, since Huawei's equipment is not used in the U.S. networks, is the U.S. having the most secure network? The answer is no," Liu said.
The company has an excellent cyber security record, Liu said, with its devices being approved by strict reviews by multiple regulators and operators.
Huawei's partners in Europe include big-name telecoms operators such as Deutsche Telekom, British Telecom, Vodafone, Orange, Proximus and others.
These partners "have publicly endorsed their trust in Huawei. I applaud these sensible approaches," Liu said.
"Cyber security should remain a technical issue, instead of an ideological issue. Because technical issues can always be resolved through the right solutions, while an ideological issue can not," he said.
Certain western governments and media outlets have consistently cast doubt over Huawei's ownership and governance. Liu made it crystal clear that "Huawei is a 100 percent employee-owned private enterprise," adding that "if we want to pursue our commercial success, we must follow our own business ethics. We have never harmed the interests of any customer or nation."
Huawei has more than 12,000 employees in Europe, over 70 percent of whom are hired locally, Liu said. In 2018, the company procured goods and services worth 6.3 billion U.S. dollars from Europe.
"For Huawei, Europe has become our second home," he said, adding that "our success is Europe's success. Our loss would be Europe's loss."
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Music and Recording Features
Mission Accomplished: Du Pré's Elgar
Art Dudley | Nov 29, 2018
The stars lined up.
According to biographer Charles Reid, the British conductor Sir John Barbirolli "burned with Elgarian zeal," attributable in part to Barbirolli's participation, as a young cellist in the London Symphony Orchestra of 1919, in the premiere performance of Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto. That performance, conducted by the composer and with Felix Salmond as soloist, was a disaster - Elgar's rehearsal time had been cut short by a lack of cooperation from another conductor on the bill, a slight the composer never forgave - yet from then on, the 19-year-old Barbirolli regarded Elgar's music with reverence.
Forty-three years later, another teenaged cellist - Jacqueline du Pré, who only the year before had made her formal debut at London's Wigmore Hall - made her concerto debut playing the Elgar under Malcolm Sargent, another Elgarian. That and subsequent Du Pré performances of the work were well received, but it wasn't until August 1965, when she recorded the concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra under Barbirolli's direction, that Du Pré became forever linked with Elgar's elegiac masterpiece (footnote 1). Perhaps because Barbirolli remained, at heart, a cellist - even when demonstrating points of technique for the violinists under his baton, he would play that instrument by holding it upright in his lap, bowing it like a cello - he was uniquely able to draw the most from the gifted Du Pré.
Their historically great recording was made in a no-less-historically-great recording space: London's Kingsway Hall, built in 1912 as a Methodist Church hall - in essence, a mission. G.B. Shaw and G.K. Chesterton debated there. Elgar recorded his Nursery Suite there in the presence of King George VI and Princess Elizabeth. Churchill spoke there. John Culshaw was remembered there. Kingsway Hall was so perfect-sounding a room that HMV/EMI continued recording music there even after they'd built Abbey Road Studios.
It would be remarkable had the LP that resulted from those 1965 sessions, on which the Cello Concerto was coupled with Elgar's song cycle Sea Pictures, with Dame Janet Baker as soloist (EMI ASD 655), not been an artistic triumph. Fortunately for all concerned, it endures as the Elgar recording against which all others are measured - the record of record - and, in one format or another, has remained in print ever since. In that time it has seldom been difficult to find on LP, whether an original pressing of whatever vintage - my own copy of ASD 655, purchased in London, is probably from the 1980s - or one of at least two different reissues. The trouble is, until recently, I'd never thought that LP's sound quality ranked among EMI's very best: It's held back by a few "hot"-sounding peaks, of a sort that led me to assume that the tape recorder itself had been overdriven.
My point of view has been changed by the most recent reissue of ASD 655, from the Electric Recording Company. I first wrote about this London-based company in my "Listening" Column in the July 2013 issue, in which I described their lovingly restored all-tube mastering chain, their painstakingly reproduced, letterpress-printed sleeves, and their pledge to reissue LPs in editions limited to no more than 300 copies: practices and policies that keep their prices steep. Yet whereas all previous ERC reissues have been of rare LPs, originals of which sell for four and five figures, good UK originals of EMI ASD 655 can be had for $50 or so, and excellent ones for under $200.
ERC's reissue, offered for £300, has dispatched every other reissue and original copy I've heard. Here, the recording's many dynamic peaks are more stirring than ever, yet the sound is consistently clean and listenable. Not only that, but the size of the orchestra, and of Du Pré's Davidov Stradivarius, have each increased a notch, and the sound is considerably more open, while offering no less color and natural texture. And the LP surfaces are astonishingly, perfectly silent.
I called Pete Hutchison, the Electric Recording Company's founder and managing director, to ask what it had been like to work on this record. Hutchison sits in on every mastering session - for the Du Pré-Barbirolli Elgar, ERC engineer Chris Potter was at the controls - and he said that the original master tape was actually in very good shape. "The original recording is good," he said, "and it was worth doing. But I think that record's all about the emotion in the performance, isn't it?"
Pressed for more technical observations, Hutchison described how his company took time off last year to do some work on their fabled Lyrec and Ortofon mastering gear, which engineer Sean Davies had spent nearly three years rebuilding: "Sean's okay, but he's knocking on 80, and that's the trouble with bringing in such expertise - [now] we've had to teach ourselves.
"Since last summer we've made a few little changes that have helped a bit. Also, one of the things you find when you listen to records, everything can sound [otherwise] all right, but things get a little shouty in the louder passages. We've been experimenting a little with amplitude, and now we're bringing things down a dB or two."
When I asked if reissuing a comparatively easy-to-find record marks a change in direction for his company, Hutchison said that ERC's mission remains as it was: "Historically, we've done rarer records, but because the Du Pré is such an important recording, we had to do it. This is not a change in direction - although we might do [something like this] again - but everything on our label is down to personal decisions, personal tastes."
Such motivations are behind the titles Hutchison chose for ERC's next releases, which include The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (Riverside) and an LP boxed set, with book, of Beethoven's symphonies and other works, by Otto Klemperer and the Philharmonia Orchestra (UK Columbia). The latter will be ERC's first reissue to include bonus tracks: The original, which supplemented the nine symphonies with some of Beethoven's overtures, spanned nine LPs; ERC's edition will contain all of the overtures and bring the count to 13 discs. Hutchison hopes to have the box ready to ship by the end of the year: "I've spent the last four weeks listening to nothing but Beethoven - and loving it."
Footnote 1: This recording was one of John Atkinson's "Records to Die For" in 2013 and one of the late Peter W. Mitchell's in 1991. - Ed.
Price Query
Submitted by Topher on November 29, 2018 - 1:55pm
I'm not sure if the £300 quoted is correct-I've just visited the site and the record is listed at £500.

Anyway, it looks like a lovely record.
Submitted by Art Dudley on December 2, 2018 - 6:22am
Thanks for the heads-up, Chris, and apologies for the error - I have corrected the text.
I would personally buy no vinyl
Submitted by ok on December 1, 2018 - 5:04am
..under 1K at least since I desperately need some record to actually die for.
Submitted by NeilS on November 29, 2018 - 3:59pm
There must be something special to charge £500 (according to their website) for a LP version of a half century old recording, as good as it is, that already exists in much less costly LP and CD versions.
Reminded me of a scene in "Once Upon A Time In Springfield".
"...Homer Simpson: You can't win us back with mere donuts.
Montgomery Burns: Oh, but these donuts were made the old fashioned way. The dough sweetened with Cuban sugar from pre-Batista plantations, and fried in the tallow of three different animals, two of which are now extinct. ..."

Saved hundreds ............
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on November 29, 2018 - 4:15pm
I saved hundreds by switching to ............
HDTracks
Submitted by Axiom05 on November 29, 2018 - 4:24pm
Just download the 24/96 flac from HDTracks, it sounds great. This is an indispensable recording. Oh, BTW, it costs less than $20!
The price is £500
Submitted by volvic on November 29, 2018 - 7:35pm
Went to the site as soon as I read this hoping economies of scale had set in and that it would be somewhat affordable. I was sadly mistaken. I have recently rediscovered my Barbirolli-Sibelius symphonies and love them even more with each passing play. I do love what these guys are doing but do wish they would produce more so that costs would be more reasonable for us mortals.
"That's not what I meant at all..."
Submitted by Graham Luke on November 30, 2018 - 8:47pm
I read somewhere that when Du Pre heard the playback of the recording, she burst in to tears and declared that 'that's not what I meant at all...' I also have Yo Yo Ma playing the Elgar but find that I do not listn to it that often. That is by no meas a reflection on the Ma recording.
Re: "That's not what I meant at all..."
Submitted by John Atkinson on December 1, 2018 - 2:54pm
Graham Luke wrote:
I read somewhere that when Du Pre heard the playback of the recording, she burst in to tears and declared that 'that's not what I meant at all...'
I hadn't heard that story. In the 1970s, I went to a masterclass where Ms. Du Pre was instructing cello players in the Elgar's first movement. By then she was too ill to play, but when she sang the cello part, it was one of the most moving musical experiences I have had.
Wonderful...
Submitted by Graham Luke on December 7, 2018 - 8:53pm
How marvellous for you, John. Listening to her playing the Elgar always brings a lump to my throat.
Country music anyone? ..............
Submitted by Bogolu Haranath on December 8, 2018 - 7:25am
According to the recent CBS poll the most popular genre of music is the country music for people over the age 65 ....... Wonder how many Stereophile readers and reviewers are country music fans? :-) ............
Second most popular is classical .......... Third is pop music ..... for people over the age 65 :-) ..........
According to Billboard ...........
According to Billboard the top selling genre is R&B/Hip-Hop, with 31% market share ........... The second is Rock, with 23% market share :-) ...........
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Dr. Naseer Homoud Conferred CEO Middle East Award 2012
Posted by CSR Middle East on September 24, 2012 at 12:28pm
Recognizing his philanthropic contribution and good corporate practices of his business empire, Dr. Naseer Homoud has been conferred CEO Middle East Award 2012 for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The prestigious award was conferred in a gala ceremony at Jumeiria Emirates Towers, Dubai on Thursday September 19, 2012.
The Award, instituted by reputed ITP Group, recognizes outstanding success, innovation, ethical practices and the vital contribution made by individuals and their companies to the vibrancy of business across Middle Eastern Business.
Jonathon Savill, Editor of CEO Middle East, conducted the event and presented the award. His Excellency Hamad Buamim, Director General of Dubai Chamber of Commerce was the chief guest.
Dr. Homoud has been placed among other top CEOs of the Middle East including Giancarlo de Nadie, who has been conferred Lifetime Achievement Award. Others, who also received recognition for their excellence, are: Iskandar Najjer, Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani, Ala'a Eraiqat, Adel Ali, Noura Al Kaabi, Dr. Saad Al Barrak and Dr. Habib Al Mulla.
While presenting the award to Dr. Homoud, Jonathon Savill apprised the audiences of the CSR works and humanitarian works which he has been doing from his early days in Jordan to helping victims of Tsunami in Japanand earthquake in Haiti. He also focused on Dr. Homoud's passion in helping students and other needy people. He also elucidated as to how Dr. Homoud manages his time from his busy business schedule for the humanitarian works.
Awards and recognition are not new to him: He has been awarded with several prestigious awards. Dr. Homoud was recently ranked at 53rd position among the 500 most powerful Arabs from the globe. The list, better known as the Arabian Business Power List features Arabs living in 37 different countries, and working in every sector from business and media, to sports, science and entertainment.
Dr. Homoud was also placed 16th in Arabian Business Qatar Power List 2012. His standing in the construction and real estate sector has also been recognised. He was placed at 84th position of 100 Most Powerful in Gulf Construction as unveiled by Construction Week's annual Power 100 listing.
Born in Irdib town of northern Jordan, Dr. Homoud was regional director of Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition (IIMSAM).
Dr. Homoud was also conferred with two prestigious awards in Jordan: "Man of the Year Award-2010" in Jordan and "Economic & Social Personality of the Year-2010". He was also awarded with the 'Man of the Year Award for Business and Humanitarian Endeavors' in 2008 in Jordan.
"I do not view it as recognition of my personal accomplishments rather as an affirmation of the work which we are doing for ultimate benefit of mankind; this award is not simply about my work rather it is to be shared with everyone who str ives for an egalitarian society," Dr. Homoud said.
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Vol. 28, No.4
More than $1 million goes to grad students
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council has awarded $1,140,224 in research funding to graduate students, many of them master's students at Concordia.
The windfall is part of a new program called Canada Graduate Scholarships. Across Canada, $51 million was awarded to 800 master's students, 600 doctoral students and 135 postdoctoral fellows. Here are just three examples from the 35 awarded to Concordia grad students.
Ngan Trinh is a Communications Studies master's student who is doing a study on teens and transcultural consumption in Vietnam. SSHRC found her project so interesting that she was singled out for mention in the agency's news release as one of the first recipients under the CGS program.
Linda M. Darwish is the fourth year of her doctoral studies in the Department of Religion. Holder of a scholarship from the Quebec agency FQRSC, she has now received a CGS doctoral fellowship of $19,000 for "The Ayatollahs speak: Shi'ite fatwas on Muslim-other relations."
Matthew C. Hayday is doing a a study called "Canada Day celebrations and the construction of national identity, 1958-1985" under the supervision of Professor Ronald Rudin. He got a postdoctoral fellowship of $70,056.
Natalie S. Kallio got a grant of $17,500 to do a study called "(re)framing Concordia." It's about how the media treated the political controversy at the university last year, something she found both frustrating and depressing.
The reference to framing comes from communications theorists, who say we create frames around subjects that shape discourse on those subjects.
In this case, Kallio felt that the frame of "free speech" bent discussion of the actual events out of shape. News reports fell back on Concordia's "history of violence," linking three unrelated incidents over 34 years, and used incendiary phrases like "campus in conflict."
She tried her idea out at the Learneds in Halifax last spring, and got so much encouragement from the other social scientists around her that she wrote her SSHRC application as soon as she got back to Montreal.
"I'm not taking a side," said the second-year master's student, who did an Honours English degree at the University of Saskatchewan before coming here last year. "And I'm wondering what frame I'm going to be slotted into."
To see the full list of Concordia recipients, check out the SSHRC Web site at , and look for pages 83 to 85 of the results.
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