Gene Mutation May Make Food More Tempting
News By -- Mary Elizabeth Dallas
WEDNESDAY, July 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Some obese people have a genetic mutation that seems to ramp up the reward centers in their brains when they see food, researchers report.
Gaining a better understanding of how this mutation triggers feelings of pleasure and gratification at the sight of high-calorie foods like chocolate could help improve strategies designed to prevent overeating, the scientists suggested.
More than one-third of U.S. adults are obese. Obesity is typically caused by a combination of overeating, a lack of physical activity and genetics. The most common genetic cause of obesity is a mutation in the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) gene, the British researchers explained.
In conducting their study, published July 30 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the scientists compared eight people who were obese and had the MC4R gene mutation with 10 people who were overweight or obese who did not have the gene mutation, and eight people who were a normal weight.
Using functional MRI scans, the study authors observed how pictures of tempting foods, such as chocolate cake, activated the reward centers of the participants' brains. Their response to photos of appetizing foods was then compared to the effect of pictures of bland foods, such as rice or broccoli, and objects like staplers.
Surprisingly, participants who were the same age and weight had different responses to pictures of appetizing foods, the researchers found. The brain scans revealed that obese people with the genetic mutation and participants who were a normal weight had similar heightened activity in the reward centers of their brain. Meanwhile, the reward centers in the obese and overweight people who did not have the genetic mutation were underactive.
"The brain's reward centers light up when people with the mutation and normal weight people viewed pictures of appetizing foods. But overweight people without the mutation did not have the same level of response," lead researcher Dr. Agatha van der Klaauw, of the Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, England, said in an Endocrine Society news release.
"For the first time, we are seeing that the MC4R pathway is involved in the brain's response to food cues and its underactivity in some overweight people. Understanding this pathway may help in developing interventions to limit the overconsumption of highly palatable foods that can lead to weight gain," she explained.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about eating to maintain a healthy weight.
This article: Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.


Class Notes > Class of 1956 > In Memoriam
Alvin “Al” Lawrence Andrews JD ’56
Alvin “Al” Lawrence Andrews passed away December 25, 2015, at his home. He was 88 years old.
Al was born March 12, 1927, to Ellis and Leona Andrews. He was raised in Ontario, Oregon, where he lived until graduating from high school and joining the U.S. Navy near the end of World War II. Following his discharge, Al attended Eastern Oregon State College and the University of Oregon until he was recalled to active duty at the onset of the Korean conflict to serve aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Boxer. After his military service he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Oregon.
Al worked as partner in the firm of Fitzwater, Fitzwater and Andrews before beginning a solo neighborhood practice in North Portland in the late 1960s. He closed his office in early 2000 to become a full-time caregiver for his beloved wife, Darlene (Devine), whose death preceded his.
Al was a member of the Oregon State Bar, Bethel Baptist Church, and Peninsula Kiwanis Club for over 50 years. He was a longtime supporter of the Mount Hood Kiwanis Camp for children with special needs. He was also a member of the U.S.S. Boxer Association and had an interest in hunting, hiking, genealogy, stained glass, music, and the Oregon Ducks.
Al is survived by his children, Connie Stahly, Kris Wilkinson, Steve Andrews, Dixon Andrews, and Tony Andrews; two sisters, Florence Conant and Margaret Diehl; 12 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and close friend Betty Doble.


Doctoral Consortium
The 8th Israel Strategy Conference
Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University
20-22 December, 2020
Submission opens
About / conference overview and organization
Israel Strategy Conference
Conference Administration
The Israel Strategy Conference (ISC) is a voluntary initiative, not affiliated with any institution, aimed at promoting academic excellence and advancing the field of strategic management in Israel. Towards this end, ISC invites highly prestigious keynote speakers, subjects paper proposal submissions to a very strict double-blind review process, and offers the prestigious ISC Best Paper Award which carries a $1,000 cash value.
ISC provides an opportunity for scholars to exchange ideas and advance their research in strategic management and related fields such as entrepreneurship and international business. ISC is held every two years and is hosted by different Israeli universities on a rotating basis.
ISC was founded by Niron Hashai, Dovev Lavie, and Ithai Stern, with the help and advice of Avi Meshulach, Zur Shapira, and the late Avi Fiegenbaum. The first conference was held December 2007 in Jerusalem, with more than a hundred participants from all over the world. Over the years, the conference has grown to over 160 attendees. We hope that the upcoming conference in Haifa and the ones to follow will continue to draw a growing number of participants.
ISC offers a variety of opportunities to get involved, including special session organizers, keynote speakers, panelists, presenters, discussants, volunteers, and sponsors.
Email us at info@isc.org.il for more information about these opportunities.
Shiko Ben-Menahem
Uriel Stettner
Niron Hashai
Gabriel Szulanski
Ithai Stern
Zur Shapira
Dovev Lavie
Sharon Klein-Raz
Conference Information / the 8th Israel Strategy Conference
Fiegenbaum Best Paper Award
Paper presentation guidelines
Poster presentation guidelines
1 April, 2020: Submission and registration opens.
1 June, 2020: Submission deadline.
1 July, 2020: Application deadline Doctoral Consortium
Mid July, 2020: Notices to authors indicating whether the proposed paper has been selected for inclusion in the conference program, and whether it has been accepted to a paper session or an interactive session.
15 August, 2020: Registration deadline for presenting authors.
1 November, 2020:
Deadline for authors of paper sessions to submit an updated abstract and the full-length paper
Deadline for authors of poster sessions to submit an updated short abstract.
20-22 December, 2020: Israel Strategy Conference, Haifa
20 December, 2020: ISC Doctoral Consortium
Select paper proposals which receive the highest assessment in the review process will be nominated as finalists for the ISC Best Paper Award. The finalists will be asked to submit a full paper for an additional blind-review process by a distinguished panel. The selected winner(s) of the Fiegenbaum Best Paper Award will receive a plaque and a $1,000 cash prize. The winning paper will be announced in the concluding session of ISC.
Congratulations on your acceptance to the ISC 2020 Paper Session Program! Below please find some guidelines for preparing your presentation.
We want to encourage individual paper presentations and entire sessions to be interesting, stimulating, and engaging. You will have about 15 minutes to present your paper. Your presentation will be followed by a short discussion by a discussant, and a Q&A with the audience. Towards the end of the 75 minutes session, the discussant will spend additional time integrating the papers and offering suggestions for improvement and development.
The standard meeting room will include a computer, an LCD projector with a screen, a flip chart, and markers. Please prepare your presentation using PowerPoint and bring your presentation file on a USB stick.
Please arrive at your session’s meeting room at least 10 minutes before the session begins. Take time to familiarize yourself with the room set-up. The discussant or one of the organizers will help you upload your presentation to the computer.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact the organizing committee.
The objective of this “Research Bazaar” is to benefit from the advantages of traditional poster and interactive sessions while avoiding their disadvantages. Traditional poster sessions offer participants an opportunity to visually present their research in a clear and concise way, but limit their ability to present their research verbally in a formal manner. Interactive sessions, on the other hand, offer participants an opportunity to discuss their research, but suffer from the lack of visual aids. The Research Bazaar session will provide you the opportunity to both visually present your research, using a poster, and the time and place to discuss your research with others.
To that end, accepted proposals have been grouped by topic. Each group of presenters has been reserved a designated a room where posters will be displayed and presentations will be given, with the coordination of an assigned facilitator. You have about 5 minutes to present your work. After all presenters have completed their formal presentations, in the remaining time, you will have the opportunity to informally discuss your work with the audience and with other presenters. With only 5 minutes per presentation, please use this limited time to talk about the following items:
The paper’s research question and why it is interesting.
The paper’s main premise and hypotheses.
The research setting.
The paper’s main findings and conclusions.
Please update the submission system with your abstract of up to 1000 characters by November 1st, 2017. This abstract will be included in the ISC Abstracts document and distributed to conference participants.
Points to consider when preparing your presentation:
We want to encourage papers and presentations to be interesting, stimulating, and engaging.
Please arrive at your session’s meeting area at least 10 minutes before the session begins. Hang your poster and take time to familiarize yourself with the set-up. The facilitator or one of the organizers will help you hang your poster if needed.
Points to consider when designing your poster:
The standard poster size is A0: 1189mm x 841mm, 46.82 inches x 33.11 inches.
Divide the contents of your poster into appropriate sections. For instance, title, author, affiliation, research question, methodology, data, results, and conclusions.
Posters should be readable from a distance of at least two meters. Use font size 16 or larger. You may also want to bring hand-outs for the audience. This can be especially helpful for figures and information presented in tabular form.
Be concise with your written material. Save elaborative points for discussion/interaction with other presenters. For conclusions, focus on a central finding that lends itself to informal discussion.
Use graphs, charts and/or tables (color if possible) to show results. Graphics help make your poster interesting.
A neutral poster or matte board is more amenable to the eye than a bright colored background. A splash of color here and there, perhaps highlighting central finding(s) or provocative results, will make your poster “stand out” from the crowd.
A mailing tube or portfolio case is recommended for transporting your poster.
Keynote Speakers / distinguished scholars speaking at ISC 2020
Bruce Kogut
Russ Coff
Rebecca Henderson is the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard University, where she has a joint appointment at the Harvard Business School in the General Management and Strategy units. Professor Henderson is also a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her work explores how organizations respond to large-scale technological shifts, most recently in regard to energy and the environment. She teaches Reimagining Capitalism in the MBA Program.
From 1998 to 2009, Professor Henderson was the Eastman Kodak Professor of Management at the Sloan School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she ran the strategy group and taught courses in strategy, technology strategy, and sustainability. She received an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from MIT and a doctorate in business economics from Harvard.
Professor Henderson sits on the boards of Amgen and of IDEXX Laboratories, and she has worked with both members of the Fortune 100 and small, technology-orientated start-ups. She was retained by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with the remedies phase of the Microsoft trial, and in 2001 she was named Teacher of the Year at the Sloan School. Her work has been published in a range of scholarly journals including Administrative Science Quarterly, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Strategic Management Journal, Management Science, Research Policy, The RAND Journal of Economics, and Organization Science.
Her most recent publication is Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective, edited jointly with Ranjay Gulati and Michael Tushman, and published by the Oxford University Press.
Bruce Kogut is the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School. He teaches courses on Governance and on Governance on Ethics. He has taught in executive programs in the US, Europe, and China.
His current research focuses on governance and corporate compensation, social capital markets and social metrics , and the ‘political color of boards,’ financed by the National Science Foundation in the area of sociology and computational social science. In cooperation with IFMR in Chennai, colleagues and he have completed a study on the prosocial attitudes of employees and incentives on the productivity of microfinance institutions. His research has 70,000 Google citations and has been published in leading journals in economics, management, sociology, and computer science.
His most recent book is The Small Worlds of Corporate Governance, published by MIT Press in 2012. A collection of his past articles on real options and foreign investment and knowledge of the firm was published by Oxford University Press in 2008 under the title Knowledge, Options, and Institutions.
He has been a member of the academic advisory board to the chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and is or has been a director in corporate and academic boards in Europe, Russia, and India. He received his PhD from the MIT Sloan School of Management and holds an honorary doctorate from the Stockholm School of Economics. He has been an academic visitor at several research institutes, including Science Center Berlin (where he was the Karl Deutsch Professor), Ecole Polytechnique, Santa Fe Institute, and Tsinghua University.
He directed the strategy and emerging-economy research centers and was the associate vice dean for the PhD program at Wharton and was the founder of the social entrepreneurship program at INSEAD. At Columbia University, he collaborated with Cambridge University to co-direct the Ariane de Rothschild Fellows Program that identified and trained social entrepreneurs with an interest in fostering a culture of mutual respect and dialogue among Jewish and Muslim communities.
In 2012-2013, he was a fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study in Berlin and is currently a member of its external board.
Russ Coff is the Thomas J. Falk Distinguished Chair in Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research explores the role of human assets in innovation, creativity, and, ultimately in competitive advantage. For example, he studies management dilemmas associated with human capital including: 1) the management of strategic investments in knowledge-based assets under great uncertainty 2) appropriating value (rent) from competitive advantages, 3) creativity & innovation under conditions of asymmetric information and uncertainty, and 4) how buyers cope in mergers and acquisitions that involve human assets. Coff received his Ph.D. from UCLA and has previously been a faculty member at Emory and Washington Universities.
Russ has served the research community through his participation on a variety of editorial boards including Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Strategic Organization (where he was a Co-Editor). He also chaired the Business Policy and Strategic Division of the Academy of Management and the Strategic Human Capital Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society. He is a Past President of the Strategic Management Society.
Doctoral Consoritum
DC Faculty
Admission and Application
ISC will be holding its annual Doctoral Consortium on Sunday, 20 December, 2020 from 9AM to 4PM. The world of research is all about communicating with a community of scholars with overlapping interests. Doctoral consortia are most valuable in providing an intimate setting for a cohort of doctoral students to get to know each other and meet senior scholars in the field. The ISC Doctoral Consortium aims to offer such a setting for Ph.D. students interested in conducting cutting-edge research in strategy and related areas.
The consortium is organized by Adam Kleinbaum (Dartmouth) and Annamaria Conti (University of Lausanne) and features an international panel of senior faculty members.
The Consortium is comprised of three components:
Current and future themes in Strategy: panelists will present their views of emerging “hot” topics in the general management field, and students will be invited to suggest ideas and jointly speculate how they may play in the wider audience of strategy research.
Getting published in top journals: a panel discussions aimed at conveying to students some proven techniques of (1) framing research questions, (2) research design, (3) packaging, (4) dealing with editors and reviewers.
Thesis Development workshop: a select group of doctoral students will have an opportunity to present their research and receive guidance and commentary from senior faculty. Selection for this workshop is highly competitive. Students admitted to this program will receive a 50% discount on the ISC registration fee (the doctoral consortium will be offered at no charge to all attending students).
Annamaria Conti (HEC Lausanne)
Adam Kleinbaum (Dartmouth)
Doctoral students in the proposal/dissertation stage will have the opportunity to present their research and receive feedback in a thesis development workshop. Students attending the doctoral consortium must register to the Israel Strategy Conference (ISC). Only electronic applications will be considered. Student discount rates apply. An additional 50% discount will be offered to students presenting their research at the Thesis Development workshop.
Admission preference will be given to students whose research is at the dissertation proposal stage. Doctoral students who do not wish to present their research at the thesis development workshop are still invited to apply and attend the doctoral consortium. Only those students wishing to present their research will be required to submit an abstract and a nomination letter. The dissertation should be sufficiently developed to allow for a clear presentation of the theory and research design, but leave significant room for revision based on comments received at the consortium. A nomination letter by a faculty member relating to the state of the applicant’s dissertation research is required as part of the application process.
To apply, please complete the application form below and upload the following documents:
– A Curriculum Vitae.
Students applying to the Thesis Development workshop should also submit:
– A brief abstract of your dissertation research. The abstract should be no longer than two pages of text and one page of references (adhering to the ISC proposal submission guidelines).
– A signed nomination letter from a supervising faculty member attesting that the student is in good standing and referring to the progress of the applicant’s dissertation research.
All of the documents should be integrated in one file (.pdf or .doc).
The application deadline for students wishing to present their work is 1 July, 2020.
The application deadline for students wishing to attend without presentation is 1 November, 2020.
If you have questions regarding the doctoral consortium, please contact Adam Kleinbaum (adam.m.kleinbaum@tuck.dartmouth.edu)
Conference Location / Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University
The 8th Israel Strategy Conference will be held at Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel Aviv University (TAU) – Israel’s largest and most comprehensive institution of higher learning – is home to over 30,000 students studying in nine faculties and over 125 schools and departments across the spectrum of sciences, humanities and the arts.
Situated in Israel’s cultural, financial and technological capital, TAU shares Tel Aviv’s unshakable spirit of openness and innovation – and boasts a campus life as dynamic and pluralistic as the metropolis itself. Tel Aviv the city and Tel Aviv the university are one and the same – a thriving Mediterranean center of diversity and discovery.
Consistently ranked in the top 20 in the world in terms of scientific citations and among the top 100 universities internationally, Tel Aviv University is also Israel’s first choice for students, and its graduates are the most sought after by Israeli companies. Global in outlook and impact, TAU advances teaching and research that break down the walls between disciplines, striving to address the twenty-first century’s most pressing challenges through bold, interdisciplinary solutions.
Tel Aviv is one of the most vibrant cities in the world. Titled the ‘Mediterranean Capital of Cool’ by the New York Times, this is a 24 hour city with a unique pulse, combining sandy Mediterranean beaches with a world-class nightlife, a buzzing cultural scene, incredible food, UNESCO recognized architecture, and an international outlook.
For more information about Tel Aviv
Attendees are responsible for making their own travel and accommodation arrangements.
Attendees of ISC can benefit from special rates at the following hotels:
(Shuttle services will be available from these hotels to the Technion)
Dan Carmel Haifa
As the first exclusive hotel in the City of Haifa, The Dan Carmel’s perfectly placed mountain top location allows for panoramic views of the Mediterranean Sea with a breathtaking backdrop. Overlooking Haifa Bay and the Galil & Golan Landscapes, the sheer magnificence is simply overwhelming.
The Dan Carmel’s recently refurbished rooms and suites are all designed with classic and elegant tones, complete with modern accessories and luxurious comforts, as expected in the best hotels in the world. Extra-Large bathrooms designed for indulgence and 42-Inch LED screens with multimedia outlets enable you to relax and unwind after a rigorous day of touring or work.
Dan Carmel’s stylish lobby and public areas are a perfect place to gather ones thoughts, and the large swimming pool, hidden between the all trees of the luscious gardens, create an enchanting relaxation zone, enabling one to reconnect and re-energize.
Rate per night on bed & breakfast basis:
Deluxe Sea View – 200$
Supplement for double room: 45$ per room per night.
Special Benefits for conference guests:
Free entrance to business lounge
Reservations at Dan Carmel
Dan Panorama Haifa
The Dan Panorama Hotel, rising twenty-one stories high on Mount Carmel, offers you a choice of spectacular views: one side commands a splendid panorama of the city of Haifa, Mount Carmel and the sea. Another vantage point presents the huge curve of Haifa Bay and the endless stretches of Israel’s beautiful Mediterranean coastline. The only Haifa hotel that’s a city landmark, the Dan Panorama Hotel is contemporary in style with spacious public areas and guest rooms featuring floor to ceiling windows. The hotel also adjoins the city’s upscale Panorama Mall that houses fine boutiques, elegant cafes and entertainment venues. Close by are the outdoor coffee bars and stores of the bustling Carmel Center, a favorite gathering place for visitors and locals. Designed for the young at heart, the informal, easy-going ambiance of this Haifa hotel invites you to relax and feel at home.
Superior Room – 140$
Reservations at Dan Panorama
Haifa Bay View Hotel
The new Haifa Bay View Hotel is located at the top of Mount Carmel overlooking the spectacular view of Haifa Bay. It features 109 sea-facing guestrooms and suites ideal for vacations as well as business accommodation.
Hotel guests are welcomed by a unique, energetic entrance complex featuring an open lobby, restaurants and a bar. Relaxing lounge areas combine chic and comfort to provide a contemporary working environment and at the same time a recreational setting for social gathering or a culinary treat. The lobby offers a variety of menus throughout the day: Chinese menu, Dairy menu and a wine and alcohol menu.
Bayview Haifa Hotel offers the ideal location near the Carmel tourist sites, within walking distance from the entertainment center, including coffee shops, shops, the Carmelit (the sole underground in Israel), Louis Promenade – from which you can enter and explore the wonders of the Bahai Gardens, the Zoo and Botanical Gardens, the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, art galleries and museums, and a short drive from the University of Haifa and the Technion.
Single Standard Room – 115$
Single Deluxe Room – 145$
Supplement for Dinner: 40$ per meal, per person, per day.
Daily newspaper upon request
Download Haifa Bay View Hotel reservation form
Please e-mail your completed reservation form to: inc6@hiil.co.il
December in Haifa is an amazing opportunity to experience co-existence, harmony, and beautiful neighborhoods in the time of “the holiday of the holidays”.
We will enjoy the views of beautiful Haifa from the Loui promenade, and walk to the spectacular Bahai gardens. The route continues along the German colony with its Hannuka and Christmas lights.
After the tour, we will continue for a fun night out at a unique dining site located at the heart of the Carmel Mountain. Dinner will be followed by a live music show by the ‘Ritalin Band‘ with top-notch musicians and a rich repertoire of different music styles. It will be a great party!
Price USD 100 per participant / companion
Register for the social event.
Day 1: December 18th 2017 – Tour to Akko and Rosh Hanikra
09:00-16:00. Price: USD 130 per person
The Mediterranean shore provides and outstanding view with a rich history.
We will travel back in time to the Crusaders and Ottomans era and visit underground Akko and the Turkish bath. We will drive along the sea to the Northern point of Western Israel–Rosh Hanikra, where we will enjoy the beautiful setting of ice caves and the waves. Lunch is included.
Register for this day trip.
Day 2: December 19th 2017 – Tour to Caesarea, Tel Aviv and Jaffa
Throughout history, many empires have tried to conquer Israel due to its strategic location. We will meet Herod the Great and his magnificent port city of Caesarea, capital of Judea under the Romans. See the excavations of the crusader city and the Roman port, aqueduct and the ancient theater. We continue our drive South along the shore all to way to Jaffa–with its history dating back to early antiquity. We will end the day in Sarona Market, a commercial area in a former 19th Century German colony, which today is a lively gastronomic hotspot.
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 2007
Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 2008
Ben Gurion University, Be’er Scheva , 2009
Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 2010
For questions, please contact us by e-mail: info@isc.org.il
© 2019-2020 Israel Strategy Conference —


Discovering Hope. Every Day.The Largest Phase 0 Clinical Trials Program in the World.
Determine Your Eligibility
A New Hope ForBrain Tumor Patients
The Ivy Brain Tumor Center at Barrow Neurological Institute is a nonprofit clinical trials program that offers state-of-the-art clinical trials for patients with even the most aggressive brain tumors.
Live Q&A with Brain Tumor Experts
Tune in live at 9:00 a.m. (PST) on Wednesday, July 17 to have all your questions answered by neurosurgical oncologist, Dr. Nader Sanai, and his multidisciplinary team of brain tumor experts. Learn how our Phase 0 clinical trials work and why we believe they are the key to accelerating drug discovery for patients with glioblastoma and other malignant brain tumors.
Melissa's Story
“The day I woke up and had that MRI, I never thought in a million years that I would have a brain tumor,” Melissa Geiser recalls. The mother of three had suffered from migraines for most of her life, and her doctor had finally ordered an MRI. At first the results were inconclusive, even suggesting she had suffered a stroke. But she persisted in searching for answers and finally received a diagnosis, confirmed by specialists from across the country: a type of glioma called anaplastic astrocytoma. Because of where it was located in her thalamus, they deemed it inoperable.
The Ivy Brain Tumor Center's collective efforts in clinical trials, basic science research, and patient outreach demand a team approach. We welcome everyone from the community of patients, caregivers, students, volunteers, health professionals, local organizers, sponsors, fundraisers, and more.
The Ivy Foundation, established in 2005, is the largest non-government organization supporter of brain tumor research in the world.
Phase 0 clinical trials are exploratory studies that accelerate and streamline the drug testing and approval process, allowing new drug combinations to be evaluated in patients in as little as seven days. Through this approach, a patient is given a single dose of the experimental drug before a planned tumor surgery. During surgery, our team collects and tests tumor tissue to determine if the drug is having an effect. Ultimately, Phase 0 clinical trials mean that patients, regardless of diagnosis, can have individualized treatment in a fraction of the time and costs associated with traditional drug research and development.


Just Dance's Best Player Is A 16-Year-Old Kid From Turkey
Filed to: Just DanceFiled to: Just Dance
Just Dance World Cup
Just Dance 17
Just Dance has a new World Cup champion, and it’s not who anyone thought it would be. Somehow breezing past stiff competition from around the globe, high school-aged Umutcan managed the biggest upset in the game’s short competitive history.
I know what you’re thinking: there’s a World Cup for Just Dance? Yes, there is. That motion-tracking rhythm game from 2009 that originally released for the Nintendo Wii that everyone insisted on playing after coming back from the bar drunk and which spawned seven sequels and even more spin-offs is also an esport.
Umutcan, who goes by “Technoth” in the dancing world, who came to Paris for the Just Dance World Cup as one of its youngest contenders, will leave it a champion. Hailing from Ankara, Turkey’s capital, Umutcan was nobody’s favorite to take the championship. Instead, many assumed Brazil’s Diegho San would take first place for the third year in a row, or that if anyone were to unseat him, it would be France’s own TheFairyDina or perhaps Australian newcomer Denzal Van Uitregt.
Umutcan (center) holding the Just Dance Word Cup trophy beside Pamela (right) and Uitregt left).
But Umutcan proved them all wrong. Using a Swiss-system for the group stage meant that only the top four performers would make it into the playoffs. Umutcan was actually tied with previous champion Diegho San wins, but because he had defeated him during their group stage best-of-three series, it was the Turkish dancer who got to progress (the final ranking was based on points, and San being the two-time world champion, a win against him was worth the most points).
After sending the former world champion home, Umutcan had to go up against Hian who was, up until the semifinals, undefeated. But even on the first song, Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” despite the superb timing of his competitor, it was Umutcan’s style and energy gave him a lead. While Hian took the next round on Frankie Valli’s “Cant Take My Eyes Off You,” it was Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” that decided the winner, which turned out to be, to the surprise of even the announcers, Umutcan.
The judges loved his fluid movements and passion even when it cost him precision on the choreography, a trend that continued through to the finals against a third Brazilian opponent, Pamela. “Don’t Stop Me Now,” returned for the first round, followed by will.i.am’s “Scream & Shout” featuring Britney Spears. Umutcan took both with one of the judges, Just Dance’s own Manager of Choreography, saying she simply couldn’t take her eyes off the aspiring champion. The World Cup trophy was presented to Umutcan with The Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony” blasting in the background, because when you’re a slave to the money then you die the only thing to do is dance in front of a video game.
Prior to the tournament, he told Ubisoft, the game’s publisher and the organizer behind the event, that he tried to qualify last year but was unsuccessful. “I was not as good as now,” he said, having trained three hours a day in the months in-between to make sure 2017 was different.
Ever since Diegho San won the first Just Dance World Cup a few years ago, the scene around the game in Brazil has exploded, as evidenced by the number of top ranked talent that hails from that country. With no comparative community to be inspired by or borrow from in Turkey, Umutcan’s rise feels even more like Billy Elliot (2000) meets The Wizard (1989).
“[The] crowded environment doesn’t make me scared,” he said before the tournament. “On the contrary, it makes me excited and encourages me.” For Umutcan, Just Dance is more than just a competition though, who added that the game is a key part of how he socializes with friends and has built lasting relationships. And of course his favorite Just Dance song is David Guetta’s “Hey Mama” featuring Nicki Minaj, because “when I play this song, I feel more excited and free.”
You can watch the end of the finals here.
More Grooves
For Twitch Streamers Who Spend Their Lives On Camera, It's Hard To Know When To Stop
Armed Robber Demands Just Dance 2014
Britney Spears' Son Follows In His Mother's Dance Steps
Fan-Made Smash Bros. Ultimate Level Features Dueling Snakes


Choose Your Middle East Historical Comparison: 1989, 1968 or 1848?
Observers are struggling to fit the Middle East uprisings into a historical analogue. Is this the fall of the Soviet bloc? Student protests? Or should we be going even further back in history?
Uri Friedman
In recent weeks, analysts have time and again invoked history to explain the anti-government, pro-democracy protests sweeping the Arab world from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya. Below are the most common historical precedents they're citing and why these analogies may or may not be appropriate:
THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1989
Background: In 1989, around the time of the Tiananmen Square protests in China, pro-democracy demonstrators overthrew a string of Soviet bloc communist dictatorships in a matter of months through generally non-violent methods. The movement arose in Poland when the opposition group Solidarity rose to power and soon spread to Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and finally Romania, where the unrest turned more violent and the dictator and his wife eventually faced a firing squad. When the dust settled, the Berlin Wall had fallen, the Soviet Union was teetering, and the collapse of Communism was underway.
Similarities: The spontaneous, domino-like way in which today's protests have migrated from one Arab country to another reminds many observers of 1989. German Chancellor Angela Merkel--who grew up in East Germany and entered politics in 1989--claimed that Middle East protesters were "shaking off their fear" just as Eastern Europeans had, while Oxford's Eugene Rogan remarked that "the Poles showed the rest of the region that demonstrations and strikes could challenge the state's ability to repress basic rights, like freedom of speech and free assembly, the same lesson the Tunisians hoped to teach other Arab nations." Adrian Michaels at The Guardian, meanwhile, argues that both revolutions arose out of a climate of political stagnation.
Differences: The Hungarian-American businessman George Soros, who financed opposition movements in Eastern Europe in the lead-up to the revolutions of 1989, points out that Eastern Europeans supported America because it was the Soviet Union's sworn enemy, while demonstrators in the Middle East are suspicious of the U.S. because it is allied with the regimes that are collapsing. James Collins, the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union in 1989, told the AP that the Middle East protests "have been uprisings against a sclerotic and out of touch leadership" whereas in in Eastern Europe "the change was much deeper, systemic. It touched the roots of the economy and the way society operated." The Guardian's Timothy Garton Ash, meanwhile, claims that the Middle East movements are less organized and not "led by democratic opposition movements and civil society groups, which in 1989 sustained non-violent discipline, even in the face of provocation, and paved the way to a transition negotiated at round tables."
THE PROTESTS OF 1968
Background: In 1968, a year dominated by the war in Vietnam and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, student and worker protests convulsed countries ranging from Mexico to Czechoslovakia to the U.S. Perhaps the most high-profile rebellion occurred in France in May, when students swarmed the streets, clashed violently with police, and joined forces with workers, paralyzing the French economy for several weeks.
Similarities: Michael D. Mosettig at PBS states that the rebellion in France in 1968, like the uprising in Egypt in 2011, was "a largely leaderless revolt of the young, and a government initially in disarray, ending as the middle classes demanded a restoration of order and the government regained control of the situation." Amiel Unger adds that the French students, like the young Egyptian protesters, rose up because they had bleak job prospects after completing their studies.
Differences: George Friedman at Spero News argues that the 1968 protests "overthrew no regime even temporarily and left some cultural remnants of minimal historical importance." While "the Muslim world will not experience massive regime change as in 1989," he continues, the consequences of the revolts currently underway probably won't be as "ephemeral as 1968." He predicts that "the democracies that eventually arise will produce regimes that will take their bearings from their own culture, which means Islam."
Background: In 1848, a revolution in France in 1848 triggered similar uprisings in almost every other country in Europe. Historians attribute the reform movements, which were largely spearheaded by the middle class, to a variety of causes ranging economic hardship to the influence of nationalism, liberalism, and socialism. The revolutions were largely unsuccessful and played out differently in different countries, though were largely unsuccessful regardless of location. In France, for example, protesters ousted the monarch only to see the republic they created crumble shortly thereafter, while the German states failed to unite as they had hoped.
Similarities: The Washington Post's Anne Applebaum argues that that the 1989 revolutions were all about the Soviet Union withdrawing its support of Eastern European dictators, the Middle East protests, like the revolutions of 1848, "are the product of multiple changes--economic, technological, demographic--and have taken on a distinctly different flavor and meaning in each country." She adds that while the revolutions of 1848 failed in the near term, they planted the seeds for change over a longer period. By the end of the 19th century, she notes, Bismarck had united Germany and France had established its Third Republic. She predicts that even if many of the Middle East uprisings fail by 2012, the region may indeed undergo a longer-term transformation, perhaps fueled as much by negotiation as by popular revolution.
Differences: The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan argues that 2011, simply put, isn't 1848: "What happens when a backward region has an 1848 in 2011, an era where the rest of the world has already moved way past them--and the people, demographically skewed young, know it via the web and satellite TV? ... We will see some good outcomes and some disastrous ones. But the idea that these tyrants could hang on for ever, given their records and within these global currents is a fantasy."
MIDDLE EAST UPRISINGS AS SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW
Surveying many of these historical analogues, The Guardian's Timothy Garton Ash concludes that much of what occurred in Egypt was simply new, with no historical precedent:
New in Cairo 2011 is that it is now Arabs and Muslims standing up in large numbers, with courage and (for the most part) peaceful discipline, for basic human dignity, against corrupt, oppressive rulers. New in 2011 is the degree of decentered, networked animation of the demonstrations, so that even the best-informed observers there struggle to answer the question "who is organising this?". New in 2011 is the extraordinary underlying pressure of demography, with half the population in most of these countries being under 25.
Uri Friedman is a staff writer at The Atlantic, covering national security and global affairs.


2019 Regional Tournament
1997 & 2009 NCAA Div. III National Runner-Ups
No. 4 Wooster Drops Appleton Opener Against No. 6 Texas Lutheran, Plays Swarthmore in Saturday's Elimination Game
Texas Lutheran
Texas Lutheran (39-9) 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 14 0
Wooster (40-9) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
2B: Tyler Cauley; Chad Curtis
HR: Tyler Cauley
2B: Michael Wielansky
APPLETON, Wis. – The fourth-ranked College of Wooster baseball team will have to claw its way back through the elimination bracket, as the Fighting Scots' return to the Div. III Championships didn't get off to the start the Black & Gold were hoping for with sixth-ranked Texas Lutheran University taking a 7-0 ball game on Friday evening at Fox Cities Stadium.
"It's obviously not the way you want to start a tournament, but give their guy credit," said head coach Tim Pettorini. "He pitched a great game. He was spot on and came as advertised. We knew he would be very good, and he was. We didn't get the job done. It's a double elimination tournament for a reason, and the Fighting Scots will show up tomorrow ready to play."
Wooster (40-9), making its sixth appearance at the Div. III Championships, and first since 2009, was dealt a three-run hole in the first inning. Wooster junior Chandler Dippman induced a quick ground out against Div. III's leader in hits, Riley Schaefer, to start the game, but the Bulldogs quickly had the Scots' right-hander timed up. Back-to-back singles by Ben Marvin and Thomas Varner set the stage for Tyler Cauley, who drilled a three-run homer over the double-tiered billboards in left field.
Wooster junior Michael Wielansky looked to jump-start a two-out rally in the bottom of the first inning, and clubbed a two-bagger up the left-center alley, but a fly ball off the bat of sophomore Dan Harwood found its way into the waiting glove of Schaefer out in center field.
Texas Lutheran chalked out a run in the second inning. After the first two men reached via a walk and a single, Eric Rabinowitz sacrificed the runners over to second and third base, and Schaefer lifted a sacrifice fly out to right field to up the lead to 4-0.
In the third inning, a pair of two-baggers – first by Cauley, and then by Chad Curtis – upped the Bulldogs lead to 6-0. That's where the score stood until the eighth inning, but in between Wooster had to work its tail off to keep it at a six-run deficit.
In the fourth inning, junior Harrison Walls threw out a would-be base stealer and junior Garrett Crum made a nice pick on a screaming grounder to end the inning and strand a pair. An inning later, two more runners were stranded when senior Drew Tornow tracked down a fly ball to end the inning.
Sophomore Jeremy Parton breezed through his second inning of relief with a one-two-three sixth inning, and he hung a "K" backwards on Cauley's line for the game, and in fact, that was the lone time Wooster was able to retire the Bulldogs' top slugger on the night.
Two innings later, a three-hit inning by the Bulldogs made it a 7-0 game.
Senior Jake Fling is congratulated by first-base coach Dan Wyand after his fourth inning single. Photo courtesy of Russell Kramer, NCAC.
Wooster's top chance offensively came in the fourth inning when senior Jake Fling led off the inning with a single and moved up to second base on a base knock by sophomore Dan Harwood.
Nathan Malinovsky handcuffed the nation's top offense all evening long. The junior right-hander fired a four-hit shutout while striking out nine.
Cauley went 3-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored.
Noteworthy, Wooster held Schaefer, who entered the championships with a division-leading 86 hits to a 0-for-4 performance.
"Our approach was to give him a lot of different looks," said Pettorini. "We didn't want to throw him the same pitch back-to-back. He's a great hitter, and his numbers are outstanding to say the least."
Dippman suffered his first loss on the year. The right-hander allowed six runs on nine hits in four innings.
Wooster will look to stay alive and must win its next four games to advance to the best-of-three championship series. Up first is a date with Swarthmore College (37-10) on Saturday with first pitch set for approximately 5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT.
"We've got some really good seniors who have been through the wars a lot in some tough situations," said Pettorini when highlighting getting the guys ready to go for Saturday. "Tomorrow's another great opportunity. We talked about it at length with our young guys before we came. It doesn't really matter. We've had an outstanding season. These guys have done a tremendous job, put up fantastic numbers, and really represented the school and our conference and everybody else in a first-class manner. This was going to be the icing on the cake. That's how we're going to approach it tomorrow. We're still in the middle of this thing. We have a lot of pitching depth. I know that. We're going to trot guys out there. If we can get the first one, hopefully we can get some momentum."


Sean Hannity Is Losing His Mind Over Jimmy Kimmel
He keeps egregiously comparing the late-night host to ‘Harvey Weinstein’ and digging up clips of his satirical television series ‘The Man Show’ as evidence.
Marlow Stern
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast
The feud between Sean Hannity, Fox News’ resident wannabe MMA fighter, and Jimmy Kimmel reached even greater levels of ridiculousness on Friday, with the self-proclaimed non-journalist repeatedly accusing the late-night host of being “Harvey Weinstein Jr.”
In a series of unhinged tweets, Hannity pointed to clips of Kimmel’s past satirical sketch-comedy series The Man Show, which ran from 1999 to 2004 on Comedy Central, as evidence of his being a “pervert” and “Harvey Weinstein Jr.”
Late Thursday night, Hannity teased that he’d have “much more tomorrow” concerning Kimmel’s so-called antics—which has thus far consisted of digging up more archival Man Show clips, browsing the show’s Wikipedia page, and referencing a conversation about Kimmel with Disney honcho Bob Iger that may or may not have happened.
For those existing on this planet—and not whatever one Hannity is on—conflating Kimmel and Weinstein isn’t just egregious, it’s incredibly irresponsible. Weinstein, a disgraced film mogul, has been credibly accused of rape or sexual harassment by up to 100 women; Kimmel, who has a reputation of being one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, has been accused of rape or sexual harassment by zero women.
And while The Man Show was no doubt problematic—Kimmel once boasted of it as “a joyous celebration of chauvinism”—it’s harmful to compare a sketch-comedy show, where sketches are often staged, pre-recorded, and participants sign consent forms, with real-life sexual misconduct.
Kimmel indeed fired back on Friday afternoon, tweeting at Hannity, “I vote for whichever one best helps you trivialize the horrors of Harvey Weinstein by comparing them to televised comedy bits in which every woman was a willing participant who gladly signed a release.”
Such behavior is particularly rich coming from Hannity, who repeatedly defended Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore after he was credibly accused of a rash of sexual misconduct; defended Fox News president Bill Shine for allegedly covering up Roger Ailes’ sexual misconduct (Shine was eventually let go from the network); passionately defended Fox News chief Roger Ailes following several sexual-harassment allegations (Ailes was also let go); and hosted Bill O’Reilly on his show after it was revealed that O’Reilly had settled multiple sexual-harassment suits, with Hannity saying to his predatory pal, “I think you should come back [to Fox News].”
The dust-up between Hannity and Kimmel began when the staunch Trump defender took issue with a joke the comedian made on his Jimmy Kimmel Live! program about Melania Trump’s accent while reading a children’s story during the White House Easter Egg Roll.
“Liberal Jimmy Kimmel making fun of the first lady of the United States and her involvement in the White House Easter Egg Roll, even her accent. Jimmy, you’re a despicable disgrace,” Hannity said, adding that he’s an “ass clown” and arguing that English is Melania’s “fifth language. How many do you speak?”
Kimmel, as is his wont, fired back at Hannity during his Thursday night monologue, saying, “This is the guy who defended multiply alleged pedophile Roy Moore, and I’m the despicable disgrace? I’m the ass clown?! If I’m an ass clown, and I might very well be, you, Sean, are the whole ass circus.”
He continued: “You’re the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey of ass-clownsmanship, but I do wanna say, I appreciate how compassionate you’ve suddenly become to the plight of immigrants in this country over the last 24 hours. Do you know what I think is disrespectful to the first lady? Cheating on her with a porn star after she has a baby. Why don’t you rant a little about that, Sean Hannity?”
The funnyman was, of course, referring to porn star Stormy Daniels, who’s accusing the president of conducting an affair with her mere months after the first lady had their son, Barron.
@marlownycmarlow.stern@thedailybeast.com
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.


Home Real Estate Historic DC A State Funeral Illuminates the Life of George H.W. Bush and America
A State Funeral Illuminates the Life of George H.W. Bush and America
Former President George W. Bush delivers the eulogy at the funeral service for his father, former President George H.W. Bush Dec. 5 at the Washington National Cathedral. Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks.
State funerals are high and mighty, sometimes surreal occasions, solemn and full of formality, and, contrarily, stretched to the limits of theatrical and historical high drama. For such an effect, the visually dramatic spaces of the Washington National Cathedral, the air appears rarefied, almost visible before the stained glass windows and brave arches.
This is true if you happened to remember the funerals—in person or otherwise— of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, and some years later, of its legendary editor Ben Bradlee, or of Civil Rights leader Dorothy Height, ablaze with Sunday-go-to-meeting hats, or the quiet, smaller celebration of the life of political cartoonist Herblock, or of astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon or, three months earlier, of Sen. John McCain.
It is especially true for the celebration and passing of the life of United States Presidents. All the ingredients were there for the Dec. 5 state funeral of George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st President of the United States, shepherd of a one-term presidency of gigantic import, who lived a multi-faceted life of public service that touched critical levers of governance for the nation.
There is always a certain comforting similarity to these occasions that you watch keenly for the details—the rows of large, black vehicles delivering their cargos of family, one of whom was also a president, and attendance by four other presidents, and a swell of the mighty: international leaders, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, mingling with cabinet secretaries, partners and wives, whether of days past or today’s power brokers. You see time and again servicemembers carrying the flag-draped coffin, the careful lifting, the small, measured and precise steps, the full-breath orders given, up the stairs, through the heavy doors and to its place before the altar.
For all this solemnity and visual allure of tradition, this funeral will be remembered not just for its lasting summation and expression of a remarkably affecting life, but for the life within the ceremonial itself. This was a funeral that often resembled an Irish wake for all the sounds of laughter, real life feelings and length.
In some ways, the various speeches—by a journalist-historian, by a former Canadian prime minister, by a former senator and close friend, by the son and former president, by a minister—proceeded in an orderly manner to reveal the full life of George H. W. Bush, late of this world, of Maine and Texas.
The recitations and reflections of Jon Meacham, the Bush biographer, included a full-circle story about the young aviator whose plane was shot down, with his rescue, and the loss of two fellow airmen in World War II. Meacham noted that Bush spent his life asking the question of “why me, and not them,” but also said that he was “an imperfect man who left us a more perfect union.”
“Leadership” is how former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney defined the 41st president. “When Bush was president of the United States of America, every single head of government in the world knew that they were dealing with a gentleman, a genuine leader—one who was distinguished, resolute and brave,” he said. Former Wyoming senator Alan Simpson spoke of Bush’s modesty. “Those who travel the high road of humility in Washington, D.C., are not bothered by heavy traffic,” he said.
Bush was often noted—not always kindly by others—for his healing, uniting and softer qualities: the thousand points of light, a kinder, softer nation, because that seemed hallmarks of his life. He set aside grudges, buried old rivalries and wrapped his arms around old rivals in friendship.
He lived literally in the bosom of a large and always growing family which acted, as they did with the Kennedys, as a kind of buffer against outrageous fortune and political loss and the lingering, lifelong grief over the loss of a young daughter.
Former president George W. Bush, who knew something of political pitfalls, centered his eulogy around love with conviction and recalled calling his father on his last day to tell him he loved him. “I love you, too,” the father replied, the last words he ever spoke. At the end of his eulogy, the son broke into tears. So did former Secretary of State James W. Baker when the story was told that he rubbed his good friend’s feet for a long time at the end.
This funeral was not shy of sentiment, or even a small amount of silent controversy. People wept, or sighed because in a cathedral you imagine you hear every breath and sigh, and talked of the lost child, how hate can be all consuming.
All four former presidents and first ladies sat in the front row. Then, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived to sit, too, with the Obamas, Clintons and Carters. Their presence seemed to cast a pall of silence on the pew of presidents which had been noticeably animated before, turning silent as a stone pillar. The Trumps did not read or say prayers, nor did they sign, looking straight ahead. It was as if they were there, but not there.
Along the family pew in the other front row, the contrast could not have been stronger. Here the Bush children and their spouses sat, where tears could be seen, but smiles also, where Jeb and George reached out to each other, where wives and husbands held hands, and where emotions flowed freely.
As many noted, the contrast was not just about the occasion, but the times — with the speeches so full of references to truth, honesty, warmth, loyalty, accomplishments, modesty and humor, cooperation and friendship and respect, qualities that seem absent from today’s fraught political dealings.
What also emerged from the funeral was a portrait of George H. W. Bush that at various times when he was in pursuit of high office went un- or under-appreciated.
As with the lines that continued endlessly during the Bush viewing the day before, as his old friend Bob Dole came for one last salute, as people came to say goodbye, they stretched out on streets and roadways and would again in Texas. Bush’s worth rose to be seen clearly with the feeling of loss enlarged by the outburst of public affection which in the end was clearly his due.
state funeral
Previous articleFamily Follows Tree from Oregon to Washington
Next articleJulie Kent Takes Center Stage
Canal Road Reopens to Traffic
Canal Road Repairs May Continue All Week
Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA. + seven = fourteen


Latest Events, Information & Tickets. Independent Theatre Guide.
Tyler Perry's Madea's Farewell Play at Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis
Tyler Perry's Madea's Farewell Play Tickets
Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis
If catching the latest Theatre is your cup of tea, then this is a heads-up that Tyler Perry's Madea's Farewell Play is headed its way to Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday 27th March 2019. Witness Tyler Perry's Madea's Farewell Play happening at the Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis , and seize this opportunity of a lifetime. Book your tickets early so you would get the best seats and make this experience truly memorable. Get your tickets now!
Experience the spectacular production of Tyler Perry's Madea's Farewell Play – one of the most talked about Theatre events of the year! This life-changing show comes to Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis on Wednesday 27th March 2019, bringing the critically acclaimed performance to the stage and creating a world like no other! Escape from the routine of your usual Wednesday and find yourself totally immersed. A hit from day one, there's a reason Tyler Perry's Madea's Farewell Play has been the Theatre show on everyone's lips – you've never seen anything quite like this! Make sure you catch Tyler Perry's Madea's Farewell Play while it's in Minneapolis – tickets will sell out quickly and you won't want to miss this unforgettable show!
Fans of Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis
Summer - The Donna Summer Musical 16/07/2019
Tony Bennett 28/07/2019


Women do not haunt the State. They occupy it.
Around the world, women are taking to the streets in great numbers, to protest, to take charge, to transform. In the past couple weeks, women have led and populated mass protests and marches in Malawi, Uganda, Lebanon, Argentina, Romania, Chile, Haiti. Women have occupied Wall Street, Nigeria, and beyond.
Women have been the bearers, in every sense, of Spring … in Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain. Today, January 25, women are returning to Tahrir Square … and to every square in Egypt. This is nothing new for northern Africa. Women, such as Aminatou Haidar, have born `spring’ in Western Sahara now for decades.
For women, the street does not end at the sidewalk. It runs, often directly, into the State offices.
Women are everywhere on the move, changing the face and form of State.
In Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner returned to her office today, after a 21-day health related absence, to resume her activities as President. On Thursday, January 5, Portia Simpson Miller was inaugurated, for the second time, as Prime Minister of Jamaica. On Monday, January 16, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated to her second term, of six years, as President of Liberia.
These are precisely not historic stories or events, and that’s the point. Women in positions of State power are women in positions of State power. Not novelties nor exotic nor, most importantly, exceptions. That is the hope.
But for now, that struggle continues.
In Colombia, women, such as Esmeralda Arboleda, helped organize the Union of Colombian Women, fought for women’s rights and power, and was the first woman elected as a Senator to the national Congress. That was July, 1958. Fifty or so years later, in January 2012, women in Chile launched “Mas mujeres al poder”, “More women in power”. In tactics, strategies and cultural actions, Mas mujeres al poder builds on the work of student activists in the streets. Women are saying enough, women are saying the time is now, and women are pushing their way through the electoral process, with or without the political parties, into the provincial and national legislatures.
Meanwhile, in Bolivia, Gabriela Montaño was named President of the Senate and Rebeca Delgado was named President of the House of Representatives. Women are everywhere … and on the move.
On Tuesday, January 10, voters in Minnesota, in the United States, elected Susan Allen to the state legislature. Allen is the first American Indian woman to serve in that body. She is a single mother, and she is lesbian. Many firsts accrue to her election.
Across Europe, Black women are struggling and entering into legislative bodies with greater and greater success: Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen, originally from Martinique, in Norway; Nyamko Sabuni, originally from the DRC, in Sweden; Mercedes Lourdes Frias, originally from the Dominican Republic, in Italy. The struggle continues … into the national and regional legislatures, into the political structures, into the cultures of power as well as recognition.
Across the African continent, women are on the move. In Kenya, women, such as Charity Ngilu, are set to make their marks in the upcoming elections … and beyond. Meanwhile, South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is running, hard, for the Chairpersonship of the African Union Commission. She would be the first woman in that post, and some say she would be the most powerful woman in Africa.
And in South Korea, four women, Park Geun-hye, Han Myeong-sook, Lee Jung-hee and Sim Sang-jung lead the three major political parties. Together, their three parties control 262 seats of the National Assembly’s 299.
This barely covers the news from the past three weeks. Everywhere, women are cracking patriarchy’s hold on and of power, in the streets, in the State legislatures, in the political structures. Today, and tomorrow, women do not haunt the State. They occupy it.
(Photo Credit: BeBlogerra)
Filed Under: General Tagged With: African Union, Aminatou Haidar, Arab Spring, Argentina, Bahrain, Bolivia, Charity Ngilu, Chile, Colombia, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Dan Moshenberg, Dominican Republic, DRC, Egypt, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Esmeralda Arboleda, Gabriela Montaño, Haiti, Han Meyong-sook, Haunts, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Lee Jung-hee, Malawi, Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen, Martinique, Mas mujeres al poder, Mercedes Lourdes Frias, Ngilu, Nigeria, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Norway, Nyamko Sabuni, Occupy, Park Geun-hye, Portia Simpson Miller, Rebeca Delgado, Romania, Sim Sang-jung, South Africa, South Korea, Susan Allen, Sweden, Syria, Tahrir Square, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Yemen


Linda Blacken
Weehawken, New Jersey
Organization: New York Cares
Volunteering gives me so much joy and fills me with purpose.
-Linda Blacken
Linda Blacken grew up in an Army family that travelled a lot. She was born in Alaska, but the family eventually made their way across the country before settling in Virginia. She now lives in New Jersey working as an editor for medical literature to help patients better understand the medicine they are taking. And for the past fourteen years, she has been an avid volunteer with New York Cares.
“I began volunteering in 2004,” said Linda. “Growing up in a household where both parents gave their time to different community efforts and individuals, volunteering was just a normal part of life. A few years after an injury stalled my career as a professional musician, I needed to fill that space in my life with something that was more meaningful than just having an office job. One day I was chatting with a friend about looking for a way to volunteer. I told him about some individual efforts that had failed, and he told me about New York Cares. I signed up to attend a one-hour orientation, and that was the start of this amazing journey that has provided so much growth and joy in my life.”
Linda says she likes the variety of projects she can get involved in through New York Cares. She has become a team leader with the organization, training other volunteers to lead programs in areas like children’s education, environmental improvement, large community initiatives and volunteer training.
“One of the things I enjoy the most is having the opportunity to make a positive change in or impression on someone else’s life,” says Linda. “I’ve led a team of volunteers taking elementary school students on monthly field trips for 13 years now. We’ve gone on tons of fun and exciting adventures their families might not have been able to provide for them. While I don’t need the kids to remember me when they’re older, I do hope they remember there was that nice lady and her team who took them on fun trips when they were kids.”
Linda also logs the time she spends volunteering through Reward Volunteers. She learned of the Cabot program through longtime friend and 2014 Cabot Celebrity Beth Lehmann, who shares her volunteer time on Facebook. Once she learned of the program, Linda started logging volunteer time on behalf of her organization and sharing it online.
“Being a part of the 2017 Cabot Celebrity Alaska Cruise was really special for me,” said Linda. “I was born in Alaska, and the cruise was the first time I had been back after my family left when I was an infant. The cruise was also a day after my birthday, making that special cruise really feel like a journey home.”
In her spare time, Linda loves to craft. She has shelves full of various supplies for things like beading, polymer clay, knitting, crocheting, sewing and bedazzling. She also was once a professional French horn player and still plays today. Her favorite Cabot cheese is Shredded Mozzarella.
Cabot has also honored New York Cares volunteer Beth Lehmann (2014) with Community Celebrity Cruises who returns this year as an Alumnus along with first-time New York Cares Community Celebrity Phara Policar.
This will be Linda’s second Cabot Community Celebrity Cruise. She was first honored by Cabot with a cruise in 2017 on our trip to Alaska. We’re honored to have Linda join us again as a 2019 Community Celebrity Cruise alumnus.


© Pierre Monetta
Chivas Stadium © Omnilife
W083 by Wästberg
me.we © Pierre Monetta
Wallace Chair © Poliform
Flow Slim Armchair, © Massaud
Globe Suitcase collection, © Massaud
Silver Time for Christofle © Luxproductions.com
Executive Chair for Coalesse, © Massaud
French multidisciplinarian Jean-Marie Massaud was born near Toulouse, France, in 1966. His visionary work spans architecture and the full spectrum of object design—from bespoke furniture and industrial products, to, more recently, futuristic installations like a helium-filled airship hotel.
Educated at the renowned Les Ateliers École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris (along with fellow alums Cédric Ragot, Philippe Malouin, Nina Tolstrup, , among others), Massaud moved to Asia after his 1990 graduation to collaborate with Yamaha Offshore on a submarine design. Upon his return to Paris, he enjoyed a four-year intensive partnership with his former Les Ateliers professor Marc Berthier, an industrial products maestro. In 1996, he laid the foundation for his own studio, which officially launched in partnership with architect-turned-product-designer Daniel Pouhezet in 2000 as Studio Massaud.
Studio Massaud’s macro-architectural projects include the Tanabé House in Fukuoka (2000) and the volcano-shaped Estadio Akron for the Chivas football club in Guadlajara. Massaud has created interiors for Sephora, Poltrona Frau, and B&B Italia / C&B Italia; his product design clients include Paloma Picasso, Cacherel, Air France, Kartell, Axor, and Daum, among others. He’s also worked on branding for Lancôme; B&B Italia, Wastberg, and Foscarini.
Massaud designed his first furniture pieces—the sculptural Horizontal Chair (1998), exhibited in January 1999 at the Museé des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and the architectonic Chuck Rocking Chair (2000), based in steel and upholstered in polyurethane foam—for the Tokyo furniture label E&Y. In 2001, he collaborated with Cappellini (at Giulio Cappellini's behest) to produce his polished fiberglass InOut Sofa (2001). His post-Cappellini CV includes work for Cassina (Aspen Sofa and Auckland Armchair, both 2005), Arper (Fred H74 Table, 2007), Dedon (Dean Slingchairs, 2016), Emu (Heaven Seating, 2007), Poltrona Frau (Archibald Armchair, 2009, and Gran Torino collection, 2013), B&B Italia (Seven Table, 2008), and various designers for Poliform.
Massaud has said he draws design inspiration from the thoughtful elegance of Charles & Ray Eames, the eclecticism of Philippe Starck and Castiglioni Brothers, the sharpness of Antonio Citterio, and the expansive creativity of Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Edison. His work has received several honors, such as the Créateur de l’Année at the Paris Salon du Mueble (2007, 2009), the Wallpaper Design Award (2014), and the Interior Innovation Award (2015), and can be found in the design collections of major international museums, from the Musée National d'Art Moderne de Paris, to the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, The Chicago Athenaeum, The Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), and the Musée des arts Décoratifs (Paris).
Flow Swivel Chair by Jean-Marie Massaud for MDF Italia, 2000s


Entergy Agrees to Sell U.K. Unit to French Firm
Kathryn Kranhold and
Paul M. ShererStaff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal
Entergy Corp., the New Orleans electric utility, has sold its British utility to Electricite de France SA for about 1.39 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) plus the assumption of about 530 million pounds in debt, according to individuals close to the negotiations.
The sale of Entergy's London Electricity marks an end to the company's auction of most of its international operations. Part of a strategic overhaul by Robert Luft, Entergy's new chairman, the sale also would continue the retreat of U.S. utilities from Britain's electricity...


Home Articles Interesting Facts 10 Interesting Facts About Chinese Philosopher Confucius
10 Interesting Facts About Chinese Philosopher Confucius
Born in 551 BC in the district of Zou, in the tributary state of Lu near present day Qufu, China; Confucius is considered as a towering personality in ancient Chinese history. After working in a number of small jobs in his early life, Confucius became a renowned philosopher who had thousands of disciples and numerous followers. He also served as Minister of Crime in his political career. In his role as a political thinker, philosopher, teacher and great master, Confucius left a deep influence in the essence of Chinese society. The impact of his philosophy Confucianism on East Asia and, through it, in other parts of the world can be perceived even today; many centuries after his death. Know about the family, life, career, death, teachings, philosophy and disciples of this great Chinese sage through these 10 interesting facts.
#1 Confucius is not his real name
Confucius’s personal name is understood to be Kǒng Qiū (Zi). Zi representing the family lineage and Kong, a certain branch of the family. As per prevalent customs his personal name was only used by the family elders and his courtesy name Zhòngní was commonly used by his contemporaries. His students address him as Zi in their compilations of his teachings; a title which is mostly translated as “Master” and does not imply his surname. Besides this Confucius was decorated with many titles over the years. Some of them being
a. “Laudably Declarable Lord Ni” (褒成宣尼公)
b. “Extremely Sage Departed Teacher” (至聖先師)
c. “The Model Teacher for the Myriad Ages” (萬世師表)
d. “The Great Sage” (至聖)
e. “Grand Master Kong” (孔夫子)
f. “The First Teacher” (先師)
Confucius is the Latinization of his title Kǒng Fūzǐ (Grand Master Kong) made popular in the west through the writings of Jesuit missionaries in China.
An ancient painting depicting Confucius and his students
#2 The Lunyu and Shiji are widely sourced for his biography
The Lunyu or “Analects of Confucius”, compiled by Confucius’s disciples and later followers, is considered as one of the most reliable biographical material on Confucius. Shiji or “Records of the Grand Historian”, a masterpiece by Sima Qian, is a monumental account of ancient Chinese history covering over 2500 years. It was completed around 94 BC during the rule of the Han dynasty and consists of a biography of Confucius. Besides these, other important texts from which one can know about Confucius include Zuo zhuan or “Commentary of Zuo“, composed in the 4th century; and the Mencius, compilations of teachings and philosophies of Confucius by his well-known 4th century follower Mencius, known as the “second Sage” after Confucius himself.
Analects of Confucius from the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, Sweden
#3 Confucius had to take up many small time jobs in his youth
Confucius was born in the class of shi, between the ruling elite and the commoners; most shih served as court officials, scholars and teachers. His father Kong He, a soldier and commander in the Lu garrison died when Confucius was three years of age. The little boy was thus cared for by his mother Yan Zhengzai within her meager means. Confucius married Qiguan when he was 19. The couple had a son and two daughters. He took up many minor jobs to support his family. His first occupation appears to have been as a book keeper of the Lu granary. It is noted that he also worked as a laborer, supervisor of the fields, shepherd, cowherd and a clerk.
An 18th century portrait of Confucius
#4 Confucianism emerged as a major philosophy in the 100 schools of thought
The era of the “100 schools of thought” is considered one of great ages of cultural, philosophical and intellectual expansion in China. It took place during the Spring and Autumn period (771 to 476 BC) and the Warring States period (475 to 221 BC) of ancient China. Born towards the end of the spring and autumn period, Confucius grew up in a time when China was getting more and more divided. The rise of disunity and civil strife gave rise to various philosophies. Confucius and his followers competed successfully with many other schools during the era. Other major philosophies, underlined by historian Sima Qian, during this period are Taoism, School of Yin-yang, Mohism, Legalism and Logicians.
Famous Confucian historian Sima Qian
#5 He included the concept of Six Arts in his philosophy
Mencius – One of the most prominent Confucian philosophers
In ancient China, during the reign of the Zhou Dynasty (1122 to 256 BC), a perfect gentlemen was supposed to be the master of “liù yì” or the Six Arts. Confucius was himself educated in the six arts namely archery, mathematics, music, calligraphy, charioting and ritual. These six arts became a part of Confucian philosophy. They were emphasized besides the established scholarship and were practiced by the disciples of Confucius. To Confucius, the main objective of being an educator was to teach people to live with integrity. Through his teachings, he worked to resurrect and bolster the traditional values of benevolence, propriety and ritual in Chinese society.
#6 Only 70 odd disciples mastered what he taught
According to Sima Qian, Confucius once said “The disciples who received my instructions, and could themselves comprehend them, were seventy-seven individuals. They were all scholars of extraordinary ability.” Menicus puts the number at 70. Traditionally it is said and widely believed that Confucius had 3000 disciples, but only 72 mastered what he had to teach. Yan Hui was the favorite disciple of Confucius. He is considered the first among the Four Assessors or the four prominent Chinese philosophers in the Confucian tradition. Others being Zengzi (disciple of Confucius); Zisi (Confucius’s grandson, student of Zengzi); and Mencius (student of Zisi), who is the most notable among the four. Within a traditional Confucian temple, his favorite disciple Yan Hui’s tablet is placed first to the east of Confucius.
#7 He rose to the position of Minister of Crime in his political career
During the times of political turmoil in which Confucius lived, the state of Lu was governed by what may be termed as a duke of Lu, Lord Ding. Under him three aristocratic families of Ji, Shu and Meng held important bureaucratic and political positions. The fiercely competitive politics, and lack of morality in the state and the empire as a whole, had led to a vast array of problems. This led to the rise of various philosophies which were looked at as guiding lights by certain people in power. Around 500 BC, Confucius had gained in esteem through his teachings and was appointed to serve first as a magistrate, then as an assistant minister of public works, and eventually as minister of crime in the state of Lu.
World’s largest statue of Confucius at Yushima Seido, Tokyo, Japan
#8 Confucius went in a self-imposed exile for 13-14 long years
Ran Qiu – Who facilitated the return of Confucius to his native state Lu
Being among the annals of power in Lu, Confucius must have been glad with the opportunity to propagate his ideas. There are varied accounts on why he abrogated his position and went into exile most pointing to the internal politics within the state, the moral denigration of the ruling elite, jealously of other states and that his ideas did not sit well with the aristocracy. So around 496 BC, Confucius went into a long self-imposed exile of 13 to 14 years looking for a feudal state that would utilize his services. His journey was primarily in the north-east and central China including Wey, Song, Zheng, Cao, Chu, Qi, Chen, and Cai. Confucius was mostly received with much respect and admiration during his journey. He expounded his philosophy but was disappointed that much of his teachings were never implemented.
#9 His forsaken disciple facilitated his return to Lu
Ran Qiu (Ziyou/Ran You) was a leading disciple of Confucius. He is noted in the Analects for his achievements in government and political affairs. He worked in prominent positions for the aristocratic Ji family in the state of Lu. He most notably served under Ji Kangzi, who was the chief minister of Lu from 492 to 468 BC. Ran was interested in the administration and ignored many Confucian dictates. Confucius thought that Ran lacked ren or humaneness and criticized his disciple many times, once suggesting he no longer considered Ran as his disciple. In 484 BC, Ran Qiu, as commander of the Lu forces, defeated the invading Qi army. As a result his influence rose in the state of Lu. It is believed that the rise of Ran Qiu led to Ji Kangzi inviting Confucius back to his native state of Lu, after his years in exile.
#10 Confucius died in 479 BC leaving a lasting impression on the life in East Asia and beyond
Confucius returned to his native state of Lu as an old man of 68 years. He finally breathed his last in 479 BC. During his last years he acted as an adviser to the government officials, transmitting his wisdom to his disciples and working on various texts including the 5 classics. His teachings would later be compiled and elaborated by his disciples and his philosophical school continued and prospered for ages. The succeeding Han and Tang Dynasties encouraged Confucian thought with Emperor Wu of Han making it the imperial philosophy. During the Song Dynasty, famous Confucian scholar Zhu Xi (12 century AD) built upon Neo Confucianism, a more rationalist and secular form of Confucianism. The ideas of Confucius had great influence in not only China but also Japan, Vietnam, Korea and others, up until the 19th century.
Confucius Temple of Kaohsiung in Taiwan
The Lasting Impact of Confucius
There may be arguments and counter arguments but the impact of Confucianism on the life, culture and thought in East Asia and through it in other parts of the world can be perceived even today; many centuries after his death. He is widely considered as one of the most important and influential individuals in history who had a deep and profound affect on humanity.
Leaders & Icons
Previous article10 Major Achievements of The Ancient Inca Civilization
Next article10 Most Famous Short Poems By Renowned Poets
Arun is an educationist, writer, novelist and graphic artist. He is the published author of - Magical Potion for Perfect History (Innovative Education) - 15 degrees off your heart (Short Story collection) His maiden fantasy novel "The Collector of Antiques" is awaiting publication. With learnodo he hopes to carry on his educative entertainment he begun 8 years ago.
12 Major Military Leaders of World War I
Popular In Interesting Facts
Roy Lichtenstein | 10 Interesting Facts About The Pop Artist
Marie Curie | 10 Interesting Facts About The Great Scientist
Robert Frost | 10 Interesting Facts About The Famous Poet
Pablo Escobar | 10 Facts About The Colombian Drug Lord
Mansa Musa | 10 Facts About The Richest Man In History
Latest In Interesting Facts
Jackson Pollock | 10 Facts On The Famous American Artist
10 Interesting Facts On Ancient Roman Soldiers
10 Interesting Facts On The Ancient Roman Army
10 Facts About The Disaster At The Chernobyl Nuclear Plant
Booker T. Washington | 10 Facts On The American Leader


Brexit: The day the music died
Hamburg, August 17, 1960. Unbeknownst to them at the time, The Beatles are about to launch their international career in a tiny club called "Indra" just off the city's notorious Reeperbahn strip, trying desperately to make their amps and PA heard over the racket of the punters.
Unhindered by visa and border restrictions, their biggest concern at the time would have been the logistics of getting themselves and their equipment into a small van and catching the ferry in time from Harwich to the Netherlands. "It was cramped. The van didn't even have seats; we had to sit on our amplifiers," recalled George Harrison in The Beatles Anthology.
Fast forward to 2018 and in a little over six months' time, UK bands may not have the luxury of figuring out travel logistics, let alone playing a Hamburg venue.
'Road to Nowhere'
In the event of a no-deal Brexit, up-and-coming bands may have to cross off Cologne's Luxor, Amsterdam's Paradiso, or La Cigale in Paris from their Europe 2019 tour posters.
Read more: Brexit Big Band: Musical dialogue on European tour
In a nutshell, a no-deal outcome would impact upon the freedom of movement to be able to travel and work. EU-funded touring benefits would be slashed, not to mention the introduction of visa and travel licenses, and higher duties on imported equipment, bringing back memories of the so-called carnet system. Before the UK joined the Common Market in 1973, touring musicians were required to carry a "carnet" — a document listing their every piece of equipment, which would be closely checked at each border — and visas were required to enter most European territories.
"[It meant] you would be stopped at every border and have to account for all the merchandise you were taking over the border and there'd be silly things like crews would have to make sure that they got any broken guitar strings off stage to make sure that when they went out of the country it didn't look like they had fewer guitar strings then when they went in and then have to pay [additional] tax," Ian Moss, director for public affairs at the British Phonographic Industry, told DW.
At this point it's difficult to put an exact figure on the visa costs involved but as UK artist Sarah Howells can testify it's essentially uneconomical for small bands. She's been playing in bands for years and now performs as Bryde. "I had to get a visa for America a couple of years ago and the amount of effort and forward planning that it took just to go there and play to a handful of people. And it cost thousands of pounds."
'I Predict a Riot'
Then there are uncertainties around tax and social security rules, not to mention the potential loss of the European Health Insurance Card, which means band members would incur extra costs for medical insurance when on tour. "There are some countries that say that if you're touring there you're working and therefore you have to pay national insurance and those sorts of things can get deeply bureaucratic," Moss said.
Elise Phamgia is the project coordinator for Liveurope, an initiative supporting concert venues to promote up-and-coming European artists, co-funded by the European Union's Creative Europe Program. "The platform that we're coordinating is supporting young emerging talent touring in 14 venues in Europe and currently an average of 30 percent of our emerging European talent touring are from the UK," she told DW. While much of it is still a guessing game, Phamgia is under no illusions that Brexit will have an impact on her industry. "We can we foresee that indeed it would be much more difficult for a venue to book emerging UK acts."
Lucie Caswell, chief executive of the Featured Artists Coalition based in London, says artists on their roster are thinking twice about their potential European tours "We're already seeing people holding off to wait to see what happens. [But] we can't just drop Europe. It's our pipeline really for these young artists."
Indeed, the very livelihoods of many emerging artists would be at stake. "If it becomes even more difficult [to tour] we would have to rein it in, which would be a shame because there's a lot of British acts that are bigger in Germany, for example, than they are in the UK. I've got more fans in Berlin according to Spotify than I do in Hull so I'd really like to be able to go and play to people in Berlin," Bryde told DW.
Caswell's especially frustrated by the government's perceived inability to value the UK creative industry's role in Europe. "We heard [at a meeting] that the creative sector [economically] outperforms aerospace, pharmaceuticals and one other of that ilk so you'd think someone would actually recognize their importance," she told DW.
'I See Fire'
It's not just the bands who will feel the brunt — even more so in this day and age when, as Caswell puts it, "the artists have to focus on live [performing] perhaps ironically more than ever because it takes so long to earn any money out of digital." The entire supply chain will be affected, says Moss. "So, for example Ed Sheeran will tour but at the moment he would have taken a UK crew across the whole of Europe. They won't be able to do that anymore, or certainly in a no-deal scenario that would be extremely complicated, not least because of things like lorry driver permits. At the moment we have some of the best riggers and lighting engineers and if the crews are being picked up in Germany or Ireland or wherever they land first, that ecosystem starts to be chipped away at as well."
That type of talent drain to the Continent is already happening, says Andy Lenthall, general manager of the Production Services Association. "There are quite a few UK-based crews who work overseas a lot. They've been applying for foreign passports, trying to find an Irish or Portuguese Grandma and it's great. So they will be there. [But] what about the equipment? And oh by the way please can you bring back some cheese or a few BMW Mini fuel injections?"
"You know, we used to be famous for bringing back piles of drugs packed in speaker cabinets and now we'll be bringing back broccoli from Italy. So, really it's broc 'n' roll."
Currently transport and licence issues can be sorted out relatively seamlessly. But that, says Lenthall, could change dramatically. "There is a contingency plan for transport but the contingency plan is based on an old system of quotas of truck movements. And the quota is somewhere around 1,280 per year, which the Road Haulage Association said would for last two-and-a-half days. Even if we do [in the future] have some magical digital system for checking goods through a border and it only takes two minutes, that's a 70-mile (112 kilometers) tailback on the motorway within 24 hours."
But at least there's a chance crews and equipment will get to mainland Europe at some point. To put into perspective how farcical the situation is, Lenthall described how an industry colleague from Germany asked him to speak at next year's pro light and sound conference. "I asked him 'When will it be'? And he said April 3 or 4. And I said, sure I'll come: Are there any airplanes flying then?"
Read more: Opinion: Brexit — #Brexcrement horrors and howlers
'The Great British Mistake'
The outlook for emerging artists and the industry as a whole, admits Moss, is bleak. "We keep on going back to the costs and that's where you can sweep out a whole range of small artists. So looking 20 years down the line: What set of bands never managed to break Europe because they never had an opportunity to tour and start their careers?"
On that note (pun intended), the last word should go to British punk band the Adverts, who, in an astonishing act of music prophecy, wrote a song some 40 years ago that presciently predicted the entire Brexit fiasco:
The great British mistake was looking for a way out
Was getting complacent, not noticing
The pulse was racing
The mistake was fighting
The change, was staying the same
It couldn't adapt so it couldn't survive
Something had to give
The people take a downhill slide into the gloom
Into the darn recesses of their minds
The genie's out of the bottle, call in the magician
They didn't mean to free him, devil behind them
Devil in the mirror, chained to their right hands
They're the great British mistake
They'll have to come to terms now, they'll take it out somehow
They'll blame it all on something
The British mistake - when will it be over?
How can they avoid it?


Archives|New York State Votes to Reduce Drug Sentences
New York State Votes to Reduce Drug Sentences
By MICHAEL COOPER DEC. 8, 2004
ALBANY, Dec. 7 - After years of false starts, state lawmakers voted Tuesday evening to reduce the steep mandatory prison sentences given to people convicted of drug crimes in New York State, sanctions considered among the most severe in the nation.
The push to soften the so-called Rockefeller drug laws came after a nearly decade-long campaign to ease the drug penalties instituted in the 1970's that put some low-level first-time drug offenders behind bars for sentences ranging from 15 years to life.
Under the changes passed Tuesday, which Gov. George E. Pataki said he would sign, the sentence for those same offenders would be reduced to 8 to 20 years in prison. The law will allow more than 400 inmates serving lengthy prison terms on those top counts to apply to judges to get out of jail early.
The changes reflected a nationwide push in recent years to lessen some of the punishments for drug offenders, as states like Michigan and Pennsylvania have moved to emphasize drug treatment options or to give judges more discretion in sentencing those convicted of narcotics crimes.
The law's passage also represented a major achievement for a state legislature that studies have called the least efficient in the nation. Until now, state leaders have strived for years and without success to overhaul the drug laws, named for Nelson A. Rockefeller, who was governor when they were enacted.
The State Legislature also broke another logjam Tuesday when it passed a bill authorizing the expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on the West Side of Manhattan so that New York City could compete with other cities for major conventions.
As part of that deal, the Republican-led State Senate won a provision that $350 million would be spent on other projects outside of New York City, and the Democrat-controlled State Assembly ensured that the bill remained neutral on the question of whether to allow the New York Jets to build a football stadium on the site. [Page B1.]
While some elected officials and drug policy advocates hailed the drug sentencing changes as a major step forward, others complained that they did not go far enough. They complained that inmates serving what they called unduly long prison terms for lesser crimes would not be allowed to apply for early release, and that judges were not given the power to sentence some offenders to treatment programs rather than prison.
"This is it?" an exasperated State Senator Thomas Duane, a Manhattan Democrat, shouted during the debate. "This is it? After all this time, this is what comes to the floor? It would be an unbelievable stretch to call this Rockefeller drug reform."
But Russell Simmons, the hip-hop mogul who had vigorously pushed for the changes, said he was "very, very happy," and credited pressure from the hip-hop community for raising awareness on the issue.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver credited a changed political landscape -- including the election of a new district attorney in Albany County, David Soares, who ran with the backing of the Working Families Party on a platform seeking drug-law changes -- for bringing the state's leaders to a compromise. He said he would continue to push for more changes next year.
"It isn't everything we wanted, and I think we will continue to press for some of those things, but I think the climate has changed here," he said.
In the mad scramble of late-session activity, though, several significant issues remained undone: how to comply with a court order requiring the state to fix New York City's schools, and how to overhaul a budget process that has yielded late budgets for 20 years in a row. Senator Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate Republican majority leader, backed away from a plan to override Governor Pataki's veto of the budget overhaul bill that the Legislature passed earlier this year.
Governor Pataki said the new drug law "reflects a greater knowledge than we had 30 years ago."
Senator Bruno urged his colleagues not to underestimate the importance of their vote to change the state's drug laws.
"We are doing something here that changes people's lives," he said, citing the case of Elaine Bartlett, who served 16 years in prison for a single sale of cocaine, and whose story was chronicled this year in "Life on the Outside" by Jennifer Gonnerman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004). "And don't minimize it. Please don't minimize it."
Still, he said, "There is more to be done, and we're going to get there."
A study by the Democrats in the State Senate found that New York imposed the harshest penalties in the nation for low-level drug offenders. It found that 32 states, including Texas and Florida, offer probation to nonviolent offenders who sell small amounts of drugs, and that New York was the only state that required more than three years in prison for such offenses.
But year after year, talks to overhaul the laws have fallen apart.
To reach a compromise, the Senate and Governor Pataki gave up on their calls to increase penalties in some areas for drug kingpins, drug dealers who use children as couriers and drug dealers who use guns. The Assembly gave up its calls to give judges the discretion to sentence offenders to treatment instead of prison, to allow more inmates to seek early release and to add more treatment options.
Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, a Queens Democrat who has led the Assembly's efforts to overhaul the drug laws for years, said: "We reached a point where you're going to do something this year or you're not. So, since nobody was willing to give on those other issues, you boil it down to what you can concur on."
But a number of drug policy advocates complained that even with the changes, the state's drug laws remained unduly harsh, and that the new law did not change the state's basic approach to fighting drugs, which they said has failed. Robert Gangi, the executive director of Correctional Association of New York, a prison monitoring group, said that the current system was still weighted in favor of prosecutors.
"What mandatory sentencing means is that judges no longer have the authority to make the threshold decision of whether someone should be incarcerated or not," he said. "We're supposed to have an adversarial system: the defense attorney on one side, the D.A. on the other side. And the judge is the neutral arbiter who is supposed to weigh their claims. What mandatory sentencing does is stack the deck in favor of one side in the adversarial process, and that is the prosecutors."
Mr. Gangi complained that after years of negotiations, and a brief flirtation with public conference committees, the final agreement was reached behind closed doors, with interested parties unable to weigh in.
One district attorney who was happy to see the change was Mr. Soares, the incoming district attorney of Albany County, who upset an incumbent, Paul Clyne, in a race dominated by their debate on the drug laws. And on Monday, District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau of Manhattan called for overhauling the laws.
Bertha Lewis, the co-chairwoman of the Working Families Party, which backed Mr. Soares's candidacy, said, "The incumbent D.A. paid a political price for his public opposition to reforming arcane and outdated laws, and clearly the State Legislature took notice."
Governor Pataki said that the deal struck Tuesday was largely the same as one that was nearly sealed in 2003 during a bizarre late-night negotiating session on the second floor of the Capitol with the leaders of the Legislature and Mr. Simmons. (Assemblyman Aubry, famously, was left outside the closed-door meeting.)
Mr. Simmons said that he was pleased something had finally happened.
"I think it is a big win," he said. "Do I believe that there is more room? Yes is the answer. I think the people who fought, the kids who came out, the artists who worked hard, I think they will embrace it. It shows their power. That they have a political might that can be used to benefit the state and the country."
Al Baker contributed reporting for this article.
A version of this article appears in print on December 8, 2004, on Page A00001 of the National edition with the headline: NEW YORK STATE VOTES TO REDUCE DRUG SENTENCES. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe