This is Fungal Disease Awareness Week. Not making this up.
Why does the CDC want us to 'Think Fungus'?
Murat Can Kalem, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
After last week's excitement over Septembr 19th's "Talk Like a Pirate
Day, now this...and for an entire week!
When people think of infectious microbes, they typically think of bacteria and virus. There is, however, another enormous group of organisms that can affect our health: fungi.
It is estimated that there are 5.1 million species of fungi on Earth, from the mushrooms that we eat to the microscopic fungi that can infect us.
Most fungi are found in the environment – soil, trees, air and water – and they are all around us. Only a small subset of the 5.1 million – some 300 species - pose a health threat and are capable of causing serious life-threatening infections. What makes these disease-causing species so special? How do these fungi impact our health?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has designated the week of Sept. 23-27 as Fungal Disease Awareness Week to boost the public’s understanding of how these microscopic organism can make humans sick. CDC handles between three and five fungal outbreaks per year. This number was between one and two in 1990s. This increase in overall number of outbreaks is alarming.
How does fungi infect us?
Fungi are all around us and people are infected when they inhale the microscopic fungi, fungal spores or through direct contact.
Sometimes the exposure to fungi is through contaminated products. That happened in the 2012 outbreak when more than 13,534 people were exposed to methylprednisolone (an anti-inflammatory drug), which was contaminated with a fungus called Exserohilum rostratum that typically infects plants but not humans. In this outbreak, 753 cases of contaminated-product related fungal infections were reported and 61 people died.
Fungal outbreaks caused by understudied species are notably challenging because diagnostic tools and treatment options are insufficient.
Fungi are neglected
I am a microbiologist and am interested in fungi because fungal infections are becoming more common and are historically neglected.
I study a fungus species called Cryptococcus neoformans, and aim to unravel its molecular and cellular biology to better understand how it causes infections. It is one of the most devastating HIV/AIDS-related fungus, and especially was at the time of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s in the U.S.
People with weakened immune systems or those affected by conditions such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and organ transplantation are the populations most vulnerable to fungal infections in general.
The Cryptococcus infection presents as lung disease with nonspecific flu-like symptoms, such as fever, cough and chest pain. Cryptococcus can travel from the lungs to the brain and can cause Cryptococcal meningitis, and can be lethal if left untreated. Cryptococcus is in the environment and people are often infected by inhaling the fungi and the fungal spores. In fact, majority of the urban population is already infected with Cryptococcus.
With the development of therapies to fight HIV, the occurrence of AIDS-related fungal infections has decreased. But Cryptococcus is still a threat for organ transplant recipients and other vulnerable groups, and early diagnosis saves lives. Not to mention there are still 36.9 million people living with HIV worldwide, and cryptococcal meningitis is still one of the leading cause of death among the HIV/AIDS patients in sub-Saharan Africa.
The number of fungal outbreaks are on the rise
In 2017, there was an unexpected outbreak of an infection called blastomycosis in the metropolitan area surrounding Albany, New York, caused by the fungus Blastomyces.
While the infection rate was 0.2 cases per 100,000 people in 2016, the infection rate increased to 2.2 cases per 100,000 people in 2017. Blastomyces are present in the environment and thrive in moist soil and in decomposing organic matter. Though mostly asymptomatic, pneumonia is often how blastomycosis manifests. Between 1990-2010 in the U.S. alone 1216 people died of blastomycosis.
Far away in another region of the country, in the southwestern U.S., another fungal infection coccidioidomycosis - also known as valley fever and caused by the fungus Coccidioides, has been threatening people and it has now spread to Washington state. People can get valley fever when spores are inhaled or when exposed to the contaminated soil.
Both blastomycosis and coccidioidomycosis are tricky to diagnose because they manifest with flu-like symptoms that are not specific enough, making it hard to identify the cause and provide effective treatment in a timely manner. If left untreated, fungal infection that emerge as a lung infection may spread to other organs and even to the brain, causing deadly scenarios.
Complicating matters further is the sudden appearance of patients infected with multi-drug-resistant Candida auris in the U.S. hospitals. In this case fungal infection symptoms may be less noticeable because infection mostly occurs in already hospitalized patients with already existing symptoms.
This fungus is a harmful form of yeast that was first seen in a
patient in 2009, in Japan. Scientists say it can be hard to
identify with standard lab tests, and more cases are being
reported as doctors are looking harder for it.
Shawn Lockhart/CDC via AP
Patients often present with fever and chills during Candida auris infection of the blood. This fungus was first isolated in Japan and then spread to four other continents. There is supporting evidence that global warming plays a role in the sudden emergence of Candida auris as a threat.
Global warming drives fungal infections
Most fungi often thrive at 12-30 degrees Celsius (53.6-86 degrees Fahrenheit). During infection, fungi experience a sudden increase in the temperature – around 37 degrees Celsius (approximately 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) – as fungi enter the human body; therefore, only fungi that can survive at body temperature and bypass the immune system can cause infection.
It is crucial to understand how fungi must change to survive at elevated temperatures. That’s because only species that can survive at 37 degrees Celsius and above can infect humans.
More fungal species are expected to adapt to survive at elevated temperatures as a result of global warming. How this adaptation will impact human health is largely unclear, but the hypothesis is that the geographical distribution of infectious fungi may widen and more fungal species may gain potential to be infectious.
Loud and clear: ‘Think Fungus’
Fungal infections can be devastating, and they continue to emerge more rapidly than ever. This is in part due to increased number of people with weakened immune systems, environmental changes, and drug resistance issues. Fungal infections are hard to diagnose, which makes them challenging to treat.
It is important that we all “Think Fungus” especially when there’s an infection that antibiotics fail to clear. More people should be aware that fungi are a common – and growing – source of infection.
Murat Can Kalem, Ph.D. Candidate. Graduate Research Assistant, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
Topics: Health, Science


Manuel du puceau
Bréal Jeunesse
Rosny-sous-Bois, 2003
La vie secrète des jeunes
L’Association collection
Ciboulette/Paris, 2007
Jungs bleiben Jungs
[Regisseur / Co-Drehbuchautor]
Frankreich, 2009
Meine Beschneidung
[Ü: Martin Budde]
Der Araber von morgen
München, 2015
[Ü: Andreas Platthaus]
www.riadsattouf.com
Riad Sattouf [ France ]
Riad Sattouf was born in 1978 in Paris of a Syrian father and a French mother. During a childhood and youth spent in Algeria, Libya, Syria, and France, he was an enthusiastic reader of comics. He trained as a pilot and also applied to the Gobelins school of visual communication to study animation.
In 2003, Sattouf’s first comic was published; »Manuel du puceau« (tr: Handbook for a virgin) very humorously describes adolescence as a time of inner conflict between a continued existence as a big kid and interest in the opposite sex, two things that are almost irreconcilable. His mixture of comic and illustrated story, »Ma Circoncision« (tr: My Circumcision), which was published a year later, was equally marked by autobiographical aspects. A discussion in the Germany daily »Tageszeitung« described the book, a depiction of the ritual from the point of view of a child, as a »story about fear,« as well as a »ferociously formulated criticism« of the widespread practice. The article went on to say that the humor in the work arose from the contrast between the child’s perspective and his brutal surroundings, marked by his father’s corporal punishment and his teacher’s canings. Sattouf’s interest in the troubles of youth and, in general, the process of growing up are also evident in his »La vie secrète des jeunes« (2007, tr: The Secret Life of Young People), a collection of comic strips that appeared in weekly over several years in the French satire magazine »Charlie Hebdo,« for which he drew from snippets of conversation and other scenes between young people overheard on the street, as well as in his first theatrical film, »Les beaux gosses« (2009, Eng: »The French Kissers«), which won the César for best directorial debut. His most recent film, »Jacky au royaume des filles« (2014, Eng: »Jacky in the Kingdom of Women«) is the story of a fictional totalitarian state where men and women live in permanent role reversal, and where the love of a young man for the daughter of the female despot triggers a series of humorous events. His most recent graphic novel to be published in German was volume one of »L’Arabe du futur« (2014, Eng: »The Arab of the Future,« 2015), which tells the story of his childhood in the Mideast and goes up to the year 1984. A review in the German newspaper »Die Welt« compares the book to other autobiographical graphic novels such as Marjane Satrapi’s »Persepolis« series (2000 – 2003, Eng: 2004 – 2005), except Sattouf’s is set not in Iran and Austria, but rather in Libya, Syria, and France. The paper went on to describe how Sattouf flavors his own unusual life story with precise observations about the Arab world, which he interprets as a family comedy.
Sattouf’s book won the 2014/2015 Grand Prix RTL for graphic novels, as well as the prize for best album from the Angoulême International Comics Festival.
EUNIC Graphic Novel exposition


09:15 +04, January 3, 2020
Slavik Galstyan: I want our team to take part in Olympic Games with large squad
By Lusine Shahbazyan
In 2019, the Greco-Roman style fighter, member of the Armenian national team Slavik Galstyan (63 kg) became a bronze medalist at the World Championships in Kazakhstan.
In an interview with a NEWS.am Sport correspondent, Slavik Galstyan summed up the results of the year, talked about further plans, changing the weight category, competition with Karen Aslanyan and Mihran Harutyunyan and about the goals to take part in the Olympic Games.
The wrestler noted that he regrets only that he could not become a world champion.
When asked about changing the weight category, Galstyan noted that he had already won a medal in his weight category and decided to strive for higher achievements, to compete for a ticket to the Olympic Games.
In the final of the Armenian championship Slavik Galstyan defeated Karen Aslanyan, who after Rio 2016 was the leader in this weight category. Speaking about this, Slavik said that Karen is his friend.
Asked to speak about Mihran Harutyunyan, Galstyan said that he respects him very much as a fighter, but he had to come and compete in the Armenian championship in order to participate in the fight.
Slavik noted that he was completely ready to fight for the Olympic ticket, which would be his main goal in 2020.
Armen Nazaryan is in Armenia where his team is holding a joint training session ...
Armenia will be represented in France by Rudik Mkrtchyan (55 kg), Gevorg Gharibyan...
The club will hold two training sessions in Russia’s Sochi and Cyprus...
Several Armenian football players may move to another clubs...
Edgar Babayan about Lecce's interest: It would be interesting to play against Mkhitaryan
Moving to Serie A is an excellent opportunity...
last news on "NEWS.am Sport Exclusive"


Inked Voices: A new way to meet & critique
November 4, 2014 Marianne Knowles Interviews, Writing, Writing - Critiquing & Community, Writing - Tools, Tips & Resources 18 comments
Brooke McIntyre, founder of InkedVoices
Today, Writers’ Rumpus is chatting with Brooke McIntyre, founder of Inked Voices, a website and tool that lets writers run cloud-based critique groups. Brooke is a writer, a reader, a business professional, and a mom of two little ones. I first met her online back in the spring, when the beta test for Inked Voices was underway. The site is now launched, and we’ve asked her to share a bit about Inked Voices and its journey so far.
Marianne Knowles (MK): What is Inked Voices, in a nutshell?
Brooke McIntyre (BM): Inked Voices is a web service designed for private, usually small, online critique groups. We help people find groups and then run those groups smoothly online. We’ve also just started a monthly lecture series on elements of craft to complement the groups.
I started working full-time on the site last October, our beta launched in late March 2014 and we went live at the end of June. We’re still improving the site and continuing to introduce new features.
MK: You said “we.” How many people helped create Inked Voices?
BM: I’m the only employee, but I’m definitely not on my own. I work with Devartis, a software development company based in Argentina. My former colleague John Simoneau designed the interface through the beta and Elise Grinstead designs my site today. I’m honored to use my sister Barrett Martin’s talents as an artist for our drawings.
Many others have shaped the site through their feedback, from my critique group members who heard the initial “what would you think if…” to the writers and group organizers who responded to my cold call at the early mockup stage. Inked Voices writers, especially our beta writers, have shaped the site with constant feedback—“we need this,” “it’s broken,” “wouldn’t it be nice if we could…,” and encouragement. The support of people who took a chance on this idea, who could have shrugged past, keeps me going on days where I’m throwing up my hands.
Inked Voices provides private, virtual spaces for writing groups to come together.
MK: What inspired you to start Inked Voices?
BM: I was at a transition point in the summer of 2012 and thinking about the next step in my career. I had recently helped to sell the company I was working for to a Fortune 500 business. We were on the cusp of an out of state move as my husband began looking for a post doc. And I was pregnant with #2. While waiting for career epiphany, I decided to take a step toward a dream I’d pushed aside: writing a children’s book. I started an online writing class when my daughter was a few weeks old. I liked it so much that I started a critique group with some women from the class. It was great. Knowing my turn would come up kept me writing. I loved getting feedback and the camaraderie of being in this journey together.
But running a group over email was less than ideal. My business brain called it inefficient and ineffective. We were always forgetting whose turn it was and when things were due. Discussions and submissions were scattered across my inbox and folders. It felt disconnected. Although we were a virtual team, we needed a space to come together for organization and continuity. We needed a better mechanism to help us with deadlines. I wondered how many other groups experienced the same problems. And I wondered how many people out there would also want a group like this, because they couldn’t attend one in person because of where they lived or family or work constraints. It seemed like a problem I could help solve. And, surprisingly, it brought in elements I had been passionate about for a long time–education, coaching, small teams, running a business, and writing. So I began sketching. And Inked Voices started.
MK: In addition to writing, you have a background in business and marketing. How has your professional experience helped you in launching the web site?
BM: Before Inked Voices, I led branding for a successful company and was part of its management team. With this experience and my MBA, I knew what elements of the business would need to come together. But starting a business is different than working for a company that’s well off the ground. I’ve drawn more on my “soft skills” managing projects and small teams. And my marketing background. I’m experienced in researching, interviewing people and then translating that into the shape of a new product. Although the stakes are higher as an entrepreneur, I’m following those same processes.
So for Inked Voices, I started out with a basic idea and sketches and then started talking to writers and writing group organizers. I made changes. Got more feedback. We built the product and tested it. Got feedback again. The iterative process of starting a business is a bit like drafting a manuscript and taking it through revisions.
Beta writers advised on the site–as well as advising each other on their writing.
MK: And the beta writers were a bit like the site’s critiquers. How did the site change as a result of the beta test?
Critique notes appear both inline and as comments. Everything is printable. (Click for larger view.)
BM: The beta test helped me prioritize the site’s development. We had a basic product we shared with our beta writers and a huge list of planned features. As soon as they started using the site and making comments, the list was added to and reshuffled. This is what happens today too, but it was much more drastic early on.
With writers’ feedback, we focused hard on the core of the application—the groups’ private pages and the critique interface. These are the places where people spend most of their time. For example, comments appear inline, are highlighted by reviewer and filterable by the same. And inline comments are printable. That was a big one. I said, “but you can’t do that in Google Docs.” But people pushed for it and I had to agree that, as a writer, it was kind of a big deal. So it happened.
MK: How are you making Inked Voices visible to potential members?
BM: I’ve found that Inked Voices is best fit for those who want to make an ongoing commitment to their writing. The Gotham Writers Workshop, which offers great online classes for writers, has mentioned us in its newsletters a few times and that was helpful. We are also sponsoring NaNoWriMo. I’m so impressed by everyone who takes this challenge. We sponsored Camp this summer and I’m looking forward to November! I’m also posting some free resources like this one-page critique guide to build some awareness of who we are. Some of our writers have kindly handed out postcards for the site, too.
MK: What do writers need in order to use the site?
BM: A passion for writing. A willingness to exchange and share among a small community of writing peers. A goal to improve your writing. An internet connection and device.
Inked Voices costs $10 per month or $75 per year (comes to $6.25 per month). This includes participation in one or more groups and the monthly lectures on craft. I also extend discounts to existing groups that want to try it.
Some have asked, why not offer it for free? Full-time software development and professional design are expensive. Ads couldn’t have supported the site and our beta writers didn’t want them. Paying a fee also means that the writer has a stake in the group—just like you’re more likely to attend a class you pay for. That’s also the reason for the discount for the annual version. Groups benefit when individuals make a longer term commitment.
MK: How do writers join groups?
BM: Writers search for groups by keyword, e.g. fantasy, picture book, memoir, SCBWI. After looking at the groups that come up in the results and identifying a fit, writers ask for an invitation. If someone doesn’t see a good fit, the writer can create a new group. Because the site is new, I will make that person a free user until their group has 3 or more writers.
When a new person joins, I also reach out personally. I look at the person’s profile and make suggestions for groups or individuals that might be a good fit.
I’m also doing something called Concierge Service through December for writers who want additional help finding an Inked Voices group. Writers fill out a questionnaire about what they are looking for and I email them when there is a matching group.
MK: I hesitate to ask, but have you found time for your own writing and critiquing, since starting the site?
BM: This has been a struggle. I’ve kept up with all of my critiques. But finding time for my own writing has been more difficult since the site went live. I don’t have an 8am-5pm schedule anymore, so I have to be more purposeful about defining time. I’ve gotten some new ideas down this fall including a couple of chapters of a novel. I’m surrounded by WriMo’s on the site and it must be seeping into me. 🙂 Whether I will keep going on said novel is TBD.
MK: Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
BM: For people interested in critique groups, whether on Inked Voices or otherwise, we are creating a Writing Groups 101 guide for starting and running critique groups. It will be posted by mid-November.
Thanks for visiting Writers’ Rumpus, Brooke. And thanks for helping to sponsor NaNoWriMo! Best wishes for the success of Inked Voices.
Check out Inked Voices:
Tour the site to see how it works
Twitter: @InkedVoices
Facebook: Inked Voices
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TO FOSTER
PUBLIC DEBATE, PLURALISM
AND DEMOCRACY
THE PANOS NETWORK
PANOS FEATURE STORIES
FACING THE TALIBANS
By Rina Saeed Khan
In a rundown building in the mountain village of Sijban, girls sit at their desks, hair loosely covered in white or black scarves, staring raptly at their teacher. They say they want to become either doctors or teachers when they grow up.
This is the one government primary school for girls in the Swat valley that was spared destruction by the Taliban. Their headteacher, Gul-e-Khandana, is no ordinary teacher: she stood up to the Taliban and managed to save the school where she had taught for more than 20 years.
She still shudders as she recalls what happened: “A group of Taliban arrived with Kalashnikovs at the school building just before the school holidays in June 2008. I ran out and told them: ‘You will have to kill me first before you torch my school’. They called me a kaffir [non-believer] and said they would be back.”
The Taliban had already destroyed the nearby girls’ middle school so, fearing the worst, Gul-e-Khandana removed the furniture and school records to her home. The girls had already stopped coming to school. But Gul-e-Khandana was determined. She was denounced on the radio, which was controlled by the militants. Her neighbours stopped talking to her and her extended family broke off all ties.
When the military operation began to flush out the Taliban from Swat later that year, Gul-e-Khandana fled, smuggling the school records under her burka. “Everyone thought I was crazy but I thought one day the Taliban will leave and we will re-open the school and the girls will come back. I wanted to keep the certificates and records.”
With the army operation completed, Gul-e-Khandana returned to Sijban in July 2009 and went straight to her school. “It was still standing! I was so delighted. I had feared the worst but out of the six classrooms only one room had been destroyed by mortar shells.” With the building more or less intact, she re-opened the school. “Many of the girls were still too terrified to come back to school and I started a committee with the help of the army that went from one household to another to convince the parents to send their daughters back to school.” Today there are 262 pupils enrolled in her school, more than before the Taliban came to Swat.
Other schools in the area, such as the middle school for girls in Shinkat, a village near the capital of Swat, were not so lucky. The school was completely destroyed by the Taliban in 2009. Salma, 17, recalls the day it was attacked. “It happened around 1 o’clock in the morning. I heard the blast. It made me very sad and I cried.
”Today, Salma is back at her newly constructed school in Shinkat and says she wants to be a doctor. Her teacher, Shanaz, says that now the Taliban have left the valley, enrolment is increasing. “More girls are coming back and many want to go on to college. There is a change; parents are willing to encourage their daughters. As for the girls, you can see the happiness on their faces, they are so happy to be back in a proper school again. Many lost almost two years of their studies.”
The Taliban destroyed more than 400 of the 1,576 schools in Swat. “Seventy percent of them were girls’ schools,” recalls Ensaullah Khan, who serves on the board of the Sarhad rural support programme, an NGO that is helping to rebuild schools. “Then as the conflict with the government intensified they started destroying both boys’ schools as well as girls’ schools. It was a terrible time. How can you build a nation without education?”
This is a question many people are asking in Pakistan, after the Annual Status of Education report, published in February this year, revealed that nearly 60% of school-age children can’t read. Girls fare the worst.
Another report, by the Pakistan Education Task Force in 2011, showed that Pakistan is second in the global ranking of out-of-school children. One in three rural women have never attended school.
Education in Pakistan is chronically underfunded. And the Taliban continues to strike in other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. There are no official figures but estimates suggest more than 800 schools have been destroyed in north-west Pakistan.Maryam Bibi, founder of the NGO Khwendo Kor,
which has been working for girls’ education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province since 1993, is one of several who see the importance of educating girls. “We talk about equality and women’s rights and welfare at the policy level, but what is the strategy, especially for poor girls living in remote areas? We must educate these girls – then you are automatically ensuring that their health improves and that later on they have fewer unplanned pregnancies.”
Her organisation focuses on remote Valley where girls are the future International development With the Taliban driven out of Swat, girls can once again go to school areas where no schools exist yet. “The villagers themselves have given us space to run these schools for the young girls in the community and we try to involve the mothers as well by offering them short courses to improve their literacy levels. We are only working in remote areas where there are very few schools and opportunities. We try to find an educated girl in the village and then give her training and funding to run the school. So far, we are running around 150 schools on our own, but our funding is decreasing. We want the government to eventually take over these schools.”
Gul-e-Khandana believes that girls are the future for Pakistan. “Above all, girls must be educated,” she says. “When one girl is educated, she educates her entire household. The role of women is very important in our society – it is they who can change our way of life for the better.”
Khan agrees that schooling is the answer. “With education, we can change our future. We can save the people from falling into the hands of extremists. We can empower them.”
THE PANOS
PUBLIC DEBATE,
PLURALISM AND
RADIO FEATURES
PANOS PROJECTS
CLIMATE CHANGE MEDIA PARTNERSHIP
REPORTING TAX RESEARCH IN KENYA
ORAL TESTIMONIES
PUSHED TO THE EDGE
DESERT VOICES
PANOS NETWORK, ℅ INSTITUT PANOS AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST
6, RUE CALMETTE, BOITE POSTALE 21132, DAKAR-PONTY, SENEGAL.
© 2020 PANOS NETWORK


Volume: 54 - Number: 11
Editorial: Barnabas or Barnacle
Are ALL the Children In?
Hull, Albert
Poetry: Are ALL the Children In
Cottrill, Brent
Defining Moments: Change Points in our Lives
Beattie, Jim
Hospitality: If Jesus Came To Your House
Webb, Ken
Giving: What about Widows?
Robinson, Paul
Witnessing: Vital Needs
Dudgeon, Richard
Yesterday, Today, and Forever
The Minor Prophets: Zechariah – Hope In The Messiah
Clark, G. Ross
Heart Problems Nobody Wants – But Every Christian Should Have (3)
Quotes from John Douglas
The Serious Nature Of Lying
Brandt, David
Question & Answer Forum
Oliver, David
Broadhead, Philip
Great Gospel Texts: Genesis 22:8
Lampkin, Phil
A challenging and insightful article which should speak to each of us.
Students of language know that words can never be defined in isolation from their context. Dictionary meanings supply only the raw material from which a contextual significance can be built. Words have a range of meanings, called the “semantic” range, and have location in a sentence, the syntactical position. Consequently, words can be properly understood only in a setting within surrounding elements.
At times, the skillful placing of an otherwise ordinary word can make it shine with new brilliance. Some writers can take a five cent word and mint it into a million dollar one. Everyone has had the experience of picking up a volume written by a wordsmith and becoming captivated with a book that was a real page-turner. It is a pleasure to read anything penned by an artisan who can thread words into the fabric of his story and weave a beautiful tapestry on a blank piece of paper in a way that dazzles the eye of the mind.
But not only do words have context and syntax, people do too. Each of us lives in a context of circumstances and in a syntactical arrangement of events that precede and follow certain moments in our lives. Those moments may seem as insignificant as an ordinary word in a sentence. Yet, in a certain setting, our responses to them reveal hidden weaknesses or highlight strengths that might otherwise go undetected. Hence, we are defined in a new way.
I was reminded of this earlier in the year when I read the incredible story of Aron Ralston, an avid outdoors man and expert climber, who amputated his own arm to save his life. On Saturday, April 26, 2003, he was canyoneering down remote Blue John Canyon in southeastern Utah when he was pinned with a boulder weighing about 800 pounds. Ralston tried ropes, anchors, anything to move the boulder, but it wouldn’t budge.
When he didn’t show up for his job in Aspen, friends called authorities. Sergeant Vetere, a patrol sergeant with the Emery County Sheriff’s Office, got the call Thursday morning, May 1. Terry Mercer, a helicopter pilot with the Utah Highway Patrol, met Vetere and another deputy at Horseshoe Canyon, where Ralston’s truck was parked. They flew for about two hours. As they were about to land, they looked down into the canyon and saw two people waving. They had encountered Ralston covered in blood.
In his first meeting with reporters, the 27-year-old Ralston calmly described his desperate attempts to free himself from the boulder and how he eventually did the unthinkable: cutting off his arm to save his life.
After he ran out of water, Ralston said he knew he would have to cut off his arm to save himself. He used the pocketknife he had stuffed into his short’s pocket. He then rappelled down some 60-75 feet to the canyon floor and walked 4 to 5 miles before he saw the tourists from Holland.
Many questions stirred in me when I read about this incredible event. I wondered, as I am sure many others did, if I could have done the same, what thoughts he struggled with before he finally realized that there were two options: lie there and die or amputate and live.
The point is that, while we may not have to make such a drastic choice, each day we are set in the context of our own personal world and circumstances, and these continually reveal hidden motives. Moreover, there are special contextual seasons that give the clearest picture of our fundamental character, times rightly called “defining moments.” More specifically, I am thinking of the periods when weaknesses are uncovered, when our behavior exposes character traits that must be altered or abandoned. The Scriptures are full of such times in the lives of individuals.
For example, consider King Saul. He had been chosen to be the leader of the nation of Israel. Yet when he was confronted by Samuel about his disobedience, he admitted, “I have sinned” (1 Samuel 15:24). The need for acceptance and preeminence was a driving force in his life. Instead of resisting this weakness, however, he allowed it to goad him for the rest of his days until that moment of sad lament, when he said, “I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly” (1 Samuel 26:21). Early in his public life, he had a defining moment which could have been a turning point, but he refused to be redefined and never turned around.
In contrast, King David placed himself in a context that revealed a flaw in his life that had never been properly examined and judged before the Lord. For him, the sad experience with Bathsheba was a defining moment. Yet in a spirit of repentance, he allowed God to redefine him through a deep heart-work. He prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). And the Lord answered his prayer.
Much of the time we do not recognize our true disposition because our hearts are deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). But the Lord loves us too much to allow us to delude ourselves indefinitely. Inasmuch as He desires “truth in the inward parts,” He allows us to be brought into settings where we view ourselves in contexts that highlight weaknesses and afford us opportunities to face ourselves honestly and change direction.
Sometimes, however, we refuse to deal with flawed character and continue with pretense and facade, dismissing occasions to humbly acknowledge failure. Some deceptions are masked under an air of spirituality, an eloquent tongue, half-truths told to squirm out of consequences, the minimizing or excusing of bad behavior, or even a legalistic spirit that gives an impression of loyalty to the Lord. There are a thousand ways to spurn change.
The tragedy of all this is that ultimately we ourselves suffer the greatest loss. When God has graciously provided us a prospect for change and we resist it, we do so to our own detriment, both for the present and for eternity. King Solomon has left us a solemn warning, “If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it” (Proverbs 9:12). The highest wisdom is to take the low place.
As I thought further about Aron Ralston, I thought of the words of the Lord Jesus: “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off…” (Mark 9:43). While I don’t believe the Lord Jesus intended this be taken so literally as to follow the example of Ralston, nevertheless there are times when we need to become very intense about change. If our conduct is squeezing the life out of us, we need to amputate it through the power of the Holy Spirit!
We will have defining moments in our lives. These times might shock us and, perhaps, engender grief and disappointment. Yet if we learn valuable lessons from them, unquestionably these dark seasons will be the antecedents to brighter days in our Christian life. Certain events in our lives are pivotal points and we will tip one way or another. May the Lord give us grace, courage, and strength to use the defining moments to let Him redefine us.


Taliban video shows execution of 15 Pakistani soldiers
By JohnThomas Didymus Jan 23, 2012 in Politics
Peshawar - Taliban militants have released a video showing execution of 15 Pakistani soldiers. A Pakistan Taliban (TTP) group, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the executions.
AFP reports the executed men were Frontier Corps personnel. Frontier Corps (FC) are paramilitary troops. They were kidnapped last month during a raid on a checkpoint in northwestern town of Tank. Their bodies had been found earlier in the month after they were kidnapped in northwestern Pakistan on December 23.
The video, which runs for almost two-and-a-half minutes, was released on Saturday. It begins with a scene showing the soldiers with their hands tied to their backs, and two masked gunmen guarding them.
The commander of the Taliban group is shown explaining in anger that they are taking revenge for the killing of 12 Taliban fighters in Khyber tribal district. The commander said: "Twelve of our comrades were besieged and mercilessly martyred in the Khyber Agency [area]. Our pious women were also targeted. To avenge those comrades, we will kill these men. We warn the government of Pakistan that if the killing of our friends is not halted, this will be the fate of you all."
One of the Pakistani soldiers who, according to AFP, says his name is Babar Khan, explains that he and the others were captured by Taliban militants at their outpost during the night. He explains: "The Taliban entered the fort and captured us with our weapons. They tied our hands, put us in a Datsun and took us away."
Then video then shows the captives standing in a row, blindfolded and handcuffed, with their backs turned to their captors. As the leader of the Taliban fighters loads his rifle, his men can be heard chanting: "We will cross all limits to avenge your blood." Reuters reports this refers to fighters killed by Pakistani security.
The Taliban commander then raises his rifle and begins shooting the prisoners in the back of their heads, while raising the Islamist war cry:" Allah-u-Akbar!" Other soldiers join him in shooting the captives.
The men were handcuffed together such that when one was shot the other was pulled in the direction of his fallen companion.
After the prisoners had all fallen to the ground, their killers stand over their bodies and one militant says: "If the killing of our friends is not stopped, this will be the fate of all infidel armies."
AFP reports that according to Pakistani officials, the executions were carried out in Shawa, a small town near the Afghan border in the North Waziristan tribal region.
According to Reuters, the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) is an umbrella group of Pakistan militants fighting in the country's tribal areas. They are allied with the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda. Their aim is to overthrow the Pakistani government and have been responsible for suicide bombings in Pakistan. The Pakistan army, in-spite of its superior numbers, has been unable to defeat the insurgents. Talks between the two sides have not yielded any positive results.
More about Taliban, execution of pakistani soldiers, Pakistan
Taliban execution of pakista... Pakistan


Crystal Dunn's Long Road From 2015 Cut to 2019 USWNT World Cup Roster Lock
Crystal Dunn dealt with all sorts of emotions after being player No. 24 when it came time for Jill Ellis to pick her 23-player roster for the 2015 Women's World Cup, but her four years since have been filled with positive life and career changes, culminating with a trip to France this summer.
Laken Litman
Crystal Dunn wanted to watch the 2015 Women's World Cup, but not by herself. She couldn’t watch with other soccer players, because they knew how close she’d been to making the team. She was too far away from family—they were in Long Island, N.Y., and she lived in Washington, D.C. She needed to find someone who loved the game as much as she did and also wouldn’t judge her emotions, which were “up, down, all around.”
This was four years ago, after Dunn was the last player cut from Jill Ellis’s Women's World Cup roster. She remembers getting the news and going into full crisis mode, feeling “embarrassment, like I’m useless, like I’m worthless.” She was only 22 and had her whole career ahead of her, but she wasn’t thinking positively.
It’s easier for Dunn to reflect now. She’s a completely different person and player than she was in 2015, having developed more confidence and maturity. Everything she’s done the past four years—winning NWSL MVP in 2015, making her first Olympic team in 2016, playing for Chelsea FC in England’s top professional league in 2017, leading the North Carolina Courage to a title in 2018—has put her firmly in the top tier of international players.
And on Thursday, Dunn's road came full circle as she made her first World Cup roster, listed as a defender for the USWNT, a leading contender to win a second consecutive title.
Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
Dunn's rebound from disappointment began as she played for the Washington Spirit in 2015, and while looking around for a World Cup viewing partner, she was “intrigued” by the club’s the French athletic trainer, Pierre Soubrier. She thought he was cool and kind and eventually asked if he wanted to hang out and watch the tournament at a bar. Soubrier was hesitant at first given their professional relationship. But he doesn’t deny being interested, so he agreed. The two quickly hit it off and watched almost every game together.
They were still getting to know each other, but Soubrier became Dunn’s sounding board. He listened to her vent, gave her advice and tried to get her to see the bright side. He told her to use the adversity as a learning experience and reminded her she was talented. He was also tough and of the mind that “life’s too short, and I don’t have time to waste with negative thoughts and pessimistic attitudes and ideas.” Eventually, Dunn snapped out of her funk.
“He helped me see that this was the beginning of my chapter,” Dunn says. “I think that’s what really sparked my change in character. It was realizing that soccer is a huge part of our lives, in a way it defines us, but we’re human. We’re not just these athletes that care solely about performance or being part of a roster. It’s important to keep things in perspective and he was that light that brought me into reality.
“Life goes on and now we’re hanging out, we’re getting to know each other. Who’s to say that would have happened if I were at the World Cup? Things happen for a reason.”
Dunn channeled lingering disappointment into the ensuing NWSL season. She scored 15 goals in 20 matches and was named league MVP. After the season ended, Dunn and Soubrier officially started dating, and last December, they were married in New York. And for the record, despite his French roots, Soubrier is rooting for his wife and the USWNT to win the World Cup, which will be played in France.
"Look at where we are now," says Soubrier, currently the head athletic trainer for the Portland Thorns. "That’s really also part of the message and the learning experience. How sad and how frustrated and how pissed off she was at that time, but looking back now at how much good has this one thing done on the professional level and on a personal level. It’s just been great. A blessing.”
Joe Petro/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
Dunn was voted the NWSL’s April Player of the Month after scoring four goals in three games for the Courage. She might not be scoring as many goals at the World Cup while playing on the back line, though. With Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Megan Rapinoe, Christen Press, Carli Lloyd and Mallory Pugh all pushing for time at forward, Dunn has had to define her role elsewhere. She’s versatile and skilled enough to play anywhere—and she literally has. Dunn started at center back for the U.S. youth national team (coached by Ellis) at the 2010 World Cup, led the University of North Carolina to an NCAA championship as an attacking midfielder, won NWSL MVP as a forward, and will play outside back in her first World Cup.
“Most people on the team have always been a striker or a midfielder, and for me, I’ve always been everything,” Dunn says. “That creates chaos in my mind when one day I’m asked to play forward and am embracing my attacking mentality, and then all of the sudden they’re like, ‘We need an outside back, can you play?’ It’s difficult at times.”
Dunn could say no to playing multiple positions, but she might get less playing time that way. Plus, that’s not her style.
“Ultimately I just love playing, so if that means I’m moved around but I’m on the field, then I just bite my tongue and am like let’s go,” Dunn says. “I’ll impact the game wherever I am.”
Playing for Chelsea added a layer of depth to Dunn’s overall game. She was always fast and could get away with beating defenders over the top and getting in behind, but in England, teams sit in and cut off that option. That’s when she learned to be more technical and tactical, seeing the field better and more creatively and becoming more active without the ball. Since she came back to the U.S., Dunn has started asking for the ball at her feet and taking on opponents one-on-one.
Everything about preparing for this summer’s World Cup is different. Four years ago, she was younger, treated decisions as life or death, was afraid to make mistakes, and compared herself to teammates. Since then, she’s realized that she’s best when not trying to be perfect.
“She’s so much more ready for a tournament like this than she was four years ago,” Soubrier says.
Someone will always unfortunately experience being the last cut. But at the very least, they have Dunn's perspective to help navigate it.
“If someone had told me four years ago what the future holds, I would be so well off at that point,” Dunn says. “I felt like my world was coming down crashing. That’s a terrible way of viewing it, because I love this sport. You don’t play for accolades but because you fell in love with it as a young girl. I almost got carried away with what I thought making this team could have done for me rather than focusing on how can I get better and how can I grow from this.
“I think that’s ultimately what saved me. Knowing that life goes on. It will be hard and there will be a couple months where you feel down and you feel left behind. But then all of the sudden there’s a switch, and you snap into reality, and you realize you belong somewhere, and 'I’m valuable, and I can work on ways to improve and I’m a good player.' That’s what I had to keep telling myself.”
Projecting the USWNT Women's World Cup roster
The U.S. women's national team has 10 matches to go before defending its Women's World Cup title, and in that time Jill Ellis will whittle her player pool down to 23. Here's who's in frame for a ticket to France.
By Avi Creditor
The USWNT's final pre-WWC roster battles
The core of Jill Ellis's Women's World Cup roster appears to be set, but there are still some tickets to France up for grabs entering the final matches before the May send-off series.
Crystal Dunn and her post-Women's World Cup outlook
Crystal Dunn joins the podcast to discuss what she’s hoping for in the next USWNT coach, whether that might include a move back into the attack, how her life has changed since winning the World Cup, the women's ICC tournament and how she thinks the NWSL can make its post-World Cup bump sustainable.
By Grant Wahl
Julie Johnston replaces injured Crystal Dunn on USWNT World Cup qualifying roster
Julie Johnston has replaced injured Crystal Dunn on the United States women's national team roster for the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship.
By SI Wire
Crystal Dunn looking to star in Rio for U.S. women
After missing out on the World Cup roster by the slimmest of margins, Crystal Dunn has more than earned her place on the USWNT's Olympic squad headed to Brazil.
USWNT: Crystal Dunn added to victory tour roster
Crytal Dunn joins the 23 players from the Women's World Cup winning team for the victory tour stops in Detroit and Birmingham.
Lloyd-led USA bests Chile, keeps coasting at WWC
Jill Ellis made seven changes to the USA lineup after a 13-0 win over Thailand, but a similar dominance ensued, with only Chilean goalkeeper Christiane Endler keeping the Americans from a second straight thrashing at the Women's World Cup.
By Laken Litman
Rapinoe leads USWNT by France, into WWC semifinals
The match lived up to the expectations. An intense, physical battle went the USA's way, with ringmaster Megan Rapinoe conducting the circus she craved with two decisive goals, leading the Americans to the semifinals and dumping the Women's World Cup hosts out of the competition.


TYPES OF MERCHANT SHIPS
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF A SHIP
Task 1. Read and translate the text. Learn the words given after the text.
When giving a general description of a ship one should first mention its main body which is called the hull. The hull is divided into three main parts: the foremost part is called the bow, the rearmost part is called the stern and the part between the bow and the stern is called the midships. The ship's hull is limited by the main deck, the sides and the bottom. It is made up of frames covered with plating.
Inside the hull is divided into a number of watertight compartments by decks and bulkheads. Bulkheads are vertical steel walls passing across the ship and along. Steel decks divide the hull horizontally. The decks which divide cargo spaces are called 'tween decks.
The hull contains the engine-room, cargo and other spaces and a number of tanks. In dry cargo ships the cargo space below the main deck is divided into holds, in liquid cargo ships it is divided into tanks. The openings cut in the main deck which give access to holds are called hatches. The hatches are equipped with automatic hatch-covers.
At the fore end of the hull are the fore peak tanks and at the after end are the after peak tanks. They are used for fresh water and water ballast. The space between the holds and the bottom of the hull contains double bottom tanks. These are used for ballast water and fuel.
When one faces the bow, the left-hand side is called the port side and the right-hand side is called the starboard side. The part of the hull below water is the ship's underwater body. The distance between the waterline and the main deck is the vessel's freeboard.
All the ship's parts above the main deck are known as superstructures which usually include the navigating bridge, the radio room, the crew's quarters, the sick bay, the funnel, the radar mast, etc.
The raised part of the deck in the bows is called the forecastle and its after raised part is a poop. On the main deck there are cargo handling facilities (derricks, cranes, cargo winches, Samson posts, etc.), and also the windlass (on the forecastle), the capstan (on the poop) and bitts.
There can be different ways of classifying merchant ships. Such ships can be classified according to what they carry. Most are designed to carry cargo, but some still carry passengers.
On the one hand, cargo ships may be divided into two basic types: those carrying dry cargo and those carrying liquid cargo. Multi-deck vessels are a traditional type of dry cargo ship. Their holds are divided horizontally by one or two 'tween decks. Dry bulk cargo is carried in bulk carriers.
Examples of liquid cargo carriers are oil tankers, liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers and chemical carriers.
On the oilier hand, cargo ships may be divided into universal ships (general cargo vessels) designed to carry principal different types of cargo and specialized ships designed to carry one type of cargo (e.g., bulk carriers, container ships, timber carriers, reefers, oil tankers, Ro-Ro ships, etc.). Of course, when it is necessary, specialized vessels can carry general cargo, and vice versa, universal ships can carry dry bulk cargo in their holds.
In comparison with cargo vessels, passenger ships are few in number and types. Passenger liners are the traditional type of passenger ship, though nowadays they are rather few in number. Cruise ships are another type of passenger vessel. In many cases cruise ships are converted passenger liners. These days' ferries are the most common type of the passenger vessel. Many of them are designed to carry vehicles.
Innovation durch ethnische Vielfalt. |


In a world where Serena Williams is head and shoulders above the competition, it’s not a question of which tennis player is going to finish first in the WTA rankings at the end of the year, it’s which player will be second.
Serena defeats the competition as easily as Jack Hammer outsmarts the desperate Evil Dr. Wüten in the classic online slot game by NetEnt casinos. In fact, this and other slot games you can play on your mobile are both an entertaining way to pass the time, but also give you an insight into how Serena feels when she sends her opponents packing.
1. Serena Williams
This is the third year in a row that Serena is number one on the WTA rankings. She was off to a flying start at the beginning of the season and defeated Sharapova at the Australian Open. This was Sharapova’s 16th consecutive defeat at the hands of the American, and she is surely having nightmares just at the thought of Serena.
Williams then went on to announce that she is going to stop the boycott towards the Indian Wells Masters tournament, which has been going on for 14 years before that. She got to the semis there, but had to forfeit the match due to problems with her knee.
At the Miami Open she won her eighth title there, and managed to take her winning run to 21 consecutive matches without a loss. The Miami title was followed by the French Open one, and the French Open one was followed by the Wimbledon title. In doing so, Serena completed the ‘Serena Slam,’ meaning that she won all 4 majors in a row. That was the second time she had achieved to do that.
However, she didn’t succeed in winning the ‘Grand Slam’. At the US Open she reached the semi-final and had to face Roberta Vinci, who was a huge underdog before the match. During the match though, Vinci outplayed the American and recorded one of the biggest surprises in 2015.
2. Simona Halep
Halep had a great 2014, and this year she has kept the same level of performance. At the Australian Open she managed to reach the quarter-final round where she suffered a surprise defeat by the tenth-seeded Ekaterina Makarova.
At the Indian Wells Masters, Halep capitalized on Serena Williams’ injury and withdrawal in the semi-final, and progressed to the final where she defeated Jelena Jankovic 2-1 in the most important match of her career and her highest point of the season.
Her lowest point of the season however, was her first round elimination at Wimbledon at the hands of Jana Cepelova. She did manage to recover from that defeat though, and reached the semis at the US Open later in the season.
3. Garbine Muguruza
The Spanish, slash, Venezuelan tennis player should no longer be considered as a star in rising. She has already risen and is currently number 3 at the WTA rankings. She’s still only 22 and has the tennis world at her feet.
The undoubted highlight of this season for her was her participation in the Wimbledon final. There, she sent several high profile players home early. Kerber, Wozniacki, Bacsinszky and Radwańska were all dispatched with style by the talented youngster on her way to the final and the match-up with Serena Williams. She lost in straight sets, but her road to the final was enough for her to get in the Top 10 for the first time in her career.
4. Maria Sharapova
What is so remarkable about Sharapova’s season is that even though she missed four months of competitive matches, she still managed to finish 4th at the end of the year. Basically, had she stayed fit until the end of the season she could have claimed 2nd place in the WTA rankings.
At the start of the season she reached the final at the Australian Open, where she expectedly lost to Serena. Regardless of the loss though, the year ahead looked promising for the Russian. However, a poor run of form, and several injuries, resulted in a less than impressive year for Sharapova, who is now 5th in the rankings, behind Agnieszka Radwanska.
5. Agnieszka Radwanska
The Pole didn’t start the season impressively and had to part ways with her coach Martina Navratilova. Radwanska’s first title of the season was at the 2015 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, and it was won in late September. If there was ever a strong finish to the season, this was it.
Before that, she managed to return to the Top 10 in the rankings by reaching the semi-finals at Wimbledon. It was her third appearance in four years. Unfortunately for her though, she was eliminated by the talented Garbine Muguruza in three sets.
However, her biggest achievement of the season and her career in general, was when she defeated Petra Kvitova and won her first WTA Finals title in Singapore. Because of the strong finish to the season, and defying the odds Radwanska finished as number 5 at the rankings last year.
Labels: agnieszka radwanska, garbine muguruza, maria sharapova, serena williams, simona halep
2015 Final Rankings - Men


The CFP® Designation
Achieving Your Financial Goals
From the Desk of Warren Buffett
Announcement December 2019 - The Secure Act
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"The most important investment you can make is in yourself"
"Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well."
"Successful investing takes time, discipline and patience. No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time."
"Do not save what is left after spending; instead spend what is left after saving."
"Rule No. 1 is never lose money. Rule No. 2 is never forget Rule No. 1."
"Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful."
"If you aren't willing to own a stock for 10 years, don't even think about owning for 10 minutes."
"Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years."
"Never invest in a business you cannot understand."
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently."
"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."
"Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre."
"If past history was all that is needed to play the game of money, the richest people would be librarians."
"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."
Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha", has spent his career giving timeless advice. Warren Buffett is often cited as one of the most accomplished investors with a propensity for simplifying important ideas into interesting quotes. The above quotes have been taken from Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) annual meetings, periodic shareholder letters and interviews featuring Warren Buffet.
Intelligent Investment Management, LLP
150 East 9th Street, Suite 333
information@intelligentim.com
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Giuliana Rancic Interview: Life Is â€˜Better Than Everâ€™ After Breast Cancer
Less than three months after announcing that she was suffering from breast cancer, Giuliana Rancic was back on the red carpet this month at the 2012 Golden Globe Awards, she chatted with celebrities for her E! show "Fashion Police.
"A lot of people have said to me, 'You look better now than before your diagnosis,'" the reality star revealed in an interview with omg!. "And I thought maybe it's because I'm so much happier. I think that I dodged a major bullet."
In fact, after Giuliana, 37, endured a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery to treat her breast cancer, she was back at E!, where she also anchors "E! News," only two weeks later something even she wasn't sure she'd be able to do the night before.
Photos: Celebs Are 2 Hot 2 Handle On the Red Carpet: She's even starting a charity, a kind of Make-A-Wish Foundation for adults called Fab-U-Wish, for other women in a similar situation. "Listen, obviously I'm not curing cancer and I'm not pretending to, but I thought there's really a void when it comes to breast cancer charities," she explained. "[I want to] do things to put smiles on these women's faces while they're going through tough therapy and horrible diagnoses.
Giuliana Rancic's Breast Cancer and More of 2011's Biggest Celeb Health Stories:
"I actually believe that to be a real fashionista you have to be on best dressed lists, of course, but you also have to be on the worst dressed lists, because I think it means you're taking chances," said Giuliana, who names Rachel Roy among her favorite designers. "If you're constantly just kind of middle of the road, making safe choices, you're not a real fashionista."
Gwyneth Paltrow Talks Diet, Botox, and Motherhood: Her style obsession carries over into home decor, where Giuliana is promoting the new Glade Expressions line of fragrance mists and oil diffusers in scents such as lavender and juniper berry (which she has at home) and pineapple and mangosteen (which she keeps in her E! office).
Speaking of home, Giuliana and her husband of four years, "The Apprentice" winner Bill Rancic, have made his hometown of Chicago theirs, at least when they're not in L.A. And as if they didn't have enough going on, within the next month the couple is set to open a restaurant in the Windy City called RPM Italian, a modern eatery with small plates instead of the huge portions guests often get when eating Italian.
"As far as the cancer stuff, I don't think we're gonna go very heavy on that. It can tend to get a little depressing, and I really am anything but depressed," she said. "I don't feel like a victim. I don't want to portray that on TV either, you know?"
New episodes of "Giuliana and Bill" begin April 2.


Herman Bell has been a U.S. political prisoner for over 36 years. A former Black Panther, he was involved with political community work and subsequently went underground because of relentless FBI and police attacks on the Party. Herman was captured in New Orleans in 1973 and illegally extradited to New York to stand trial with Albert Nuh Washington, Jalil Muntaqim, Francisco Torres and Gabriel Torres on charges of killing two NYC police. Though the jury could not reach a verdict the first time, the NY District Attorney persisted and used many illegal tactics to obtain convictions for Herman, Jalil and Nuh. In 2007, Herman was extradited to San Francisco for prosecution of a 38 year-old unsolved cop-killing case. He was charged along with Jalil Muntaqim and six other former Black Panthers, now known as the San Francisco 8. In July 2009, he pled to reduced charges and received 5 years probation. Herman maintains this was a strategic decision which would help the defense of the others and would allow him to return to New York and continue fighting for freedom. The plea in no way jeopardized the other defendents in the case. His decision paved the way for the dismissal of four of the SF8, once Jalil Muntaqim joined Herman in accepting a plea for probation. Herman was also a founder, along with Carol Dove and Michael Vernon, and core member of the Victory Gardens Project, a collaboration between inner city and rural community groups in the northeastern U.S., in which food, as the organizing tool, was grown and distributed free of charge back into the communities.
Herman Bell 79-C-0262
Fallsburg, New York


Category Archives: 1950s
September 28, 2018 1950s, Fact, People, Telling storiestalkinghistory2013
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American writer with works that include his 1935-39 ‘The Berlin Stories’ and two semi-autobiographical novellas inspired by his time in the German Weimar Republic. These enhanced his post-war reputation when his ‘I Am a Camera’ was first adapted into a play in 1951 and then a film of the same name in 1955. In 1966 he gave us the stage musical ‘Cabaret’!
What caught me, though, is a comment Christopher made on 28th September 1959 when he wrote: ‘Last night I went to Elsa Lanchester’s. Oh the horror of TV! It is so utterly, utterly inferior, yet just enough to keep you enslaved, entrapped, on the lower levels of consciousness – for a whole lifetime, if necessary. It is a bondage like that of Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott.’
The King is Dead – Long live the Queen
June 2, 2018 1950s, 20th century, 21st century events, June, King George VI, King of England, Queen Elizabeth IItalkinghistory2013
I’m sure many millions of people across the world will know – but just in case ….
65 years ago on Tuesday 2nd June 1953 the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II as sovereign of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey. Elizabeth ascended the throne at the age of 25, upon the death of her father, King George VI who had passed away on Wednesday 6th February 1952, and was proclaimed Queen by her various privy and executive councils shortly afterwards. The coronation took place more than a year later because of the tradition that holding such a festival is inappropriate during the period of mourning that follows the death of a monarch and also on account of the need to make preparations for the ceremony. During the service, she took and subscribed an oath to, among other things, govern the peoples according to their respective laws and customs, was anointed with holy oil, presented and invested with regalia, and crowned.
Celebrations took place across the Commonwealth and a commemorative medal was issued. It was the first British coronation to be televised and was the fourth and last British coronation of the 20th century.
She was born Miss Mortenson
June 1, 2018 1920s, 1940s, 1950s, Filmstalkinghistory2013
On 1st June 1926 a little girl was born and, in due time, was named Norma Jeane Mortenson. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and spent most of her childhood in fosters homes and an orphanage. She married at the age of 16 and, in 1944 while working as part of the war effort in a radioplane factory, she was introduced to a photographer from the ‘First Motion Picture Unit’. Photographs were taken and she soon began a successful pin-up modelling career. This work led to a short-livered film contracts with 20th Century Fox in 1946/7 and Columbia Pictures in 1948. After a series of minor film roles she signed a new contract in 1951 with Fox and from there her career blossomed. Oh – by the way – by now she had changed her name.
She was now known as Marilyn Monroe!
I think we might say a little bit more about this lady in the near future!
The War was over and Marlene moved on
February 27, 2018 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 20th century, A story is told, Peopletalkinghistory2013
After the 2nd World War things began to change for so many people. Marlene was one of them! In 1953 she was offered $30,000 per week to appear live at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. The show was short and mainly consisting of a few songs associated with Marlene and her daringly sheer “nude dress” – a heavily beaded evening gown of silk soufflé that gave an illusion of transparency. Surprise Surprise – it attracted a lot of publicity! One of these ‘attractions’ led to her being signed to appear at the Café de Paris in London the following year. She also had her Las Vegas contracts renewed. From that point forward to the mid-1970s she was a highly paid cabaret artist, performing live in large theatres in major cities world-wide.
Marlene employed Burt Bacharach as her musical arranger starting in the mid-1950s; together, they refined her nightclub act into a more ambitious theatrical one-woman show with an expanded repertoire. Her repertoire included songs from her films as well as popular songs of the day. Bacharach’s arrangements helped to disguise her limited vocal range – she was a contralto – and allowed her to perform her songs to maximum dramatic effect.
Francis Wyndham offered a critical appraisal of the phenomenon of ‘Dietrich in Concert’ when he wrote in 1964: “What she does is neither difficult nor diverting, but the fact that she does it at all fills the onlookers with wonder … It takes two to make a conjuring trick: the illusionist’s sleight of hand and the stooge’s desire to be deceived. To these necessary elements (her own technical competence and her audience’s sentimentality) Marlene Dietrich adds a third—the mysterious force of her belief in her own magic. Those who find themselves unable to share this belief tend to blame themselves rather than her.”
At this time Burt Bacharach felt he needed to devote his full-time to song writing. Together, they recorded four albums and several singles between 1957 and 1964. However – Marlene had come to rely on him in order to perform and, in a TV interview in 1971 she credited Bert Bacharach with giving her the “inspiration” to perform during those years. She said:-
‘From that fateful day on, I have worked like a robot, trying to recapture the wonderful woman he helped make out of me. I even succeeded in this effort for years because I always thought of him, always longed for him, always looked for him in the wings, and always fought against self-pity… He had become so indispensable to me that, without him, I no longer took much joy in singing. When he left me, I felt like giving everything up. I had lost my director, my support, my teacher, my maestro.’
In November 1972 a version of Marlene’s Broadway show ‘An Evening with Marlene Dietrich’ was filmed in London. It was titled ‘I Wish You Love’ and Marlene as paid $250,000 for her co-operation but she was unhappy with the result. Non-the-less the show must go on and in January 1973 it was broadcast on the BBC in the UK and on CBS in the US.
Continue reading The War was over and Marlene moved on →
María Elena Santiago & Buddy Holly – music & sadness
February 7, 2018 1950s, 20th century, accidents, January, Love, Musictalkinghistory2013
Buddy’s wife was born María Elena Santiago in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her mother died when Maria was 12 years old and, in 1953, her father had sent her to live with her aunt in New York City where she worked as a receptionist for a music publisher – ‘Peermusic’. As a receptionist Maria Elena probably first met Buddy in August 1957 when, as rising stars, he and the Crickets first visited Peer Southern Music in the Brill Building on Broadway to meet their publishing manager Murray Deutch – Maria’s boss.
It was a day or so before Thursday 19th June 1958 – the day when Buddy recorded ‘Early in the Morning’ in New York’s Pythian Temple – that Buddy had asked Maria out. She had never been out on a date and told Holly he would have to ask her aunt for permission. Buddy promptly got her aunt’s permission and five hours into their first date, Buddy handed a rose to Maria and asked her to marry him! On August 15, 1958, less than two months later, they were married in Buddy’s hometown of Lubbock, Texas.
They settled down there until Buddy broke up with his band, ‘The Crickets’, and moved to New York. It was in October 1958 that Santiago-Holly went on tour with her husband and took on promotional duties. Buddy also formed the Maria Music publishing company with which “Stay Close To Me” was filed. Buddy produced Lou Giordano’s version of the song which was issued on Brunswick records on Tuesday 27th January, 1959.
Buddy and Santiago had been married for just six months at the time of the crash. Maria Santiago-Holly learned of Buddy’s death from the reports on television. She was a widow and did not attend the funeral – nor has she ever visited the grave site. She told the Avalanche-Journal: “In a way, I blame myself. I was not feeling well when he left. I was two weeks pregnant, and I wanted Buddy to stay with me, but he had scheduled that tour. It was the only time I wasn’t with him. And I blame myself because I know that, if only I had gone along, Buddy never would have gotten into that airplane.”
Maria Santiago-Holly suffered a miscarriage shortly after due, we are told, to “psychological trauma”
Buddy Holly’s funeral was held on Friday 7th February 1959, at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lubbock. The service was officiated by Ben D. Johnson, who had presided at the Holly’s wedding just months earlier. The pall-bearers were Jerry Allison, Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan, Bob Montgomery, Sonny Curtis, and Phil Everly. Waylon Jennings was unable to attend, because of his commitment to the still-touring Winter Dance Party.
Buddy’s body was interred in the City of Lubbock Cemetery, in the eastern part of the city, with his headstone carrying the correct spelling of his surname – Holley – and a carving of his Fender Stratocaster guitar.
Buddy had gone – but his work would live on – and on – and on!
Buddy and ‘Peggy Sue’ leave memories
February 3, 2018 1950s, accidents, Music, Pop music, Popular music, Popular singerstalkinghistory2013
In my younger days – the 1950’s that is – I was one of those thousands, or maybe millions, of British teenagers who latched on to the US ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ performers. Elvis was my number one with Buddy Holly a close second. I can remember hearing – and then getting dad to buy – ‘Peggy Sue’ as Christmas got close in 1957. It reached number 6 in the charts – Harry Belafonte was at number 1 from 22nd November until Jerry Lee Lewis took the number one slot on 10th January1958! Buddy had 3 hits in 1958 – ‘Listen to me’ [2 weeks & peaking at 16]; ‘Rave On’ [14 weeks & peaking at 5] and ‘Early in the Morning’ [4 weeks & peaking at 4]. In January 1959 he had a brief – one week hit – ‘Heartbeat’. While I was enjoying ‘Heartbeat’ – and hoping that Buddy would be over here soon – Buddy was getting on a plane and moving on to another show.
He was in ‘The Winter Dance Party’ tour that had begun in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 23rd January 1959. The amount of travel involved created logistical problems. The distance between the venues had not been considered and, adding to the problem, the unheated tour buses broke down twice in the freezing weather. Added to this was Buddy’s drummer, Carl Bunch, had been hospitalized for frostbite to his toes which he had suffered while aboard the bus! As a result Buddy decided to organise other form of transportation so, before their next appearance – planned for 2nd February in Iowa – Buddy chartered a four-seat Beechcraft from Dwyer Flying Service in Mason City with Jennings, Allsup, and himself. His idea was to depart after the Clear Lake Surf Ballroom show and fly to their next venue, in Moorhead, Minnesota via Fargo, North Dakota. This would allow them time to rest and wash their clothes. It also meant that they could avoid a rigorous bus journey.
It was just before midnight when the Clear Lake show ended just before midnight. There were some discussions on who was joining Buddy in the flight. Allsup agreed to flip a coin for the seat with Ritchie Valens – he took out a brand new half-dollar and Ritchie called heads. Heads it was. Richie reportedly said “That’s the first time I’ve ever won anything in my life.” Allsup later opened a restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas called ‘Heads Up’. Waylon Jennings also voluntarily gave up his seat – this one to J. P. Richardson (the Big Bopper) who had influenza and complained that the tour bus was too cold and uncomfortable for a man of his size.
Roger Peterson, the pilot, took off in inclement weather, although he was not certified to fly by instruments only. Shortly after 1:00 am on Tuesday 3rd February 1959, Holly, Valens, Richardson, and Peterson were killed instantly when their plane crashed into a cornfield five miles northwest of the Mason City, Iowa airport shortly after take-off. The bodies of the entertainers were all ejected from the plane on impact while Peterson’s body remained entangled in the wreckage. Buddy Holly had sustained fatal trauma to his head and chest and numerous lacerations and fractures of his arms and legs.
We will be attending the funeral in a few days time.
A lady I wish I had known
November 3, 2017 1950s, Advice, New to metalkinghistory2013
In looking through various sources – like notes – and ideas – and luck for posing I often find something that is new to me. That has happened today when I found something by Dawn Powell. She was new to me so I dug a little deeper and discovered that she died in 1965. Going deeper I found her work was very nice and I’ll certainly ‘come back to her again’. The piece I chose is perfect for this – it was published on Wednesday 3rd November 1954 and reads as follows:
‘Notes for talk – people like different books at different times in their lives. It seems odd that such difficult ponderous writers as Walter Scott, Dumas, Victor Hugo are so often pets of our youth when later in life they seem almost over our heads. It must be that, at 12 or 13, our heads need filling – there are few experiences and knowledge to furnish resistance, so the story has a wide screen. The young reader has no experience of his own to debate the story; he accepts it wholly, is gullible, it blooms in his mind completely. Trollope is certainly a writer for adults.’
Popular music that helped me through the 1950s
October 23, 2017 1950s, Pop music, Popular music, Popular singers, Radio musictalkinghistory2013
It was on Friday 14th November 1952 that the British singles music charts were first published – but I knew nothing about it! It was not until Friday 23rd October 1953 that I really ‘hooked into’ popular music of the day. I kept notes and I played records – and I was told by my parents quite often to ‘turn that noise down’. Sometimes I did as they asked! Below are the records for the first 8 years that I made sure I heard who was holding the number one slot on the Friday nearest that magical first date above
1953 – Frankie Laine with ‘Hey Joe’ [2 weeks]
1954 – Don Cornell with ‘Hold My Hand’ [4 weeks]
1955 – Jimmy Young with ‘The Man from Laramie’ [4 weeks]
1956 – Frankie Laine again, this time with ‘A Woman in Love’ [4 weeks]
1957 – Paul Anka with ‘Diana’ [9 weeks starting on 30th August]
1958 – Connie Francis with ‘Carolina Moon’ with ‘Stupid Cupid’ on the flip side of the double ‘A side’ [6 weeks from 26th September.
1959 – Bobby Darin with ‘Mack the Knife’ [2 weeks]
1960 – it’s a new decade and Roy Orbison has ‘Only the Lonely’ at number 1 for 2 weeks
Let’s just roll forward 40 years to the 23rd October 2000 and we find U2’s version of ‘Beautiful Day’ holding the top spot – for me another special number.
So that’s me – do you have musical memories like this? I’d love to know if you have.
A million becomes 60 million after this story hits the screens.
October 6, 2017 1950s, 1960s, 20th century, Filmstalkinghistory2013
It was on this day – Saturday 6th October 1962 – that a film of the book launched the James Bond saga across the world.
‘Doctor No’ was the sixth novel by author Ian Fleming to feature his British Secret Service agent James Bond. He had written the novel in early 1957 at his home in Jamaica and it was first published in the United Kingdom by Johnathan Cape on Tuesday 31st March 1958. The novel centred on Bond’s investigation into the disappearance in Jamaica of two fellow MI6 operatives.
Sean Connery – agent 007 – had to battle with the mysterious Doctor No – a scientific genius bent on destroying the whole U.S. space program. As the countdown to disaster began James Bond headed for Jamaica. There, surprise surprise, he encountered the beautiful Honey Ryder (played by the beautiful Ursula Andress). Together they have to confront a megalo-maniacal villain in his massive island headquarters.
Created on a one million dollar budget, the film box offices returned just short of 60 million dollars!
The Festival of Britain comes to its end
September 30, 2017 1950s, 20th century, Festival, King George VItalkinghistory2013
Two or three times my parents had said that we would go to the Festival of Britain – but the promises were never turned into fact. But now the whole thing was closing and I had been deprived of being part of it. However events had been held all over Britain, not just in London and, after all, we had haved one Festival in our village!
It was on Sunday 30th September 1951 that the Festival of Britain came to an end. It had been organised to mark the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851 and, after a special service attended by the King, Queen Elizabeth, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret and other senior members of the royal family, King George declared the festival open in a broadcast from the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral.
The official closing ceremony was planned to also be pronounced by the King but, unfortunately, he was not well enough and the closing speech was given by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He described the Festival as being ‘a real family party’ and ‘the standard by which we shall face the future’. He said that there were many legacies of the Festival – trees planted, and statues and other artworks commissioned. He also said that the Festival had given a better awareness of Britain as a thriving economy with a skilled workforce.


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What ‘left’ and ‘right’ really mean
By Ezra Klein
Perhaps my biggest frustration with the U.S. news media (and yes, I am a card-carrying member) is that we permit the two parties to decide what is “left” and what is “right.” The way it works, roughly, is that anything Democrats support becomes “left,” and everything Republicans support becomes “right.” But that makes “left” and “right” descriptions of where the two parties stand at any given moment rather than descriptions of the philosophies, ideologies or ideas that animate, or should animate, political debates.
There is a good reason why we do it this way. It isn’t the media’s job to police political ideologies, and it wouldn’t be a good idea for us to try. But that leaves ordinary voters in a bit of a tough spot.
The reality is that most Americans aren’t policy wonks. They don’t sit down with think-tank papers or economic studies and puzzle over whether it’s better to address the free-rider problem in health care through automatic enrollment or the individual mandate. Instead, they outsource those questions to the political actors — both elected and unelected — they trust.
Unfortunately, those political actors aren’t worthy of their trust. They’re trying to win elections, not points for intellectual consistency. So the voters who trust them get taken for a ride.
Consider the partywide flips and flops of just the past few years:
— Supporting a temporary, deficit-financed payroll-tax cut as a stimulus measure in 2009, as Republican Sen. John McCain and every one of his colleagues did, put you on the right. Supporting a temporary, deficit-financed payroll tax-cut in late 2011 put you on the left. Supporting it in early 2012 could have put you on either side.
— Supporting an individual mandate as a way to solve the health-care system’s free-rider problem between 1991 and 2007 put you on the right. Doing so after 2010 put you on the left.
— Supporting a system in which total carbon emissions would be capped and permits traded as a way of moving toward clean energy using the power of market pricing could have put you on either the left or right between 2000 and 2008. After 2009, it put you squarely on the left.
— Caring about short-term deficits between 2001 and 2008 put you on the left. Caring about them between 2008 and 2012 put you on the right.
— Favoring an expansive view of executive authority between 2001 and 2008 put you on the right. Doing so since 2009 has, in most cases, put you on the left.
— Supporting large cuts to Medicare in the context of universal health-care reform puts you on the left, as every Democrat who voted for the Affordable Care Act found out during the 2010 election. Supporting large cuts to Medicare in the context of deficit reduction puts you on the right, as Republicans found out in the 1990s, and then again after voting for Representative Paul Ryan’s proposed budget in 2011.
— Decrying the filibuster and considering drastic changes to the Senate rulebook to curb it between 2001 and 2008 put you on the right, particularly if you were exercised over judicial nominations. Since 2009, decrying the filibuster and considering reforms to curb it has put you on the left.
— Favoring a negative tax rate for the poorest Americans between 2001 and 2008 could have put you on the right or the left. In recent years, it has put you on the left.
I don’t particularly mind flip-flops. Consistency is an overrated virtue. But honesty isn’t. In many of these cases, the parties changed policy when it was politically convenient to do so, not when conditions changed and new information came to light.
There are exceptions, of course. It’s reasonable to worry about short-term deficits during an economic expansion and consider them necessary during a recession. That’s Economics 101.
But nothing happened to explain the change from 2006, when the individual mandate was a Republican policy in good standing, to 2010, when every Senate Republican, including those who still had their names on bills that included individual mandates, agreed it was an unconstitutional assault on liberty. Nothing, that is, but the Democrats’ adopting the policy in their health-care reform bill.
Flips and flops like these make the labels “left” and “right” meaningless as a descriptor of anything save partisanship over any extended period of time. I could tell you about a politician who supported deficit-financed stimulus policies and cap-and-trade, and I could be describing McCain. Or Newt Gingrich. And I could tell you about another politician who opposed an individual mandate, and who fought deficits, expansive views of executive authority and efforts to reform the filibuster, and be describing Sen. Barack Obama.
Parties — particularly when they’re in the minority — care more about power than policy. Perhaps there’s nothing much to be done about this. And as I said, it isn’t clear that the media, or anyone else, should try. But it puts the lie to the narrative that America is really riven by grand ideological disagreements. America is deeply divided on the question of which party should be in power at any given moment. Much of the polarization over policy is driven by that question, not the other way around.
But the voters who trust the parties don’t know that, and they tend to take on faith the idea that their representatives are fighting for some relatively consistent agenda. They’re wrong.
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ALLEN, THOMAS
Pauline A. Pinckney
ALLEN, THOMAS (1849–1924). Thomas Allen, painter, son of Thomas and Annie G. Allen, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1849. In his second year of business school at Washington University, St. Louis, Allen accompanied his professor, J. W. Paterson, on a sketching expedition to the Rocky Mountains. His notes and sketches from that trip increased his interest in art. In 1871 he went to Paris, then to Düsseldorf, where he studied at the Royal Academy from 1872 to 1876.
In the winter of 1878–79 he traveled to San Antonio, Texas, before returning to France. In San Antonio he painted three notable works: The Market Place, San Antonio (exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1882); Mexican Woman Washing at San Pedro Spring, and The Portal of San José Mission. The colors of his romantic scenes are muted, and his subjects are presented with little detail. Allen's work shows an appreciation of the simple and commonplace.
The first American showing of Allen's work was at the National Academy of Design in New York. He was made a member of the American Society of Artists, and in 1884 he became an associate member of the National Academy. In 1893 he was a member of the International Board of Judges at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and he was chairman of the jury of paintings at the World's Fair in St. Louis. He was vice president of the Boston Art Club and chairman of the Art Commission of Boston. Before his death in 1924 he became president of the board of trustees of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. His paintings are in the collections of the San Antonio Public Library, the Witte Memorial Museum, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. Allen died in Worcester, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1924.
Pauline A. Pinckney, Painting in Texas: The Nineteenth Century (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967). Vertical Files, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.
Handbook of Texas Online, Pauline A. Pinckney, "ALLEN, THOMAS," accessed January 17, 2020, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fal29.
Uploaded on June 9, 2010. Modified on September 24, 2018. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.